Hi all, haven't been on in a while and looking for input about a digital piano purchase. Started shopping for a digital piano, my first, a few weeks ago and currently doing research before purchase. I live in a town home sandwiched between two other town homes separated by concrete walls. Volume of my 5'10" grand can become an issue at times so decided to go digital for volume control.

I am a beginner to intermediate player and will be using the piano for in home practice and playing, do not gig, and do not use midi or record. Basically want a piano with good key action and realistic grand piano sound.

I walked into a music store that had only Casios on display and was impressed with the feel of the Casio Privia PX-860. Was also impressed with the sound of the 860. My concern is after perusing recent threads on the Digital Piano forum I haven't seen many (any) threads on Casio digital pianos. I'm beginning to feel that perhaps they are not highly regarded on this forum of which whom members opinions I highly respect.

Anyways, does anyone have an opinion on the Casio PX-860 or the newer PX-870? I'm trying to stay under or around $1,000. Any comparisons from other manufactures at a similar price point? Researched the Kawai ES-110 (100) in this forum which seems to receive great reviews, would that be a better option? The Kawai KDP90 is around my price point but haven't seen much in the forum about it.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Mike

You might be more impressed by the feel and sound of models from Yamaha, Kawai and Roland.

You already mentioned the Kawai KDP90. The next step up would be Kawai CN27. (Better touch and sound.)

The cheap models from Yamaha and Roland to check out would be Yamaha Arius YDP-163 (maybe Arius YDP-S52 too, or Clavinova CLP-625) and Roland RP-102, or the slightly more expensive F-140R or RP-501R, but they should feel and sound identical to the RP-102 unless there are differences in the speaker system.

The Casio PX-870 does have a new piano sound that's improved from the PX-860. "Not enough" a sarcastic person would say, but it's quite good of course. The new Casio Celviano AP-270 also has one more competely different piano sound, so you would have two to choose from. (And I suppose there are a few variations of the one on the PX-870, like bright and mellow versions.) Some people have commented about the pedals being shorter and closer to each other on Privias compared to Celvianos. They might also be closer to the player on the Privias, as they are slimline models. I'm not sure.

Maybe Korg C1 and G1 (or the old LP-380 if still available) could be worth checking out too. The "Air" in the model name (if exists, e.g. "Korg G1 AIR") refers to Bluetooth audio streaming.

I think that the Casio's have a great feel and sensitivity. The piano voices of the previous generation were artificial compared to some of the other samples I heard. When I owned the Casio PX-160, and I was playing it through headphones or speakers, I liked the Yamaha piano sound more.

Another problem with the Casio and another model I owned, the PX-350 was that the keys got noisier and noisier over time.

So I would take a serious look at the Casio with your budget if, 1) the piano sound is improved and 2) the keyboard action is improved. Another question, the Casio doesn't have sympathetic resonance. do any of the keyboards under $1000 have this feature? This adds realism to the sound.

You can get a Roland FP90 for $1494 at a website I saw with 3 year financing. That's what I would do.

Casio PX-5S has sympathetic resonance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFNeIaCBOE

So does PX-360.

https://azpianonews.blogspot.se/201...est-price-2016-portable-under-1000-.html

The PX-870 is definitely a strong option to consider in this price range. The new piano tone sounds fantastic, and there are lots of features that other pianos under 1000$ don't offer.
As for the sympathetic resonance, the PX-870 actually has that. It has adjustable string resonance (4 levels) as well as damper resonance, key off simulator and some other elements of piano sound.

I'd prefer the PX-870 over the Yamaha YDP-143 and the Kawai KDP90, but if you're ready to invest more money, the Kawai CN27 would provide an even more realistic action and probably sound.

I stand corrected. From Casio's website: "The PX-870 also includes string resonance, which exposes the sympathetic harmonic relationships between vibrating strings."

You didn't state none of the Casios had sympathetic resonance, you only asked. So there's nothing to correct. That's how we find out things, by asking.

Edit You did say so about the PX870 so now I stand corrected, LOL. It would also have been a strange move for Casio to have no sympathetic resonance in a new model, and thus downgrade from older ones. I'd guess the PX860 has sympathetic resonance since the PX360 does.

The PX-870 is probably a good choice, in the "up to $1,000" bracket. The FP-90 stretches the budget (especially if you buy a stand and 3-pedal unit), but IMHO has better action and sound.

If you can, play them both before buying either one. There's less regret that way, whichever you get.

I've been using the 860 for over a year and love it. I find the piano sound and pedal action very realistic, so not sure how much better the 870 sound can be. Also, the action is the same on both the 860 and 870.

My advice, if you can find a new 860 for $800-$850, I'd go for that. Otherwise, I'd go for the reportedly improved 870 sound for $1000, which is what I paid for my 860 in 2016.

I got my FP-90 with a $35 Z-stand - super sturdy, and it comes with a continuous sustain piano-like pedal, and I use two cheap footswitches - one for soft and the other for Pianoteq's pinched harmonic effect which is really cool. However, I almost never use the two other pedals.

But it does bust the $1000 budget. I'm paying $42/month for my FP-90, and I have two more years before I'm in the clear.

Damn, that's cheap. Oo
That thing costs 1.75K € (2082.03 $) + whatever you pay for stand / pedals over here.

It's $1800 US at GuitarCenter and Sweetwater and Sam Ash, without stand.

Thinking about the OP, that's _way_ outside budget.

When I checked, it was 17% off at Musiciansfriend. Plus they give you 8% credit to spend 60 days after the sale.

Audioworksct.com also has great prices.

Wow, that its a fantastic price on the FP90! I will definitely demo one. A little budget stretch but might be able to swing it.

Thank you all for your input it is greatly appreciated!

The Casio PX 870 sounds (on YT) much better than the older model, and I particularly like it's styling. Now, if they would improve on that action . . . .can't understand why they haven't already; wouldn't cost much to extend the pivot length a tad and cram it all in that nice small space, would it?