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Hi
I went to a piano store in minneapolis to try out digital pianos and the piano i liked best (i think?) and that the sales guy seemed to like best was the Casio AP-38. I just had a few more questions about it that could be answered by someone who's played one.
Does it make a difference/is it confusing since it has no LCD screen? . . . Do the keys make a thumping sound when released (over time)? . . . Do all the pedals reliably work? . . . Do weighted keys help increase your dynamic range?
The one i played at the piano store kind of buzzed when i played it -- was it just that piano, or do they all do that?

Are there any other pianos in the Casio, Korg, Yamaha or Roland line that are pretty much no-frills but have a great sound that are definately superior to the Casio AP-38? Why?

I'd really appreciate any advice! Thanks!

In the world of digital pianos, there is much from which to choose! In "market share" figures, it is relatively lop-sided in favor of the Yamaha Clavinova. Music Merchandise Review has posted this product as "Digital Piano Of The Year" for 8 out of the last 10 years (as chosen by music dealers nation-wide).

But in the end, it is all personal choice! It's an individual decision and you, and ONLY you, should be the one to decide.

I am not sure what price range you are shopping, but the new Yamaha CLP 230 and/or 240 are two very respectable (and brand new) models with great touch, great Yamaha piano sound and not alot of "bells and whistles" to pay for.

Thanks! I'll google those to see what i find! price isn't TOO big of an object -- under 2500 preferably.

okay, so i looked at the Yamaha 230 and 240 but it was a lot of just saying "it's wonderful, blah, blah!". what exactly is "64 note polyphony"? any other useful info about them or casios anyone?

hey Bandgeek,

Simply put, polyphony is the amount of notes that a digital instrument can reproduce simultaneously without notes dropping out.

I think most would agree that 64 notes of polyphony is the minimum standard for anything decent these days.

The Roland HP, Kawai CN and Yamaha CLP series offer what you are looking for; a no frills great feeling and sounding digital piano.

I played the new CLP 200 series pianos and was relatively impressed with how they sounded and felt.

My personal preference is the tone and touch of the Roland HP series. You might consider the HP-103.

There is no replacement for your fingers and ears sitting smack in front of the instruments in question though.

Get out there and try everything you can. We can offer advice and help to guide you as to what to look for, but in the end your personal preference wins.

Hope this gives you a few options to consider. If you want to see info on some Roland digital instruments follow the link in my signature.

Good luck in your search.

PPBC

where's Gyro when ya need him ? ? ? ?

he's got an AP series, and he's been very pleased with it...

A built-in LCD screen seems to be a feature you
start to get in the 2500.00+ digitals. I have
no idea exactly what this does. I wouldn't think
you'd need this feature if you are just looking
for something to play on like a regular acoustic
piano.

All the "upright" style digitals now come with
weighted keys. All manufacturers have gone
to this because of the advantages it offers--
with it you have an instrument with essentially
the same action as an acoustic.

I have an AP-31, which is similar to the AP-38,
but with a less fine finish and only 2 built-in
pedals. The left one can be electronically
set to either soft or sostenuto, with
soft the default setting. I've had no
problems with the rt. pedal, it works
fine. I only use the rt. pedal, but I tried
the lt. pedal just to see how it worked and
it performed very well. I haven't bothered to
set the lt. pedal to sostenuto, because I
have only used the rt. pedal in over 30 yrs.
of playing.

This 128, 64, and 32 note polyphony is like
128, 64, and 32 bit encryption on your computer
(there must a relation between the
two since a digital piano is a computer).
You can use the old 32-bit encryption to
perform banking transactions over the internet
in perfect safety--no one in a million yrs.
is ever going to break even the obsolete 32-bit
encryption. And no pianist is going to be able
to play fast enough so that 32 note polyphony
can't handle his playing. 64 note polyphony
is more than enough.

As for the sound, I'm satisfied with the grand
piano sampling on my AP-31. To my ears at least
it sounds just like a grand piano.

As for other brands, my feeling is that all
brands these days use similar technology
and perform similarly to other brands in
the same price range. It's sort of like
cars, they'll all transport you reliably
and so the choice comes down to things like
styling, brand identification, pizzaz,
advertising, reputation, marketing etc.

This "buzzing" you mentioned I suspect is
from vibration caused by some loose fit,
like you sometimes get with the housings
of stereo speakers. This can be easily
remedied with a screwdriver or some minor
shimming.

As for the "key (and pedal) thump" you mentioned,
I did notice some of this (but at no time
was it ever a distraction) when I first
got my AP-31 new 4 mos. ago, but now that
the piano has been "broken in," so to speak,
I don't seem to notice any.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I really appreciate it and now i know more of what to look at/for. I'm going to try to play a few more before deciding though. Thanks!
~madeline

Does anyone else have suggestions/advice? Anyone have a second oppinion about the Roland HP-103? (thanks, PPBC!) It looks similar to the Yamaha CLP series. I really appreciate your Casio info Gyro. It definitely makes me more sure of it's quality.
thanks again
madeline

First, Since 32-bit encryption on computers is obsolete, you ever stop to wonder why?

Ok now thats out of the way.

Industry Standard for digital keyboards/pianos is 64 notes of polyphony. Anything less than that in this day and age, speaks to the overall level of technology present in that digital instrument.
This includes sound and build quality!

Top level technology for top level instruments.

You do get what you pay for and I would strongly advise you to spend to the absolute limit of your digital piano budget and don't settle for something with only 32 notes of polyphony as even moderate peices can quickly overload 32 notes of polyhpony and the note dropout sounds horrible. Combine a piano and string sound and you use that polyphony TWICE as fast.

The fact that a digital piano would "BUZZ" or need to have parts screwed tight or shimmed (unless it was a very beat up floor model) should say everything you need to know right there.

Like I stated above, 64 polyphony is standard for todays digital instruments.....As I heard on a commercial once....."Anything less would be uncivilized"

I would have said 128. Isn't it mostly entry-level products that have 64?

In many ways Steve,

(EDIT) My main point was that 32 poly is inadequate in todays day and age. I cant think of one current Roland keyboard/piano Product that has less than 64. Not even Yamaha can boast that.

I wish more products from more manufacturers had 128 but a lot are still at 64. I think by the next generation of Workstations, Digital Pianos and Home Instruments even 64 will seem archaic.

PPBC

bandgeek,

If you use the search function on this forum you will find several posts/threads relating to the HP103.

PPBC

thanks so much!

I guess this is good evidence of what I was saying in another thread -- that the pro market drives the consumer market. Among pro keyboards, 64 is already archaic. All my keyboards have 128 except for my almost 10 year old XP80, which has 64.

Man isn't that XP-80 Great though.

The XP80 is probably the best keyboard I've ever purchased. To think that it's still relevant after all this time is pretty incredible. In fact, I'll be using it tomorrow on a record I'm producing...