The digital piano thread

Do you own one? Is it in addition to owning an acoustic piano?

 

I own a Kawai ES920, which is my main practice instrument. I do own an acoustic piano as well, as many of you know, but it's a monster concert grand, so I cannot practice late in the evening for obvious reasons. 

I find that my digital piano fulfills its role perfectly. Of course I will never find the sound of a digital to be as enjoyable as that of an acoustic instrument, but I still prefer my digital piano to an upright acoustic one, because I find its action to be closer to that of a grand piano, which it was designed to mimic.

What's your digital piano story? What led you to choosing the one you currently own? Let's discuss!

42 replies

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    • Karen_Sam
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    I have a Kawai Novus 10S and am very happy with it. I also have a 1923 Steinway M but it needs work (uneven and heavy regulation, water damage).

      • Maria_F
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Your Steinway has water damage? What happened?

    • Karen_Sam
    • 1 mth ago
    • Reported - view

    Storage facility had a flood.

      • Maria_F
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       was your piano in a storage facility?

      • Karen_Sam
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

      Yes.

      • Maria_F
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Poor drowned piano! 

      • Karen_Sam
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Indeed. Other drowned things too.

      • Maria_F
      • 1 mth ago
      • Reported - view

       Is the piano completely destroyed?

    • Astrida_Gobina
    • 12 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I now have a Yamaha N1X, my second digital piano after a Clavinova CLP. Before that, I owned an acoustic upright, but it needed frequent tuning and offered a much less refined sound. I really value being able to play at any time without disturbing my family or neighbors.

      • hot4euterpe
      • 12 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Congrats Astrida! The Yamaha hybrid pianos are really on another level compared to the digital Clavinovas so that must be super exciting!

      • Maria_F
      • 12 days ago
      • Reported - view

       What brand/model of acoustic upright did you have?

      • Astrida_Gobina
      • 12 days ago
      • Reported - view

       it was a second hand RĪGA manufactured in 1960s when allegedly the old solid wood blocks were used (which is apparently better to keep the string tension). It was quite ok for my needs back then. My very first piano was a brand new Rīga which was not as good and learned quickly not to be affected by tuning.

      • Astrida_Gobina
      • 11 days ago
      • Reported - view
    • Noel_Nguyen
    • 4 days ago
    • Reported - view

    In case it is of interest to anyone, here's a video of me practicing on my modified Kawai ES920. Fast Mozart is difficult on any piano, but it is downright perilous on a digital! I could not play that piece cleanly at a faster tempo on this instrument:

      • Maria_F
      • 4 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Mozart/anything fast was very difficult on my Yamaha P225. It was incapable of responding fast enough for (and may have broken partially due to) Erlkönig. 

      • Timothy
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks for this Noel! I also have some trouble with fast passages on my ES920. I saw that you own a Baldwin SD10 as well. I was recently thinking of trading my Estonia L210 for an SD10 built in 1995. How do you like your Baldwin? Any pros and cons you can share?

      • Noel_Nguyen
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Sure thing!

      Pros:

      I'd say the sheer beauty of its sound and the responsiveness of its action. 

      About the sound, several words have been proposed, along the lines of vibrant, majestic, lush, brawny, yet with a dynamic range that covers more than what is needed by most music.

      The action is by Renner (from Germany), light for keys of such length, and the dynamics are VERY controllable.

      Cons:

      I have to say, I don't find it to be the most versatile in terms of its tone character... I know these words are all just approximations of subjective impressions, but I can't find better words. I just know that this would certainly not be my top choice for Schumann's most innigkeit moments, or Debussy's kaleidoscopic evocations. And this has nothing to do with lack of dynamics, because you could easily play barely audible pianissimi on this instrument! And I don't know Estonia's much so I wouldn't be able to tell you if I'd find your current grand piano to be more musically versatile than mine, unless I hear it.

      =====

      In any case, you can hear a few samples of my Baldwin (Mozart, Chopin's Polonaise Op.61, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin) and one sample of a Hamburg Steinway D (Chopin's Polonaise Op.44) on my YouTube channel, all recorded with the same equipment. I think they illustrate my points fairly well.

Content aside

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