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Hello, I've just started to take up piano and have wanted to buy a digital piano rather than practicing on a keyboard.

My budget is around £700 or £800, so I was wondering if you guys could give me any suggestions?

The Yamaha CLP320, Classenti CDP1/2 or something else? Thanks in advance!

Hello Aileena, welcome to the forum!

I'm afraid your £700-£800 budget may not be sufficient to purchase a CLP-320, which usually retail for approximately £1000 or so. (Thomann.de)

Indeed, the other entry-level models from Casio (AP-220), Roland (RP-101), and KAWAI (CN22) will also be stretching your budget slightly.

I can understand your attraction to cabinet-style digital pianos over keyboards. However it's actually possible to find portable digital pianos with the same weighted keys as their larger, more expensive cabinet-style equivalents.

The Casio Privia models offer an excellent price to performance ratio, with the PX-730 available with stand and three pedals for under £800.

I am not terribly familiar with the Classenti, however I expect other will chip in about this brand shortly.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
James
x

I'd advise you to look at the Casio Privia line, especially the PX 830, and maybe the korg LP350/SP250, or the SP170 as a cheaper alternative...

Thankyou for all the suggestions! Actually I found a place where they sold the CLP 320 around £800, so that's why I was considering on getting it (imusician.co.uk) but I will also look in on these alternatives

Does anyone have any experience with the Classenti?

Thanks

If you like the Yamaha CLP320 but want to pay a bit less look at the Yamaha YDP160.

Have you played and compared the CLP and YDP? and what results in the difference in price? quality of sound, quality of action, other features?

For actions, literature shows YDP160 has GHE action, and CLP320 has GH action. not sure which is technically better.

"GHE" was Yamaha's older name for "GH". The newer YDP161 which replaces the YDP160 has "GH" keys so the issue becomes moot as soon as old inventory is sold off.

The CLP line is sold (at least in the US) through Yamaha piano dealers. The YDP line is sold through mass market retailers like Sam Ash and on-line stores. The lines have different sales channels each channel has different expectation of profit margin. The CLP line does extend to higher models with nicer features than the YDP line but there is overlap with the lower CLP models

The best way to understand what is inside each model of DP is to download and read the User Manuals.

If you are buying a DP unless you have a very large budget you are going to have to compromise on some features, yu can't have the bestof everything. So pick just a few (or one) feature you want and find a DP that does that one thing best

I think key action is the number one most important feature. What I did was try out many pianos to see which keys actions I liked. I found I like any Yamaha with GH or above and any Roland with PHA II (non-alpha) and above and both Kawai actions. All of those were acceptable to me. Then I looked at sound and price. You might have different opinions about what you like but my point is that you should not so early focus on one brand or model. If you can afford a CLP then you can afford a Roland or Kawai and should not rule them out without a good reason.

you mentioned that you just started piano, so i suggest you buy a lousy piano (lousy = not so good, but of a decent quality, such as the p-85) for a start and slowly upgrade to a better model as you move up the grades.

i am not against you buying a very good piano for a start, but as you progress you might develop a taste and preference and by then, it's not late to consider buying a good piano of your choice.

further, if you were to give up this hobby, the the cost you invest in the cheap piano will not be so much.

Yamaha p-155 and kawai es6 are good options to keep in mind also, or maybe an older yamaha p-120 off of ebay.

Looks like you're in the UK. I'm not familiar with the dealer you mention, but several online UK retailers have the CLP320 (a solid choice) for well under £900 (we don't have a separate dealer channel for the Clavinovas over here). But I wouldn't buy any digital piano without trying it first, because a lot comes down to personal preference. Never heard of Classenti (so I'd be inclined to avoid it!), but the other manufacturers mentioned in this thread all have good reputations. If you can, try out models from several of them, and like James says, you might want to consider the portables. The Yamaha P155 mentioned above is definitely worth a try (same action as the CLP320, more recent 4-level sound samples) and can be had for £900 (but you'll have to factor in the price of a stand).

I looked up Classenti. Turns out the company is close to were I live. But reading the descriptions of their pianos, I think you would be much better off with any of the major brands. You have to read between the lines of their descriptions. When the best thing they can say about their sample technology is that is uses "PCM" then there must not be must else in the way of good things to say. It's like someone is trying to sell you a car and claims "it has four wheels" because all DPs use PCM samples.

Not exactly sure about the CLP-320, but the CLP-330 tested rather poorly over on the DPBSD thread, so I'd recommend you avoid it.

On the low end maybe get a Yamaha P-85 when they start dumping them as the almost identical P-95 phases in. Personally I don't like Casio keys or sounds. Korg might have nice keys but their sounds are really dated.

Mid level stuff could be the Yamaha P-155, or the likely much better but yet-to-be-released Yamaha CP50.

High end, the Roland HP-307 seems like it might be a winner. The Roland RD-700GX with K-RD700GX1 expansion is pretty much the same acoustic piano sample, but in a stage piano form factor (it also has some good electric piano patches).

But please do try before you buy. Downloading the manuals and reading them before your trial is always time well-spent too.