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!

51 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
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       Your Steinway has water damage? What happened?

    • Karen_Sam
    • 1 mth ago
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    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
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       Is the piano completely destroyed?

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

      • Maria_F
      • 2 wk ago
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       What brand/model of acoustic upright did you have?

      • Astrida_Gobina
      • 2 wk 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
      • 2 wk ago
      • Reported - view
    • Noel_Nguyen
    • 11 days ago
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    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
      • 11 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
      • 10 days ago
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       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
      • 10 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.

    • Jonathan_ONeill
    • 5 days ago
    • Reported - view

    I have just now purchased a Kawai CA901. I am currently using a Roland FP-10 so it will be a substantial upgrade. I have 2 young children so the time that I get to play is usually when we get them to sleep. I play with headphones the majority of the time. Would love to get an acoustic further down the track, perhaps if my kids take a liking to the instrument it can be a reward for me... I mean, them. Does anyone have experience playing the CA901, I have heard only good things and am very much looking forward to its delivery next week!

      • hot4euterpe
      • 4 days ago
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       Hi Jonathan. Congrats! That is very exciting. I do not know the particular hybrid piano but I do know the Yamaha hybrids are quite impressive. Definitely a massive upgrade over the Roland FP-10. I hope your wait for delivery goes as quickly as possible =)

      • Jonathan_ONeill
      • 4 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Thanks very much, Dustin! I'm like a child at Christmas time to be honest :) I've watched a lot of video reviews and it really sounds like a hell of a piano. Even with comparisons against Roland's LX9 (I haven't seen a comparison with Yamaha's flagship CLP) it held up very well and was suggested to be much closer to an authentic acoustic piano experience. I'll give a little update after playing for a couple of weeks.

      • Noel_Nguyen
      • 3 days ago
      • Reported - view

       That is an excellent purchase! I'm very partial to Kawai digitals myself, and to me the CA901 is definitely the most acoustic grand-like piano, short of the Novus NV10S, which is being replaced by the Novus NV12, both of which are significantly more expensive than the CA901.

      • Jonathan_ONeill
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       Yes, I caught some of your enviable Mozart on your own Kawai, Noel! Very nice indeed, something to aspire to.

      Trying out all the different tones/instrument settings is a lot of fun but also, for me, a deep rabbit hole that always risks derailing my practice! 😁

    • Noel_Nguyen
    • 2 days ago
    • Reported - view

    Another underrated advantage of digitals: the possibility to choose between different piano tones! Just the other day, after too much Liszt practice (with the default SK Concert Grand tone), I explored the other piano tones for the first time and stumbled upon a magnificient (to me) "Pop grand" tone. I almost never play pop, but it inspired me to record something in that genre, namely my transcription of an italian pop song😅, "In assenza di te". My playing is probably too slow (I'm never sure which tempi to choose with pop), but listen the the beauty of the Pop Grand tone by Kawai. Sure, it may sound artificial, but I believe that's kind of the point here!:

      • Maria_F
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I used to have a Yamaha with "bright grand," "honky-tonk piano," and Bösendorfer Imperial 290 settings, in addition to the default CFX tone. It also had harpsichord, double-manual harpsichord, Clavinet, some kind of celesta-like tone, strings, voices, and multiple organ settings. I basically only used the Imperial setting. 

      • Maria_F
      • 2 days ago
      • Reported - view

       I have had multiple Yamaha digital pianos over the years, including a P145b that only had two piano tones (Yamaha CFX and "bright piano") and 9 other random settings. I preferred the one I had with the Bosendorfer setting, but it broke because I practiced too much Liszt on it. I prefer my acoustic piano anyway. 

Content aside

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