Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards How happy are you with your Digital?

As I've stated before, I'm plenty satisfied with my CP33. The weak link isn't the hardware I'm using.

I like the comments justpin mentioned from a shop: "...the days of quantum leaps is over. The Japanese companies like to drip feed tech."

Drip-feed. Nice. Explains the CP33 / 300 to a large extent.

From an existentialist point of view: Chocolate


I love my old keyboard. To give her a number is degrading.

peterws, and that is why I write like I do

toddy, I read your post, here:

Still at the >8.5 stage after 18 months....let's say 9 ..... sometimes I wish I had ivory keys for a better grip and 3 sensors for fast repetitions but these are very minor gripes (you wouldn't have got these unless you were wealthy with an AP). And it's true that a brighter, cleaner sounding SN piano would have been nice but that could be taken care of with a low cost SW upgrade for the future: not important or urgent.

In all, the DP surpassed my expectations by a long way in terms of touch, sound and facilities. Improvements and additions can all be done with software, so no need to change in the foreseeable future.

There's just this abiding anxiety that you're getting something for nothing, which, measured against the old standards, I suppose you are.

EssBrace wrote:

0.0

Or could also be expressed as pointless.
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Well, at the rate that digital are being made, they would soon run out of elephants!

What is an AP? Is that an acoustic or something else?

What is an SN piano?

What is an SW?

And I guess a DP is a digital piano, right?

Thanks for any help.

Ahh yes - elephants: the thing is that 'ivory' means porous plastic (what Yamaha started advertising as 'Ivorite' a few decades ago. These days it is a feature of most mid- hi- priced digital pianos, but far fewer acoustic pianos, strangely enough. In any case, we would not want to see one single tusk of an elephant harmed for the sake of a piano key top....certainly not.

As for the rest, sorry about the ugly abbreviations.

SN is Roland's sound generating system. It stands for 'SuperNATURAL' which admittedly does not help matters.

SW is software, meaning piano sample sets & player systems that run in the computer.

AP is acoustic piano.

My score for my R V-P is 9.9/10. (It doesn't use R's SN, as its sounds are M, not S, which is why no other DP can touch it for realism).

Only a B I 290, and possibly a F F308, would score 10/10, but they are both G APs.

You can fix that by shoving bits of folded card or paper in between the joints. Well, it worked for me.

10-4

I remind myself how bad all my digitals are by playing them for 10 minutes and then playing my lowly U3. It blows them away in terms of every little possible detail, feel and sound. It's like being deaf for a while and then having your hearing fully restored.

I've had my P155 for a month plus two days. I'm happy with it because I researched the heck out of it before I purchased, I love the look, and I appreciate the feel. Not to mention, I feel like I got a great deal on it brand new.

A couple of weeks after purchasing, I started perusing more websites and found 100 next best things, for more money, but also more technology. I felt that maybe I could have found a better keyboard with more research effort.

After visiting a piano store, I felt the keys of the big CVP and didn't feel that much of a difference. I thought I would be tackling a huge difference on the CVP from the P155, but for now the P155 suits my clumsy practices fine.

I love my Yamaha P155; at work I think about coming home to practice on it. I can't wait until a few years pass, and I will get a nice acoustic piano.

Haha, likewise. Every time I go play the latest high end DP's, with their concert grand samples, grand piano actions and advanced resonance simulations, I get almost convinced. But then I come home to my U3 and it smokes them all - in spite of the bass becoming tubby below the low F, and the upright action - it still has a real raw power and subtle presence that DPs are yet to match as yet.

I still follow DP development keenly though. They just aren't there for me yet. I enjoy using Pianoteq the most at home. It doesn't necessarily sound like a real piano, but it's closest to the AP experience for me.

Yes, awesome... Until the EMP fries everything back
to the turn-of-the-century. The RPTs can NOT wait!

As this appears to be a two part question, I'll answer each separately.

1. My Casio PX-330 although it definitely is not in the league of say a Yamaha N3, delivers exactly as advertised. It gives reasonable performance for what it is and frankly more than can be expected in the sub $700 price range. So for what I paid for and expected, I'll give it a 9.

2. My ideal would be a Mason & Hamlin BB, but it will be a long time and a lot of development before a digital can be expected to approach that level.

Amusingly enough, when I was reflecting on what I've spent on each guitar, electric bass and violin I own, my Casio is the least expensive instrument in my collection.

DAVID

Peterws, I have read your post, here:

Michael, now many times did you come up for air on that sentence ?? BACK TO YOUR PRACTICE! You`ve had enough time out . . .

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I will invariably be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed,or numbered

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I realized what you said but it didn't really hit me until I had another look and laughed because I breathed and did dashes for ever and then 1,000 words later I put a period.

Years ago I did a lot of hiking and on one of the hikes a French Canadian said to me, Do you ever run out of things to say and I replied, no, I run our of people to listen.

So nothing much has changed in 20 plus years.

+1, the very same thoughts are comprised in my above scoring.

Following the line of Ando and Temperament, I would say that I'm quite happy with my modern DP's (boy, this has improved a lot since my first DP from 1987...). But I'm happier when I play my acoustic pianos. But when it's not an adequate time to play the acoustic I'm happy again because I can play in a way that if DP's didn't exist I couldn't to.

BTW, I'm just now starting to experiment with software pianos. A new world opened towards me... But it's not easy, it's quite a nerdy thing, messing with latency, the power of the computer, configurations... I'll ask you all experts for advice soon

Temperament, I have read your post,
I remind myself how bad all my digitals are by playing them for 10 minutes and then playing my lowly U3. It blows them away in terms of every little possible detail, feel and sound. It's like being deaf for a while and then having your hearing fully restored.


Haha, likewise. Every time I go play the latest high end DP's, with their concert grand samples, grand piano actions and advanced resonance simulations, I get almost convinced. But then I come home to my U3 and it smokes them all - in spite of the bass becoming tubby below the low F, and the upright action - it still has a real raw power and subtle presence that DPs are yet to match as yet.

I still follow DP development keenly though. They just aren't there for me yet. I enjoy using Pianoteq the most at home. It doesn't necessarily sound like a real piano, but it's closest to the AP experience for me.

+1, the very same thoughts are comprised in my above scoring.

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I understand that the first powerful computers took up a whole room and it had to be air conditioned. the operative words were "when I got home to my U3, whatever that is. I don't have a U anything so I don't know what it is. Is it a 3 legged piano?

When I was a kid i grew up in a trailer of about 200 square feet, the size of a Japanese apartment and with condos costing a half a billion dollars for 500 sq ft in my city who can have a piano there? - because they will get complaints the minutes you press middle C. Some acoustics cost $35,000 in Canada. If you worked at McDonalds, could you buy a piano and condo at half a million? You can get a digital in Canada for as little as a yam p 95 for $600 dollars and play 24 hours a day 365 days a year without a complaint.

So it is always context. When I was in hospital for a month I brought a keyboard and the hospital said I was the first person ever to bring a keybaord/paino. Now in seniors homes people have a room and a chair, I understand - I have never been in one - you could have digital next to your bed until you die which is awesome. So digitals are a priceless gift to the pianist who wants to play a piano until he/she drops dead.

I do not know how to answer this question.

Whether I want to replace it with other digital - after 6 months, no, absolutely not.
But I wish I had an acoustic + DP.

Would I replace my digital with acoustic alone? No, I need to practice silently, and I do not want a silent acoustic either.

So in the digital department the answer is probably 9 or 10, but in the overall piano department - probably 7.

Far too often, comparisons are drawn to "The Real Thing". Well, my CA95 needs no tuning ever, two men can easily move it about, the looks for an electronic gizmo is wonderful and the touch is darn'ed good.

I, make no comparisons to "The Real Thing" as that would be unfair. But for my use, and enjoyment, I give it these scores.

Looks - 10.0
Touch - 8.5
Value - 10.0
Tone - 9.0
Featureset - 9.5
Dealer - 10.0
Kawai Warranty Response - 3.0
Overall - 9.0

Kawai Warranty Response?