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Joined: Nov 2008
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I am considering buying a digital piano and I would like to find one that only has a good piano sound nothing else. No organ, no harpsischord, no strings... The reason is that I find all these things very distracting and at the end completely unuseful to my needs. I would also like the piano to have good speakers incorporated. Any suggestion?
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Only one I know of is V-Piano, but it is a stage piano, so you would need to add speakers.
Lawrence
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As pointed out above, with the exception of the Roland V-Piano (which can actually morph into a pretty wide range of piano sounds) there is nothing on the market that meets your description. Everything else has at least a handful of additional voices. Just don't press the other buttons and you'll be fine.
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There's no such thing. All digital pianos come with a bunch of extras: harpsichord, metronome, etc. A digital with just one piano sound would not sell.
However, this is no problem at all, since when you turn any dp on, what you get is the default grand piano voice, which is all you really need. For example, on my Williams digital, I just turn it on, turn off the reverb, and I'm ready to go with a grand piano voice that is satisfactory for playing anything ever written for the piano, including the biggest classical works.
I don't use any of the extras, except one, the instant record and playback. It's often useful to hear what you sound like. Most, but not all, digitals have this. Look for the words "recorder," "song recorder," or "song memory," in the specs. If you don't see those words, it doesn't have one.
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I agree with Gyro - Find the DP that has: - the action you like
AND
( - the piano voices you are looking for and then just resist the need to select the other voices.
OR
- Connect the DP you have selected for its action to a good computer and use one of these excellent piano simulation software)
And most important ... Enjoy.
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The Yamaha YDP series does not even have buttons for alternate voices. You have to press a special key combination to get the other voices. Just remember to never look at the manual and you will never know that they are there.
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Hi PLV,
If you can get an Oberheim Minigrand, catch it inmediately. It may be what you are looking for. It has six pianos (three acoustic and three electronic), nothing else. And the sound of the acoustics is impressive. It is 12 years or so old but it still beats even some software alternatives. It includes physical modeling, string sympathetic resonance and string resonance. It even mimics some of the mechanical related sounds of action. It was never promoted properly and was discontinued years ago. But believe me: for solo piano it is specially gifted. Hope you can find one.
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I don't use any of the extras, except one, the instant record and playback. It's often useful to hear what you sound like. Most, but not all, digitals have this. Look for the words "recorder," "song recorder," or "song memory," in the specs. If you don't see those words, it doesn't have one. You're right that not all digitals have that feature. For example, the Roland RD-700SX/GX and RD-300GX do not have that feature, but IMO they have one of the best tonal qualities I have ever heard in a sampled (non-software and non-modeled) digital piano. If I was in the market for one and deciding between the Williams (which I have played) and any of those Rolands on piano sound and action alone, to me the Rolands would EASILY be worth the extra price - i.e. the Rolands, to me, are more improved than the Williams in those areas than the difference in price would indicate.
Associate Member - Piano Technicians Guild 1950 (#144211) Baldwin Hamilton 1956 (#167714) Baldwin Hamilton You can right-click my avatar for an option to view a larger version.
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You might consider a Roland RP-101. Like the Yamaha YDP series, there are no lights or buttons. You just turn it on and play. Of course, there are some extra voices, but you have to hit a function key and a piano key to access them.
Or you could buy a Roland HP-207 and use the "cover the panel" feature to hide all of the buttons.
If your budget is really high, you can buy an AvantGrand. The panel is a small sliding deal there and it's totally invisible and hidden.
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I have the Roland RP 101 and ONLY use the piano sound. I don't think I've even read the directions about how to change the voice. And, by the way, I love it.
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The Yamaha YDP series does not even have buttons for alternate voices. You have to press a special key combination to get the other voices. You might consider a Roland RP-101. Like the Yamaha YDP series, there are no lights or buttons. You just turn it on and play. Of course, there are some extra voices, but you have to hit a function key and a piano key to access them. I actually can't stand digital pianos with which you press a piano key to access various functions. I remember one time I was playing for the congregational singing in an outdoor church service on a Yamaha P60. On that piano, to transpose, you hold down the A0 and C#1 keys, and play a key in the 4th octave (C4-B4) that's the key you want to transpose to, and it transposes. We happened to be doing a tune in the key of A, and I happened to hit an A-Major chord using the bottom notes of the piano (A0-C#1-E1-A1), which I sometimes do (and yes I have played a few larger pianos that had a clear and bright enough tone down there to actually make chords sound fairly good), while also playing in the middle octave with my other hand, and the piano transposed up a major 3rd. So, for maybe a measure or two, my accompaniment was a little off, until I figured out what key the piano had transposed to, and so I adapted my playing to be in the right key (I didn't really have the time on-the-fly to use the transpose function to put it back where it was supposed to be). Anyone else have experiences like that? 
Associate Member - Piano Technicians Guild 1950 (#144211) Baldwin Hamilton 1956 (#167714) Baldwin Hamilton You can right-click my avatar for an option to view a larger version.
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DPs already are quite limited when it comes to whistles, bells and extra sounds (which was said before). I actually got the impression that the extra sounds on many DPs from one brand are the exact same samples. So that would mean that you don´t pay that much extra for them anyways. Sometimes I toy around with those other sounds, but in the end, I really only have my DP to practice for the acoustic, like many people out here.
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"...the piano transposed up a major 3rd. So, for maybe a measure or two, my accompaniment was a little off,..."
Great one, 88key!
I played an Easter concert in a large church once, orchestra, large choir, etc. There was a second keyboardist playing a Clavinova (I think). He'd probably never played the thing before; he managed to somehow launch a cheesy disco "demo" song at full volume during a speaking section between songs. Took about 10 seconds for him to stop it!
I think I get what PLV is saying. I also play guitar and for practicing, regardless of genre, I almost always prefer an acoustic with zero electronics, attachments, etc. Less is more. However, trying to find an electronic "piano" with no other sounds seems futile--like trying to find a car with no radio.
Also, those other sounds are always horrible and non-adjustable, even on expensive gear. Brass & string attacks are comically slow, always.
I do like to have easy access to a harpsichord sound for practicing Scarlatti etc. On my Privia I have a setup with split keyboard & two different harpsichord sounds to attempt a two-manual thing. Somewhat usable.
Hours of fun!
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Actually, on my HP-203, which has dedicated buttons, I'm still always hitting them by mistake. It's very distracting to suddenly switch from piano to pipe organ in the middle of a difficult passage. At least on the RP-101, you have to hold down a "function" button with your left hand, while hitting the appropriate key with your right. I don't think I'd do that by accident.
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The CP300 stagepiano from Yamaha - and probably some other stagepianos as well - have a lock button, preventing you from accidentally switching to another sound or function. Would be useful maybe if they implemented something similar on other DPs as well. Can´t imagine that that would be too much extra money, hardware or firmware. I guess the DP manufacturers don´t realize that their console-model-DPs (including the cheaper ones) are regularly used as a performance instrument in organisations with a limited budget (like churches).
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How 'bout Yamaha's Modus R-01. Just 1 piano sound but $$$$.
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How 'bout Yamaha's Modus R-01. Just 1 piano sound but $$$$. Wow. Love the concept and the pretty body. Other than that, it´s basically a stripped CLP370 with weak speakers (2x12W) for a very high price.
Last edited by pieper; 09/19/09 09:17 PM.
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The CP300 stagepiano from Yamaha - and probably some other stagepianos as well - have a lock button, preventing you from accidentally switching to another sound or function The HP-203 and HP-207 have this feature as well. I just don't like to have to use it all the time. Not sure about the RP-101. I doubt it has a lock, since there's no buttons to push accidently.
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