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Hello,

I am a student at a conservatory, and I've been playing piano for about 15 years. For all my life I've been practicing on real pianos. Now I'm an international student, and I want to buy myself a portable keyboard-digital piano. I don't know what to get.

See, the ONLY thing I care about is the quality of the keys, nothing else. It does not have to be a digital piano, since I have a MacBook pro, I can use pianoteq. Oh, and I want to buy something portable, so it needs to be (I don't know how to say this)- legless? So it should need a stand.

My price range is about 600-800 euros. Maybe a bit more, if it really deserves it. For now, my searches have come up with Yamaha P85. But as I said, I don't care if it has speakers or not, playback songs, recording... none of that. But it HAS to have a very good touch.

So those of you who know their way around the keyboard-digital piano scene, can you please help me and recommend me something =)

Thanks,
Emil

Take a look at this thread.

The better keys are by Kawai and Roland, but the best ones are probably to high priced for your budget. The Yamaha AvantGrand has even better keys, but a sick price.

Take a look at the SP250 in the link.

What you want is a "stage piano" or a "midi-controler". The midi controller is just a keyboard and has not samples inside and can't on it's own make any sound. You'd use a computer for that. But of course the digital piano can always be used as a midi controller.

Think about speakers. You'll need them unless you only play with headphones. So having a digital piano with it's built in speakers means you have less gear to carry around and can play without the computer. Also the digital pianos don't cost much different from a controllers, prices overlap.

One big problem: You want both a low cost instrument and "the best quality" key action. You will have to compromise one of those two things. The best key actions come with $2,500 pianos.

If you like the key action in the P85 then you are in luck because it uses the "GHS" action which is Yamaha's lowest priced weighted key action and it fits in to your budget. But to move up from GHS keys to either Yamaha's "GH" or Rolands "PHA II" or Kawai's wooden key will more then double the cost of the P85.

Thanks a lot,

I'll try to find P85 and SP250 in one of the piano shops here, and test them both and then decide.

Again, thank you for the quick response! =)

Cheers

Oh, you've not tried a P85 yet. I thought you had said you liked it. While you are in the store, try out a Yamaha P140 or P155. Both of these use Yamaha's better "GH" actions. I think you may want to move up to GH.

I was unable to find an SP250 to try. Even after asking at korg USA if any retailers had one to try.

Keep an eye out for the Korg LP350, is has the same keyboard RH3 (which I think outperform GH3), but the DP is on a stand.

See I have the catalogue from a store here, but I haven't been there or tried anything. I'm just reading reviews and checking out prices from the catalogue and on the internet.

The P155 seems to be over 1000euros, but I can't find P140 in the catalogue, I'll ask around on that one.
SP250 is in the catalogue, listed for 680 euros, so I'm guessing they have one to try =)

...also I'm going to use headphones, I'm not worried about speakers. And when I say I want the "best", I mean the best I can get for that price =D... needless to say, it would be nice winning the lottery nowadays.

So ok, that means I have 3 choices to try out when I go to the shop right? P85, P140, and SP250.

But also I'm wondering... these all have built in speakers and samples right? So wouldn't there be a midi controller for the same price with better quality keys? I mean I'm just thinking with very simple logic: For the price of "Good keys and sounds and speakers", I should be able to find "even better keys and no sounds or speakers"?

Electronics and speakers don't cost much to make. Key actions are expensive and have many mechanical parts.

What I've noticed about midi controlers is that they are either very cheap that are used for editing music on a computer or expensive and used on stage. You price point is in the middel, more then a cheap controllers but not into the range of a profesional stage instrument. In this mid ground there is the Yamaha KX8. It uses the same GHS key action as the P85 but I think it is discontinued. I see then in the local Guitar center for about $400. But I don't see then intheon-line catalog. Same for the P140. It was replaced by the P155 and only some stores still have old tock left.

One other thing. Yo can always get at least 10% off justby asking and many times 15% off. Be agressive and ask for a free stand, 15% off no payments for 6 months and so on. You will get half of what you ask for at least. Guitar Centers wil match Music123's current 20% off deal. That's how I bought my P155 for $960 delevery included with free headphones tossed in too.

eterten, if you want "very high key quality" you have to increase your budget dramatically, perhaps to the double

The OP is probably better off trotting over to a shop (or two or four) and trying out everything that matches their physical requirements. From there, they can then decide on their optimum balance of action quality and price. They don't mention if this is going to be their primary instrument, or just something for occasional use if no acoustic is around. If the former, then they may want to spring for higher quality even if it busts the budget. If the latter, then sacrificing some quality to fit within their budget may be more palatable. Only the OP can determine where that magic balance point is though.

Whoa you got your P155 for $960?? It says 1345 euros in this catalog that's about 2000 dollars!! That's ridiculous! Should I maybe buy it online from an American store and have them ship it maybe??

About the part on bartering... See I'm an international student, in the Netherlands... These guys don't haggle, at all =)
Maybe the music shop will, but I can't be sure of myself because I've only been here for about 3 months.
But I am going to try and ask for a stand now that you mention it. Let's just hope they won't attack me and kick me out of the shop for trying =D

I checked the prices in USD and EURs and they are the same.
It means that if something costs in states 1199$ it will cost 1199Euros in Europe.