Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Donner DDP-80 | Honest Review

I know what you mean there. Although ..... these days ... with improved manufacturing processes, and a capable group in a company ..... and maybe some good marketing and reviews from people that lots of people tend to trust, and also not underestimating the intelligence and experience of any particular customer ....... it is certainly possible to buy relatively cheap and good quality.

Sure .... there may be less features than higher priced instruments. But a product that appears to be satisfactory and workable in the opinon of various music personalities --- has a good chance of being appreciated by a lot of customers.

I don't know if this product is available for tryout at eg. walmatt or music stores. If it does surface at a music store ---- then I'll certainly head over to push a few keys, and listen ... and give my opinion.

True rick. With experience, and a suitable approach ..... it's possible to buy nice gear at appealing prices. Nice post rick. Thsnks for sharing your experience about toshiba .... and mentioning the relation with hisense.

I'm comparing my impressions with the YouTubers and this was the reason for this thread, because of the huge difference. The praise does not match the quality of the piano at all. The action itself is the most annoying thing about it. I measured the middle C at 106 grams, the next C# was at 146 grams. Closer to the pivot point, it gets worse quickly. Sure, there are people who are okay with this, but it's far from "like a real acoustic action".

very interesting Tyr, how far exactly does the key go down at 106 grams, so we can compare.

Excuse the typos. Was typing on the phone screen earlier, and some went under the radar.

Wouldn't be too bad if you get a free DP sent by the company for your honest review. Next you take the keyboard to a social gathering. Your playing matters more than the piano sound of the instrument which in everybody's opinion isn't the greatest.



This is a keyboard with 88 weighted keys you can easily take on the road for busking or to places without a piano / keyboard. Although the instrument isn't marketed as a portable keyboard, you unscrew the legs and take it to different venues. Once I had a Roland 76 with soft-touch keys. It's kind of heavy but managed to take it to a senior home performance. The piano sound is mellow and not exactly like a real acoustic piano but still nice to listen to. A lot of people including myself would rather have a keyboard that is semi-weighted or with soft-touch keys than 1 that is too heavy compared to an acoustic piano.

So far none of the people who reviewed the keyboard said anything negative about the action so in their opinion it's a playable instrument.

To be fair: There is a difference between an audience who wants to listen to your playing and an audience on a wedding or similar happening where you play barpiano in the background.

It's fine for that. But this can be accomplished by any instrument. It's not a unique feature of the DDP (albeit the look fits in better than a black plastic piano).

Tyr .... I know what you mean. But I'm sure that any highly skilled piano player can make this piano sound impressive. I also reckon that even beginner piano players can make nice music on this one. The sound is quite satisfactory in my opinion. Quite nice actually.

I don't have a problem with the sound quality. It's good for what it is. The notes are blending well together though it lacks a bit body, which is normal in this price range. But it's not that good as Jeremy says in his video.

It's like saying: This Hyundai i10 drives and feels like a Mercedes because it has 4 wheels and a steering wheel.

+100

Absolutely. If this instrument had been unsatisfactory for playing ..... then at least one of those personalities would have spoken out about it. They don't appear to be the kind that want their reputation tarnished over something like an unsatisfactory input system.

The most comprehensive review can be found here: https://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2022/01/donner-ddp-80-review-digital-piano.html?m=1

I wonder how many and how much reviewers are "sponsored" by those sellers. It's not pianos that gets worse, it's reviews and people expectations and understanding of the reason behind the "reviews" of at least SOME of those reviewers
I undersand those chinese manufacturers are very keep to use Youtube and inflencers to drop-ship their products

as for me, I don't call that a cabinet to begin with. It's a slab with a (quite bad) 3 pedal unit. So at $600 we're in the price range of ES110 or FP30 or quite close

Tyr, how far does the key go down with the 106g weight you used.

Donner DEP-20
https://idonner.eu/collections/upri...nd-triple-pedal-real-piano-touch-dep-20s

"Adopted French DREAM Sound Source"

Donner DDP-100(Their highest model)
https://idonner.eu/collections/upri...-for-beginners-hobbyists-ddp-100-black-1

"The DREAM sound source give you..."

Donner DDP-80
https://idonner.eu/collections/upri...beautiful-wooden-style-with-three-pedals

"The samples are created with advanced intelligent sampling technology and a beautiful French grand piano piano"

If you remember my last comment here you may have noticed "French Dream Sound Engine" appeared in all their model descriptions. Years ago I read an article about how such DPs are made, the manufacturers imported the same components from the same supplier(an European company), assembled them and printed their own brands on, then sell them cheap. now it seems someone is copying this business model and doing it worldwide...I won't say this is a bad deal considering its cheap price, however again you need to know you only get what you paid for.

I read the review, and found it interesting. I will say that, compared to most other new digital pianos in the price range, it does seem to "stand out" somewhat, in terms of looks. Regarding the key touch, not having ever played one, it sounds like the touch would be similar to many other DPs in its price range.

However, when it comes to the sounds/tones/buttons, bells and whistles, etc..., there are none; or, should I say there's only one. I suppose there is a market for such a DP, but being an acoustic piano owner, and a DP owner, it seems to me the purpose of owning a digital piano is to have all the different piano tones, sounds, combos and variations of sounds, and the various accompaniments.

I know on my own DP, there are a few piano tones I like best, and play the most, but I do like having all the other tones/sounds/accompaniments and other options.

On the other hand, if one is looking for a somewhat simple, portable DP, with only one piano tone, maybe this one would be fine. The look of it kind of reminds me of the early electric pianos of the 70s/80s, like the Fender Rhodes, Yamaha and others.

Rick

The people who posted reviews on the keyboard have YouTube channels with thousands of subscribers. What they say & don't say on a product would give a lot of credibility.

Read somewhere many Chinese companies/sellers got their listings removed from Amazon. Companies insiders paid people to post positive reviews about their products so that the products got more stars and appeared higher on the search list. A violation of posting rules.

Trying to buy positive reviews is hardly unique to the Chinese.
(Though they do seem to have an above-average cultural disregard for honesty... or with well over a billion people there's just a plentitude of bad eggs to hear about.)

OK ...... now when they get the labels wrong like this, then that's totally unacceptable. LINK

Back in 199x I bought a Fatar SL-880. TP-10 keybed I think. I usually play an 80's Young Chang U1 clone, but that Studiologic has very good action. Heavier than the upright, just slightly. I have been inside it for minor issues, and it is a tank. I had been thinking of the newer fatars like TP40 or TP100, but they have more plastic in the action. Other owners of the TP10 over the years confirmed they like it to the point they search for rigs of the era which used it.

It does DIN midi great, with 4 layers. Has head numbing touch/pressure adjustments, which combine. Wheels.

I'm sure the latest Kawai, Yami CP88 or Roland are better. That money will go to pay off an Osmose I ordered in 2019..not so many keys but I've been playing organs more and more so it can be a manual and...whatever

The Donner looks nicer than my SL-880, I admit.

Seems to be quite ok in general. The only thing for the user to sort out is ........ how to hook up wired headphones without cable getting in the way.
eg. LINK