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Does anyone know if this is a good model digital piano? I went into a store looking for a either used acoustic upright or Yamaha Clavinova. This Casio was shown to me and it seemed pretty good, but I know nothing about acoustic or digitals. This model seems like it does a lot, but costs less than the Yamaha CVP's and CLP's.

A couple of months ago I bought a Casio AP-31
digital upright piano on the internet for
700.00 total, delivered 2nd day air. I'm
quite satisfied with it. It has true weighted
hammer action keys just like an acoustic piano,
a sliding keyboard cover, record and playback
at the touch of a button, two built-in pedals,
grand piano sampling, and the basic
features that most digital pianos come
with. The AP-31 is apparently the
discontinued economy model
for Casio digital uprights--the
current comparable model seems to
be the AP-24, at around 725.00 on the
internet.

I see the AL-150R advertised on the internet
for around 2800.00--this is very expensive for
a digital upright and means it must have every
imaginable computerized feature included,
plus super-enhanced sampling that should be
almost indistinguishable from an acoustic
grand piano.

seems like it is laden with bells and whistles, but from reading the specs whats under the hood,, you could do better for that kind of money.

I'm not a big fan of the caiso sound, but they do offer some great bang for the buck values as in the privia stage units and some of the APs..

this one doesn't seem to fit that mold..

only 64 notes poly (which could arguably be plenty I suppose),but what's the deal with LIGHTED keys???

I thought the same about the lighted keys...seems kind of tacky, however they may be good for my 5 year old to start learning. I'm not sure what the 64 notes poly even means. I guess that's not good? The best deal I found on the AL150R is $2799 including headphones, a piano bench and Yamaha Music Studio software. To be honest, I really wanted a polished black and can't afford the Yamaha Clavinova in Black. In order to get a black Clavinova I would have to get one of the highest priced models with a lot of extras that I don't need and pay over $6000.
Kidblast...you said I can do better for the money - any suggestions on what to look at?

Thanks all.

I thought the same about the lighted keys...seems kind of tacky, however they may be good for my 5 year old to start learning. I'm not sure what the 64 notes poly even means. I guess that's not good? The best deal I found on the AL150R is $2799 including headphones, a piano bench and Yamaha Music Studio software. To be honest, I really wanted a polished black and can't afford the Yamaha Clavinova in Black. In order to get a black Clavinova I would have to get one of the highest priced models with a lot of extras that I don't need and pay over $6000.
Kidblast...you said I can do better for the money - any suggestions on what to look at?

Thanks all.

The AP-31 I have is quite satisfactory and I
play everything on it from chopsticks to the
most difficult classical pieces. The action
is equivalent to an acoustic piano. If you
don't mind using a screwdriver, you can get
the comparable AP-24 on the internet for
around 725.00-750.00. Plus there are a whole
bunch of digital uprights of various makes in
the 1500.00 range on the internet, which
all should be good.

The additional computerized features you
get in the ones in the 2500.00 and up price
range are nice to have, but you probably won't
be using them much. This is why I went for
the AP-31. I wanted just a regular piano that
I could play like an acoustic piano. But
the instant record and playback feature on
the AP-31 is handy when you want to play a
duet with yourself (record the accompaniment
first then play along with it), or if you're
playing the piano solo of a concerto and
want to see how the solo part sounds with
the orchestra/2nd piano part.

In the past I've owned a high quality
Korg digital upright which have that great
Korg sound but didn't have true weighted keys
since at the time I bought it more than 10
yrs. ago weighted keys were a very expensive
luxury, and a high-quality acoustic upright
piano which was a terrific to play on but
which required frequent and expensive tuning
and maintenance to keep it operating in top
form. I acually prefer the AP-31 to these
other pianos because of its weighted keys
and because, like all digitals, it is completely
maintenance free.

Where at in PA are you?

64 ployphony = the number of notes that will play before notes start getting canceled out.
Not something you would find a limitation on unless you were playing long and fast streaming lines where you wanted all the notes to sustain.
most of the higher end digital pianos have 128.

As for what other things to look for, it depends on a few things -- if cosmetics are important, that can change things a bit.

the methods used for sampling and tone generation will vary from model to model. So it's a good idea to expose your ears and hands to a few different ones. eventually you will know what sounds better to your ears.

the new clavinova's should start to show up in the states soon, and I think they are in the same price range as this casio.

I have a yamaha PF500, which has the guts of a CLP150, but it is not a traditional style cabinet, it's very contemporary in appearance.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail/0,,CNTID%253D2732%2526CTID%253D205900,00.html

they're around $2,200 (us) it was more than I wanted to spend, but to my ears, it blew everything else I tried away, hands down.

It doesn't sound like something you are looking for however based on the cabinet style.

I played a lot of pianos when I was shopping for an upgrade a few months ago, (Rolands, Korgs, Casio, etc.) I found the Casios had a bit of a darker sound, and just not impressed with Roland or Korgs that were available to try out.

if you can find a guitar center, it may be worth the trip. they should have a decent array of digital pianos setup and ready to road test. Ask for headphones, or bring your own set in and compare..


Good luck in shopping, and I'm sure you will be very happy with the casio if that's what you decide on, it's really all subject to your personal preferences. get out there and shop around! why that's half the fun!! 8^)

Do yourself a huge favor and don't but the casio. Stick with a clavinova or Roland equivalent.

Sure the lights are "neat", but thats about it.

Good luck!
C

Well, I'm quite satisfied with the AP-31 and like
it better every day I own it. It's something
of a new experiece for me having played
only acoustics in the past and then the
high-end Korg for more than 10 yrs. I bought
it sight-unseen over the internet and was not
sure what I was going to get. But Casio has
been in the electric keyboard business longer
than just about anyone else and that was a
factor that made me choose it over other
brands. When I was shopping around I considered
Korg, Kurzweil, Suzuki and other uprights
and stage pianos in the 1000.00-1500.00
range, but I finally went with the AP-31
because of the price, and because
I'd be using it just as a regular piano, and
also because frankly I curious to see what
kind of upright Casio would make, since I've
always been impressed with their portable
keyboards. It's best feature in my opinion
is its weighted keys, which have a clickety-clunk
mechanical feel to them that reproduces the
action of an acoustic piano to a very high degree.