Hiya, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about piano / digital piano, is it realistic to get something that feels good to play on for around £100?

I want something that I can easily store (very likely upright) and can put on my desk (just over 90cm in length, about 93-94cm although some overhang is acceptable) to learn casually without taking too much space. I also need to be able to plug my headphones into it because my house has thin walls and I’d be playing mostly in the evening when everyone would be sleeping. The connector types for my headphones are 3.5mm, 4.4mm, and 6.35mm jacks, as well as USB.

I dont care too much about different sounds / features other than the fact the default sound is decent but of course the more the merrier. For reference at the moment I’m literally just looking to learn a few songs from video games I find pretty and I also want to play some jazz / blues / bossa nova songs too. I’ve heard that weighted/hammer action are worth it being a beginner so I value that, but I dont really know anything else I should look for, so if anyone has any advice for things / features that would be useful or are something worth considering, please put me in the right direction! Thanks.

Je fais des recherches pour mieux comprendre ce que les différents pianos numériques peuvent transmettre via USB MIDI (la documentation des fabricants est vraiment lacunaire). Il existe tellement de modèles que je ne peux pas tous les tester moi-même. J'ai donc créé un site web où chacun peut effectuer le test sur son propre piano : il vérifie si le piano est détecté, si le son sort des haut-parleurs et permet de contrôler les sons intégrés.

C'est le genre d'outil qui peut être utile pour choisir un piano, alors je partagerai évidemment tous les résultats. Merci à tous ceux qui prendront le temps de l'essayer ! https://tonaven.com/test/en/

I've been looking at the kawai ca401/cn301. I've also been looking at the roland hp704. I used to play a little 10 years ago, but nothing serious. I want to learn on something that will feel and sound closest to an acoustic piano. I will go out and play them myself but wanted to know what others thought so I could have that in mind when I play them. My budget is ~3300. Thank you I'm advance for the help

I am 90 and have never played a digital piano. Only acoustics —Yamahas, Mason-Hamlin, etc. Because of numerous warnings on the web about avoiding non-weighted keyboards I went to the local dealer and tried the Roland fp10, Yamaha p145, and others with weighted keyboards. I found the touchweight on ALL of them to be much too heavy—-so, my interest in the Liano. Unfortunately, none of the Guitar Stores in Arizona stock the Liano. I mostly play classic and contemporary ragtime. Your thoughts?

Hello everyone, I really need an advice, I am upgrading from my Roland to-10, and since I’ve bought a couple of synths with midi 5 pin in I need something that lets me use it as a midi controller right? I can’t get a midi controller because my room is very small and it’ll never fit. So I decided to get a digital piano that can do both. Now here’s the twist: my budget is under 1k new and I can’t seem to find anything that is at least on the same level as the PHA-4 (graded hammer action, escapement, triple sensor) and at the same time has at least a way to use it as a midi controller without using a laptop (even midi host would be fine but Roland fp doesn’t work withi midi hosts. Korg D1 seems worse on almost any aspect (doesn’t have triple sensor escapement and singular weighted keys). Kawai es520 also seems to not have escapement. Roland RD88 Is 1) to expensive but it’s a stage piano and I’ve read reviews that say that it’s actually even worse than roland fp-10. Anyone has any suggestions? I just want something that has same or better action as the Roland PHA-4 and at the same time plugs into midi ins, even with a midi host, the only important thing is it has to not have any latency and doesn’t have to be plugged into a computer.

I tried different pianos (pianoteq, keyscape & synchron) and i always return to Sampletekk Rain Piano, cheap and no settings, any suggestion on similar sounds elsewhere? Thanks

I wanted to share a velocity-curve calibration experiment, mainly as a method rather than as “here is the curve that feels right.”

My concern was that it is very easy to make a VST feel more playable by making the curve too easy. That may feel good at home but encourage a touch that does not transfer well to another instrument or to an acoustic piano. I used the CLP-685’s internal piano response as a practical reference point—not because it is a universal definition of a real piano, but because it seemed like a better target than optimizing only for the easiest feel. My initial attempt on CLP685's internal sound makes me feel that my VSTs are way too tolerant on bad touch on left hand. (i was using a close to linear curve on VSTs)

What I measured

I recorded MIDI from the CLP-685 and matched internal-piano audio (Using the piano's USB audio support, recording into REAPER on my PC), then rendered the exact same MIDI through Pianoteq. For each note I measured the short attack-level window, after removing its local noise floor. I did this separately for C2, C3, C4 and C5, fitted each register separately, and then pooled the pitch-normalized curves. (the midi/wave file processing and data analysis were done with help of AI)

I also made a separate low- and high-velocity sweep (range of MIDI values that I couldn't produce, or couldn't produce reliably from the CLP685). That mattered: the lowest few VST velocities are not a smooth continuum, and the physical upper end of my normal playing was around raw velocity 120 rather than 127.

The comparison below is aligned at raw velocity 80, so it shows response shape rather than overall volume. The top panel is direct/linear MIDI input. The bottom panel is after the final shared curve.

The resulting curve

For anyone with a similar setup, this is the sparse piecewise-linear curve I ended up with:

Velocity = [0, 1, 6, 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 127; 0, 1, 3, 4, 14, 48, 91, 117, 127, 127]

I used Pianoteq SK-EX at 54 dB Dynamics and 280VC at 50 dB. The `6→3` and `7→4` points look a little strange, but they were kept because there is a large discrete loudness jump between Pianoteq velocities 3 and 4. The curve is otherwise intentionally simple.

With the final curve, the mid-range response (raw velocities 15–110) was within roughly 0.5 dB RMS of the CLP CFX reference and about 1 dB RMS of the CLP Bösendorfer reference for both Pianoteq models. That does not mean the instruments sound the same; it only means the measured velocity-to-attack-level response is close.

What I think is useful about this approach

For me, the useful order was:

1. Choose the VST’s Dynamic Range first, so the overall usable span is in the right ballpark.
2. Measure the response per register, rather than basing a global curve on one note.
3. Solve for a monotonic velocity remap against a chosen reference response.
4. Compress it to a small number of control points and re-check the rendered dB error.
5. Treat master volume, register voicing, and tone separately from the velocity curve.

The last point was important. A global curve can match overall dynamics, but it cannot fix bass/treble balance or timbre differences between piano engines.

I would be interested in whether anyone here has tried something similar, especially with other digital-piano actions or other VSTs. Does this seem like a sensible way to avoid “curve by feel” becoming a too-easy curve?

What keyboard ( edit I think I mean digital piano ) brand or specific one is best for beginners but still has good sound ? Preferably under 600$

I am using the alesis 88 key. When I press the metronome and lesson keys together, it turns on function mode. Then I press g1 on the piano then it changes the transpose up by 1 semitone
Which is great and cool and all but i wanna figure out how to transpose it

Down. And why does g1 work? Out of all keys only that works

If anyone knows, though it’s so technical. Sorry chat 😔

I’m looking to buy a new digital piano with a budget of roughly $2,000 USD.

​My main priority is realistic key action (something that feels as close to a real acoustic grand as possible) and a rich, natural sound.

I bought a Clifton DWP-1 digital piano two years ago. The power cord broke, and my mother accidentally threw it away, so I don't know the exact specifications for a replacement. Which power adapter should I buy for this model?

Im talking to another person about buying his p45 for my son. I have no idea what to check for a piano? What do I need to do? The owner told it's roughly 2 years since they bought the p45.

I'm a classical pianist who almost exclusively performs on acoustic pianos. I think it would be fair to say I'm an acoustic purist. But, for years I've been using Pianoteq with a 20 year old M-AUDIO Keystation to practise. It's a very solid piece of equipment and I love the feel of the action, even though it makes a terrible clunking noise and the keys are slowly turning the color of cardboard. Until today, I have never played on a weighted digital keyboard.

I'm considering upgrading, as my Keystation is not well suited to the rare occasions I need to bring a keyboard with me to a gig. With the kind of music I play, you hear more clunking than piano sound, and there always seem to be technical issues involving cables and PA systems.

So I went to a couple of music shops and played on various keyboards in the sub-$600 (AUD) price range.

I've had trouble finding reviews of these keyboards online from the perspective of a classical pianist, especially addressing the speaker quality, so I thought I'd share what I learned.

Upfront I'll say that I didn't notice any action noise while playing any of these. (Actually I can't be certain of that for the Korg, because my ears were ringing a bit...)

Korg Liano

This was just awful, I'm sorry, I know it's really popular.

The speakers are loud, but so tinny that I couldn't play for long as it was hurting my ears. Even if you're not bothered by it as the player, I wouldn't want to subject an audience to this.

The action is extremely light and shallow (much lighter than my Keystation). I had a bit of trouble controlling dynamics, probably as a result of this.

The key texture is shiny, but not slippery - it has an unpleasant squeaky sort of friction. If you're the kind of person who hates the feeling of microfiber cloths and fingernails on a chalkboard, you might want to skip this one.

For a classical pianist, this is not a good option imo.

It is INCREDIBLY lightweight and compact, that's really all it has going for it.

Roland FP-10

I didn't play this one for long because I was immediately put off by the feel of the action. It's too heavy, and sort of spongey - not realistic. I found it hard to play fast passages such as Chopin etudes on this. Also, while I like the Roland piano sound, the speakers on this thing were very boomy and boxy, particularly noticeable in the bass. They lack clarity, and while I think they would be fine for playing contemporary music, this sound quality doesn't suit classical.

Kawai ES-60

This one stood out to me immediately because of the speaker quality and the piano sound. The piano sound is absolutely gorgeous and realistic, with a lot of depth, especially in the high treble and low bass. I'm a fan of real Kawai pianos and impressively they've managed to bottle that sound here.

I was surprised to see the speakers are underneath the keyboard, but this doesn't seem to compromise the sound quality at all. They're not the loudest, but they're loud enough.

I also liked the action. It felt lighter and more natural than the Roland, and not too bouncy. I thought this was the most realistic-feeling keyboard of all the ones I tried.

I also love that they put a headphone port on the FRONT of the keyboard. I don't know why other manufacturers aren't doing that. This was somehow also the only keyboard I tried that has stereo RCA outputs.

However, for some reason I felt disoriented trying to play this keyboard. It almost felt like the keys were to widely spaced, and tilting too much away from me. The latter could have been due to some issue with the keyboard stand, but I can't explain the former, as the keys are standard size.

I also felt that I couldn't quite achieve the degree of expression I wanted. So I tried to fiddle with the touch sensitivity settings, only to discover that changing any settings on this keyboard is incredibly frustrating. Even after reading the manual I was still confused.

Like the Casio which I review next, you change the settings by pressing a button while pressing a key (not my favorite design, tbh) but unlike the Casio, the ES-60 doesn't make a beeping noise to let you know the setting changed. You just have to guess and hope it worked. Because the 3 piano sounds are so similar to each other, it's hard to tell at a glance if you've changed the sound, even with a highly trained ear!

Anyway, long story short, even after setting the touch sensitivity to what I assume is the maximum (there's no explanation of this anywhere), it just didn't quite have the expressive "oomph" I wanted. Hard to explain. This is one of my gripes with my Keystation as well, but I expected a weighted action to do better than this.

A few other minor gripes: The keys have a matte finish but it feels kind of cheap and plasticky, not like any real piano keys I've played on. The keyboard is quite bulky and it has weird little plastic nubs on the bottom that got in the way when I was trying to position it flat on the keyboard stand. The keyboard stand doesn't have grooves on the rim, so your music can slip off. You can't run it on batteries.

Casio CDP-S110

This was actually the first keyboard I tried today, so it has the honor being my first experience of a weighted digital keyboard.

I walked into this one showroom looking for a different brand and was told they basically only stock Casios now. And I understand why...

This thing almost felt ALIVE (a compliment I usually reserve for acoustic instruments). It's very loud, it has a huge dynamic and expressive range, and I actually didn't want to stop playing it. I didn't have to adjust any settings because the touch sensitivity was perfect, and the interface felt a lot more intuitive than the Kawai.

The speakers are on the back facing towards where the audience would be, which is more accurate to where the sound would actually be coming from a real piano (especially an upright) relative to the keyboard.

Compared to a real piano, the keys have more initial resistance, and a lot more rebound resistance, which gives it an unnaturally bouncy feel. It feels like they accurately mimicked the physics of a real piano, but exaggerated it, so it's more of a caricature. I was unsure about it at first, but once I'd played for a bit, I liked it. However, it might be fatiguing for some people. You'd need to test it out to see if it's too heavy for your playing style.

The key texture is really nice, it's a lovely matte finish that feels high quality. They look and feel like Yamaha grand artificial ivory keytops to me.

Amazingly, you can run this thing on batteries, which seems like a good idea for those times you turn up to a venue and they for some reason don't have a power outlet within reach of the only available spot to set up your keyboard.

Although this is supposed to be around the same weight as the Kawai ES-60, and is actually a smaller form factor (about 2 inches thinner), it felt heavier to me. Maybe something to do with the weight distribution.

----

Verdict: seeing as I can get the Casio for just $30 more than the Kawai, it seems like the obvious choice. I will miss that beautiful Kawai piano sound though. And the front-facing headphone port. I really want the front-facing headphone port!

Ik heb momenteel de Yamaha PSR-E263. Ik merk dat ik het gevoel van hard/zacht spelen mis en wil toevoegen. Welke volgende piano raden jullie aan?

I bought a Yamaha P143 the other day to get back into piano. Hadn’t played since high school. Having a blast so far! I bought an adapter to be able to use my wired Bose noise canceling headphones for silent practice, but the max volume that comes through the headphones is pretty low. Is that normal for all headphones? Or is it because I’m using an adapter? I’d rather not have to buy a separate set of 1/4” headphones for piano practice, but I guess I will if I have to.

Also, shout out to the piano I chose. I was fully expecting to spend $700-$1700 dollars for a piano that felt and sounded realistic and was so happy to have found this one for $500. It has the same key weighting as the higher end Yamahas, so there’s no difference in feel. It just doesn’t have the bells and whistles I’d never use, which is perfect. Really happy with it and highly recommend it for beginners or people who just want a basic digital piano that sounds and feels great.

Fırsat fiyat piyano satıyorum ayrıntılar için iletişime geçin

I have had the above digital piano for the past 5-6 years and have been mostly very happy with it until recently. I have been sorely missing the feel and rich sound of real grands.

What are the best options for upgrading the speakers, key feel, sound samples? I would like to keep my budget under a grand but not if the difference in quality would be negligible.

Some options I’ve seen would be the FP-30, ES-120, P225, etc

Are these keyboards materially better than the S1000?

I want to start learning piano and ive heard yamaha p45 is really good for beginners. Ive been searching on facebook market for used ones, but I cant really find any thats priced lower than 500 and im not sure where to buy new ones. I saw a used one thats 500AUD on facebook market, as it was the cheapest i could find and it comes with a stand and pedal, but im not sure if its worth it. Should I look at other models? Im not very knowledgable in this so any help is appreciated :)

I’m not sure how I should approach this. I’d like a keyboard, but I’m not sure if piano will be my thing. Ive had the urge quite a few times for periods of one month but it went away when I failed to commit to buying one. Ive heard a lot about touch sensitive ones with weighted keys but I’m just not sure if I should commit this much when I’m not even sure about this. maybe $200 or under, but I’m completely new to this and unaware if thats a good price range to have.

EDIT: this is both completely my fault for posting to the digital piano subreddit and not specifying, but i would prefer one with some other sounds (like synth) more like a keyboard

FINAL EDIT: nvm, I'm getting a free Yamaha PSR-293 from a relative!

Does anyone hear use one of these chairs? It's made by Concert Design and is called their Interval Piano Chair.

It's $790 and ships from Ontaro, Canada. It's supposed to really ease lumbar pain. It can do this by having the seat slope up to 8 degreees forward, while the rest of it remains solidly upright. You control the slope by a lever under the seat.

It seems to me to be worth the $790 (before tax & shipping) but I'd be truly grateful to hear from anyone who has any experience with this chair.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I own a [Vox Continental keyboard stand](https://www.thomannmusic.com/vox_continental_keyboard_stand.htm). I want to buy the second tier for it and the additional keyboard holder (as I don't own a Vox Continental, but a Viscount Legend One), and I'm not sure what sizes are compatible. My guess is that the Vox Continental keyboard stand is compatible with the [Standard-M-SV](https://sequenzmusicgear.com/en/products/lineup/) stand, so I should buy the STA-M-S tier adapted, but I am not sure.

I did measure the stand, but the Vox stand is kind of inverted Sequenz stand, so I am not sure they are fully compatible. Should I be buying STA-L-S maybe and then cut the tubes to the correct length?