Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards An Acoustic Upright vs a Yamaha YDP 142

Hello All,

I have decided to return to classical piano seriously and aim to apply to compete in an amateur competition in a couple of years. However, I am stuck on what instrument to buy.

A Yamaha YDP 142 Digital Piano fits the bill on:
1) Price
2) Practicing at any time I want
3) Tone (A sampled Yamaha concert grand) and Touch

A real acoustic, upright piano however would certainly be more inspiring, and when I become a home owner, could revel in my playing any time of the day or night. However, living in an apartment and working a full time career, an acoustic would pretty severely limit my daily practice hours for the foreseeable future.

Just an FYI, if I got an upright, I'd want to get a really good instrument like W. Hoffmann or even an Academy Bechstein if I could find a dealer willing to give me a fair but good deal, considering the fact that I would pay in cash.

Thanks for your thoughts!

You are going to have to test drive these guys yourself before you can make a decision about that. Luckily you have the fingers for it. An upright might be more inspiring, but then a lot of uprights are absolute dogs and they definitely make a lot of racket. Totally depends on which upright you can reasonably afford.

On the DP side, I don't think you need to limit yourself to the 142. For the same price you can have the P155, which has the more expensive Yamaha action and which I feel is a better piano. And there's always Casio. And Kawai has the EP3 in that price range that is very well liked. All DP's are sampled from truly exceptional pianos, so there's really nothing special about the sounds of the YDP142.

Actually since you can stretch to buy an acoustic, you might want to look around at some of the DP's that are nicer than the above. Just because you are getting a DP doesn't mean it needs to be wholly unsatisfying. There is middle ground between the low-end DP's and a high-end upright.

Thanks gvfarns. I think I have likely settled on a good acoustic upright. I've really been delighted by W. Hoffmann. I think I I've decided that I'm willing to trade the convenience of late night practicing for the experience of being in absolute control of the sound of a quality acoustic instrument.

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts and advice!

You can always get a used slab for night time practice . . .

The Roland V-Piano! (that is currently collecting dust at the dealership)

For serious classical piano nothing beats the real thing. Period.

Whats the real thing?

a. $6k 45" mass produced upright
b. $25k 50" hand crafted upright
c. $300k concert grand

Seems the rabid dp enthusiasts believe something like the MP10 blows away choice (a) above. I do not agree with that.

I have recently tuned my Scholze upright which I believe won't sell for more than $400 (here in Bulgaria). It hadn't been tuned for 10 years and I thought it was rubbish but now it feels better than any of the digital pianos I have had (in my signature). With that in mind, $6k for an upright sounds like a killer piano to me! With some luck you can buy a brand new Kawai K5 upright or Yamaha U1 and that would be light years ahead of any current digital piano.

I guess you're not too impressed with the new VPC1 + software piano "realism" either.

Well, I live in an apartment where I can only play a digital piano with headphones, so I don't have much of a choice. I went through a spiral of changing different digital piano brands and models, using software. I have finally realized that there's always something wrong in digital pianos regardless of their price. I am not complaining though. I've learned to just enjoy the music and practice my technique on the digital. But if I had choice, I would certainly go for a real piano, even cheap one. The upright is in my parents' house which is 200km away so that makes it a very rare experience for me but is totally worth it.

It may sound like a totally crazy idea (friends of mine tell me I am mad) but I am currently thinking of buying some cheap house in a village nearby (which means $20k at most in Bulgaria) where I can put an acoustic and go over there for the weekends, playing piano in the thick of the wood so to say, relaxing myself in the nature, breathing the clean mountain air... but playing the piano mostly

I'm in the same boat. A real piano in an apartment simply won't work. I won't be able to play it when I want, or if I do you have neighbors breaking down your door. Been there and done that and it really sucks.

CyberGene - that is not so crazy. Some piano friends and I have been looking at renting a studio or similar space in which we could put a grand piano and practice whenever we want.

As for us 'rabid db enthusiasts' playing hyper 'realistic' keyboards - well I don't kid myself that its a compromise but at least I can play whenever I want. I don't think its hurting my progress that much.

Not such a crazy idea!

Playing an acoustic upright in an apt. or condo, even in the daytime, is all but ruled out because of the noise factor, so forget about an acoustic upright.

Of course, to a person returning to classical piano after many years away, a fine acoustic upright will seem to sound fantastic when played in a store. But try this. Go back to the store and play that expensive upright at least twice more. After the third time you play it, the novelty will have worn off and it won't sound all that great.

Buying such an instrument will be a complete waste of money, because when you get it home it won't sound so fantastic after you've played it a month, and furthermore, the neighbors will find ways to stop your playing. So you'll end up with a heavy, expensive, unusable piece of furniture in your living room.

Any weighted-key digital piano would be okay for practicing. I used to use a $600 digital console, one of the cheapest digitals around, and it was adequate for practicing anything, including big 19th century concertos.

May I ask what instrument you are playing on these days Gyro?

James
x

As a member that's only been around for like a year, having heard the legends and tales, it's almost like a spiritual moment.

Yup...I'm looking around for Rod Serling.


To the OP. Seriously....You're returning to classical piano seriously? A YDP? I don't think so. There is a world of difference between a low level DP and a high end DP. Something like a VPC with a good software piano is what you want.
Wait on an acoustic till after you have the house.

Anybody who thinks they can play the lowest cheapest DP and do fine with classical. They must play like a wounded water buffalo in heat. I don't want to hear it. The dog doesn't want to hear it. It is considered cruel and unusual punishment in prison. It is a violation of the Geneva Convention.

You had to ask!? .... Doh!

"Anybody who thinks they can play the lowest cheapest DP and do fine with classical. They must play like a wounded water buffalo in heat."

Bet you`ve never tried! Yamaha`s GHS isn`t the best. I rate it one of the worst. But I`m seriously wondering if the difference between "bottom end" and "midrange" is appreciable. There certainly isn`t that much between "midrange" and "totr" imo. And how many of us use the advanced features like "escapement" more than just now and again?

Might be more pleasant to play. Would it make a big difference to the playing? Only if you hit the black notes regularly . . . . and have phat phingers . .

A real key bed weights 70-80lbs. Be my guest in trying to lug that thing around. May as well be 450lbs like a real piano. A P-105 weights 26lbs and that is hard to carry. And the prices of these "advanced" piano's are a joke.

P105 - $600 (didn't even need a dedicated stand)
RD-700nx - $2800

What i wanted is the P-155 with state of the art samples and no speakers. Something like that will probably never exist.