Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards NEW STUDENT NEEDS ADVICE ON KEYBOARD TO BUY

I am a brand new student and looking for my best option on what keyboard to purchase. The options are between a keyboard with built-in speakers, like the Yamaha P-120 or Korg SP 170/250; or do I go with something that doesnt have built-in speakers but has better sound when amplified like a Yamaha CP33 or Roland FP3? The latter will probably be something I can keep longer without having to think about an upgrade down the road? Any advice is much appreciated!

The P120 is long out of production. It was replaced by the P140 which in turn was replaced by the P155.

External speakers can sound MUCH better than the internal speakers of any digital piano. It depends on what you are willing to spend on them, prices start at $200 and the sky is the upper limit. You may want good speakers evenif you have internal speakers.

That said, you'll be using headphones a lot of the time and and small internal speakers are good enough for practice.

No digital piano is a long term investment. They are more like computers or cell phones, plan on upgrading them.

You can learn equally well on any piano that has a decent weighted hammer action keyboard.

I have a P155. Just recently I added a pair of speakers. I used some large 36" tall floor standing full range speakers. The sound is MUCH better on these then with smaller speakers and a subwoofer setup but the trade off is space. My speakers are quite large and require a separate amplifier.

The problem is the quality to price curve is non-linear. You can get a good DP for $500. A slightly better one for $1K and a slightly better one for $2K. You have to pick a price point.

As you say, a piano is surely not a long-term investment, or even a short-term one. It's not an investment at all.

But I expect mine will be a long-term ownership. There are plenty of people here who are just getting around to replacing their 10- or 20-year-old pianos. I'm hoping mine lasts that long, too.