Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Good purchasing options for student

Hi friends!

This is David. It's been a while since I last posted. Hope you are doing well.

I just got to know an incoming student to the Master's degree at Indiana University. He came from a music education background, with concentrations on piano performance, so he's not at the level of a, say, concert musician. He currently lives in a 2-bedroom apartment with a roommate, and wants to buy a digital piano for practicing himself. I thought a slab piano may be more applicable to his scenario, considering his living condition. He played on my VPC1 yesterday and felt the action was a bit heavy for him for fast runs, ETC. He is willing to buy something with a reliable action, and I think it's important for him to get such a piano.

So, what pianos do you recommend that has a good action, can plug in headphones, and is space-saving (slab preferred? Should he look at the Kawai ES series or Yamaha's YDP models?

Unfortunately, I'm very comfortable with my VPC1, so I don't know anything about the market right now. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!!!

The PHA50 might be an alternative, it's accurate and reliable, the FP90x has got it.

Also the GF2 om the MP11se could be an option, but the eventual sliptape issue would keep me away from it, would definitely buy an MP12 if it had the GF3 instead (solved the issue).

Other options are the ES920 or the P515, very different actions being the latter in the heavier side.

My 2c

For a quality light-action the Kawai ES7 or the Kawai Mp7SE would be my choice.

Hi Friend! 🙂

If he's going to play with headphones all the time, the Kawai MP7SE is a splendid choice. Otherwise, the ES920 or ES520 could be considered because they have onboard speakers.

All three of these could drive active monitor speakers or an amplifier with speakers.

Also, each of these come with an excellent optical continuous sustain pedal and each of these has a connector for the optional GFP-3 optical three-pedal set.

These would my first recommendations for your new acquaintance to look into.

Then there is the MP11SE which indeed feels lighter to play than your VPC1; it has longer wooden keys. The instrument is a slab, yet larger and rather heavier. The action is the first instance of Kawai's Grand Feel, not the second version as I think was mentioned above. MP11SE doesn't have speakers but does include the GFP-3 pedal unit which is great.

Cheers and happy consulting,

HZ

HZ, so wonderful to hear from you!!!

It would be great for him to have options -- speakers, headphones, and ETC. But I think at least with speakers and headphones that would be good.

I'll tell him about these modles and hopefully he can make a decision. It's a pitty that it's very difficult to buy something like this without testing the piano out physically... So anyone who have played these slabs, you are welcome to talk about your thoughts as you interact with these instruments!

Thank you!

David

Hello,

To obviously state the obvious -- yes, trying out in person is next to essential if at all in any way, shape or form possible.

Cheers and a happy Sunday,

HZ

For the purpose of comparison (without actually playing) I would say that the MP11SE is just a tiny bit slower than the MP7SE. I owned the MP11SE prior to the MP7SE.

It's not slower. I compared both recently, and the MP11SEfor acoustic piano if anything is a bit faster than the MP7SE. Granted, if you put tonewheel organ sounds on the MP7SE, that switches on an organ mode which speeds up the possible repitition rate.

At any rate, you don't need a superfast action if you develop solid piano technique. Super fast actions include the NWX, NW-GH, and RHCII. They are all really light, and do not give equivalent feeling of playing a piano compared to the MP7SE and MP11SE.

The PHA50 has a good downweight for piano, but is very unreflective on key-return----that feels slow. However, it plays fine none the less, albeit without quite the control of the RHIII and Grand Feel 1 for classical music. Excellent action for Rock, Blues, Jazz etc, where you want something durable.

If you're able to afford the MP11SE, and you're not going to be lifting it to gigs, and you don't need 4 layers and organs, then the MP11SE is the clear choice. It's heavy, it's action is a notch above other slab actions, and maybe only the VPC1 is a better choice for controlling VSTi pianos.

Whilst I read comments over the years sometimes saying the Grand Feel 1 action in the MP11SE was a bit slow, the instrument at Bonners in Milton Keynes showed me that it's clearly in its own league for slab piano actions. Yet to play the RM3 grand II, so that aside. Perhaps the Grand Feel needs a service from time to time to keep it working well, that might be why some units start to feel slow.

After forwarding him the info shared by you all, and after watching a couple of Youtube videos, he decided to get the ES920! OK, well, I guess that's one question out of the way. Wishing him all the best and he could get a good practice keyboard soon!

Advise him to buy a dust cover

That was a good choice. If he just wants a piano, the speakers in the ES920 will do more for him than the organ in an MP7SE will, and it currently is $400 cheaper than an MP7SE.

Hi David,

Nice to read from you!

I am so glad you are still enjoying the VPC1 after all this time. I am also enjoying mine daily

Best wishes,

Jose

That's good, thank you! And yes, he only wants a piano.

And a piano bench and 3-pedal system. Yes, I hope to find matching tools for him for sure!

Thank you, Jose!!! Yes, after getting the VPC1, I'm totally satisfied with my setup, there's nothing more to desire till the keyboard breaks down!

Re dust cover for ES920: There are a variety, some at different price points that may very well be identical. Nevertheless, this is the one I bought on AMZ for my 920 and it does the job and is EASY to pull off and put on. (I chose not to get one with a slit for the music desk; you can pull this one up over the music desk if desired, but that seems unnecessary.)

dust cover

That is very helpful, thank you!!! Hopefully there are bundles he can take advantage of, with bench, stand and 3-pedal system. Any modle numbers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello,

@David Lai, Matching the ES920 are these Kawai model numbers:

- Furniture-type Stand: HM-5
- 3-pedal bar that integrates with the stand: F-302
- Alternatively, one can opt for the separate 3-pedal unit: GFP-3
- Kawai dust cover: DC88-L

Note: Should a sustain pedal suffice for your friend (so one instead of three pedals), then a superb one is already included with the ES920.

Cheers and happy shopping,

HZ

Thank you, HZ! Yes, according to a video I watched on Youtube, I already know that about the sustain pedal that's included in the box. But for me, I always prefer a 3-pedal unit.

Thank you for the info, I'll forward all this to him!