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Hello.

I am looking for a keyboard with weighted key action thats under $400.

is there such a thing that cheap with good quality?


thanks

nope

check out :

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Casio-Privia-PX200-88-Key-Weighted-Slab-Piano?sku=700919

thanks.

Or you could get the Williams Encore. Its $399, I've tried it at a music store before and it feels and sound good for that price.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Williams-Encore-88-Key-Digital-Piano?sku=700311

http://www.williamspianos.com/products/encore.cfm

craigslist.org has lots of weighted pianos in that price range. So does ebay.com , but shipping is expensive.

Your profile doesn't say what city you're near.

M-Audio Prokeys 88?

I'm by Chicago

I don't want something that sounds like crap though. Like what Ipcmidst128 said "it sounds good for that price."

So basically for good sound i need to buy a more expensive one unless I go through craiglist or ebay?

I prefer not to use ebay though.

I would suggest going to a music store like Guitar Center or Sam Ash and play around with the keyboards first. Compared each keyboards sound, controls, ease of use, feel of the keys, etc... Then after you find one that you like you look around stores and online for the best price. Online is usually free shipping and sometimes no tax.

Of course a keyboard won't sound like a 9 foot concert grand piano.

I wouldn't recommend buying relatively unknown brands or through craiglist and ebay if you haven't played on the keyboard or don't know what it feels like.

You could look through the Casio Privia range of pianos [px200, 320]; lots of forum members own them. Or the Korg SP250.

However, from most of the prices I've seen online, you might have to compromise a little and add more money... and NO, a keyboard doesn't have to be expensive in order to have a good sound.

You need not spend a fortune in getting good, decent piano sound from a particular DP.

For your budget of $400, the PX-200 is priced close enough and would be a good candidate for getting your money's worth.

For it's price, the PX-200 wouldn't be skimping on polyphony (it has 128-note polyphony), connectivity options and some features like other DPs within its price range.

If you want a Yamaha, then you're best bet would be the YPG-625...again, you have to realize, that despite its ample features and hundreds of instrument tones, it only has 32-note polyphony. And its priced around $700 (see HERE ) . But hope is on the way, however, as the newer YPG-635 is coming in the next couple of months with 64-note polyphony...so if you badly want a "Yamaha" and you can wait...then this might be a good upcoming model.

Or you could go for the Yamaha P-85 (see HERE )


If you must consider the YPG-625, however, it brings you within the price range of a worthy competition, the Casio PX-320 which is priced at $699, see HERE

The PX-200 and PX-320 BOTH have the same sound source/engine (i.e. "AiF" sound source). The piano sounds/samples are the same...the PX-320 only has added features.

If you're curious or if you want to hear how the PX-200/PX-320 piano sounds like, check out these links:
Seaside Lee and his PX-320 recordings

My 1st recording using the PX-320

There is no better substitute than dropping by various music stores and trying out, "hearing" out the different DPs within your budget range...and then you decide which to get.

I'm going this weekend and was wondering what a good weight would be to look at?

thanks again for everyones help

There is basically only one weight.

A real piano has light keys and a light action, but when you press a key, it actuates a hammer mallet at the end of a stick. The harder you press the keys, the faster the heavy mallet flies and hits the string.

Since pianos have been made for over 200 years, they have figured out how strong the average pianist's fingers are and tried all the different mallet weights and stick lengths and came up with a design that worked well.

Digital pianos allow you to turn up or down the volume at will, so the sweet spot on weight no longer has anything to do with volume. It has to do with how well the average pianist can control their finger muscles to make some notes sound louder or softer on purpose, dynamics.

Luckily for us, the sweet spot for dynamics is about the same as the sweet spot for dynamics and volume on an accoustic piano.

There is a range and serious pianists could argue for days on their preference of hard and soft, but for most of us it's all about the same. Since mass marketed pianos target the mass market, they try to find the spot where half their customers might prefer harder and half softer.

For $400 you're going to get a mass market weighted key piano like a Casio or Yamaha and I doubt you'll notice the difference much. The keyboards also tend to loosen up over the first few months.

For $400 I don't think you can go wrong buying just about any weighted key piano, especially if you stick with a popular brand. Instead of the key weight, I recommend you focus on the pedal, chair, and stand. After that, I still think sound quality would be more important than key weight.