Hi all, I was searching for digital pianos and found this place with friendly people

I had played piano for a year when I was 20, which was years ago. Haven't got a piano to practice since then. I wanted to buy a digital piano so that I can play privately and move easily. I'm so excited that I can pick it up again! I've done research and tried ~40 digital pianos. What I care most is the touch and the tone. Now I have three options:

Yamaha CLP330 for $1887,
a second-hand Yamaha CLP340 for $1887,
Kawai CN33 for $1837.

I was not able to compare them side by side because they are sold in different stores. By memory, I feel that CN33 has superior touch, but CLP330/340 have better tone (brighter). With pretty much the same price, what would you choose?

I'm in the States, do you think they are good prices?

Thank you very much!

Fran

Sounds like you like the Yamaha piano sound. The Kawai does have 8 piano sounds, did you try them all? I'm not sure any of them are as bright as the Yamaha's though. Some of us Kawai owners don't like the Yamaha sounds and even end up using the Kawai mellow piano option :-)

I'm inclined to put keyboard touch first. If you don't adopt the sound you could always connect a PC and software piano.

Hi

Having tried all 3, I would go with the CN33 because of the superiour action and touch + excellent external amplifier/built in speaker combo.

Cheers

/z

I didn't know that the CN33 has an external amplifier?

It has 2 speakers and two 20 watt amps, basically the same as the CLP330. The CLP340 has 4 speakers and two 40 watt amps.

In the CLP line you have to move up to the CLP340 to get sound that has technical specs matching the P155. You'd hate to spent $1800 on a 330 only to find the $999 P155 has slightly better technical specs.

It's a matter of opinion if Yamaha or Kawai has better key action. Both are good and I think both are closer to each other than either is to Roland. The Yamaha sound is very much sample based and I think Kawai sounds more processed.

Thank you so much, guys

Now I'm slightly inclined to CN33. I browsed some history threads on this forum, and people seem to like CN33 than CLP330. I'll go back to those two stores and test play them again tomorrow.

By list price, CLP330 should be a few hundred dollars more expensive than CN33, but the quotes I got were similar. Therefore I was thinking the CLP330 should be more deal-like. I know this is silly :-P

I guess my taste for piano tone is not mature... When we play the flute, we prefer the warm/dark tone than bright. Maybe the same preference for piano?

I'm slightly confused by this, but no matter. First post you like bright piano sound, this post you like warm/dark tone at least for flute. Oh well.

On the CN33 piano number 3 on either Piano1 or Piano2 is a mellow piano. That'll give you a warm/dark tone that you don't like on piano. See, confused.

yeah, I know it's confusing... I used to like bright flute tone, I knew that was bad taste. As I learned flute, I started to appreciate the dark/warm tone and tried to achieve it (well, still trying). So I was thinking maybe my taste for piano could go the same way...

Well that is a good price for a 340. Very nice sound to and the ivory touch is nice. The main thing I find that the kawais have over the others is touch. I know its a matter of opinion but to me there's no comparison.

But theirs also another benifit of digital your not stuck with the sounds your piano gives you. With a laptop or desktop you can run a program for the sound you want with the touch you like.

A dp is essentially a pc with a keyboard and speakers and so used ones lose value fast like a used pc--you never pay the full asking price for a used piano. Furthermore, if this is a dealer, he got the used CLP 340 for essentially nothing in a trade-in, and so there should be room to maneuver on this. You should be able to knock off about $300-$600 on the price with some determined bargaining. This is a used piano and it's competing with the new ones for sales and they want to get rid of it badly and quick. Tell him that you can get good new digitals for less than $1000--I use a $600 Williams digital that I bought sight-unseen onine in 2009, and it's okay for anything, from jazz improv to concertos.

Thank you very much

dewar, I totally agree with you that Kawai has best touch. If I could knock off one or two hundred on the CN33, I'll go with it. I saw two people on this forum (US based) got CN33 for $1700.

Gyro, I'm bad at bargaining, but I'll try...

Just a quick update: I got Kawai CN33 today, happily.

It was a tough choice between CLP330 and CN33. I started to appreciate the mellow/warm/dark tone of Kawai, and CN33 really has the best touch. I don't know what will happen when CLP4 series comes out, which is soon, but as of now, Kawai is slightly better than Yamaha, IMHO.

The price was $1887 with $50 mail-in rebate. I used an out-of-state family member's address and avoided the tax. So the final price was 1837, with bench, cleaning kit, headphone, delivery included.

Thanks again to everyone who replied to this thread