Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Casio GP 310 VS Nord Piano 4

I have an opportunity to buy these instruments for the same price (2400 bucks here). They say Casio's touch is superior, obviously. But what about sound (in headphones, first of all)? Why is Nord much more expensive than most of the slabs? Is it because of all these whistles and wow-wow-effects on it's front panel? Or because of really good piano sound, as some say?

I own the GP 310 and am very happy with it. I bought it for my basement studio as an acoustic is not an option for that space. The action was the determining factor and the sound of the Steinway patch - mellow is my favorite - is good. If sound quality and headphone use was my main focus though I may have gone in a different direction. Congratulations on your piano progress as I watched one of your videos. If you already have an acoustic and are looking for something to practice with headphones mostly I would recommend going with the Nord as it’s the quality of their sound samples along with the ability to download and customize patches from their website as the reason for the cost. As an added bonus it’s easily portable. Good luck and all the best ...

Thank you for the answer!
I also talked to one guy who has both Korg D1 (which I owned myself, and remember it as very good one) and Nord electro 5D. So, he says "I'm selling D1 now. D1 is good instrument, but Nord is pure joy".

If you like a wide variety of piano sounds with a bit of character thrown in then there's a good chance you'd like the Nord. I'm not quite the Nord fan I used to be but for sheer breadth and variety you can't beat Nord.

Action wise the Casio is WAY better. The Casio's Bechstein sample is quite okay. The Hamburg grand (Steinway) is plinky-plonky in the mid-range - a bit toy like if you ask me. None of the piano sounds sustain quite enough in my opinion but it's certainly useable.

In conclusion, Nord beats Casio for piano sound hands down, but the Casio is okay. Casio beats Nord for action hands down, but the Nord is okay.

What are your biggest priorities?

My priorities gradually shifted from action towards sound. That's why I consider Nord now. Some say their piano sounds are the closest to real.

Nord sounds the most real because there is character and little anomalies in the samples. In terms of recorded sound, of all digital pianos, including VSTs, Nord wins the realism prize to my ears.

To play however, it's not as straightforward! Nord is good but there are others that are as rewarding, or considerably more so perhaps.

+1


Nord samples and good vsts are miles ahead from any digital piano in the sound realism department