Digital pianos - looking for a new one « MusicianWages.com Forums

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Latest reply from David J. Hahn

(8 posts) (4 people)

Digital pianos - looking for a new one

Posted 1 year ago by David J. Hahn

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David J. Hahn said 1 year ago

I bought a Yamaha P-120 years ago and I've been so happy with it that I haven't paid any attention to new keyboards. But it seems like the 120 will need to be replaced in the next 6 months, so I'm back in the market for a new digital piano.

I don't need it to be portable this time. I'm looking for really realistic hammer-action and keybed. The internal sounds aren't important to me, as I'll mostly be using it with soft synths. It has to play nice with Logic.

Any suggestions on where to look? Is there anything new out there?

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Joe Stone said 1 year ago

I have a Roland RD-700GX and love it. I use it alone, or with Ivory. It has a USB out that works great with Macs (many boards do now).

Yamaha has a new CP series out, the CP1, CP5, and CP50 that seem to be a hit. I've had people tell me they feel a connection with those like no other DP they've ever played.

Believe it or not, Casio's latest Privias are making waves. They're less than $1000, have really good actions, and the sounds are pretty good too. The latest models are the PX-130, PX-330, PX-830, and PX-3. The latter is designed as a performance board and has live oriented features likes splits and layers. It also has the textured keys of the PX-830.

http://www.priviapiano.com/
If you end up with the PX-3, get you a free bag. http://www.priviagigbag.com/
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Andree-Ann said 1 year ago

Dave,

To be honest, Yamaha is still the way to go...My P-90 has been serving me extremely well for years, bought it about 6 years ago and have been hammering some pretty intense stuff on it for all those years and it still works like a charm. In my opinion, the P-90 is way better than the P-120 or even the new CP-33 which is what is supposingly replacing the P-90. The action is amazing, and the piano sound is one of the best sounding ones I've heard for a digital piano of that kind. I know if mine ever breaks, I'm still going to look for a P-90 to replace it!

Roland's action is very disapointing in my opinion and Casio will most likely break after a couple of years...but then again, I'm a proud supporter of Yamaha!

Andree-Ann
http://www.myspace.com/andreeanndeschenes
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David J. Hahn said 1 year ago

Great advice y'alls. I'm leaning toward Yamaha because I've been so happy with the p120. The action is starting to wear out, though. But I've put it through it's paces for years and years now.

I think I'll keep the p120 for gigs that I need to bring gear to. That doesn't happen very often these days - there are pianos at all the gigs around here.

So I'd actually be ok with a keyboard that didn't need to move. Does anyone know anything about clavinovas or those types of DPs?

I'm drooling over this:
Yamaha U1SG

Acoustic piano, with MIDI everything, and a silencer for late-night practicing. P-e-r-f-e-c-t.

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Andree-Ann said 1 year ago

I've spent my childhood learning on a Clavinova...you won't like it - after having a P-120! The action is very poor compared to the P series. I've heard good things about the Modus, which are Clavinovas i think, but I never tried one myself. The P-95 also looks exactly like the P-90 I recommended, but is not a portable keyboard - Never seen one but its been well quoted on a couple of reviews sites.

Let us know what you end up getting!

Andree-Ann
http://www.myspace.com/andreeanndeschenes
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Joe Stone said 1 year ago

There are a few guys I know touring with Casios and they seem to be holding up, including models that are a few years old now.

I don't know much about the models that are designed to never leave the house except when they share features with what I described. For instance, the PX-830 comes with a stand or cabinet or whatever you'd call it. From what I gather, the CP-1 from Yamaha would be a lot to move (and a lot of bucks).

How much does that U1SG go for? I'm having trouble finding a price.
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Barton.Kuebler said 1 year ago

Dave, any update? Didn't chime in earlier, but I have a home-model clavinova that I bought a few years ago that I really like. A bit pricey, though- think I spent about $2,700 for it. The lower price points just weren't cutting it in the clavinova line...
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David J. Hahn said 1 year ago

Hey Bart - no, I stalled on the search.

I did get to the Sam Ash in Manhattan and lay hands on a few instruments. The Kawai and Yamaha models were pretty good, but still not totally realistic. I was looking at portable keyboards (because that's what they had), and I think if I really want a piano replacement I have to go with something that's not at all portable.

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