Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Digital Vs Accoustic!

I'm just curious! I prefer accoustic

The old story in my case, I live in an apartment block and wouldn't want to have to practise out on the streets. Besides, I can connect to MIDI software. Acoustics though win hands down, when it comes to sound quality, unless the digital is criminally high priced.

I have both in one because I have a silent piano, but I prefer to play in acoustic mode.

I can see the benefit of a digital piano and headphones for practicing, but I still feel the feeling of playin on accoustic is lost

Different strokes for different folks!

Apart from a lack of sustain (8 seconds for middle C on my 23 year old Clavinova) and lesser volume (30w + 30W - sufficient for the room it's in but not a match for an acoustic) I don't really notice that I'm not playing on an acoustic. I can command a wider dynamic range on my digital than I could get on either of my acoustics and I found it easier to move between my Clavinova and a nine-foot Blüthner grand I had access to for three weeks a year.

The sound isn't as good (though it's typically better when it's recorded) but the digital is better in every other way that I can think of. And the sound is not as important to me as my ability to control it.

I believe digitals are better now than anything Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, Haydn, Clementi, Mozart or Beethoven could ever have played and probably Schubert, too.

I have turned my back on acoustics for the home.

You can't accurately compare the two since they compliment each other more than they overlap one another.

It really boils down to studying the list of pros and cons of each specific one and see which one suits your needs best.

I have both and use them both when one works better for what I am doing than the other. I started out with a digital and later purchased an acoustic as well.

A digital can do things that an acoustic cannot but usually not the other way around in terms of features other than sound reproduction quality/authenticity. (Portability, headphones, lack of tuning, etc).

A good working condition upright piano can be had on Craigslist for $600. If things don't work out in a year or two, chances are you can re-sell it for what you paid. A digital on the other hand will plummet in value after several years just like other tech devices.

Make a decision based on all things considerd.

I have a couple of both, but I prefer acoustic. The sound isn't programmed inside a computer and you get a different sound when your technique changes.

Of course, I don't perform at bars and whatnot, so I don't have to transport my instrument around...

One of the advatages of a digital is that when you practice you can use headphones and do not disturb others.

I don't know of anyone who lives in a condo or an apartment that only has an acoustic. I have a 20 year old Klavanova which I think is awesome considering where digital has gone. I have a weighted keys keyboard. The acoustic piano I have had about 4 months. Even though I am only a beginner, I always stunned by the awesome sound of the piano. I am humbled and honoured to play the acoustic piano. Only recently did I open the top/lid of the piano and now I only play with the top open which is even more awesome if there is such a word. Sorry, but I hve a small vocabulary and awesome is my only big word.

Actually, I forgot a very important point. A digital piano with weighed keys - like a piano - in Canada is $500 and much less in the USA and much less if it is used means you can play/practice 24/7/365 anywhwere on the planet that has electricty which makes it the best because it is affordable, easy to move, usually 30 pounds, earphones if needed. This is particularly important because I grew up in a small house trailer in northern Canada and a piano was impossible, but an digital piano/keyboard would have been possible but they didn't exist when I was a kid. Also critically important, you can play a digital piano/keyboard at any angle, so you can play it on your back, in a wheel chair, in bed at home, at a hospital or in an old folks home to name a few.

Same here, I need to feel connected to the strings and "make the sound" myself.

Two different instruments.

The digital instrument is much more economic than any acoustic to start with, while featuring a reasonable piano keyboard and piano sound, and additionally offering plenty of extras:
- always in tune which makes it so pleasant for the ears every day again
- headphones; without headphones still possible to practice silently or play loudly
- adjustable reverb and sustain if needed for focussing the practice session on certain technical details, i.e. the training of legato playing
- having a recorder for inmediate feedback on your training progress
- easy playalong possibilities at different speeds
- have available an organ and harpsichord for baroque keyboard music
- MIDI, for taking advantage of all the other musical toys around
- have other sounds (E-Piano, E-Organ, Synthetic Soundscapes) available for the case that your piano playing interests would change to other (keyboard) styles.

The acoustic features a so far unbeatable sound, if you initially can invest enough.

You should take care to stay out of the bargain offer only scrappy boxes, and this applies for both, an acoustic or a digital. I would roughly say, that you have to invest 8000 $ for an acoustic or 3000 $ for a modern digital, to recveive decent instruments. If you don´t invest as much, both will somehow impact the pleasure you are searching for.

I have both and like both for different reasons. But for me I'd rather play on the acoustic for both feel and sound. Nothing compares! But yes all the features of a digital mentioned in previous posts are all good too. I see them as different tools for different needs. And I agree you have to spend some minimum amount to get something decent. But I will add you can get good deals if you shop around. I've bought all my instruments second hand and have had no problems.

Number of times I've sat down at my Clavinova in the 20 months since getting the Estonia grand?

Zero

nuff said.

I also have both and like both for their own advantages as others have stated. In fact, I just bought another DP to replace my Kohler DP26 despite having a new (to me) Yamaha U1. I want to take a "piano" when I travel, hence the trade. Hard to put a Console type DP in the car . Nevertheless, I much prefer the acoustic; strange as it may sound I can actually physically FEEL the music vibes emitted by the U1, not so much (any) with the KORG. If I could have only one , it would be the acoustic hands down.

I have been playing on digitals for several years. At the moment i own a Roland rp201 (nowhere near top of the line, but still pretty good). For a long time i've been pro-digital showing off my friends and piano teacher how great the sound was on the digital. It even mimics the soundboard resonnance when the damper is depressed and you hit the top end keys etc...

Now that i got my accoustic, the digital feels like a toy. For real. The sound on the real piano (its not even a grand btw) is just gorgeous! Even after a year and a half there is times i want to relearn old pieces just to hear how gorgeous it'ld sound on my accoustic. As for the weighted keys, it just doesn't feel the same at all. When i told my piano teacher about my dp feeling like a toy he told me he tough the same thing just didn't want tell me not to offend LOL!

The main difference to me is like Ragdoll said, you can FEEL the sound on the piano. Its loud, its in your face, it moves you. The sound is also way more difficult to control on an accoustic (dynamics, pedaling, etc...) but once you're used to it, it doesn't come close to digital.

I still keep my digital for MIDI usage and late night practice, but still i changed my practice schedule to be in the afternoon just to stay away from the digital as much as possible . It just doesnt feel the same anymore.

I have all three types: A Digital, an upright and a grand. And I love all three equally!

Each one for their own purposes but I adore them... I could't live without them really...

How can you post such a question without context? Surely there is a time and place for both. Budget, noise/volume, recording, portability, etc.

Gave my digital away when I got my Estonia grand. could not go near it after that..