Cameron CSM41D

I do not recommend the Cameron CSM41D 4'1" Digital Baby Grand Piano because it is overpriced and has lower quality Chinese key action (as compared to the name brands) among other things, in my opinion. When it comes to shiny black Digital Baby Grand & vertical pianos, they are without a doubt beautiful to look at. Some are better designed than others and have better materials & construction, but from the outside they look attractive and can add beauty in your home. But there are some things you need to know about digital baby grands, including the Cameron & Sons, before you spend your hard earned money on one. Firstly, there are NO digital baby grands made in the US. Over 80% of digital baby grands sold in the US are made in China. The rest of them are made in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and a few other countries.

In China there are well over 30 (maybe more) individual digital piano & keyboard manufacturers throughout that large country which produce thousands of instruments for sale domestically and throughout the world. China is a busy place when it comes to mass producing all types of musical instruments including digital pianos, keyboards, drums, guitars, horns, woodwinds, brass, reed instruments, percussion of all types, and millions of music accessories. In fact, all you would need to do to go in business for yourself selling digital pianos is to fly over to China, find the manufacturer and models you want to represent, place an order and have them ship to your warehouse in the US. It also helps if you can speak Chinese but there are ways around that too:) Of course you would be required to order a whole bunch of them at one time and have a warehouse or large facility to store them, include your own warranty on them (in the case of Cameron & Sons it's just 1 year), pay for any service calls on ones you've sold if they need service (if a service tech can be found to repair them), and deal with the manufacturer if there are ever any problems (and there always are many problems with these kinds of pianos - I have experienced that for myself). On the plus side, you get to make money and put your own brand name on them. The manufacturer will stamp any name you want on the piano. So for instance, if your last name is Cameron, you can call the piano "Cameron & Sons" if you want. Even you you didn't have any sons you could still do that. Whatever name you think would help sell that piano is fine, as long as no one else is using it:)

Almost all Chinese-made pianos from Chinese owned companies in China (China is a VERY big country) such as Hubei Huadu Piano Manufacturer, China Joy Keyboards Co., Zhongshan Jungang Electronics Co, Changshu Talent Import & Export, Jinjiang Lida Electronic Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Amason Electronics Co. Ltd., PianoNova, and many others have some definite things (features) in common. I have played enough of these "cheaper Chinese made pianos" (not all things made in China are of cheap quality and in fact many are very good) to know that these commonalities include attractive cabinets (some of which are not made well), lots of buttons & features like recording and rhythms, a good size LCD display screen (sometimes no screen or small LED display instead), and other things. But unfortunately many if not most of these pianos also have low quality piano sound reproduction with minimal key sensors, low quality and noisy key action (Chinese made key actions are known for this), low quality pedal assemblies, small piano sound polyphony chip of 64-notes, and a basic set of sounds & rhythms which are typically not very good. Also, the pianos are typically not very reliable and few piano technicians are available to repair them.

Ningbo Allegro Chinese

In the case of the Cameron & Sons brand, there really is a person with the last name of Cameron and he owns a retail piano business in the US. However, the piano name and his name are the only thing that are American when it comes to this "brand name." My Cameron purchases the CSM41D directly from China from a Chinese digital piano manufacturer who already produces this model for mass consumption under any name  sellers around the world choose to use. In reality this Chinese piano manufacturer is called Ningbo Allegro Co., Ltd. The actual Chinese model name and number of the piano is called the Allegro 1250 and on their Chinese web site has the same specifications as does the Cameron web site (coincidental...I think not).

So what does this all mean? It simply means that an American or European sounding piano name name like Adagio, Allegro, Cameron, Adams, Williams, Hemingway, Classenti, and others does not mean the product was made or designed in the US and has acceptable good quality piano sound, key action, and pedaling. I am a piano teacher and I would not recommend a piano like this to a student of piano player when there are good options available. The Cameron & Sons name (as well as other names like this) is created & used to help a retail dealer sell more pianos to people like me and you because the name sounds good. This is what many businesses do and is not necessarily unusual. The Cameron & Sons pianos are all Chinese products designed and made by a Chinese company using lower quality technology and in this country sold by a retail dealer who has a nice web site promoting this model. 

Pink Chinese Digital Piano

The piano key action is the most important aspect to a digital piano and if the key action is not made by Kawai, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, or the Fatar key action company in Italy, then it will be a low quality, low performance, noisy, and unpredictable key action...period. I have yet to play a digital piano with a Chinese made key action that is worthwhile or than can reproduce the piano sound response and dynamics that are necessary based on all my experience. One day Chinese key actions will likely get better but they are not there yet. With regard to the rest of the piano, they are mostly all the same when it comes to Chinese technology.

Red Chinese Digital Piano

On the Cameron Web Site the retail price for the CSM41D is shown as $7995 with a regular selling price shown as $5995 and then a "sale price" shown as $4495. In the world of retail store or web site prices, because the US dealer run by Mr Cameron has full control over that name in the US (like other similar businesses), he can make up and quote any prices he wants to. This would be the same for any other private retail dealer or supplier. But the Cameron web prices are way out of line on their web site compared to what they should be sold for in my opinion. This piano should "retail" for no more than $2500 - $3000 based on other similar Chinese pianos out there I've seen and should sell for less than $2000. Actually I've seen it on one store web site called Musical Outlet for $2200 which is likely a front for a Cameron company site as well (companies sometimes have more than one web site to make you believe you are getting a deal from someone else when you notice it for less money). So what your really getting is a nice looking cabinet surrounding very basic digital piano technology found in small low priced digital pianos. In other words, you are likely buying something nice to look at at the expense of a having much better instrument in a non-digital grand style. So is the Cameron & Sons piano a BAD piano? Well no, not necessarily compared to other Chinese made and owned piano products. Is it something of high quality compared to Yamaha, Roland, or Kawai, or Casio pianos?...NO, not even close.

Suzuki Type Chinese Piano

I feel you would be MUCH better off if you gave up the idea of actually getting high quality realistic playing & sounding digital baby grand designed & produced in China (this will sound and play nothing like a real grand), and instead buying a lower priced new very high quality vertical style digital piano in the $1000-$2500 price range from Casio, Kawai, Yamaha, or Roland. OR, if you absolutely must have that Baby Grand style, then there are alternatives to the Cameron & Sons and others like it. By the way, I have not personally played a Cameron & Sons CSM41D because they are not available anywhere to play except the local Cameron store assuming they still have an actual store (they advertise regular acoustic Chinese pianos too). In the final analysis, if you are considering this piano, be careful that you make an educated decision before you make a purchase on this one or anything other piano for that matter.

If you want to know about my recommended digital baby grand under $3000, then take a look at the Kohler KD5 full size grand piano at the following link: Kohler KD5 Piano Review

If you want more info digital pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

Classenti CDP1 Rosewood

I do not recommend the Classenti CDP1, CDP2, CDP3, or GR1 Digital Pianos because they are overpriced and normally have lower quality technology Chinese key actions (as compared to the name brands), among other things, in my opinion. When it comes to Digital Baby Grand & vertical pianos, especially in polished ebony cabinets or other attractive colors, they are without a doubt beautiful to look at. Some are better designed than others and have better materials & construction, but from the outside they can look attractive and add beauty in your home. However, there are some things you need to know about digital pianos, including the Classenti, before you spend your hard earned money on one. Firstly, there are NO digital baby grands made in the US. Over 80% of digital baby grands sold in the world are made in China. The rest of them are made in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and a few other countries. This is not a bad thing but just understand this is the way it is.

Classenti CDP1 black satin

In mainland China, there are well over 30 (maybe more) individual digital piano & keyboard manufacturers throughout that large country which produce thousands of instruments for sale domestically and throughout the world. China is a busy place when it comes to mass producing all types of musical instruments including digital pianos, keyboards, drums, guitars, horns, woodwinds, brass, reed instruments, percussion of all types, and millions of music accessories. In fact, all you would need to do to go in business for yourself selling digital pianos is to fly over to China, find the manufacturer(s) and models you want to represent, place an order and have them ship to your warehouse in the US or whatever country you are in. It also helps if you can speak Chinese but there are ways around that too:) Of course you would be required to order a good quantity of pianos at one time and have a warehouse or large facility to store them, include providing your own warranty on them, pay for any service calls on ones you've sold if they need service (if a service tech can be found to repair them), and deal with the manufacturer(s) if there are ever any problems (and there always are many problems with these kinds of pianos - I have experienced that for myself. On the plus side as business venture, you get to make money (hopefully) and put your own brand name on them. The manufacturer will put any name you want on the piano.

Classenti CDP2 ebony

So for instance, if you want a nice sounding classical European type name like "Classenti" (I kinda like that name myself) on your Chinese pianos, or any other name for that matter, you can have the Chinese manufacturers put the name on them as well as put the name on the box so it looks official. Whatever name you think would help sell that piano is fine, as long as no one else is using it:). In the United Kingdom (UK), the Classenti name is available exclusively at UK Pianos in London, England. The owner of the store is the owner of the name Classenti pianos (according to public records) and the operator of that brand. It is not unusual then that he would want to promote and say good things about "his brand." But the Classenti brand is nothing more than Chinese made digital pianos owned by Chinese companies in China using fairly average Chinese parts. The Classenti GR1 small baby grand is actually the YL700HB from the Tide International company in Shandong, China and also seems to be affiliated with and branded under the PianoNova name. The ClassentiGR1/Tide/PianoNova YL700HB model is quite basic, has a Chinese key action (normally noisy and unreliable based on my experience with similar pianos), limited 64-note polyphony piano sound memory as compared with the actual name brands like Yamaha, limited instrument sounds, no USB output to iPad (a big request these days), no half-damper sustain pedal function (important for students and players), and in my opinion should sell for no more than $2000 (or so) at most compared to other similar Chinese brands like Suzuki, Adagio, etc.

Classenti CDP3 ebony

The Classenti CDP1, CDP2, and CDP3 models are from another Chinese digital piano company called PianoNova Piano Manufacture Co.,Ltd in Hubei, China and Wuhan Zhijia Piano Manufacturer Co., Ltd. (which is affiliated with Piano Nova), and they have their Chinese model numbers of Norma, Lyra, and Pavo (funny names:). PianoNova also sells their digital pianos under their own name (PianoNova) in other countries such as Australia and the factory brand pianos tend to sell for less money than the private labels. However, many of these "off-brand" pianos are priced (US) similarly with name brand pianos including Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, and Roland. So why would anyone want to buy a "no name" piano with average Chinese digital piano technology and key actions not backed up by a known brand name at around the same price as the better name brand pianos? The Classenti CDP/PianoNova pianos are quite basic with only 8 sounds, a 64 note polyphony sound chip with limited dynamic range, Chinese made and designed key action with minimal key senor capability (as opposed to a name brand design including some with triple senor), only a basic MIDI recording feature, no USB direct connect with computer or iPad, and no half-damper pedal system. Do these deficiencies make Classeniti/PianoNova bad pianos...no they don't. But are there better options in low price ranges?...yes there are.

Kawai CN24

Personally I always recommend going with a name brand if possible but it's a free world (for most people) and you can buy whatever they want. The Chinese manufacturers try to make their pianos look like the name brands so people think if they look good and the cabinet design is similar, then they must BE good. In fact, the Chinese made brands are in some cases even more attractive than the "name brands" such as Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, etc, with special cabinet designs and finishes not available in some of the name brands, but that's one of the reasons these pianos sell, they can look great! But beauty is usually only skin deep and what's inside (for most people) will likely not match the attractive outside in most of these pianos.  That's true for some people I know as well:)

With regard to warranties on the piano, if it doesn't come directly from a known manufacturer, then there is always a big risk. Store warranties are always dependent on that store being in business to service and pay for repairs. Retail stores go in and out of business all the time unlike the name digital piano manufacturers such as Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, and Roland. These name brand companies have been in business for well over more than 50 years each and have the ability and longevity to repair and service their digital pianos in the US and around the world. The Classenti piano brand offers a "5-year warranty" but that warranty is not supplied by the manufacturer, it is supplied by the owner of the Classenti brand as are all private label warranties. If that individual ever goes out of business (and many have done so in this worldwide economy including my area of the world), good luck getting any service on the piano under that warranty including refunds or exchanges...not gonna happen. So all I can say about that is...be careful when considering a private brand.

Worlde digital piano

Almost all Chinese-made pianos from Chinese owned companies in China (China is a VERY big country) such as Hubei Huadu Piano Manufacturer, China Joy Keyboards Co., Zhongshan Jungang Electronics Co, Changshu Talent Import & Export, Jinjiang Lida Electronic Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Amason Electronics Co. Ltd., and many others have some definite things (features) in common. I have played enough of these less expensive Chinese made pianos (not all things made in China are of low quality and in fact many are very good) to know that these commonalities include attractive cabinets (some of which are not made well), lots of buttons & features like recording and rhythms, a good size LCD display screen (sometimes no screen or small LED display instead), and other things. But unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, many if not most of these pianos also have low quality piano sound reproduction with minimal key sensors, low quality and noisy key action (Chinese made key actions are known for this), low quality pedal assemblies, small piano polyphony sound chip of 64-notes, and a basic set of sounds & rhythms which are typically not very good. Also, many of the Chinese digital pianos are normally not very reliable (based on all my experience and it is substantial) and few piano technicians are available to repair them.

So what does this all mean? It simply means that an American or European sounding piano name name like Adagio, Allegro, Cameron, Adams, Hemingway, Williams, Classenti, Broadway, and others does not mean the product was made or designed in the US and has acceptable good quality piano sound, key action, and pedaling. I am a piano teacher and musician and would not recommend a piano like this to a student or piano player when so many other good options are available. The Classenti (as well as other names like this) is created & used to help a retail dealer sell more pianos to people like me and you because the name sounds good and the cabinet may look attractive. The Classenti pianos are all Chinese products designed and made by a Chinese company using (generally speaking) lower quality technology (as compared with name brands) and also sold through a nice web site promoting this brand (anyone can have a nice web site with nice pictures:). Also, there is a web site called "sounds musical.com" which according to public records is directly affiliated and/or owned by the owner of the Classenti piano brand. Once again, when it comes to a private label brand on a retail web site owned or run by people associated with that brand, then it's likely they will be quite enthusiastic about that brand...makes sense:)

Dynatone digital grand

When it comes to what's most important in a digital piano, the piano key action is the most important aspect, and if the key action is not made by Kawai, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, or the Fatar key action company in Italy, then it will likely be a low quality, low performance, noisy, and unpredictable key action...period. I have yet to play a digital piano brand with a Chinese designed and made key action (and I have played many of them) that is worthwhile or than can reproduce the piano sound response and dynamics that are necessary based on all my experience. One day Chinese key actions will likely get better but they are not there yet. 

Classenti GR1 baby grand

With regard to Classenti, on their US "corportate" site, the listed price for the Classenti GR1 digital baby grand is shown as $4950. In the world of retail store or web site prices, because the brand is (according to public records) private and owned by an individual named Graham Stogden (Howard), he has full control over that name wherever he puts and sells it (like other similar businesses), and he can make up and quote any prices he wants to. This would be the same for any other private retail dealer or supplier and is the way business works. But the Classenti web prices are out of line on their web site compared to what they should be sold for in my opinion as compared to other Chinese designed and made digital pianos. The GR1 piano should "retail" for no more than $2500 - $3000 based on other similar Chinese pianos out there I've seen and should sell for less than $2000. It doesn't matter what the specifications and descriptions say, it matter what it really plays & sounds like and I am always skeptical of pianos that are private label brands from other countries that say such glowing things about their own pianos. So in most cases what your really getting is a nice looking cabinet surrounding very basic digital piano technology found in small low priced digital pianos. In other words, you are likely buying something nice to look at at the expense of a having much better instrument in a non-digital grand style. So is the Classenti piano a BAD piano? Well no, not necessarily compared with other Chinese made piano products. Is it and other similar brands something of high quality compared to Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, or Casio pianos?...no, not even close.

Yamaha YDPC71

As an example, when you can purchase a new polished ebony Yamaha YDPC71 for $1799 internet price that has a very quiet Yamaha designed GH key action along with a 128-note polyphony including with half-damper pedal system, why would you want to purchase a Classenti polished ebony CDP2 for their web site price of $1950 when it has no brand name recognition, no warranty direct from manufacturer, only 64-note polyphony, and no half damper pedal system? It just makes no sense, even if the price came down to $1500. Now if the Classenti was substantially less money (closer to $1000), then maybe it would make sense.

Broadway digital piano

On another note and worth mentioning, UK piano owner also has another line of private label digital pianos called "Broadway." I like that name and I commend him for making up a name that sounds American & musical. In reality the Broadway digital pianos are manufactured by a South Korean company called Dynatone who also produce pianos under their own name (I have played Dynatones in the past and did not like them). But they will also sell you their piano under any name you want and so the Broadway is a name that was created to sell at the UK Piano store. However there are many inexpensive Asian made digital pianos (excluding the name brands) that are available everywhere for much less than $1000. Guitar Center has their own brand with an American name (Williams), Sam Ash has their own brand with an American sounding name (Adams), and so on, all of which I have played and do not recommend. So UK pianos did the same thing, but almost ANY private label brand is typically going to be quite inferior to name brands, have much lower resale value, and will not have a manufacturer warranty. However, even with all of that there will be some people who like the non name brands like Broadway, etc, and that's certainly OK. It really boils down to selecting whatever you like because it's your money.

Cameron digital grand

When it comes to Classenti digital baby grands, I feel you would be much better off if you gave up the idea of actually getting high quality realistic playing & sounding digital baby grand designed & produced in China (this will sound and play nothing like a real grand), and instead buying a lower priced new very high quality vertical style digital piano in the $1000-$2500 price range from Casio, Kawai, Yamaha, or Roland. OR, if you absolutely must have that Baby Grand style, then there are alternatives to the Classenti and others like it. By the way, I have not personally played a Classenti piano because they are not available anywhere for me to play locally except in the UK and that's a bit far for me to go:). The same situation is true of "Cameron & Sons" digital pianos which is a private label US brand owned by a private individual with the last name of Cameron and is a similar piano to the Classenti brand in a number of ways. Go here to learn more about Cameron & Sons: Cameron & Sons piano review.

Digital features in Chinese designed and produced pianos tend to be very similar. In the final analysis, if you are considering this brand, be careful that you make an educated decision (and not be sold on just the way they look) before you make a purchase on this or anything other piano for that matter. When a company is working hard on selling and promoting their "private label" brand likely made by one of those many Chinese piano companies, just remember they usually promote it because it will make them more money and not necessarily because it's a great piano. When it comes to the latest digital piano technology and piano realism, the brands to buy are the Japanese brands including Yamaha, Casio, Roland, and Kawai, and Korg, and a couple of others. My recommendation is to go with recognized manufacturer/name brands whenever possible.

By the way, to show you the vast difference in technology between a name brand piano and Classenti piano, all one has to do is compare it with the new Casio PX850 or Yamaha YDPS51. As an example, the Casio Privia PX850 ($1099US internet price) has 18 very nice instrument sounds and a 256-note polyphony sound chip (highest polyphony you can get), with triple key sensor system as opposed to a small 64 note polyphony and small sensor system on the Classenti's. The Casio PX850 also has a huge dynamic sound range going through a new piano lid speaker projection system, long pedal piano decay times, piano harmonic overtones, pedal resonance reproduction, half pedal sustain system, synthetic ivory & ebony keytops for better finger playing surface, wav file audio recording instead of simple MIDI (a huge upgrade and useful in piano education), 5 stereo acoustic piano sounds for mellow classical, jazz, pop, and concert. The PX850 also has a high speed USB direct connect to iPad for seamless connectivity for interactive music education or notation using the latest iPad piano apps. The piano is also covered by a manufacturers warranty as opposed to a private label warranty. The new Casio PX850 piano as well as the new Yamaha YDPS51 (which has major digital sound advancements) far surpasses any piano for piano playing realism in the Classenti piano line and far as specifications. So whenever possible based on your budget, put your money into a name brand because the rewards are almost always worth it.

If you want more info digital pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

2013 model Casio PX850

Learn how to get the Best Piano at the Best Price.FREE EXPERT DIGITAL PIANO ADVICE! For many, many years I have been a digital piano adviser to thousands of teachers, musicians, churches, schools, and families throughout the US & the world, as well as helping people everywhere find the right digital piano for their needs. I can tell you what the best digital pianos and best prices are for any given price range as long as you have determined approximately what you want to spend and what your musical goals are for you and/or your family. Perhaps the piano is for a very young child, teen, working adult, retired person, etc, and/or the beginning student wants to become an advanced player or just have recreational fun? Perhaps the piano is for a pro musician who wants to play it at gigs or special events and has specific requirements. Also, there are many churches these days looking for a digital piano that will fit their music needs and budget and I can help with that as well.
There are many reasons for wanting to play piano (personal satisfaction & enjoyment is #1) and I have more experience in this matter with digital pianos than nearly anyone in the US and many other parts of the world. I am a digital piano/keyboard expert, pro musician, song writer, composer, arranger, as well as having taught thousands of piano students through the years on digital & acoustic pianos. I  have an  experienced understanding of proper & necessary piano touch, tone, educational features, extra fun features, and overall brand quality and reliability in digital pianos. I am not a sales person, but an adviser and consultant to people throughout the US and the world when it comes to the best digital pianos and best prices in various price ranges. I know what discount prices these pianos should sell for in the US market and also how to get lower prices than regular internet discounts and special store sales in the US.

Kawai CP179

I can also tell you which brands to stay away from based on my experience with them as well as their reliability and construction. Many of these pianos can and do start looking the same after a while even though they may be very different on the inside. If you want a digital piano that not only looks good, but actually behaves like an acoustic piano with realistic tone and key action movement (which is important), then you need to do your homework and contact me if you like as I will be happy to help you and answer your questions.

I do not have a piano store, a warehouse, or any other local retail establishment. But I know how to get you brand new factory fresh digital pianos for less money, no shipping charges, no sales tax, along with free educational & fun materials valued in excess of $300-$400. I do this because I care and want to see people experience the benefits of music like I have as well as my family and friends have. Playing music (especially piano) is one of the most rewarding things a person can do for better mental, physical, and spiritual health as part of a more active lifestyle. I have seen these rewards take place in kids from 3 years old up to older "kids" over 90 years old! I have even seen it in my kids with two of them becoming very advanced piano players and teachers themselves.




If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

REVIEW - Kawai ES7 compact furniture style piano - Recommended - In the world of digital pianos there are a few that really stand out in their price range for what they offer and the Kawai ES7 is one of those pianos. Kawai is a well known & respected piano manufacturer from Japan and their acoustic & digital pianos are played around the world by pros, piano teachers, schools, churches, and families. The Kawai company is a direct competitor of Yamaha pianos (also a fine brand), but the Kawai company is relatively small and produces only pianos as compared to the large multi-product companies that produce a huge amount of pianos as well as unrelated products such as boats, motorcycles, keyboards, calculators, watches, etc., so Kawai is not as much a household word as some of the other brands. By the way, for those of you who do not know, Kawai is pronounced "Ka-WHY."

The internet price of the Kawai ES7 piano with optional furniture stand & 3-pedal unit is $2507 (I recommend both stand & pedals should be purchased) which puts it in a higher price range than many other portable home pianos but in many cases you get what you pay for and this is true of this new model in my opinion. The piano alone (with included single piano pedal) is $1999 internet price, and if you buy an inexpensive but sturdy metal stand for about $100, you can get the price lower that way. When people think of portable compact digital pianos they typically want to spend less than $2000 and many times less than $1000 based on all my experience and there are many models available in that price range. However, besides Kawai, Roland has a couple of compact home pianos that are priced above $2000 and also one over $3000 so they can get even higher in price. Although the Roland compact home style pianos over $2000 have generally been more popular than Kawai over the years (I like some Roland models very much), I believe this new ES7 has put Kawai ahead of the pack in terms of an all-in-one solution for a high end contemporary compact digital piano with excellent acoustic piano sound and hammer weighted key action along with many other desirable features. Another popular brand is Yamaha but they don't have a compact higher end furniture style model with the features of the Kawai or Roland in the $2000-$3500 price range so it really boils down to either this new Kawai or the Roland models.

I have played all of them and the new Kawai ES7 with its furniture stand and 3-pedal assembly is the new standout model for me because it has all the important features that I like for a price that makes sense for what is offered. First of all, it looks attractive when all assembled and is sturdy and well built with front support legs which none of the other compact pianos have. The black color of the piano is really two-tone with satin ebony for the back part of the stand and high gloss ebony for the front & pedal unit so it's quite stylish and the large. The oversize matching designer music rack that comes with the furniture stand is very substantial as compared with what you would normally get from other brands so there is plenty of room to put your sheet on it (which is super nice). The pedal system works very well and looks like an elegant mini-grand pedal assembly, and the piano seems to be solid. Unlike conventional cabinet digital pianos, the ES7 piano top can come off the furniture stand and played separately in a more portable fashion on another stand with a single pedal. This is useful if you want to take the piano with you and play it somewhere (a friend or relatives house, a second home, church, school, etc). The internal speaker system is surprisingly powerful with 30 watts of power going through 2 good size speakers. Most full size digital pianos under $2000 have 40 watts of power going through similar size speakers, so for a portable piano the ES7 is comparatively loud and full sounding for its size.

Although the ES7 has some pretty cool up-to-date technology with fun & educational features and a useful LCD user display screen so you can see and know what's actually going on in the piano, this instrument seems to be primarily built to please the piano student and player. It's really all about the piano sound, response, and key action and in my opinion Kawai has done an outstanding job in this area. It is true there are some fine portable compact pianos for substantially less money from Yamaha, Roland, and Casio among others and they sound very nice in their price range, but in my opinion those pianos do not come close to the ES7 in their ability to recreate the acoustic piano experience like the ES7 can. It's the range of expression and musical colors from a dynamic grand piano style key action that really makes owning this piano a pleasure. The new ES7 has the industry maximum 256 notes of polyphony along with the advanced 3-key sensor dynamic key response that allows for very difficult and/or fast repetitive pieces to be played by advanced players. The lower priced digital pianos including many full size cabinet model just cannot compete at this point in my opinion when it comes to a realistic piano playing experience as compared with the ES7. The key action has enough progressive weight and response to it to make you feel as if you are playing a fine grand piano and the sound resonance is excellent on all keys. In other digital pianos these features can be uneven and choppy with the sound and key action average to good, but not great. The feel of the keys under the fingers needs to "connect the music" to the player and the ES7 does this very well. With 256 note-polyphony, ivory feel keys, and most of the articulation and subtitles of a real acoustic piano experience (which is difficult to recreate), Kawai has really done an outstanding job making this a good choice for beginner students through advanced players.

The ES7 has 32 realistic instrument sounds which can be accessed from easy to use and easy to see front panel buttons which feel solid and respond well and are a good size. The 32 instrument tones are more than some digital pianos have and far less than others. However most people don't need or use more than 10 to 20 instrument sounds on average and primarily are interested in excellent acoustic piano sounds (of which there are eight on the ES7) along with good electric pianos, harpsichords, strings, choirs, organs, and some synth sounds, so the ES7 does deliver on that point. The ES7 also has 200 realistic drum rhythm patterns including jazz, rock, blues, Latin, ballad, swing, gospel, country, waltz, etc which are great to have for rhythm & timing training. I recommend having and using drum rhythm patterns if possible as opposed to just a metronome because it allows students and player to get a better feel for the song, even when playing some classical music. Unless you have or a good sense of rhythm & timing your music will not get up to where it could and should be.

Along with the variety of high quality drum rhythm patterns, Kawai has also included an equal number of interactive chord style accompaniments which play along with the drum patterns and can make you sound as if you are playing along with a live band or orchestra. In fact you can play bad and sound great...so even non-players can have some fun! You would play a left-hand chord (full chord or with one finger) and the piano would play a 4-part left hand accompaniment in that chord while you also played a right-hand melody. Although this is a very cool feature, it is also found on many other digital pianos in lower and higher price ranges as well as inexpensive keyboards. But it does give the ES7 an advantage that many other digital pianos do not have and using these chord accompaniment features are especially fun and useful for adults who just want to enjoy playing music as soon as possible and want to avoid having to take years of lessons and hours upon hours of practice. In addition to the left-hand interactive chord features, the piano will also allow the right hand to sound great because it has a "ad-lib" function that allows the piano to play "musical phrases" in a variety of patterns, just like a pro would do. In this case your right hand can do a little but sound like it's doing a lot and making beautiful music. It's actually pretty cool and even though I can personally play quite well, I enjoy using these fun features that enhance my enjoyment and make me sound better than I already am:)

With regard to piano learning and education, the ES7 can also play General MIDI song accompaniments over separate MIDI channels which means that you can get learning playalong songs for popular piano lesson books and play those songs through the ES7 from a USB flashdrive. The way this works is that you can play the piano part from your book live along with the a full song playing with you through the piano and you can adjust the speed of the playback for slow tempo while you learn to play the song. This is very helpful to students and I use this method in my piano studio because listening to the full song at a slower tempo can motivate the student and allow for a better understanding of the lesson. The ES7 also has the ability to play and record MP3 & wav audio song files so that you can take songs from CD's or iTunes, etc and play them through the piano for accompaniment songs for your piano playing. When you record a song in either MP3 or wav audio format, you get to capture what you are actually hearing on the piano from your playing and then save it into a USB flashdrive for storage and so that you can download the songs into your computer or iPod/iPad. There are many students and players who love to hear their creations played back, especially through iPod, iPad, etc and attached to social media like you tube, etc. So the ES7 can pretty much do it all when it comes to playback and recording songs and lessons.

Another handy educational feature is being able to plug the ES7 directly into an iPad (with optional iPad camera connector kit) for plug & play connectivity and being able to have a big variety of iPad (and Android) apps to download for further visual and interactive piano/music education. If you don't know about this kind of thing or are not familiar with all the amazing piano related learning apps on iPad, they are really amazing. Your piano experience and learning time will be greatly enhanced by this activity and it's a wonderful thing for both kids and adults. To make an iPad/tablet/laptop computer interactive experience even more enjoyable, the ES7 offers a 1/8" mini jack audio input so that you can run the sound from the iPad/computer through the ES7 piano internal stereo system for much better iPad audio reproduction coming through the piano itself. This is a feature only a few digital pianos have and it's quite useful including when wearing headphones for private practice. I use iPad piano & music apps all the time and they are great and make learning fun.

The ES7 has many of the popular features found on other digital pianos including the ability to split & layer instrument sounds as well as two people being able to play side by side in a duet (four hands play) with the 88 keys divided electronically into two identical 44 key pianos playing the exact same notes on both sides for dual practice and teacher-student lessons. You can transpose the key you're in separately on the live piano and also on recorded song playback which is very cool. The instrument sounds including strings, organs, electric piano, etc on the ES7 are really amazing and are far better in my opinion than comparable pianos in this price range (or less) incl those from Roland, Yamaha, and Casio.

But the main reason a person will want an ES7 is for the very convincing grand piano type key action (with let-off/escapement mechanism), the excellent response of key dynamics & volume control, the musical color in sound resonance, and the fine key action which is unique to Kawai. The key action is a proprietary design which Kawai calls "responsive hammer II graded hammer action and it definitely feels different than the other major brands in this price range. It's a bit heavier (but not too heavy and not too light) so that you can have a very smooth movement response under your fingers. The ES7 key action is also noticeably very quiet when the keys move up & down which is not the case for many other brands and models (this has been a big issue with buyers), and the fit & construction of this action is quite solid and has little lateral key movement as compared to many other brands. When it comes to the fundamentals of ES7 piano in key action and sound, this piano really rises to the top in its price range. The things you can do to edit the acoustic piano tones is also impressive and enables you to customize the piano sound in many useful ways and to personalize the piano to your playing ability and musical desires and save those changes into user memories for instant recall. For intermediate & advanced players, these features allow you to play a variety of music including difficult & advanced classical pieces, jazz, and pop along with blues, country, Latin and many other styles.

The ES7 has many other features I have not talked about that can be useful including professional sound effects with some high end realistic sounding stereo reverb features, different temperaments, preset chord sequences, a variety of EQ settings for customizing sound, and the list goes on. But I recommend the ES7 because it looks great, sounds great, plays great, and has enough very cool features to make just about anyone happy. The slightly lower power internal speaker system in the ES7 (as compared with some more traditional furniture cabinet digital pianos), is really the only potential downside in this instrument as far as I'm concerned, but that issue is easily resolved by connecting some small but high quality powered stereo monitors to the ES7 and that can be done for $300-$400. Once you connect a good set of external speakers, then the ES7 will rival in sound the much higher priced traditional furniture cabinet digital pianos in the $4000-$6000 price range.

So no matter how you slice & dice it, the new ES7 is a winner for its size, price range, and features and would easily be a fine addition to your home, especially if you're looking to invest in a piano you can keep for a very long time and you have the disposable income to make that investment. Although there are better digital pianos out there (and there are), they are a lot more money and still may not give you the flexibility of the Kawai ES7. To see an informative video of the ES7, go to the following link which will take you to the Kawai web site and a video they produced: Kawai ES7 Video. By the way, the ES7 is also available in a white color including furniture stand & pedals (above left pic) and it looks very attractive, although black has always been the more popular of the two finishes.

Kawai also produces the MP6 portable pro piano which I have reviewed and highly recommend, and in some ways the MP6 is more flexible and more capable than the ES7 as far as sound is concerned. Take a look at that one as well if you want even more piano and instrument sounds with additional control. If you are looking to get a good piano playing experience for a lot less money, then there are certainly other good options out there, especially in Yamaha & Casio, and I would be happy to direct you to those instruments.Please contact me before you purchase any new or used digital piano.

If you want more info on digital pianos and help with getting low internet pricing, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
   

REVIEW - Casio AP250 Digital Piano - I recommend the new 2013 Casio AP250 furniture digital piano ($999 internet discount price) because it offers a surprisingly realistic piano playing experience in a very low price range for hammer weighted style key action movement, a full size 3-pedal unit for traditional piano pedaling, and acoustic piano tone realism in a smaller size traditional furniture style cabinet (with a metal sliding key cover) available in satin brown. Overall, the AP250 is the same piano as the new Casio PX750 contemporary compact model as far as key action and functions go exceptfor a few important things: The AP250 projects the piano sound direct through its two speakers and 16 watts of stereo audio power inside of its cabinet producing a good piano tone for its cabinet size. Also, the AP250 has a more elegant style brown furniture style cabinet with a privacy back panel and a very simple but clean look along with a sliding metal key cover and a matching piano bench as opposed to the bench being optional. The AP250 is also fairly lightweight with stand and pedals (only 87lbs) and the piano itself can be detached from the stand & pedals for easy moving. 

The Casio company itself is based in Tokyo, Japan (left pic) and has been producing digital pianos and musical instruments including digital keyboards, synthesizers, pianos, guitars, and other sophisticated musical instruments for over 30 years, which is a long time in my opinion. They are obviously also well known for their keyboards, watches, digital cameras, calculators, and hundreds of other digital products so technology is not new to them. Casio is generally thought of as a company that gives you a lot of "bang for the buck" in the lower price ranges and it's certainly true for the AP250 in my opinion. By the way, all Casio digital pianos come with a long 3 year parts and labor factory warranty, and are fairly reliable based on my personal experience as well as other people I know who own Casio pianos, so there is little reason to buy extended warranties for these pianos.

Casio AP250 Piano

I have played the new AP250 and like the way the it plays and sounds. The main control panel buttons are easy to see and located in front of you across the top as opposed to being on the side of the keyboard which make accessing the main functions more user friendly on the AP250, unlike other digital pianos. The piano has 18 nice instrument tones including strings, harpsichord, organ, electric pianos, etc, five of which are various realistic sounding acoustic pianos which is one of the most important features to have on a digital piano. A good variety of acoustic piano tones allows you to play and reproduce different types of piano music including classical, jazz, pop, country, etc. There are a few newer digital pianos from other brands available in lower prices ranges including Yamaha & Roland, but they typically have only two acoustic piano sounds, so having five of them is very good. Also, the piano sound is almost always better when there is more piano sound computer memory (called polyphony) and the AP250 has 128-note polyphony which is very good in this price range (Yamaha & Roland also have 128-note polyphony). It's generally always better to get more polyphony than less. Having more polyphony also helps with getting more realistic pedal sustain smoothness when sustaining multiple notes on the keys. Playing the pedals is a very important aspect of piano playing and this would include having good, resonate pedal sustainreproduction instead of just on & off sustain as is in many other digital pianos and keyboards. The better pedal sustain reproduction is also known as "half-pedaling," and the AP250 has that feature which is important as your playing skill level increases. All regular acoustic pianos have a "gradual sustain" pedaling (the right pedal) so getting "half-pedal" sustain on your digital piano is a good thing.

As far as key action movement and dynamic response goes, the AP250 is very good (feels like a real upright piano) for its low price and I was impressed when I played it, and it takes a lot to impress me :). Key action is always the number one concern of piano teachers and those people that can play piano at higher skill levels. many people ask me "does this digital piano feel and respond like a real acoustic piano?" My answer is that most brands and models of real acoustic pianos feel and play differently from each other including uprights & grands. There are different price ranges and qualities just like in anything you can buy, so the AP250 is not going to be replacing a Steinway grand piano anytime soon:) However, for its price range it is an exceptional piano in being able to reproduce an acoustic piano playing experience with the proper hammer weighted action (very realistic), proper tonal dynamics (with 3 key sensors per key unlike many others with just 2 sensors), smooth volume response, and fairly good decay and attack times. Decay time is how long the piano sound continues when you first press the key down and then release it while pressing down the damper sustain pedal. The longer the "decay time" the better the piano sound.

Casio AP250 keyboard

As far as the piano keys themselves go, the various digital manufacturers have come out with new synthetic "ivory feel" keytops on many digital pianos which is a new material on top of the white keys that tries to reproduce the original real ivory keys that used to be on most acoustic pianos many years ago until it became illegal to use elephant ivory. The ivory substance provided a better playing experience for most people because it helped absorb the sweat your fingers would produce while playing the keys and this material also provided a smoother key surface as well. Also, the black key tops of acoustic pianos were made of ebony (have you heard the term ebony & ivory?) so the black keys also had a better playing surface. To get these new keytops (ivory only) instead of the regular plastic ones, you would need to spend around $1500 or more in the Yamaha, Kawai, or Yamaha brands to get it on furniture cabinet digital pianos. Beyond that, this new material is not the same on different piano brands because some are noticeably better than others. Casio has added a proprietary synthetic ebony and ivory texture to their keys that I like and it's better than some other brands in my opinion. So I give Casio a lot of credit for coming out with such a nice feature at a much lower price than anyone else. Is it worth getting?...that's up to you, but I think it's pretty cool:)

Beyond the piano playing experience, having some useful digital features in the piano which can help with music education and/or playing skills, etc, is always welcome as far as I'm concerned. As a piano teacher & musician I enjoy having these features on my digital pianos and like to see students and recreational piano players get them too. The AP250 allows for the layering or splitting two different sounds at one time like acoustic piano and violins etc, electronically splitting the keyboard into 2 equal parts for duet play for teaching and learning, or to put a different sound on the left hand and a different sound on the right hand which is lots of fun. The piano has a 2-track 1-song recorder for recording two hands independently of each other for playback so you can hear how you did...some people don't want to hear themselves but it really is a good thing to do:). The AP250 also has a key transpose feature to electronically put your song in any key no matter what key you're actually playing it in as well as a number of other useful functions including metronome, key sensitivity control, brightness control, and other useful features. The PXAP250 also has a class compliant USB MIDI connection to computer or iPad device which is very useful for interactive play and learning for both children & adults. There are super cool iPad/tablet apps out there (above pics) to take advantage of this new technology as well as great piano music programs for laptop computers so that you can have a fun interactive time in learning, composing, on screen notation & music creation.

Casio AP250 with closed key cover

Overall for the money, the new 2013 model Casio AP250 looks like it is the best new digital piano out there under $1000 in a traditional cabinet design which reproduces the piano playing experience in a way that makes it seem real...and that's what it's all about. The Casio AP250 in brown would be my pick for someone who wants to be in the lower price range under $1000 having a more traditional piano experience along with a sliding key cover, headphone jacks, realistic acoustic piano sound, great progressive weighted key action & smooth key feel, and useful on-board digital features. 

Casio AP250 with bench

So, are there better digital furniture cabinet pianos out there?...yes there are. But they are all quite a bit more money (at least $1500) including those from Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai. However just because some digital piano brands and models are more money does not necessarily mean they are actually better than pianos for less money. I have seen this kind of thing happen over the years in a variety of pianos, so you cannot necessarily equate low price to low quality and I believe this is the case with the Casio AP250 being a low price but with higher quality. The only downside I can see to this AP250 is that the speaker system is a bit small (2 speakers at 18 watts audio power), but that is the case with many digital piano in this price range and in fact other new pianos I have played in this price range have even less audio power. I would have preferred a more robust internal sound system but I guess you can't have everything:). However for most rooms in an average home, the AP250 should be sufficient for volume. If you want or need louder volume, there are other good digital pianos out there that can do this but they typically cost more money. With that being said, given what the Casio AP250 does have, I would definitely recommend this new model for its low price.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Yamaha YDP142, Yamaha YDP162, Yamaha YDPS51 Arius Digital Pianos - Recommended - Yamaha is a great company and has been producing acoustic & digital pianos for a long time. Professionals, teachers, studios, churches, and families own Yamaha pianos. Yamaha makes two mainstream lines of digital pianos, one is called the Clavinova series and the other is the lower priced Arius series. The Arius models have been out for many years and are sold in music stores and internet stores for under $2000US while the Clavinova series are priced at over $2000US and beyond $10,000US. The latest Arius models that recently came out are the YDP142 ($1099US internet price), YDP162 ($1499US internet price), and YDPS51US ($1699 internet price). With the exception of cabinet design, internal sound system, and key action, all three new models are identical with regard to their features and digital technology and all come with a matching bench. The YDP142 and YDP162 are offered in both a satin black walnut & dark brown rosewood color and the YDPS51 is offered in satin black and satin white. All of the pianos a quite attractive as far as color goes, although I am not a big fan of the YDPS51 cabinet design and the way it looks with the key cover lid opened. I like the YDP142 and YDP162 cabinet design much better but that's just my opinion.

Yamaha YDP142 dark rosewood

The new YDP142 (left pic) uses the same standard GHS key action as in the previous YDP141 as well as the same audio power (12 watts total) along with the same speakers. The YDP142 has the biggest upgrade over the other models in that the previous YDP141 had only 64-note polyphony piano memory chip and the new YDP142 has 128-note polyphony along with 10 nice, but basic instrument sounds including harpsichord, strings, organ, etc, instead of the six sounds on the previous model. At $1099 that's a big improvement for Yamaha as compared with their other low priced previous models. The YDP142 volume knob & power button placement and design (as well as on the other two models) has also been changed and those things are definite improvements too.

All of these three new YDP models now have 128 note polyphony, improved piano sound sample chip (called pure CF sound engine) with noticeably more realistic piano sound than before along with some cool features not previously found on YDP pianos. Some of these new features include USB connectivity to iPad & computer instead of standard midi ports (it's about time!) and duo/duet play for two people playing simultaneously. The 142, 162, and S51 have the previous model ability to layer two sounds together, transpose, have half-pedal sustain control and good overall pedal feel experience, reverb, MIDI recording and playback on 2 independent tracks with storage of one song, metronome, 3 level touch sensitivity control, and key cover.

Both the YDP162 and YDPS51 use the better Yamaha GH graded hammer key action (as opposed to the standard GHS action in the YDP141/142) which is weighted much more like an acoustic piano and is also more solid and less noisy than the YDP142 standard GHS action. Also, although the speakers themselves are the same on all models, the YDP162 & YDPS51 each have 40 watts of audio power as compared with 12 watts total on the YDP142, so the that extra power allows for a much fuller, deeper tone which is definitely a nice thing in a piano. The Yamaha YDP142 piano sound is a bit thin as compared to a 40 watt system, especially in the bass keyboard range. Yamaha also has a newer digital technology they call "acoustic optimizer" which is supposed to further make the piano sound better in all the new cabinet models. Whether or not you can personally detect this optimized sound as being better is somewhat subjective but it's always good to have more helpful technology as opposed to less. The YDP142 also has this same optimizer and is good as far as overall sound, but as I said, the 12 watt amplification in the YDP142 is a bit on the low side and the 40 watt audio power is a big upgrade on the other models and that's what I prefer.

Yamaha YDP162 with bench

The new YDP162 may be the most popular of the three new models because it is slightly under $1500 and is only a $400 jump up from the YDP142 but has much better features in my opinion. It has a very nice, new, redesigned cabinet from the previous YDP161 and looks classier in its new cabinet...definite improvement there. The older YDP161 looked just like the YDP141/YDP142 and now the new YDP162 looks distinctively better then the YDP142 especially with its higher profile of more than an inch taller. Also, the YDP162 does not have the name "Arius" stamped on the music rack anymore and instead has the name "Yamaha" in 3D letters just above the keyboard...a very nice change and looks good. The YDP142 also took the name Arius off the music rack and replaced it with the name Yamaha in the same place...not as visually nice as the YDP162. The YDP162 also has something new that no Yamaha pianos have had yet under $3000 and that new feature is the "ivory feel" key tops on the white keys. Previous to this the lowest priced Yamaha piano to offer this feature is the Clavinova CLP440 which sells for about $3000 at local Yamaha stores. The ivory feel keys give the fingers a key surface that is supposed to be better for a smoother and less sticky key playing experience. However it just depends on what is important to you and how your fingers feel playing a regular white plastic feel key like the YDP142 or the YDPS51, but I happen to like the ivory feel keys.

YDPS151

These new Arius models are big improvements over the old ones in many ways and because of this, the discontinued models that are still in stores are being discounted at Yamaha dealers to sell them off. For some people the older models might be fine at a reduced priced (while they last) but the new ones have such good improvements in them (piano realism, USB connectivity, etc) that I would recommend spending the additional money to get a new model because they are worth it in my opinion and if you plan on keeping the piano for awhile then getting the latest in piano realism is generally a better thing to do.

If there is a downside to the Yamaha Arius series it would be the lack of dynamic range of piano sound while playing the keys. Good dynamic range of piano sound allows you to express your music more fully and is the ability of the piano to produce a broader range of piano sound changes (more or less brightness, mellowness, timbre, string vibration reproduction, overtones, etc,) which occur when you strike the keys lightly on a regular acoustic piano and then playing the keys with increasingly more finger power. The Arius series has a rather limited dynamic range compared to digital pianos that use the 3-sensor key action like Yamaha uses in its Clavinova series. The Arius series does not use the more advanced 3-sensor key action and I was a bit disappointed that the new Arius models did not incorporate the 3-sensor GH3 key action. If Yamaha had done that then they would have had little or no competition with those models in my opinion. To experience piano dynamic range for yourself, just plug in a pair of good headphones (so you can hear this dynamic range more closely) to any of the Arius models and press a key in the middle of the keyboard (where most people play) from light finger pressure to increasingly heavy pressure and listen to how it sounds (especially if you know what a real acoustic piano sounds like). If you were to then do the same thing on a digital piano that uses the 3-sensor key action, you would hear more "musical color and range" in the music which is made possible by the 3 sensor key action. Not only the does Yamaha use this 3-sensor key action technology which they call GH3 (under each of the 88 keys), Kawai & Roland also have this technology, but all of the 3-sensor pianos are over $2000 in those brands.

Casio 3-sensor key action

However, Casio, which is also a very good brand, is now using 3-sensor key action technology (left pic) in all of its pianos under $2000 and this even includes their lowest price portable digital piano called the PX150 ($599 internet price). In fact, Casio has 7 different models under $2000 that use the 3-sensor key action technology (which is very cool:), along with a graded hammer weighted key action that some people think is better than the Yamaha GH action. If you plug in a pair of headphones into any of those new Casio models (the new PX "50" series) and compare to the new Arius series, you should definitely hear what I am talking about. The difference is quite noticeable and it really does make a song come to life in a much more realistic way having the 3-sensor key action. So...do you absolutely have to get a digital piano with with 3-sensor key action such as the lower priced Casio's or higher priced Yamaha Clavinova's, Kawai's, or Roland's...well, no....especially if you are a beginner or just playing at a lower skill level. But...if you like a larger palette of "musical color" (like colors on a painting or in your iPad/iPhone pics, or when listening to good piano music on a CD/MP3, etc), or you want to be able to properly grow in your piano playing, then you'll get way more "musical colors" with a digital piano using the 3-sensor key action, along with the ability of being able to play more advanced music or simply having a more realistic playing experience.

Yamaha P105 with stand & pedals

You should also know that Yamaha recently came out with a portable version of the the Arius models back in October 2012 called the P105 (left pic - $599 internet price without optional furniture stand & 3-pedal unit). I have done a review on this model and you can go here to read about it: Yamaha P105 piano review. The interesting thing about the P105 is that in a number of ways, it has better features and more of them than the new Arius cabinet models (with the exception of GH action), which is quite odd to me. This is because normally (but not always) a manufacturer will upgrade their digital pianos from one to the next as they go up in price, but this was not the case with the P105 as compared to the new Arius models. Although the P105 has the same standard GHS action as the YDP142 as I just mentioned, the additional and nicer features the P105 has that none of the new YDP's have are as follows:
- 10 nice sounding drum patterns for rhythm training and play-along
- 14 instrument sounds instead of just 10
- 10 piano chord-style accompaniments for fun play and song style learning
- Individual control panel buttons across the top instead of a left side plus-minus control
- Stereo audio outputs for connectivity to external speakers
- A four speaker sound system instead of just two
- 14 watts of total power instead of just 12 watts in the YDP142

Yamaha P105 control panel

The P105 is surprisingly full sounding and loud in its own portable case through its internal speaker system so it may even be a better option than the new YDP142. You can also purchase an optional furniture type stand and 3-pedal unit to turn the P105 into more of an attractive furniture cabinet so it has a better appearance. The only electronic function that I am aware of that the P105 does not have (which the others do) is the "acoustic optimizer" function, but that is because the P105 piano is not in a bigger cabinet and therefore that function would not really be necessary or as effective.  I would like to have seen Yamaha include all of the extra P105 features on the new Arius series pianos too, but unfortunately rather than keep those features, for some reason Yamaha took them off. Was it to save money?...maybe, but they couldn't have saved much if anything based on what I have seen other manufacturers do in the past. Sometimes these manufacturers make what seems to be strange decisions and in my opinion, this is one of them. Oh well I guess you can't have everything:)...but those extra features definitely would have given the new Arius models an extra edge and a "coolness factor" they didn't have before.

Casio Privia PX850

The only other brand I would recommend in the lower price range under $1500 is Casio and that company also recently came out with a very impressive line of new models called the Privia PX series. I would recommend you read my blog reviews on these new models at the links below because the new Casio Privia's are better in some ways than these new Yamaha models and are quite a bit less money too. Kawai & Roland also make some great pianos but only Roland has one of its newer pianos under $1500US (F120) and it has been out for over a year and not at all competitive with the new Yamaha's & Casio's in my opinion.

When it comes to these new Yamaha Arius models, as I have already mentioned, they have very nice improvements over the older models. They look good, feel good, sound fairly realistic as compared to a real piano with their new piano sound and nice piano sound decay time, and have some new, useful features. Of the three new models, I recommend the YDP162, YDP142, and then the YDPS51 in that order because of features, price, and cabinet design. I like Yamaha very much and do recommend them and have been playing Yamaha music products for many years. The bottom line is that in the under $2000 price range, you can probably be happy with any of these instruments,  and that's what counts, your musical happiness. But before you spend your hard earned money, I would advise you to also check out the new Kawai & Casio digital pianos that just came out under $2000 and compare them to what Yamaha has to offer. Once you do that then you'll be able to say you made the right buying decision...no matter what that decision is:). Playing music and enjoying it as a child or adult is such incredible experience and I recommend it to people as strongly as I can. It's a wonderful way to express your deepest emotions while also being a relaxing, calming experience as well. Also, when you want to take out your frustrations on something, well then a good, fast, big piece of classical music on a piano can make that happen for you too! No matter where you are in life, whether a person is 3 years old or 93 years old, it is never too early or too late to play music. Music is everywhere you go in the world and is integrated into our lives in so many ways. Be a part of it and power up a good digital piano, turn up the volume, and play as soon as possible, and make sure you do it on the best instrument you can:)

Go to the following links for comparable Casio digital piano reviews:

Casio PX150/350 portable piano review
Casio PX750 piano review
Casio PX850 piano review ($1099 internet price - comparative model to Yamaha YDP162) 
Casio AP250BN traditional furniture model ($999 internet price)

Casio PX780

The Casio piano company has just come out with a new digital piano called the Privia PX780 (left pic - available in black only) for just $999US internet that now a huge competitor of every digital piano under $2000 with only a couple of exceptions in that higher price range. I have recently seen and played this piano and was very impressed by what it sounded like and how good it looked and played for its low price. For $999US, you generally don't expect to get much as compared with pianos at twice the price or higher, but this piano is an exception to that rule.

Yamaha CVP601

Of the better brands, Yamaha is the only company that has a digital cabinet piano in this lower price range (YDP135R - $999 internet price) and it pales by comparison to the new Casio PX780 in my opinion. You have to go up to the new Yamaha CVP601 digital piano to get something better than the Casio PX780 (in my opinion) in the Yamaha brand with regard to functions, sound, and cabinet, and the CVP601 (left pic) discount selling price is well above $3000 and probably closer to $4000. Even at that price the Yamaha CVP601 has only 10 more watts of audio power going through 2 speakers as opposed to four speakers in the Casio, and they both have 128 notes of polyphony piano memory. If you should have the extra disposable income then going up to that new Yamaha would be a good choice.  Just for the record, I am not married to the Casio company nor do I work for them nor do I think the make the very best digital pianos as Kawai, Yamaha, & Roland make better ones in higher price ranges. However for $999, this new PX780 piano is pretty amazing and that price is very affordable for most families.

• Very realistic key action with new & improved graduated weighted hammer style movement. (really feels like a real acoustic piano)
• 3-sensor (Casio calls it Tri-Sensor) dynamic response key action (above left pic) for more piano sound range and expression (Yamaha does not have this on their Arius series under $2000 although they do have it on their Clavinova series over $2000). 3-key sensors per key make a big difference in "musical color" of sound and your ability to express your music. If you want further info on this, please ask me.
• A fairly quiet key-bed with little noise as compared to other brands.
•  Ivory & ebony key tops for smooth finger movement.
• 128-note polyphony with piano resonance & longer piano sustain decay times to produce noticeably realistic piano sound along with enough polyphony for sound layering and using accompaniment & MIDI recording features.
• Big piano sound through a 4-speaker 40 watt (total) stereo sound system.
• 3-pedal soft/sostenuto/sustain pedal system with variable "half pedal" sustain function for proper pedaling response.
• USB class compliant core MIDI high speed direct connection to iPad or laptop computer to utilize some outstanding piano education & notation apps now available for tablets.
• 360 drum rhythm patterns for timing and rhythm training (most digital pianos under $2500 offer 0-100 rhythm patterns).
• 250 very nice instruments for use with song creation, arranging, composing, and playing just for fun (most digital pianos under $2000 offer approx 10-25 instrument.
• wav file audio recording so you can make live recordings of your playing (useful in converting to MP3 files for MP3 players or to attach to emails for sending to friends and relatives).
• Plugging a microphone into the piano to record live vocals while you're singing & playing at the same time or separately and then saving it all to a USB flashdrive in a .wav audio file!
  
• General MIDI 16 track instrument playback for use with Alfred, Faber, and other piano teaching methods. For important info about General MIDI lesson song accompaniments & lesson practice,
  
  Go to the following link: General MIDI & digital pianos
• General MIDI 16-track instrument recording for song creation, arranging, composing, etc.
• Arranger style chord system with 360 music styles for full accompaniment on your left hand. This allows for integration of a live band or orchestral backup while playing "chord style" using a variety of music accompaniments in the piano including Jazz, Classical, Latin, Country, Rock, Oldies, Waltz, Big Band, Blues, Folk, Contemporary, World Music from other countries, and many other music genres. This feature helps with allowing you to integrate rhythmic music styles into your playing to make your playing music even more enjoyable.
• LCD user display screen directly in front of you for easy to read control panel information.
• 86 "Jam Session" chord progression loops for learning song improv. This unique feature allows the player to learn how to "jam and improvise" with built in chord progressions with 86 recognizable "song loops" that make learning to play "by ear" fun and enjoyable. Ear training is a great way to play piano and helps with understanding music.
• Layering & splitting any two sounds anywhere on the keyboard.
• Duet "4-hand play" for two people playing on the piano simultaneously.
• Grand piano "stretch tuning" function to give a more realistic grand piano sound based on the way piano tuners tune grand pianos.
• Transpose and modulate to any key up & down half-steps while playing the piano.
• Variable reverb, brightness, key sensitivity, octave shift, song & accompaniment volume.
• Panel control button lock to protect your settings for inadvertent button pressing along with auto power shut off function.
• Connectivity: Stereo 1/4" audio outputs, stereo audio inputs to run your iPad or computer volume back through the piano, MIDI in & out ports to connect with MIDI sound modules, other keyboards, and other MIDI devices, Dual 1/4" headphone jacks.
• Console type furniture cabinet with full control button panel and sliding key cover for panel and keyboard protection.

Casio PX780 with closed cover

Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Kurzweil, and the others certainly have some fine pianos as I've mentioned earlier and Casio even has new pianos selling for about $2000. But for the selling price of $999, it hard to argue with this model. I will say that one of the advantages of some of the more expensive pianos at or over $2000 is their better internal speaker-audio systems. As you spend a lot more money you tend to get better speaker systems in the piano with bigger speakers and/or more power.


However because the PX780 has stereo audio outputs, you can easily connect an external speaker system to the PX780 and for somewhere between $200-$400 for the extra sound system/monitors (which are small and easy to move) you would would literally have a better and fuller sound than many of the digital pianos that sell for well over $3000. In fact I have personally done this and the results are truly amazing. It sounds as if you are playing a big grand piano when you connect a good external speaker system. If you use a good pair of headphones and you like to do that, then the sound is equally as good that way.

So when you boil it all down and look at what the Casio PX780 has to offer as compared to other pianos for the same price on up to over twice its price, this new Casio piano is "The BOMB" in the modern vernacular:). By the way, if you choose not to use all the extra on-board features, if you just play the piano sound by itself, you have a selection of 10 different acoustic piano sounds and can play just about any kind of music with them. So just playing traditional piano on the PX780 is quite enjoyable and if that's all it did it would still be a great buy compared to other brands & models in this price range.

As far as any drawbacks or downsides to the PX780, the only ones I can see is the cabinet itself in that some people may want a cabinet that looks even more like a piano with some cabinet color options such as the Yamaha CVP601 or other brands in the higher price range. Also, the PX780 does not come with a bench like some other pianos do. However, good piano benches are relatively inexpensive and easily purchased on the internet or at local stores and I can give you recommendations on those benches if that helps you. As the old saying goes, sometimes you can't have everything, but for $999 internet discount price, it's hard to complain.

Casio PX780

The problem now is trying to get one, so my recommendation is to order one right away so you can get one before they get sold out of their initial US shipment. Also, I do recommend you research other brands & models before you make your final buying decision because making music is what this is all about along with having fun doing it:). There are few things better than that! Be sure you contact me before you purchase anything anywhere.


If you want more info on new digital pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

Digital Piano Review - The Best Digital Pianos of 2013

UPDATED - Best Digital Pianos under $1000.

There are only 3 brands of digital pianos that I recommend right now which will be acceptable as having good 88-key digital pianos in the lower price range under $1000. Those brands are Yamaha, Casio & Korg (Roland & Kawai do not offer models under $1000). Within those available brands there are some specific 2012/2013 models under $1000 internet discount price that are available which I recommend. You can certainly get a very good piano playing experience in this lower price range and it may not be necessary for you to spend more money on a digital piano unless you have specific needs that are not going to be met with these lower priced pianos. However, the quality of piano sound & key action reproduction in a couple of these models may surprise you and you'll be able to save even more money than you thought and get a very nice piano for the entire family even if you have a higher playing skill level.If you would like to research reviews of digital pianos between $1000-$2000, go to my reviews of those pianos here:
Casio offers 6 models of digital pianos under $1000 selling price including the basic CDP120 ($449), the Privia PX150 ($599), PX350 ($799), PX750 compact cabinet model ($799 - lower left pic), PX780 compact cabinet model ($999 internet discount price), and the AP250 fuller size cabinet model ($999 internet price - above left pic). Yamaha offers 6 models including the new P105 ($599 - left pic) available now, as well as the DGX640 ($699), YDPS31 (same as YDP135R but in compact cabinet), P155 portable piano ($999 internet price not incl stand, pedals, or bench), and the YDP135R. I recommend all of the Casio's and Yamaha's mentioned here although the Casio CDP models are quite basic and use a lower quality key action, piano sound chip, speaker system, and pedal system. But they can be adequate depending on the need and budget. 

Korg SP170S

Korg offers three models under $1000 including the SP170S ($499), SP280 ($699), and LP350 ($999), the LP350 although it is an older model and has been out for about 8 years. It uses older digital technology (you can read my blog reviews of that piano) that have been surpassed by Yamaha & Casio. I don't recommend the Korg SP170/170S (above left pic) because I just don't like the key action and velocity sound response (although the piano sound itself is good), and that's one of the most important things in picking out pianos. Also, I don't like the sound selection system it uses and the case/cabinet is a bit plastic looking as compared to the Yamaha & Casio. The new SP280 is better and has an upgraded internal speaker system but I am still not a big fan of the sound itself or the key action as compared to the other brands. So in reality, the best options are either the newer Yamaha or Casio pianos. Some of the Yamaha & Casio pianos I recommend are portable so you would need to purchase an optional furniture style stand (or cheaper metal stand), pedals, and bench to make it complete. But even that expense should not put you over (or much over) $1000.

Adagio digital piano

All of these brands & models mentioned here are the piano style weighted 88-key digital pianos, although the key action movement will be slightly different from one model to another. They all have built-in speakers although the power & quality of the speaker system vary, and overall all of my recommended pianos are acceptable depending on your musical goals and experience. There are other brands and models out there in the lower price ranges as well, but I recommend against them because they are of much lower quality (in my experienced opinion) are not up to my minimal student practice or recreational playing standards for key action, piano sound, and pedaling. These brands include Adagio, Suzuki, Williams, Adams, or any lightweight spring key action digital pianos such as the Yamaha DGX505, Yamaha DGX535, Kurzweil SP4-7, etc, so be careful. I have even seen some recommendations on-line & also in some large (popular) music stores for these "off-brand" pianos among others, but in my opinion they are only a POS (piano shaped object) and in few other ways resemble what a digital or acoustic piano should play and sound like. Suzuki & Adagio are brands normally found primarily at Costco in the US, but that does not mean they are good musical instruments. Nice, attractive exterior cabinets (which some of them do have) do not always mean digital pianos are good for playing music correctly...even at minimum standards. I would suggest you stay away from these  brands if you want a very good piano playing experience.

Yamaha YDP135R

Of the three brands mentioned in the lower price range I believe Casio offers a noticeably better piano playing key action and sound experience than Yamaha or Korg, although Yamaha has some very nice models at $1500 and above. The lower priced Yamaha P105 & DGX640 are also quite fun to play and certainly worth looking at. But ultimately, all of these models I mentioned here would be fine although everyone pretty much wants the closest reproduction a regular piano as they can get for the least amount of money. For many recreational piano players and students, it can be difficult for them to determine which piano actually does do the best job in terms of the piano touch and tone. So how can you tell and what do you do to determine what the best one is in this price range since sound and touch are normally a subjective individual thing? And to make matters more difficult, it's typically difficult to find all of these pianos in one place at one time to compare them, or even find some of them at all. The best thing in my opinion to do is to research and then listen to an experienced expert like myself and then I can give you a better idea of what might work best for you.

With regard to piano beginner students and their music education, as a long time private & group piano and keyboard teacher, this is something I know a lot about after having taught hundreds of students over many years. If you want good info on the best way to proceed as far as lessons go as well as wanting to be sure you're getting the right instrument for your needs and budget, please contact me and I'll be happy to answer your questions. Also, click on the links below to read my reviews on some of these pianos under $1000.

Casio PX750 Review
Yamaha P105 Review
Casio PX350 Review
Casio PX780 Review
Korg LP350 Review
Yamaha YDP135R Review
Korg SP170S Review

Casio PX780

I would say my favorite new cabinet piano under $1000 internet discount price right now has to be the 2013 model Casio Privia PX780 (left pic). This piano really surprised me when I recently played it in that it was not only in a nicely designed compact cabinet with the full 3 pedals that was attractive & functional (especially with its full pull-down key cover), but that it had an amazing big sounding acoustic piano tone with a wide dynamic range using a three sensor key technology not normally found in a smaller instrument until you get well above $2000 in other brands (the Yamaha Arius series does not have this). When you also consider the Casio PX780 has the new synthetic ivory & ebony keys (normally found on pianos in much higher price ranges), 128-note polyphony piano memory (which is more than sufficient in most cases), half-pedal recognition damper sustain pedal, and life-like acoustic piano hammer (graduated weighted) key action along with direct USB output for instant connect with laptop and iPad (go to the following link to learn more about iPad apps: iPad Apps and learning piano), and hundreds of useful built-in educational features, this one just cannot be beat right now at the low $999 internet price. Not one of the other brands comes close to this model in what it can do overall, even for hundreds of dollars more money in my opinion.

Now there are some people who equate the name Casio and its lower prices with lower quality and sometimes lower price CAN mean lower quality. The Yamaha piano company has always been very respected and has a better known name in the world of music than Casio does, no doubt about that. Also piano teachers (like me) as well as schools and churches have played Yamaha pianos and other name brands for years. But competitive Yamaha digital pianos right now cost far more money than these new Casio pianos (as much as 2 to 4 times as much) depending on the model.

In my opinion any of these recommended pianos I mentioned under $1000 would be fun to own and play, but the Casio company has really outdone themselves this time with their new PX780 at $999. It is available now and should continually sell out fast based on my experience of how these things go. If you want more info on the PX780 please let me know. I try not to be biased on new low priced models that come out but it's a bit difficult on this one:) Go here to read my recent review on the Casio PX780: Casio PX780 Review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

Yamaha P105 Review

UPDATED REVIEW - February 28, 2013, 2012 - I recommend the new 2013 model Yamaha P105 portable digital piano ($599US internet discount price) which is the updated replacement for the Yamaha P95. The lightweight P105 which weighs only 27lbs is available now and is a HUGE improvement over the former P95 ($549 internet discount price)...and it's about time Yamaha made that happen:) I have personally played and carefully listened to the P105 and the deficiencies that I have talked about in the past on the P95 have almost all been taken care of on the P105. There is now a much better piano sound in this new model along with 128 notes of polyphony instead of 64 for smoother playability. Essentially (with a few exceptions) the P105 uses the higher priced P155 ($999 internet discount price) sound and polyphony technology and puts it into this lower priced model...and that's a very good thing.

The Yamaha company (left pic - beautiful building) has been making musical instruments for over 100 years (beginning with acoustic pianos) so they do know what they're doing. Yamaha produces many different types of quality musical instruments including flutes, violins, guitars, drums, and a variety of other things. Yamaha instruments are played on stage, in schools, studios, churches, and other venues where music is played and heard. I personally own Yamaha equipment (as well as other brands) and have for years. I have even been to the Yamaha music instrument & piano headquarters in Japan and was able to meet some of it's top people and designers. So I have seen this company up close & personal not only in Japan, but in the US at its headquarters in Calif.

Compared to the P95, the P105 (left pic) just runs all over it as far as piano tone goes and that was obvious to me since I have personally played that instrument many times. Beyond the improved piano sound, this low price model now has a USB to computer/iPad output (love it), stereo 1/4" audio line level outputs (very nice to put through an external sound system), assignable split of two sounds or layering of two sounds, a better sounding internal speaker system with 4 speakers and 14 watts of total audio power, a duet mode for two people playing the keys at the same time, 10 very nice drum rhythm patterns for rhythm training and fun play along, 10 piano style patterns for backing tracks while you play which is very cool (makes you sound better than you are), and the piano cabinet itself has been redesigned to make it look & sound better including the music rack color. The control panel is basically the same as the P95 with buttons across the top which makes it easy to access the various instrument sounds inside along with various editing functions using buttons and keys pressed at the same time to access those editing effects. You can also record a song using up to two independent recording parts for left & right hand in the standard MIDI format. A 3-pedal unit and matching furniture style stand (which are very nice) are an option and an extra cost. Bench is not included. As with all Yamaha piano products, they are generally very reliable and a factory warranty is included. So basically there is little or no reason to purchase a P95 (left pic) at this point even though it's a bit less money (not much less) and you can still buy one now.

As for the key action in the P105, Yamaha has elected to keep the same basic GHS action in the P105 that was in the P95. This GHS key action is good overall compared to some other digital piano brands but it is a lightweight piano key movement in comparison to its better GH action and not as good, and is also bit noisy (plasticky) in its attempt to recreate the acoustic piano feel. This basic GHS key action movement is used in a number of lower priced Yamaha digital pianos including the DGX640, YDPS31, YDP135R, YDP141, YDP142 and YDPV240. So the weak point of this piano is the key action and if Yamaha had come out with something new that was a bit more realistic in the way the keys moved and felt, this P105 would have been a better competitor. If you are not as concerned with the key action movement, key weight, and response as far as getting as close as possible to an acoustic upright piano, then the P105 may be the perfect piano for you with all of these terrific upgrades which the P95 and older P85 did not have.

However, if you would like to get a more realistic piano sound and piano key action and are willing to give up a few of the new fun features of the P105 in it's price range, then there is an option. Casio now has their new Privia PX150 (left pic) & PX350 (lower left pic) portable digital pianos. The Casio PX150 is priced at $599US internet discount price just like the Yamaha P105, and the upgraded Casio PX350 is priced at $799US internet discount price. The slightly higher priced Casio PX350 has all of the features of the Yamaha P105 plus many, many more and allows you to do wav file audio recording too...extreme cool. The key tops on both Casios use a new synthetic ivory & ebony material (typically reserved for much higher priced digital pianos) for a superior key surface as your fingers play on the keys, as well as a much more realistic piano key action with 3-key sensor tonal dynamics which the Yamaha P105 does not have. I have played those keys and they look & feel great and move realistically in my opinion. The Yamaha's don't have the synthetic ivory & ebony keytops on any of their current digital pianos under $3000. The more basic Casio PX150 (as compared to the Casio PX350) has the same new key action and all new piano sound (with 3-sensor key action) of the PX350 which is noticeably better than the Yamaha P105 in my opinion. The PX150 also has a USB to iPad/computer output, split, layer, duet, etc, etc. It does not have the drum rhythms or piano styles of the Yamaha P105, but...when you connect to a laptop computer or iPad/tablet you can use all kinds of very helpful music/piano apps & programs that allows you to interface and interact with very exciting music technology that will blow you away...and your kids will love that too.

Based on the latest technology, piano sound & key action, the only real choices now in the lower price range for portable 88-key digital pianos with graduated weighted keyboards, is the new Casio's or the Yamaha's including the current Yamaha DGX640 ($699 internet discount price). It is a subjective choice and one that needs to be made based on your musical goals and needs. But if you want the better piano key action and sound for $599 (in my opinion), I would choose the Casio based on my impressions of it after having played it live, although you can certainly be quite happy with the Yamaha. However, Casio has upped their game by creating a much better piano sound than ever (way more computer sound memory to produce subtle changes in tone, resonance, pedaling, and dynamics), improved key action movement with acoustic upright graduated piano weighting, and key touch. And they did this right when Yamaha came along and upped their game with the greatly improved P105 over the former P95! It's fun to see these two great Japanese companies battling it out! I am certain about one thing though, I would recommend waiting for the Yamaha P105 (which also comes in satin white cabinet - upper left pic) if you are set on getting a Yamaha and not buy the current Yamaha P95 if you have been considering that. The difference between the two is truly amazing. You should compare the P105 to the new Casio's in person at a store if you get the opportunity because that's one of the best ways to make good decision since spending somewhere between $600-$800 is a lot of money in my book. For more info on these new Casio Privia pianos go to my blog review of them here: Casio PX350/150 Review

Casio PX750

One more note of interest: Casio also has a brand new compact furniture model which is called the PX750 (left pic). It has everything the Casio PX150 has but it comes with the furniture stand & 3-pedal unit (unlike the Yamaha P105 or Casio PX150), has a traditional sliding key cover (no cover on the Yamaha or Casio portables), has front panel controls, and it sounds better through its upgrade speaker system than either the Casio PX150 or Yamaha P105. It is compact in size, lightweight, but is not meant to be portable as far as taking it around with you (although the top does separate from the stand). It is designed as a nice acoustic piano replacement (for a more permanent place) in a small size at a small price at $799 internet price. This model is unique to Casio and unfortunately Yamaha has nothing to compete with it at the moment. I would suggest you look at that one too before making any decisions. Go to my PX750 blog review here for more info: Casio PX750 Review

With all these new models just coming out in the lower price range, it may seem a difficult task to pick one out, but I can help you with that and give you the right advice and help you get one at an even lower price.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864.

UPDATED REVIEW- March 1, 2013 - I recommend the new 2013 Casio PX350 ($799US internet discount price) & Casio PX150 ($599US internet discount price) digital portable pianos. These pianos are noticeably improved and upgraded over the previous models PX330 & PX130, especially in piano tone and key action. After just over 30 years of producing digital pianos & keyboards, the Casio piano company continues to improve their digital piano models using the latest technology and keeping prices low, which is what they are known for. The new PX350 (upper left pic) retains a lot of what the PX330 had (the better parts) including a functional LCD display screen, 250 instrument sounds, 17 track General MIDI playback & record functions (no one comes close to that), 128 notes of polyphony (twice as much memory as the Yamaha DGX640 which is also priced at $799), 360 drum patterns and auto chord styles, and many other useful features including midi in/out & stereo 1/4" audio outputs & inputs which Yamaha and other pianos do not have in this price range for full featured digital pianos. Also, it weighs just 25lbs which is very light but it's still a solid instrument and easy to move if necessary.

The Casio company has its worldwide headquarters in Tokyo, Japan (left pic) and has been producing digital pianos for over 30 years. They also produce keyboards, pro synthesizers, as well as being famous for calculators, advanced digital cameras, sports & consumer watches, advanced digital technology for communication devices, and some very impressive new digital computer technology. Casio produces their own computer chips and proprietary micro technology and is able to do it at a fraction of the cost of some of it's biggest competitors. That is why Casio tends to have lower prices. Some people equate lower prices with lower quality but in my opinion these new Casio digital pianos are quite impressive. Beyond that, Casio has a new 3-year parts & labor warranty  which shows they are serious about giving consumers product protection and have confidence in their new pianos. Most warranties on digital pianos under $1000 have no more more than 1 year labor or maybe 2 at the most, so 3 years is outstanding in my opinion.

Casio PX350 w/stand & pedals

The noticeable upgrades on the PX350 are a much improved acoustic piano reproduction over previous models with way more realism and better overall sound and decay times, improved & upgraded key action, ivory & ebony feel keys (very nice & no one else has that in this price range), USB flash drive device input (in place of SD card), digital audio wav file recording of your performance to USB flashdrive (no one else has this in this price range and it's very cool), and more. Take a look at some videos of the PX350 being played live at the bottom of this review. Notice that one of the videos has an internationally famous Jazz & Blues musician playing the PX350 in his hotel room while on tour. His name is Joe Sample and according to Casio, Joe thinks this is one of the best portable digital pianos he has ever played and has since ordered two of them. I personally wouldn't have believed a musician of his stature would even want to play a low priced digital piano from Casio let alone own one, but seeing is believing.

I have personally played this piano from top to bottom and not only has the piano sound and key action been substantially upgraded over the previous model, so have some of the additional instrument sounds, drum rhythms, arrangement styles, and other features including digital storage to USB flashdrive capabilities. 

Casio PX350

The PX350 control panel (left pics) is similar to the PX330 but with a modified button layout which is more intuitive to use and sleeker looking. An optional Casio furniture style stand & 3-pedal unit especially made for the new PX portable pianos is available for an extra cost. The Casio factory warranty on this model is 3 years parts & 3 years labor which is more than sufficient in the world of digital pianos and actually quite long compared to other brands in this price range. The closest competitor to the Casio PX350 that I recommend is the current model Yamaha DGX640 as I mentioned earlier. Although both the Casio & Yamaha are fun to play and work good, the new Casio seems to be a far superior instrument in many ways including acoustic piano sound & much more realistic graduated hammer key action, wider piano dynamics, longer decay/sustain time, double the polyphony, and many other functions. Yamaha uses their basic standard GHS action in the DGX640 as compared to the more realistic (in my opinion) Casio upright piano feel hammer key action. It is noticeably different than the Yamaha. Although some people may like a lighter weight key action, I prefer the Casio type of piano weighted key action for my piano students and for people interested in reproducing the acoustic piano key weight and action as closely as they can. Just for the record, sound and key action is subjective and not an exact science. While there are many people who will think the Casio is fantastic for the price in every way, others will be more critical and want to hear even better sounding instruments, chord arrangement styles, and drum patterns which are the other parts of the PX350. But for the money I believe most people will think the PX350 is the best "portable package" in the marketplace at this moment for all that it does and has at a selling price well under $1000. When you attach the optional furniture stand and 3 pedal unit to the piano it looks like a smaller compact piano and behaves just like a real upright piano which I like.

Casio PX150

The new Casio PX150 (left & upper left pics) replaces the PX130 and is upgraded in some big ways, most notably the piano tone & piano key action which is identical to the new PX350. The PX350 has four speakers and 16 watts of power and the PX150 has 2 speakers and 16 watts of audio power which is generally sufficient for portable and cabinet digital pianos. The PX350 however does sound better than the PX150 because of its two extra speakers. The cabinet on the PX150 as well as the PX350 has been slightly redesigned in styling & colors (both available in satin black & also satin white - above left pic) and I like those improvements. The PX150 has 18 instrument tones as opposed to 16 in the former PX130 and although that's only two more sounds than the PX130, they are the most important sounds that people ask for...which is the acoustic piano sound. In all, the PX150 has 5 acoustic piano reproductions incl classical concert piano and pop piano among others. The PX150 also has a core compliant USB/MIDI plug & play connection to iPad or laptop computer (as was in the PX130) which is a very useful feature especially with so many people wanting to connect to iPad/tablet or laptop for educational and/or music composition software & apps. Also very nice are the new ivory & ebony feel key tops which the PX130 did not have. This gives the fingers a better playing surface on which to play on which is way cool. It even makes the keys look classier instead of just having white plastic like the Yamaha's still do in this price range. The PX150 also has key transpose, duet/4-hand playing mode, 2 headphone jacks, a 2-track MIDI song recorder, and other features. An optional furniture style stand and 3-pedal unit is also available for this model.

Yamaha P105

The nearest competitor to the Casio PX150 is the new Yamaha P105 ($599US internet discount price). The P105 is the replacement for the Yamaha P95 which has been out for quite a while. The P105 is a huge upgrade over the former Yamaha P95 (I have the P105 extensively and listened to one in person), but even with the big upgrades in features including much improved piano sound, as far as reproducing realistic acoustic piano key action and acoustic piano sound, it's my opinion the new Casio PX150 is noticeably better because it has a higher level of acoustic piano sound realism and 3 sensor weighted hammer key action technology over the Yamaha which produces a much greater range of tonal dynamics. Also, the Casio offers five different acoustic piano tones (which is a lot in this price range) whereas the Yamaha offers just two acoustic piano selections. The P105 is still using its standard GHS key action (even in this new model) which they have had out for years. While it is adequate in its price range, the GHS action is somewhat light (and a bit noisy-plasticky) in key movement and response as compared with Yamaha's better GH action in their higher priced digital pianos. But even the Yamaha GH key action doesn't simulate playing an acoustic piano near as well as the new Casio 3-sensor (Casio calls it tri-sensor) key action, in my opinion. However, the new Yamaha P105 has a few cool features over the Casio PX150 that I really like (basic drum rhythms & piano chord styles) but I don't think I would sacrifice the higher quality and more realistic piano sound and key action on the Casio's for a few of the "cool" digital features the Yamaha has. I can always get some exciting musical & educational features off my iPad or laptop connected to the Casio PX150 if I needed or wanted to.

I have played and listen to both of these new Casio models and as I just mentioned, I was personally very impressed by the upgraded piano sound & key action, especially for their low prices. Unless you were a fairly good piano player, you might not be able to tell much difference between an actual acoustic piano and these new Casio models as far as touch & piano tone, especially when listening through a good pair of headphones (the on-board speakers are good for a portable piano, but connecting to an external speaker system through audio outputs would be even better). I have played all of the new pianos out there including other brands not mentioned here and you can have satisfying playing experiences on many Yamaha's, Kawai's, Roland's, and other brands. But if you want a relatively inexpensive digital piano that sounds & plays great (for the money), is lightweight to carry or store (25lbs for the piano itself if you want to take it somewhere, and has lots of useful features including plug & play USB output to iPad & computer (see iPad music app pics at left and above), then I recommend the new Casio PX150 & PX350 for people looking in these price ranges and wanting something with higher quality technology.

Is it worth buying the PX150 & PX350 since they are $100 more each over even less expensive more basic digital pianos (and there are some out there)? It really depends on your budget and your musical goals? However I believe there are compelling reasons to purchase either of the new Casio models and spend a bit more money because if you plan to own the piano for awhile and want to grow into it instead of "out of it," you might as well be way ahead of the curve in terms of technology and getting much closer to replicating the piano tone & key action of a real acoustic piano. If that's important to you then I believe getting a the PX150 or PX350 and spending a bit more will worth it in the long run:). 

Note: There are some people out there who think I purposely favor the Casio brand over others, but I do not. In the lower price range under $1100, there is really nothing else right now that comes close to the new line of Casio Privia pianos and that includes Yamaha, one of my favorite brands. Take a look at these new videos (down below) I found of the PX350 in action from Casio's main US product designer & specialist, Mike Martin as well as a very famous Jazz pianist by the name of Joe Sample and a classical concert artist by the name of Anthony Patterson. Once you hear the stereo multi-sampled acoustic grand piano sound on the PX350 in these videos, you will know why I am very impressed with these new models at their low prices. And being a piano teacher and musician myself, lower prices always make me smile:)

Casio PX750

  
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

Here are some demo songs below I recorded directly from the Casio PX350. Everything is live with no pre-recording or multi-track recording. I did make a few mistakes but that's what you get when you record one time improvising with no sheet music. I made up the songs as I went along but the point was just to show off some of the rhythm accompaniment style features along with a few of the other PX350 sounds and very convincing grand piano sound. Hope you enjoy:)

   Dynamic Grand Piano Pop by Tim Praskins on the Casio PX350

   Organ-piano Jazz Groove by Tim Praskins on the Casio PX350

   Light County Rock by Tim Praskins on the Casio PX350

   Acoustic-Elec Piano rock by Tim Praskins on the Casio PX350

 






Legendary pianist Joe Sample playing a Casio PX350 live in his hotel room impromptu and not rehearsed, and on camera too... that's called being brave:)


Joe Sample showing off his piano playing skills in Concert with George Benson 

AZPianoNews.com - Digital Piano Reviews - by Tim Praskins

Welcome to AZ Piano News, your #1 source for digital piano reviews, news, shopping and buying tips and other useful information. My name is Tim Praskins and I established this piano blog in 2009 as a way to provide my 40 years of piano expertise to the public with regard to digital and acoustic pianos, piano and keyboard lessons, and general help to piano shoppers in the world in deciding what digital piano would be best for them. Here is a brief overview of what you can expect from my detailed piano blog:

Digital Piano Reviews

All of my digital piano reviews are completely unique, unfiltered, and updated regularly, and the information I provide is done through my own personal research and 40 year experience with pianos and related subjects that I talk about. I am not paid or persuaded by any company on how I review pianos and other instruments which allows me the freedom to say what I really think...and that's always a good thing:). Therefore I will tell you if a piano is a Best Buy, Recommended, Not Recommended, etc. My goal is to share with you what I know about these pianos, piano lessons, piano teachers, and ways to shop that will help you make the right decision and save you money in the process. Many of the top name brands I review are Roland, Kawai, Casio, Yamaha, Samick, and Kurzweil just to name a few. I also review brands such as Suzuki, Williams, Adagio, and others that are found at Costco and large consumer and music stores. Also it's good to be aware that there are some digital piano reviews on-line which are out of date, show discontinued models as the newest models, and give high marks to some very bad digital pianos, in my opinion. When I see something like that then I encourage people to stay away from those reviews as they are likely done just to get you to purchase them on Amazon and other resellers of those particular brands. Making money by selling pianos is one thing, but recommending vastly inferior pianos to make money is quite another thing. So be careful out there and be sure you contact me first before making a buying decision.

What is a Digital Piano?

A digital piano is generally thought of as having an 88-key piano keyboard with piano weighted keys that move up and down like an acoustic piano. Digital pianos can also be referred to as an electric piano although the term digital piano is the world-wide accepted description. This instrument can be lightweight and portable, stationary, with built-in internal speakers or having no speakers, having an upright piano shape, grand piano shape, or smaller compact piano shape as well as being a hybrid version with a combination of acoustic and digital piano features.

Digital Pianos vs. Digital Keyboards

A digital piano, in the strictest sense, tries to duplicate how an acoustic piano operates as well as how it feels and sounds. They can be lighter weight and portable, or come in grand and upright looking cabinets that resemble the look of an acoustic piano. A Keyboard on the other hand, is missing one or more of those features. It may sound like an acoustic piano, but not feel like one at all. Or it may feel like an acoustic piano, but not sound like one at all. Or it may feel and sound and operate like a digital piano but not have 88 black and white keys (maybe just 49, 61, or 76). Please go to the following link to learn more about the differences between digital pianos and digital keyboards: Digital Keyboard vs Digital Piano - What's the difference?

Why Choose a Digital Piano vs. Acoustic Piano?

Choosing between a digital piano and traditional acoustic piano can be a bit confusing because there are different opinions out there depending on what a person's musical experience is. A certain piano teacher you talk with may have a different opinion than another experience piano teacher you speak to about the subject. A piano store salesperson may differ with a general music store salesperson whereas a professional musician may agree or disagree with all of them. So it really just depends upon your musical goals, skill level, budget, and expectations when it comes to playing piano for yourself and or your children. I happen to like both acoustic and digital pianos but I am more found of digital pianos when it comes to overall music learning and piano playing pleasure unless I am playing on a very nice acoustic grand piano. Playing on a real grand piano is a different experience than any other kind of piano especially if that grand piano is a Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Bosendorfer, Young Chang, Boston, Samick, or any fine grand piano. However unlike digital pianos, you cannot plug in headphones to a regular acoustic piano for private practice...always a good thing to do if you need quiet in the house or just don't want anyone else to hear you while you're practicing such as being in an apartment building or condo complex. Go here for more info on differences between an acoustic and digital piano: Digital Piano or Acoustic Piano - What should you buy?

Which Digital Piano Should I Buy?

Everyone has different goals when purchasing a digital piano, based on your experience, how you intend to use it, budget factors and many others. Over the past 4 years I've made over 160 reviews and blog posts on many brands of digital pianos, taking all factors into consideration, in hopes that I can provide you the best information and knowledge to determine which digital piano you should buy. Although my reviews are not paid for or endorsed by any piano company or brand, my experience in the industry has allowed me to build relationships with many wholesalers for some of the best piano prices available in the market. I openly encourage all readers of this blog who need additional information or are considering buying a piano to contact me first. Hopefully I can get you the lowest price on the piano the best fits your needs and if I can't, I should be able to refer you to someone that can! To speak with me about more, visit my Buying A Piano? and Shopping Tips pages.

Again, welcome to my blog! Deciding on where to go next? Check out some of the most popular brands and models of digital pianos for 2013 below, and if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment at the end of each posting and I will response to you as soon as I can, or contact me directly - Ask Tim.

Popular Posts on this site:

Casio Digital Piano Reviews:
Casio PX780 Digital Piano Review
Casio PX850 Digital Piano Review
Casio PX750 Digital Piano Review
Casio PX350 Digital Piano Review

Yamaha Digital Piano Reviews:
Yamaha YDP141, YDP135R and P95 Digital Piano Reviews
Yamaha YDP161 and YDP181 Digital Piano Reviews
Yamaha P105 Digital Piano Review
Yamaha Claviova CLP430, 440, 470, 480 Digital Piano Reviews

Roland Digital Piano Reviews:
Roland F120 and RP301 Digital Piano Reviews
Roland RP301R and RP301 Digital Piano Reviews

Kawai Digital Piano Reviews:
Kawai MP6 Digital Piano Review
Kawai MP10 Digital Piano Review
Kawai ES7 Digital Piano Review
Kawai CE220 Digital Piano Review

If you want more info on new digital pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

REVIEW - New STAHLER Acoustic "Player" Grand Pianos starting at under $10,000 with Pianoforce Performance player systems. Recommended - There are few new Player Grand Pianos these days that sell for under $10,000 and when you do see them, in most cases those pianos have the older, bulkier, and lower technology player systems installed on those models and the pianos themselves may not necessarily sound good or have quality parts & construction. I have not reviewed or commented on acoustic pianos lately as the bulk of consumer requests I get are for digital pianos, but I do get inquiries for acoustic "Player" Grand Pianos with built-in digital player systems. So I thought I would review a new acoustic piano brand I recently saw and tried out called Stahler with the popular Pianoforce Performance player unit factory installed in the Stahler piano.

Player grands have been popular for many years but with prices rising on acoustic grands as well as for the player systems themselves, these types of pianos can get quite expensive and can easily go for $15,000 to $20,000, and far more depending on the size & brand of piano as well as the particular player system itself. Player moving key systems primarily come from five brands: QRS PNOmation, PianoDisc, Yamaha Disklavier, Live Performance, and Pianoforce. All of these player piano systems are excellent choices with some offering more features than others (which then brings the price up). Also, for a price of around $4000 -$6000 or more (depending on the system and complexity of the install), some of these systems can be retrofitted to regular acoustic pianos that do not have player systems in them and the retrofit needs to be done by local authorized and experienced player player piano technicians. You may or may not have a person and place in your area that can do this, however, the player system companies also do a "factory install" on their own pianos which are mainly manufactured by piano companies in China and then are sold in regular piano stores under various names. The grand pianos themselves with a factory installed player system vary in quality depending on design, parts, & construction used in these brands, so they are not all the same. Finally, some of the major piano brands have high quality player systems from these player companies factory installed and the Yamaha company has their own proprietary system called Disklavier which is factory installed on their pianos.

There are also used acoustic player grand pianos out there as well and some have been refurbished by piano stores and technicians, and some are just sold "as is" on the open market through Craigslist, eBay, and other retail sites. An important thing to know about used player pianos (as well as some new player pianos) is even if the piano itself may be in good shape, the player system could outdated and/or in need of work. Buying used electronics is always risky no matter what anyone may tell you and although the used piano itself can be refurbished or fixed up a bit, the older player systems may not be able to be repaired depending on problems that can arise. Also the older player systems were big and clunky and had the old style CD pop-out drawer (upper left pic) instead of the newer "slot drives" and those drawers were more prone to problems because of the mechanical drawer needing more maintenance and parts. Those bigger, clunkier systems were also an eye-sore on grand pianos in my opinion. The systems sometimes did not work and getting on and off the piano bench when you were in front of the piano playing it was a big pain because the bigger player boxes would get in the way of your knees. Some of the older player systems, which you can still find on some new grand pianos, could not play some of the basic player songs available from other player systems. The amount of songs were also somewhat limited and could not take a USB flashdrive to input new songs and could not be connected to the internet or an iPad/iPod as many of the new systems can do now. So be sure you try to stay away from the larger, clunkier player systems that may still be out there.

Pianofroce player unit & remote

As far as price goes, although there certainly are people out there who will spend $20,000-$30,000 or much more for a great piano with a upgraded player system built-in such as Yamaha Disklavier which I do recommend, there are also a lot of people who don't want or need all the latest player piano features and just want a great looking, great sounding & playing grand piano that moves the keys smoothly and has enough technology with a low profile player system to give them an enjoyable listening and viewing experience. With regard to this kind of a piano, I recently discovered a new brand that I am recommending which can be purchased starting at under $10,000 complete. The piano brand is Stahler (made in China) with upgraded grand piano parts from around the world along with an advanced "Pianoforce" player system designed and produced in Europe. The player unit is compact and low profile, fairly easy to use, and has enough features to make the player piano experience an enjoyable one. The Stahler piano with the Pianoforce player system can also be upgraded to include additional features for the player system such as using an iPad for remote visual control depending on what more you may want.

I have played and listened to the Stahler player grand piano in person and was very impressed with the musicality of the piano sound as well as the key action movement. It really was quite good with the sound being very full coming through a powerful 3 way attached sound system and not bright or tinny (which other pianos can be) and the key action being medium in resistance without being too heavy or too light. In other words, it really felt and sounded good to play and had qualities you normally find in much higher priced grand pianos. With regard to the internal parts of the Stahler pianos, it appears that they use some good ones (including preferred piano industry designs) which they import from both Germany & Japan,among other countries. These parts and designs would include Duplex string scale, Mountain spruce cross-laminated soundboard, 19 layer maple pinblock, German felt hammers, German Roslau strings, double spring action, solid wood keyboard, and a hydraulic slow close piano key cover among other things.

The Stahler Grand piano sizes come in a depth of 4'10", 5', and 5'4" and they also make a 48" upright player piano too. The on board player system can play a variety of CD's from QRS Pianomation library, Yamaha library, MIDI piano files, WebOnlyPiano discs library, Pianoforce library, Pianoforce Internet streaming radio (optional), and Pianoforce internal song library for 1000's of available player songs along with full orchestral or band accompaniment coming through a powerful external sound system mounted under the Stahler piano.The Stahler Pianoforce system also has an optional wi-fi remote control using iPod & iPad with an "easy to navigate" software app to control the player system with a variety of features which is pretty cool and so it takes the place of the remote control that comes with the piano.

Considering that most people I talk with just want a good player piano listening experience while watching the keys move up & down, you can get all of that on a Stahler acoustic grand or upright piano or you can spend thousands more dollars on name brands that do offer more as far as an even higher quality in playback & record features as well as an upgraded piano sound and key action. However, people have been using Pianoforce player systems on their grand pianos for years and seem to be quite happy with them and the Stahler piano has enough quality to satisfy even "picky people" who want good quality but at a low price. When you play the piano manually, it really is a real pleasure to play even when you do not use the moving key player system:)

Take a look and listen to the video below for a short demonstration on a Stahler Player Grand piano. Although a special player music CD is used to demonstrate a variety of player songs on this piano, also keep in mind that the piano songs can by played by a USB flashdrive as well as the large internal music library in the player system as I mentioned earlier.

If you want more info on new digital pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864. 

Kawai CP209

UPDATED REVIEW- March 8, 2013 -Digital Grand Pianos...What to know when shopping for one - Digital Baby Grand Pianos from Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Kohler, Omega, Suzuki, and others with full featured ensemble & music functions can be lots of fun to own! I receive many inquiries from people who are looking for a good digital Baby Grand piano with lots of "bells & whistles" on it with cool digital technology. In this Digital Grand Piano buyer guide, my goal is to help educate people on "how" to purchase a good full featured digital Baby Grand Piano and what is available with regard to various brands and price ranges. The sizes of these pianos can be the small mini sizes which are less than 3 feet deep on up to 5' deep. Price is not necessarily an indicator of cabinet size so you need to decide what size piano will be best for you. However typically the larger the piano the bigger and fuller the sound will likely be. 

Kohler KD5 piano

If you would like a larger full size digital baby grand that looks & sounds great but with minimal features (no drums, automatic chords, or big screens with 100's of sounds) in a much lower price range, then my recommendation right now would be the Kohler KD5 digital acoustic 5' deep baby grand with built in CD system to play and record your own CD's. This piano was originally priced at about $7000 and I just found out the price has been reduced to under $3000 until end of December or until supplies sell out. It would be worth your while to consider this one if that sounds like what would fit your price range and needs. Go to the following link to see my review of the Kohler KD5: Kohler KD5 piano review

Yamaha CVP409GP

The features many people ask for in full featured pianos are a large & good variety of higher quality instrument sounds including good acoustic pianos, strings, brass (a variety of horns), woodwinds, reeds, flutes, synthesizers, guitars, world instruments, and others. People also ask for a good helping of drum rhythm patterns, ensemble style chord backing tracks, easy play features, a bigger user interface screen, a mic input for singalong/karaoke, extensive recording & song playback options, an authentic acoustic piano feel, and a full sounding speaker system, and even a built-in moving key player piano system. Polyphony note memory can be anywhere from 60 notes to 192 notes, and more polyphony is important if you are a more advanced player with a much higher skill level or are doing extensive recording or multiple layering. However for normal use in most families, 60-64 notes of polyphony will likely be sufficient. In addition to all this, it seems everyone wants the best looking Baby Grand piano they can get with the most authenticity in cabinet design and function and they want it all for generally around $5000 or less. That's where the most popular prices point generally are, and although there are people who can and are willing to spend more money to get what they want, they are in the distinct minority of buyers.

Omega LX802

The problem with wanting to get a good digital baby grand piano is that you will normally need to make many sacrifices to get what you want in the lower price range. Yamaha, Roland, & Kawai which are all great digital piano manufacturers with super fun digital technology along with great on-board educational features for students, do produce some exciting and impressive full featured  ensemble type digital Grand Pianos in small & larger sizes. You can be very happy with any of them as they are all great. However, they are NOT in the $5000 or less price range. In fact those models which include the Yamaha CVP609GP (which just replaced the 409GP) & CGP1000, Roland KR115M & 117M, & the Kawai CP209 are all normally priced at well over $10,000 and going up to $20,000! So they're not cheap:) The Kohler piano company also has some very nice full featured digital Baby Grands but they normally sell for well over $6000 up to $9000. Casio which also produces many popular digital pianos, does not produce one in a digital grand cabinet...yet. So what does that leave you in the lower price range that is worth owning?

Samick SG450

The digital piano brands that currently offer a full featured ensemble Baby Grand at around $5000 or less include Adagio, Suzuki, Williams, Samick (left pic), Viscount (not available in most states), Omega (above left pic), Sejung (not available in most states), Cameron & Sons (private label), and a couple of others. Typically when you spend less money on a digital Baby Grand you get less quality and reliability. If you see them selling for around $1500-$2000 or so, they will likely be very poor in key action and sound and those are the main features I recommend to people to look for 1st and then the fun ensemble & digital features should come after that. The lower priced digital pianos are typically measure anywhere from about 3 feet deep (mini or micro size) to a larger 4' deep size and are normally "hybrid" cabinets with regard to the cabinet style, construction, finish quality, lid, bench, legs, pedal assembly, etc. This is done to save money because a full size real authentic acoustic grand cabinet between 4'-5' deep is considerably more money just for the cabinet and finish and Kawai, Yamaha, Kohler, and Roland do have those sizes.

Adagio 8820

As far as the digital technology & quality of the brands I do not recommendunder $5000 (based on years of personal experience), there are a number of them that have poor piano tone, key response, key action, tonal dynamics, key velocity realism, and other digital features. I refer to those piano and brands simply as GPSO's..."Grand Piano Shaped Objects" and little more than that:) They don't play good, sound good, function well, or hold up good over time. I have been around most of these brands and various models my entire music career and there are just certain ones that have not improved much (or at all) and still are on my "not recommended" list. Those brands include, Suzuki, Adagio, Williams, Sejung, and a small variety of "house or private label brands." A house brand is one that is sold by a piano or music store and they buy a pre-made digital piano from a Chinese manufacturer and have their own name put on the piano so that they can have an "exclusive" name that no one else has. It makes marketing and promotional sense for the music store to do that, but it certainly does not mean it's a good piano. In fact, is likely not a good piano. Cameron & Sons is one of those "house brands" as is Williams, Adagio, & Suzuki. Not all house brands are bad (some are good because they have control over the quality or technology used) but it is not common. Sejung is an actual Chinese brand you made not have heard of before but I have actually played them and was definitely not impressed with tone, key action, or construction and these are the main ingredients that need to be good in a digital piano, and that's probably why most piano stores won't carry them. Sometimes you do get what you pay for:). I was however recently impressed with the new Omega LX802 and had the experience of playing this new Omega digital 4'1" Grand and was quite impressed with the piano tone, key action, and dynamics for its price along with some cool digital technology including a large color touch screen, all for under $5000.

Suzuki MG350

It's great to have lots of cool functions in a digital ensemble Baby Grand piano and they are fun to use, and many of these low quality baby grands have those functions. So on paper they might seem to be good pianos to consider. But if you cannot get a quality piano that plays and responds well as a piano, then I don't believe it really matters what else is in the piano and what it does. And in the lower quality pianos, even those extra functions are generally not so hot much of the time. As for Suzuki & Adagio, just because they are sold primarily by Costco (and they are) does not mean they are good. Adagio is really not a brand (as far as having their own manufacturing facility) and there are no parts in the piano that come from North America (all Chinese). Suzuki is also not a brand in the traditional sense and they do not build their own pianos (all are pre-made in China as far as I know). The Suzuki piano also brand has nothing to do with any other Suzuki products made either including motorcycles, cars, violins, lessons, or anything else connected with their name. I done a number of reviews on Suzuki & Adagio pianos have been very disappointed with all of them especially for there key action, velocity response, tone dynamics, and quality, and I have personally played many.

Roland KR117M

It's important to know that just because a piano is completely or partially made in China does not mean it's bad, and I don't want people to think that. There are some very good piano manufacturing facilities in China now and even Yamaha & Kawai get a number of their pianos made there these days. Whether we like it or not, we all live in a world economy and China is a big part of it. As long as the piano is produced with good oversight, good construction, and reliable technology with up to date musical features, that's what really counts and the brand is not the always the issue.

Kohler KD165 Player Grand

My goal is to help people make an informed decision on digital pianos in general and to also alert people if I find out if any unusual lower factory pricing that might be occurring on my recommended digital Grand Pianos. It's rare to find that happening on the more expenisve brands & models but as of this writing, I just found out the Samick/Kohler company (US headquarters based in Nashville, TN) has just decided to reissue a limited supply of their higher priced full featured ensemble digital Baby Grands (which I like very much) for much lower prices at around $5500 or less. Basically that's about 35-40% off what they used to sell for and that's pretty huge considering what they are. Those models are the 5' deep Kohler KD165 player ensemble (it has an actual moving key player system built in), the 5' deep KD160 ensemble, & 4'2" deep KD150 ensemble digital Grands and they are only available in the US as far as I know. The pianos have lots of cool features and have a huge sounding built-in speaker system with a 5 way speaker 360 watt power. There is a mic input for karaoke singing, computer connections, video outputs, huge library of impressive instrument sounds, drum rhythms, and music styles, and a multi-track general MIDI recording & playback system. And, it (the KD165) has a built-in CD player piano system with moving keys which plays full player CD's along with accompaniments & vocal tracks (VERY cool - see live video at bottom of page).

When it comes to digital pianos, generally speaking, you can normally get more piano quality and features for the money (in the $5000 or less) if you do not get a Baby Grand cabinet and instead get a regular vertical upright style furniture cabinet. You will pay a premium for a nice Digital Baby Grand furniture style cabinet, especially larger cabinets in the higher priced models. But the look and sound of those instruments are certainly impressive and if you plan to own it for a long time and you have the "disposable income," go for it and enjoy.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864 

Kohler KD165 Player Digital Grand Piano - Live in action

UPDATED Review - March 9, 2013 -  Digital Piano Consumer Reports - Many of the popular digital piano manufacturers including Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Casio, Kurzweil, Korg, and others have new improved models with some price increases over the older ones. And many digital piano accessories such as stands, benches, speakers, headphones, etc have also gone up in price too. If you thought by waiting around, the slower economy would have a downward effect on prices, then you bet on the "wrong horse" in my opinion. Many consumer retail items & services have also gone up recently including food, transportation, utilities, and health insurance, and pianos are no exception.

Although prices of the good digital piano brands have gone up, there are also a few that have gone down slightly because the manufacturers believe they need to be more competitive with other brands to stay in the game (good 'ol competition). One such piano is the Yamaha Arius YDP181 which was $1799 and went down to $1699 internet discount price. The YDP181 is a good digital piano but overpriced in my opinion as compared to the popular Kawai CE220 which is noticeably better in my opinion at just $200 more. And the very popular Casio privia PX850 has many nice features the YDP181 does not have while still offering a realistic acoustic feel graduated hammer key action and piano sound with impressive dynamics, and it sells at internet discount of just $1099. Most new digital pianos are still a good value when you consider the much higher prices of new acoustic pianos, but you don't want to buy the first digital piano you see or read about.. 

A piano is not a commodity or a necessity like a phone, computer, food, gas, vehicle, apartment or house. A piano purchase is using your discretionary income so you could make a choice to live without it. However, if you or someone in your family is anything like me (or my students) when it comes to listening to or playing music (incl piano, keyboard, guitar, etc) then it is something that is difficult to be without and I know many other people feel the same way. It's also one of the best things you or a family member can do for yourselves or your children no matter what age you are!

Casio PX780

Please take a look at my many piano consumer reports on this blog to get valuable info that will  hopefully help you find the right piano. I am a professional music teacher (piano, keyboard, guitar, organ) & musician, and am an expert in this field of digital pianos, unlike many of the amateur reviewers out there. I do this independently to help people really understand what is out there and how to recognize the differences and make intelligent shopping & buying decisions. So please contact me directly for specific piano advice and I can help also you get lower prices on new digital pianos than advertised internet discount prices.

Take a look at the new Casio Privia PX850 and PX780 (above left pic) which I recommend in the lower price range that can be seen at the following links on my blog reviews:

Casio PX780 Review
Casio PX850 Review

If you want more info on pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

Digital Piano Buyers Guide for 2013 - I am a digital piano & keyboard specialist & adviser to top musicians, music teachers, studios, and churches throughout the country, as well as being a musician & piano keyboard, organ, and guitar teacher, and I continue to work with kids and adults in various music education programs as I have for over 30 years. I have taught thousands of music students in group and private lessons on pianos and keyboards of all types and I know how difficult it can be to figure out which digital piano is right for you.  It can be confusing out there and the digital piano "landscape" is constantly changing. There are many pianos that are very good and some that, quite honestly, are not good and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone and not afraid to say so. But how does the average consumer disseminate and figure out which new piano to buy or whether a used digital could be an acceptable option?

The answer is simply...ask ME, Tim Praskins. I am a digital piano expert and know them inside and out. I understand the technology and the piano fundamentals of hundreds of new and older models more than almost anyone out there. I get emails from all over the world from people just like you who are looking for a digital piano that will meet their own or their family's needs and they also want some good help and advice on whether the prices they are getting from music stores are really good deals or not. I am a pro when it comes to understanding the "ins and outs" of digital pianos, how they work, what they sound & play like, and whether they are good for what you want and need.

Do yourself a favor and please contact me no matter where you may live, and I will be happy to respond by email, or also by telephone if you are in the continental US. Please go ahead and call me directly at 602-571-1864 and I will be happy to give you specific advice only if you live in the continental US. I do this because music is my passion and my mission. I want to see other peoples lives improved and enriched like mine has by playing a musical instrument...especially the PIANO, although playing any musical instrument is a wonderful thing to do!

I will caution you however that just because a musician and/or piano teacher is good at playing a piano or keyboard of some sort (especially a grand piano), it does not automatically qualify them to understand and review digital pianos. As an example, I have seen more than a few piano teachers and "musicians" who play well think they can evaluate digital pianos for their students and others. I can tell you that unfortunately, many of them really don't know what they are talking about when it comes to digital pianos because they simply do not have the experience with most of the new ones out there. In reality, good digital pianos can be great (and even better) alternatives to an acoustic piano in giving musical satisfaction to the piano player whether they are beginner or advanced. After 40 years of playing thousands of digital pianos and keyboards (I started when I was very young), working deep within the music industry with all kind of musicians, and playing some of the best acoustic grand pianos in the world, I can tell you what will work and what will not work. I do not "sugarcoat" my reviews because a piano store or manufacturer is paying me to be nice to them. Also some of the information and reviews of digital pianos on the internet are old and outdated or done by the piano/music dealers themselves, so the information can be very skewed or irrelevant.

I offer a complete BUYERS GUIDE of REVIEWS on many of the digital pianos today by simply clicking on the reviews here in my blog on the right side of the page or using the search bar (right top) by putting in the model number you want to know about. Have fun and do your homework. If you don't see something on this piano blog that you would like to know about, contact me as I will probably have helpful advice on that model too.

If you want info on digital pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

UPDATED REVIEW - March 10, 2013 - Digital Pianos vs Acoustic Pianos - Which is Better? - My name is Tim Praskins and I have played & performed on just about every digital & acoustic piano for well over 35 years and understand how they work. And with that being said, I spend more time playing the digital pianos in my home studio as opposed to my acoustic upright and grand pianos for a few reasons; the built-in headphone jacks which allows me to plug in stereo headphones for private practice, the fact that my digital pianos allow me to do things musically that my acoustic pianos cannot do, and... digital pianos do not go out of tune like my acoustics. Personally, I don't like playing an "out-of-tune" acoustic piano, it's just not enjoyable for me. Acoustic pianos (no matter what the brand, model, or size) do go out of tune, and sometimes often because of fluctuations in local weather humidity levels. Digital pianos are not affected like that and they stay in tune no matter what. Yes, I know I can call a piano tuner to tune my piano, but the cost of that service (with a tuner who knows what they're doing) is about $100 or more each time, and a good piano really needs to be tuned at least twice a year to be in good tune.

However, I do LOVE playing great, in-tune, acoustic grand pianos because they still do allow for an organic pure piano playing experience not yet found in any digital piano. So there are reasons for some people to enjoy playing great acoustic pianos, however those reasons are starting to disappear fast for the younger generation in wanting their piano to give them a complete interactive music playing and listening experience which only digital pianos can really do. In days gone by, I was limited to the amount of time I could play my acoustic piano as I was growing up and even now because it competes with other family and professional music activities in the home and studio. Playing an acoustic piano in a typical living room, family room, or bedroom is a "loud" thing to do. And that's OK if no one else is home, you live alone, if no one is watching TV nearby, or sleeping, etc. But for all practical purposes for most families and occassions, good digital pianos offer so much more interms of flexibility and interactive enjoyment.

As far as comparing quality piano tone and key touch between a digital piano vs an acoustic piano, that's really a matter of personal preference, and for most people who have not grown up playing an acoustic piano, it's very difficult to tell the difference between the two (assuming the digital piano is a good one). I like the touch and tone better on some acoustics and better on some digitals. They are not all the same but a few things are for sure; a digital (home cabinet style) piano is lighter and easier to move, requires no tuning EVER which will save hundreds of dollars over the life of the piano, and also has a master volume knob so you can turn down the volume when not wearing headphones (that can be a very good thing).

It is true that a digital piano has to be "plugged in" to an electrical outlet where an acoustic piano doesn't. I've heard the argument that a digital piano won't work if the power goes out but an acoustic piano will. While that is a true statement, how often does that really happen? Not often unless there is a severe storm that knocks out power or blew your home away. But then you'd be in the dark and couldn't see much anyway and you probably would be busy cleaning up the mess from the storm. In fact, once in a while our power goes out here in the Phoenix area in the middle of summer when everyone is cranking up their A/C's to stay cool. And when that happens, you do not want to stay in your home very long because without A/C, you start to heat up pretty fast:) So playing piano at that point is not the first thing you think of. And if you don't have electricity where you live or the electricity you have is not dependable, then DON'T purchase a digital piano. That's a logical choice.

Many digital pianos have USB flashdrive options for saving your song recordings or playing songs, or connecting to a computer or iPad (using inexpensive music software, which I use and enjoy). With computer music software, you can play your piano music and then see it in sheet music form on your computer. You can take that sheet music from your computer and print it out, edit it, or even play it back automatically. Music education and interactive software for digital pianos is pretty incredible these days and can help speed up the learning process by not only making piano practice more fun, but also more intuitive. Young students really like it as do many adults and it is a great motivational practice tool.

Vertical & Baby Grand digital pianos are also becoming more refined in their design and more attractive in their cabinetry. In other words, they look good. Acoustic pianos have generally always looked good so that hasn't changed. But why would anyone want an acoustic piano over a digital piano? The fact is, a good acoustic piano (especially acoustic grands) is still superior in tone and touch to many digital pianos. But I'm talking about a good acoustic piano. There are many worn out or mistreated used acoustic pianos out there that are not in good shape, don't sound good, and don't play correctly, and to repair them costs more than they're worth. So to say an acoustic piano outperforms a digital piano is only true depending on the specific piano. Also, nearly all acoustic pianos do depreciate in value over the years, some more than others. It's not unusual for an acoustic piano (vertical or grand) to be worth less than 50% of it's original cost over time. Depreciation in a digital piano is also guaranteed to be large over the years. So I suggest you need to buy a piano for what it can do and how it makes you feel emotionally when playing it, as opposed to how much of a resale value it might have.

Generally speaking, if you're a piano student, a person who wants to have fun with their music and enjoys hearing different instrument tones with built-in music education features, you like & need the headphone feature, you don't want to pay hundreds of dollars in piano tuning maintenance, or you like the idea of using computer music software to enhance your playing and learning experience,then purchase a good new digital piano and you'll be glad you did. And if you are an advanced or pro piano player, then a top of the line digital piano might be for you because some of these new high performance digital pianos which include the Roland LX15, Roland HP507, Kawai CA95, Kawai CE220, Kawai MP6 or MP10, Yamaha CLP440 or 470 and other digital pianos. They are truly amazing instruments for what they do and how good they do it. 

Many of my piano teacher friends (who are excellent pianists) own digital pianos along with their acoustic piano and they love both of them. For a piano teacher, having an acoustic & digital piano can meet a variety of student needs as well as expanding the musical horizons of piano teachers. As far as mechanical and electronic reliability goes, my experiences have been very good for both acoustic and digital pianos, as long as they are the higher quality brands. You just have to be sure it's a good name brand and that you take care of your piano. 'Off brand' pianos can sometimes be high maintenance and unreliable, so be careful to stay away from those.

Two of my favorite lower priced digital furniture cabinet pianos right now is the new Casio Privia PX850 digital piano and Kawai CE220 (left pic). Both piano brands are very good quality in their price ranges and the pianos play and sound very nice and have many features a family could want, and for internet discount prices of $1099 and $1899 respectively. I have written reviews on these instruments here on this blog so check them out when you have time at the links below and look for other piano reviews and news by using the search bar on the right side of this review.

Casio PX850 Review

Kawai CE220 piano review

If you want more info on pianos or would like to find out about purchasing one for LOWER than internet or store price, please contact me at tim@azpianowholesale.comor call direct at 602-571-1864

Kawai CP209 5' grand

UPDATED REVIEW - March 10, 2013 - Digital Grand Pianos - What to know in buying one - Digital Baby Grand Pianos with full featured ensemble & music functions are lots of fun to own! I receive many inquiries from people who are looking for a good digital Baby Grand piano with lots of "bells & whistles" on it including bigger display screens. In this Digital Grand Piano buying review, my goal is to help educate people on "how" to purchase a good full featured digital Baby Grand Piano and what is available with regard to various brands and price ranges.The sizes of these pianos can be the small mini sizes which are less than 3 feet deep on up to 5' deep. Price is not necessarily an indicator of cabinet size so you need to decide what size piano will be best for you. However typically the larger the piano the bigger and fuller the sound will likely be. 
 

Yamaha 3'9" CVP409GP

The features many people ask for in full featured pianos are a large & good variety of higher quality instrument sounds including good acoustic pianos, strings, brass (a variety of horns), woodwinds, reeds, flutes, synthesizers, guitars, world instruments, and others. People also ask for a good helping of drum rhythm patterns, ensemble style chord backing tracks, easy play features, a bigger user interface screen, a mic input for singalong/karaoke, extensive recording & song playback options, an authentic acoustic piano feel, and a full sounding speaker system, and even a built-in moving key player piano system. Polyphony note memory can be anywhere from 60 notes to 192 notes, and more polyphony is important if you are a more advanced player with a much higher skill level or are doing extensive recording or multiple layering. However for normal use in most families, 60-64 notes of polyphony will likely be sufficient. In addition to all this, it seems everyone wants the best looking Baby Grand piano they can get with the most authenticity in cabinet design and function and they want it all for generally around $5000 or less. That's where the most popular prices point generally are, and although there are people who can and are willing to spend more money to get what they want, they are in the distinct minority of buyers.

Omega 4'1" LX802

The problem with wanting to get a good digital baby grand piano is that you will normally need to make many sacrifices to get what you want in the lower price range. Yamaha, Roland, & Kawai which are all great digital piano manufacturers, do produce some exciting and impressive full featured  ensemble type digital Grand Pianos in small & larger sizes that have been out for awhile, but they are NOT in the $5000 or less price range. In fact those models which include the Yamaha CVP409GP (now replaced by the new 2013 CVP609GP) & CGP1000, Roland KR115M & 117M, & the Kawai CP209 are all normally priced at well over $10,000 and going up to $20,000! So they're not cheap...are they?:) The Kohler piano company also has some very nice full featured digital Baby Grands but they normally sell for well over $6000 up to $9000. Casio which also produces many popular digital pianos, does not produce one in a digital grand cabinet. So what does that leave you if you cannot get a Kawai, Roland, or Casio which have been the more well known digital piano companies that make a good product?

Samick 4'1" SG450

The digital piano brands that currently offer a full featured ensemble Baby Grand at around $5000 or less include Adagio, Suzuki, Williams, Samick (left pic), Viscount (not available in most states), Omega (above left pic), Sejung (not available in most states), Cameron & Sons (private label), and a couple of others. Typically when you spend less money on a digital Baby Grand you get less quality. If you see them selling for around $1500-$2000 or so, they will likely be very poor in key action and sound and those are the main features I recommend to people to look for 1st and then the fun ensemble & digital features should come after that. The lower priced digital pianos are typically measure anywhere from about 3 feet deep (mini or micro size) to a larger 4' deep size and are normally "hybrid" cabinets with regard to the cabinet style, construction, finish quality, lid, bench, legs, pedal assembly, etc. This is done to save money because a full size real authentic acoustic grand cabinet between 4'-5' deep is considerably more money just for the cabinet and finish and Kawai, Yamaha, Kohler, and Roland do have those sizes.

Adagio 8820

There are some digital pianos brands I do not recommendunder $5000 (based on years of personal experience) and this is because they have noticeably poor piano tone, key response, key action, tonal dynamics, key velocity realism, and other digital features. I refer to them simply as GPSO's..."Grand Piano Shaped Objects" and little more than that:) They don't play good, sound good, function well, or hold up good over time. I have been around most of these brands and various models my entire music career and there are just certain ones that have not improved much (or at all) and still are on my "not recommended" list. Those brands include, Suzuki, Adagio, Williams, Sejung, and a small variety of "house or private label brands." A house brand is one that is sold by a piano or music store and they buy a pre-made digital piano from a Chinese manufacturer and have their own name put on the piano so that they can have an "exclusive" name that no one else has. It makes marketing and promotional sense for the music store to do that, but it certainly does not mean it's a good piano.

Cameron & Sons is one of those "house brands" as is Williams, Adagio, & Suzuki. I have seen Cameron & Sons occasionally on the internet (never played one yet because they are not a real piano company) but that brand does not say where the piano is manufactured (there is no Cameron & Sons factory) and the specs in the digital pianos highly suggest they are one of the inferior brands that are similar in nature to Suzuki which I advise everyone to stay away from. If you don't know where the piano is built, who builds it, or what is really in it, then the words and descriptions mean little or nothing... I have seen it all before.  Not all house or private lable brands are bad (some are good because they have control over the quality or technology used and have it built by reputable manufacturers) but it is not common. Sejung is an actual Chinese brand you made not have heard of before that builds there own digital pianos in China, but I have actually played them and was definitely not impressed with tone, key action, or construction and these are the main ingredients that need to be good in a digital piano. I would definitely stay away. And that includes Adagio sold by Costco. They all have noisy key actions, no dynamics in piano sound, and bad velocity sensitivity. Sometimes you do get what you pay for so you must be very careful:)

From time to time I do see (supposed) positive on-line consumer reviews on some of these brands or models I do not recommend, but I look at them knowing that these people cannot possibly have ever played a real acoustic piano (either upright or grand) at any skill level at all.  If they had, they wouldn't be giving positive reviews of these terrible digital pianos (in my professional opinion) because they would understand what they actually purchased, but they really don't. As an example, that's like listening to a person who says they have a fabulous investment for you which will bring you big returns over time, but in the long run it all falls apart and you lose. Ever heard of Ponzi:)? You just can't believe everything you hear...especially from uneducated consumers.

Suzuki MG350

As far as digital Baby Grand features go, it's great to have lots of exciting functions and they can be fun to use, and many of these low quality baby grands may even have some of them. But if you cannot get a quality piano as far as the piano sound & necessary elements, & key action elements go, then I don't believe it really matters what else is in the piano. And in the lower quality pianos, even those extra functions are generally not so hot most of the time. As for Suzuki & Adagio, just because they are sold primarily by Costco does not mean they are good. Adagio is really not a brand (as far as having their own manufacturing facility) and there are no parts in the piano that come from North America (all Chinese). Suzuki is also not a brand in the traditional sense and they do not build their own pianos (all are pre-made in China as far as I know). The Suzuki piano also brand has nothing to do with any other Suzuki products made either including motorcycles, cars, violins, lessons, or anything else connected with their name. I done a number of reviews on Suzuki & Adagio pianos have been very disappointed with all of them especially for there key action, velocity response, tone dynamics, and quality (as I mentioned earlier), and I have personally played many of them.

Roland KR117M

It's important to know that just because a piano is completely or partially made in China does not mean it's bad, and I don't want people to think that. There are some very good piano manufacturing facilities in China now and even Yamaha & Kawai get a number of their pianos made there these days. Whether we like it or not, we all live in a world economy and China is a big part of it. As long as the piano is produced with good oversight, good construction, and reliable technology with up to date musical features, that's what really counts and the brand is not the always the issue.

Kohler 5' KD165 Player Grand

My goal is to help people make an informed decision on digital pianos in general and to also alert people if I find out if any unusual lower factory pricing that might be occurring on my recommended digital Grand Pianos. It's rare to find that happening on the more expenisve brands & models but as of this writing, I just found out the Samick/Kohler company (US headquarters based in Nashville, TN) has just decided to reissue a limited supply of their much higher priced full featured ensemble digital Baby Grands (which I like very much) for much lower prices at around $5500 or less. Basically that's about 35-40% off what they used to sell for and that's pretty huge considering what they are. Those models are the 5' deep Kohler KD165 player ensemble (it has an actual moving key player system built in), the 5' deep KD160 ensemble, & 4'2" deep KD150 ensemble digital Grands and they are only available in the US as far as I know. The pianos do just about everything and have an incredible sounding built-in speaker system with a 5 way speaker 360 watt power. There is a mic input for karaoke singing, computer connections, video outputs, huge library of authentic instrument sounds, drum rhythms, and music styles, and a multi-track general MIDI recording & playback system. And, it has a built-in CD player piano system with moving key  which plays full player CD's along with accompaniments & vocal tracks (VERY cool - see live video at bottom of page).

When it comes to digital pianos, generally speaking, you can normally get more piano quality and features for the money ($5000 or less) if you DO NOT get a Baby Grand cabinet and instead get a regular vertical upright style furniture cabinet. You do pay a premium for a nice Digital Baby Grand furniture style cabinet, especially larger, full authentic 5' cabinets in the higher priced models. But the look and sound of those instruments are certainly impressive and if you plan to own it for a long time and you have the "disposable income," go for it and enjoy...I would! Also, if you want to know more about the Kohler KD165 full featured Digital Baby Grand Piano, contact me directly and I will share with you more info as there isn't much on that model at the moment although I will be doing a review soon on the KD165.

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864 

Kohler KD165 Player Digital Grand Piano - Live in action

UPDATED - Digital Piano or Acoustic Piano...What should you buy? I frequently get asked that question by people shopping for a good piano and in most cases I recommend a digital piano. Unless you are wanting (and can afford) an acoustic grand piano, when it comes to an upright vertical style cabinet piano, I usually recommend one of the new digital pianos from the top brands including Kawai, Yamaha, Roland, Casio, and a couple of others. I written a blog review in the past on this subject before, but it is worth talking about again, especially in light of the new improved digital pianos available now at very reasonable prices.

Just so you know, in my long career as a musician & piano instructor to thousands of people, I have played & taught lessons on acoustic upright & grand pianos all my life including such famous brands such as Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Baldwin, Mason-Hamlin, Shimmel, Petrof, Bosendorfer, Boston, Kimball, Bechstein, Fazioli, Young Chang, Samick, Wurlitzer, Story & Clark, Kohler & Campbell, Knabe, Chickering, Cable, and others. I am no stranger to acoustic pianos and have (and still do) enjoy playing, recording, and composing on them. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the old saying goes, so in my opinion the beauty of the piano sound & key action in acoustic pianos (for the vast majority of people these days) is being closely re-created in some of these new digital pianos which come so close to the real thing that it might as well be the "real thing" for a lot of people.

The next question to ask then is "what is the real thing?" Firstly, to begin, the real thing includes a realistic key action so when the piano keys are properly weighted and move smoothly & evenly with the ability to express music in detail with subtle nuance or loud crashing crescendos, the key action can physically and mechanically handle it. Some of the digital pianos have all plastic key actions, some are hybrids with part wood and part plastic, and others are all wood key actions. You don't want the key action to be too heavy or too light or have too much resistance pushing down or for the keys to spring back up too quickly. All of these key functions are important and enable music to be played & expressed and with feeling and emotion. Playing music is ultimately about feeling and emotion and without those two essential elements, you might as well have a robot play it...then it wouldn't matter...unless the robot could "feel:)"... maybe that can & will happen someday. But until then, unless the player can (eventually) personally express themselves and feel a "connection" with the instrument (a piano in this case), then playing the piano is simply an academic exercise in playing futility in my opinion.

In the case of children learning to play the piano, the parent will continue to have to fight the child to practice and play unless their is a natural desire on the part of the child to want toplay music. When it comes to piano key actions, whether the digital piano key action is of the plastic, partial wood, or all wood variety is not near as important as it's weight and resistance, reaction time, smoothness, and  your overall playing experience based on where you are (or might be) musically and your desire to play music. I have played all of these digital piano key actions and have been happy on all types, as long as they are made well and function correctly, then that's what counts and it's something I help you understand better if you ask me.

The next step in reproducing the acoustic piano in a digital instrument is the getting a realistic piano sound. The piano strings (there are over 200 of them in a regular acoustic piano) including the vibrations, harmonics, and overtones they make, wood hammers & felt on the hammers including their size and density, dampers, wood soundboard including the type & quality of wood & other wood components, cast iron frame holding the strings, pedals & pedal functions, the cabinet construction itself and other organic components all contribute to the quality and beauty of the piano sound. People ask me all the time, can a digital piano really duplicate or come very close to recreating the "real thing." The answer is that for most people, some of the new digital pianos out right now can do just that because of the incredible advancement in technology from additional key sensors & key technology, upgraded digital sound sampling and sound reproduction, pedal movement & sound technology, and new speaker & audio amplifier technology that produces an uncanny acoustic realism.

I would say that unless you are at a very high advanced playing skill level (and I commend students for achieving that skill level), or you think acoustic pianos simply sound & play better than digital pianos (after all, music is what you "like" and is a subjective choice), then the piano sound coming from a digital piano may not satisfy you because ultimately the digital piano sound is projected through a small or large set of internal speakers powered by audio amplifiers and is not "purely organic" like an acoustic piano is. However with that being said, I have found that only approx 10% of all people who are either studying or playing the piano these days (which is a very small number of people) would prefer a vertical acoustic piano over a high quality vertical digital piano given a similar price range and being played for recreational entertainment & enjoyment. A piano is played ultimately for personal enjoyment and there is no right or wrong as far as what instrument is better to play...an acoustic or digital piano. My contention is for the vast majority of people (maybe a bit more than 10%), many of these new digital piano models are more than sufficient along with their added useful digital technology to give a lifetime of musical enjoyment far beyond the musical expectations or skill levels of most people playing the piano in the US. Unless you are entering some advanced piano competitions where acoustic pianos (especially concert quality grand pianos) are used exclusively, then many (but not all) new digital pianos are perfect as beautiful sounding & playing instruments for home, church, school, studio, etc, in my opinion. By the way, some of those top model digital pianos can & will also bring you to an advanced playing skill level where you can still easily enter competitions and even win! So just because you own a digital piano does not mean you cannot be serious about your music and about your playing!
Without going into the technical aspects here of some of the newest and best digital pianos available right now, I can say that they are fabulous musical instruments that will give a person years of satisfying music and allow you to be able to express your innermost feelings with passion and beauty. Also, as many people know, new digital piano models by the top manufacturers do not go out of tune and that saves well over $1000 in tuning and maintenance expenses over acoustic pianos that need to be constantly tuned and adjusted year after year. Many digital pianos now have exciting features like interactive USB connectivity with iPad and laptop computers utilizing apps & programs that help with music education and home practice that are not possible with an acoustic piano. Also, you are able to practice with headphones so that no one can hear during those times and that's something an acoustic piano cannot do! Just these features alone are worth the price of admission in many cases. Then there are those digital pianos which go even further with added features like interactive drum rhythms, chord styles, MIDI multi-track recording and audio wav & MP3 recording and playback, added instrument sounds, interactive user display screens, and more. There's almost no end to what some of these new pianos can do and many of these new features are useful and very cool:).

But for most people, I recommend that many of these new high quality digital pianos would be a perfect choice for a piano that you can keep for years without the need to buy another one in the future. Although all pianos, whether digital or acoustic, can breakdown or have problems (I have had issues during the years even with the finest acoustic pianos), generally speaking the top manufacturers build them to last for many years. When it comes to appreciation or depreciation in pianos, both acoustic & digital pianos will and do depreciate in value, some more than others. Just look at the used piano market on-line or in stores and you'll see this for yourself. As more and more people buy new digital pianos, unfortunately used acoustic pianos will increase in quantity as people try to sell them off, and as supply goes up, demand and price will go down as they have been over the last few years. So no matter which type of piano you get, the investment value as far as resale, is not going to be good.

Yamaha digital grand piano

I recommend you make your purchase based on your budget, your musical need, and your skill level but overall I believe good new upright or grand digital pianos (for most but not all people) are the best choice when it comes to choosing between good acoustic or digital pianos including some of the new digital Grand pianos on the market by Yamaha, Roland, & Kawai. I will say in defense of acoustic pianos, when it comes to an absolutely awesome piano playing and listening experience for me personally, not factoring in tuning, maintenance, headphones, USB connectivity and all the rest, my preference is a beautiful full size Steinway, Fazioli, Yamaha, Kawai, Bosenndorfer, or Mason-Hamin acousticGrand Piano. But unless you have an extra $50,000 to $100,000 or more laying around in disposable income, then a good new digital piano by one of the top manufacturers will satisfy most people and be a beautiful instrument to own for many years and you'll have all the benefits of the new exciting digital features too!

Take a look on my blog for reviews of new 2013 digital pianos by Casio, Kawai, Roland, and Yamaha to name a few. Then you'll know more about what's new in digital pianos.

Casio PX780 Review
Yamaha YDP142 review
Kawai CE220 Review
Roland RP301 Review

If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

Casio AP250

UPDATED REVIEW - March 10, 2013 - Best Beginner Digital Pianos under $1000 - People from across the US and around the world ask me all the time what I think the best beginner piano keyboards are in a lower price range (under $1000). My answer is that they should first have 88-keys piano type fully weighted keys to truly be a "piano" keyboard and the sound and key action need to be at a reasonable quality level that helps the student instead of hurts them. There are a lot of "cheap" keyboards and digital pianos in all kinds of brands out there but when you boil it all down, there are only 3 brands that I recommend right now that will be acceptable in the lower price range under $1000 and that is Yamaha, Casio, & Korg. 

Casio offers 6 2013 models including the basic CDP120 ($399), the Privia PX150 ($599), PX350 ($799), PX750 ($799 - lower left pic), PX780 ($999 internet discount price) and AP250 ($999 internet price). Yamaha offers 5 models including the new P105 ($599 - left pic), as well as the DGX640 ($699), YDPS31 (same as YDP135R but in compact cabinet), P155 portable piano, and the YDP135R ($999). I recommend all of the Casio's and Yamaha's mentioned here. Korg offers three models under $1000 including the SP170S ($499), SP280 ($699), and LP350 ($999), but I only recommend the LP350 although it has been out for about 8 years and uses older technology (you can read my blog review of this piano). So really the best options are either the Yamaha or Casio pianos.

All of these brands & models are the piano style weighted 88-key digital pianos although the key action movement will be slightly different from one model to another. They all have built-in speakers although the power and quality vary, and the piano sound itself will be better from one model to another, but overall, all of these recommended pianos are acceptable depending on your musical goals and experience. Stands, benches, pedals, etc are options for some of these models. But all can be had even with the accessories added on for under $1000 internet discount price down to about $500. There are other brands and models out there in the lower price ranges as well, but I recommend against them because they are not up to my student practice standards for key action, piano sound, and pedaling or they are much too complex and not meant for students.

Yamaha YDP135R

I have done reviews on my blog on many of these models mentioned here so you can look them up in the search bar on the upper right side of my blog when you have time. Of the three brands in the lower price range incl Yamaha, Casio, & Korg, I believe Casio offers a more noticeably realistic piano playing and sound experience than Yamaha or Korg, although Yamaha has some great models above $2500 where Casio does not. But ultimately, all of these models I mentioned here could work fine, just some would offer more additional educational features as well as more realistic piano tone & touch than others. And with regard to piano beginner students and their music education, as a long time private & group piano and keyboard teacher, that is something I know a lot about after having taught thousands of students over many years. If you want good info on the best way to proceed as far as lessons go as well as wanting to be sure you're getting the right instrument, please contact me and I'll be happy to answer your questions.

Casio PX150

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at... tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

UPDATED: March 15, 2013 - Digital Pianos for Seniors! Playing piano to maintain active mental & physical health! Senior Adultsare an important part of American society and other societies & cultures around the world, and they need relaxing hobbies to help give them a longer and even better life. My parents are seniors as are some of my other relatives and friends. And depending on who you ask (especially young people), a senior can be nearly any age once you're over 50!:) I might even be a senior too, according to my children:)...i am.

In the old days many years ago, I used to play organs (pictured left) such as Lowrey, Roland, Yamaha, Kimball, Hammond, etc in Mall stores that sold organs. That was a time when nearly every big Mall in America had at least one organ store with someone playing out in front. I did that for a number of years and enjoyed it because I love playing music and it gave me a chance to perform, so to speak. And playing everyday for hours at a time, I got pretty good at it. I even started giving local organ concerts for...mostly seniors:) I enjoyed entertaining people and they enjoyed listening.

Seniors at that time, and still today, do like various styles of organ music like jazz, blues, Latin, swing, big band, Broadway, rock, country, boogie, etc because many of them they grew up with it, especially seniors in their 70's, 80's, and 90's. And it is well known that playing music makes a person feel better, for both the player & listener. This is because actively playing music stimulates the brain in so many positive ways and helps keep an "older person" feeling young. By the way, I think being old is all in the mind as long as your body and brain continues to function well. I believe very strongly that you are as young as you feel and think. So with that in "mind," it is important to take care of yourself. Eat right, exercise frequently, and PLAY MUSIC. I am a music teacher & musician(piano, keyboard, organ, guitar) and can tell you by experience that seniors who play music stay mentally younger and are more alert. It's funny for me to think that even surviving musicians from bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, and other popular bands are all seniors themselves as are so many other popular musicians worldwide.

I have a very good friend by the name of Bobby Freeman (pictured left) who happens to be the organist for the Arizona Diamondbacks professional baseball team. He has played at the games for many years and is a great musician. Bobby plays keyboards, piano, and other instruments and enjoys music very much. I've worked with Bobby for a number of years and he especially enjoys entertaining kids & Seniors, playing at various music events and concerts throughout the greater Phoenix, AZ USA area. And if you asked Bobby about seniors playing music, he would agree with me 100% in everything that I'm saying here.

By the way, there has been an in depth study done of seniors "playing music" and the results of the study suggest that "making music may significantly improve an older person's quality of life and feelings of well-being. On top of that, making music helps them relax, feel better and deal positively with stress. It also may help the immune system in its fight against disease which in turn may help you live longer!"

These days an "older person" who wants to get into playing music on a keyboard type instrument and is at a beginner level, can purchase either an organ, acoustic piano, digital piano, or small keyboard. My recommendation is the purchase a full size digital piano. Generally speaking, new organs are a bit too expensive for what they do although they are still great fun to play. Even though I enjoy playing an organ (with some of the newer electronic features), I prefer a new digital piano because I really like the beauty of the piano sound digital pianos are significantly less money than acoustic pianos or organs but can sound like an organ if necessary along with having all the "bells & whistles." A digital piano also has a key touch that has more weight (is heavier) than an organ key touch which helps improve finger dexterity, motion, and strength. The digital piano key movement is also "touch sensitive" so the note gets louder or softer depending on how hard you push down on the key as opposed to an organ with no "touch sensitivity." And finally, a digital piano has just one keyboard as opposed to two in an organ which in my opinion makes a piano easier to play. 

Playing and learning guitar at any age is fine, but it takes more work and finger conditioning and you generally can't play melody and chords together as you can on a keyboard instrument.  Playing a smaller inexpensive keyboard is fun too, but in my opinion the playing experience isn't nearly as rewarding because of the difference in tone and touch between a good digital piano & lightweight keyboard. A regular acoustic piano (especially a Grand) is great to play as well and I have a couple of those in my studio and enjoy playing them very much. But for the 'average senior,' a good digital piano has so many advantages including never going out of tune, being able to turn the volume down so you can play quietly, having headphone inputs for total private practice anytime of the day or night, having satisfying piano touch & tone (on certain digital pianos), and being able to use many new educational and self teaching features that some of these new digital pianos offer.

I believe that seniors who play music at any skill level are generally happier and healthier people in body, mind, and soul, and that has always been my personal experience. Playing music WILL relieve stress, WILL make you feel better, WILL stimulate your mind, your eyes, and your ears, and WILL give a person a sense of "WELL BEING" that is unlike most anything else. The instrument is in your home, always accessible any time, and will be around probably for more years than we will. And the fact is YOU CAN DO IT even if you're a senior with little or no piano playing experience. With the right piano teacher & the right instrument, you CAN achieve your musical goals because I see it happen all the time. You just have to get started and DO IT.

As far as getting started on the "right digital piano," in the lower price ranges I recommend the new Casio PX780  (left pic) digital piano. This instrument has many of the things that seniors need which includes lots of fun educational features & sounds, lifelike piano tone & touch, and all in a lower price range. I have reviewed this model here on my blog so if you want to know more, please take a look when you have time. Casio PX780 review. Kawai, Yamaha, & Roland also make some great new digital piano models so if you want more info on what might be best for you, just let me know and I'd be happy to help you figure it out.

By the way, using an iPad with a digital piano can help understanding and relating to music even more fun and more intuitive. There are great apps available for piano learning and some are free and others are a very low cost. If you have an iPad it is easy to connect to digital pianos with the proper iPad output. If you do not own an iPad and are considering getting a digital piano, I would recommend highly the iPad interactive music experience with the piano. I use iPad piano apps in my studio and if you want more info about that, just let me know.  

For more info on the subject of seniors playing piano or if you want to purchase one of these recommended pianos (or other brands and models) at lower than internet or store prices, please contact me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.