🎹 UPDATED REVIEW - Dec 7, 2019 - Digital Pianos under $1500 for 2019 - If you are looking for a good new furniture cabinet digital piano under $1500US internet selling price then you need to consider the following digital pianos:Korg G1 Air, Korg C1 Air, Korg LP380, Casio AP470, Casio AP270, Casio PX870, Casio PX780, Casio PX770, Yamaha YDP164, Yamaha YDP-S54 - Yamaha YDP144, Yamaha YDP-S34, Yamaha YDP-103, Kawai KDP110, Kawai KDP70, and Roland RP501R, Roland F140R, Roland RP102. I have personally played and examined all of these digital pianos (which actually came out in 2018) so I know how they actually play, how they sound, and what they do. There are also portable digital pianos that are available without the furniture stand and triple pedal unit, but in this review I will be focusing on furniture cabinet digital pianos that automatically come with a furniture stand, triple pedal unit built into that stand, and also a built-in key cover that closes over the keys which some other digital pianos do not have. I will also be primarily focusing on the price range from $1000US - $1500US in this review because I have already done a detailed review of digital pianos under $1000 here at the following link: Digital Pianos Under $1000


In this price range for new digital pianos under $1500 down to $700, there are a total of 16 models of furniture cabinet digital pianos among the 5 major brands. The Casio PX770 at $699US internet price is the lowest priced furniture cabinet digital piano of the major brands. Some of these cabinets are more traditional in style and some are more contemporary so it depends on what you really want as to which one would be the best for you. Besides cabinet differences, there are obviously big differences in functions and features among all these models. However, what almost everyone is looking for when shopping for a new digital piano is natural quality piano sound and natural piano "feel" when playing the music. This is also true when people are shopping for real acoustic pianos but it's no different when shopping for a new digital piano. So when it comes to a big, beautiful sound and a satisfying key action in a digital piano under $1500, I like a variety of models but am personally impressed with the Korg line of digital pianos, a brand that some people may not be familiar with. In this review I will mainly be focusing

Korg Kronos Pro Stage Piano

Korg is a company that is well known among professional musicians, recording studios, and teachers, among others, but Korg is not as well known in the mainstream world of families, churches, and schools. This is because Korg does not make acoustic pianos like Yamaha and Kawai do and they don't make consumer products like watches, calculators, and other consumer products. Also, Korg does not produce band instruments such as flutes, violins, guitars, and other similar instruments like Yamaha does. Korg only does one thing...they design and produce higher end music products in many categories directed towards people who appreciate more advanced and realistic digital technology in their musical instruments. Korg builds top rated keyboard and digital piano key actions along with impressive digital piano sound technology and they have been in business building music and percussion technology products for over 50 years.

Korg G1 Air

Korg home digital pianos are not normally available at the more well known US consumer stores such as Costco, Guitar Center, Sam Ash, etc. This is because the Korg Home Digital Pianos are considered "special order products" and are normally equated with higher price ranges when it comes to how they are rated by users, both professionals and beginners. Korg home digital pianos can sometimes be found on-line in a variety of on-line music stores as well as some local piano stores so it is possible to find them and play them, but the other mainstream brands such as Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio are generally easier to find. However, we do recommend that you seriously consider all of the Korg home digital pianos from $500 to $2000 because they are super impressive and have new digital piano technology that the other brands do not have, especially in this lower price range.

I have personally and professionally played on a variety of Korg music products over the years including their pro keyboards and digital pianos that are up in the $5000 price range along with having used their pro stage organs, digital piano workstations, drum machines, recording devices, and other technology products. So I know this company quite well and have always been impressed with what they put out there in terms of very cool stuff. I also like the fact that their digital pianos are designed and made in Japan unlike most of the other brands that may design their products in Japan but have them built in China, Indonesia, or Malaysia.

The size, power, and quality of an internal speaker system in any digital piano has a lot to do with the quality of piano sound that you hear. Starting off with Yamaha in this $1500 and under price range, the Yamaha YDP164 digital piano sells for $1499US and it has 40 watts of power going into 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers, and the speakers are mounted inside the piano pointing down to the floor. The lower priced Yamaha YDP144 at $1099US internet price has just 16 watts of total power going through 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers pointing down towards the floor. The piano sound on the YDP144 is good but unfortunately and bit thin and tinny because of the smaller amplifiers in that model. The Roland RP501R and F140R digital pianos has just 24 watts of power going through 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers with the speakers mounted inside the piano pointing down to the floor. Like the Yamaha, the Kawai KDP110 digital piano has 40 watts of power going through 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers mounted inside the piano pointing down to the floor. If it were a choice between the 40 watt Kawai KDP110 or the 40 watt Yamaha YDP164, I would take the Kawai over that Yamaha, especially considering the Kawai is $300 less than the Yamaha and sounds somewhat better to me. Even the newer Casio AP470 digital piano at $1499US internet price with 40 watts of power going through 2 amplifiers and 4 speakers mounted inside the piano sounds better to me than the Yamaha model. This is because the Casio AP470 has a top lid speaker projection system that helps the higher sounds come out towards the player. So when it comes to digital pianos priced at $1499US, I like the Casio AP470 better than the Roland RP501R or Yamaha YDP164

Korg C1 Air

But when it comes to Korg home digital pianos, the most surprising and impressive piano in terms of piano sound under $1500 comes from the Korg C1 Air digital piano which has a discount internet price at $1399US. The C1 Air has 50 watts of power going through 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers so it has a bit more power than the Casio and Yamaha I mentioned, and twice as much power as the Roland RP501R and Roland F140R. However, the Korg speaker system is a newly developed sound that replicates a full, bass response grand piano sound as opposed to a smaller more treble small upright piano sound that is found on most other digital pianos under $1500. The Korg C1 Air achieves this big beautiful sound by offering specially designed speaker system components mounted into a sealed rectangular speaker box which is mounted under the piano. The speaker box is also uniquely electronically "tuned'  permanently within the speaker box and the speakers are pointing towards the player rather than down to the floor away from the player like most other digital pianos. The sound coming out of this model is produced in such a way that you "feel" the piano sound (like on a real grand piano) as well as hear it, which the other digital pianos cannot do. Even playing at lower volumes on the C1 Air still gives you the sense that it's a grand piano you are hearing instead of a smaller, more metallic sound that you would normally get out of other digital pianos such as the Roland digital pianos.

Korg C1 Air control panel

The key action of the Korg C1 Air as compared to the Roland and Yamaha is much more expressive and moves a bit easier than the more noticeably firm key actions of the Roland pianos and Yamaha YDP164. In fact the Korg key action in the C1 Air called the RH3 key action, is the same key action that is used in their lower priced LP380 at $1099 and same key action used in their higher priced Grandstage digital stage piano which sells for $2199. So the Korg C1 Air and LP380 key action is a higher quality, higher end key action unlike some of the other digital pianos out there who use entry level key actions in this price range under $1500 that really do not feel like pianos. Another thing I like about the C1 Air is that it is easy to operate, has some very cool features along with offering Bluetooth audio wireless connectivity, and can close up flat when the key-cover is put down over the keys.

Casio AP470

There are certainly other good choices under $1500 for a furniture cabinet digital piano including the new Casio AP470 ($1499US) which I like very much as some impressive features along with the Casio AP270 ($1049US) and Korg LP380 ($1099US) that I already mentioned. Finally, Korg makes a slightly higher price model called the G1 Air which is priced at $1599US internet price. So for just $99 more than the $1500 price range and $200 more than the Korg C1 Air, the G1 Air model offers the same impressive key action as the C1 Air but the piano sounds are upgraded even further with more advanced piano reproduction technology and all of that going through an 80 watt sound system which goes through 4 discrete amplifiers directed through 4 speakers. The 2 main bass speaker system is in a separate speaker box like the C1 Air but the 2 additional G1 Air speakers are mounted inside the piano near the top and pointing upwards to spread out the higher frequency sounds. The result of that system is incredibly impressive, especially considering that model is only $100 more than the Yamaha YDP164 ($1499 price) and the same price as the Roland RP501R ($1599 price). The cabinet on the Korg G1 Air is also upgraded with the ability to hold twice as much sheet music along the top than any other digital piano in its class.

I do like other digital pianos under $1500 and as I mentioned earlier, I have a separate review of the digital pianos that are under $1000 at the following link: Digital Pianos under $1000. But for digital pianos, let's say from $1000 to $1500, in this specific price range then I would choose the Korg G1 Air if I could go up a bit to $1599US, and then next I would choose the Korg C1 Air at $1399US, and then the Casio AP470 at $1499US. The Casio AP470 has the much more traditional furniture cabinet design as compared with the Korg digital pianos and it comes with a nice height adjustable bench whereas the Korg pianos do not come with a bench. So if you want the best looking "traditional" furniture cabinet digital piano under $1500 that has a very satisfying piano playing experience, then I would recommend the Casio. However, if you want the bigger, better piano sound in a more contemporary but yet elegant compact style cabinet, then I would recommend the Korg pianos. If  a person could get closer to $2000US then I would recommend the  Casio AP650 furniture cabinet digital piano which I have reviewed and like very much. Factory warranties on both Korg and Casio are 5 years parts & 5 years labor against factory defects, which is a huge warranty. Warranty on the Yamaha and Kawai pianos under $1500 range are 3 years parts & labor, and warranty on Roland is 5 year parts and 2 years labor.

Something I think everyone should be aware of is that there are a few (off) brands out there that I do not recommend, because very simply put...I do not like them. Those brands would include Williams, Kurzweil, Gewa, many Suzuki models, Artesia, and Adams. There are also a few brands not carried in the US that are not very good either,  but I am only focusing on models sold in the US. The (off) brands, as I call them, generally look good on the outside, but really are just PSO's... "Piano Shaped Objects." I have played many of these piano shaped objects, both under and over the $1500 price range and I've generally been very disappointed with them, especially with their key actions, piano sound and dynamic tonal expression, and pedaling. Some of those pianos do have a bunch of "bells & whistles" but even those bells and whistle features sound like toys. Just because something is a cheap price and looks OK on the outside does not make it good on the inside. Beware of the "off brands" when shopping for a digital piano.

Casio PX770 digital piano

Actually, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the digital pianos I mentioned here between $1000 - $1500US. When it comes to furniture cabinet  and even portable digital pianos under $1000, as I mentioned earlier, I already have reviewed those portable and cabinet pianos under $1000 and there are some good ones there too, especially the Casio PX870 and Casio PX770. But in the $1000 to $1500 price in furniture cabinet pianos, the differences between the pianos that are priced under $1000 compared to the digital pianos that are priced at more than $1000 can be pretty significant. So when considering how much money you should spend on a digital piano to get a good piano playing experience that can last you for many years, I always recommend that if you can stretch your budget, you will reap a longer term benefit in having an instrument that you can grow into rather than owning something that you could more easily grow out of. Also, please make note that I can help anyone get these digital pianos for less money than internet and Amazon price. So don't buy anything from anyone until you contact me first. More reviews at the links below:

- Review of electric 88-key digital pianos under $1000
- Digital Piano Reviews Under $1000

If you want more info on these pianos and lower prices than internet, Amazon, bundles, or store discounts in the USA including helping you with credit and no interest if paid in full in 6 months on purchases over $100, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864

🎹 UPDATED REVIEW - December 7, 2019 - BEST DIGITAL PIANOS under $2500 down to $1000 including the Kawai ES8, Casio AP470, Yamaha YDP164, Roland RP501R, Casio AP700, Yamaha CLP625, Kawai CA48, and a few others. For a recent review of new digital pianos under $1000 go here: New Digital pianos under $1000 My name is Tim Praskins and as an expert digital piano consultant to many people throughout the world, I like to share my knowledge of digital pianos with people just like you. There are SO many choices when it comes to new digital pianos these days and people obviously want the best piano tone and touch they can get (with some other nice features) for the lowest price possible that fits within their budget. The variations of digital pianos can make it confusing because they can come in nice full size furniture cabinets, smaller slimline modern cabinets, lighter weight portable pianos with built-in speakers and optional manufacturer built stands & pedals, and also portable pianos with no built-in speakers. There are a number of digital piano configurations because people have different musical tastes and needs such as being used for home, church, school, stage, recording studio, gigging, or other venues.

Kawai ES8

A variety of models from the top manufacturers including Roland, Kawai, Yamaha and Casio digital pianos are very good with a few being better than others. The Kawai ES8 portable digital piano (left pic - $16499US internet discount price - furniture stand & triple pedal lyre optional for about $450 more) is one of my favorites for great piano sound and key action in a portable model along with flexibility to make it a very enjoyable piano own.  The ES8 plays very smoothly with an organic piano feel and tone that even a pro can appreciate. I would consider the key action touch weight on this piano to be medium (as opposed to light or heavy) which gives the player excellent control over piano dynamics for the softest tone to the loudest...and everything in between. The ES8 is fairly easy to operate and has enough cool features for making music in ways that will enhance your overall playing and music enjoyment experience. So if you want a more compact digital piano with good looks, excellent key action, piano sound, and pedaling along with some useful digital technology to help your playing, the Kawai ES8 would be my personal favorite under $2500.

Kawai also makes a pro stage piano called the MP7SE which can also play back General MIDI song arrangements. This feature also allow the player to mute out specific instruments so that you can play those parts along with the song for full accompaniment enjoyment. The MP7SE is mainly built for superior grand piano tone and a quick realistic key action touch along with some very impressive instrument sounds including vintage electric pianos, symphonic strings, B3 jazz organs with digital drawbars, guitars, brass, flutes, synths, and more realistic instrument tones. And I am very particular when it comes to some of these sounds and the Kawai MP7SE certainly passes my test with flying colors. If you are an experienced piano player, advanced student, very particular in wanting an impressive piano tone & key action touch, or are a beginner and just want what the MP7SE has to offer (and don't care about cabinet and built-in speakers), in my opinion this would be the perfect digital piano in that "under $2500US price range" if you don't mind an instrument with no internal speakers and would need to connect to external monitors which makes it sound great. Below is a link to my review on the MP7SE with more details on this fine piano. Obviously this instrument is not in a cabinet so that can be a downside for some people and then you would need to look at something else like the ES8. 

The Casio Privia AP470 digital cabinet piano (left pic) is also a great choice in a lower price range and is pretty amazing for its low internet price of $1499US because the piano has most of the features of the more expensive pianos have like 40 watts of stereo audio power, ivory feel keys, USB direct output, realistic hammer weight & graduated key action touch, and more. It also has features that many of the higher priced pianos do not have such as 256-note polyphony piano sound chip, four internal speakers instead of two, USB flash drive audio wav file recording and playback, a lift top lid for sound expansion, and other cool features. Considering all of the possibilities out there right now for a great digital piano buy in a compact furniture cabinet, I would highly recommend this new Casio AP470. Go to my review to read more about this impressive piano: Casio AP470 Review *Casio also has a model called the PX870 in the lower price range of $999 internet discount price. It's definitely worth looking at and has some very cool features and I would recommend you read my review of that model at the following link: Casio PX870 Review

Korg G1 Air - brown-rosewood

Korg of Japan which is famous for making top quality professional digital pianos & keyboards for many years has 2 new models of impressive home digital pianos called the C Air and G1 Air. Both piano are designed in  slim, contemporary cabinets that can fit into smaller spaces and yet still look attractive, Available in 3 attractive colors, both the Korg C1 Air and G1 Air offer a noticeably natural piano key action, stereo piano sound, responsive pedaling, and a list of digital features that are useful and also fun. But both models focus especially on the "piano playing experience" offering some of the most authentic reproduction of an acoustic piano in their price ranges. The C1 Air sells at discount price on the internet at $1399US and the G1 Air sell at $1599US discount price. The most impressive thing about both of these Korg pianos is how big and full the piano sound is coming out of their respective speaker systems. I have heard these in person and compared to Roland, Yamaha, and other brands in this price range, in my opinion the C1 Air and G1 Air could easily take 1st place when it comes to what you are hearing, whether you are playing it yourself or listening to them from a distance...pretty amazing actually. Please read my detailed reviews of these models at the following links to learn more: Korg G1 Air Review    Korg C1 Air Review

The Kawai piano company has a new and impressive furniture cabinet digital piano under $2500 called the CA48 which is part of their Concert Artist series of home pianos. It comes in two matte finishes including matte darker brown-rosewood and matte black with the rosewood at $2099 internet price and the black at $2199 internet price. The CA48 has actual grand-piano style wooden piano keys (no one else has this feature in this price range) and a very realistic sounding acoustic piano tone using 192-notes of polyphony along with having many useful educational features in an attractive cabinet. This piano far surpasses anything that Yamaha has under $2500 at this point in piano playing authenticity and digital features. The CA48 also has very intuitive user controls for the main functions of the piano when using a proprietary iOS (iPad/iPhone) app through wireless Bluetooth connectivity. When not using the app then the piano itself has a LED display screen to see what's going on when you press a button. With 4-speakers, 40 watts of power, and a beautiful cabinet design with front support legs and sliding key-cover, it's hard to beat the CA48 for what it does and how it plays in its price range.

Kawai CN39 satin white

Kawai also makes another model called the CN39 (left pic in white) which has an internet/store discount price of $2699. Even though this discount pricing is over that $2500 price range, it's close enough. It's a great piano for someone who wants a good looking cabinet design, lots of digital features, helpful built-in educational software & functions, and a very smooth and dynamic piano hammer style (plastic, not wood) key action with realistic acoustic piano sound using a 256-note polyphony chip. This model also has 16-track GM MIDI playback from a menu of 324 instrument sounds along with audio wav & MP3 recording & playback. So the CN39 has lots of things you can do with it and it sounds and plays good too. For a price very close to $2500, in my opinion the CN39 offers a very good bang for the buck in this price range for a traditional furniture cabinet model digital piano even as compared to what Yamaha or Casio has to offer in that same price range.

CN39 control panel

The Kawai CN39 is plenty loud enough with its 40 watt full range speaker system. But when it comes to the Kawai brand, the lower priced CA48 with wooden grand-piano style weighted & balanced keys is in a better price range and offers enough upgraded features to satisfy many families who are looking for best possible key action feel and response in this price range. Kawai also offers a compact furniture model digital piano called the ES8 ($1649 internet discount price without optional furniture stand & triple pedals). This model has a few similar features as compared to the CN39 but in many other ways is upgraded including an improved piano sound chip for even more realistic piano sound authenticity. This model is equal in piano sound realism to the top of the line Kawai CS11 which sells for over $8000. So when it comes to Kawai pianos under $2500 the ES8 and CA48 are definitely at the top. Go to the following link to read my review of the ES8: Kawai ES8 Review

Yamaha YDP164

The Yamaha Arius YDP163 cabinet piano ($1499US internet price - left pic) is now discontinued and replaced by the newer YDP164 at the same price of $1499. The YDP164 is a fine piano overall with very nice piano sound and has many features including 192 note polyphony, ivory feel keys, 40 watts of power, layer & duo, a smooth key action (although a somewhat heavy to the touch), and a more traditional cabinet. Yamaha makes a complete series of the Arius models up to the YDP184 at $2199 which should also be a consideration. Click on the following link to read my review of the top-of-the-line YDP184. Yamaha YDP184 Review. Yamaha also has the Clavinova series digital pianos with it basic model called the CLP625. The CLP625 is a new current model and is similar to the YDP164 with some exceptions and sells in US piano stores for about $2000US. Go here for my review on the CLP625: Yamaha CLP625 Review

The Roland company is well known for making some impressive home & professional digital pianos over the years and they have a few new models called theF140R ($1199 internet price, RP501R ($1499 internet price), DP603 (starting at $2399US internet price) and the HP701 (approx piano store discount selling price $2000US - left pic) that has a nice 3-part key sensing system and smooth acoustic piano style key action along with continuous detection pedaling sustain and some very useful technology features. I think these models are quite impressive for their compact size. I would recommend you consider these pianos because the overall piano sound realism and tone quality rivals the Kawai CN39 in some ways and in my opinion competes well with the new Yamaha CLP625 and Yamaha CLP635. I have done a blog review of the DP603 at the following link: Roland DP603 Review and also Yamaha CLP635 at this link: Yamaha CLP635 Review

A person can spend a bit more than $2500 and have some other great piano choices such as the newest Roland HP704, Yamaha CLP645, Casio-Bechstein GP300, Kawai CA58, and others. So there are plenty of very nice digital pianos for even more money, up to $22,000 for a few Digital Grand Pianos. But most families I speak with want to be under $3000, and any of these pianos mentioned here would be enjoyable to own. Based on my experience both past & present, I recommend that people stay away from the off-brand names like the Williams brand which is a Guitar Center house brand and is only sold by the Guitar Center company and it's subsidiaries. Also I would be careful with pianos from Suzuki& Artesia sold primarily in the US by Guitar Center & Costco. Most of these off-brands just don't qualify to called real "pianos" in my opinion. It's all about having realistic key touch action, proper dynamics, smooth key volume response, realistic piano tone up and down the entire 88-keys, no unreasonable key noise, and proper pedal response. There are basic minimum standards that pianos need to have and these off-brand pianos usually fall short.

Also, the off-brands or house brands (in many cases) are not actual piano manufacturers but simply created names produced by relatively unknown Asian factories with (what I consider to be) low quality technology and parts for a low price. Their names sound American to give you the impression that they are somehow as good or better than the Japanese brands, but they are not. They are all made in China and although generally speaking product being made in China is not an issue as far as I'm concerned because many of the top brands now have factories in China. It's what the product actually is, how it's made, the parts and construction that is used, and the quality control provided that counts. I have played all of the off brand pianos offered in the US that I have mentioned here and would not recommend them to anyone if they are looking for a good piano playing experience and long term investment (no matter what the price is). The piano cabinets themselves, extra sounds, and other features offered in these digital pianos are only important if the primary functions & features of the piano passes the test. Low price and an attractive furniture style cabinet alone is definitely not a good way to judge piano quality, although unfortunately many people do. You will likely purchase a piano that you'll want to keep for a while so be sure you do your homework and get something that is a good instrument from one of the name piano brands, you'll be glad you did.

One of the more surprising digital piano options to me under $2500 is the Casio Celviano AP650 digital piano which sells for $1899US discount price on the internet. Not only does this piano look great in its upgraded furniture cabinet, but I was impressed by how good it plays & sounds as a piano along with having lots useful digital features. The AP650 has a powerful built in stereo sound system which does a very good job projecting its piano sound in a way that makes you feel like you are playing a larger acoustic piano. The user interface is fairly easy to use and is located directly in front of you above the keys. So when it comes to a full furniture cabinet style digital piano for less than $2000, I would recommend the Casio AP650 as offering the "best bang for the buck in a traditional furniture cabinet" under $2500US.

I know it's difficult for most people to judge these various brands and models on their own when they don't have the experience & expertise. It can also get even more confusing when different piano and music instrument stores tell you different things depending on the brands they're selling. That's why I am happy to help people who wish to contact me and I will answer your questions about what might be best for you based on the actual facts about what these pianos can actually do and what you budget and musical goals are. Even though the choices I have talked about here for my top digital piano picks are good ones, there may be other options for YOU depending on your particular price range and specific needs & wants. I am committed to helping people get good digital pianos, playing good music, having good piano instruction, and enjoying the entire experience . I don't work for piano manufacturers nor do I have a favorite brand or model not do I link you to Amazon to purchase a piano just so I can make an affiliate commission off of your sale. I do it because this is my passion and I care about your (and your family's) musical well being. Go to the link below to see what music involvement should be like in the lives of children and why you should should get your children and/or yourself involved in music.
Why Kids Should Play Piano!

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

UPDATED REVIEW / Dec 9, 2019 / Artesia DP10e Digital Piano - Semi Recommended - In the world of digital pianos there are brands models that really do play like real acoustic pianos and then there are brands and models that do not play like real acoustic pianos. I often play acoustic and digital pianos in my music studio where I teach piano to all levels of piano students and I also play a variety of digital, upright, and grand pianos so I know what a real piano is supposed to do. The Artesia brand is one that is primarily sold by Costco as a low priced alternative to the name brand digital pianos like Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, Korg, Roland, and others. Piano shoppers are always looking for the "best deal" which would include a low price, and attractive cabinet, and usable built-in digital features and the Artesia DP10e would qualify in that way because it does have a low price, the cabinet is fairly attractive, and it has a lot of different, usable features. But...it's the key action, piano sound chip, and pedaling ability and response that are the primary reasons people buy digital pianos because they or someone in their family wants to play piano. If the digital piano you purchase cannot come close to replicating a piano playing experience then it does not matter what the price is, how good the piano looks, and what "bells & whistles" are in the piano. - Click on pics for larger views -

In our opinion the Artesia DP10e is really like getting an inexpensive $150 keyboard as far as functions & features go but in a nice looking 88 key furniture style cabinet with a larger built-in speaker system and weighted keys. The piano keys in the Artesia are touch sensitive and do have some reasonable weight to them, but in terms of the digital features and their quality in this model, after having played hundreds of digital pianos and keyboards, the DP10e is somewhat disappointing to us mainly because of its keyboard, the way the keys move and the key contacts under the keys and how they trigger the piano sound. The DP10e has 137 instrument sound selections including 2 piano sounds, many orchestra instrument sounds, guitars, bells, synths, special effects, etc. It also has 100 interactive accompaniment rhythm styles including Latin, Jazz, rock, waltz, country, etc so there are plenty of fun ways you can play music on this model. The acoustic piano sound itself is OK overall and does have some expression to it when you play the keys harder or softer, so that is good. But the most important part of any piano is the key action because the is the heart of the way music gets played on a piano and a digital piano is no exception.

The Artesia digital pianos are made in China and being made in China is not a bad thing and can actually be a good in trying to keep costs down in the product itself. However, when it comes to the key actions in digital pianos, as a manufacturer or company you have choices on what quality of key action you want to have put into your product and the key action in this model is of very low quality and it's easy for us to tell that when just playing on it. On the other hand, Yamaha & Casio have some of their low priced digital pianos made in China but those products are proprietary and designed by Yamaha and Casio and their key actions are really good, especially as compared to the Artesia DP10e. After playing the DP10e for awhile, the experience we had with this key action not what we had hoped for or what the on-line Costco specifications suggest. The key action in this model has uneven downweight & upweight on different keys when the keys are moving up & down which means the resistance of the keys to the force applied by your fingers when pressing down the keys is very inconsistent on various keys which is not good. This key action also creates an uneven piano sound volume being triggered when playing different keys and the key action has physically noisy keys when they are moving up & down such as a knocking sound when the keys hit bottom or noticeably noisy keys when the keys come back up. The piano notes occasionally don't play or respond quickly when playing different keys and it seems to be somewhat random in that way.

So not only do the physical keys have issues but also the key contacts under the keys not responding consistently to the key movement in triggering the piano sound. The piano sound itself is not bad but it can be a bit jumpy when playing the keys softly or with more force and the piano sound is not smooth with good transitions when playing at different velocities. In other words, one key may take more finger pressing force then the next key over or if you are playing a single piano note (key) that note may be quieter and more mellow but then then next key over may be louder and much brighter when playing with the same finger pressure almost like you are playing two different pianos. If you are a beginner and/or have had little piano playing experience then you may not notice all these inconsistencies and anomalies because you don't know how a piano is supposed to behave when you are playing it. However, if you have ever used a remote control on a TV or other audio device then if you are turning the volume up or down it would be like that volume control would be jumpy, inconsistent, and changing tonal character when increasing or decreasing volume on your device. In other words, not smooth, not consistent, and sometimes even the button does not work to change the sound like there's a hesitation in it from time to time. That's what it was like for us when we played this Artesia DP10e and for that reason alone we would not recommend this model for piano playing.

The actual acoustic piano sound sample in this Artesia piano is better than in previous models so that has been an improvement. Although the sound sample has more sampled layers than in previous Artesia pianos, the new top name brands digital pianos these days are much better and most of them sample (record) their piano sounds from real pianos but have more sophisticated technology to do more natural samples. So the differences are that there is different quality of piano sampling, different recording technology, and different ways to implement the sound in the digital pianos that the top brands are doing and that's one of the reason they cost more money...you do get what you pay for! So while the DP10e is noticeably better in overall tonal dynamic range and piano realism than previous models, that sound is hampered by the inconsistent and very noisy key action with what seems to be inferior key contacts (key switches) that allow the sound to be triggered by the keys at different velocities of key movement. In other words, unfortunately it doesn't matter how good the piano sound might be in the digital piano if the key action can't play it correctly, and in in our opinion that's where the Artesia DP10e "falls apart" so to speak. It's not really the piano sound we object to (even though the sound layers are not smooth like some of the other better brands), but it's the negative feelings we have about the key action as we just mentioned earlier.

The triple pedals do work and the right side sustain pedal does its job overall. But even though those 3 pedals have a brass color, they are not brass pedals but instead are plastic. Plastic is fine as long as they work. But our experience using those pedals was a bit disappointing because the pedals, just like the key action, were noisy & clicky sounding when moving up and down and it was somewhat distracting when playing music on the piano. As for the sustain pedal (the 1st pedal on the right), it worked OK, but just like the key action, the sustain response was not always consistent when pressing down on the pedal and the pedals themselves were quite stiff/hard to press down as compared to a real piano and other digital pianos we have played so those pedals are on the low end of quality.

However, the DP10e does have some fun features in it like the interactive drum rhythms, accompaniments and instrument sounds that I mentioned earlier which is similar to what you might find on an inexpensive $150 Yamaha keyboard. Although some of those instrument sounds and accompaniments are good, some are pretty bad and sound like toys and even the popular $150 Yamaha & Casio keyboards out there sound much better than those features on the Artesia. The DP10e does have some nice, useful digital keyboard features such as a 3-track digital recorder/player so that you can record the left and right hand parts of your song and also an automated accompaniment and then play them back. The piano also has a digital metronome with adjustable tempo for rhythm and timing, a key transpose feature, reverb & chorus effects to enhance the instrument sounds, layer/mix or split two sounds together, and you can see what functions you are selecting by the control panel buttons above the keyboard and then the OLED display screen clearly tells you what sound, rhythm, or other features you have selected by displaying the names of those functions in that display screen. The DP10e also has a touch sensitivity control for key touch but this feature does not change the key weight, the physical key response, or the key contacts and how they work so unfortunately the electronic key touch feature doesn't really help much in that area. Nevertheless, when it comes to having a good array of digital features in this price range including over 100 instrument sounds, 100 accompaniment styles, effects, 2-track recording, a variety of volume controls for different functions, the Artesia DP10e definitely offers enough to keep you busy in that way.

The connectivity in this piano is actually pretty good and includes inputs for 2 headphone jacks, 2 audio line outputs, 2 audio line inputs, 2 aux inputs with a separate volume control, a MIDI output, and a USB output to external device, so there is plenty of ways to interface with other things out there. The internal speaker system consists of two main speakers on the inside of the piano pointing downward to the floor and those speakers are rated at 20 watts each at 6 ohms so there really is plenty of volume and power in the DP10e and it can fill up a medium to larger size room with no problem. It actually has a very big sound through it's speaker system and noticeably more so than the Casio AP260 at Costco and I do like that very much.

It is interesting to note that on the Costco web site for the Artesia DP10e, the specifications listed are not all correct. As for some examples of this it says there are 4 speakers in this model but it really only has 2 speakers based on our inspection of this model. We would like to know where the other 2 speakers are because we do not see them inside or outside. It says the power rating is 50 watts when it actually has 2 x 20 watt speakers = total of 40 watts at 6 ohms each speaker. It says the piano cabinet is black in the specs but it's actually dark rosewood, although it is dark enough to look like it is black in lower light settings. The specs on the Costco site also says it has a MIDI output and MIDI input but it only has a MIDI output which is fine because most people will use the USB output to connect to an external device if needed. So not all the specs are correct and that is somewhat misleading if you are counting on that information to be all true. Sometimes these specs come from other pianos and are not necessarily for the piano advertised on Costco web site or it's just a "typo," but we wanted to point this out.

The Artesia DP10e is an attractive piano with nice looking cabinet, built in sliding key cover, useful connectivity, nice OLED display screen, buttons that work good and light up with a blue inset color to let you know you have selected that button, and a good amount of digital features that many cabinet style pianos in this price range do not have in this price range. But the bottom line really is that the majority of people who purchase digital pianos under $1000 want a digital piano to mainly play piano on and not a glorified keyboard with these these same types of functions. People who want a digital piano mainly want it to sound like a real piano, have the key action play like a piano and trigger the piano sound properly and smoothly with keys that move quietly, and get the triple pedal unit to respond like a real piano and have quiet pedal movement. The extra "bells & whistles" should really take a back seat to how good the digital piano is as a "piano."

The upside of this Artesia model is that it has a low price with a lot of features, but at the end of the most people will likely not use these extra "bells & whistles" very often or at all based on my experience with these pianos as a longtime piano teacher, pro pianist, and digital piano expert. Having some fun on a digital piano is great but not at the expense of getting of the actual piano playing experience. With all that in mind there are definitely better options out there although they may have different extra "bells & whistles" but definitely will offer a more authentic piano playing experience and will be an instrument you can grow "into"rather than grow out of it somewhat quickly. As far as the key action goes, digital pianos with key actions that don't play too good can also create poor playing habits that can inhibit growth in your piano playing skills. If you like all those extra "fun bells & whistles" such as drum rhythms and music chord styles, over 100 instrument sounds, etc, and you don't care as much about getting a better, more realistic piano playing experience, especially when it comes to the key action movement and piano response, then the Artesia DP10e may be a good choice for you and that is why we "semi-recommend it. However, I was hoping for a much better key action in this model and would have recommended it to some of my piano students looking for a low priced home digital piano. But until the key action in this Artesia model along with the key actions in the other Artesia models show signs of big improvements then we won't be recommending it to piano students or people wanting to focus on piano playing. People need to know that just because there are 88 "weighted" piano style black & white keys in a digital piano does not mean that key action is as good as other 88 weighted black & white keys in other brands and models of digital pianos. The key action is one thing that cannot be felt, touched, or played simply by watching a video, reading specs, or believing the "marketing hype" of the manufacturer ads. Once you buy a digital piano there is no way to change or improve the key action...what you get is what you get...permanently.

If you want a better, more realistic piano playing experience in a digital piano but need to be in a lower price range at around $600 to $800 then I would rather see people invest their money somewhere else. We recommend you choose a top name brand known for their more realistic piano playing technology and key actions which includes the Casio AP260 at Costco, the Casio PX870 which is on special sale right now with no tax and free shipping and is a big upgrade over the Artesia DP10e and Casio AP260 in a number of ways in terms of an upgraded piano playing experience and it's in a similar price range right now (ask me about that special price). Also, the Korg B2SP digital piano for $599 (no tax, free shipping) which offers a very nice piano playing experience. There are also other choices so please contact us before you making any purchase decision and we can give you personal piano advice which will help you.

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.

🎹 UPDATED REVIEW - January 1, 2020 - Casio PX-S3000 portable digital piano for 2020 - Special Top Recommendation - Casio recently introduced their brand new portable self-contained digital piano called the PX-S3000 (aka: S3000) which goes way beyond anything that any digital piano company has ever produced under $1000 for a full size 88-weighted piano key action instrument that is lightweight, portable, and with a powerful self-contained stereo speaker system. In fact, based on the extensive hours I have put into personally playing & examining this digital piano, I have to go on record and say that this new model is by far the best and most authentic full-featured digital piano out of any brand and model currently offered by any digital piano company including Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, Korg, and anyone else who makes digital pianos in this category. Just so everyone knows, I don't work for any digital piano company, I don't get paid for my reviews, and I normally believe there are other good portable digital piano options out there in this general price range...which there are. But...with the introduction of the PX-S3000 I believe the Casio piano company has just shot way out in front of the pack for the first time ever with portable digital pianos under $1000. Casio has always had competitive portable digital pianos, but they weren't necessarily always the best choice depending on your musical needs and piano playing experience, and your budget. However, the new S3000 really has changed all that. With new technology that Casio has never before had in any digital piano nor has their competition had, this new model does things that are absolutely spectacular, and I don't say that lightly. Beyond that, Casio has created a proprietary app for iOS and Android tablets/phones which intuitively allows you to control almost every aspect of the PX-S3000 from your device color touch screen. This app is so cool and so easy to use that it will let the user, for the first time, actually use a lot of the very cool features in this model that otherwise may have been overlooked in the past because those features were just too difficult to find, not easy to use or be understood, and just too cumbersome. But with the new "Chordana Play for Piano" app, all of that has changed and now Casio has opened up newer and exciting features not available before from any manufacturer in this price range and an intuitive way for interfacing with those very cool features that even a 3 year old could do it...or even a 93 year old! I will talk more about this PX-S3000 function controller app later on in this review. But for now, it's not that this model has the absolute best, most realistic key action, piano sound, pedaling, and functionality out there in any price range, and it's not that this new model has the best, most advanced features of any digital piano out there. It's really all about how good this instrument is for the low $799 internet discount price that you can buy it for. In fact, this new model should easily be selling for no less than $1000 and probably closer to $1500 in my opinion based on what's being offered in the portable self-contained digital piano marketplace right now...it's that good and I usually don't make those kind of statements about new products.


So what makes this new PX-S3000 so good as compared to the its competition such as the Yamaha DGX660 at $799, Yamaha P125 at $649, Kawai ES110 at $699, and the Roland FP30 at $699. Plus...Casio has other portable digital pianos such as the PX-160 at $549, CGP-700 at $849, and the PX-360 at $899. So why is the S3000 so special? In my expert opinion it is because Casio has done everything right on this model such as its new clean design, increased portability, new piano key action, new grand piano sound chip, new responsive and portable pedaling ability, new intuitive user interface, and the incredible functionality it has to make your music more realistic and exciting than you thought possible out of a self-contained digital piano for $799. That pretty much sums it up. On the other self-contained portable 88-key digital piano brands and models with built;t-in speakers under $1000, there's always a few things missing such as one piano will have a great sound but not a great key action...or the key action may be real good but the sound is artificial or the pedaling not responsive. Sometimes its the features and functions that are quite basic or not easy to use or understand or maybe the instrument is portable but way too heavy and big to actually be easily transported on a regular basis such as the Yamaha DGX660 which weighs in at 46 lbs and has a depth of almost 18". Compare that to the S3000 which has a weight of less than 25 lbs and a depth of just 9" which makes the Yamaha twice as big and heavy.

The Casio PX-S3000 also has no actual physical buttons across the top of it's control panel because the functions and features are selected by touch sensitive LED lights that don't show up when the piano is powered off. All you see when the piano is powered off is a sleek, elegant smooth shiny black top with an elegant, contemporary volume knob and a flush mounted power button...and that's it. But when you power up the PX-S3000 then you instantly & clearly see white LED  function and feature touch sensor lights that indicate what you will get when touching them to make a function or feature selection. Beyond that, the PX-S3000 has a fairly large LCD user display screen clearly indicating which functions are currently being used when you make a selection of an instrument sound, effect, rhythm, song or whatever else you are wanting to do. But when the piano is powered off you see absolutely nothing...just a smooth, gloss black top. The piano also has multiple rows of functions that light up once you touch the controls to go to the next row of functions. You really don't know that there are multiple rows of functions because on either side of the center display screen there is only one row of functions lit up on the left side and 2 rows on the right side that are side-by-side rows. The furthest right row has an additional 3 rows of functions below it when you access them and on the left side of the display screen there are actually 3 full rows of functions...but only one row at a time is seen until you decide you want to access more rows of features . In all there are 7 changeable rows of functions/features, one row of  functions nearest to the right side of the display screen that allows access of other internal features and changing rows. and then a selection button to get into the editing modes to let you access things that will further enhance your playing experience.

The PX-S3000 has 700 instrument sounds. These sounds are not "toy instrument sounds" that are typical for this price range and have been found on past Casio digital pianos. They are much higher quality instrument sounds that one would not expect at this low $799 price including much more authentic vintage electric pianos, strings, pads, brass, guitars, synths, woodwinds, etc along with hundreds of very competent reverbs, chorus effects for electric pianos, wah, trem, phasers, and so much more. You can easily access any sound you want or you can layer/mix or split any two sounds that you want for live play. Does anybody really need 700 different instrument sounds...the answer would be no. However, there are so many great instrument sound options that depending on the music you like to play, many of these sounds are really great to have and will likely increase your playing enjoyment. As far as selecting these sounds from the control panel, you can easily do that from the light-up touch buttons and see the specific sound in the LCD display screen that you have selected. You can also select any instrument sound by using that Chordana app I mentioned earlier along with quickly and intuitively setting up any two sounds to be split and/or layered together by your external device color touch screen. It really works well that way and will let you change things around quickly to make the most out of those 700 instruments sounds in all kinds of ways.

One way that I determine how realistic the instrument sounds are in any digital piano is to use a really good fully orchestrated General MIDI song file and play it through the internal speaker system of the piano...assuming the piano has the capability of playing a full 16-track MIDI song file, which many do not. In other words, for those people who don't know, a 16-track MIDI song file is a song created in the MIDI format where someone plays and records 16 different instruments in a song (pianos, organs, guitars, orchestral sounds, synths, drums, whatever you want) playing them one at a time, one on top of the other, and then all those instruments play back simultaneously as a full completed song from a USB flash drive (where the song is stored) and then you hear the song playback "live" in the piano. The instruments you hear playing through the piano are the actual instruments in the piano sound banks and they are not pre-recorded real instruments like on a CD. So whatever instruments you hear in the piano when playing back a General MIDI song file are actually the individual instruments in the piano playing "live." General MIDI songs are not a CD or MP3 recording because those recording are from people playing those real instruments live and then recording them, just like any audio recording would be. A MIDI recording is simply the "notes" of the song and not the actual instrument sounds. I could take a good General MIDI song file and put it in my computer and my computer would also play that song file back but the sounds will only be as good as the sound card in your computer and so those songs may not be so great. When we are talking about MIDI songs, we are not talking about an audio recording playing back on your iPod or CD. We are taking about the instruments you hear actually being played live within the piano...assuming it has the capability to playback full multi-track General MIDI recordings from a USB flashdrive, which many digital pianos cannot do, even up to $5000 and beyond. Also, just because your digital piano may have a USB flash drive input does not necessarily mean it can playback these General MIDI songs.

I say all this because it is important to the PX-S3000 and what I am about to tell you. I happen to have fully orchestrated MIDI song files of original arrangements of very complex movie music theme songs that I use for my personal pleasure. You can purchase some of these song files on-line for yourself just like you can purchase iTunes, etc., and some of those MIDI files can be found on-line at no charge depending on what they are. The advantage to having MIDI song files is that you can play along with them so you can learn the song and you can slow down the tempo or even change the key the song is in. It's fun as well as entertaining. There are full arrangement General MIDI songs from virtually every musical category including classical, movie, kids, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, etc, country, rock, jazz, Latin, Big band, Swing, religious, and just about anything else you can think of. You can play these songs back on any digital piano that has the ability to play General MIDI multi-instrument song files and also has a USB flash drive input where the songs would play from. You can buy and download just about any song you can think of and play it on the PX-S3000.

To test this new Casio piano in terms of its instrumentation, internal sound system, key action, and functionality including connecting this PX-S3000 to external speakers, I decided to play the full MIDI song file of entire theme from Star Wars from the famous composer John Williams who has done all those famous sci-fi adventure scores such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurrasic Park, and Superman along with many others. Most people know the Star wars theme song and have heard it play many times in the Star wars movies. It's a great orchestral piece of music that has many movements, a huge variety of instruments playing at various times in the music, and it's a complex but very memorable musical theme. The song is definitely not an easy piece for any digital piano to play regardless of its ability to have this MIDI playback function. In most portable digital pianos that have the ability to playback General MIDI song files, the multi-track music playing back usually sounds fake or just isn't good at all...like a toy. To top that off, the internal stereo speaker systems in many of these portable digital pianos are (overall) weak, uninspiring, and have limited stereo separation and frequency range, especially when playing sophisticated, full length songs like Star Wars. Apart from this new PXS3000 the other digital pianos out these may have enough speaker power to play piano and for practice purposes so there is no problem there. It's when you really want a more sophisticated, higher audio quality sound where many of these digital pianos fail. Not just more volume but a higher quality tone that really gives your music the realism that many people look for in a portable digital piano with internal speakers. When you plug into an additional external speaker system then that enhances the playing experience even more, especially in producing a fuller bass response.

So here's the bottom line with regard to my very musically "scientific" test on the Casio PX-S3000. When playing back the Star Wars orchestral thematic theme song recorded in the General MIDI format going through the internal stereo speakers in the piano, the results were absolutely amazing and much better than I thought it could be. Also, using the special 3-D surround sound feature in the piano to increase the authenticity of the music which no other portable digital piano has under $1000, the song playing back sounded exactly like the Star Wars them song with actual real instruments playing, only they weren't the real orchestral instruments such as you would be hearing in an audio recording of that song but instead were the live instruments residing inside the PXS3000. The sonic clarity, stereo separation, and over volume balance of all those musical instruments playing back were
really astounding. Not only that but the internal stereo speaker system in the PXS3000 was beyond amazing. Huge volume, bigger than expected bass response, and no detectable distortion coming from the speaker system even when the volume was turned up fairly loud. The realism of all those instruments playing together including classical oboes, big brass, orchestral strings, bells, percussion, flutes, piccolos, harps, and all the other instruments from that theme song were impressive. Beyond that, I could easily play the song in any key, adjust the volume, slow it down or speed it up with no sound degradation, and play along with the song using any of the 700 internal instruments in the piano including layers and splits. I could also enhance the song by adding more reverb effects and/or changing the type of 3-D surround sound feature that I was applying to the sound coming out of the internal speakers. In fact, the volume of this PX-S3000 was so big that I had a difficult time believing it was all coming out of a super compact 24lb instrument. I had the PX-S3000 play other MIDI movie themes by John Williams including the ones I mentioned earlier like Raiders, Jurrasic, and others and those compositions and orchestrations sound equally impressive.

A piece of John Williams trivia history that some of you may not know is that there is a famous pop/rock band called "Tot"o who were especially popular in the 1980's and beyond, and they had some of the best musicians out there of all bands during that period. I personally liked the band and their music because they had a couple great piano/keyboard players (and lead vocalists that performed in ways that other keyboard players and singers never did before and they really knew their music and how to use those instruments. For a number of years Toto's lead singer was Joseph Williams who is now the band's current lead singer again within this last decade. Joseph Williams just happens to be the son of John Williams, the guy who wrote and scored all those Stephen Spielberg-George Lucas films, and in fact Joseph Williams did some of song work himself for one of of the Star Wars movies along with doing some vocals for Disney's Lion King. I mention all this not only to show what a small world it is in the music business, but how much music has an effect on the children of musically talented parents. Being a long time piano teacher I love seeing children get involved in music, whether they make money doing it or not. I also have some General MIDI files of the band's most popular songs and those song files sounded great on the PX-S3000. So no matter what songs you want to hear, play along with, or learn, the PX-S3000 seems to be able to do that extremely well.

Casio has improved their internal stereo speaker system so dramatically over any past models that it makes all the other portable digital pianos out there under $1000 pale in comparison. With notably better speaker and amplifier components coupled with this new 3-D stereo surround sound system within the piano, the resulting musical experience is far better than you would think it could be just looking at the piano and wondering how good can it possibly be given its small size and weight...but somehow the sound designers at Casio were able to figure it out and do it. When I plugged in some external powered monitors to the two audio outputs in the piano, the resulting sound was even more amazing, especially if you want or need an even bigger sound or wanting more bass response. But in terms of filling up a large room with big sound, the PXS3000 can do it with no problem. But as I said, I tested the piano to its full capacity using and playing back General MIDI multi-track song files not only with the Star Wars theme, but other big movie music like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, a number of popular Jazz, Latin, Contemporary Christian, Country, and rock songs, and other categories of music, and the PXS3000 did exceptionally well with all of them. I happen to like lots of musical styles including Jazz. One of my favorite jazz guitarists is the famous Lee Ritenour and you can see his Jazz band videos all over Youtube. Lee and I actually graduated from the same high school in the same grade at the same time and in fact he was alos in my choir class...I loved to sing then as well as now. Anyway, Lees hit songs are also available in General MIDI format and they sound really great on the PXS3000. But, without access to those higher quality 700 instrument sounds that reside inside the PXS3000 music library, the MIDI song playback ability and quality of those songs would not have happened in the way that it is being heard on this new instrument because previous music instrument libraries in past model digital pianos pretty much sounded like toys. If you want to play any of those 700 instrument sounds individually (including acoustic pianos, etc) just for your own live playing enjoyment with no songs playing in the background, as I mentioned earlier, you can easily do that and select them from the LED digital touch sensor controls and see what you have selected in the easy to read LCD display screen for that user info and then enjoy those high quality tones live in your own playing and recording.

So now that I have explained how great the overall music can be in this instrument, the actual "star of the show" in the PXS3000 is the all new piano key action, piano sound chip, and piano pedaling system because after-all, what most people want when purchasing a portable (or any) digital piano is for that instrument to be as realistic as possible in terms of an authentic piano playing experience within its price range. Up until now there has been some acceptable portable digital pianos and some good portable digital pianos out there under $1000...but nothing truly "hands down" outstanding. Yes, there certainly are other portable digital pianos with some compelling digital technology built in such as the Casio PX360, Kawai ES110, Roland FP30, and a few others, but not with the capabilities of this new Casio PXS model. There are people who don't want to spend any more than about $500 for a new digital piano and even Casio has a couple models under $500 that could be good options for the beginner. But for just a little bit more, this new PXS3000 is sooooo much better and you would likely want to keep this instrument for many more years than the others because of  the upgraded features that enable you to do things with your music that you would not otherwise be able to do if you spent less money.

The new key action, piano sound chip, and triple pedal system in this PX-S3000 is definitely worth talking about because of how much improved it seems to be (overall) as compared to the previous Casio models. When it comes to new digital pianos whether they are portable or furniture cabinet models, it's first and foremost about the piano playing experience and how close the instrument can get to a real good quality acoustic piano. Digital piano manufacturers all want you to believe they have the best product and that it plays "just like the real thing." But I've played enough different brands and models of digital pianos to know that is not a true statement. Digital pianos vary quite a bit from one to another and in this low price range under $1000 it is especially difficult to create a piano key action, piano sound, and pedaling experience that comes anywhere close to a real acoustic piano. Some of the digital piano models may play better than other ones, but they definitely don't come close to being a real piano, particularly in a portable version. They are either lacking good dynamic tonal range and good key pressure volume control, lacking a responsive piano movement key action, and/or lacking good pedal movement and response. To get all those piano playing aspects in a digital piano to be more like a real acoustic piano is pretty much impossible...it's really just "how close can you get" to the real thing. With that in mind this new Casio checks all the boxes in being as close as you can get to the real thing in my opinion as compared to all the other portable digital pianos under $1000, and in fact, is noticeably better (overall) than many of the furniture cabinet models under $1000 from Yamaha, Roland, and others.

The key action in this new PX-S3000 has by far the most realistic graded and fully weighted key action in its class and for the first time has actual individual linear weighted keys that vary in weight per key as you go up and down the keyboard. The variations are definitely subtle but they are that way on real acoustic pianos as well. This key action is definitely not a grand piano key action and is instead an upright piano key action as are all the other digital pianos in this price range in terms of the key movement and key balance from front to backs of keys. I did notice the white keys were fairly firm to press down towards the backs of the keys and I would have preferred them to be easier to press down, which is the way it normally is done on real acoustic upright & grand pianos. The keys (the part you cannot see that goes under the control panel) are just a bit shorter in length on these PXS slimline portable digital pianos because of space restrictions in being so compact. Overall the keys are balanced well and move nicely with just the right amount of key resistance and action response one might expect from a higher price digital piano. In terms of a portable piano cabinet being this small and lightweight, the key action is much better than I expected, it is noticeably more stable and with less key-bounce along with being quieter in movement noise than in past models, and the upgraded synthetic ivory & ebony key-tops provide just the right amount of textured key surfaces for great tactile feel under the fingers. With the upgraded triple sensor electronics for each key which offers better key-repetition note recognition when playing faster (and/or not letting the key come all the way back up before pressing down the key again), I am very impressed overall with this new and improved key action and it certainly responds well to all types of playing and noticeably better than its current competition.

I think it is important to note that I have played thousands of acoustic upright & grand pianos in my very long professional music career including Steinway, Fazioli, Bosendorfer, Kawai, Yamaha, Bechstein, Young Chang, Samick, Boston, Pearl River, Essex, Kimball, and many others so I know by personal experience how weighted keys feel and how they are supposed to move. As I said, the PX-S3000 does have slightly shorter keys (the part of the key you cannot see that goes beyond the visible key and underneath the piano panel behind the key) than some other digital pianos and therefore the key weighted movement towards the very backs of the white keys and black keys is harder (firmer)  to press down when playing flats & sharps than other digital pianos and acoustic pianos. Just so you know...the actual keys on digital piano don't have much weight to them at all. It's the extra weights placed inside the key (in acoustic type piano keys) or attached to the keys or within the key action (in digital pianos) that give the plastic and/or wooden keys their complete weight. The Casio PX-S3000, like all the other portable and furniture digital pianos under $2000 are more like upright acoustic pianos in that digital pianos in this price range do have shorter keys which is true of regular acoustic upright pianos. Acoustic Grand pianos have much longer keys (the part of the key you cannot see that goes under and behind the panel into the piano cabinet) and that is why professional piano players and advanced pianists always prefer to play on grand piano key actions because they can play their music better with more balance between the backs and fronts of the keys in terms of key pressure and key stroke. However, key weight (the force or pressure it takes to press the key down) is measured on the top front of the key, top middle of the key, and top back of the key. For some of you out there these extra "details" about keys may not be of interest to you and that is fine. But for other people you may enjoy knowing about these details which I am happy to explain.

As a real life example, the down-weight of middle C# key (black key measured in the middle of the key) I have personally measured key-weight movement on some Yamaha acoustic upright/console pianos where that key down-weight is about 60 grams of down-weight pressure. The down-weight pressure or force on the same key measured in the same place (middle of key) on the Casio PX-S3000 is approx 65 grams. But if you take that same measurement on the popular Yamaha P515 portable digital piano ($1499 price) the down-weight measures approx 90 grams on that same black key in the same position...this is true of the white keys as well. The Yamaha digital piano key action is  noticeably heavier in that key position not only against regular acoustic upright and grand pianos, but also as compared to Korg, Kawai, and Roland digital pianos with Roland needing more key pressure than Kawai, Korg, or Casio. On a real grand piano the amount of finger pressure needed to press down the key is even less than upright acoustic pianos. In other words, the keys are even lighter and take less effort to press down on grand pianos as opposed to upright pianos in the middle of the key and also towards the fronts of the keys. However when pressing the key downward towards the very backs of the keys on the new PXS models, the Casio keys are heavier/firmer and do take more finger pressure than the other brands. It's definitely a trade-off because the Casio key weight is much more realistic on the first 3/4 part of each of the (visible) 88 keys. But the back 1/4 of the visible key is heavier (firmer) to push down than the other brands of digital pianos and heavier than the other models of Casio digital pianos as well. To get this more portable and slimmer size digital piano, Casio obviously had to compromise to achieve that new reduced size in the PXS. But...given the fact that (overall) the 88-keys outplay all the other brands of portable digital pianos under $1000 when it comes to key weight and movement...I believe it's a reasonable compromise other than not having such a slim cabinet and making each key a bit longer....which is what I would have preferred because that "slim design" is not the reason I would necessarily buy this model to save an inch or two in depth...it's having the best piano playing experience I could get for this price range in a portable digital piano along with all those other cool features. The bottom line for this new key action is that although the PXS3000 has (overall) a very playable "feel" and the overall weight and movement of the keys is comfortable and responsive, if you are primarily a classical pianist and/or play lots of sharps and flats towards the very backs of the keys then this key action may not be as comfortable and responsive for you as you may need. I hope this all makes sense to you:)

The new 192-note polyphony piano sound chip is dramatically improved over past models and is so good that I thought I was playing a much higher price range of digital piano and also another higher priced brand. The realism of the Casio piano sound chip has always been somewhere between acceptable and good in prior models in trying to duplicate an actual piano sound, but has always been lacking in some ways with regard to tonal resonance, sustain/decay time, and natural organic overtones and sympathetic vibrations normally found in real acoustic pianos. In other words, the prior Casio models have been more artificial in its acoustic piano sound and with less polyphony piano processing power and this includes the other current model PX Privia series portable digital pianos that are currently available under $1000. But the new stereo grand piano sound in the PX-S3000 is really impressive in its ability to not only sound like a real acoustic grand piano (just because a digital piano doesn't have a grand piano key action doesn't mean it cannot have a grand piano sound), but to have an incredible amount of dynamic tonal range offering a huge amount of dynamic expression that I never thought would ever come out of a portable Casio digital piano, especially in this price range. "Expression" means that you can produce subtle mellow tones when playing the keys lightly or big bold piano tones when playing harder and more aggressively that I have never heard before in a Casio portable digital piano. As you press the keys harder and harder the sound brightens up and becomes more lively to the point where you can hear the "virtual"strings vibrate more & more offering a range of grand piano tone not available in any other portable digital piano under $1000 right now in my opinion. It really was amazing to play and hear and almost could not believe it the first time I heard it...it was that good. When I connected my small external stereo powered monitor system to the PX-S3000 by plugging into the piano audio outputs, the grand piano sound coming out of those speakers coupled with it also coming out of the piano's internal surround sound stereo speakers system was very full. It is important for me to point out that although the piano sound is really impressive in this new model and can fool some people into believing they are hearing a real acoustic grand piano, the fact remains that the piano sound here is a "recorded sample" that is produced electronically going through speakers and so there are still these limitations that prevents it from really being an organic acoustic grand piano, especially for those who play real grand pianos. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that this new PX-S3000 sounds and plays more like a real piano in my opinion than any other brand or model under $1000. With regard to the "polyphony power" in this model, 192 notes of power is more than sufficient if you are playing a single instrument sound and also layering 2 sound together for most of the instruments. However, I did hear a bit of "note dropout" when using some specific instrument sounds layered together. When I test digital pianos for note dropout I do my best to play as many notes as possible together with the most memory intensive instrument tones layered together along with using the sustain pedal to its maximum potential. When doing all that at one time I pretty much expected a bit of "note dropout" because of the strain I was putting a the processor chip, whereas few other people using the PXS3000 would ever do that. What that all means is that more the vast majority of people, there is plenty of polyphony processing power in there. As I mentioned earlier, Casio has a special app to interface with the many features of the PXS3000 so that you can more easily access and control certain aspects of the instrument including the organic elements of the acoustic piano sounds in this model which Casio calls "Acoustic Simulator." This would include adjusting the sympathetic string vibrations, hammer noise, resonance, and other aspects of the acoustic piano sounds. This allows you to customize the acoustic piano sounds in ways not previously available in past Casio models or in any of the competitive brands in the way they are done in the Chordana app. You can also customize the "key touch sensitivity" levels in the app so that the piano sound responds to the type of touch you have (light, medium, heavy, and in-between). Some people will like using these "customizable" features and other people will not care and want to play the PXS3000 piano sounds just as they are.

I definitely do not want to forget about the optional PXS triple pedal system that is available for this model. For the first time Casio has designed a portable triple pedal unit that can plug into a proprietary port on the back of the piano which allows for a pedal playing experience very similar to a real piano. In fact, the PXS model is the only portable digital piano which offers this realistic pedal experience in a portable pedal unit. All the other digital pianos either can use one main sustain pedal or they have a triple pedal-bar which has to physically connect to an optional proprietary stationary stand from that manufacturer. In other words all the other triple pedal units are not portable, they are stationary which is fine if you are not going to move the portable piano. If you think you'll want to take the piano with you to places or move it around often in your home, studio, or other building, then only the new Casio portable, lightweight triple pedal unit can easily do that. Another advantage of the portable triple pedal unit is that the sustain pedal can trigger the half-damper pedal effect giving you the ability to control the amount of sustain you want depending on how far down you press the pedal. The single pedal only allows for on or off sustain and not for variable levels of sustain like the triple pedal unit. For just another $99, if you can get the full triple pedal experience with more control over the damper-sustain function. If you are only a beginner then the small single pedal that comes with the PX-S3000 should be enough for awhile. Otherwise you can get a better, more robust option single sustain pedal made out of metal which can sit more securely on the floor and also allow for more foot space. It just depends what pedal would work better for you depending on your splaying skill level and your pedal experience. Also, as I have mentioned a few times already, the Chordana app lets you access many cool features in the PXS3000 including programmable pedal features to let you do things with the pedals that has not been available in the past on these types of portable digital pianos. This would include changing which things the pedals will do when you press them down and which other features they will trigger, and this is useful if you are more of a professional player or just want to trigger functions in the piano from one of your pedals in real-time so that you can do it faster that way rather than from the control panel.

So what else does this new portable piano do that makes it so special. Besides having 700 great instrument sounds built in, the PXS3000 also has a huge variety of percussion and on-man-band accompaniments built in which can make your music even more exciting, especially if you like more popular music such as jazz, Latin, rock, country, contemporary Christian, Big band, swing, world music, and any other type of popular music you can think of. There are 200 different drum rhythm pattern accompaniments divided up into 6 musical style categories so that you can have a "live" drummer playing along with your music which definitely makes it more fun to play. You can set up the tempo you want as well as using intros and endings for that drummer to make sound even more realistic. So as an example you can put a string bass sound in the left hand and a grand piano in the right hand using the split function and then turn on the jazz drummer to give you that 3-piece jazz group experience. If you want to one step further then this model also has 200 one-man-band "accompaniments" to add along with the drummer so that you can have additional musicians playing along automatically with the drummer when playing by chords so that you will hear and control the "band" that plays with you, just like a real band with all the instruments such as guitar players, bass players, piano players, organ players, etc. You just hold down any chord on your left hand and start up the band with an intro to whatever music style you have selected out of the 200 musical accompaniment styles in the PX-S3000. When you play your chords in the song with your left hand then you get the entire band following along (including the drummer) while you play the melody in the right hand choosing any one (or two in a layer) of the 700 internal instrument sounds for the right hand melody. It's such a great way to play music and entertain yourself and ultimately it can make you sound much better than you really are....which is always a good thing as far as I am concerned:). It's also useful in teaching you how rhythmical music should be played and heard and gives you a better idea of how to musically interact with a real band...a great learning tool. So when you play some contemporary rock, old school jazz, Latin music, blues, big band, 50's, 60's, Motown, dance, waltz, march, whatever type of music you like, the PXS3000 chord accompaniments system will put in a one-man band accompaniment with musically correct backing track patterns to make you sound as if you had been playing with your own band for years. Most of these accompaniment styles sound great for all the "members of the band" including the bass player, guitar player, pianist, drummer, etc, but some of the music accompaniments are just average and sound more like some of those cheaper keyboard auto accompaniments. But that's OK, they all cannot be good and most people will find there are enough good sounding accompaniments and drum patterns in this model to be useful and satisfying, especially at this $799 price. I do like use this feature because it allows me to play and experience music in a completely different way than traditional piano playing. I believe the more a music student gets to experience music in terms of playing music on a piano, the better musician he or she will become.

Another thing about this interactive "accompaniment" system is just how musically realistic sounding these accompaniments really are as I previously mentioned. They're certainly better and more natural than any past Casio digital pianos that had those interactive accompaniments and the detail and accuracy of these accompaniments emulating actual musical styles is impressive given this is only a $849 instrument, particularly if you have the 3-D multi-position surround sound feature on at the same time...then all those instruments take on a "live" feel and seem like they are coming out of the piano in different directions and also with a lot of power. In fact when using the 3-D surround sound system in this model which can be seen visually when the 2 sound mode lights are lit up on the control panel, the amount of projection and volume you get out of this small piano is really incredibly good...way more power and clarity than I have ever heard from any other portable digital piano under $1000...it's like you have external speakers plugged in...but you don't. It's hard to believe that Casio can get all that clarity and power out of 2 internal speakers and a total of 16 watts of power (there are new improved speakers and amplifiers in the model as compared with previous models) because it sounds like you easily have double the power and double the speakers than the specs would suggest...no kidding. Beyond that, the auto-accompaniment instrumentation and the movement of the notes within that musical style is impressive and very expressive in the way it all comes out, and this can be motivating in wanting (and being able) to play musical styles that a person may never have been able to do in the past. I think these musical accompaniment styles are worth the price of admission in getting a PX-S3000 over a non-accompaniment digital piano under $1000...assuming you would use these features. I use them all the time to learn new musical styles and to get better with my rhythm accuracy when playing music with other musicians instead of just playing solo all the time. So these things do have a good use to them and are not toys the way other people might define them probably because they have never used them. But I have used these accompaniments for years in a variety of digital pianos and I find them quite musically inspiring. If I am only going to play "piano style" and would not need or want these accompaniments because I might be playing classical music or I just don't want to play along with other "musicians" in a band or orchestra, then that's fine and there are people out there who just want to play piano...and the PXS3000 can certainly do that and do it well especially using the surround sound mode, and I use it that way quite often. But...there are other ways to play music on this instrument and for some people (like myself) this is a big bonus and a welcome addition to the functionality of the PX-S3000.

So what else can this new PX-S3000 do that makes it unique among its competition. Well two things I can think of write away is that the PX-S3000 can run on 6 double AA batters for complete portable power supply without an a/c or power adapter. It will give you up to 4 full hours on battery power which then allows you to take it to the park, to the beach, in your backyard, to the mountains, really anywhere you want to go and the piano performs just as good on batteries as it does plugged in. There is the first self-contained 88-key piano fully weighted key action instrument that I know of that works on battery power. Certainly Casio has had battery powered lightweight keyboards over the years that work on battery power, but never one before that has has a fully weighted piano key action in it. So the battery power gives people the freedom to take this new piano anywhere they want to go...and that's a big bonus to purchasing this model. In addition to that the PX-S3000 also offers Bluetooth wireless audio connectivity. This is the first and only full size digital piano under $1000 which offers wireless Bluetooth audio. The benefit of this wireless technology is that you can connect your digital music library to the piano to hear your songs come out of the piano's stereo speaker system including the use of its 3-D surround sound system witch will enhance to sound of your music even further. You also get the ability to play the piano along with your streaming music while its coming out of the piano speakers. For private practice using stereo headphones plugged into the piano, the you can hear your favorite songs from your music library in your phone, iPad, etc and play along with those songs in private without anyone else hearing what you are doing. This is a great way to learn new music or to just play along with your favorite song...or just use the piano as an external stereo speakers system to wirelessley play your songs through. This will work when using a/c power or batteries so then you can even play your favorite songs through the piano speaker system via Bluetooth if and when you take the PX-S3000 to a place without a/c power such as in the desert, at the lake, or wherever it is. Bluetooth wireless connectivity is very unique on any digital piano under $1000 and you can even do more than just play your favorite music library songs wirelessley through the piano because Casio also has a proprietary iOS/Android app for this piano called Chordana Play which allows you to manipulate your music library songs in ways that make playing along and learning your favorite songs on this piano even more fun and exciting...but I will get into that just a bit later.

In terms of other functionality in the PX-S3000, it has a 3-track, five song MIDI recorder and playback system to record lots of your own music up to 3 tracks (instruments) which is plenty of recording for most people and you can save it all to a USB flashdrive. You can also record and/or playback a performance to a wav file audio recording which is very cool because you can then take that recording and play it back on your computer or convert it ton MP3 audio file to playback on audio devices. The recording system is fairly easy to use and it has its own dedicated digital touch senor buttons in the control panel and you can see what you are accessing by looking in the LCD screen in the middle of the control panel unlike some other digital pianos that have no LCD screens. The larger LCD screen is especially important in a digital piano that offers lots of functions and features like the PX-S3000 does. You can layer or split any two of the 700 instrument sounds in the piano along with having a "duet mode" which allows 2 people to play on the instrument at the same time when practicing the same piece of music with the same notes in the same octaves. The duet function is great for students who happen to be learning the same music. Along with the split, layer, and duet functions, this piano also offers transpose change, DSP effects changes, "controller knob" effects control, arpeggio control, and other functions that are found using a dedicated row of touch sensor "virtual" buttons located on the control panel to the right of the display screen. These touch sensor buttons are how everything is controlled in the PX-S3000 and is overall a convenient way to access functions using a control panel that other wise has no buttons at all and is sleek and contemporary in design. It's like an iPad or a cell phone when you have those devices powered off...the surface of the device is dark and flat with nothing showing except for maybe a power button. This is what the PX-S3000 is like...all the features come alive when the instrument is powered on and access to functions happens when the touch sensor lights are displayed on the black control surface of the piano, depending on what functions and features you want to use. Once you get used to how this piano operates then it all makes sense and is pretty cool to use.

This model has so many things you can do and so many ways to make music on it that it is useful to have some virtual memory slots to save settings you have done such as saving your favorite instruments out of the 700 instrument music library, saving sound combinations such as layering & splitting along with saving effects you have setup for those sounds and so much more so you don't have to recreate and find them every time you use the piano. That's typically how most other digital pianos are...you can't save settings...or if you can then it may be only one or two of your favorite settings at most, especially in this price range under $1000. The PX-S3000 can save a whopping 96 of your favorite setting for instant recall whenever you want them and they can be easily edited and adjusted whenever you want to. You can also quickly transition between the different registration memory settings which is especially useful if you are using this piano for live performance and want different setups for different songs and need to make those changes quickly. As an example of something that I personally saved on the PXS3000 that had taken me a few minutes to manually set up was finding the perfect classical nylon string flamenco guitar coupled with the perfect stereo string-pad background sound along with just the right amount of brilliance control and reverb effects and then also adding a chorus effect to the guitar. Then I also added just the right amount of EQ setting to the entire mix and also made sure my relative volume balance in the layered mix between the guitar and string-pad tones were balance just right so the volume of the guitar was not drowned out by the background strings when I played them together. To add to that, I also electronically changed the key touch settings to light instead of normal and also transposed the key of the sound up 3 half-steps so I could still play my song in the key of C but have it be heard coming out in the key of Eb. When I was done making all those adjustments in the piano menu, I just saved it to 1 of my 96 digital memories so that I would not have to recreate that setting again and would be quickly be able to call it up. I can tell you that this setting example came out beautifully with the guitar sounding awesome with full dynamic range and clarity along with the backing sound of some very beautiful strings & pads to give depth to that overall setting.

For people who want to go beyond the factory preset instrument sounds and create their own customized instrument sounds, there are over 100 studio quality sound effects in the PX-S3000 that you would find in a recording studio. These special effects include very convincing compressors, phasers, chorus, wahs, distortions, limiters, rotaries, exciters, EQ's, some very cool delay effects, etc, that you can apply to any of the 700 high quality instrument sounds including a boatload of  higher quality string symphonies, including pads, saxophones, clarinets, trumpets, guitars, and percussion from every country you can think of. There's also a huge instrument sound library of high quality vintage electric pianos, pop organs, Hammond B3 organs, pipe organs, and a large number of synths. There's also a bunch of fun sampled sound effects like barking dogs, sirens blaring, babies laughing, roosters, birds, cows, and sheep making organic sounds, hands clapping, wind, rain, waves, and much more. All those sounds are actually pretty realistic unlike the toy keyboards out there and you can literally put together thousands of sounds and effects and customize the PX-S3000 in some pretty amazing ways...and then you can record it all in the piano digital recording system and save that song recording on a USB flashdrive for playback or output it to your computer.

Casio also has included in this PX-3000 a specific effect section called "Hall Simulator." Normally I would not talk in depth about this kind of thing because most other digital pianos have a more basic version of this feature which is called "reverb." Reverb is another name for "echo" and reverb/ echo effects are found naturally and organically in all man-made structures and naturally made organic structures such as caves, canyons, mountains, etc. What makes this Casio "reverb effects" Hall Simulator so unusual is the attention to detail that Casio has put into this reverb section in terms of being fairly accurate in replicating a huge variety of man-made and organic structures and the natural echo that they produce. When you add one one of these specialty "reverbs or Hall Simulators to any of your 700 instrument sounds (especially the acoustic piano sound), the end result is that it adds a unique ambiance to your overall tone that you just don't find in other digital pianos like this under $1000. From the New York Club to Opera Hall, to Berlin Hall, British Stadium, etc, along with organically structured reverbs, the Hall Simulator effects are very impressive and useful depending on the type of music you are playing. You can also quickly access these special effects from the Chordana app which makes them very easy to set up and use...and that's always a big plus in my book.

So what else makes the PX-S3000 different from all the other portable digital pianos under $1000? There is something that Casio has added to this model that they have never done before on any digital piano under $1000 and that no other company is doing either and that's having a "pitch bench wheel" controller along with 2 knob controllers on the left side of the keyboard. So...what is a "controller" and why is that a cool thing to have? If you are primarily wanting this digital piano for piano playing then the wheel and knobs would probably be of no importance at all in my opinion. But if you want to play all types of music using a variety of instrument sounds and accompaniments, then the wheel controller and knob controllers can really be useful and fun to have. Essentially what these features do is allow you to instantly control some of the specific sounds in this model so they sound even more realistic when you play them. As an example, when you want to play a steel guitar, clarinet, or any sound that you would want to bend like a Hawaiian guitar or synth, then the "pitch bend" wheel will allow you in "real time" to instantly bend (aka: slide)  the sound either up or down like you would if playing a real clarinet or playing a real electric or acoustic guitar. You can even set the pitch bend range from 1 whole step to 2 full octaves which means you can bend the instrument tones in a natural way or use the pitch bench feature to bend synthesizer tones in a way that makes those tones sound realistic. You can also program the pitch bend wheel to control a few other features in the PXS3000.

As for the knobs themselves, there are two of them just above the wheel one above the other. The knobs can be very useful because they allow you to assign 30 digital effects such as filters, volumes, portamentos, vibratos, reverbs, brilliance, resonance, and other useful effects to those 2 knobs so that you can turn those knobs individually to increase or decrease the effects you have chosen for those knobs. In other words, those knobs can control 1 effect per knob in real time so that you can change the tone or character of that sound as you play it. One practical example of using these small knobs is to assign the brilliance and reverb effects to the knobs and then while you are playing you can instantly make the overall sound of the piano more mellow or brighter or anywhere in-between as you are playing, regardless of the instrument sound you have chosen (such as piano, guitar, organ, saxophone, synth, etc). On top of that you can turn a knob and increase or decrease the reverb echo so that instrument sound can have more or less of that effect which can be especially useful to give a fuller pipe organ or grand piano sound, depending on the size of the room you are in or the type of acoustics you have (hard floors, walls, carpet, etc). Yes, a few other digital pianos have effects in them, but not close to the degree the PXS300 can and those other digital pianos cannot manipulate those effects in "real time" using knobs. By the way, knobs on keyboard instruments are commonly found on pro stage synthesizers and have been used by pro musicians for decades and the PXS3000 can recreate all those vintage synth sounds like those from Moog, Oberheim, Sequential, and other famous retro synths. There's even 25 different vintage Hammond B3 sounds in the PXS3000 with Leslie speaker simulations and all of them are fairly impressive. Then having programmable knobs and a wheel controller on the PXS3000 simply gives the player more control over all the sounds in the instrument and if you are a pro player or have a recording studio then you will be familiar with these type of controls and likely utilize them often to add customizable control to the instrument tones and effects which is very cool and no other self-contained portable digital piano under $1000 has anything like this.

Another thing that I find that some people like to do with their music is to sing along. With the PX-S3000 you can get an inexpensive microphone and plug it into the stereo audio input of the piano and the microphone will be amplified through the internal speakers so that you can hear your (or someone elses) voice along with your piano playing. This is a pretty cool feature and sounds best when you activate the 3-D surround sound in the piano which enhances the tone and clarity of the voice. For even more control over the mic, you can purchase an inexpensive passive mixer and plug it into that audio input so that you can more precisely increase and control your microphone volume, EQ, and special effects. Most digital pianos in this price range do not have an audio input so they cannot have a microphone connected to them. So yes, there is a way to plug in a microphone to the PX-S3000 and use it to sing with and have fun.

Since all the features of the PX-S3000 are triggered by the lighted touch senor "buttons" and then the info for what you have selected is seen in the LCD display screen, you sometimes don't really know all of what has been built into the instrument until you go through all the features & functions which can take a long time because this specific model just does so many things...it's pretty amazing. It seems like it just goes on and on and on and sometimes you can overlook some exciting features that you may not know are in the PX-S3000. So I want to point out three more educational as well as entertaining features in this model that are there to not only make your music more fun and interesting, but also to help train your ear for "playing by ear" where you don't have sheet music and you don't need to play well to interact with some great music. Those 3 additional features are called Music Presets, Harmony Chords, and Arpeggios. The Music Presets are actual music "clips" of famous song progressions that are programmed into the PXS3000. In other words, there are 310 well known "song clips" that play famous chord progressions along with the entire backup band of of those songs that you may have heard before on the radio, and/or audio CD or MP3 recordings. The PXS3000 selects the most realistic melody instrument for you to play along with so that when you play any of those song clips of familiar chord progressions, the right hand sound is automatically selected so that as you're playing a right hand melody it will sound as realistic as possible and as close as it can be to the original song. I like to call it "jamming" along with your favorite song. The song chord progressions keep playing one chord after another using the backup band and the entire progression may be 20-30 seconds long and then continually repeats itself in a loop without stopping until you press the stop button. In this way you can learn to "improvise" and "play by ear" with the looped chord progressions so that you get a better feel for what it is like to play along with a band or orchestra. The 310 song clip loops include pop music, country, Latin, Jazz, waltz, march, Blues, 50's, 60's, 70's, etc. along with classical, Christmas, Gospel, and just about any type of music you can think of. The Music Presets are not complete songs but instead they are just a part of the song (a famous recognizable part of a famous song) and you get to play a melody with that part of the song which is like playing along with the band or orchestra. The band plays this "looped chord progression" over and over so you can "jam" and improvise with it playing whatever you want on the right hand and choosing any of the 700 instrument sounds you want to play that melody. You can even change the rhythm tempo speed and transposed key of that looped "song clip" as well. It's super fun and great for aspiring piano/music students to learn what it is like to "play by ear." As a long time piano teacher I believe it is essential for piano students to get the experience of learning to also "play by ear" instead of just reading music all the time and the Casio Music Presets allow you to do that. Casio is the only digital piano company that has a feature like this and not everyone will use it, but if you do then you'll likely have a great time with it and might even become a better "ear player" too.

The 2nd feature of the 3 features I previously mentioned is called Harmony Chords. Harmony is when you play more than one note at a time and is typically referred to as chords. There are hundreds of chord types and to play them you can to learn proper note combinations for both left hand and right hand. For a beginner it's tough enough to learn chords for the left hand let along the right hand and play all those notes simultaneously at the same time. So what Casio has done is created an automatic right hand chord feature so that when you play any left hand chord with 3 fingers such as C-E-G which makes a C chord, then when you play your C chord on the left hand the automatic Harmony chord system will give you the proper full 2, 3, 4, or 5 finger right hand chord just by playing one note on the right hand. In other words when you play 1 note on the right hand the PXS3000 fills in the other harmony notes automatically so it sounds like you are playing full chords on your right hand when in reality you are only playing 1 note at a time along with your left manually playing left hand chords. It makes you not only sound 5 times better than you already are, but it trains your ear to understand what right hand harmony chords can sound like. It's really a pretty cool feature and there are actually 12 types of harmony variations offered in this model which can be used when playing with this feature and works while playing any left hand chord. So then your single finger right hand melody gets an extra boost from the PXS3000 by adding in automatic harmony to the right hand melody so that it sounds like you're playing full multi-finger chords on your right hand when you really are playing just one note. It's fun, entertaining, adds to your music, and helps train your ear. The Harmony feature can be used when playing regular piano style, using any of the 700 instrument sounds in the PXS3000, or using the accompaniment styles of music with all the backing tracks for the left hand so that when you play the right hand with harmony feature then it sounds like you've been playing professionally all your life! Will everyone use or need this feature?...definitely not. But for those like myself who loves to play many styles of music and doesn't mind that technology is helping me be able to sound better, then I'm all for it and I think many other people will feel the same way.

The 3rd and final extra "fun" feature in this piano that makes it more entertaining and musically exciting than any other new digital piano under $1000 is the "Arpeggio" section. According to an "official" definition of the word arpeggio, "it's a broken chord which is a chord that is broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio is a type of broken chord in which the notes that compose any chord are played or sung in a rising or descending order." OK, so with this in mind, to play an arpeggio, you would need to be a fairly good player because you are playing separate notes on the keyboard up and/or down in a certain pattern and typically that pattern moves pretty fast. So when you see a pianist playing a lot of notes up and down the piano keyboard quickly, that is likely an arpeggio. Well...the PX-S3000 has a feature that allows you to hold down any set of keys on the keyboard and instead of those notes being struck and heard one time, the arpeggio system will play each note in that chord individually up and down in a pattern and keep playing that pattern until you let go of the keys. So it sounds like your fingers are moving up & down the keyboard when in fact they are stationary holding down the keys and not moving. This makes you sound way better than you really are and can make your music sound more exciting, depending on the type of music you are playing. The arpeggio feature will work with any of the 700 instrument sounds in the PX-S3000 so whether you are using the piano sound, strings, organs, synthesizers, horns, guitars, whatever it is, then you can activate the arpeggio feature for that sound. The tempo/speed of that arpeggio can also be controlled to move the notes faster or slow depending on how you want it and the type of music you are playing. You can even select from different kinds of arpeggio patterns depending on what sounds good to you and how it effects your music. There is a huge list of 100 different arpeggio patterns which you can select from that will replicate what pro piano players sound like when there fingers are flying up & down the keyboard playing different note patterns. Beyond that, you can layer one sound in the PX-S3000 using a moving arpeggio pattern for that sound and then layer it over a 2nd sound and hear the second sound sustaining under the arpeggio pattern from the 1st sound. In other words, 1 arpeggio sound mixed with 1 normal sustained tone that you choose. The possibilities are endless with this feature and no other digital piano in this price range has anything like it. It's really, really cool to use and once you try it, you'll be hooked! Basically you just play around with this feature and its variations and have fun.

OK...so with all the vast myriad of options, sounds, effects, and other musical features in this piano, which for some people could be a bit overwhelming, you control them all with the light-up touch sensor buttons on the piano and see what is visually going on in the LCD screen which displays the info of the digital lighted button you just pressed. Even though the control panel has these touch buttons and display screen that make it easier to use than other digital pianos, there's even an easier and more intuitive way to access and select the various features and functions within this piano assuming you have an iOS iPad or Android tablet that you can connect to the PX-S3000. This is because Casio has developed a proprietary app called Chordana Play which allows you to select and access all of the features in the PX-S3000 from your tablet color touch screen! This app controls all of the functions and features I have previously described. So whether you want a particular instrument sound from among the 700 sounds in the piano, or you want to layer or split tow specific sounds together, or you want to set up the piano in "duet-play," or you want to do recording, use the drum rhythm patterns, play along with the interactive musical style accompaniments, or modify and personalize the acoustic piano sounds with increasing or decreasing the string resonance, hammer noise, or whatever it is can can think of (which I discussed earlier), it can be done quickly and easily with the Casio Chordana Play app. I have personally played around with it and it goes way beyond any other controller app I have ever use for a digital piano in this price and beyond $2000. It is so cool and can let you control tempo, select metronome and time signature, record multi-track MIDI recording or audio wav file recording, changing touch sensitivity curve to customize the key touch that you want depending if you are playing piano sounds or other sounds...it basically does it all and then some. The app also has musical games in it that are not part of the internal features of the PX-S3000. These musical games allow you to important songs from the piano so that they will play back showing you when to play the notes using "streaming lights" so you can visually see what it going on with the song and where your at. It also displays notation and you have control over tempo and can also set up the song to repeat certain measures of your choosing in a controllable loop so that those notes keep playing over and over to give you a chance to learn specific passages in the music you have be having a difficult time doing. There are so many ways to interact with these very cool, useful musical exercises that are also fun games.

Beyond that, you can import your own iTunes into the audio portion of the app so that you can play along with your favorite iTune song in your song library and even slow down the song (change tempo) to learn it better and also change key if you want to sing along or play along in a lower or higher key that may be more comfortable for you sing in vocally. There's also a very cool function in the audio file portion of the that app where you can take your iTune, slow it down, and then choose what ever portion of the song you want, digitally "loop it" in a continuous loop so that portion plays over and over which gives you a chance to better learn that part of the song and play along with it until you "get it down." There is no other proprietary app that does all these things and it does work well based on my personal experience with it. Imagine being able to hear your favorite song come through the PX-S3000 and being able to play along with it "live" in real time.

As far as connectivity in the PX-S3000, you get it all...Bluetooth audio wireless, two 1/4" audio outputs, 1 stereo mini audio input which can take in a microphone or anything else you want to amplify and go through the PX-S3000 speaker system, 1 USB output to any device, 1 USB flashdrive input for saving and loading songs into or to store external general MIDI files for playback in the piano. The optional portable triple pedal unit has a proprietary input jack in the piano so that you can connect it. In portable self-contained digital pianos under $1000, it is fairly unusual to find an expression pedal output. But in the PX-S3000 there is connection for an expression pedal which is a special option pedal that allows for control over a number of functions in the piano. One of the main functions of an expression pedal is to be able to raise and lower the volume of the instrument sound you are playing to give more "expression" to that sound. One good example of that is for organs sounds. When someone is playing a real organ like a Hammond B3 jazz/gospel organ, pipe organ, or other organs, there is an variable expression pedal down below the organ (like a gas pedal in a vehicle) that when you press down and forward on the expression pedal you get more volume and when you press down with your heel and backwards on the pedal then you get less volume (in real time) of the sound you are playing. This is called variable volume expression and that's one of the main uses for an expression pedal in a digital piano. It is not necessary to have if you are only playing a piano sound but can also be useful with other expressive sounds such as strings, brass, synth tones, etc. The expression pedal can also be assigned to control other functions in the PX-S3000 such as drum rhythm start & stop, drum fill-ins, tempo control, master volume, and other functions. So the optional expression pedal that you can connect to the PX-S3000 can come in very handy depending on the type of music you play and what you like to do with pedals. Finally, you also get two front loaded mini stereo headphone jacks for two people at a time to play in privacy. There is fairly good stereo headphone amplification coming from those headphone jacks and they are located on the front left side of the piano which is convenient. So when it comes to connectivity in a portable digital piano, this model pretty much leave no stone unturned, unless for some reason you need traditional MIDI connector ports which the PX-S3000 does not have. It uses the USB port for all MIDI related connectivity.

At the end of the day this new PX-S3000 is for anyone at any playing skill level including for pro keyboard players who play on stage or in a recording studio and want high quality professional instrument sounds & effects. It's also for composers and arrangers for music creation, for advanced piano players who want and need a lightweight higher quality portable piano with expressive dynamic piano tonal range and want to take the piano with them from place to place, for students just learning to play piano, for adults who just want to have a lot of musical enjoyment and like some"bells & whistle" to make their music more fun and allow them to sound better than they really are with less effort, for churches who want a high quality portable digital piano and need it in a low price range, for schools to enhance their music program, for teaching piano labs which require multiple digital pianos that can mix together in creative ways...and really this piano is for anyone who loves music no matter how they play and what their musical goals may be. There's really only two things that I thought were missing and deficient in this model and that was the ability of the operating system to display the chord symbols in the LCD screen of the chords being played by the left hand when using the accompaniment backing tracks or the Music Preset song clips. Having the chords displayed would have been helpful and perhaps Casio can come up with a firmware update one day to resolve this issue for me. However, when it's all said and done, those are small complaints relative to what the rest of this new digital piano can do.

If you add up the low cost of the PX-S3000 at $849 with the optional furniture stand at $140, along with the optional triple pedal unit at $100, you're still only spending $1089 which is not much for everything this model does and how much music you can get out of it. Then if you add in the optional custom made Casio PXS gig bag (carry case) for $150, then you get a total price of $1239. I will say that the custom gig bag for this model fits it perfectly and is very robust and nicely padded as compared to past Casio gig bags for other portable digital pianos. There are a couple nice sized pockets on the gig bag, a comfortable handle, sturdy full length zipper, and a couple of full length straps attached to the bag. The bag itself is not heavy but it seems to be constructed very well and the piano sits securely inside without wiggle room, and that is a very good thing. $150 may seem like a lot to pay for a "gig bag," but I believe you will be hard pressed to find a generic one out there that actually fits this "slim-line" model correctly while being robust. I think this gig bag is definitely worth the price. In this piano price range there certainly are other available portable digital pianos out there...but not with the capabilities of the PX-S3000. It just depends on what you want, what your musical goals are, and how you will be using the instrument. The PX-S3000 does even more things than I talked about in this review but that's something you can discover on your own if you should get one. If this model only had the ability to do half of the things I talked about in this review, it would still be well worth the price of admission in my opinion. For now I've talked about the functions and features I think are really compelling and interesting in terms of what I now consider to be overall the "biggest bang for the buck" in an easy-to-use, intuitive, clean looking portable digital piano under $1000. With a Casio factory warranty of 3 years parts & labor coverage on this instrument, I believe that Casio is clearly in the lead at this point in this price range and will continue to products that "raise the bar" in the world of digital pianos.

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

🎹 UPDATED REVIEW - January 1, 2020 - TOP 3 BEST DIGITAL PIANOS for 2020 IN EACH PRICE RANGE! $500 - $1000, $1000 - $1500, $1500 - $2000, $2000 - $2500, $2500 - $3000, $3000 - $3500, $3500 - $4000, $4000 - $5000, $5000 - $6000, and Top 3 Digital Grand Pianos. After years of reviewing new digital pianos and watching market and digital piano buying trends, especially in the USA along with talking with thousands of digital piano owners and shoppers, I can say with some authority based on my personal experience that there are definite top selling digital pianos out there in various prices ranges this year. This review and report is on the Top 3 Digital Pianos in America USA that are in a variety of price ranges and this review will give you important information on which new 2020 digital pianos you should seriously consider purchasing for yourself, depending on your budget and musical goals. Be aware there are a number of digital pianos out there with lots of "bells & whistles." While having a bunch of different features and functions can be useful and fun for  some people, in this review and report I am mostly concentrating on digital pianos that focus more on the actual piano playing experience for authenticity and more organic realism as opposed to all the extra stuff that are on other models. However, there are a couple of pianos below which rank very high not only for offering a very good piano playing experience, but they also have many useful and enjoyable "bells & whistles" that I like very much, so they on this list too. This review is what I consider not only to be on the most popular instruments overall, but also how they rate for "the best bang for the buck" in every price range when it comes to a more authentic piano playing experience. The focus here is mostly on the furniture cabinet digital pianos, but there are a couple of portable models included here as well just because they do a better job in producing a great piano playing experience in their price rage than a competitive full furniture cabinet digital piano. In fact, if you want to keep the price very low towards the $500 range and a lightweight portable digital piano will fit your needs, definitely don't miss reading review about the brand new Casio PX-S1000 linked on this page. It is a new concept in low priced portable digital pianos and definitely worth your consideration if it fits your criteria. But if you want a full size furniture cabinet digital piano then there are some really good ones out right now that I highly recommend you consider.

Just to be clear, there are other nice options out there in terms of new digital pianos that are not on this list and I would consider them to be good choices as well and I can share that info with you if you ask me. However, there are only so many digital pianos that can fit into these lists of  "3," so just because you don't see one you may be interested in does not mean that it may not be a suitable choice for your needs. Also, it's good to be aware that there are other digital piano brands out there, especially in the USA, that are not acceptable and poorly made so you need to be careful of those digital pianos. The 7 acceptable brands right now are (in no particular order) Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, Korg, Casio, Samick, and Dexibell and I can also help you with getting lower prices than internet, Amazon, or store prices so don't buy anything, anywhere until you check with me first!

It's interesting to note that there is a unique category of digital pianos which are all about the "baby grand" style grand piano shaped instrument. Many piano shoppers and music enthusiasts love the look of a grand piano and in the world of digital pianos, some of the manufacturers do produce these types of products. There is a very small version called the "micro-grand" which measures approx 28" to 32" deep, then there is the small mini-grand which measures between 36" (3 feet) deep to about 45" deep, the regular size mini-grand which measures 48" (4 feet deep) to about 58" deep, and then finally the full size baby grand cabinet which measures approx 60" (5 feet) deep to 5'5" deep. Roland and Kawai are the only top manufacturers who produce a full size digital baby grand (5 feet deep and over), Yamaha and Samick are the only manufacturers who produce and regular size 4' deep mini baby grand, Roland & Yamaha are the only top manufacturers who produce a small mini baby grand, and Samick is the only top brand who produces a micro sized baby grand (2'6" deep). The "micro sized" cabinet design is pretty cool because it's still very attractive and for its small size it still sounds great and has lots of useful higher quality features too. The entire cabinet can fit into a small footprint in a room or home with limited space which is very compelling because there are a lot of smaller homes, apartments, or rooms that have limited options in terms of where the piano would go but yet people still want that "look" of a small baby grand along with big sound and great features. The Samick piano company definitely offers something in that way that the other big guys don't do. Check out my lists of baby grand digital pianos near the bottom of the Top 3 digital piano review list.

Finally, the "off brands" out there that generally play and sound like toys or are very artificial in different ways are not ranked in this review because of their inability to sound and play like real pianos. I call these types of brands and/or models  a "PSO," otherwise known as a Piano Shaped Object. Please stay away from these PSO brands if you want a digital piano that will play more like a real piano, will last lots of years, and that you can enjoy without finally realizing one day that you made a big mistake with your purchase. Based on all my personal playing experience over many years with all these digital pianos, some of PSO's include the brands Williams, Suzuki, Artesia, Kurzweil, Adams, GEWA, and a few others.

- In these price ranges below for new digital pianos, in my opinion the TOP 3 best models in the USA for the most realistic piano playing experience in each price category at approx internet/store discount selling prices are as follows:

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $500 to $1000

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $1000 to $1500

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $1500 to $2000

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $2500 to $3000

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $3000 - $3500

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $3500 to $4000

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $4000 to $5000

Top 3 Digital Pianos from $5000 to $6000

If you want more info on these pianos and lower prices than internet, Amazon, bundles, or store discounts in the USA including helping you with credit and no interest if paid in full in 6 months, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864 

🎹 UPDATED REVIEW / Kawai ES8 portable Digital Piano - January 1, 2020 / #1RECOMMENDED under $2000 - The Kawai ES8 at $1649US internet discount price (not including optional triple pedal lyre and furniture stand) has some noticeably upgraded changes over previous Kawai models such as more authentic acoustic grand piano sound, more realistic piano key action, and upgraded digital features. In fact for its compact size and weight, it rivals full size traditional furniture style digital pianos that cost a lot more money. So you never want to judge a digital piano "by its cover" although this one does look good in its contemporary compact cabinet available in semi-gloss black and semi-gloss snow white:) (CLICK ON ANY PIC FOR A LARGER VIEW)

For those of you who are not familiar with the Kawai company, they are a smaller privately owned international piano company which designs and produces only digital & acoustic pianos. Their pianos are in Universities, schools, churches, teaching studios, and homes throughout the world. Kawai has been producing quality pianos for decades although they are generally not as well known as Yamaha, Roland, Casio, and other high profile digital piano makers because those other companies make so many other types of products aside from pianos. I personally know many music teachers and professional musicians who use and play Kawai pianos and like them very much. In fact, Kawai also produces a line of acoustic grand pianos for the Steinway piano company called Boston which are also impressive pianos. You definitely have to be good at what you do with respect to producing pianos to be associated in building pianos for the Steinway piano company. Kawai international headquarters is in Hamamatsu, Japan where most design and development takes place for their products. The Kawai name has always had very good resale value and they are rivals of the famous Yamaha piano company, also headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan...small world, isn't it:).


When it comes down to what is truly important in a digital piano, it's all about the key action & piano sound authenticity along with good solid pedaling control along with a big beautiful tone. In other words, it's all about playing the piano, and when it comes to digital pianos, although some of them have very cool digital features with 100's of extra sounds, multitrack recording, rhythm, and so on, without the piano being able to play and sound like a real good natural acoustic piano, nothing else really matters to me. The ES8 first and foremost is, in my opinion, the best self contained digital piano on the market today. I don't say this lightly but after playing all of the name brand self-contained (with internal speakers) portable digital pianos out there, the ES8 "checks all the boxes" with regard to an instrument which provides a tremendous piano playing experience along with some usable and practical digital features without being overloaded with stuff that many people may not use.  .

With regard to key action realism and movement in the newer ES8, Kawai has included its new counter-weight balanced RH3 key action. All the digital piano manufacturers try to make you believe their key actions are the best because after-all, they are trying to sell you their products. Because of this I have seen some exaggerated claims by these people saying how good their pianos are when if fact, some of them are not so good. But with the ES8 RH3 (aka: Responsive Hammer III) counter-weight key action (see above left cutaway pic), the feel is noticeably more realistic as compared to a good acoustic piano and the difference that I believe is notable is the keys are a bit firmer to,press down, but without being too firm, and the key returns to resting position more quickly without being too quick. What this translates to is a much more responsive natural key movement which allows for more precise key repetition, better technique, and ability to play complex music without key hesitation or slow return. It also gives the player a better connection to the music because the key moves and responds so much more accurately. Counterweights are actually installed into the front of each black & white key (see above pic) to balance the touch weight more accurately against what you normally get playing at the back and middle of the key. Counterweights are not new in digital pianos but they are unusual to be found in this lower price range, and Yamaha doesn't offer counter weighted key actions until you get over $5000 in their digital pianos. The ES8 graded hammer weighted keys have 3-electronic sensors under each key for better repetition recognition when playing faster music or more complex arrangements unlike some other digital pianos under $2000 with only 2 key sensors per key. All of the ES8 keys have a good balance to them up & down the keyboard and the synthetic ivory-feel matte finish keys really adds a nice touch and helps with absorbing sweat from the fingers. That matte finish on the keys also cuts down on the glare you would otherwise be getting from regular white plastic keys, and they look nice. If you are a piano player with years of experience playing real good acoustic pianos, then you would easily be able to feel the difference in this new key action and how accurately it moves compared to previous key actions as well as compared to some other brands.

Another thing worth mentioning about the key action is that Kawai has built a feature into it called "let-off," otherwise known as "escapement." The let-off feel is a feature of real Grand pianos whereby you can feel a slight hesitation or "notch" as you press a key very softly and slowly on a real grand piano. This key action hesitation is a by-product of the way real key actions work and how the parts of a real key action move. It's a complex mechanical system on a real piano and although those specific acoustic action parts (see left pic) don't exist on a digital piano, the simulation is a pretty good one in terms of how the action moves and how it triggers the Let-Off "feeling." What all of this does is allow a person to have more control over subtle and delicate passages of music. Based on my playing experience with the ES8, Kawai did a very good job simulating this let-off feel without having it be clumsy or too light or too heavy as it is in some other digital pianos with this feature, so Kawai definitely has one of the best.

Ok...now let's talk about piano sound. Piano sound is a funny thing because what one person thinks sounds good to them, another person may think that same sound is not what they like. So in reality, piano sound realism is somewhat subjective. However, there are certain piano sound standards that you will find in a real acoustic piano and the piano sound gets better when that acoustic piano has better strings, a better soundboard, better tuning pins, a better scale design, better felt hammers, and so on. To achieve a realistic piano sound in a digital piano, that piano needs to have the sound start with quality real acoustic grand and upright pianos along with a professional recording process to capture the original piano sound one note a a time, along with capturing organic nuances of the piano itself, and then finally being able to put that sound out through a high quality internal speaker system so that the piano is full and resonate with enough bass to satisfy the player/listener.

The ES8 has an upgraded piano sound chip with more piano processing power and memory than did the previous model along with a noticeable improvement in dynamic range and tonal quality. Beyond the increased level of overall piano sound realism along with Kawai sampling all 88 keys one at a time of real acoustic pianos, the 4 main piano voices on the ES8 are actual piano "samples" that originate from 4 distinct well known Kawai acoustic grand and upright pianos. Kawai recorded brand new piano sounds from their 9' EX concert grand piano, 9' SX concert grand piano, 6'7" SK5 grand piano, and their 53" tall K-series full upright piano. Along with those specific piano tones built into the ES8, Kawai included 6 acoustic piano variations including jazz piano, pop piano, warm piano, etc. The EX grand piano sound is definitely the brightest and boldest piano stereo tone with huge resonance and lots of string vibration, something that would mix well with an orchestra or band, or pop music. The SX is noticeably more mellow but still can be plenty loud, resonate, and powerful and would be great for classical music, jazz, and ballads and it was personally my favorite piano sound. The SK5 piano reproduction seems to be a little more personal and not as full but still quite nice, and then the upright piano sound reproduction gives the player an up close piano tone listening experience that you would normally get from a real upright piano because those piano strings & hammers are so much closer in distance to the player. I can honestly say that if you don't find an acoustic piano sound on the ES8 that you like, then you just aren't trying. The piano volume sensitivity and tonal changes as you play across the keyboard softly to very hard really are quite smooth and balanced with incremental changes that transition very much like a real grand piano with no jumpiness or volume/tonal gaps like I have heard on other piano brands. When you couple those things with Kawai's 256-note polyphony chip for excellent piano processing power, it's hard to go wrong regardless of your playing skill level or the type of music you choose to play. The ES8 does it all very well considering it's lower price for what you are getting. In fact, I had a difficult time taking a break from playing the piano sounds on the new ES8 along with the responsive key action because I was enjoying myself too much. It's also interesting to note that the ES8 is using the same piano sound chip as is found in the top of the line Kawai CS11 upright digital piano which sells for more than $8000. So, the ES8 has Kawai's best piano sound chip unlike other digital piano brands (Roland, Yamaha, etc) in this price range that use lower quality sound chips from their brands. If all the ES8 could do was play acoustic acoustic piano sounds, then that would be enough for me...but it does so much more that I also like.

Pedaling is always an important part of playing music on a piano and if you don't know how to use the pedals, especially the right damper/sustain pedal, then you are really missing out. The Kawai triple pedal unit is an optional purchase as is the furniture stand. You would need to have that optional furniture stand ($259 discount price) in order to use the triple pedal lyre ($169 discount price) which is designed to look like a little grand piano. A heavy duty piano style single sustain-damper pedal is included with the purchase of the piano alone and is fine when playing most music. In fact that single damper pedal can also trigger the half-damper effect when using the piano alone, and that is a feature not usually found on portable digital pianos. Half-damper effect allows for for incremental amounts of sustain when using the pedal as opposed to just on & off. Many single sustain pedals under $2000 on other brands do not trigger half-damper control, but the Kawai pedal does, so that is a good thing, especially when you play at a higher skill level. Also, the half-damper effect is also adjustable so that you can customize it to the way you use the damper-sustain pedal. But if you want the piano to look and act more authentic, then I recommend you purchase the furniture stand and triple pedal lyre, especially if the piano will remain in one spot in the home, church, school, or studio most of the time. The piano pedals do work well and replicate the experience of a real acoustic piano with natural piano resonance across the keyboard (which is adjustable) and especially in the upper octaves where it's needed. The soft pedal on the left not only reduces volume momentarily when holding it down when you are playing piano, but that same pedal can trigger a digital rotary speed control (Leslie speaker simulation) for pop & jazz organ sounds from slow to fast or fast to slow to simulate the popular "Hammond B3 sound," and it works well. The optional Kawai dual pedal unit ($125US internet price) is also a great pedal system because when combined with the single sustain-damper pedal that comes with the piano, the portable dual pedal then allows you to have 3 pedals that function independently like a real piano, but they are also portable so you can easily take them with you. The other advantage to the dual pedal is that each of the two pedals can be independently programmed to access other useful features when playing your music with rhythm & accompaniment such as rhythm start/stop, drum fill-in, accompaniment part changes, rotary speed control, etc. In fact, you can have use of all 5 pedals in real time if you get the triple pedal furniture lyre with the furniture stand along with the portable dual pedal (not sure how many people would actually do that, but I would:). Finally, the piano decay time (which is adjustable) and volume when sustaining an acoustic piano sound with the single damper pedal or triple pedal lyre is very good and better than most digital pianos I have played and this aspect of playing piano is very important.

As for the other instrument sounds in the ES8, there are 34 tones all together including the acoustic piano sounds, and the other instruments are equally good in their own way including the vintage electric pianos, string symphonies, jazz and church organs, choirs, and harpsichords, among others. The electric/digital piano sounds including reproductions of vintage Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer electric pianos, Yamaha digital DX7 keyboards, and other famous electric piano sounds are really outstanding. Kawai cannot actually list the specific names of those instruments in the piano menu because of copyright protection laws, but instead they list the electric pianos generically with names like "60's piano" which is the famous Wurlitzer electric piano of the 1960's, or "Classic EP" which is the famous Fender Rhodes of the 70's, etc. But when you hear those sounds you know right away what they really are assuming you are already familiar with those instruments. When you combine a couple of those sounds with the built-in pro quality special effects including a variety of chorus, phasers, tremolo, delays, brilliance, EQ, and other effects, the realism of those electric piano sounds are amazing and noticeably better than any other brand I have played in a self-contained portable digital piano under $2000. The other nice thing is that you can combine a digital piano tone with any effects you wish and layer that electric piano with an acoustic piano sound, string sound, choir sound, or any other instrument sound and not loose any of the effects you selected for the electric piano. In other words, when you combine two sounds together in many cases the effects don't work. But on the ES8, you can have them on the instrument sound you need when layered with another sound where you don't want the effects. Very few digital pianos can do this and it's great for people (like me) who can appreciate having this kind of control over layering 2 instruments together and having that layered sound be perfect and then saving it in user memories for later recall without having to recreate that setup all over again. If you want to balance the volume between any two layered instrument sounds so that the relative volume is where it needs to be, there is a quick layer volume adjustment that is easily accessible and allows for fast adjustments which is important when combining any two sounds together. On many other digital pianos I have played this can be a tedious process and not intuitive at all. So I was impressed with how easy the control panel buttons and menu was to operate given all the features this piano has jammed into it. When it comes to the non acoustic piano instruments, I'd rather have a small group of super excellent instrument tones (like the ES8) than hundreds of average or below average sounds which is typically what you'll find on the other brands and models, The stereo symphonic strings are the best I've heard in any portable self-contained instrument along with the organs and choirs of the ES8.

However, since the ES8 is limited to just 34 total instrument sounds, some people have told me that they prefer more instrument sound selections because they want more variety because of the type of music they play and there are other digital piano brands and models that have many more self contained instrument sounds such as Roland and Casio. But I have some news for you assuming you didn't already know about this.You can get hundreds more instrument sounds coming out of an ES8 including brass, woodwinds, synths, guitars, and just about anything else you can think of, This is done by simply connecting an iPad to the ES8 and then down load a variety of pro sounding instrument apps that can be triggered by the ES8 through USB MIDI connection and then run through the ES8 internal speaker system to hear those sounds. Some of those apps have a small cost and some are free. An example of this is an app called "Sample Tank." The sounds are chosen by easy to understand icons in instrument groupings and then a list of instruments comes up that you can select from. There are also more great instruments you can get with an in-app purchase. It's easy to do and the result is impressive, along with being able to add that sound from the app in real time to the sounds you are using from the ES8 (such as acoustic or electric pianos) or play those external sounds independently without hearing the built-in ES8 instrument sounds. Pretty cool as far as I am concerned.

There are 28 digital memory slots in the ES8 that allows you to save your favorite setups so you don't have to recreate them all over again and lets use access them quickly so you do need to search for the specific sound, effect, and other functions you would need to make that favorite setup. You just recall that setup you made in the "registration memory." There's even a dedicated button on the control panel to select the registration memory you want to save or to recall.Speaking of control panel, the Kawai ES8 control panel is above the keys with 26 big, round, easy to see and easy to press panel buttons going across from left to right. I love it when manufacturers give the user/player intuitive and easy to press (light-up) buttons because it takes away at least some of the guesswork when it comes to accessing the popular features in the piano. The ES8 control panel also has a built-in LCD display screen and although it's a bit small, it's still large enough to tell you what's going on when selecting functions. The dedicated buttons give you access to some of the most requested functions including metronome, key transpose in real time, rhythms, registration memories, USB flash drive recording & playback features, reverb & special effects, split keyboard, and the 7 instrument sound groups. Within those instrument sound groups include some exceptionally realistic string symphonies, choirs, synth-bells, harpsichords, marimbas, church and pop (B3) organs, basses, and other tones.

As far as the digital LCD menu goes, it allows access for a huge number of cool features including the following: keyboard Touch (curve) Sensitivity Controls such as Light+, Light, Normal, Heavy, Heavy+, Off (Constant), User 1, User 2, Voicing which means being able to further customize the piano sounds to your liking  having Normal, Mellow 1, Mellow 2 , Dynamic, Bright 1, Bright 2, or User 1 - 4. There's also further piano custom editing with Resonance, Noise & Effects which include String Resonance, Damper Resonance, Damper Noise, Fall-back Noise, Key-off Effect, Hammer Delay, Topboard, Decay Time, Soft Pedal Depth, The Reverb control includes a variety of impressive natural reverb/echo room sizes such as Room, Lounge, Small Hall, Concert Hall, Live Hall, Cathedral along with editing control of Reverb Depth & Reverb Time. Temperament & Tuningsincluding Equal (Piano), Pure Major, Pure Minor, Pythagorean, Meantone, Werckmeister, Kirnberger, User Temerament, Key of Temperament, Stretch Tuning, Stretch Curve / User Tuning, User Key Volume, Half-Pedal Adjust and Minimum Touch. The "user key tuning and key volume" is worth noting because it allows individual notes to be adjusted to your particular tastes (and ears) so that you can make incremental adjustments rather than global overall adjustments. This is a pretty cool feature and a great thing to have.

One of the things that people often ask me about when it comes to these kinds of advanced digital pianos and being able to use some of the special piano sound editing features such as the ones I mentioned above are, "will I understand how to use these things and operate them easily?" That is definitely a fair question because although it's really great to be able to customize the piano sound and response to your personal tastes and playing experience, if the functions on the piano are not easy and intuitive to use, it is unlikely that you would use those great features very often. Also, even though the piano owners manual may give an explanation of how to use these very cool features, understanding it all still might be somewhat challenging. It is for this reason that Kawai came up with what I consider to be a most useful and fun feature for the ES8...a Virtual Technician iPad app. Basically instead of going into the smaller piano display screen menu and trying to find these different parameters and features, the Kawai VT iPad app (free in the app store) allows the user to change functions and settings of the "Virtual Technician" in real time using a very well done, well constructed, intuitive, visually pleasing touch screen iPad app that makes it a real pleasure to change settings so that the piano sound, key action response, and pedaling will be as perfect as it can possibly be for the type of music you want to play and how you want to play it all. With a touch of your finger on the Kawai ES8 iPad touch screen VT app, the results are actually pretty amazing and there is no other digital piano brand that I know of which has this feature available to its users who are looking for new digital pianos under $2000. I have personally tried it and it works fast, is easy to use, and makes a huge difference in setting up the piano in exactly the way you like it. Even though the ES8 has preset piano tones in its sound library as I mentioned before, there are many people who want to move beyond the "pre-set pianos" and do a bit of customizing, and I find this VT iPad app indispensable in getting the result you want quickly and easily. Whether it's setting up the key touch sensitivity, Stretch Tuning and Temperament parameters in deciding how you want the piano tuned, the Voicing of the hammers and how they behave mellow to bright, hard or soft, changing Pedaling response resonance along with many other things. the iPad interface allows for subtle or big changes in varying degrees. Given that the ES8 is internet priced at less than $2000, this kind of useful app is very unusual to have access to. In my opinion, if you don't have iPad and want an ES8, you might considering purchasing an iPad just for that reason alone:), although there are many other useful piano/education related iPad apps you can have access to which are not available for Android and makes for purchasing an iPad even more worthwhile.

A lot of people like to record and playback their music for a variety of purposes. This includes lesson practice, song writing, multitrack MIDI song play, and iTune playalong. But for this to happen a digital piano must be able to record and playback in all popular formats which includes MP3, audio wav file, and MIDI file, and the ES8 can do that. If you want to record and practice your piano music and play right & left hand separately and then playback while you record the other part and then play back both parts simultaneously, you can do that on the ES8 with 2-track MIDI recording with the ability to save 10 of your own songs into internal memory. Also, you can record 1-track audio wav/MP3 files for true/actual sound playback while using the ES8 overdub function to record multiple new parts on top of the original recording and then hear them play back as one complete song on any MP3/wav device. This is a very useful feature and great for songwriters and performers because when playing back your multi-track audio recording, you can play live over the top of it and sound like you have a complete orchestra or band all having been played by you:). The recorder system has a number of editing features as well being able to convert MIDI songs to audio songs instantly. Recording yourself can be a lot of fun and if you have never done it, it's not difficult and when you hear the results it can be helpful to your playing in many ways.

Speaking of fun, to me, if playing music isn't fun, enjoyable, and meaningful, then you might as well take up another hobby. To add to the enjoyment of playing piano, adding other sounds, and recording yourself, the ES8 has what I consider to be a "bonus section" called Rhythm accompaniment (aka: rhythm section). I will say even if the ES8 did not have this bonus section it would been fine without it. But having it really adds to a person's musical enjoyment if they take advantage of it. If you are the kind of person who enjoys playing or listening to pop music, Jazz, Latin, Country, Big band, Swing, Christmas, Gospel, Funk, Rock, Kids music, standards, alternative, dance, disco, light rock, Disney tunes, or any Rhythmic style of non-classical music, then you are like me. I love classical music but I also love and play all the other styles (most of them anyway). The ES8 has a one-man/woman band feature which allows you to play long with interactive accompaniment backgrounds that are professionally arranged by Kawai pro musicians. These interactive chord backgrounds are based on the right and left-hand chords that you play live and then these accompaniments will follow you on the keyboard. This system works best when playing right hand melody or right hand chords while playing full left hand chords. You select a style of music you want from the 100 rhythm (x 2 variations) 4-part accompaniment system and then you play the song you want and a full band including drums, bass player, guitar player, and other accompaniment players comes in and backs you up and makes you sound great! The drummer can even be set to do a professional drum fill after a certain amount of measures so the music sounds more "live." I happen to enjoy playing with this kind of system and it helps me play music I otherwise may not be able to play in a traditional way and it certainly allows me sound better than I really am while helping me with  rhythm and timing while interacting with "the band." You can set your own tempo, decide if you want to play full right/left hand piano music over the top of the band, or if you want to really simplify things and play simple one-finger left hand chords on the root note and play a simple one finger melody on the right hand. The simplified one finger system is great for very young children who cannot play or for adults who don't want to take years of lessons but want to play and have fun. It even displays the left hand chord for you so you know where you are at. You can also play the drum patterns separately to play along with the drummer or you can use it to learn real time rhythm and timing instead of using just the digital internal metronome for that purpose.

Within the interactive auto-chord accompaniment section is also some rhythm editing functions such as being able to activate automatic drum fills to make your music sound more live, to be able to change rhythms in real time from one to another without interrupting the flow of the song your playing, and also be able to activate an "ad-lib" feature which is super cool. When you select the "ad-lib" feature while using the rhythm accompaniment chords, the last 17 black & white keys on the piano turn into "ad-lib" riff makers and when you press any one of the last 17 keys, that particular key will "play" a short "riff or ad-lib" part that synchronizes with the chord you are playing with your left hand along with the style of rhythms that are playing. If you have ever seen a pro keyboard/piano player do a short riff or solo on the right hand melody keys while the rest of the band plays, then that is what the "ad-lib" feature will do for you only you just hold any of the last 17 keys and each key will trigger a different and impressive riff pattern created by Kawai pro musicians. Each of the 17 ad-lib patterns even change patterns/intervals depending on how many times you press the same key, so it makes it sound more  live rather than "canned." However you need to time it so that you press on one of those 17 keys exactly on the down beat syncing up to the tempo you selected, so it will line up correctly with the beat...otherwise it doesn't sound good and will be off-beat. So it does take some ability to use use it correctly, but if you have pretty good rhythm and timing and you want to sound way better than you are, then when you use the rhythm accompaniment feature and the ad-lib feature together, you will definitely have loads of fun, sound great, and play music you have not been able to play before or at least have more fun doing it. I recommend to to everybody who loves music regardless of your piano playing skill level. One other thing about the accompaniment chord styles...many of them sound musically real and not fake or cheesy...although there are a few styles which could be better but I am not looking for perfection here. The bass lines are super cool, drum patterns sound good and full, and accompaniment instruments overall are satisfying. It's not the absolute best auto-accompaniment system I have ever used, but for this model and in this price range, it's much more than I expected and something that I believe adds a lot of value to the ES8...at least it does for me.

Another way to interact with the ES8 is through MIDI song files. I already mentioned this briefly but wanted to expand on it. Although the ES8 does play General MIDI song files which is a popular multitrack MIDI format for song playback, the ES8 cannot always play those GM song files correctly. This because full GM format requires a minimum 128 instrument sounds including brass, woodwinds, stringed instruments including banjos, harps, acoustic guitars, etc to play back the songs correctly and the ES8 only has a total of 34 instrument sounds on board with no brass, woodwinds, reeds, and other non piano instruments. So if a popular MIDI song file that you download from the internet (from Mozart, Elton John, Billy Joel, Movie themes, Big band, etc) calls for a trumpet, saxophone, or banjo as an example, the ES8 will automatically substitute some other sound that it has in its 34 instrument (put accompaniment tones) sound bank instead. Sometimes this works really well, sometimes OK, and sometimes it does not sound so good. But...at least it can play back multi-track MIDI song files that are available on the internet and much of the time those songs sound great depending on the musical song style. When playing back regular "piano only" MIDI song files, then the ES8 sounds spectacular and better than any other piano model under $2000 I have heard. Regardless of which songs are playing back, you can slow down and speed up the tempo, you can independently transpose the song's key up or down for singing purposes or to play in a key that's more comfortable for you, you can remove (mute) the melody line or any other part of the song so that you can play-along without hearing that part in the song, and you can adjust song volume independently of the ES8 master volume so you can play along and balance your volume against the song's volume. All of these interactive accompaniments, MIDI songs, and ad-libs are great ways to learn "Improv" (aka (improvisation). One of the most challenging and difficult things for piano students (including my own) and recreational players to learn is "improv," but yet most people would love to be able to play without music or be able to add extra flare to playing the song while reading music. All of these extra functions and features can and do help in this way so I encourage and recommend it. There's obviously a lot you can do with this new ES8 besides just playing piano, and if you take advantage of at least some of these very cool additional functions and features, then I think you'll be amazed at how much more musical enjoyment you'll have.

I think the ES8 also looks very attractive for its size in its semi-gloss black or white metal cabinet along with its surprisingly powerful internal speaker system of 30 watts going through two speakers (within speaker enclosures) coming up through the top of the piano which is where it should be as opposed to the back or underneath the piano. The actual acoustic piano sound is resonate and full and I was impressed with how good the piano sound was coming through its own speakers. It can get very loud and much louder than I thought it could while keeping the piano sound under control and still very expressive whether at high volume or low volume. The ES8 cabinet has clean lines, nice styling, an easy to see & use set of light up buttons above the keys, and an easy to read LCD screen. It's compact and yet seems to be built well weighing in at just 49lbs and can be moved around for a variety of reasons such as moving it from one room to another, taking it to gigs, using it in a summer home, in a church where you need to set it up and take it down, at a school when space can be limited. Kawai also has an optional proprietary semi-hard carry-case for the ES8 which can be purchase for extra cost. The optional furniture stand and 3-pedal lyre assembly together add about $440US more to the price (they can be purchased separately) but they are nicely matched to the ES8 cabinet and they really look great when they are attached. The optional furniture stand and pedals (they work well) also add stability to the entire package so that the piano is more secure and plays with little movement and I liked it a lot. In fact it's the only portable piano I know of  which looks somewhat elegant even for its compact size. If you just order the ES8 by itself, then it comes with a smaller standard metal music rack for sheet music. While this rack is OK, it would be better to have nicer looking and larger music rack. So when you order the optional furniture stand, Kawai includes a vastly upgraded plexiglass music rack mounted into a sturdy metal base at no charge. There is also more space on the bottom front of that rack to hold sheet music and books. The rack cannot be ordered separately so if you like it, you need to buy the stand to get it...but I definitely recommend doing that if you can.

As far as connectivity on the ES, Kawai did a very good job of including what most people are looking for which includes MIDI (in/out), USB to Host, USB to Device (for flashdrive input), Speaker system On/Off control switch, Line-in stereo audio input, Line-out (L/Mono, Right) including separate menu controls for output volume, Single damper Pedal Input (for F-10H), optional dual damper R/Soft Pedal (F-20), Triple Pedal Lyre (optional), and two headphone jacks...one on either side of the piano front. I really like how Kawai put in the two headphone jacks on opposite ends of the front rather than both mounted underneath or on the piano on the left side only like many other brands do. This is helpful because when you select the "four-handed" play mode, two people can play the same octaves at the same time on the keyboard because that mode splits the keyboard electronically into two 44-note keyboards and turns the left hand into the same octaves as the right hand so that two people can play identical notes. This is useful when two people are practicing the same piece at the same time, and the ES8 headphone jack positions make it easier to do that. Also, when using a good set of stereo headphones, the Kawai piano samples sound outstanding through headphones with good stereo piano movement through the sound field along with excellent tone reproduction. Sometimes when playing through internal speakers and then through headphones, the quality and volume of sound is not consistent on many digital pianos. But with the ES8, I found the sound reproduction to be very consistent both ways, and that's not easy to do. The ES8 also has the ability to turn off its internal speakers with a switch in back of the piano assuming you would want to do that while the piano is connected to external speakers, or have the internal speakers on for the player to monitor their playing. I will say that when the ES8 is connected to a good pair of external monitors for home use or a good quality external speaker system for use in church, school, or a big space, the ES8 sounds like a big acoustic grand piano. You would actually think there is a real $100,000 9' grand piano in the room if you didn't know the sound was coming from the ES8...it's very impressive. With regard to connecting external devices to the ES8, there's also a stereo audio input mini jack for running iPad, iPhone, or computer stereo sound directly into the piano speaker system (or through headphones) which is very useful and not something always found on digital pianos.

In the final analysis, if you are looking for a high quality piano playing experience along with a good looking compact piano cabinet and design which can also be portable if necessary, then I would highly recommend the Kawai ES8 as an exceptional value, especially as compared to other new digital piano models near or under $2000. In fact, the best way I can describe the ES8 is that most everything else in its product category and price range is a Toyota Corolla and the ES8 is a Lexus LX:). However, there certainly are a few other good digital piano alternatives out there in this price range as well, so the ES8 is not the only choice. The ES8 covers a lot of "musical bases" very well, particularly with its impressive RH3 key action that is smooth and responsive and feels great in my opinion, and I really do enjoy playing it. The only problem I had with this piano was trying to get away from it because I enjoyed the playing experience so much:). I always advise people to do their shopping homework and research and then contact me for more advice and info on getting even lower prices than internet, amazon, store sales, etc on brand new digital pianos.

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.

*Take a look at this video below produced by Kawai of the ES8 in action:)

 

🎹 Yamaha Clavinova CLP-635 piano, CLP-645 piano, CLP-665GP grand piano - UPDATED REVIEW & COMPARISON - Jan 3, 2020 / Clavinova Digital Pianos / Yamaha Clavinova piano lineup includes the CLP-625, CLP-635, CLP-645, CLP-675, CLP-685, CLP-665GP and CLP695GP mini grand piano. In this review we are concentrating on the following models: the CLP-635 which comes in a variety of matte cabinet finishes ($2699US internet discount price) and also in polished ebony ($3199US internet discount price), the CLP-645 which comes in a variety of matte cabinet finishes ($3499US internet discount price) and also in polished ebony ($3999US internet discount price), and CLP-665GP mini grand piano in a polished ebony ($5499US internet discount price) and in a polished white cabinet finish ($6299 internet discount price). If you want to learn about the top three Clavinova pianos CLP-675, CLP-685, and CLP-695GP please read my review at the following link: Yamaha CLP-675, CLP-685, CLP-695GP Review

CLP635 simulated dark walnut

The reason for me doing a comparison review about these three specific models is because they are the most popular Clavinova models that Yamaha produces and they are also in the lower price range of Clavinova models, with the exception of the mini-grand being a bit over $5000. The other two higher priced Clavinova 600 series models share the same control panel, same acoustic piano samples and polyphony, and overall operate pretty much the same way with the exception of the basic entry level CLP625 which I am not discussing here in this review. I also want to say that the reason I am including the CLP665GP mini grand in this review, which is at a higher price, is because the CLP665 is identical to the lower priced CLP635 in every way except for cabinet (obviously) internal speaker system, and Bluetooth connectivity. So the CLP665GP is really a CLP635 in a different and highly upgraded cabinet with a more powerful internal speaker system and an extra connectivity feature which I discuss later. Having the mini grand version will definitely look very elegant in any room assuming you can fit it in, but it will cost you more money. If you want to spend even less money and be in a lower price under $2000 then check out my review of the Clavinova CLP625. Although it is basic in design, it does put out an impressive piano sound and a good volume in a nice looking cabinet.


Yamaha has been producing the Clavinova digital piano series for many, many years and they have a good reputation for being high quality instruments. However in past years I have not been very fond of the piano sound in any of these models because they just had an overly digital tone to them...they just did not sound real to me at all and did not have good resonate sustain and longer decay piano tone. Beyond that the previous control panel operating system was not user friendly, difficult to operate in selecting the functions you wanted, and the black plastic material on the control panel looked cheap and scratched easily. So I was quite surprised when I saw and played these new CLP635, CLP645, and CLP665GP pianos because they looked better and had a much different, more natural piano sound due to a new technology that Yamaha previously only had in their more expensive Clavinova's and now has it in these lower priced models. The technology is called "Virtual Resonance Modeling" and it calculates the actual real time as you play the actual tonal response that a grand piano would offer throughout the body of the piano, the interior of the piano, the way all the strings vibrate in a real piano when the hammers hit different strings at different times, and so on.

What all this means is that because of the new piano sound technology in the CLP635, CLP645, and CLP665GP, the pianos just sound more natural and organic and not as "digital" like they did before in previous models. Yes, they are still digital pianos and certainly won't sound exactly like a high quality acoustic grand piano, at least not yet, but these new models have certainly improved in the area they were most lacking. For someone who has not had much experience with a real acoustic piano or even if you are an advanced pianist, then you should easily be satisfied with the piano sound of these new models. Beyond the piano resonance modeling, the tonal dynamic range of the piano sound when playing the keys from soft to hard (slow to fast) has gotten better, although still needs some improvement in my opinion because acoustic pianos still have a wider range of tonal expression as compared with these digital pianos. However there are editing functions such as brightness control, touch sensitivity control, etc which allows you to "tweak" the sound expression so that the dynamics can be adjusted to be even more expressive and in that way the piano expression (tonal dynamic range) can become wider and larger...something that is important as you become a more advanced player. For beginners or  recreational players, all these things such as resonance, dynamic range, expression, etc, will not be important yet because beginners have many other things they need to learn before they ever get to these more serious parts of the piano sound and playability. But once they do progress in their playing abilities, then this CLP600 digital piano series will deliver the kind of tonal expression that students and musicians alike expect out of a good piano.

Yamaha makes a big deal about having two professionally recorded super wonderful (they would want you to believe that of course:) grand piano samples of their real concert acoustic grand pianos in their new Clavinovas which they call the Yamaha CFX and the Bosendorfer Imperial. Both of these acoustic pianos are incredible instruments in real life and sound great. But to translate that into a digital instrument is not easy and the results are sometimes not so good. These two piano sampled recordings were in the previous models as well, but in the previous models and as I mentioned earlier, I felt the pianos sounds were just too digital in how they came out of the internal speakers and also headphones. The Yamaha piano sound in the previous clavinova models was better than the Bosendorfer piano which did not sound real to me at all. In these new 600 models the two piano sampled recordings for some reason (could be the new resonance technology) sound much better and more precise both through the internal speaker systems and through headphones. They have a much more natural tone to them that I enjoyed playing and even the Bosendorfer piano sound which is the more delicate and mellower of the two, was much more realistic which was nice to hear. With 256-note polyphony piano processing power and the ability to edit the piano sounds in different and more intuitive way than other digital pianos, I believe that most people will really enjoy the acoustic piano sound experience in these new models and those two piano sampled recordings are in all models of the the new CLP600 series with the exception of the basic model CLP625 which I talk about in another review.

The feel can differ greatly from one to another in acoustic pianos and they also differ from one model to another and from one brand to another in digital pianos. The CLP635 has an all plastic key action that is (slightly) graded in weight from left to right and has a certain "feel" when pressing down the keys. The key action on the new CLP635 is the same in weight and feel as the previous CLP535 so that has not changed. The key action also has what's known as "escapement" function which is a slight hesitation when slowly pressing the key down to the bottom and just before getting to the bottom you would feel this hesitation or notch which is trying to duplicate the experience of a grand piano because grand piano key actions do this and this function can be helpful when playing slowly and giving you more control over the key movement and sound, especially if you are an advanced player.

It is important to note that in my opinion this "escapement" function on the CLP600 series just doesn't feel right to me because it's so light and almost non-existent even when playing softly. I've played literally thousands of high quality acoustic grand pianos in my pro music career and I believe I know what this "escapement" function is supposed to feel like, and in all of the CLP600 series the escapement just feels a bit fake to me, not realistic. Hey that's my opinion for what it's worth and this so-called escapement function (other digital piano brands have this feature as well) really doesn't matter at the end of the day to most people and does not diminish the positive piano playing experience I had overall with these Clavinova pianos in any way. Oh, and just so you know, the "escapement" key feel does not exist in real upright acoustic pianos (you cannot feel it in regular uprights) and thousands of families own real upright pianos (Yamaha makes some great ones) and I enjoy playing them very much. So basically in my opinion, you can just overlook this feature because even Yamaha says in their literature that you have to play very lightly to feel the escapement function at all and in acoustic grand pianos it's really not like that based on the top grands I have played. Besides, even the other digital piano brands who say they have this "escapement or let-off" feature in their key action don't come close to what it really feels like because they are all very limited imitations of the real thing. So I recommend you do not get overly concerned about this:).

OK...now that we're through dealing with the key action feature called escapement, I need to mention something very important with regards to key action and that's the "down weight" of the piano keys or the "feel" which I mentioned a bit earlier. The key action "down-weight" simply means how much pressure it takes from the fingers to press down the keys...also known as finger "touch weight." Being that the new CLP635 has the same key action with down-weight as compared with the previous CLP535 which is also the same key action that's in the mini grand version CLP665GP, the down-weight is the same in those pianos which in my opinion may be a bit too firm for some people when pressing down the keys as compared to a real good grand piano or even some good upright pianos...at least that's the way I felt about it. Down weight is actually measurable with lead weights that piano technicians use to determine if the key action is too stiff, too light, or just right! This does not mean the Yamaha CLP635 and 665GP key action is not going to be enjoyable to play for many people because regular acoustic pianos can have slightly heavier/firmer key actions as well. It just means that you should understand what you would be getting because to me the key action may be a bit fatiguing to play after awhile unless you have stronger finger muscles or just prefer a slightly firmer key action which some people do.

CLP645 wood keys

However, in the CLP645 model, the key action is different than the other two in that the inside of the key is made out of natural wood rather than plastic and is balanced a bit differently to give it a somewhat lighter, more responsive feel as compared to the CLP635 or CLP665GP mini grand version. I feel that the CLP645 is a bit more expressive and more enjoyable to play because of its lighter all wood keys and key movement especially over long periods of time as compared to the CLP635 firmer plastic key action which Yamaha calls GH3. So one of the upgrades and advantages in the CLP645 is the key action and the way it feels and moves. In my opinion if you can afford to go up to the CLP645 over the CLP635 (and that certainly does bring up the cost quite a bit) then that's what I would personally recommend because of that difference in key action, but there are other reasons such as the internal speaker system, but we'll talk about that later. Also with regard to the key action, both the GH3 plastic version and the lighter wood version are very quiet when it comes to any key action noise that is heard when the keys move which is not true of some other brands and models. However, all keys in key actions make some noise when they move up & down but the Yamaha key movement in the Clavinova models are fairly quiet and durable in construction and this also makes for a good piano playing experience.

Also in all of the Yamaha keys actions they have an electronic triple sensor system under each key that allows more more rapid response and recognition when playing keys in a repetitive fashion, especially if you are a more advanced played. Triple sensor key actions have becomes standard in most digital pianos these days so unlike a few years ago when many pianos had less then three sensors per key, today's key actions mostly have this feature even in very low price ranges. So although this is a very good feature to have, it really is not special anymore and has mostly become standard and normal in many digital pianos. This is also true for the synthetic textured ivory and satin ebony key tops digital pianos these days. This is a nice feature that allows the key tops to help absorb sweat from the fingers and it also looks classy too the way that regular acoustic piano keys used to be many decades ago. The Yamaha synthetic ivory and ebony is especially nice in the way it feels to the fingers.

The pedaling on these pianos is quite good and works like a real acoustic piano in having the sustain/damper, the sostenuto, and soft pedals. The pedals are full size and the damper pedal can trigger what is known as "half-damper" pedaling allowing for smoother and more natural sustain when you are holding your damper pedal down in different positions. Also and as I talked about before, the sustain decay time (the length of time the sustained not keeps going before it dies out) is noticeably much better, fuller, and louder than in previous models and this adds to the overall realism of the piano sound and piano playing experience. This extra decay time was really good especially on the middle and upper octaves of the notes where sustain and decay time is normally weaker and more difficult to achieve in digital pianos. So this was a big upgrade in natural sound especially when playing more legato with sustained tones.

There are "extra "bells & whistles" in the CLP635, 645, and 665GP just like in previous models with additional non-piano instrument sounds such as strings, organs, electric pianos, harpsichords, etc with a total of 36 instruments and those orchestral instruments do sound good, not cheap like some other digital pianos I have heard. Any two instruments can be layered and combined together which can make your music sound even better, split the keyboard at any point with one sound on left hand and one on right hand, or one piano sound played by two people independently at the same time which is called "duo piano" and useful when two people are practicing the same song at the same time and want to have the same notes. The 600 series pianos also can record up to 16 different (MIDI) tracks using up to 16 different instrument sounds one at a time for composing and song creation and then play them all back simultaneously which is fun. The CLP635, CLP645, and CLP665GP mini grand version both have 20 drum rhythm patterns now which helps with rhythm and timing and also makes it more fun to play more contemporary music with a "virtual drummer." Previous models with the exception of the previous CLP545, did not have this feature. There is a also 1-track wav file audio recording to record how you actually sound when playing a song and then you can save that in a USB flash drive (just like with the 16 track MIDI recording) and then transfer that audio recording on to your computer for further work in software programs or conversion to MP3 file for playback in personal devices.

There are other useful but common electronic features such as reverb, chorus, and brightness control, but one feature which Yamaha has in these lower price models that other pianos do not is something called "Piano Room" which is directly accessible from the control panel buttons. So...picture a room in your mind that has a virtual grand piano in it, or maybe an upright piano, or whatever kind of piano you choose. The room size could be bigger or smaller, there could be less or more natural acoustics in the room, you may want to raise or lower the lid of your virtual grand piano or quickly change the touch of your piano. With the virtual "Piano Room" control you can now design your own custom piano sound and room environment very quickly so that you can make your own custom Yamaha or Bosendorfer piano. This is a pretty cool feature and is also found on the more advanced and higher priced CVP700 Clavinova series although the Piano Room controls are much more extensive on those models. I like the fact that Yamaha has included their virtual Piano Room feature in all of their new CLP600 series (with the exception of the lower priced basic CLP625) because it offers intuitive control and performance over the acoustic piano sound which is very nice.

In the previous models two of the things I definitely did not like at all was the material used on the left side button control panel and also the operation of the control panel as I mentioned in the beginning of this review. On the CLP500 series there was shiny black plastic materiel on the left control panel and it was just cheap looking and didn't hold up well in my opinion. In the new models Yamaha has listened to my complaints (no doubt among others) and replaced the poor quality plastic with a new satin black material which looks like it won't scratch, won't leave fingerprints, and just looks more expensive and classier.  This a very welcome change and it's nice to know that big piano manufacturers are sometimes willing to admit their mistakes and move on to something better, which in this case Yamaha definitely improved this area of the piano. Apart from this new control panel material and aesthetics, the control panel buttons and functions have been revised to be much easier to see, easier to use, and operationally more intuitively. These two control panel upgrades apply to all the new 600 series models with the exception of the basic CLP625. So even in design Yamaha has made some noticeable improvements and it's these things that help make the overall package more impressive.

All three models here have good connectivity features including dual stereo headphone jacks, audio inputs and outputs jacks, MIDI connectors, USB flashdrive input, and USB to host output connector. However this year the new CLP645 and CLP665GP mini grand also have Bluetooth audio connectivity which will allow you to play your music from external Bluetooth music devices such as your mobile phone, iPad, etc through the piano speaker system to allow for your music to have a fuller more impressive speaker system to play through as well as being able to play the piano live along with your song being heard through the piano. This is a very cool feature and one that more people are wanting and more manufacturers are starting to include in some of their digital piano models. When it comes to connectivity these new CLP600 models offer most (but not all) of the functions people are looking for. It is good to be aware that the Bluetooth feature isnotavailable on CLP600 Bluetooth models sold in certain countries. This is because of local and/or national regulations that prevent wireless Bluetooth transmissions from being included in products. So please refer to the Yamaha Clavinova owners manual for more info on this subject.

When using headphones for private practice Yamaha has also upgraded this experience with new electronics they call "binarual sampling." What this technology does is allows for the piano sound coming from the piano through any good quality stereo headphones to sound more natural. When listening to a real piano your ears hear the sound in a multi-dimensional way where the sound is not just exclusively coming into your ears left & right, but you also hear the sound with respect to distance, position, up, down, behind you, in front of you, and all around you. A regular headphone experience cannot do this but some digital piano companies now, including these new CLP600 series offer this more organic listening experience so that the sound seems like it is being heard naturally, almost like you are not wearing headphones at all. This makes the headphone listening experience more authentic, more comfortable, and more "alive." If you are going to be using headphones with the piano to play in privacy, then you will like this new binaural headphone experience.

One of the most noticeable differences in these three Yamaha models is the internal speaker systems. The CLP635 has 2 larger speakers and 60 watts of total power going through its 2 amplifiers in stereo and offers plenty of power and bass response along with a good frequency range. However the CLP645 is upgraded as compared to the CLP635 with 4 speakers and a total of 100 watts going through 4 amplifiers and offers and even greater range of frequency response and harmonics with this upgraded system and there is a noticeable difference between the 645 and 635 models in this way. The CLP665GP mini grand version which otherwise (except for cabinet and Bluetooth function) is the identical piano to the CLP635 in every other way has an internal speaker system with 4 larger speakers and a total power of 70 watts going through 4 separate amplifiers. So it will have a better sound system as compared to the CLP635 and the speakers can project the sound upward like a little grand piano and it does sound good, but the CLP645 has the best speaker system of the three models, so it just depends on what you can afford to pay and what you want.

All of these new CLP600 series pianos I mention here have attractive cabinet designs with front support legs for the upright styles in a variety of attractive matte finishes along with the more expensive polished ebony finish (also polished white in the mini grand) with adjustable music racks, nice sliding key covers, and a comfortable matching bench included. My favorite cabinet finish in the upright style is the new "dark walnut" color which doesn't actually look walnut or brown but instead looks like a slightly whitewashed grey with hints of brown in the grain (as you see in my above pics of the pianos)...very attractive and contemporary and can likely match a variety of interior designs. The regular satin black and rosewood finishes are always nice as well along with the more expensive polished ebony. Those CLP635 and CLP645 upright cabinets in satin finish measure approx 57" wide, 18" deep, and weigh in at 123 lbs for the CLP635 and 132 lbs for the CLP645. All three models have sheet music holder clips that can pop out of the lower area of the music rack which can help hold pages in music books, etc. The CLP545 has attractive solid metal clips vs the CLP635 with dark plastic clips. The Yamaha factory 5 year parts & labor warranty is a good one and long enough to take care of the piano which over the years has shown to be very reliable and durable based on all my experience with them.

I did want to mention that I have people contact me all the time looking for a high quality digital baby grand in a reasonable price range and they want to know what I suggest. There are really just 4 price ranges for digital grand pianos, depending on their size and construction. You have the "under $2000US" which is typically occupied by inferior brands and models of digital pianos when it comes to authenticity, especially with key actions, piano sound, and pedaling response. Those brands in my opinion can include Williams, Artesia, and Suzuki to name a few. Then there are digital pianos priced at between $2000-$4000US which tend to be larger in size with more powerful internal speaker systems and those models can include Williams, Artesia, Suzuki, Kurzweil, and others with a couple of those models being OK but many are not. Then there are the digital grand pianos between $4000-$7000US which include Samick, Yamaha, and Roland. All of those brands are very good with certain ones offering a more authentic piano playing experience while others may be good but also offer more interactive "bells & whistles" than other models. Then there is the price range of over $10,000 which is occupied by Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai. All of those models in that price range are really impressive but they better be great considering how much they cost, with the Kawai CP1 5'3" digital grand at the top with a retail price of over $20,000US! There are not near as many offerings in the digital piano industry as far as digital grand pianos go as there are in the traditional upright size cabinets whether those cabinets are compact or fuller traditional furniture type cabinets. Musically speaking you can normally (with few exceptions) get more for the money and it probably would cost you less money if you go with an upright style digital piano (vertical cabinet) as opposed to the baby grand style digital piano...but then you would give up the elegant and professional look of the baby grand style and many people want that look in their home, church, school, etc. So it just depends on what you want and how much you are willing to invest to get it.

Speaking of investing, although Yamaha does offer a nice single size matching padded bench with the digital mini grand pianos, you can also order (from some dealers) an optional grand piano artist bench instead, but the price of those benches cost substantially more money as an upgrade. However those benches can really make the CLP665GP look like it belongs on a concert stage! Again, it just depends how much you are willing to invest to make the purchase the best it can be in your price range. As I have previously mentioned, the CLP665GP digital grand has all the digital and piano playing attributes of the lower priced vertical CLP635 along with the Bluetooth audio feature of the CLP645, so if you want and need a baby grand style and have to stay in the price range of between approx $5500 to $6300US, then as far as Yamaha goes, this is the only option. If you are after a great looking mini grand shaped digital piano with natural piano sound, very usable functions and a solid, durable key action at a reasonable price range, then I do recommend the Yamaha CLP665GP either in the polished ebony ($5499US internet discount price) or polished white finish ($6299 internet discount price). They look great, fit in smaller spaces very well, and they have that beautiful Yamaha concert grand and Bosendorfer concert grand sound that I have previously discussed here. *By the way, if you needed to spend a bit less money than the Yamaha models on a digital grand piano, but still wanted a quality instrument then I would recommend you consider the newer Samick SG500 and SG120. Those two digital grand pianos have some impressive features and you can read more about them on my review: Samick SG500/SG120 Review

There are other things these pianos do including having built-in piano songs, the ability to load new MIDI piano songs through a USB flasdrive, and a few other features, but the main focus of the CLP635, CLP645, and CLP665GP is for people of all skill levels to play piano on. My preference for the CLP645 when it comes to a vertical upright cabinet as compared to the others because of the more expressive key action and upgraded internal sound system, but overall all three models are enjoyable to play and can be a good investment for you and/or your family. They definitely look good too but I would recommend you do your homework so you can purchase the piano brand, model, and be in the price range that best fits your needs. However, please contact me first before making any buying decision on any piano and I can tell you how to save even more money than internet pricing whether it be local stores, Amazon, or internet stores if you are in the US.

UPDATE:Yamaha has a new line of specialty Clavinova digital pianos called CSP which includes the CSP150 and CSP170. These new supercharged digital pianos are basically taking the CLP635 and CLP645 and stripping them down of much their digital technology and display screen to make them look even more minimalistic with just a couple buttons and adding a brand new technology called Smart Pianist which is like having the CLP635 and CLP645 on steroids with new superpowers that will amaze you. Of course this new technology does add to the price but for many people these new models will be more than worth the price of admission to get literally thousands of new features and functions that will enable you to interact with music in a way you may not have thought possible. To learn more about these two new models please read my review at the following link: Yamaha CSP150 & CSP170 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.

Digital Piano Review Expert / Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Korg, Williams, Artesia, Samick / EXPERT free digital piano advice / under $1000 to $15000 / All brands, all models / Over 40 years experience playing and analyzing thousands of pianos.  Announcing our all new 2nd web site called "Digital Piano Review Expert" for 2020. Here at AZ Piano Reviews we having been helping digital pianos shoppers for nearly 15 years on-line and over 40 years within the digital piano business teaching piano, consulting with famous people and places, and playing piano professionally. We know what we are talking about and are also consultants to the digital piano manufacturers, digital piano stores, local & national music educators, universities, schools, and studios. "Digital Piano Review Expert" is a new review site that we have recently created under the url: digitalpianoreviewexpert.com so that we can present digital pianos in a different way than we do here on AZ Piano Reviews so that pianos shoppers have another way to interface with us. Our goal is to give digital piano shoppers and music lovers more ways to find us with these 2 different platforms (websites) in which to learn more about the latest digital pianos.

Our goal in doing all this is to continue to give people expert digital piano shopping and buying advice from our more than 40 years of digital piano playing experience all the way up to the latest, newest, digital pianos. We are not like anyone else who does reviews of digital pianos, many of which are "fake reviews" with old, discontinued models on them disguised as new models or they just copy & paste basic info from other review sites or manufacturer descriptions to get you to link to any digital piano on Amazon so you will buy it and then that review site gets a payment commission from your purchase. With that type of "selling" goal those sites cannot be impartial or independent and will typically just throw a large amount of Amazon links all over their web sites and encourage you to purchase something from Amazon, regardless of how good or bad that digital piano may be. If you see something like that then it's normally a"red flag" for you to think twice about believing what you read and what those sights say. I have seen many of those "fake review" sites over the years and they have a common theme with many Amazon links along with showing you outdated and discontinued pianos as being "new" or saying great things about digital pianos that are known as being very poor quality pianos that don't play like a piano at all.

Our new "digitalpianoreviewexpert.com" piano review site is also there so that you can find us in more ways than before when you do a digital piano search. As an example, it's the year 2020 now so if you include this year in your search of a specific digital piano review then you will more likely find our "review expert" site using the date 2020 as opposed to not using it in your search. Other things we have done on this new additional site is to present comparative reviews of all models in a specific brand than just having reviews of individual digital piano models. In that way you can get to know all of the models in a given brand and how they compare to each other.

Regardless of how you find us or which site you like "best," we are there because music is our passion and we want to share our in-depth piano knowledge with you as we have been for many, many years. People from all over the world come to us for advice on a number of related topics concerning pianos. Even though there are many people around the world who can "play piano" at very advanced "concert" skill levels, that playing ability does not mean those people know what they are talking about when it comes to digital pianos and in fact, most of them know little about what a digital piano can do, how satisfying they can be for the "average"musician/piano player, and many don't know how educationally stimulating digital pianos can be for beginner piano students. Our musical goal is for more young people as well as older people to get into playing the piano and experiencing the joy that playing music can bring to you even if you have no experience playing any instrument. A new digital piano can make that goal a reality in ways a real acoustic piano cannot do. The practical nature of a digital piano vs an acoustic piano gives the student or pianist a way to interact with a piano that was not possible in past years including using headphones for private practice, always being able to play your piano "in tune" rather than having the piano be "out of tune" which is often the case with regular acoustic pianos, and having the opportunity to interface with music educational (piano learning) apps on your iPad or Android tablet so that you can visually understand musical concepts in ways not possible with a standard piano which can make you a much better player and enable you to learn things that were more difficult to do with traditional curriculum on traditional pianos.

Playing on great traditional acoustic upright or grand pianos is still an incredibly exciting thing to do for a musician and it is something we still enjoy very much. However, the advantages of owning and playing on a new advanced digital upright or digital grand piano can be more exciting and yet not very many people understand those differences or advantages and don't know which digital piano would be best for them and work well within their budget. It is to that end that we constantly strive to put our high quality, helpful content through our 2 sites "AZ Piano Reviews" and our newest site "Digital Piano Review Expert" so that you can get a deep understanding of what these pianos can do, which one might be best for you, and that we also make ourselves available to give you free advice "in person" over the phone wherever you may live in the mainland USA. We love talking with people, sharing our knowledge, and help you make good decisions and are not limited to specific brands, models, or price range and we are independent and do not link any of our reviews to Amazon or internet sites because we our goal is to be "neutral and real" when it comes to handing out digital piano shopping and buying advice. We do admit we have a few "favorites" because we are, after-all, musicians and we love to play music and sometimes there are a few outstanding digital pianos that offer the "biggest bang for the buck" in different price ranges. But since different people have different musical goals, different music that they enjoy, and may have budget restrictions, we will help guide you to the piano that works within your budget and gets to to where you want to musically go giving you the best piano playing experience possible.

By the way, did you know that Tim Praskins (me) is a long time, high level guitar player and teacher, organ player and teacher, and synth player and teacher? I know as much about those other instruments as I do about digital and acoustic pianos having played them for decades at many different venues. However, I choose to devote my attention to "digital pianos" because most people wanting to own a piano don't know much about digital pianos and even if you watch you-tube videos, read other reviews, go to music stores or piano stores, and talk with teachers or other musicians, even with doing all that you will likely get confused and eventually get "brain freeze" as we like to call it. That is why my son Erik and I offer our personal time to you in being willing and happy to discuss your piano questions with you over the phone during our studio hours Monday through Saturday. Erik is also a knowledgeable expert with digital pianos and has been working with me for many years. No matter how you find us we recommend you write to us through email and/or contact us on the phone and as we have done for many years, we will be happy to give you piano advice without obligation because music is our passion and we would love to share it with you.

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.

Acoustic Concert Grand Piano

Digital Grand Piano vs Acoustic Grand Piano - What's the difference? / Review / Jan 2020 / What is the difference between a digital grand piano and an acoustic grand piano (aka: "real" grand piano")? - A lot of people these days are wanting a grand piano shaped piano for their home, church, school, or studio and those types of pianos are beautiful in appearance and can also put out a big piano sound. With all of the new "digital" grand pianos these days from Yamaha, Roland, Samick, Dexibell, Artesia, Suzuki, Williams, and others, more and more people are opting for a "digital" baby grand rather than an acoustic baby grand piano. Acoustic baby grand pianos are beautiful instruments and if you get a good one, the sound is also beautiful too. I love playing great acoustic grand pianos by Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Bosendorfer, Fazioli, and other famous brands and I have been playing them for many years as well as teaching students on them as well. Playing on a real Grand piano can make that musical experience a wonderful thing, but there are definitely disadvantages to actually owning an acoustic grand piano.

Acoustic grand pianos are typically normally at least 5' deep or larger up to 9' in depth and take up quite a bit of space. When you play music on them the sound is loud or louder, there really is no "quieter" volume coming out of a grand piano because there is no volume control...it is acoustic instrument after-all meaning they produce sound through hammers, strings, and a wood soundboard. They are big and loud instruments, hence the name "GRAND" piano. Grand pianos also need regular maintenance such as tuning, key action adjustments, and sometimes a humidifier or de-humidifier is needed near the piano because of the local weather/humidity and how that affects the operation and stability of the piano. Needing an external humidifier or de-humidifier adds an extra cost to the piano purchase as well as extra regular maintenance. Without the proper humidity in the room a regular "real" grand piano soundboard can develop cracks in the wood dues to too much dryness or if there is too much humidity all the time then the piano soundboard and wood components can swell up and cause other issues in the piano.

Digital Grand Piano

A digital grand piano never needs tuning because the tuning is permanently locked in the computer piano sound chip. The key action should not need maintenance is most digital grand pianos because they don't have all the moving parts like acoustic pianos do unless the digital grand is a full "hybrid" digital grand piano and those pianos do have almost all the moving action parts like a real acoustic piano, but without the need for tuning, so hybrids can be a great option even though they are quite a bit more money. A digital grand piano  also generally comes in a smaller size cabinet which can measure anywhere from about 2.5 ' deep, 3' deep. 3'9" deep, or 4' deep from front to back, and they weigh approx 150 lbs to approx 300 lbs which is far less than the 700 lb - 900 lb average of an acoustic grand piano. So in terms of practicality for size and weight a digital grand piano has a lot of advantages. Add to that the fact that a digital grand piano has a master volume control so you can play it quietly at a very soft volume or simply plug in a pair of stereo headphones to play silently for private practice. Digital grand pianos also allow you to record your practice songs and play them back to see how you are actually doing or you can plug in your tablet or mobile device with a USB cable or use Bluetooth wireless to connect with external music libraries or educational learning apps to play along with "piano lessons."

There really are some impressive reasons to choose a new digital grand piano over an acoustic "traditional" grand piano including the fact that you can purchase a "good" new digital grand piano starting at less than $5000 whereas a good new acoustic grand piano will cost you well over $10,000 and normally quite a bit more money than that.depending on the size of that grand piano. Many of the digital grand pianos are also quite beautiful and elegant inside and out so they can add that "look" to a home that many people would love to have.

Digital Grand Piano

The real question is...do digital grand pianos feel, play, and sound like real pianos? In past years the answer to that question was...they really did not play like "the real thing" and this is because past digital technology was not at a point yet where it could duplicate the grand piano playing experience in a digital format. But that was in the past and we are now in the future where things have radically changed in that way and now there are a number of top name digital grand pianos that really make you feel like you're playing a real grand piano with an expressive key action, big, resonate stereo grand piano sound, responsive pedaling, and robust internal speaker system to make that sound come alive. Yamaha, Roland, Kawai,  Samick, and Dexibell are producing some fine pianos these days and their digital grand pianos are impressive in a number of ways and can make even some of the more advanced pianists musically very happy.

One of the biggest things about regular acoustic grand pianos that most people think is that they will likely have a larger "resale value" as compared to digital grand pianos, and in some cases that is true. But there are also brands of grand pianos that depreciate just as much (if not more) as digital grand pianos because that acoustic grand piano brand has gone out of business such as Wyman grand pianos, Wurlitzer pianos, Kimball pianos, and other once famous brands. Wyman piano company, as an example, used to produce some very nice grand pianos as did other now discontinued brands and trying to sell one of those pianos now will bring you just pennies on the dollar because overall less people are buying real acoustic pianos in favor of digital pianos, so the demand is less for real pianos, and also people don't want to pay a lot of money for a brand that is no longer in business. So just because real acoustic grand pianos cost more money to produce and therefor more money to purchase, does not mean they retain a high resale value. It's really all about "demand" and the "market" determines that aspect of value and the more that people recognize how good digital grand pianos can be, the less likely it is that they'll want a regular acoustic grand piano which will definitely lower resale value as the years go by.

At the "end of the day" an acoustic grand piano is still a fabulous instrument to own and play as long as you understand the pro's and con's of owning one and understand some of the limitations they can have. A high quality name brand digital grand piano certainly does have many advantages and have become more prevalent in homes, studios, churches, and schools throughout the country than ever before. As long as you stick to a top name brand and not an off-brand that produces "toy-like" digital grand pianos, in our opinion, such as Suzuki, Artesia, or Williams (which we call a "PSO" or "piano shaped object") then you will likely get a digital grand piano that your will enjoy for years to come.

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.

🎹 UPDATED REVIEW & COMPARISON - 2020 - Casio GP-500, GP-400, GP-300 Celviano Grand Hybird Digital Pianos 

*Casio is just going to be coming out with the new GP-510 and GP-310 digital pianos for 2020 which are the replacements for the current model GP-500 and GP-300. There will be a few nice upgrades including better piano sound samples, key action sensitivity, and longer pedaling sustain/decay time. The GP400 is officially discontinued and no announcement has been given suggesting any new replacement piano to take its place. All other features on the new GP-310 and GP-510 will be identical to the older GP300 and GP500 other than the changes to the piano sound chip (overall piano sound and sustain), internal speaker system, and sound coming through the headphone jack. Please read this previous review below to get an understanding not only of the old models but also the newer models since the regular functions & features will be the same. Price has gone up on the new models so that will also be a change.

I try to play every new digital piano that comes out on the market regardless of whether I already like that brand or not. There are some brands known for poorly designed digital pianos, others are known for cheap price digital pianos, and still other brands are known for being pro quality instruments that top pianists, music teachers, and other advanced players (like me) enjoy playing. So when it came to trying out and playing the new Casio Grand Hybrid series, especially the GP500BP with a retail price of $5999US (the BP stands for polished ebony), I was very skeptical that it really could be a good piano, and in reality I thought there was no way the GP series, in particular the GP500, could be taken seriously, especially at its $5999US price. Casio? $5999? I figured there is just no way those two things could possibly work together, especially given the huge competition in quality digital pianos from big well known names like Kawai, Roland, and Yamaha The name Casio has had a reputation for producing low priced but high quality consumer digital pianos as opposed to the much higher price Grand Hybrid pro series pianos. I like the consumer Casio piano products very much such as Privia and the lower price Celviano pianos and have done many reviews on those models under $2000 and they're a leader in that price range. But a Casio well over $3000?...and upwards to $6000?...there is just no way I thought...but wow, was I ever wrong.

As you keep reading this review do not miss watching the two videos I have posted at the bottom of this review. Also you can click on any pictures for larger views.

The Grand Hybrid GP500, GP400, and GP300 are called "Hybrid" for mainly one reason...the key/hammer action. These days it seems as if all the major digital piano companies want to do whatever it takes in getting as close as possible to reproducing a real acoustic "grand" piano. So the GP series key action and piano sound chip is Casio's way of doing this, especially in replicating the touch action of a real grand piano. The question is...did they do it? Actually, I believe they did a remarkable job and the result is a fairly life-like key movement and weight unlike other digital piano brands, but it was not Casio who designed and built this Grand Hybrid key actions, it was the C. Bechstein grand piano company in Berlin, Germany. The C. Bechstein piano factory was founded in October of 1853 by Carl Bechstein in Berlin, Germany. Carl Bechstein wanted to manufacture an acoustic piano able to withstand the great demands put on the instrument by the virtuosos of the time, such as Franz Liszt. List was a phenomenal pianist and was very hard on pianos (he played like a monster) when it came to key action. In 1857, Hans von Bülow (Liszt's son-in-law) gave the first public performance on a Bechstein grand piano by performing Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor in Berlin. By 1870, with endorsements from Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, Bechstein pianos had become the norm in many concert halls and private mansions.

By that time three piano makers, all of which were founded in 1853, became established as the industry leaders across the world and they were Bechstein, Blüthner and Steinway & Sons. So the Bechstein brand was in very good company:). In 1881 Bechstein began supplying pianos to Queen Victoria and a gilded art-case piano was delivered to Buckingham Palace followed by several more Bechstein pianos to Windsor Castle and other royal residences. By January 1886 they were among the piano manufacturers holding was called "a Royal Warrant" as a supplier to the Queen. Several British embassies across the world acquired Bechstein pianos and they are still popular across the world today and used by professional pianists in concert. However, that brand is not as well known in America as they are in Europe and other parts of the world.

What this all means is that the wood key action movement in the Casio Grand Hybrid pianos is directly from the Bechstein piano company and built for the new Casio GP piano series and the keys themselves are authentic full size grand piano keys made from real sprucewood from individual spruce trees in Austria (wow, that's pretty cool!). From what I have learned, the natural wood is precision cut and aged slowly over the time so that the keys in the key action can remain solid, aligned, and playable over years of practice and performance. Attached to the wood key action inside these Grand Hybrid models is a moving hammer mechanism designed to imitate real hammers in an acoustic grand piano. This moving hammer mechanism is made from resin and synthetic compounds, etc that can withstand weather and humidity changes so that the hammers will last almost indefinitely without the need for adjustment or maintenance as you would otherwise have in a real acoustic piano. When the hammers move as you are pressing a key, you can actually feel the weight of those keys under your fingers and direct connection of the moving hammer mechanism inside the piano to the keys which gives the player a feeling of natural expression and being directly connected to the music in a way that digital pianos without moving full length hammers cannot really do. The hammers in the Grand Hybrid pianos don't actually strike any strings in the piano because there are no strings...and that's one of the positive points of a digital piano...no strings to tune and maintain.

When I played the GP500 for long periods of time, it was like I was actually playing a real grand piano in many ways and the feeling was pretty amazing for a digital piano. The weight of the keys are also unique in that they are like no other top name brand digital piano that I have ever played in this price range in the way the keys move and feel under your fingers. Although the key action is a bit firmer in my opinion when pressing the keys down than the some of the other higher price digital brands, the touch-weight (amount of finger pressure/force your fingers need to push the keys) is still relatively smooth, easy, and quick so that the overall experience playing the keys is more like playing a naturalgrand piano than many of the other digital piano brands in this price range, and I have had other piano players tell me that as well. The GP key action does not have the escapement/letoff feel that you would normally experience playing a real grand piano but there is a reason for this. I was told that the Bechstein company wanted the fastest responding acoustic piano style action that was possible to get in a digital piano. To make this happen Bechstein's only recourse was to leave out the escapement "simulation" because otherwise that feature would have prevented a faster key movement for those players who perform at very high skill levels. In reality for most pianists, the escapement function on digital pianos is somewhat irrelevant because it's not the near same thing as in a real grand piano and is only simulated in a small way. With this in mind, the importance of key movement and faster triggering of the piano sound took priority over having a "simulated" escapement feature. I believe that Casio/Bechstein made the right choice because this Grand key action is lightning fast when it comes to playing authentic piano pieces and if giving up a simulated escapement/let-off function allows for a better moving, better responding action and sound then I am all for it. As I mentioned earlier, the key weight when pressing down on the keys is firmer and a bit heavier than other digital piano key actions I have played but the movement is still smooth, responsive, with excellent touch-weight and if you are looking for piano playing authenticity that is not available on other digital pianos, then I believe you will be impressed with this GP key action. As far as the material used to produce the key tops, the white key-tops are made from the latest technology in plastics and are identical to the keytops of the Bechstein European concert grand pianos. Many of the new name brand digital pianos are using synthetic ivory feel white key tops with the purpose of trying to recreate the feel of older grand pianos from the 1960's and earlier years when real ivory was the material used to create the key tops. However, for many years now, real acoustic grand pianos have not had real or synthetic ivory on their keys so the key feel of the new Casio GP500 is identical to what current day acoustic grand pianos feel like. In this way you can transition from a real acoustic grand or upright piano to a Casio/Bechstein Celviano Hybrid GP500 digital piano (or vice-versa) with no differences at all in the key "feel" and materials used on the keys. The black keys are a natural satin finish made of phenol so that feel will also be the same as an acoustic grand piano. *Take a look at the video at the bottom of the page showing the key action hammer movement. It's pretty cool:)

As a reference and comparison, the only other top name pianos with actual moving piano hammers in a digital piano is the Yamaha Avant Grand series of digital pianos including the NU1X, N1X, N2, and N3X. However, these pianos all use wood hammers, wood hammer shanks, and organic connective parts which are very good and just like an acoustic piano but will likely require more maintenance over time. The Yamaha NU1X (left pic - see-through front is for display purposes only) upright style piano sells for approximately $6000US at local store discount price and it has an upright console hammer key action but not a grand piano key action, and there is a very big difference between the two types. Beyond that, the NU1X has very few sounds and very few digital options and features so it's a very, basic digital piano in that way, although the cabinet is attractive in its polished ebony finish. The higher priced Yamaha N1X ($10,000US retail price) has a grand piano style action with all wood parts, but would likely require more maintenance over time as I mentioned earlier. The Yamaha N1X AvantGrand is an exceptionally nice digital piano, but even at discount price it sells for approx $9000US in Yamaha piano stores and the functionality and features are also very basic, The N2 and N3X go up in price quite a bit from the N1X and all have the same key actions as the N1X and pretty much the same basic features with a few exceptions. So when it comes to a key action mechanism in a digital piano, this new Casio Celviano Grand Hybrid GP500 (above left pic) in my opinion is ahead of the lower priced Yamaha upright NU1X in a few ways and somewhat competitive to the higher priced Yamaha Avant Grand N1X, N2, and N3X pianos, although the Yamaha N series Grand Key actions are the "real deal" and much more organic and natural as compared to the Casio's...but they should be given their prices.

The GP500, 400, and 300 have the industry standard 256-note polyphony processing power which is important in helping to give the player enough power to play more complex pieces of music without the loss of notes or damper sustain. As far as piano sound authenticity goes, all of the major digital piano companies would claim to have the best piano sound in their digital pianos and certainly Casio is no exception. What else would you expect them to say?! Casio wants you to believe they have the best piano sound found in these new hybrid digital pianos and overall I believe they have done a very good job and I was impressed. Casio has developed a new proprietary piano sound chip and electronics key sensing system not found in some of the other digital pianos and I thought these new acoustic piano sound samples to be very impressive in the GP series, especially the GP500. All of the digital piano companies use fancy words and phrases to describe how they get their piano sound along with the natural organic nuances they try to capture from real acoustic grand pianos to enhance the piano sound of their digital pianos. I won't bore you with all the terminology except to say that Casio records/samples 3 distinct well known European acoustic grand pianos which includes the Bechstein (Berlin) German Concert Grand, the Steinway (Hamburg) German Concert Grand, and the Bosendorfer (Vienna) Viennese Concert Grand. These three famous piano brands are the standard by which all other acoustic and digital piano companies try to emulate. Since the Casio GP series is designed in cooperation with the Bechstein piano company of Germany, it is easy to understand why the three main piano sounds in the GP series are so good. I found each piano sound sample to be unique with their own qualities of tone and dynamic range, but yet they were all enjoyable to play. What did impress me most about the piano sounds were their dynamic range of tone and the ability to really express yourself across all tonal ranges depending on your touch and finger movement. The Viennese Bosendorfer sound was also impressive to me and much more natural and realistic than the Bosendorfer sound sample offered on the new Yamaha Clavinova CLP models. With 256-note polyphony processing power along with good pedal sustain and dynamic expression, even advanced classical music can be played well including the layering of two instrument sounds together.

Pedaling is always important to the piano playing experience and the Grand Hybrids will likely not disappoint you since it is done the traditional way with damper pedal including continuous detection pedaling along with adjustable half-damper control, sostenuto pedal, and soft pedal. The pedals seem to move naturally and they have a type of grand feel movement to the pedals unlike some other digital pianos I have played that have lightweight movement or no half-damper pedal control. Casio also added pedal resonance and damper noise to simulate what real acoustic pianos do when using the damper pedal for sustaining the piano tones. So the pedaling portion of this model is convincing, at least it is to me and I played it quite a bit.

As far as the operating system goes, Casio incorporated a side panel control unit with LCD display which is very similar to what Kawai and Yamaha are currently using in their digital pianos. Although this is a simple and elegant design created to reduce the "digital look" of the buttons and controls of the piano and make it more minimalistic, I would prefer an attached lid or cover on that panel so you wouldn't see it at all when the piano is not in use or you just don't want to change controls while playing and don't want to see the panel. Kawai offers this design on its top of the line digital piano called the CS11, but that model retails for more than $8000. The Samick piano company offers a beautiful upright style digital piano called the NEO with a side control panel and it has an attached cover that closes up over the buttons and display screen, and that piano is less than $4500US retail price. Regardless, the control panel still looks good, is minimal in design, and I found that using the controls was fairly easy to do (although there is still a small learning curve) and the display screen was, overall, easy to read and buttons were easy to use. However, in additional to the LCD control panel, I would also like an iPad/Android app to connect to the piano which could display all internal controls and features on an app so that you could access all functions that way. There is only one brand of digital piano that can do that and that's the Yamaha Clavinova and NU1X line of digital pianos and having that intuitive connectivity and control over the functions & features is pretty cool The Casio GP's are designed primarily for a person to play piano with a few other extra features added along with some basic but good instrument sounds, MIDI & audio recording, and some editing features, so the display screen & navigation is generally satisfactory for those purposes.

The feature set and sound library in the GP500 & 400 pianos include 35 instrument sounds (the GP300 has 28 sounds) which include acoustic pianos, strings, choirs, organs, harpsichords, etc. Theses sounds can be layered 2 at a time, split with 2 different instruments one on the left side and one on the right side, duet piano mode for 2-person simultaneous play, registration preset "scene" mode for saving your own setups or using preset factory setups for instant play, lots of different hall/reverb settings which really adds to the realism of the piano sound along with adjustable touch sensitivity, brilliance, and DSP which helps the user/player create a customizable piano sound and action response. There are a number of specific organic piano sound elements which Casio/Bechstein incorporates into the GP500 & GP400 which allows the piano sounds to be even more natural and organic. This feature is called the "Acoustic Simulator" and would include things like adjustable Hammer Response, Damper Resonance, String Resonance, Aliquot Resonance (this feature is found in fine grand pianos and adds to the harmonic richness of the piano sound), Open String Resonance, Lid Simulator, Key Off Simulator, Damper Noise, Key On Action Noise, and Key Off Action Noise all of which are adjustable so that you can micro -customize the piano tones the way it would sound best to you. The GP's also have a variety of tuning temperaments as well as a variety of piano stretch tunings including being able to shut off the stretch tuning depending on what sounds best to you. But for many people the factory default preset acoustic piano sounds may likely be enough to give you an outstanding piano playing experience.

When it comes to adding some "fun" to this model, Casio has a new feature called  "Concert Play" which means that you can select from up to 15 songs that are full orchestral CD quality renditions of famous classical music that you can listen to and play along with. You can even slow down the concert song while you try to learn it as well as rewind, fast forward, and loop a set of measures together for repeat play. You can also download new Concert Play songs from a Casio internet site, save them on a USB flashdrive, and then play them on the Grand Hybrid's. The Concert Play songs sound absolutely authentic just like listening to a full, live orchestra right in your home coming through the internal piano speakers. You can also play MIDI piano performances along with education piano song lessons by downloading those files on the internet and saving them to a USB flashdrive for playback on the piano.

Speaking of speakers, the internal speaker system is unique in that the top of the piano has a movable lid which can be propped up to allow more sound to come out towards the player which gives you the feeling of a grand piano sound experience with the lid open. You can even see the hammers move by looking through the inside top of the piano while you or someone else is playing. The only other digital piano that has a lid that opens in this general price range is the Roland LX17 but that piano retails for $1200 more at $7299 and has no moving hammers like the Grand Hybrid's. These new pianos have 6 speakers, 4 amplifiers, and 100 watts of power each which is actually plenty for these models, but they pull only 38 watts of power from your electricity, so the amplifiers are fairly energy efficient. The 2 main, larger speakers of the piano are housed in separate acoustic boxes mounted underneath the piano with the speakers facing downward rather than forward as on some other digital pianos, so that the GP piano sound is coming both towards the player on the top and the bigger speakers towards the floor like a grand piano soundboard would do. In my opinion this makes for a more natural piano sound experience and I did like it very much.

The piano also has 2 headphone jacks for private play along with USB output to device for iPad and computer connectivity and USB flashdrive input for song play and recording, and also two regular MIDI connectors for those people who have MIDI music gear that they want to connect to the piano. Casio included 1/4" input and output audio jacks for connecting external devices to enhance the piano sound even further through external speakers or use the internal speaker system to amplify other sound devices such as computers, tablets, MP3 players, etc.

There are other functions and features on the GP500, GP400, and GP300 but those are secondary things as compared with what I believe it this digital piano's primary purpose and goal...to offer an impressive grand piano playing experience in a beautiful polished ebony cabinet with folding key cover, full size music rack, opening lid and matching bench along with a complete 5 year factory warranty on manufacturer defects if they should ever occur. The GP500 is only available in polished ebony finish, so if you want a non-polished ebony color, the GP300 & GP400 come in satin black. Based on what I have seen for many years on all of the other digital pianos that Casio has produced and the overall quality and "bang for the buck" they have brought to the table, I believe Casio has a great future in this premium category for higher priced digital pianos with the advent of their Grand Hybrid series in cooperation with the Bechstein Piano Company. For some people the Casio name has a negative connotation because over the years people have wrongly equated the Casio name with low price and low expectations simply because Casio has focused on the lower price range with many of its electronic products. But nothing could really be further from the truth as in reality all that means is that they offer a lot of product and features for less money than you would otherwise expect and the same seems to be true for the GP300, GP400, and GP500 pianos.

Casio has not, in the past, had the prestige or gravitas of a digital piano name like Yamaha, Kawai, or Roland. I know that, they know that, and many shoppers know that. But a name means somewhat less these days considering how much great technology is being developed by companies who were not as well known before with having higher priced technology products, such as these Grand Hybrid pianos. There are many examples of these kinds of consumer electronics companies in the computer, cell phone, and TV industries, and even though Casio is very well known in the lower priced digital piano keyboard world, they are definitely not known for having digital pianos which compete with the highest price Kawai, Yamaha, or Roland digital pianos...but now they do. With the help of the Bechstein acoustic piano company along with new piano sound technology developed by Casio, I believe this is just the beginning of their successful partnership and they should be able to continue to develop even more impressive digital pianos in the future. I would not be surprised if they came out with a mini-grand piano shaped product in the future as that would be a logical next step for these two companies working together. But for now in my opinion the GP series certainly is up there with the best digital upright style pianos that Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland have to offer in this price range, and in fact the GP400 & GP500 is even more realistic than the competition in a few different ways, as I have already talked about, such as its special all-sprucewood European hammer action key movement and dynamic range of expressiveness.

GP300 satin black

As for the other Casio-Bechstein models like the GP300 ($3999US retail price), the piano sound is not quite as realistic as the GP500 although it is still very competitive with other digital pianos in its price range. In addition to this, Casio is recently came out with their GP400 which has the same features of the GP500 but with a new cabinet design available in a lower priced satin black simulated woodgrain finish priced at $4999US retail. After putting the GP's through their paces, I agree that these models would make an excellent addition to anyone's home, church, school, or studio as long as they understand that the Grand Hybrid digital pianos are primarily designed to be purchased in place of an acoustic piano and are not heavy on additional features such as wireless, Bluetooth, lots of extra instrument sounds, has no drum patterns, no automatic interactive chords, no General MIDI recording or playback, no multitrack sequencer, and no proprietary iPad apps like some other digital pianos do. However, with USB to device connectivity you can plug in a USB cable and use many MIDI iPad apps with full MIDI/USB interaction from a Grand Hybrid to the iPad along with Bluetooth audio connectivity using a 3rd party Bluetooth adapter plugged into the piano audio input so that music from your iPad/Android device can stream directly through the GP500 speaker system. Also, it has been my experience that direct connectivity using a USB cable is more stable than with internal Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity.

GP500 polished ebony

As far as I am concerned, at 170 lbs in weight with cabinet dimensions of approximately 56" x 19"x 38", the very attractive polished ebony GP500 is a piano I would definitely own if I wanted to focus squarely on the best possible grand piano playing experience that Casio-Bechstein has to offer along with being a more minimalistic looking instrument which adds to the overall elegance of this piano. The Bechstein key action hammer system is not available in any brand of digital piano and you won't get a moving grand piano hammer mechanism until you get to the Yamaha Avantgrand N1 which has a retail price of $9999US. The appearance of the GP500 is also impressive in that when you prop open the lid of the piano to let the sound come out more, you see an attractive red material covering the inside piano top and you can actually see the moving piano hammers through two long rectangular windows in the top of the piano while you are playing the keys. It's a very cool visual experience along with having a beautiful piece of furniture. The GP300 and GP400 have this feature as well.

There is one thing I find to be a bit odd when it comes to the GP500 and that is the height adjustable black bench included with the piano does not match the high gloss black piano finish. The bench is a single size satin black (non-gloss) finish and even though an adjustable height bench is very nice to have, I am a bit baffled by the lack of a matching high gloss finish on the bench. Is this an oversight on the part of Casio or what? I just don't understand the reason for this but it's something which can be easily corrected if Casio chooses to do that which I recommend that they do. The satin black bench is fine for their satin (matte) black pianos, but not for the polished ebony finishes in my opinion. It's also important to note that some very nice high gloss polished ebony benches are available on-line at Amazon.com for low prices anywhere from about $50-$75, and some of those benches look to be as nice or nicer than the Casio bench included with the GP500. So the bench is a solvable problem and the extra cost for a polished ebony bench is a small price to pay, but it still should not be the responsibility of the owner to do that in my opinion. The bench issue is definitely not a deal breaker and is a very small thing as compared with all of the great things this piano can do. Another thing I noticed about these pianos is that when you plug in headphones, the output volume of the headphone jack is a bit weak on most stereo headphones, at least it is for my ears. For many people it will be just fine, but for others, like me, I like the piano volume in my ears to be louder when I want it to be and the maximum headphone volume could be better. Along the same lines, the maximum volume output through the internal speakers could also be a bit louder just like in the headphones, I prefer to get a big volume because I like to be able to play loud when I want to and the GP series could be better in this way in my opinion. Since the GP500 costs more money than the other GP models, I was hoping that the GP500 speaker system would also have an upgraded internal sound system, but it is identical to the lower priced GP models. I would prefer to spend a bit more money on the GP500 to get a more powerful internal sound system, but for many people it will be more than adequate the way it is.

AP700

By the way, Casio has a lower price Celviano model called the AP700 priced at $2999US retail price and selling at discount in stores for approx $2500US. The AP700 piano has the identical digital technology as is in the Grand Hybrid GP300 with all the high quality grand piano sounds and functions that people like in the GP300. The difference is that the AP700 has a differently designed cabinet and control panel which is still very attractive, it has 60 watts of stereo power instead of 100 watts but 60 watts is still very loud, bur most significantly the AP700 has the standard Casio plastic key action found in their lower priced Celviano pianos. The Grand Hybrid all-wood concert key actions by Bechstein is the main reason why the GP300 costs significantly more money than the AP700. However the AP700 key action is still impressive with regard to its triple sensor key movement and piano graded-weighted action with ivory/ebony keytops. If you think this model may be a better choice for you based on specs and price range, then read my AP700 review at the following link and let me know what you think: Casio AP700 Review

Based on my personal experience I am pretty sure the $6000US retail price of the GP500 and the retail prices of the other two models should be discounted a bit in US piano stores that carry this model, as most stores do discount their piano prices. The GP pianos cannot be purchased on-line from a US shopping cart piano dealer and the Grand Hybrid models are not available everywhere in the US at local dealers due to limited distribution. However it is definitely worth the effort and if you want more info on where these models are located or what their competitive pricing would be, please email me and I can give you more info and advice. This is Casio's first attempt to enter this premium digital piano category and I am sure we will see even more models come out in the future having their continued partnership with Bechstein piano company of Germany. As for the the lower priced satin black GP300 and GP400 models, if the GP500 seems to be out of your price range and/or you want a satin black finish, then you should consider those lower priced Grand Hybrid pianos instead of the GP500. You can still be very happy with the GP300 or GP400 and they stack up extremely well against their competition. Below is a comparison chart of the 3 models so that you can visually see and know the primary differences among them.

Features	GP300	GP400	GP500
Polyphony	256	256	256
Total sounds	26 incl strings, organs, harpsichord, etc	35 incl strings, organs, harpsichord, etc	35 incl strings, organs, harpsichord, etc
Main piano sounds	Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna	Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna	Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna
Total grand pianos	12	14	14
Grand hammer action	Yes – individual keys	Yes – individual keys	Yes – individual keys
Full length grand keys	Acoustic grand keys	Acoustic grand keys	Acoustic grand keys
Graded-weighted keys	Yes, medium firm	Yes, medium firm	Yes, medium firm
Austrian wooden keys	Aged organic spruce	Aged organic Spruce	Aged organic Spruce
Grand fulcrum point	Yes	Yes	Yes
Acrylic white keytops	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style
Phenol black keytops	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style
Key Center Pin	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style	Yes - grand style
Grand hammers	Resin - full movement	Resin - full movement	Resin - full movement
Hardware resonator	No	Yes - affects each key	Yes - affects each key
Triple key sensor	Yes	Yes	Yes
Key force detection	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hammer response	Yes	Yes	Yes
String resonance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lid simulator system	Yes	Yes	Yes
Open string resonance	No	Yes	Yes
Aliquot resonance	No	Yes	Yes
Key on action noise	No	Yes	Yes
Key off action noise	No	Yes	Yes
Brilliance control	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hall-reverb simulator	Yes - 12 types	Yes - 12 types	Yes - 12 types
DSP & chorus effects	Yes	Yes	Yes
Headphone Mode	Yes - surround sound	Yes - surround sound	Yes - surround sound
Touch response	Yes - 5 levels	Yes - 5 levels	Yes - 5 levels
Tuning	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stretch tuning effects	Yes - 5 types, off	Yes - 5 types, off	Yes - 5 types, off
Temperaments	Yes - 17 types	Yes - 17 types	Yes - 17 types
Grand pedal system	Yes - weighted	Yes - weighted	Yes - weighted
Pedaling	Continuous detection	Continuous detection	Continuous detection
Adjustable half-damp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Damper resonance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Damper noise	Yes	Yes	Yes
Transpose	Yes - 2 octaves	Yes - 2 octaves	Yes - 2 octaves
Duet mode	Yes - adjust 2 octaves	Yes - adjust 2 octaves	Yes - adjust 2 octaves
Octave shift	Yes - adjust 4 octaves	Yes - adjust 4 octaves	Yes - adjust 4 octaves
Concert play mode	Yes - 15 songs + user	Yes - 15 songs + user	Yes - 15 songs + user
Music Library	Yes - 60 + 10 user	Yes - 60 + 10 user	Yes - 60 + 10 user
MIDI & audio recorder	Yes - 2 track, 1 track	Yes - 2 track, 1 track	Yes - 2 track, 1 track
Scene registrations	No	Yes - 15 preset, 10 usr	Yes - 15 preset, 10 usr
Metronome	Yes	Yes	Yes
Layer/Split 2 sounds	Yes	Yes	Yes
Backlit LCD display	Yes	Yes	Yes
USB Flash drive input	Yes	Yes	Yes
USB output to device	Yes - plug & play	Yes - plug & play	Yes - plug & play
MIDI input/output	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dual audio ins/outs	Yes	Yes	Yes
Headphone jacks	Yes - 2	Yes - 2	Yes - 2
Volume sync EQ	Yes - 3 types, off	Yes - 3 types, off	Yes - 3 types, off
Speakers	2 x 6.3"+ 2 x 4" + 2 x 2"	2 x 6.3"+ 2 x 4" + 2 x 2"	2 x 6.3"+ 2 x 4" + 2 x 2"
Amplifiers	30w x 2 + 20w x 2	30w x 2 + 20w x 2	30w x 2 + 20w x 2
Cabinet dimensions	57" x 19" x 38"	58" x 19" x 39.5"	57" x 19" x 38"
Cabinet weight	171 lbs	188.5 lbs	171 lbs
Bench	Yes - height adjustable	Yes - height adjustable	Yes - height adjustable

*correction: GP400 cabinet weight is the same as GP300/GP500....171 lbs

This video below is showing the Grand Hybrid GP500 being played on-stage in a live classical concert from Berlin, Germany. The language is mostly in German but there are English subtitles. I was impressed by this video because I never see upright digital pianos (particularly Casio) being played in professional Philharmonic Concerts...pianists just won't normally do that.



The video below is showing the Casio-Bechstein key action hammer movement. Watch how the moving hammers behave like real acoustic grand piano hammers. No other digital piano brand in this price range (under $10,000) has anything like it. To me that's pretty impressive.



If you want more info on new digital pianos & pricing, including info on the new Grand Hybrids, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.comor call direct at 602-571-1864.

🎹 Kawai KDP110 digital piano /  updated REVIEW / Jan 2020 -  The Kawai piano company has been producing high quality acoustic & digital pianos for many decades and is well known throughout the world by professionals, teachers, and musicians as a leader in digital piano technology. So it should come as no surprise that Kawai has "upped its game" with their KDP110 home digital piano at just $1199 internet discount price which now takes the place of the previous KDP90. What makes this piano stand out among a crowd of popular competitors is the fact that it is Kawai's only traditional furniture cabinet digital under $1800 whereas the other top digital piano manufacturers such as Yamaha, Roland, Korg, and Casio have a number of furniture cabinet models selling for under $1800 all the way down to $700. So if you are only going to offer one model under $1500 price range, then it better be good...right? Well, as far as I am concerned after having played this model many times, Kawai has definitely moved forward in its quest to have a great low priced home digital piano that is very competitive in its price range.

The primary things shoppers are looking for when wanting to purchase a new digital piano is realistic, responsive piano weighted key action, expressive, organic acoustic piano tone with a smooth,wide dynamic tonal range, and last but not least...responsive pedaling with long, bold piano sustain decay times. Also, to enhance these things it is necessary to send all that great sound through a competent internal speaker system which can bring out a good bass response so the sound is not tinny, but big and bold with a rich sound coming through. All of the other things a digital piano can do such as offering other instrument sounds, drum patterns, recording, layering, USB connectivity, etc are secondary although they can be useful and fun to have and the KDP110 definitely has many other useful functions and features to offer.


First, it is important to talk about key action which is by far the most important thing you should be concerned about when shopping for a digital piano. Key action includes how the keys move individually or together, the weight of each key, the amount of pressure it takes for the fingers to press the keys down, the amount of time and pressure the keys exhibit in coming back up, the way the keys interact with the piano sound and if the key action under each key has proper electronics under the keys (called key sensors) to allow the piano to have smooth transition in volume when playing lightly or quietly and then when playing harder with more expression and how the piano sound volume and tonal dynamics come out as you are playing. Also many key actions exhibit a lot of noise (much more than normal) when the keys are being played, both when the keys go down and when they come back up, and many off-brands of digital pianos behave badly in this way and produce loud and distracting key movement noise along with terrible volume and tonal response. Unfortunately that is something you cannot see...inside the key action where it all happens. Also, if you do not play piano at all or do not play fairly well, you are likely not going to know what is good and what is bad when it comes to the all important key action and the way it is supposed to work. If you get a digital piano with a poor quality key action it will absolutely stunt the growth of any piano student no matter what their age and that is something you want to avoid at all costs.

In its price range the Kawai KDP110 key action called RHC2 is good for a digital piano in this price range and I was impressed overall. It has a good balance of graded weighted keys with key movement from low to high octaves being not too firm and not too light, and overall a quieter moving key action as compared to some of the competition. Only Korg has a more realistic and quieter key action, but their competitive model called the C1 Air is $1399US internet price so it's $200 more. Also the weight and movement of both the black and white keys on the Kawai KDP110 were good which is not necessarily the case with other manufacturers, especially when it comes to the black keys and how they move. Beyond the physical nature of the piano key action are the electronic key sensors under each key. In the past Kawai had a 2-sensor key action which has 2 electronic sensors under each key to sense key repetition. Three key sensors under each key can help with key repetition response when playing faster and more quickly on the keys, especially when the keys are being pressed down before they come all the way back up again. Kawai KDP110 now has 3 key sensors although in a 2-key sensor digital piano, if the key sensors are "high definition" sensors, then 2 sensors are all that's needed as compared to 3 sensors that are not high definition type sensors. There are only two things this key action does not have that a couple other brands do such as Casio & Roland and that is synthetic ivory & ebony keytops and/or the escapement feature. Synthetic ivory and ebony is being used to try to replicate the key feel (the tops of the keys) that old acoustic pianos used to have decades ago. The escapement feature is a hesitation or "notch" that you would feel as you press the key down very slowly on a grand piano. However the escapement feature on a digital piano is at best a very limited imitation of the real thing and in reality does not actually simulate it. The KDP110 does not have the synthetic ivory & ebony but neither do real acoustic pianos these days. The KDP110 keytops simulate what real new acoustic upright & grand piano keys feel like that are being made today. Since Kawai builds and is famous for their acoustic upright and grand pianos then they know what they're doing in producing high quality piano keys. So as far as I am concerned Kawai has done a great job with offering a very satisfying piano key action in their new KDP110, especially in this price range.

The next most important thing when shopping for a good digital piano is to pay attention to the piano sound authenticity. For people who do not play piano or have little experience with the actual piano sound of good acoustic pianos then knowing what constitutes a good piano sound can be a daunting task. How do you know if one piano sound is more realistic than other and does it really matter? The answer is that it doesn't matter so much in the beginning if you don't know how to play piano yet. But as you grow in your piano playing skills then having a more authentic and expressive piano sound in your digital piano will matter quite a bit because unless your piano is capable of reproducing a large amount of smooth tonal expression and volume, you will not be able to properly reproduce the music your are trying to play and your piano can and will stunt your "musical growth." So just because the instrument looks like a piano does not mean the piano sound and expression will be any good, particularly in the off-name, lower quality brands like Artesia, Kurzweil, Suzuki, Williams, etc. In fact in some of these cheaper brands the tonal dynamics and volume when playing the key action is so choppy and compressed that it will hurt any piano student trying to improve in their piano playing skills and abilities. So you need to be very careful in what you finally decide to buy.

With all this in mind I can tell you from 1st hand experience that the Kawai KDP110 has fairly realistic acoustic piano sound reproduction originating from Kawai acoustic grand pianos. These piano sounds offer good dynamic tonal range (mellow to bright and everywhere in-between) depending on how hard you play on the keys along with smooth volume transitions from very soft to very loud and also everywhere in-between. The piano tones are actual samples/recordings from real Kawai acoustic grand pianos including concert quality, mellow, bright, jazz, pop and and a variety of other choices. With 192 notes of polyphony power there is plenty of room in the piano memory samples to play complex pieces of music and be able to have a very satisfying result. One of the reasons the piano tones come across so realistically is because Kawai samples all 88-notes individually instead of in groups. In other words some piano companies sample one note and then electronically stretch that note up to the next note and the next note and so on. So basically the notes are "tuned up" to the next note rather than the next note be individually sampled and recorded from the real grand piano. Since Kawai does individual note sampling then the piano sound characteristics on each key are noticeably more realistic when transitioning from one note to the next. When you do the same thing in playing one note to the next on a cheaper quality digital piano like the ones I mentioned above, it's like you are hearing different pianos on each note/key. One key is more mellow then the next key is very bright and then one note may be louder and then next note be softer in volume. This kind of thing really inhibits musical growth, creates bad playing habits, and overall the music just sounds "fake" and not pleasing at all. Unfortunately many shoppers don't understand what to look for when it comes to piano along with key action the key actions to express those sounds. So they buy something because they think they are getting a "good deal" and instead what they wind up with what I call a"PSO" (aka: a piano shaped object). Please...do not get a piano shaped object but spend your hard earned money on something good, something that will be as much like a piano as you can afford to pay, otherwise you will regret it especially if this piano is for a student (you, an adult relative, or child) or you already play piano and you want a new digital piano that will allow you to have good musical growth which in my opinion this KDP110 will do very well within its price range.

The three pedals attached to the front bottom of the piano are important, especially the right damper/sustain pedal. Without using the right pedal most songs can sound choppy and much less beautiful. However when a beginner student is learning to play then the right pedal is not important until many months have passed by where that beginner student is ready to use the pedal and learn proper pedaling technique. The other two pedals include the center pedal known as sostenuto pedal which sustains only specific notes and the left pedal is known as the soft pedal which softens the volume on all notes simultaneously whenever the song calls for it. The damper/sustain pedal is the one which is used almost all the time while the left soft pedal is used much less often by beginners to intermediate players, and the middle sostenuto pedal is rarely used by anyone these days as it has almost become a decoration rather than a useful pedal function...although in some classical pieces for some players, it is useful. But it's really all about the right damper/sustain pedal and Kawai does a very good job reproducing that pedal experience with a "grand feel" pedal system which tries to simulate the actual feel and weight of the pedal when pressing down on it and which also offers half-damper pedaling. Half-damper is a term that means when you press the pedal down there is a variety of sustain times or amounts of sustain that you get depending on how far down you press the pedal. This function is absolutely necessary for realistic piano sound and without the half-damper feature the piano sound would be more like a keyboard because most keyboards don't have half-damper piano pedaling...the pedal just is on or off with no variation of sustain which makes it more choppy sounding. So when it comes to pedaling Kawai has what anyone would need in this price range to have a very good pedaling experience.

When it comes to the non-acoustic piano sounds and functions in the KDP110 there are many and they are all pretty good. There are realistic instrument tones including electric pianos, organs, choirs, harpsichord, strings, etc and you can layer (combine) any two sounds together such as strings and grand piano or harpsichord and choir just to name a few. You can also digitally transpose the key you are in and play the song in any key which can be useful when singing along and getting into your vocal range. The KDP110 also has some useful reverb (echo) effects which accentuate the piano tones by adding to the realism like you would hear in a bigger room or hall where there is natural echo/reverb to give the piano tone a larger effect. This kind of thing is very nice to have and even though other digital pianos may have these reverb effects doesn't mean they are actually any good because there are different qualities. The KDP110 has some noticeably high quality reverb effects that sound more natural than other digital pianos I have played in this price range. Beyond the reverb effects, when playing a good acoustic piano there are all kinds of natural occurring organic sounds coming from within the acoustic grand piano cabinet when the the keys are being played and the notes are being heard. Some of these organic elements of piano sound are called damper resonance, key-off tone,hammer sound, lid position, damper/sustain decay time, half-pedal sustain positions, and the way a piano is tuned which normally is called stretch tuning and this kind of tuning can drastically affect the outcome of the piano sound the player/person will be hearing when playing the piano. All of this nuanced organic elements of an acoustic grand piano are in the Kawai KDP110 and those individual features are adjustable in the KDP110 as well. In fact, Kawai also has an iOS/iPad app they call "virtual technician" which will allow you to easily see and adjust these natural organic piano elements to your liking by adding more strength to the effect or taking away some of the strength of that effect. Using the iPad for the touch interface to control these things (along with the key touch sensitivity and other features) makes using the "Virtual Technician" a breeze and then anyone can do it...even a 3 year old:). There are some internal features/functions which must be accessed from the piano itself and are not near as intuitive to use and may require opening the owners manual to figure it out. But for the most part what this all means is that Kawai is really focusing on the piano playing experience in this new KDP110 so that a person who mainly wants a very satisfying piano playing experience will definitely get one in my opinion. If you don't want to make any adjustments to the piano sounds using "Virtual Technician" then you don't have to at all. You can simply play the piano as it has been set up by Kawai at their factory with what most people will enjoy hearing, so the factory default settings are generally more than enough for most people.

With regard to learning how to play a piano the KDP110 does have some useful features which helps the student learn to play better and also helps the recreational player (who can already play piano) to have a more interactive and fun playing experience. One of the features that can be useful is a digital recorder which can store 3 songs internally in the piano. It's a very simple recorder where you just press the record button, play your song, stop the recording, and then play back your song...simple. Some digital pianos have more extensive recording functions with separate tracks and separate sounds that can be recorded on each track. But the KDP110 just uses quick and simple technology to record both left & right hand simultaneously and then be able to instantly hear what you did. I am a long time piano instructor and pro musician and to be able to actually hear your performance or practice session is very helpful so that you can hear your mistakes and be able to correct them later. When you play back your recording you can also play "live" over it to accompany yourself if you wish which can be fun. Included with the recorder practice function is a full set of songs from the popular Alfred piano method series book level 1A and book level 1B along with songs from the Burgmuller, Czerny, and Beyer instructional books. These songs can help you understand what they should sound like when looking at the lesson books (optional) and you can slow down or speed up the playback of the songs while you are learning to play them. I believe that good ear training is helpful to the student and being able to play along really can help with musical development. To keep the student playing in the correct tempo there is a also an adjustable digital metronome on board to help with rhythm and timing which is a vital part of learning to play the piano and working on new music.

Also, sometimes you may want two people to learn the same song and play at the same time, especially younger students. So you you have kids then if two of them who are learning to play the same things can actually play at the same time on the KDP110 by setting a function to electronically split the 88 keys in half having two 44-note keyboards and then you can have one person play on the left side of the piano on the first 44 keys and then the other student play on the right side using the other 44 keys. the right pedal controls sustain for the right side keys and the left pedal controls sustain for the left 44 keys. This is a pretty cool feature and works well for these kinds of practice situations and Kawai calls it a four-hands mode allowing two people to play simultaneously with both 44 keyboards playing in the same octave having the sound so that 2 people will hear can practice independently but at the same time.

I need to mention that Kawai has an exclusive learning feature in the KDP110 that no other digital piano company offers that specifically targets rhythm and timing training in beginner kids and adults and is actually quite fun for any person to use. Kawai calls this feature "Concert Magic." What Kawai has done is taken 40 popular well-known tunes over the years such as "Twinkle twinkle little star, Mary had a little lamb, O when the Saints, Row row row your boat, Yankee Doodle, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, The Entertainer, Fur Elise, Blue Danube, and many others and put those full piano songs into the memory of the KDP110. Many people of all ages (in the US) know these songs fairly well which also helps this system work well. When you activate the Concert Magic feature then you can play these songs yourself and have them come out (hopefully) perfect without knowing how to play piano:). Here's how it works: you select the song you want and then when you play ANY key on the piano it plays each part of the song perfectly, note by note including accompaniment chords, word by word all with one finger. In other words, you cannot make a mistake so you always sound good. Now some people might say, "how can this be helpful or why would I want it for me or my child?" Well...even though you can press any black or white key anywhere on the piano and it will play the next note (word) in the song perfectly regardless of the key you play, you will need to play that key with the correct timing or rhythm to achieve the proper movement of the song. That's the whole point...you are not trying to learn the correct notes/keys of the song on the keyboard with this system, but the student is trying to learn the correct timing of the song without also having to worry about playing the correct key. Kawai even has an "Easy beat" mode where all you need to do is tap out a constant steady beat with your finger on any key and the song will play perfectly without you having to already know the timing of the song. The motivation behind all this training is so you can sound good each and every time whether you already know that song or not. If you do know the song then as long as you play in the correct tempo on each key you play, the song will song great. Play it too slow or choppy than the song will not flow and sound good, so eventually when you play in the correct rhythm then the song will actually sound like the song. With 3 different training modes for the Concert Play system it will definitely produce big smiles for all members of the families, especially when a 2 or 3 year old starts playing using the Concert Magic system:). So when it comes to having fun and learning important music fundamentals at the same time, Kawai has really produced a great feature if you take advantage of it.

As far as connectivity on this model goes, Kawai offers a lot including standard MIDI in/out connections, USB output to device connection (to computers, tablets, cell phones, etc), and new Bluetooth MIDI connectivity to connect with music and educational apps on your tablet using wireless Bluetooth. This is not Bluetooth audio but is Bluetooth MIDI so that when you press the keys on the piano while connected to a device like iPad or computer using educational apps and programs, then the Bluetooth app will recognize that input of your keyboard playing and respond to your playing with instant feedback depending on the app or program. I use iPad iOS apps in my studio to teach with and I find Bluetooth MIDI very practical to have in digital pianos although I would also like Bluetooth audio as well built into the piano which Kawai does not have in the KDP110, which is a disappointment for me...but I guess you cannot have everything. The KDP110 does not have any audio outputs but you can connect any external audio source to one of the stereo headphone jacks on the piano should you ever want or need an external speaker system connected to the piano.

When it comes to the KDP110 speaker system Kawai has upped its game with a new 40 watt 2-speaker sound system which produces a bigger, better tone through the piano than the previous model. I have heard it many times am am impressed with how full of a sound it produces and it can easily fill up a  room. It does not sound like a grand piano but that's OK...it does sound good enough for most people. The previous KDP90 model had 26 watts of power whereas with the KDP110 now having 40 watts of audio puts it on par with its more expensive competition called the Yamaha YDP164 which sells for $1499. I like the Yamaha model but at this point with all the new features and impressive sound, key action, and pedaling of the Kawai KDP110, plus all the additional functions and features it has, at $300 less for the Kawai over the Yamaha there really is no contest anymore in my opinion. Prior to the KDP110 coming out the Kawai company's next model up is called the CN29 and that 40 watt digital piano costs $1899US internet discount price and its features are similar to the KDP110. So you had to spend a lot of money to get a Kawai digital piano with a more powerful 40 watt speaker system and an impressive piano playing experience...but not so much any more. Even at the 40 watt peak power, the KDP110 is energy efficient over past models in that it only uses 11 watts of power when playing at the same levels. Plus, Kawai has now has a new stereo headphone feature which optimizes any pair of good stereo headphones for high definition spatial positioning to give you the feeling that the piano sound is coming all around your head instead of directly into the ears like traditional digital pianos do. This new spatial headphone feature makes the headphone listening experience more enjoyable and more realistic and it's a nice feature to have although now absolutely necessary to use as it can be disabled for normal headphone use. Kawai even has some headphone modes which optimizes the sound for different kinds of headphones like open ear, semi-open ear, closed ear, inner ear (buds), etc. So that new technology can be useful if you will be using headphones a lot.

The bottom line is this...in my opinion Kawai has produced a better digital piano for $1199 internet discount price in offering an upgraded key action with a more natural key movement, expressive dynamic stereo piano tone, responsive pedaling, and digital features than they have had before. Yes, there are always some more or different features a person could want on their digital piano which the KDP110 does not have, but I think the KDP110 has more than enough things to satisfy many piano students and players for a long time. I do like the dark rosewood finish and it looks attractive with an all newly designed cabinet with chrome pedals instead of brass along with an included comfortable matching padded bench. I will say that I wish Kawai also offered this model for the US market in matte black color instead of just offering rosewood. Even though the rosewood color is attractive and will look good in some home decors, many people prefer all black color and that is something which some of the other digital piano manufacturers do offer in this price range whereas Kawai does not. Even having a version in a all white color would be good to have as more people seem to like that option as well. Having a better variety of colors in the US would be a big plus in my opinion but if the interior of your home is rather dark or muted then the rosewood may work out for you, so it just depends. At the end of the day there are choices in this price range from all the good digital piano manufacturers including Kawai, Roland, Yamaha, Casio, and Korg who produce the better pianos. But with this newer offering from Kawai I think they have certainly risen further up the ladder of quality pianos in a lower price range. It is important to note that the KDP110 is still considered an "entry-level" digital piano because there are definitely more realistic key actions and more authentic piano sound out there in other brands & models for just a bit more money. The Kawai piano company has been producing pianos for many years and have developed a good reputation for making quality instruments which can last for many years. The KDP110 carries a 3-year parts & labor factory warranty with in-home service for factory defects should that happen. With all the KDP110 has going for it, it could be a great piano for you, although I always recommend to do your homework to make sure you are getting a piano that meets your musical needs and budget.

Korg C1 Air matte black

One other digital piano in this price range that I like very much and recommend (as I mentioned earlier) is the Korg C1 Air digital piano. The Korg company is very well known by musicians for their pro digital stage pianos and those pianos are played by famous musicians all over the world. But Korg also produces home digital pianos that are very impressive in my opinion. The C1 Air has a great big grand piano sound, impressive advanced quality piano key action & resonate stereo sound in a compact body, and lots of other cool features including wireless Blue Tooth audio connectivity. It is also offered in 3 different cabinet colors. Besides the Kawai KDP110, this newer Korg home digital piano is worth looking at too. It's current internet discount price is just $1399US, however for a short time there is a special lower price that I can help you gets it closer to the Kawai KDP110 price. Check out my review of the Kawai C1 Air home digital piano at the following link and then contact me if you have more questions or want info on lower pricing for any of these new digital pianos. Korg C1 Air 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.

Kawai Digital Pianos / for 2020 / Updated Review & Consumer Report / All Kawai Digital Pianos including CA29, CA39, CA58, CA78, CA98, etc. The Kawai piano company was founded nearly 100 years ago in 1927 and its international headquarters is in Hamamatsu, Japan which is where its founder, Koichi Kawai was born back in 1886. Kawai's US headquarters is in the city of Rancho Dominguez, Southern California. Mr Kawai got his start in the piano industry by working for the Yamaha piano company back in the early 20th century and was quite famous for his inventions and designs in the piano industry in Japan and was the first person to build a complete, quality piano action there. In 1927 Koichi Kawai left the Yamaha company to start his own piano manufacturing company under the name Kawai Musical Instrument Company. Kawai is a relatively small company in the manufacturing world as compared to other companies like Yamaha, Casio, and Roland because Kawai only makes pianos whereas Yamaha and Casio and Roland are more mainstream because they make so many consumer items like audio equipment, calculators, watches , and keyboards (Casio), guitar products, recording gear, keyboards, motorcycles & snowmobiles (Yamaha). But I think it goes without saying that even though the Kawai piano company may not be quite as familiar to people outside of the piano world, the Kawai piano company has a long, impressive history in the piano business and continues to this day to build not only some impressive acoustic upright & grand pianos, but also has a big selection of high quality digital pianos. - Click on pics for larger views 



Currently the Kawai piano company has 23 distinct digital piano models (20 of them are for the US market only) which cover a huge span of digital piano technologies, price ranges, and sizes. From a low discount price of $729 ($1049 retail price) for the ES110 portable digital piano all the way up to about $10,000 price for the Novus Hybrid grand action piano. Kawai has a digital piano that can fit the musical needs of most piano shoppers and in the lower price range in the US market Kawai has 2 portable digital pianos with built-in speakers which includes the ES110 ($699US discount price) and ES8 ($1649US discount price). Kawai also has 3 models of portable digital pianos (usually referred to as stage pianos) which include the MP7SE ($1799US discount price), MP11SE ($2799US discount price), and VPC1 controller piano $1849US discount price. The VPC1 is especially unique because it has no internal sounds or functions and no buttons, sliders, knobs, or display screens of any kind on the cabinet. It's designed to be a dedicated "controller" digital piano so that you would connect the VPC1 to your iPad or computer to "control" external piano sounds (software by other digital piano sound companies) that you can buy so your external device with the external piano sounds in it is "played by" the VPC1 piano keyboard. You would connect an external audio system to your computer or iPad to hear those pianos sounds you are playing. Some people may prefer this configuration who are comfortable with computers and are OK with always needing to use a dedicated computer with added sounds for their VPC1 piano rather than have the convenience of built-in Kawai digital piano sounds already in the digital piano such as the Kawai MP11SE. I especially like the MP11SE home studio/stage pro portable digital piano because it's a great combination of solid grand piano type key action, natural, organic piano tone, and enough extra features that many people are looking for. In fact for people who own full size acoustic grand pianos and want a digital piano that gives them a great piano playing experience and one they can do privately using headphones, the MP11SE tends to be very popular with that crowd and I have had number of people (both advanced pianists and recreational players) order this model through me for those very reasons. Also, since the MP11SE is only $2799 then its price is very affordable for many people looking for a high quality digital piano in a more portable form with a relatively small footprint. The MP11SE has no built in speakers but is otherwise completely self contained with its own sounds, controls, and easy to use features. All you would need to do is to connect a pair of smaller high quality powered monitors and depending on the room size you are trying to fill with sound, good monitors may only cost you and extra $300 or so and they make the MP11SE piano sound as good if  not better than many furniture cabinet pianos that cost a lot more money than the MP11SE plus the external monitors.

Next in line of the Kawai US digital pianos are their home furniture cabinet models under $2000US which can be purchased on the internet and they include the starter models KDP70 ($899 price) andthe KDP110 ($1199US internet discount price).  With the exception of the KDP110, CA48, and CA58, none of the other Kawai home digital pianos are available for purchase at on-line US internet dealers or Amazon because those models are only available at local Kawai authorized piano stores. This type of limitation in not being able to purchase the other furniture cabinet models through on-line dealers is typically designed to give local piano store dealers an advantage where they do not have to compete with those same models on-line that may be sold at lower prices than they would want to do. This is not only true for Kawai digital pianos but also for many Roland, Yamaha, and Casio digital pianos. So if you don't see the Kawai digital piano you are looking for on-line at a US internet store, this is done deliberately to drive you into a local factory authorized Kawai piano store and it is there you will likely see these other models.

Kawai has 4 newer home cabinet models for 2019 called the CN29 ($1959 price), CA48 ($2099US price), CN39 ($2699 price), and the CA58  ($2999US price) that recently came out and are available at some on-line US Kawai dealers but also available at all local Kawai store dealers. All of the other home furniture cabinet models are ONLY found at local Kawai stores (as I mentioned earlier) which include the CL26 (1099US store discount price), CN29 ($1959US store discount price), CN39 ($2699US store discount price), CA78 ($3999US store discount price), CA98 ($5399US store discount price), CS11 ($8499US RETAIL price), and Novus NV10 hybrid digital piano ($15,999US RETAIL price). The current CS11 piano is in an actual acoustic piano cabinet offered in polished ebony finish only which makes it unique for Kawai digital pianos because none of the other models look as authentic as far as the piano cabinet designs are concerned. However, because of the increased costs of producing the real polished ebony acoustic cabinet, Kawai does charge quite a bit more money for them so you would need to decide if that is worth it to you or would prefer to save a bit of money and look at the Concert Artist series which have attractive piano cabinets and also come in a polished ebony finish.

When it comes to the prices I have just mentioned, it is important to note that some of them have already been discounted by Kawai and are indicated by the word "discount." Other models are listed as RETAIL prices and Kawai does not provide info on the discounts for those models on their web site. However based on the approximate discount percentage Kawai offers on their other models I think it's fairly safe to assume a 15% - 20% discount (approximate) off retail price would be a good guess as to the actual selling price, although you would need to go into a Kawai store to actually get that information. Another thing to know about discount prices is that the discounts quoted are for the Rosewood cabinet color only for all models that offer "matte" Rosewood as a cabinet finish. For all other matte cabinet finishes such as black or white finishes you could pay another $100 for those models although not always. Kawai has a few models that automatically come in a more elegant polished ebony finish only the that upgraded finish is already figured into the retail or discount price.

Most piano digital manufacturers have different piano sound chips depending on the price of the piano. As you go up in price the quality and authenticity of the piano sound (generally speaking) gets more realistic. The Kawai piano company has 4 different piano sound chips for their digital piano line. The way I categorize them is "good,""better," and "best," and then the fourth one which is at the top I refer to as "best plus." All of the piano sound chips are actually quite enjoyable to hear, but as you go up the piano sound chip ladder you get a higher degree of authenticity, and for more discerning players that extra realism translates to more sonic expression and enjoyment so that your piano playing experience can be even more satisfying. In terms of piano processing power, otherwise known a polyphony, Kawai offers in their US digital pianos either 192-note maximum polyphony or 256-note polyphony which is generally plenty of polyphony piano processing power to handle even the most sophisticated piano music without hearing notes abruptly drop out. Kawai does have an older model digital piano called the CL26 (and CL36 in Europe) with only 96-note polyphony which is fine for some situations but I would instead recommend you get at least 120 notes polyphony or above with full stereo piano sampled sounds as opposed to older digital pianos with 96-note polyphony or less which also may not have full stereo sampled sounds and therefore not near as authentic in tone as newer models. My favorite piano sound chip in the Kawai piano line which reproduces the most authentic piano sound is found in their lower priced compact ES8 digital piano. Kawai uses that same sound chip in higher priced models which is good, but the ES8 is the lowest priced self-contained digital piano which offers this more authentic piano sound reproduction. I have done a review of that model so if you want more info on it please read my review at the following link: Kawai ES8 Review

For those people concerned with having good key action in their piano, Kawai currently offers 7 key actions (which is a lot) in their digital pianos including their newest and best which is an actual grand piano key action built into their all new hybrid digital piano called Novus (NV10). The Novus key action is called the Millennium III and is taken out of a top Kawai acoustic grand piano so that when you play the Novus the key action will be the same as a fine Kawai acoustic grand piano selling for $15,000 or more because the Novus key action is a fully acoustic grand key action movement whereas all the other Kawai digital piano key actions are specifically made for digital pianos only and lack most of the actual parts of a real acoustic piano key action. Kawai has 3 different all-plastic keys that help control the key movements and 5 different all-wood key actions that help control the key movement. In my opinion all of the key movements are fairly satisfying to play depending on what your musical ability and budget is. Also, just because the key has wood in it does not necessarily make it better or cost more money. For instance in my opinion the ES8 portable with stand & triple pedal at $2077 and CN39 black at $2699 has a more authentic key movement as compared to some other pianos that have plastic keys. Ultimately when it comes to key action and the way they feel and move...the key to picking out the right one for you should be based on your playing skill level, type of music you want to primarily play, your expectations and desires for the way the key action actually responds and moves, and your budget.

Pedaling with the triple pedal system on Kawai pianos also varies depending on which model you choose. The primary pedal called the damper-sustain pedal can be lighter and firmer to press down depending on the model you choose and the sustain/decay time of the piano sound can be longer or shorter depending on the piano your choose. So even in the pedal mechanism there can be a difference among different Kawai models with some being more responsive than others and that is true as you go up the line. They all offer half-damper pedaling with controllable pedal sustain amounts to come out closer to what a real acoustic piano sustain pedal offers. The color finish of the pedals can also be different depending on the model with some pedals coming in a chrome plated finish and others in a golden brass. That kind of thing just boils down to appearance and whether you really prefer one over the other just as in cabinet colors and finishes.

Some Kawai digital pianos like the ES110, CN29 and KDP110 with all three under $2000US just focus mostly on piano playing with only a few "extra "bells & whistles" while other models such as the CN39, MP11SE, and ES8 have a few more "bells & whistles" but still primarily focus on the piano playing experience. The there are other Kawai models which are in-between or have even more extra interactive functions & features such as the CP series. Whether it's wireless Bluetooth connectivity, MP3/wav file song recording, 50 or more instrument sounds, 8-16 track multitrack recording, color display screens, or interactive accompaniment styles, the Kawai pianos cover a lot of ground and depending on what you want to do with your music and with your time, you can probably find what you want within the lineup of new Kawai digital pianos. Kawai also just came out with new color touch screens in their new model CA series and Novus digital pianos which is very cool. I have tried out these new touch screens already and although they are quite nice and the only digital pianos to have this type of user interface

My suggestion for deciding on what model digital piano will best fit your piano needs is to decide how much the person playing the piano really likes music, how much they like being around music, and if they (or you) would actually like to play a piano along with what you are willing to spend to get the "right" piano for you and/or your family. If you already play the piano then you should decide, based on your available budget, how real of a piano playing experience do you really want to get? How natural and organic do you want the piano to be as compared to a real acoustic piano, and also how much volume and richness do you want out of the internal digital piano speaker system for the room, home, or building that the piano is going into? Also, a lot of people have different needs when it comes to the actual cabinet, cabinet design, cabinet color, moveability, and portability of the instrument itself. These are all important questions when deciding on the best piano for your needs and for your budget and the Kawai company with its 20 available current models for the US market should be able to cover most bases for most piano shoppers. However, one of the things about a single company offering so many models (Kawai is not the only one) is that it can definitely get confusing for the shopper (you) after a while because sometimes there is more than one model in the same price range and perhaps even 3 or 4 models in a similar price range from the same brand and you are left to figure out which one would be best for you...and that's not counting digital pianos in a much higher or lower price range that you might also like to consider. My favorite Kawai digital pianos under $2500 selling price, which is where most shoppers want to be in terms of price, is the Kawai ES8 portable digital piano with optional furniture stand and triple pedal lyre and the newer Kawai CA48 at $2199 matte black finish with an new all-actual wood baby grand style key action with triple sensor system including escapement/letoff function and an impressive piano sound reproduction in this lower price range. Two new models that just came out are the "plastic key action" models CN29 and CN39 as I mentioned earlier. The CN29 has just replaced the CN27 and the improvements are in the speaker system sounding better and the user interface control panel has been improved to be much more intuitive to use than before with new easier to read & understand OLED display screens replacing the older style technology. At $1959 for a CN29 and $2699 for a CN39, that puts these two pianos in the more popular price range along with the popular "wood key action" models CA48 at $2099 and CA58 at $2999 all being under $3000. Those digital pianos along with the ES8 would be the "bread & butter" of the Kawai digital piano lineup. The CA78 & CA98 have the upgraded, even more realistic "wood key actions" in them along with a 2nd and different upgraded piano sound chip along with color touch display screen for both of those models for easier navigation. The CA98 even has a small size "wood soundboard" in the back of the piano (see above left pic) to further enhance the piano sound with attached transducer microphones attached to that soundboard. Read our recent review of the popular CA58 advanced key action model at the following link: Kawai CA58 Review.

At the end of the day it is still true that one digital piano company cannot cover all of the bases when it comes to musical needs and budget of the digital piano shopper. If that were the case then there would only be one car manufacturer, one truck manufacturer, one refrigerator manufacturer, one computer maker, one cell phone maker, etc. In reality one company cannot satisfy all the needs of everyone shopping for that type or product. That's why there are other top name digital piano manufacturers like Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Korg, Samick, and others out there who offer something different than Kawai which may or may not fit your needs better. There are also piano makers who make very poor playing and sounding product that I do not recommend and although they may look good on the outside, they are not necessarily good on the inside and can create more playing problems than a person realizes. I call that kind of a digital piano a "Piano Shaped Object" (PSO) and I advise people to stay away from them if at all possible. They are pianos which have made-up names that are really just cheap technology and construction in a cabinet that appears to be attractive but can cause long term headaches with regard to the playing experience...names like Artesia, Susuki, Williams, and others. I have seen that happen quite often so I recommend you go with the name brands that I mentioned above and you will likely be very happy for a long long time. The Kawai piano brand is definitely worthy of your attention and it is something that I recommend. If you want more info on Kawai pianos or even lower prices than Amazon, Internet, local store, etc, then please contact me before you buy anything from anyone...you'll be glad you did.

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.

🎹 Yamaha P-515 / UPDATED REVIEW / 2020 / P-515 Digital Piano Article & Report / The Yamaha P-515 is the latest and greatest self-contained portable 88-key digital piano from the Yamaha piano company for 2019. Yamaha has 3 portable piano-weighted key action digital pianos with built-in speaker systems on the market from $500 to $2000. The 1st and least expensive one called the P-125 ($599 internet price) is focused mainly on piano playing and is an entry level product. The next one up is called the DGX-660 ($799 internet price) which is really not very portable weighing in at over 50 lbs and having a somewhat bulky cabinet. It is also an "entry level" piano in terms of key action, piano sound chip, and pedaling response but it has a ton of fun, interactive "bells & whistles" for people who like having a built-in "one man band" along with other interactive functions and features This model is really meant for the home and not for someone who mainly wants to play piano, although it is still classified as a portable piano. The latest and much more advanced portable digital piano model for Yamaha that I am reviewing here is the new P515 ($1499 internet price, stand & triple pedal optional). The P515 replaces the older P255 ($1299 internet price) which was out for quite a few years. The P515 focuses mainly on "piano playing" for beginners through advanced players and has a number of advanced upgrades in it over the previous model including all new key action, new piano sound chip, new pedaling and pedal response, new operating system, new features, and more. It even has an all new look to it with new cabinet design, new cabinet materials, and new user interface...all good improvements over the previous model and this new P515 only went up in price $200 over the P255 which is not a lot more to pay for a substantially better model. I have played this P515 for many hours and examined it closely and although there is a lot to like about it, there are also some things I was quite surprised about when it comes to the actual piano playing experience and user interface. In my opinion when I am spending $1500 for a new digital piano I have very reasonable but higher expectations. I want the piano sound to be great, the key action to be playable and expressive, the user interface to be intuitive and have the functions I need.


The new piano sound chip in the P515, which was not in previous models, offers two all new grand piano sound samples from the top Yamaha acoustic grand called CFX and also from the top European Bosendorfer grand piano called the Imperial. Yamaha included the piano sound from the Bosendorefer because not only is it a very pleasing and rich European grand piano tone, but it just so happens that Yamaha purchased the Bosendorfer piano company (originally headquartered in Vienna, Austria, Vienna) a number of years ago so that name now belongs to Yamaha and is not their competition anymore. That's the way to do it...buy up other great companies and have them for yourself. I am not sure it was a good move for Yamaha to do that or not because those Bosendorfer grand pianos costs big bucks, but it sure comes in handy to be able to get that type of piano sound on some of the Yamaha digital pianos. When it comes to the actual tone on Yamaha acoustic grand pianos, the Yamaha CFX piano tone is bright and clear and many players like that sound, especially for pop music. For me, this CFX sampled sound in the P515 is great to play...but sometimes a bit too harsh as compared to wanting a richer and less brassy piano tone. I have played hundreds of Yamaha acoustic grand pianos and lots of pop music piano players like to play Yamaha and those pianos do have bright clear tone as I previously mentioned. You can reduce the brightness and brassiness of the CFX tone in the P515 with the editing controls so that you can get that sound to be more mellow, but it's nevertheless a brighter piano sound than most other brands. When reducing the brightness of the CFX sound those editing controls can effect the sound of other instrument tones in the piano so it just depends on what you want. But overall I like the CFX stereo piano sound. One thing is for sure, if you are playing along with other live instruments and maybe even a vocalist, the brightness of the CFX piano sound will "cut through" the rest of those instruments and singers to be more easily heard and many pro players do like that aspect of the Yamaha piano sound.

The European Bosendorfer piano sound in the P515 is a richer and more melodic acoustic piano sampled sound as compared to the Yamaha CFX piano sound, based on my playing and comparing both piano sounds. The Bosendorfer sample is less brassy, less bright, and much deeper and richer in tone than the Yamaha CFX grand sound and it's good for classical music, ballads, and jazz as well as pop, country, Latin, Ragtime, and other genre's of music. What also makes this piano sound so versatile is the fact that you can also edit the sound and brighten it up in a number of ways with a variety of functions on the P515 including EQ, brightness, and sound boost controls so that it takes on the more of the CFX sound without the extra brassiness that can be associated with the Yamaha CFX piano sound. However, there is one thing about the Bosendorer sound that is quite irritating to me, and that is...it doesn't sound near as good through stereo headphones as it does through the internal speakers of the piano. The P515 has a really great internal speaker system in it with 40 watts of power going through 4 speakers and it's the best internal stereo speaker system Yamaha has ever had in a portable digital piano under $2000 and it sounds better than any of its competition. So when playing through the stereo speakers using the Bosendorfer piano sound then all is very good. But when playing through a good pair of stereo headphones, the Bosendorfer piano sound is much more plain, less resonate and it has a much reduced "stereo sound field"  whereas the Yamaha CFX piano sound is much better through headphones because it is using a better headphone sound technology which Yamaha calls "Binaural" sound. The Binaural headphone sound optimizes the CFX acoustic piano sound so that it sounds like it does through the internal stereo speaker system when you listen to it without headphones...and that's the way it should be and it sounds realistic. However, the Bosendorfer piano sound along with the 7 additional piano sound variations don't have the Binaural headphone technology and so those piano sounds are all somewhat uninspiring to me. The Bosendorfer piano sound, which is arguably the better acoustic piano sound in the P515 just did not sound very good as compared to the Binaural sound environment of the CFX piano sound. But when you play the Bosendorfer sound through the internal speaker system of the P515, it sounds great...full, rich, alive in full stereo...but not so through headphones. This was a big let-down to me since I tend to use headphones quite a bit for practicing. However, there is a feature in the headphone sound setup within the P515 menu which allows you to turn off the binaural "effect" and when you do that the Bosendorfer piano sound through headphones is much better and more realistic and I can live with that. However, when you turn off the binaural effect to get a better headphjone experience with the Bosendorfer sound then you lose the binaural effect on the Yamaha CFX sound and so you need to turn that effect back on to get the full benefit of hearing the Yamaha CFX piano sound through headphones. I am not sure why Yamaha did not include the other acoustic pianos sounds (particularly the Bosendorfer sound - my favorite) in the Binaural stereo sound environment of the P515, but they didn't. You need to juggle back & forth in the piano menu display to get the better settings as I just described. Yamaha could have done a lot better when it comes to listening to the Bosendorfer piano sound and the other acoustic piano variations through stereo headphones.

OK, now on to the the acoustic piano sound "tonal dynamics" and expressiveness of sound along with the talking about the quality of the 256-note polyphony piano sound, the range of tonal dynamics, the organic nature of the piano sound with overtones, sympathetic vibrations, and even distribution of soft to loud without noticeable jumps in volume. I can say for sure that the P515 does a great job in piano expressiveness while offering a huge range of tonal dynamics for mellow to bright and everywhere in-between. This is not the "cheaper" tone of the previous models but a noticeable upgrade to the authenticity and natural sound when playing piano. It just sounds more alive and resonate than ever before. But it is important to remember that the overall character of the CFX piano sound is still bright, clear, and a bit brassy (sometimes) so if you like that type of piano sound then you'll really like the CFX piano sound. The Bosendorfer sound is the one I like more and I believe it is the favorite of the majority of people who have played the P515 and/or heard the two piano sound samples. The resonance and dynamic range of piano tone definitely surpasses anything Yamaha has had in the past and really gives the P515 a personality of its own. One of the reasons for that is because Yamaha has added "sound resonance modeling technology" which fills in the "cracks" of sampling technology by adding some impressive organic quality acoustic piano tonal elements to the overall sound not found with purely Yamaha sampling technology, so this technology is a big upgrade to previous models and combines sampling and physical modeling in one piano.. Of the 9 acoustic piano sounds in this model, the next piano sound I really like besides the Yamaha CFX and Bosendorfer sounds is the "ballad" piano. The other acoustic piano sounds generally are a bit bright for me, but can be useful depending on the type of music your are playing and depending on what playing environment you're in, you may like them. But overall, I would be primarily using the Bosendorfer piano sound and CFX piano sample and then editing them to make my own variations which for me would then turn into additional piano sounds that I would also enjoy playing.

Speaking of editing or adjusting the piano sound, Yamaha has designed a clever and quick way to do that directly from the control panel with a button called "Piano Room."When you press the Piano Room button then in the LCD display screen you will see the first setting in the Piano Room is called "Lid Position," and you'll see a virtual piano picture with an adjustable lid position and you can set that lid with the navigation buttons on the control panel to "full, half, or closed" position and when you do that then the sound goes from fuller & brighter to mellower & muted. The next Piano Room setting is called "Brightness" and this setting adjusts the over brightness or mellowness of the piano up or down from 0 - 10 so there is a wide range and it does have a noticeable impact on the overall piano sound as does the Lid Position. The next setting is called "Touch" and that function allows you to adjust the touch sensitive velocity "touch curve" with 5 different levels of key touch sensitivity from very light to very hard and that setting also has a big impact of the overall sound of the P515 and the quickness in which the piano sound comes in. However when you make an adjustment and change a level of touch, that also changes the brightness or mellowness level of the sound, but that's true on all digital pianos with this feature. The next setting in the Piano Room is "Reverb" or echo and that is an important function to add some ambiance to the overall piano sound.. There are 6 different types of reverb including Concert, Recital, Cathedral, etc and they are triggered by using the button arrows on the control panel as are all settings in the Piano Room. The next setting is called "reverb depth" and this controls how big and long the reverb sound is going to be...how long the echo will last when you play a key when using the a piano sound. This setting is also useful and necessary to "dial in" the right amount of reverb effect for your music. Following the reverb function is "Tuning." Tuning is generally set to the normal setting A-440 and remains there and it is the default setting of the piano. However if you are playing along with another instrument that is slightly out of normal pitch or its with an instrument the plays normally in another key like a clarinet or saxophone, then the Tuning feature is useful. Next after that Tuning function is the individual organic elements that reside within the P515 which are part of the acoustic grand piano samples. They include the "VRM" which is resonance modeling, "Damper Resonance" which effects the sound when using the sustain pedal, "String Resonance" which effects the sound of the virtual strings and the natural vibrations you would get from piano strings when playing, followed by "Aliquot Resonance,""Body Resonance," and "Key Off sample."  Also in the Piano Room settings is "Half-pedal Point" which allows you to modify and control the way the sustained piano sound comes in when using the proper single pedal or adding the optional triple pedal unit to the P515. Otherwise it has no effect with the included piano pedal that comes with the P515. So when you need to make relatively quick changes to your piano sound the the "Piano Room" button is what you press to do that and then scroll down to the function you want to change/edit to customize your piano sound.

With regard to the single pedal that comes with the piano, although it's a good pedal, it does not trigger the "half-damper" pedal effect which allows for a variable amount of sustain when pressing the pedal down based on the position of the pedal. Having a 1/2-damper sustain pedal is important if you want a more realistic piano playing experience like you would get on a real acoustic piano. You could purchase a separate single pedal by Yamaha that would trigger this important function but unfortunately Yamaha does not include that pedal with the P515 (a way to get you to spend more money). The triple pedal furniture style unit for the P515 is called the LP1 and it costs $75 to add to the P515. However, you would need to also have the furniture stand for the P515 to attach the triple pedal unit. The furniture stand (L515) will cost you $130 but it will make the P515 look more like a piano as opposed to buying a metal x-stand or z-stand and it's actually fairly attractive and stable. If you simply want a single pedal and need the half-damper sustain ability which I recommend to everyone regardless of your playing skill level, then you can purchase the Yamaha FC3A sustain pedal for approx $42. The beauty of the piano sound is not only determined by the original piano sound sample but also by the ability of the piano sound to have a long and resonant sustain/decay time which means the piano sound (the notes you play) will sustain for a long period of time when holding down the pedal just as it would in a real acoustic piano. This has been a major issue in the past for Yamaha because most all of their digital pianos had very short, unrealistic sustain/decay times that made the piano playing sound somewhat choppy and artificial. The P515 technology has taken care of these past issues and now the sustain time, sustain volume, and sustained tone are very impressive and very natural across the keyboard. Using the new piano sound chip with the 256-note polyphony power and better sound samples, the piano sound, particularly the Bosendorfer piano sound, is quite pleasing to the ear and the piano sound is much better than in the past, especially when using the sustain half-damper pedal with all those sustained piano sound nuances.

When it comes to a great piano playing experience in this price range, it is the key action that can make or break a digital piano, and the P515 is no exception. Yamaha has replaced the previous plastic piano weighted key action (called GH) that was in the former P255 with a new wooden key action in the under-$2000-price-range called NWX. The white keys are made of wood but the black keys are still all-plastic. The white keys have smooth-top synthetic ivory-feel surfaces on them to enhance the tactile feel of those keys and the black keys have a smooth-top matte black finish to them which is quite nice and feels good to the fingers. The NWX key action has 3-sensors underneath each key for better key repetition response when playing faster pieces regardless of where the key is positioned during key travel. The key action is stable and quiet when the keys are moving and Yamaha has has a fairly good reputation out there for reliable key actions over the years. With this NWX key action in a portable digital piano under $2000 you would think that having all-wood white keys would be a very big thing, especially considering that no other portable digital piano under $2000 has this feature. There's also an "escapement feature" in the key action which tries to re-create the experience you might get on a grand piano when pressing the keys very lightly. You're supposed to feel a noticeable hesitation or "notch" in the movement of the key about 1/2 way to 3/4 way down in the key travel as you press the keys all the way down, but in the P515 NWX action that "notched feeling" is fairly light so you don't  notice it much, even when playing lightly/softly. When you play the keys with just slightly more force you don't notice this escapement function at all. So as far as I am concerned this escapement feature has little impact one way or the other on your piano playing. The letter "X" in NWX stands for the "escapement" (aka: let-off) in the key action. But there is one major caveat to this key action (both black & white keys) and one that a person might not expect, and that is the keys are unusually heavy (firm) to press down with the fingers. In other words, when you are playing your music on the P515 the keys take a lot of extra effort (force) to press down, especially as compared to a good acoustic upright or grand piano or any of the other self-contained portable digital pianos out there including Roland, Korg, Casio, Korg, and others. I am not saying that this NWX key action is unplayable because it is definitely playable. But at least for me I am not as fond of the way the key action feels/moves in the P515.

When I play music on a piano I want to be able to express myself musically without an undue amount of effort. When I want to play a light, soft passage of music I want to be able to press the key easily without too much force and yet have it come back up quickly so I can play faster and more lightly. When I strike the key harder then I want a lot of quick movement (without being too quick) and for the key action to allow me to be expressive. To that end it is well known that the "weight" of the keys in going down and coming back up is referred to as "static and/or dynamic down-weight" and "up-weight" (resistance). There is a certain amount of force needed for the key to (begin) to press down and a certain amount of force (resistance) when the key is coming back up against your fingers. This force or weight is measurable and done in grams. In fact, qualified piano technicians are able to set up an acoustic grand or upright piano action to perform at proper standards by adjusting the key weight going down and coming back up. The keys themselves have no weight or resistance in them because they are (by themselves out of the piano) very light...they are just plastic and light wood material. It's the added weight inside the keys or attached to the key action that gives the keys their "weight" or firmness. Key firmness or the lack of it (the perception of weight and resistance) when it comes to "heavy or light feeling" key actions is a pretty complex subject and it takes a good technician to "dial in" the proper key weight of each key going up & down when playing those keys. But...generally speaking, the static down-weight of a key at middle C should be approx 50-55 grams and the up-weight measurement when the key is coming back up should be about 25-30 grams in a good acoustic grand piano.

When someone is looking for a digital piano and wants a good feeling, good moving key action, the keys should not be too heavy to push down nor they take long in coming back up but should not come back up with too much force. For digital pianos, since key actions are definitely not adjustable in terms of the physical weight or movement like they are in regular acoustic pianos, whatever key action movement you get in a digital piano cannot be physically altered...it is permanent. However, you can electronically adjust the "touch sensitivity curve" of the key action which makes the sound come in more or less quickly depending on how hard or fast you play the keys. Although the electronic adjustment does help a bit in adjusting key action sound response when pressing down the keys lightly, this does nothing to adjust the actual physical weight of the keys going down or coming up. Since digital a piano key action's physical weight cannot be changed or adjusted at all, there is a bit more tolerance in the actual weight measurements for the digital piano keys as far as I am concerned. Instead of 50-55 grams (60 and over is generally considered a bit "heavier" in acoustic pianos) for down-weight measurement and 25-30 grams for up-weight force, I'm OK with that weight coming closer to approx 75 grams for static key pressure going down and approx 40 to 45 grams going up...at least that's the maximum limit I would recommend where your hands and fingers don't start feeling fatigued and tired over a relatively short period of playing time. Playing the piano should be an enjoyable, comfortable experience and the key action is the main thing that will allow for you to have that experience...although piano tone and pedaling are also obviously important as well.

So where does the Yamaha NWX action weigh in when it comes to key movement and comfort along with expression? Although the NWX key action is certainly not the heaviest key action in the Yamaha digital piano line-up, it is still rather heavy comparitively to many other competitive digital pianos in it's general price range and certainly much heavier than real acoustic grand pianos. Not only do many people have the "perception" that the keys in the P515 are extra firm when pressing them down, but the measurable weight (based on my personal experience measuring it) is approx 90 grams of static down-weight (aka: touch-weight) and approx 45 grams of up-weight when the measurement is taken on the white middle C key. So why is this all so important? Well...it shows that the key action static down-weight (aka: touch-weight) in the NWX is 35 grams heavier than the average acoustic grand piano key action and its still much heavier than the maximum digital piano key action measured at  about 75 grams that I still feel comfortable with overall. My point to all of this explanation is, that as good as the piano sound is in the P515 with all the piano sample upgrades including having the new Bosendorfer grand piano sound and resonating pedal sustain along with good pedaling response, the NWX key action in this particular model is noticeably heavy (especially when pressing down on the keys lightly), and for a lot of people it's likely to be much too firm and possibly cause hand/muscle, finger fatigue over time...especially if your hands and/or fingers are a bit weaker. Now it is true that there are some people out there who prefer a heavier/firmer piano key action that requires a lot of finger force when the keys go down. However, that's not the way real acoustic piano key actions generally feel and the way those keys are normally weighted and balanced by a good piano technician. I frequently play real acoustic grand and upright pianos and when I go from those pianos to the NWX there is noticeable difference and my comfort level goes down when playing the P515. When I play the Roland, Kawai, or Korg digital pianos in this price range between $1500 to $2000, those key actions are definitely lighter than Yamaha with Kawai being the lightest piano weighted action of all of them and closer to that of a real piano key action with regard to key weight in this price range. You would think that the Yamaha company would make the NWX key action (key movement) much lighter than it is because they certainly make some great key actions in their acoustic grand pianos and AvantGrand series digital pianos which are noticeably much lighter in static key weight than the NWX action...I have played hundreds of them so I know that by years of personal experience. Just because the NWX white keys (not black keys) are made of wood does not necessarily mean that the wood keys move and are weighted like real acoustic pianos, because they are not. Also the keys are not full length grand piano size keys but instead they have a key movement in terms of weight distribution from the front of each key to the back of each key more closely associated with upright pianos, which have completely different key balance than grand pianos. But the bottom line for the NWX key action is...the keys are noticeably firmer and there is nothing you can do to modify the physical weight of the keys. What you get is what you will have...permanently. Again, you may be one of those people who might prefer a firm key action like this one. But if you are like many other people, you may possibly not like it near as much because it can become fatiguing for your hands & fingers and less enjoyable to play over time...and it's not only because you may have weaker hands/fingers than others...it's also because good acoustic & digital pianos are not usually weighted that way because of the way piano playing technique should be applied to your music and expression. I do want to point out again that you can change the electronic key touch to "lighter of even heavier" and when you get the P515 it defaults to medium touch sensitivity. If you change it to light or lighter electronic touch then that can help the perception of the keys feeling lighter because the piano sound comes in more quickly. But that does not change the actual key weight and as I mentioned earlier it's much more noticeable when playing the keys lightly and softly. Also, when you change the touch sensitivity curve from medium to light or lighter this also slightly changes the tonal dynamics of the piano sound when playing softer because the piano sound automatically comes in initially somewhat brighter in tone...that's just the way it works. So when you change touch sensitivity curve it is also changing the piano tone as well and boosting brightness artificially along with the piano sound coming in more quickly than normal because the touch is set to "light" or even "lighter." When you experience this for yourself you will know better what I am talking about.

Let's move on to the other instrument sounds in the P515. There are 10 acoustic piano sounds or variations of acoustic pianos including bright piano, studio piano, rock piano, honky-tonk, and others. Unless you are playing in a rock band or you love honky-tonk music and know how to play it, in my opinion (as I previously mentioned) the 3 main usable acoustic piano sounds include the CFX, Bosendorfer, and Ballad acoustic piano. The rest of them are noticeably brighter. There are 7 electric piano sounds including vintage tones from the Wurlitzer electric, Rhodes, and DX7 among others and they're all quite good and usable whether playing them individually or layered with other instrument sounds. There are 6 organ tones including pop, jazz, and pipe organs and all are very good along with a couple of very nice harpsichords, vibes, and clavichord. String and choir sounds are always popular and Yamaha has 2 each along with 3 "pad" (synth) tones which are very good for sustained fill-in sounds (as long as you hold down keys) played separately or layered with pianos...and they are impressive. There are different types of bass tones used when splitting the keyboard into separate left & part hand parts. There are also a couple of Guitar tones for steel string & nylon (classical string). Those 2 guitar sound samples are really enjoyable to play (you can hear picking and organic string squeaks, etc) and there are lots of ways to edit them (along with the other sounds) so that you can add special effects, adjust relative volume when layering or splitting sounds, add or subtract brightness, reverb, and change octaves, among other things. So there are a total of 40 proprietary instrument sounds along with an additional 480 XG voices which is a large library of instrumental tones that covers all the bases including horns, woodwinds, percussion such as marimba, xylophone, etc, reeds, guitars, synths, special sound effects and other tones. However, this Yamaha XG sound library is something that Yamaha has had for many years in a number of their digital pianos and it's a mixed bag of sounds with some of them being quite good, others average, and still others are poor (fake) in terms of reproducing the actual instrument sound. It just depends on what sound you need and how you'll be using it. XG sounds are particularly useful and important when playing back General MIDI song files from a USB flashdrive when needing instruments like trumpets, marimbas, flutes, special effects and other tones which I will talk about more later. I am the kind of person who likes to experiment with mixing two instrument sounds together in a layer or even a split as well as combine tones in ways that make music more interesting. With all the XG instrument sounds and the 40 main sampled instrument tones, there are literally thousands of tonal combination possibilities. But for now you just need to know that the most important sounds in the P515 are the 40 instrument sounds I previously mentioned and the ability to quickly layer or split them depending on how you want to use those sounds..

As far as the the instrument sounds go, you can layer/mix any two of them together for a more exciting playing enjoyment as well as electronically split the keyboard into two separate sound parts with being able to assign one sound to the left hand and a different sound to the right hand. When playing any non-acoustic instrument sound on the P515, whether it's guitars, strings, choirs, clarinets, electric pianos, synths, or whatever it may be, those actual instruments have light playing key actions and you don't have to play hard to get expression out of those instruments. In fact, I personally play and teach guitar & organ (along with piano) and I play those instruments very well. One of the most irritating things a guitar player can have happen on his guitar is a hard to play guitar action where it require pressing down the strings very hard on the fretboard to get the right notes and do it quickly and smoothly. A high (or hard) action on a guitar just gets in the way of guitar playing...at least it does for most guitar players. With the much heavier (firmer) key action of the P515 as opposed to other brands and models including some other models of Yamaha digital pianos, it is a real pain (not very enjoyable) to play all those other instrument sounds that, on their own, would normally have a light key action such as harpsichords, guitars, electric pianos, strings, organs, synths, reeds, woodwinds, etc. So when playing any of those sounds on the P515 I found that it was not conducive to having an enjoyable playing experience and much more difficult to control light, quick touch. You can manage a bit better with the acoustic piano sounds because you may be able to adapt to the extra firm (hard) NWX key action for piano playing...but not so much when using the other instrument sounds...it just doesn't allow for a more delicate or subtle touch, especially when using most of those other instrument sounds...whether they are part of the 40 proprietary tones or they are part of the XG sound library. So what I am saying is...I wish Yamaha had designed the P515 NWX key action in this model to be much lighter than it is so the playing experience, especially when using non-acoustic pianos sounds, would be more realistic and enjoyable to play since getting expression out of those instruments is otherwise a lot more difficult to do, particularly when playing the keys more softly and gently.

I personally love many different styles and types of music including classical piano, orchestral, symphony, jazz, Latin, pop, rock, oldies, country, western, blues, christian, world music, and so on, and like playing all these styles on the piano. I also play guitar & organ, as well as synth so I like some of those sounds as well. When it comes to using the non-piano instrument sounds on digital pianos, it's very common to want to use those sounds either by themselves (like organ, synth, strings, pads, choirs, french horns, etc) as well as combine/layer any one of the instrument sounds with the acoustic piano sound such as Bosendorfer piano with strings, Yamaha CFX acoustic piano with choir, etc. For more advanced players like myself who have had previous experience playing many digital pianos, I enjoy being able to layer/mix 2 different sounds together for an even more enjoyable musical experience. On most digital piano brands that I have played, when you play one of the instrument sounds that would be a sustaining non-decay tone (organ, strings, synth, etc) as long as you continue to hold the keys down then that sustaining tone (strings, organ, etc) keeps sustaining and does not decay (fade out). In other words, when you play a piano sound, that piano note(s) will fade out over a relatively short amount time when holding down any key or holding down the sustain pedal...that's normal. However, when layering/mixing any two sounds together such as the popular layer of piano + strings, electric piano + pad, organ + choir, the layered 2nd sound such as strings, organ, pads, choirs, etc should keep playing & sustaining (being heard) while the piano percussive sounds fades out when holding down a single sustain pedal. This is commonly referred to as "Pedal Hold" in digital pianos. The piano sound (or other percussive sound) needs to work like a piano and the layered tones need to work like they would in real life where the strings do not decay, the choir does not decay (fade out), the organs keep sustaining, the synths and/or pads keep sustaining while the pedal is being held down, even though the piano sounds do decay and fade out when playing. If the piano sounds never decayed when holding the sustain pedal down and they stayed on all the time, the sound would be a big mess. So...with most digital piano brands, when holding down the sustain pedal and mixing 2 great sounds together like piano + strings, the pianos will fade out as normal but the strings will keep on being heard as long as you hold down your sustain pedal. This is true if you just play one of those sounds at a time such as pipe organ or choir. As long as you hold down the sustain pedal then that organ or choir sound will continue to play on those notes, until you release the sustain pedal. It works well that way on Roland, Kawai, Casio, Korg, and other brands of digital pianos...but not on Yamaha. On the P515 all sounds, regardless of what they are, play just like the piano sounds...they fade out pretty quickly with continuing to hold down the sustain pedal. For me this is disappointing because I like to play some of those other tones whether individually or mixed/layered. When I do this on the P515 the result is very unnatural and not all all like it would be when playing those instruments. However, if you hold down the keys with your fingers and don't use the pedal then the other instrument tones (strings, choirs, synths, organs) with sustain continuously as long as you continue holding down the keys/notes. But that is not a good solution because that is not how most people would be playing and it doesn't work very well. For many people who just mainly play piano and seldom use the other tones or seldom do any layering/mixing of sounds, then this limitation will likely not affect you or be an issue at all. But for people like me who do use a lot of the other tones and also do layering of 2 sounds together at the same time such as CFX grand piano and concert strings, then this type of thing may annoy you as it does me. I don't have this issue at all with the other major brands as I said...just Yamaha. If Yamaha at least provided the option to have the sustain pedal trigger continuous sustain for the other sustaining type sounds, then that would fix the issue. Kawai provides that option so I know it can be done, but Yamaha does not. When I am spending $1500 on a digital piano I don't want these kinds of irritations and this certainly is one...at least it is for me. If the other brands can do it then certainly Yamaha could...but they have chosen not to and that's a bad decision as far as I am concerned.

It is interesting to note that although the acoustic piano sound technology is very good in the P515 along with other percussive sounds such as harpsichords, vibes, guitars, etc,  the technology for the sustaining legato instrument sounds such as organs, strings, choirs, pads, etc, is no impressive at all.  I thought that these instrumental tones would be as lifelike as the pianos are with no sampled loops being heard. But unfortunately the sample loops of those other sounds are so short that you hear a very noticeable repeat loop about once every second or so when holding down a note as you are playing any of those sounds. In other words, when those sound samples are done on those sounds (strings, pads, organs, choirs, etc), that sound sample is not called a "sample" for nothing. It is indeed just a very small slice of the full original sound. In the case of the choir sound, as an example, what Yamaha does is give you approx a 1 second sound sample of choir and then they loop that 1 second sound in a continuous circle so that when you hold down a key and play that sound you will continually hear it which is good, but unfortunately you also hear a repeating "beat" approx every 1 second with a start and end point, but continuous without stopping. When you sustain that tone for longer than 1 second while holding down the keys you definitely hear that artificial looped movement and unfortunately it sounds fake, especially the strings, choir, pads, etc. To me that is disappointing because the initial sound sample themselves of the organs, choirs, strings, pads, synths, and other continuous tones are impressive and sound real in terms of the instrument itself. But once you get that sustained fast loop going and hear it while playing a song and holding keys down for more than a second or two,, then it can be a big distraction and you almost don't want to use those sounds if they need to be sustained. Since Yamaha does not have continuous "pedal" sustain/hold for those sounds then that actually reduces the chance you'll hear those repetitious loops that occur in those sounds. Perhaps that's why Yamaha did it that way...so you don't as easily hear the extremely short loop points on those sustaining tones such as the choirs, strings, organs, pads, etc. It's too bad because as I mentioned, those instrument sounds are impressive but in reality are not very usable when sustaining them, which is what many people want to do with them. Once you start hearing those repetitious loops on those instruments then that's what you tend to focus on and it's a big distraction, at least it is for me. Sampled loops are normally found on most digital pianos but the ones on the P515 are noticeable and annoying and for $1500 Yamaha should have done a lot better.There are a couple of other companies with sampling/physical modeling technology that don't have noticeable loops on their sounds but Yamaha is only using that technology on their piano sounds, but not the others it seems.

I have a couple more concerns that I was surprised to find in this new model. Most portable digital pianos, especially in this price range, have the ability to add special effects to the instrument sound so it can be more realistic and organic and enable you to add things to the sound that can make your playing experience more enjoyable. To that end Yamaha has 3 very cool effects features called reverb (common in most digital pianos), Sound Boost (instant extra clarity and sharpness), and preset and programmable EQ (the ability to enhance the overall sound with boosting or reducing certain sound frequencies. All 3 of these features do a very good job of allowing you to "tweak" the overall sound coming through the speakers or through headphones and I enjoy applying those effects. There are a variety of different reverbs (echo), a variety of Sound Boost settings, and a variety of Reverb settings. But here's the weird part...there is no quick on or off button for any of these effects. There are 3 easy to see and easy to use panel buttons to access these 3 effects systems, but the buttons don't actually turn the effect on or off. Instead, when you press the reverb button then that button brings you to a reverb menu in the LCD user display screen. In this mode you can set what type of reverb setting you want or you can scroll to an "off" setting and turn off the reverb from there, but again, there is no instant on/off reverb button from the panel. You can also press the "Piano Room" button on the control panel and scroll down to the Reverb type and also reverb amount. You can select changes in those functions within the Piano Room such as the amount of reverb depth you will get for the particular reverb setting you previously selected (such as room, plate, concert, cathedral, etc), so that is a good thing. You can also turn the reverb off from the piano room in scrolling to the "off button " within the reverb settings there. However, as soon as you leave the Piano Room and go to another button/function, when you go back into the Piano Room to make another reverb adjustment or any other adjustment, the Piano Room functions start at the beginning again and you have to scroll back down to find reverb & reverb adjustments or other adjustments you want to do. That's definitely not an efficient or intuitive operating system but maybe Yamaha will come up with a fix for this in the future. The reverb tones themselves sound great...it's just accessing them quickly that is not great in the P515.

The Sound Boost and EQ settings are great features to have on the P515 and especially useful for pro players who like to "dial in" their sound. But unfortunately these to functions are also not especially "user friendly" in terms of controlling them and those functions are important to the overall sound. You can access both of those features from one panel button labeled "Sound Boost/EQ. means that neither function has its own button on/off button from the panel. When you press sound boost button then it first takes you into the "Sound Boost" LCD menu and then you have to find the Sound Boost setting you most prefer, turn it on or off from there and then select the specific Sound Boost setting. With the EQ feature, EQ editing can be useful and definitely help with overall sound output quality and frequency range depending on your ears and what you like to hear. You can edit EQ in a number of ways including setting up your own custom EQ by changing the "user" 3 band EQ intensity which is accessed through the LCD display screen and changing the setting using the arrow navigation on the control panel to the right of the LCD screen. But again, the panel "Sound Boost/EQ" button does not turn those settings on or off and it is a separate feature from the Sound Boost function and yet they are on the same button with no main on/off button for each one. It is interesting to note that there is a button next to the Sound Boost/EQ button called"dual/split." That button is dedicated to activating and changing the instrument layer combinations along with activating and changing the split sound mode. When that dual/spit button is not lit up with a blue light then you have the single sound mode. When you press that button one time it lights up blue and you get the layer/dual sound mode with 2 instruments of your choice mixed together and you do that sound selecting from the LCD menu. When you press the button again you get the split mode where you can take any one sound for the left hand and any one instrument sound for the right hand and play them in the split mode. If you press that button again you get a 3rd mode called dual/split which gives you a layered sound for the right hand and one separate instrument sound for the left hand...so you also get 2 sounds for the right hand instead of just one. When you press the button again it goes off and you are back to the single sound mode. So there is an off position from that button which is fairly intuitive to use unlike the other 2 buttons to the right of it where there is no on/off setting at all until you toggle into the display screen and find the on/off setting. So why did Yamaha not do that on the other 2 buttons (Sound Boost/EQ and Reverb) where you could press the button quickly to get an on/off selection and also press and hold the button for a couple seconds to go into the user menu settings to do more with the setup? That would have been an easy solution and other digital piano companies have similar operational settings in that way so it's not rocket science.  The dual/split button mode works well and does what I would expect it to do. You can even press and hold the dual/split button and touch any key at the same time and that selects where your right and left hand separate when using the split mode to get a different left and right hand sound at the same time...that's a smart way to do it.

By now some of you may have the opinion that I might not be fond of this new piano...but that's not true. The problem for me is that I do like it a lot because it is clean looking, uncluttered, layed out nicely, has some impressive features, and most importantly has 2 great acoustic piano sounds. But at this price range and for how new it is I would have expected Yamaha to take it up another notch and not have the issues I have described so far concerning the P515. However, I am especially impressed with few of the acoustic piano sounds, the natural piano tonal resonances, the pedaling, the piano decay/sustain quality and sustain time of those piano sounds, and the powerful and dynamic internal speaker system. I also like many of the other instrument sounds too as I mentioned. It's just that Yamaha, in my opinion, did not keep its eye on the ball to deliver a great new digital piano across the board. This piano has so much potential because if has so many cool features including 40 built-in drum rhythm patterns that sound great with very realistic percussion along with automatic bass lines depending on what chords you are playing. It sounds like you have a small band (without any rhythm/lead guitars or keyboards) backing you up...otherwise known as backing tracks. This back up band feature is on other Yamaha digital pianos as well and on the P515 it can be useful if you want to sound like you have a drummer and bass player playing along with you. But...unfortunately and yet again, Yamaha falls flat. In a real band the drummer and bass player don't keep playing the same patterns over and over...they change it up every now and then so it does not become monotonous and repetitious and the drummer puts in "drum breaks & fills" to keep it rhythmically interesting which also ties together the song verses, chorus, bridge, etc. There are many other "backing-track" digital pianos out there including models by Yamaha and most of those models have built-in drum breaks, drum fills and alternative drum patterns within the regular pattern that can be triggered when playing songs by pressing a dedicated button and/or foot pedal. The bass line will even change depending on the drum fill and/or alternate drum pattern. However, on the P515, although there are 40 different drum patterns each with their own bass line which never change, there are no drum beaks, no drum fills, no alternate drum patterns, and no alternate bass lines. In other words, the P515 backing tracks, as good as they sound otherwise, are not even as realistic or useful as some of Yamaha's $200 keyboards with backing tracks...and I am not exaggerating. Again, what was Yamaha thinking? It's like giving you the "sizzle" but there's no steak to go along with that. When I used a number of those backing tracks I quickly got bored with them because they just were very repetitious and there was no way to control them other than with a very basic count-in intro or quick ending...and those intros and endings are always the same. Too bad because the actual percussive drum and cymbal tones are really impressive and Yamaha could have done so much more with them...but they did not. I would give them a grade of "C' on this one. It would have been a grade of "D" but at least they have "some type" of backing track system instead of nothing...so it's definitely better than models without this feature and this kind of thing can be used for practicing some tunes, recording songs with rhythm backing tracks, having a little fun, and keeping the beat in real time other than using the metronome.

The P515 has a number of other cool features that you can control from the LCD menu using the navigation arrow buttons on the control panel and a feature I like very much are the recording and playback functions. You can record a song in the "quick-record" mode, 2-track mode or 16-track midi mode which allows you to create and record a full 16-track (16 instrument sounds) MIDI recording and save it on a USB flashdrive. You can also record an wav file audio recording which is the actual audio sounds of the P515 rather than the MIDI, and this feature is pretty cool although it is becoming more common to find on many different digital pianos these days. You can also take your MIDI recording and save it as an audio track to be used in other programs or playing back on your computer. There's lots of editing features for the recorded songs that make it easy to "tweak" your recordings so you can quantize, delete tracks, change tempo, change instrument sounds, transpose the song separately from the keyboard, loop specific parts (measures) of the song with A to B looping, and so on. So there are definitely many great ways to record your songs on the P515 which can add to the enjoyment of using this piano. The user interface to do these things is fairly easy to work with when using the LCD menus for the recording, playback, and editing of songs. Some people will only need the quick-record feature or maybe the 2-track MIDI recording for left & right hand practice. However, more professional keyboard players may want to construct and arrange their own multi-track instrument recordings using that 16-track recorder I mentioned. This can be a very useful feature and it's really a lot of fun to do, especially for players who  like to compose and write music.

When it comes to learning a playing a variety of music on the P515, a great way to do that is to use General MIDI song files because not only are those files free or relatively inexpensive depending on the music you want, but you can transpose those songs to any key and slow down or speed up the song without degradation to the song itself. Generally speaking, audio song files cannot do that...only MIDI...especially multi-track MIDI files in being stable as compared to audio files for learning and play-along. However, for the digital piano to be able to play General MIDI multi-track, multi-instrument MIDI files, the piano needs to have the General MIDI format and instruments built into the piano. Without this format and instrument library the piano cannot play full General MIDI song files but the P515 can play full 16-track General MIDI song files because it has the XG sound library of 480 instrument sounds including horns, reeds, woodwinds, brass of all kinds, percussion, etc. The Yamaha XG sound library is full General MIDI format and therefore the P515 can play any General MIDI song file. This is actually a very cool thing in my opinion because there are thousands of MIDI song files available online (all your favorite music) and when you play them on GM capable digital pianos then you get to hear and playalong/singalong with any of those songs. In fact, most MIDI files are recorded as General MIDI song files and so they are the most popular digital (non- audio) songs of all especially because you can easily control the tempo, transposed key, and other aspects of controlling those song files depending on the digital piano functions. The GM songs will only sound as good as the quality of the GM/XG instrument sounds built into the digital piano so in the case of the P515 those sounds work well when the P515 is playing those types of files. In other words, if you play a popular jazz song, movie theme, and other type of music, even though it's not the actual song CD/MP3 file recording of it, the General MIDI multi-track version is pretty good and can sound fairly real...depending on the song and the instruments you are hearing. So if I am playing the them from Star Wars, a jazz piece from Count Basie, A Disney song from Beauty & the Beast, a rock tune from Toto, or a orchestrated classical piece such as Beethoven's 5th symphony, the XG General MIDI sound Library works good and sounds good and you can have a lot of fun playing along with the songs on the P515 to better learn how they go or even just to sing with or play along with other instruments. Personally I enjoy using MIDI song files, especially when wanting to sing along because I can easily transpose them into my vocal range or slow them down, and it's very difficult to do that with audio files in digital pianos. To use MIDI files you simply connect a USB flashdrive containing your song files to the P515 USB device slot on the front of the piano control panel. From there you you access your songs from the front control panel by pressing the song button. Once you've pressed the button then you enter into the song menu and look for USB songs and press the navigation button on the control panel. Once you see the words "MUSICDAT" then you enter that function and your list of songs in the flashdrive will appear and you can play them from there.

The Yamaha P515 has some very impressive connectivity hardware and software built in including audio wireless Bluetooth so that you can play songs from your favorite digital music library in your mobile phone or tablet directly through the P515 internal speaker system and use the piano as your stereo speaker system to hear your songs even if you are in another part of the room. Having audio Bluetooth can be useful depending on how you use it and what you want to do with it. Beyond the Bluetooth connectivity is USB direct cable connection to interface with a tablet, computer, etc, I use my iPad quite a bit in my music studio for piano educational apps for my students along with other apps and music that are interactive and allow me to interface my device so I can have the app or program react to my keyboard input. On the P515 when I do that and connect with a USB cable, not only do I get MIDI connectivity but I also get automatic audio streaming connectivity. This means that when I am connecting with my favorite controller app, music app, music library (such as iTunes), or piano educational app, if that app has music in it then I hear that music automatically coming through the P515 speaker system without the need for an audio cable connection...the audio portion of the app is transmitted through the USB cable coming back into the P515. So a regular A to B USB cable can provide 2-way MIDI/Audio communication because the P515 has audio streaming which is not the case with other brands...and that's pretty cool.

Other connectivity features include separate audio line outputs so you can connect to an external speaker system. Personally I don't believe any external speaker system is need if you are playing in a small to medium size room in the home or smaller venue. Even in a larger room the P515 is sufficient. But if you'll be playing in a very large building, church, school auditorium, etc then connecting to external speakers would be a good idea and you can do that on the P515. There are also standard MIDI in/out ports for people who have older MIDI devices like keyboards, sound modules, etc so that you can connect your older MIDI device to the P515 using the standard MIDI ports. Also, Yamaha has provided an stereo audio input so that you can connect audio devices (computers, iPods, etc) to the P515 and hear those devices through the internal speaker system of the P515. This is very useful for people who have audio devices that don't have Bluetooth audio connectivity or don't have a USB connection. There's also a single sustain pedal connection along with a proprietary connector for the option triple pedal unit that will attach to the P515 optional stand. On the left front corner of the piano below the keys are two 1/4" stereo headphone jacks to plug in up to 2 pair of stereo headphones for private practice or to use in the duo mode for 2 people playing at the same time. The P515 internal headphone amps have very good power output and provide plenty of volume for headphones. For a piano like this one it's always better to invest in a higher quality pair of stereo headphones so the piano sound quality and bass response comes out better and more naturally...you'll be glad you did.

Beyond everything this new model can do from its control panel, Yamaha has a proprietary "controller app" for iOS devices (iPad, etc) which allows you to control most of the piano functions using the color touch screen of your external device. The name of this Yamaha app is called "Smart Pianist" and the app works for other Yamaha digital pianos as well as for the P515 and it even adds extra features to the P515 that are not already inside the piano. I like the app because overall it is a lot more intuitive to control (most of) the functions and features of the piano through your iPad color touch screen. It uses the familiar Apple iOS operating system and with all the experience I have in using an iPad in my studio with other music technology apps, I found the Smart Pianist a lot of fun to navigate and it makes the features of the piano (overall) much easier to access and understand. The first major feature in the app is the "Piano Room" setting. When you are in the Piano Room then on the first screen is a picture of a Yamaha grand piano and that's the sound you would get for the P515. You can touch the picture and swipe it and then the next picture is of the Bosendorfer grand piano and the piano will automatically activate that Bosendorfer grand piano sound, and so on. There are 2 more piano settings in the Piano Room along with ability to change the background scene which provides different Reverb effects settings such as Concert Reverb, Chamber Reverb, Cathedral Reverb, and so on. When you want to explore more sounds and effects, etc you would go into the operational function of the Smart Pianist which allows you to bring up the categories of all 40 instrument sounds including all 480 XG instrument sounds. You choose the category, select the sound from the sound list by touching the sound you want and then the instrument picture of that sound will appear on the main screen as sound #1. If you want to layer/mix another instrument sound with that one then you select a 2nd sound from the sound list and an instrument picture of that sound will appear on the main screen as sound #2. If you want a separate left-hand sound for a "split" sound function then you touch the "split title" on the main page and a picture of a bass sound sill appear and if you want to change that sound you just touch the picture and it will take you to all of the instrument sound categories where you can choose another sound by touching it and then that will be your split sound. Once you set up your sounds on the main page then you can turn them on or off whenever you want just by tapping the picture button and that sound will disappear and turn off. The way I am describing this system to you may or may not sound easy but in reality a 3 year old or 93 year old person can do this without prior experience after just a couple tries.

The "Smart Pianist" also allows you to do things the piano itself cannot do such as save your favorite instrument sounds into a "Favorites" page so that when you want to use your favorite sounds individually, in a layer, or in a split, you don't have to search for the sound category and find the sound you want. You just go to your "Favorites" page and select the sound you want from the list of Favorites you have saved...it's that easy. You can also save full registration (setup memories) in a "Registration" page in the app which is very cool because the piano itself does not have this function. This allows you to save a "set-up" which includes all sounds, key change, reverb & EFX settings, and other functions so that you just go the the "Registration" page where you saved those setups and then you touch the one you want and it instantly activates that "registration memory" and you instantly have what you want without having to recreate it manually every-time you want it. Pretty much all the important functions  that I previously mentioned which are in the P515 can be controlled from your iPad with the Smart Pianist app. This includes recording functions, metronome, drum rhythms & bass lines, touch curve, transpose, piano elements, etc. There are some things the app does not control but it does a very good job overall and as I just mentioned, it does things the piano itself does not do on its own including having a live 5-part digital volume (touch) mixer.

When it comes to playing songs in the piano, you can do that by pressing the song button and all of the songs that reside in the piano song library can be accessed including all General MIDI song files on the USB flashdrive. In the Smart Pianist app you would go to the virtual "song button" in the feature portion of the app and when you touch that virtual button all of the internal songs come up that are available in the piano and you can access and play them more easily from the app. When you see the song book and song you want on the page, you just touch it and then that song is instantly accessed and will play in the piano. If it's a regular MIDI song file from the classical music books in the piano then the sheet music will also be displayed in the app on your iPad so you can see the notes and play along as well as control tempo, key, volume and parts of the song that are playing back. You can isolate the left hand from the hand part which is very cool as well. The app also allows you to load songs from your iTune library so that you can listen and play along as well as even change the key or tempo to some degree and the songs from your MP3 files will also display accompaniment chords in a chord chart and the chords will be seen in a linear fashion as the song is playing so that you know what chords are in the song by instantly seeing them in the Smart Pianist chord chart. I have tries this many times and although it works well, it doesn't always work for all songs or does not display the chords and chord changes correctly depending on the song. But overall it's a great learning and fun music tool if you have iTunes.

There is one downside to using the Smart Pianist app which is personally annoying to me (although it won't matter to other people) and that is when you access the app, it instantly shuts off access to the piano control panel or LCD display screen. In other words you cannot use the piano control panel, display screen, or any features within the piano at the same time as you are using the app. The display screen reads "in-communication" with the app and then all piano controls are frozen and display screen is non functioning. Well...you might think this is no big deal because after-all, you're using the app so why would you want or need to also access the piano functions from the piano? The reason this annoys me is because (as an example) if I have a setting on the app like using certain instrument sounds and at the same time I am playing a song on the app and playing along with the song following the virtual sheet music in the app and I want to change my instrument sound setting to something else. The way I would need to do that is to go out of the sheet music page to get to my instrument sounds and press 8 button pushes to eventually get to my sounds to select them and then back into my sheet music...no one is going to do that...takes much too long and you lose the music. Another example is if you are playing a live piano song while using the app, if you should want to electronically transpose the song to a different key in real time you would need to make 4 button pushes on different pages to get to the transpose feature to do that key change and that interrupts the song and makes it very challenging to do. It's really much easier just to play the piano using the piano control panel and accessing the transpose function through the piano but then you would have to disconnect the iPad to do that. The better way is to be able to have access to both the Smart Pianist app and to the piano display menu and functions at the same time and then you could keep your sheet music up and running and make instrument sound changes quickly on the piano itself or you could keep your instrument sound on the app and do the transpose key change on the piano itself without having to manipulate everything (more slowly) with the app. Another down side to losing access to the piano control panel when using the app is that the app can not control or give access to General MIDI song files that are on your USB flash drive so that you cannot play or activate the flashdrive songs from the piano and there is no way to use it through the app. The app will not display the songs on the flashdrive and/or give you control over it so to do that you would need to disconnect the tablet from the piano and take out the cable. Obviously this Yamaha app is not "perfect" (what app is ever perfect?) but it's very good and quite useful in many ways. I will say that having the app and the piano control panel/display screen work simultaneously must not be "rocket science" because Casio's proprietary new controller app for iPad & Android called "Chordana Play for Piano," works simultaneously with its piano control panel on new portable pro models called PXS series, and in a lower price range. So with Casio you can control functions from the app and at the same time control all functions from the piano itself which makes the operation much more intuitive and usable...and for me, that's important. If you (Yamaha) are going to have an app to help control the digital piano, then don't shut off access to the piano functions from the piano itself...that just does not make any sense. But that's the way it is on the Yamaha so you just deal with it and enjoy as much as possible. There certainly are big advantages to having and using the proprietary Smart Pianist app with the P515 in terms of accessing and controlling various functions and features of this piano. So I do appreciate the fact that Yamaha developed this great looking tablet/mobile device app to help better navigate the P515. However, not everyone will be using a tablet, especially if they have a lot of sheet music or music books in front of them on the P515 music rack because you do have to have a place to put your iPad/device on and generally that would be in front of you so you can have better control over it. For some people this will work out great and others who need to have music in front of them and therefore would need to put an iPad over somewhat to the right or left side, then it's not quite as easy to use...but it's still doable. Also,  I would have much preferred that the P515 be able to operate independently of the app while the app is being used.

I wanted to specifically mention the internal speaker system in the P515. There is a total of 40 watts of power going into 4 amplifiers and 4 speakers and the way that Yamaha designed that internal system allows for a much clearer tone and more precise bass response along with plenty of power without noticeable distortion. The built-in EQ feature in the piano allows you to precisely control the lows, medium, and high frequency tones in the P515 for live play and recorded playback from song files. I can tell you that from my personal experience playing a lot of hours through the P515 internal speaker system that it is by far the best sound I have ever heard coming through a portable digital piano under $2000. The overall sound is very impressive and the bass response is tight and precise without being boomy. You almost can't believe that all that quality sound and power is coming through a portable digital piano without external speakers connected. This piano can easily fill a large room with sound all by itself. In fact, the Roland FP90 ($1899 price) portable digital piano has 60 watts of power going through 4 speakers and 4 amps, which makes it more powerful than the Yamaha P515, yet the P515 sounds much better, more natural, with less distortion at louder power in my opinion than the FP90. Just because you have more power in a speaker system does not necessarily make it a better, more natural sound because there is a lot more that goes into making a quality speaker system than just raw power. The P515 is definitely high quality, high definition tone with a tight bass response coming through its very capable internal speaker system and even MP3/iTunes song files going through that speaker system from your Bluetooth device sound equally great.

Yamaha did an outstanding job with the cabinet design and cabinet finish on the P515 in my opinion by making it look a lot more "upscale" than any previous models they have had by using nice (quality) looking materials, better construction, contemporary design elements that add a bit of elegance to it, as well as nice looking button layout and shapes, and larger/better user display screen size and style. The previous model P255 in black had some black shiny plastic plex on the interior of the control panel which scratched easily and just looked bad. On this new model Yamaha got rid of all that and improved design and materials, although to give the P515 that more "elegant" appearance they redesigned the top outside cabinet panels into a more interesting geometric shape and used that black plastic plex material there to give the piano a "polished black" appearance on those sides. Although it looks impressive and I like it, that material does attract fingerprints, dust, and scratches, especially when you pick up the piano from each side because that's where the shiny black plastic is attached...to those top sides. But it's much nicer than the previous model and I am glad about that. The P515 also comes in a white matte finish (bench not included) and looks good, and that color doesn't show fingerprints, etc as easily. The piano top materials and control panel materials have a matte black (or white) finish that resists fingerprints and scratches and the full length rail strip above the keys have a black walnut "wood-grain" look to it for the black color which is very attractive and adds a bit of "class" to the overall appearance of the P515. The optional stand and triple pedal unit are also nicely designed and work well if you want the P515 to be more like a piano. The dimensions of the P515 are 53" x 6" x 15" deep with the weight coming in at 48.5 lbs not including optional stand, pedals, case, etc.

In the final analysis the P515 is a winner, but with some negative caveats. I obviously like many aspects of this newer model but my main hangups with it is the key action being heavy making it more difficult to control the key volume and dynamics, especially when playing more softly (firm static down-weight) particularly for a portable product. Key action is the #1 thing that piano teachers and pro players (like me) consider to be important and everything else comes after that. But besides key action and a few quirks that the P515 has that I have previously mentioned, I believe there are a number of people who will like this model and will find it to be enjoyable to play. However, I do have a number of piano player and piano teacher friends and relatives who are excellent musicians and have had a chance to try out this P515 and most of them thought the key action was noticeably heavy compared to what they were used to playing on their pianos which include Steinway, Yamaha, and Kawai grand pianos along with a few assorted upright/console acoustic pianos. When playing lightly and wanting to press on the keys more easily is where the extra down-weight is more noticeable could become fatiguing after awhile of playing and also more difficult in general for younger children or those people with weaker hand & finger muscles. But aside from the key action issues, the rest of the piano (minus the shortcomings I have talked about) is impressive and might be the perfect digital piano choice for you. Between the price range of $1500 to $2000 the 3 main portable digital pianos in this category are the P515, the Kawai ES8, and the Roland FP90. I would recommend you read my reviews (at the following links) of the other 2 pianos before making a purchase decision. Kawai ES8 Review   Roland FP90 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.

🎹 Kawai CA48 digital piano / Wooden keys / UPDATED REVIEW / January 2020 - The Kawai piano company is headquartered in Japan and is one of the top designers and producers of high quality acoustic & digital pianos. In fact, that's all they do....just pianos. Unlike Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Casio, and others, they don't build non-piano products such as motorcycles, tennis rackets, home audio, synthesizers, beginner keyboards, watches, guitar products, drums, etc. Kawai only builds pianos and has been doing so for nearly 100 years. Their pianos are well known to and used by Universities, professional pianists, piano teachers, studios, pro musicians, and families all around the world. So when it comes to a brand name along with recognition for high quality and innovation, the Kawai piano company is right there at the top and equal to or better than just about everyone out there. But with that being said, there is no perfect piano and there are distinct differences among the many different digital pianos in different price ranges out there.

This is what I recommend in the review below for digital piano shoppers to focus on when looking for a good, satisfying digital piano playing experience, and I believe the new Kawai CA48 lives up to those demands:

1. Key Action Realism - The way the keys move, the way they feel, their responsiveness to your finger pressure when you press down and let up on the keys, the material that is used to make the keys such as plastic partial wood, all-wood, are the keys individually weighted and/or balanced so that their weight matches a real acoustic piano, also how quiet they are when they move up & down. 
2. Piano sound - Does it start out with a high quality dynamic stereo sampled recording from a quality grand piano, is the sound "expressive," are there variations of piano sounds including mellow, medium, bright, etc
3. Pedaling response - Are the pedals well built, quiet when being depressed and released, responsive to subtle changes in pedal position, is the damper sustain-decay natural and lengthy like a real piano, does the sustain pedal trigger half-damper effect
4. Cabinet - Is the cabinet sturdy and built well, does it have front support legs, does it look attractive with ample space on music rack to support sheet music
5. Digital function & features - Are the built-in digital features and control panel useful, intuitive to use, and are there external controls such as proprietary apps from the manufacturer

The Kawai CA48 home furniture cabinet digital piano, which comes in simulated satin rosewood finish at $2099 internet discount price and satin black finish for $2199 internet discount price, is unique among its peers in its price range (under $2500) in a very special way. Before I get to that feature in this review, it is good to know that all digital piano companies think their piano is the "best" in a given price range....and why would they want you to believe any differently?! They tell you that their piano has the best key action, best and most realistic piano sound, best pedaling response, best functions and features, and the list goes on. But I have been around long enough to know that this cannot be true because obviously not every piano can have the "best" in a given price range since as a piano shopper you may be looking for certain things in a piano that other pianos may not have, but that does not necessarily make one "better" than another...it is somewhat subjective. However, the one thing that generally is thought to be the most important thing in a piano, especially a digital piano, is key action. That is, how closely do the keys move and behave as compared to a real acoustic piano upright and/or grand piano keys in the way they feel when they move under your fingers? Are those keys easy or hard to press down, do they come back up quickly or slowly, or somewhere in-between? Do the keys wiggle or move laterally side to side a lot or are they tighter and more secure? Do the shorter black keys take a lot of extra pressure to push down, especially compared to the white keys, or are they have better balance and note transition. For a lot of people, key action noise is also an issue because most people don't want noisy keys especially when they are playing at lower volumes or using headphones?

There are so many different reasons to want a digital piano piano. As a long time piano teacher, pro musician, composer, arranger, and consultant, among other things, in my opinion the #1 thing to look for in any piano, especially a digital piano...is, as I mentioned earlier, key action. The piano key action is the one thing you cannot replace or change in the piano you will own. Piano sound and pedaling response definitely take a close 2nd place in things to be concerned about and people do want the best piano sound they can get for their price range. But key action realism and authenticity (movement & response of the keys) is the one big thing a piano shopper should be concerned about. When it comes to the key action in the CA48, it is the one and only digital piano in this $2000 price range that has authentic black & white all-wooden grand piano style keys for all 88-notes along with most ivory feel  key-tops on the white keys and a smooth matte finish for the black keys which offers a better, smoother playing experience with your fingers. These keys are not just partially made out of wood or just have wooden sides to the keys like other digital piano brands, but have 100% wooden keys and you can even feel the actual wood as you depress a black key and run your fingers along the sides of the keys when you are playing...it's a very organic experience that I normally only get on real pianos when I am playing them. But having wooden keys is just the beginning of the process. Those keys also need to be designed in a way so that when they are installed, each key is independent of the key next to it so that when it moves it is isolated from all other keys just like in a real piano and each key weight inside the piano allows the key to respond as it would on a fine acoustic grand piano (see pic on left of actual CA48 interior keys& weights). The only real way to do this is to install those keys like they way they are installed in a real acoustic piano with a metal pin coming up from the keybed (the bottom of the keys) so that each key has a hole(s) strategically drilled through it near or at the center of that wooden key and then the key is slipped through the metal pin and secured in place so that it cannot move out of its position and is able to move in a see-saw type manner independent of all other keys. Balance pins are also installed so each key can have good balance from front to back and from white to black keys.This type of piano weighted and graded key action is a much more expensive process to offer in a digital piano and up until now the only company that has offered it in the past is this same company Kawai, but those pianos were priced starting at about $3500 discount price until the CA48 recently came out in this low price range.

With the 2020 CA48 priced at under $2200 and offering a real wooden key with real key construction and installation done at the Kawai factory, Kawai is now the only digital piano company that has this type of  key movement under $3500 and there is no other digital piano company that comes close in this way. So that's the biggest selling point of the CA48 in my opinion...key action and how good it feels and responds. The keys move quietly, smoothly, with what I would call a "medium" weight to the keys in terms of static down-weight and up-weight which is the amount of pressure it takes for your fingers to press down the keys from a resting position and then have those keys come up and press back up against your fingers. In fact, the key-weight is so realistic in my opinion that it is much closer to a grand piano than an upright piano in terms of how those piano key actions feel when playing the keys. To add extra authenticity to this new wood key action which Kawai calls "Grand Feel Compact," Kawai also designed in to the key action a function called let-off  (aka: escapement) which is a slight hesitation of notch that a person would feel from fingers when they press down any key somewhat slowly on a real grand piano about half-way down. This type of thing can give a player more control over the music and just adds even more authenticity to the playing experience of the CA48...especially if you have played real acoustic grand pianos before as I have. Some digital piano companies like Yamaha claim to have this "let-off" feature in their key actions but the Yamaha version is so subtle and light that it is nearly non-existent as far as feeling it really happen so it might as well not be there at all. However with the Kawai CA48 this grand piano let-off feature can definitely be felt in a natural way and although it is still a simulation, nevertheless it gives a player the impression you are actually playing a real acrostic grand piano, and for me, that's a good thing.

I normally don't talk about key actions in my reviews quite this much but the CA48 key action is surprisingly so good and far outclasses anything else in this price range that I believe the subject is worth exploring in detail. Beyond the wooden keys, key weight, movement, let-off function, and installation process is the fact that this Grand-Feel Compact key action has 3 electronic key sensors under each key. Normally speaking when it comes to key actions that more sensors there are then the better the piano can sense your key movement and key travel and where the key is at any given time while you play. In reality a 3-sensor key action helps with having more precise key repetition when playing at a faster rate with more complex music. The extra sensor (many digital pianos have 2 key sensors) picks up key repetition more precisely so your music will be replicated in a more natural way when it comes to playing the keys. Beyond the 3 sensor action, the CA48 also has counter-weights in the bass keys of the piano. The lower bass keys in a piano tend to be heavier than higher treble keys so Kawai has included specially designed counter-weights to help with the key movement so the key responds more quickly, comes back up more precisely when pressed down, and therefore your music becomes more expressive. Most digital piano companies do not offer counter-weights in their keys so the Kawai company continues to innovate when it comes to their key actions.

Another key action feature worth mentioning in more detail is the simulated synthetic matte finish ebony and ivory key tops that are on the keys. This proprietary material that Kawai uses on their keys not only gives the the keys a more classy appearance and cuts down on the glare that plastic keys can sometimes give off, but this synthetic material feel smooth and organic making you believe that your fingers are touching the "real thing" when they are really not. In decades past, acoustic pianos had real ivory and real ebony on their key-tops for better finger traction, better absorption of sweat from the fingers, and smoother finger movement. However, ivory and ebony are organic materials from elephants and trees. Since harvesting ivory from elephants is illegal and the same is true for ebony which come from specialized trees which can take from 60 years to 200 years for one tree to grow and mature. So because these materials are no longer available to use in piano key actions such as what is in digital pianos, some of the digital piano companies have synthetic versions of these materials and now use it on their keys to give you the impression you are touching the real thing. The Kawai simulated proprietary ebony and ivory material that is used not only feels great but is arguably the best and most authentic of any digital piano manufacturer using these synthetic types of material on their pianos. So when it comes to even these key action details, the Kawai company is doing an outstanding job in my opinion on this new model.

When it comes to key actions in this price range or any price range, it's somewhat of a balancing act for these piano companies to try to create a key action that plays really good but at the same time is quiet when the keys are moving up & down. In a real acoustic piano piano those key actions are generally fairly noisy when moving up and down because there are a lot of mechanical parts moving around and making noise. The reason most people are not bothered by that noise or don't hear the noise is because acoustic pianos are always so loud. There is no volume control on a real acoustic pianos so they are either loud or louder...that's how I describe it because I play them, own them, and have been around them all my life. A big advantage to digital pianos is that there is a master volume control so that you can play at a low softer volume. Also, there is a headphone jack so that you can practice in privacy without anyone hearing you which for some people is a really good thing. When playing more quietly or with headphones in a digital piano, some of these key actions can be a bit noisy when the keys are moving. For most people this will not be an issue because there is always some noise in key actions. But for other people who are more sensitive to noise when the keys are moving, then you will be happy to know that based on all my playing time with the Kawai CA48, I can tell you that this Grand Feel Compact key action is very quiet when the keys are going both down and up, especially as compared to other digital piano brands and models. Sometimes keys can be noisy when pressing them down and other pianos can have noisy keys when the keys are coming back up or even noticeably noisy in both directions. With regard to the CA48, the key movement is quiet although it is not silent. There will always be some ambient noise with something mechanical (like a piano key action) is moving. But in comparison to all other digital pianos I have played under priced $3000, Kawai does an outstanding job in eliminating most key noise while still offering expressive, nicely weighted keys that feel great, look great, and operate well.

With regard to piano sound authenticity, the Kawai CA48 has a 192-note polyphony stereo piano sound chip (which is more than enough of piano processing power even when layering another sound)) which offers 2 distinct piano sampled recordings from 2 completely different Kawai acoustic grand pianos, one being more mellow and the other being more resonate and metallic with a fuller sound. There are also other acoustic piano sounds available on this model totaling 8 piano sounds. I do like the tonal dynamics of the main piano sampled recordings which are improved from older Kawai models with wider tone which really allows for good expression on this model because expression not only includes volume changes as you play the keys softer or harder, but the musical expression includes a change of tone from more mellow to becoming brighter and more "alive" as you press the keys harder and harder. So I do like the fact that the Kawai piano sounds allow for noticeably natural piano dynamics and musical expression so that whether you are a student or accomplish piano player, you will appreciate what you can do with the pianos sounds on the CA48. The 192-note polyphony piano chip means that you'll likely never run out of piano note processing power which is important so that you don't have what people call "note-dropout" which can happen if the piano processor can't handle a large amount of stereo piano notes played simultaneously along using the sustain pedal and even layering an additional instrument sound with the piano sound. The CA48 does quite nicely in this area.

If that weren't enough as far as the piano sound goes, Kawai also has a proprietary iOS app (iPad, iPhone) for their digital pianos called Virtual Technician which allows the user to modify and edit the different piano sounds on the CA48 in a way that customizes the sound for your ears as opposed to what other people may like. For instance, if you wanted to change key velocity touch response, you can do this from the app so that you can make the piano sound respond differently if your particular finger touch is hard, or soft, or in-between. Some people do not have much strength in their fingers or maybe they pound on the keys with their fingers hard and are not subtle enough. By changing the key touch sensitivity in the piano you can make it so the piano comes in more quickly and loudly or comes in less quickly and loudly when striking the keys with your fingers. When you make a change for that function then it changes all 88-keys. going even further with the key touch sensitivity, the Virtual Technician app also offers "individual key volume" change rather than changing touch and volume for all keys at once. For instance, maybe your ears are sensitive to one or two particular notes on the 88 keys that seem to be a little too loud or too soft in volume for your ears, especially as compared to the notes around them. The Virtual Technician app allows the user to instantly and easily change the volume of just one, two, three, etc notes either louder or softer while all the other notes stay the same and that change can be saved as a new preset setting within internal app memory so you can have it that way or use another setting instead. What I am saying is that the CA48 can be customized in a variety of ways including changing pedal resonance, dynamic tone, pedal sustain rate, hammer noise, stretch tuning mode,  and so much more for people who like technology, have an iOS device, and who may want to customize the piano sound for their own personal tastes besides what Kawai already has built into this piano. You can even have your customer setting be stored in the piano and come up as a default setting when the piano is powered on. There are no other digital piano brands I know of which offers this kind of control over the piano sounds in an all-wood key key action for this price range.

When it comes to shopping for a new furniture cabinet digital piano, one of the things that people sometimes overlook is the 3 pedals attached to the front bottom of the piano. What I mean by "overlook" is that many people just think pedals are pretty much all the same on various digital pianos. That's like saying the piano key action is the same or the piano sound is pretty much the same among many different digital pianos. Well nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to pedals and what they do and how they feel. The 3 pedals include (from right to left) damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft. The soft pedal does what its name suggests and that is when you are holding down that pedal, what ever note or notes you are playing will be heard at a softer volume. The soft pedal allows you to reduce volume on notes you are playing to make for more expression and feeling when you are playing a song. It allows you soften a note in that way whenever you want to or when the piece calls for it. That pedal is used more often in classical music than other types of music but for most people playing music at a beginning through intermediate recreational level, I find that the soft pedal is (overall) not used very often. The middle pedal is there to sustain (hold) a specific note or notes at any given time while all the other notes have no sustain and would be heard as staccato (short) notes. This pedal is used almost exclusively for classical music and in reality is seldom used any more by people playing at a recreational level. The right pedal is for sustaining any notes that would be played at any given time. This allows for the piano notes to be held for a short to longer period of time to add beauty and fullness to the sound and allow for resonances and richness of tone to occur and is used in all kinds of music by beginners through professional players. The damper/sustain pedal makes your music sound great and actually can help you sound better than you really are as well!

The CA48 does a great job with all three pedals and I was very impressed with the responsiveness of the pedals, especially sustain-decay time of the piano notes when using the sustain pedal. In other words, the longer it takes for the piano sound to fade out when holding down the pedal while playing a note or notes, the better and more realistic the piano sound will be...like that of a real acoustic piano. The CA48 had long sustain times across the keys in the lower octave range to the upper octave range. Beyond that, the damper/sustain pedal also triggered "damper resonance" which means that in a real piano when you hold the right side damper pedal down then the strings can create more natural resonances giving you a very organic natural reverberation which is especially noticeable in the upper octaves of the keyboard. This is something that naturally occurs in all acoustic pianos, but in digital pianos it either is not there or if it is there is is not very noticeable. In the CA48 I found that the damper resonance effect was quite real and added a lot of ambiance to the music which gives it an added organic element that I noticed right away and was very pleased to hear it. The extra resonance came in when it was supposed to and responded like I would expect on a real acoustic piano. The physical weight and resistance of all 3 pedals was very good and had a natural grand piano pedal feel to it with a firmer amount of weight so that when you pushed down the pedals it did not feel like those light-weight keyboard type pedals or lightweight toy-like pedals I have felt on other digital pianos. Not only that, but the pedals were fairly quiet when pressing down on them or when the pedals were coming back up. Although there is some mechanical noise associated with pedals on a real acoustic upright or grand piano, keeping this noise at a minimum is especially important on a digital piano because when playing a digital piano at a lower volume or with headphones the last thing you (or someone else in the room) wants to hear is  noisy pedals making clunking sounds like I have heard on many other digital pianos. So when it comes to the 3 pedals and what they do and how they work, in my opinion Kawai has done an excellent jog with this aspect of the piano.

As far as the other non-acoustic piano instrument sounds go, there are 11 of them including some impressive electric pianos, choirs, organs, strings, synthesizers, harpsichords, etc which you can access off the control panel by pushing the sound-function button and pressing a specific white or black key on the piano. Those sounds are very good and much better than on other brands of digital pianos I have played in this price range. I also like the fact that those sounds not only sound great by themselves, but they also make the acoustic piano tones sound even fuller when you layer any of them together with an acoustic piano sound or even layer 2 non-acoustic piano sounds together. So whether you layer acoustic piano & strings, organ & choir, acoustic piano & vintage electric piano, acoustic piano and synthesizer bells (called Atmosphere), or harpsichord & slow strings, the overall quality of those sound combinations are really great in my opinion having played them all with a variety of combinations. Whatever adds to the musical enjoyment when I play a digital piano is what I look for and this piano really does it good. There is a small LED display screen on the control panel to the left of the keyboard which will display what feature/function you are selecting. However when it comes to these instrument sounds and how they are displayed in the LED screen, there is just a number in it showing sound #1, #2, #3 and so on. You would normally need to memorize what that sound is to know what the number means. For some of the other functions (reverb, transpose, touch, etc) there is an abbreviation of that feature so it's a bit easier to understand what you are selecting, but it's not completely satisfying. Also, with the control panel being on the far left side of the piano, depending on the lighting in your room, that area of the piano and the 6 buttons on that panel can get quite dark and therefore the buttons and the names of those buttons become very difficult to see. When there is light shining directly over that control panel then there is no problem, but that isn't always the case. It would have been much better if Kawai had designed the button titles/names as being displayed with LED lights over them so you could more easily tell one button from the next, or even see those buttons at all. So having a well lit are so the control panel is more easily seen is a good idea unless you won't be using those other buttons very often that control other features of the piano.

There is a solution to finding the sounds you want in the CA48 directly on the piano and doing it more quickly. Kawai gives you two very innovative ways to more easily identify the sound and function you are using as well as to control them more intuitively including layering two sounds together at the same time. One of those sound identification functions is called Vocal Assist. The way this feature works is that when you touch and hold the sound select button and then touch specific keys on the keyboard, there is a voice in the piano that verbally tells you what function or sound you are getting when you press that key. For instance, when you press the 1st white key in the bass section, you are triggering the SK concert grand piano sound. The voice (sounds like a lady with a British accent) says "SK Concert Grand" so you can audibly hear what sound or feature you have selected. If you press the 2nd white key then the voice says "EX Concert Grand." If you press the 3rd C key from the bottom then the voice says "Room Reverb," and if you press the 3rd D key the voice says ""Lounge Reverb," and so on. Beyond the voice assist, the piano also has a feature called Sound Preview which plays a short musical run of notes of the exact sound you have selected b y pressing a key on the keyboard so you hear the sound as well and hear a voice that says what the sound is. You can disable the Vocal Assist control and the Sound Preview "run of notes" control so that there is no sound when you activate a new function or sound by pressing a specific key and the sound select button at the same time. These features are very helpful for the sight impaired person who needs help identifying what function or sound they have selected or want to select.

The CA48 can also use a proprietary app that Kawai created to make instrument sound selection even easier and more fun for a few different digital piano models including this one, and that app is called Sound Museum. The Sound Museum app only works with iOS products such as iPhone or iPad and does not work with Android products...sorry Android users! But this is typical with many other useful apps out there in the digital piano world. The Sound Museum app visually lets you see a list of instrument sounds in your device color touch screen that reside within the CA48 and an intuitive easy-to-use interface that quickly lets you select the sounds you want to hear. The app also allows you to layer any two sounds together and even control the relative volume between those two sounds. Its a very cool app and makes using the CA48 even easier and more fun to use. Although the app does not allow control over some of the other functions in the piano, it does the main things that most people care about which are accessing and changing the instrument sounds as well as layering them together. Also in the app, there is a section where you can save your favorite instrument sounds and layered sounds so that you can instantly access them in the "favorites section." The Sound Museum app is also great for audibly impaired people who cannot hear or don't want to use the CA48 function/key way of selecting a sound(s). So whether you want to select a piano sound, harpsichord sound, synth sound, organ sound or you want to layer any 2 sounds together, with pictures of the instruments and the name of the instruments in front of you in the app, using the CA48 to access these things is really a breeze...as long as you have an iOS device as I mentioned earlier. The Kawai apps do not work with Android devices so that is a downside and Kawai unfortunately does not plan to include Andoid devices for these proprietary apps...but I have seen other digital piano companies do the same things for their apps as well.

When you want to connect your external device (such as an iPad) to the CA48 and you want to use interactive MIDI controllable apps such as Sound Museum or Virtual Technician, the Kawai CA48 has a Bluetooth wireless feature that allows you to connect your device to the CA48 without the need of a cable. This pretty cool because the connectivity is nearly instant and then you can put your iPad (or iPhone) wherever you want to and have control over the piano wirelessly and anywhere in the room you want to. Also there are many 3rd party music/piano educational apps for learning how to play the piano in the comfort of your own home and those apps can also be connected by Bluetooth wireless MIDI because the CA48 has that feature. There are some 3rd party education and instrument sound apps that work for both iOS and Android devices so that's a good thing.There is only one drawback when using apps and that is the audio sound of that app (assuming it has music or some type of audio sounds in it) will not be heard through the piano. So you would need to find another source to send the app audio to such as an external speaker system connected to your device directly to hear audio from your phone, tablet, or computer because otherwise the internal music and sounds in the apps would only come through the device speakers which as generally not meant for good quality sound. Although having direct audio streaming through the piano speakers would have nice, that is something I can live with given what the piano is otherwise capable of doing.

The Kawai CA48 has a number of interesting and useful digital features such as layering/mixing 2 different instrument sounds together which can make the over sound experience more dramatic and musically exciting. It has a four-hand mode where two people can practice the same song at the same time playing the same notes by converting the keyboard electronically to 2 separate 44-note keyboards that act independent of one another. There is a digital metronome which is fully adjustable for tempo and time signature which is great for students and learning to stay "on the beat." There are also functions in this piano that allow you to adjust the overall tonal quality of the sound which include reverb (adding a variety of reverberation to the sound), brilliance which allows for brightening up the sound or reducing brightness so the sound is more mellow, and touch sensitivity control which allows you to change the touch to harder, softer, or medium so that when you play the keys the piano sound will come in more quickly for people who play more lightly (less finger pressure) or harder for people who have a harder touch from their fingers, and the harder setting reduces the initial attack volume so that a person with harder finger pressure won't overpower the key volume.

You can also record songs on the CA48 using the piano control panel and then playback to listen to how you are doing. The recording feature has just one track recording for both hands instead of 2-tracks so that you could record and playback right and left hand independently as you can on other digital pianos. I would have preferred a 2-track recorder/playback system but for many people a 1-track recorder playback feature can be enough. You can also save up to 3 recordings in memory so you can retrieve and playback those recorded songs whenever you choose to do that. If you want to record more songs then you have to erase what was previously in the recorder and then you can record new songs. Also included inside this piano is a library of piano lesson songs based on the Alfred piano curriculum along with a few other more advanced piano lesson songs from other lesson methods, all totaling 5 different books of songs. This is useful and fun when combined with the actual lesson books (not included with piano) from these popular publishers that many piano teachers use. Then you can read the lesson and see the song notation while hearing it play in the CA48. You can slow down or speed up tempo while learning and even separate playback of right and left hand parts.  This a a really cool feature and can also help with "ear training" along with keeping it more enjoyable when you are playing along. Hearing these lesson songs from the lesson books also helps give the student a better understanding of how the individual songs should go and the library of built-in songs within the CA48 is very good given the fact that no other digital piano brand near this price range offers a feature like this one.

A few other useful functions in this model would include a transpose feature allowing you to digitally change the key you are in without you having to learn the song in a new key which you may not be able to do based on your musical ability. Transpose is a great feature in allowing the player to modulate the song up or down (churches do that a lot with their music) and it's also very useful if you or someone is singing along with you and you need to get the song into your vocal range so then you use the transpose feature to do that and it works well for that purpose. With regard to using headphones for private practice, the CA48 even has specific digital features to make that experience more realistic such as Spatial Headphone sound which electronically changes the sound position in your headphones which gives you the feeling the sound is coming out in a more natural way. The CA48 also has a function which optimizes your headphones so that the headphones sound more natural depending on the type of headphones you have such as "open,""semi-open,"closed,""in-ear," etc. This feature really does work and adds to the overall stereo headphone listening experience for those people who take advantage of what headphones can do for you when it comes to private practice so no-one else can hear you. Finally, when it comes to useful features, the CA48 has a start-up modewhich allows you to save/store some of your custom settings that you've done which you may want to have all the time when you first power up the piano. These start-up settings would include a specific sound, reverb, sound combination, metronome beat, Virtual Technician settings, etc. I tend to use this start-up function if the piano model offers it so I find this a very useful thing to have. The Kawai CA48 offers other useful features like I have just mentioned but this should give you an idea of some of the cool things it's able to do.

It's definitely worth mentioning that for a number of years, on certain digital piano models, Kawai has included a special proprietary fun educational learning system for beginner students and for people who may play the piano but just want to have some added musical enjoyment. This unique system is called Concert Magic it is designed to let you play along with familiar songs that are built into the CA48, but in a way that allows for extensive rhythm and timing training while not having to play the "correct notes" for the songs to sound good. In the basic learning mode of the Concert Magic system, the student, even at very young ages, can play any key and get the correct left hand chord and right hand note of the chosen song...all by pressing one note at a time. The point is to press the key(s) in a steady constant beat beat without having to worry about playing the right note or even at the right time. When you can play any note on the keyboard in a constant fashion and have the song sound correct and be recognizable (hearing both left and right hand notes come out in the one key you are pressing, then that encourages you to want to play more because it sounds so good! You can also learn to play the key in the correct rhythm time so that it (the beat) comes out correctly and still not have to know the actual notes yet. This takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do its great fun and it makes even 3 year old children sound great and is fun for the entire family to hear. There are 40 different well known songs from different eras and music categories within the Concert Magic Music Library along with different modes of learning including Easy Beat, Melody Play, and Skillful. I have played with this Concert Magic feature a number of times and I always have fun doing it. So whether you are an adult or child beginner or a more advanced piano player like me, I guarantee you'll have great fun using the Concert Magic system and you'll be especially impressed in how interactive you can be with the song library in making you sound great while you learn the fundamentals of rhythm & timing in a way that no other digital piano brand can do. I will say that not everyone will want or need to use this feature, especially if you are purchasing the piano to play in a normal way and you already know how to play. But for many people, especially children, I believe you'll enjoy this Concert Magic feature quite a bit.

We're now getting into the "home stretch" so I will say a few things about the internal speaker system of the CA48. There a 4 speakers in this model with 2 speakers measuring 5.12" each at the bottom of the piano (1 on each side) pointing down and forward, and there are also 2 smaller "tweeter speakers" measuring 2" each pointing forward from inside the piano above the keys one on each side of the piano which allows for better clarity in the higher frequency tones. The amplification system has 40 watts total (2x20w) of stereo power, so for most rooms the CA48 puts out plenty of volume. However, I personally would have preferred more power out of this piano (perhaps 60 watts for the main speakers) and even another couple of amplifiers powering the tweeter speakers independently of the main speakers. But most digital pianos in this price range only have 2 speakers and 2 amplifiers built in with no more than 40 watts so the CA48 speaker system is an improvement over the others with the 2 additional speakers. I love a piano with a huge sound and even though the CA48 volume and tone will be fine for most applications, their are other digital pianos with more power and more amplifiers, but many are in a higher price range such as the next model up CA58 ($2999 price). Also, the CA48 does not have separate audio outputs so you cannot connect this model to an external audio system. So this piano needs to be free-standing in that way which if it's going in a home is just fine. If you are looking to get this model for your church, school, or another venue that is looking for bigger sound and volume, then you may need to consider another piano with more built-in power or built-in audio outputs.

With regard to external and/or internal connectivity, the CA48 has 2 MIDI ports which supports traditional MIDI plugs and those MIDI ports can also be adapted to an external Bluetooth Audio adapter so that the piano could receive Bluetooth wireless audio through its speaker system. The CA48 does not have audio outputs or inputs but it does have a USB output to host so that you can plug in your computer or device to access programs or apps. However, with the on-board Bluetooth wireless MIDI protocol, you don't need a cable connected to your device and piano to access MIDI responsive apps and programs so this makes it very quick & easy to connect your iPad (as an example) to the piano so that you can instantly use apps such as the Kawai Virtual Technician and Sound Museum as I discussed earlier. This kind of connectivity works well and does the job and there are many digital pianos in this price range and for less money that do not have this feature. Finally, this model has 2 stereo headphones jacks including a mini-jack and a standard 1/4" jack both both types of connections. Having two headphone jacks also allows for two people to play together privately without disturbing other people in or around the immediate area.

When you add it all up for its relatively low price, the CA48 in dark rosewood ($2099 internet discount price) or in the satin (matte) black finish with simulated black wood-grain ($2199 internet discount price) is a real winner in my opinion. Although there are always a few short-comings in most any new digital piano out there in my opinion including the CA48, this impressive model has enough great features and functions to make a digital piano shopper say "yes" I want that one! Measuring in at just 53"x18"x33" and weighing only 125lbs, this model can easily fit into a lot of places. It looks very attractive with a nice cabinet design along with front support legs, a privacy panel below the keyboard, a slide-out key cover, an adjustable music rack with lots of space to put your sheet music or music books, 3 attractive chrome pedals on the black cabinet and brass pedals on the rosewood cabinet, and a comfortable padded matching bench that has music storage inside, in my opinion the new CA48 offers the type of features, functions, cabinet design, and price that most people want who are looking to mainly purchase a digital piano that focuses on the piano playing experience rather than offering all kinds of bells & whistles such as drums, brass, woodwinds, auto-accompaniment, multi-track recording, etc that a lot of people just don't want or need. The CA48 is part of the Concert Artistseries of digital pianos for Kawai which is a more prestigious series of digital pianos with that great proprietary longer wood-key key action experience that so many people are looking for in this price range. All the other newer current model Kawai furniture cabinet digital pianos around or under $2000 have the plastic key actions and none of the other digital piano companies have all-wood keys anywhere near this lower price range. Although many plastic key actions can be enjoyable to play and I have played them all, they really don't rise to the level in touch, feel, movement, or response as compared to the wood-key Grand Feel Compact key action in the CA48. Also, I also like the full stereo sampled piano sound coming out of the internal speaker system of this piano and through headphones along with the responsive pedaling that I experienced. I also enjoy using technology to assist me in getting more music out of these digital pianos and I did like the fact that I could quickly and easily get around the CA48 when it came to using the all the instrument sounds and layering through the Sound Museum app on my iPhone.

Given the fact that the Kawai digital pianos are known for their overall reliability and durability over time, this piano still comes with a long factory warranty of 5 year parts & 5 years labor with in-home service. This warranty is a fairly long time in my opinion and covers any factory defect that occurs in the piano, so this 5 years of factory warranty time should give most people peace of mind when it comes to the piano being backed up by a reputable company such as Kawai. Although the CA48 offers some compelling functions and digital features as well as a resonate piano sound, it is really the special proprietary key action that sets this model apart form all the rest. This is not say that a person cannot enjoy playing and owning a Casio AP-650, a Yamaha YDP-184, a Roland HP702, or a Korg G1 Air, as examples, because those pianos can be very enjoyable to play as well and they are all in a similar price range except for the Korg coming in at lower price-point for $1749. I really do like and recommend the Kawai CA48 for all the reasons I talked about here in this review, but at the end of the day it just depends on what your musical goals are, your piano playing experience is, and what type of budget you have. With all that in mind the Kawai CA48 Concert Artist model may just be the perfect piano for you as it is seems to be for so many other people looking to get a home digital piano in a reasonable price range!

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 PIANOS IN CALIFORNIA - Review & Report of where to buy Kawai, Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Casio, Samick, Kurzeil, and other digital pianos in California for the lowest price - California is a very large state and covers an immense amount of territory including large cites and counties in Southern, Central, and Northen California like San Diego, Orange County, Anaheim, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernadino, Santa Ana, Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Hollywood, Redondo Beach, Torrance, West LA, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, Bakersfield, Palmdale, Pomona, Burbank, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Lois Obispo, Santa Clara, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Fremont, San Jose, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Berkely, Concord, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Clovis, Fairfied, Roseville, Humboldt, Mendocino, and so many more. So when it comes to shopping for new digital pianos in California, whether they be upright and grand style home furniture cabinet models, portable models, or professional stage models at good discount pricing, sometimes that can be a difficult task even with all the bigger cities that exist in that state. This seems to be a bit of a surprise to me given how much music there is in California with all the recording studios, Hollywood studios, musicians, music events and live venues to watch musicians play, and piano teachers teaching lessons to thousands upon thousands of students combined. Unfortunately there are a number of areas that have few real piano stores or those stores don't have a lot of brands to choose from. To really see the digital piano in person that may seem to fit your needs in California, you may need to travel for miles to find a store with a bigger selection of brands since many medium to smaller size cities don't have any digital piano dealers or those dealers only carry cheaper priced digital pianos and not the higher priced, better digital pianos in the price range above $1500. Nevertheless, there are some well established piano stores with some of the better brands in a few of the larger cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, etc which do have a good selection of digital pianos and who do offer fair prices at their stores. As an example, a few of those piano store names (in no particular order) are Green Music in San Diego & San Jose, Pierre's Fine Pianos in Los Angeles, and San Mateo Piano in San Mateo. So you do not necessarily have to buy a new digital piano from an internet store to get a good piano at a good price when a reputable local piano store may have that same piano or something even better at the same or lower price. But just to be sure...ask me first and I can tell you if you are getting a "good deal" or not!


Also, in California the sales tax rate is rather high so there are good, compelling reasons to order from an on-line dealer outside the state of California to "avoid" sales tax, depending on who the seller is and what model you are buying. When shopping for a new digital piano in California including San Diego area, Orange Country, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, San Jose, Sacramento, etc, most piano stores carry just 1 brand or possibly 2 brands of digital pianos so you will need to shop around for other brands if you want to see them. Also in many big cities, you may find just one piano company who sells the brand you want to see and there are no other piano companies in or near your area who also sells that brand. So then there are digital piano "markets" in big cities that are controlled by just one dealer who has exclusive rights to that brand which obviously limits competition, especially if that brand or model is not available nearby elsewhere or on-line.

Another potential problem with buying new digital piano in California is that many dealers don't always have the latest or greatest models in their store or on display such as the Kawai CA48, CA78, CA98, or new Roland LX705, LX706, LX708, or Casio AP650, AP470, PX870, AP700, GP300, or Yamaha CLP685, CLP695GP, new Yamaha YDP144, YDP164, YDP184, Korg G1 Air, C1 Air, or Samick SG120, SG500, or other popular models. So when it comes to finding a good selection of the most popular or newest digital pianos in California, it can be very challenging at times. There are also big music store companies such as Guitar Center or Sam Ash Music who have many stores throughout California and carry some lower priced, more common name brand digital pianos including their own "house brands" which means that brand is only available from that music store because it is their own brand. Guitar Center has the "Williams" brand of digital pianos and Sam Ash has the "Adams" brand of digital pianos. Guitar Center and Sam Ash Music don't actually make their digital pianos because those pianos come from a Chinese digital piano manufacturer who normally already have these pianos made in their factory and then sell them to music stores who want to put their own label on them. The music stores buy them for a cheap price and usually make higher profit on them than they do on the name brands. But beware of these so called "house brands" because generally speaking, they are not very good and in my opinions are based on my personal experience with them over the years and also with the latest models because they are (in my opinion) cheaply made, sound cheap, key actions feel cheap, the pedals respond like a toy piano...and they are also offered at what seems to be a cheap price because of all that. Just remember, you don't usually get "something for nothing" so when it's a cheap price and cheaper than all the good, well known brands then there is usually a good reason for it. The upside is that those "cheap pianos" generally look nice so shoppers think they must actually be nice. In reality they are just "PSO's"...Piano Shaped Objects, so...beware!

Some digital piano shoppers who live in California make a purchase from Amazon (even on Amazon you need to pay sales tax) but that's not always a good alternative. This is because a lot of people don't know much about digital pianos so they take a big chance in just reading consumer reviews. Many of those buyers and piano owners have little experience either playing piano or being able to discern what is going to be the "best bang for the buck" in terms of a digital piano (within your budget) and whether it can really offer a good piano playing experience whether you or a family member is a beginner, intermediate, or advanced student or piano player.

There really are some "land mines" out there when shopping for and buying a new digital piano so I suggest you first contact me or my son, Erik as we are experts in this field. For many, many years I have taught 1000's of people to play piano both in private and group lessons and am a consultant to schools, churches, universities, pro piano players, music teachers, and others for digital pianos and what to buy and what to avoid based on your musical needs, musical goals, budget, and experience. We are also independent consultants and advisers to the piano companies themselves and they have implemented some of the ideas we gave them so that they could make their digital pianos even more realistic and better made than before. We don't get paid by the manufacturers or designers for our reviews and consulting. We do it out of a love of music and a passion to see more people of all ages come to enjoy playing music on a great instrument like a high quality digital piano.

Before you make a digital piano purchase anywhere inside or outside of California including other cities and states or on-line, please contact me at the email address or phone number below and my son, Erik and I will answer your questions. Even though we are based in Arizona, as we do for all digital piano shoppers throughout the US, we will also let you know if you are getting a good price on the digital piano you are looking at, and, in our opinion, if you are not getting a good price then we can usually help you buy it for quite a bit less money than internet, Amazon, or general music store prices including (in most cases) free shipping, no tax, brand new with full factory warranty to anywhere in the 48 states including anywhere in California. Please don't make a move and spend your money without contacting us first. You definitely will be glad you did!

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.

🎹 Korg C1 Air Digital Piano / REVIEW / Jan 2020 /  Recommended - Korg is a well known music products manufacturer which is based in Japan. They have been designing and producing a variety of pro and home music products for over a half century and continue to be a leader and innovator in the digital music world. With regard to digital pianos, Korg has an impressive model called the C1 Airhome digital piano ($1399 internet discount price) which incorporates all new Korg piano technology at a relatively low competitive price. Although Korg has been making digital pianos and digital music products for decades and I personally have played many of them, they have not been as well known to the general public (families, non pro players) as they have been to professional musicians. In the home digital piano market Korg has had some low priced digital pianos (mostly portable) available for quite awhile but they have not been near as popular as compared to the more well known brands like Casio, Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland and in my opinion not very competitive with those other digital pianos under $1000. But now with the introduction of a few new models over $1000, Korg is finally showing they can make a very well built  competitive digital piano, especially in this price range between $1000-$1500. See bottom of this review for special lower discount price info. (click on pics for larger views)

The first thing that shoppers generally want to know concerning digital pianos is about the key action. How does it move, how does it feel, how will it hold up over time, is the key action quiet or noisy, will it emulate a real piano action, and most of all, is the key action good enough so I grow into it rather than grow out of it? Piano teachers, like myself, also feel the key action is the most important part of any piano whether that piano is acoustic or digital so it is the number one thing to be concerned about, especially if you are a piano student or someone who plays well. The Korg company basically builds two key actions for their home and professional digital pianos. They have their lower quality, less realistic key action, and they have their top of the line acoustic style key action called the RH3 which is what is used in the C1 Air. The best way for me to describe the RH3 key action is to say it's very impressive given the low price of the C1 Air model. In my opinion the feel of the RH3 key action movement is so good, so organic, and so responsive for a lower priced digital piano like the C1 Air you really get the impression you're playing a real acoustic piano. The RH3 action is balanced well up and down the keyboard as well as front to back of the keys as compared to many other digital pianos in this price range, properly graded in down weight movement and is not too heavy and not too light. The overall movement of the keys really allows a player to connect with their music and feel like they can really express themselves. There is no other key action under $2000 for a furniture cabinet piano in my opinion that feels quite like this Korg top-of-the-line key action in terms of the way it moves. Yes, there are other key action that are nice to play from Kawai, Roland,Casio, and Yamaha, but the Korg RH3 key action is really in a class by itself as far as I am concerned, plus, it's a noticeably quieter key action in terms of noise coming from the keys when they move up & down as compared to other digital pianos out there.


There are two things about this key action that Korg does not offer which  a few other key actions in this price range do offer and that is "ivory & ebony feel keytops" and/or "escapement function." Some of the digital piano manufacturers are producing a special material that goes on the tops of the keys which tries to simulate the old ivory and ebony that regular acoustic pianos used to have many decades ago. Ivory and ebony haven't been used on regular piano keys in a very long time so what real piano keys have had for many years is the hard white implex acrylic key tops and black matte keytops. Ivory and ebony had a different appearance than they way acoustic piano keys are now and one of the properties of Ivory and ebony is that they were a porous organic material so they helped to absorb sweat from the fingers although the sweat discolored those materials after awhile. With regard to the "escapement" key function, this feature is found mostly on grand pianos when you press a key very slowly you would feel a hesitation or notch about half-way down key as the key is depressed very slowly. If the key is depressed faster then there is no escapement feeling so the keys move freely. What some of the manufacturers have tried to do is to recreate that escapement feeling in a digital piano key action. In this price range when it comes to both ivory/ebony imitation keytops and the escapement feature, so far only Roland has both features whereas Casio is the only brand with just the ivory/ebony feel keytops in this price range on a home digital piano. Yamaha does not have either feature in this price range not does Kawai or Korg. The reason why most manufacturers don't try to recreate these things in this price range in my opinion, is that at the end of the day it does not really matter because these features are just an imitation of the real thing and for most people matter very little when it comes to the actual piano playing experience. A real upright acoustic piano does not have either feature as they have white acrylic keys and no escapement key feeling, and yet most people who have acoustic pianos in their homes, schools, and other venues mostly play upright pianos. In other words on the Korg C1 Air, the key action emulates a fine upright piano key action along with moving quickly like a grand piano. So the bottom line is...I would not get "hung up" on features that may not improve the piano playing experience for you. I personally would much rather have a key action that moves very smoothly like the Korg RH3 rather than a heavy, fragile, or unresponsive key action that has the artificial keytops and escapement. That's how much I enjoy playing the Korg C1 key action over many other digital pianos, even some of the key actions in the $2500 price range!

Piano sound is a tricky thing because for many people who don't have piano playing or piano listening experience, they may not know what a piano is actually supposed to sound like? In other words a piano shopper could mistake poor piano sound reproduction in a digital piano with something they think sounds OK or good. I see this happen all the time because a lot of people don't know what it actually takes for a real piano to sound good and natural. There are so many organic resonances and vibrations going on in a real piano when it's being played, and to reproduce all those natural organic piano tones, string vibrations, and cabinet vibrations is not easy in a digital piano. Some poor sounding digital pianos like some models made by Artesia, Suzuki, Kurzweil, and others have very poor (almost embarrassing) piano sound reproduction and in fact a few of those pianos sound like toys in my opinion. Even some current model Yamaha digital pianos in the Arius series ($1100 - $2200) have piano sounds that are quite compressed and they don't seem to offer a good expressive dynamic piano tone as compared to other digital pianos in this price range such as this Korg C1 Air. Good, expressive, dynamically exciting piano tone is important especially for students who want to grow in their musical abilities and for people who already play well and want a better, more natural piano sound experience. So when I played the Korg C1 Air, I was not only impressed with the stereo piano sound itself, but was also impressed with how big and full it was. This piano may be compact in looks but it is definitely not compact in piano sound.

To help that piano sound chip along, the C1 Air has the most powerful internal speaker system in this price range (less than $1500) that I have ever heard. At 50 watts of power with 2 specialty speakers housed in its own speaker box pointing towards the player and the room, the fullness and big bass reproduction of the speaker system produces an impressive stereo piano sound that really does sound as big and full as an acoustic grand piano. I don't know how Korg does it in such a compact cabinet footprint but if you had your eyes closed and heard this C1 Air piano sound you would  think the piano was three to four times a big as it really is...quite amazing actually. Also, because the internal speakers are not under the cabinet pointed down to the floor like so many other digital pianos in this price range are including from Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, and others, the powerful front facing speaker system in this piano really does fill up a big room without a problem with a sound like a big grand piano. If fact, the sound is also clearly heard above the keyboard towards the player's ears so you get a sound emanating from many places in the cabinet so that it sounds more natural. With sympathetic vibrations, pedaling resonances, huge decay-sustain time just like a big grand piano, the C1 Air internal speaker system combined with its impressive stereo piano sounds including a European Steinway grand piano sample and a Japanese Yamaha grand piano sample really put out a sound that in my opinion will make you say "WOW" I can't believe it! That's how good this piano sounds in this price range for a self contained compact digital piano, there are no other brands or models that come close in my opinion, especially in this type of cabinet. Now for some people who play real pianos they can normally tell the difference between a digital piano and real piano sound because in a digital piano the sound comes out of speakers rather than through a wooden soundboard in an acoustic piano. But for most people the piano sound of the C1 Air will be more than sufficient and natural and you can enjoy it very much. You can also spend less money and get a good piano playing experience in other digital pianos and you can certainly spend a lot more money and get an even more authentic piano playing experience in another digital piano like the higher priced Korg G1 Air. But if you want to keep the price between $1000 - $1500 then the Korg C1 Air should be a definite consideration.

OK...so how about polyphony...some people wonder if that specification really matters and if they should be concerned about it? The answer is...polyphony only really matters if when you play the piano the notes all play and sound normal and sustain properly without notes abruptly dropping out. If the piano you are playing can play normally without any issues then the amount of polyphony it has in it will be enough. If the piano sound has sudden interruptions of notes when playing the piano normally then there is not enough polyphony, otherwise known as piano processing power. If you layer or mix two instrument sounds together then the polyphony needs to be powerful enough to handle the extra sound so there are no sudden note dropouts. If you are playing a digital piano where there is a multitrack (8-16 track) MIDI recorder-playback feature (which the C1 Air does not have) then added polyphony becomes more important to handle all the notes that are recorded or simultaneously playing on all those tracks and I would recommend getting a digital piano with the most polyphony possible in that case. This is when more polyphony becomes more important. In the case of the Korg C1 Air, it has 120 notes of polyphony processing power which is fine for what the C1 Air does...and that is mainly for piano playing, layering 2 sounds together, or recording and playing back a two sounds (left and right hand) maximum. I had no issues with 120 note polyphony when I was playing the C1 Air stereo piano acoustic sounds and the only time I heard any note drop out was when I layered the most memory intensive sounds which are the stereo piano and the stereo strings and played large arpeggios with lots of pedaling sustain. But few people will actually play like that because it's not normal. I only do it to test out the ability of polyphony to be uninterrupted and in the "real world" and under normal circumstances, few people will ever play the Korg C1 Air in that way. Although there are other digital pianos that have higher polyphony such as 128-note polyphony, 192-note polyphony, and 256 note notes of polyphony in terms of their specifications, in reality the 120-note polyphony in the C1 Air is plenty for most people including myself and it will provide enough piano playing power to handle all your piano music.

When it comes to pedaling, that is a part of piano playing which can be easily overlooked, especially if you are a novice or have never played a piano. In the beginning using pedals, especially the damper-sustain pedal, is not something that you do until you are well into your lessons and maybe not even until a year later will you need to put any emphasis on pedals and how they work and how you use them. However, if you keep practicing or you already play piano then having good working pedals that operate properly is an absolute necessity, particularly with the right pedal (not center or left) which is called the damper or sustain pedal. That pedal is what most people will use over 90% of the time as compared to the other pedals and if that pedal does not do its job, work and respond smoothly and quietly, and offer a good half-damper feature, then you will be sorely disappointed later on when you really need that pedal to enhance the music you are playing and make it sound good. Beyond that, the pedal sustain decay time and volume needs to be long and full for all notes and that is definitely something I find missing on many digital pianos because of using cheap pedal parts and limited memory for decay & sustain time and volume. In other words, if the pedals are not working like a real piano and the piano sustain tone is not sounding like a real piano then you will likely be very sorry later on when you discover it because there is nothing you can do to change it if its not good.

Another thing about the pedals on the Korg C1 Air is that I was very impressed with their ability to play responsively, feel like they are built well and durable with a very quiet pedal movement, and I was especially impressed with the sustain pedal piano decay time and sustained volume loudness across all 88 keys when using the damper pedal. In other words you can hear the notes you are playing blend altogether in a natural way with no choppiness or quick decay time like you might hear on some other digital pianos. The notes resonated for a very long time while holding down the damper pedal with lots or organic sympathetic string vibrations being heard. Also, the C1 Air produces realistic damper resonance when applying the damper pedal to give the piano tone, particularly in the upper octaves, a natural texture and resonance to the piano sound that is definitely heard on all real acoustic pianos but is missing on some digital pianos. Without these natural tonal resonances provided by the C1 Air pedals and the piano sound chip, a digital piano sound can be very artificial and fake, but in my opinion the Korg C1 Air really shines through and sounds much more like a real live piano with more sonic textures. It makes your music become more expressive and allows you to get the kind of "feedback" from your music that is necessary if you want to grow as a player. The middle sostenuto and left soft pedals work properly and will allow you to use those pedals correctly when your music calls for them to be used. Especially noticeable to me was how quiet the pedal mechanism was when the pedals go up & down. Other digital pianos I have played in or near this general price range can have clunky, noisy pedals either when the pedal goes down, comes back up, or both. With the Korg C1 Air the pedals are smooth moving and quiet and there is a support platform under all three pedals, and when you're playing the piano at lower volumes or with headphones then that quiet pedal action is very helpful to the overall enjoyment of your piano playing.

There is a lot a person can do with the functions and features of the C1 Air and it offers a variety of different instrument tones from a total of 30 individual sounds within 10 group instrument buttons with 3 variations per button with 26 of those sounds being non-acoustic piano instruments which include some impressive string symphony sounds, organs, electric pianos, harpsichords, and other usable tones. As I mentioned before there are 2 main stereo piano sounds including a German Steinway concert grand piano and a Japanese Yamaha concert grand. Korg also provides a few acoustic piano variations of those 2 concert grand pianos and I found overall that the variations are quite different as compared to their original tone because the original Steinway and Yamaha piano samples on the C1 Air have an abundance of pedal resonance being triggered when using the damper-sustain pedal. The damper resonance on the C1 Air is like hearing a lot of natural echo in a regular acoustic grand piano when the felt dampers are off the strings while holding down the damper-sustain pedal as you are playing notes. It's very impressive and adds a of character to the over piano sounds. Two of the piano variations of both piano tones do not have the damper resonance effect so the sound is a lot more plain without any echo at all while the other variation on the Steinway grand piano tone also has damper resonance but starts off a bit brighter in done as you play more delicately.  When using the piano sounds with damper resonance I also noticed that the fullness and sustained piano decay time was noticeably longer and richer in the upper octaves which is just like it would sound on a real acoustic piano. So Korg did its "homework" when it comes to reproducing exactly the characteristics of an acoustic piano...even in the upper octaves. Some people may like a plainer tone without the resonance effect but others will enjoy the full resonating piano tones when the damper resonance effect is automatically applied when using the C1 Air damper pedal. I personally prefer the natural damper resonance which adds a lot of tonal flavor and color to the music. These C1 Air piano sounds overall are more natural and expressive than the Yamaha and Roland digital pianos in this price range especially given the deep, full piano sound being generated by the C1 Air speaker system. I also do not want to forget to mention that the non-acoustic piano sounds like the vintage electric pianos (Wurlitzers, Rhodes, DX7's, etc), symphony strings (legato, fast attack), jazz/pop organs (B3, C3, etc), and church organ sounds (big full pipe, medium pipe, small pipe/chapel) are very realistic and musical, especially on a digital piano in this price range. Then when you add in separate controls for reverb/echo effects and chorus surround effects, you can enhance the sound results of those instruments even further. I use these other sounds (electric pianos, strings, organs, etc) quite a bit in my music because I play different musical styles and enjoy the use of those kinds of instruments. When I use the damper/sustain pedal while playing the sustaining tones like organs, strings, choirs, etc, the sustain pedal will hold those sounds and keep them going continuously (like the real thing) until I let go of the pedal and then they stop...just another feature on the C1 Air that makes playing those sounds even more enjoyable and definitely the best I have heard under $2000 in a furniture cabinet digital piano. What really makes it all come together is hearing these non-piano sounds some through the impressive C1 Air internal speaker system that pretty much blows anything else away in this price range, but I talk more about those things below, later on in this review.

As far as other things you can do with the instrument sound selections is being able to mix (layer) any 2 of the instrument sounds together by pressing any 2 instrument buttons at one time to mix those sounds to play a song. So whether it's a guitar with choir or piano with strings, or even 2 different acoustic pianos mixed together at the same time, the C1 Air can do it well. So let's say that you want to use the C1 Air in a church. You can layer/mix one of the impressive pipe organ sounds with one of the big acoustic grand piano sounds and play them together simultaneously. Or maybe you want a baroque harpsichord tone mixed with a concert string symphony sound...well you can do that too and those two sounds are being played together. You can even adjust the relative volume between two mixed sounds so that one sound isn't necessarily over-powering the other. You can even use the three preset piano & bass split sounds (located in 10th instrument group button) to instantly & automatically have a convincing bass sound on the left hand and a piano sound on the right hand to play a bit of jazz or rock which is fun to do and sounds great assuming you can play like that! There are 3 preset combinations which are all different and the left hand bass tones even respond to velocity and change dynamics as well as you press the key harder. Having 10 individual instrument group buttons on the C1 Air in my opinion is a much better system to quickly access your instrument sounds rather than having to cycle through all of them one at a time like you need to do on other brands with only one function button or rely on an external iPad app by that manufacturer to see those sounds. Although I like having a proprietary controller app which some other manufacturers provide for their digital pianos, you always need to have your iPad connected and opened up to use the app and it can also get in the way of you easily accessing and using all those cool educational or "music playing" apps that you may want to interact with instead of the controller app.

The C1 Air control panel is located on the top left hand side of the piano above the keyboard. It consists of a large, easy to use master volume knob and 6 direct access buttons  near the master volume know. Those 6 buttons consist of accessing the song playback system, transpose key, touch sensitivity control, brilliance adjustments, reverb echo effects, and chorus effects. Many digital pianos in this price range don't have all of these important direct access buttons to quickly use popular features so it's a lot less intuitive to find those features in other digital pianos using their digital piano operating system. It great to be able to change the tonal character of the C1 Air by increasing or decreasing the brightness or mellowness of the overall sound. The same is true for the reverb and chorus effects which also changes the character of the overall sound in a good way and the adjustable reverb echo system is very impressive in creating an ambiance in the piano to where it can sound like the piano is being played in a big concert hall or auditorium. Being able to quickly change the transpose key or the touch response is also useful especially when you want to do it fast in a performance situation. Next to those 6 function buttons are the 10 instrument group buttons (as mentioned above) with 3 variations (called banks) in each group for a total of 30 internal instrument tones as I mentioned before. There is a function button within that group of 6 direct access buttons and the function button allows you to edit a number of things within the piano. You just touch the function button and then the 10 instrument sound group buttons become the different function access buttons for those editing features. Included in those editing functions are master pitch change, 3 new temperament scales, relative volume balance when layering/mixing 2 instrument sounds together, octave change mode, and a few other useful functions. There is an LED display on the right side of the instrument group buttons that reads out the various names of instruments and functions when they are selected. I would have preferred an LCD display which would have been more effective and intuitive to use but Korg chose the older style red letter LED display. It actually works fine because there aren't that many functions on the C1 Air to figure out which is helpful.

The C1 Air also has a mode called "Piano Partner" which allows two people to play or practice the same song playing the same notes in the same octave. This is good if there is a piano-student, parent-child, of 2 siblings who are wanting to play the same song. The piano electronically divides the 88 notes into two 44-note keyboards for each person to play. So two people play the same notes with one person being on the left side 44-keys of the piano and the other person being on the right side 44-keys and both can hear each other with the far left pedal being the sustain pedal for the left side player and the far right pedal being the sustain pedal for the player on the right 44-keys. It actually all works pretty easily but it's only useful if you have 2 people wanting to practice the exact same notes at the same time with the left side keys being able to automatically convert to the same octave pitch/sound as the right side 44-keys. It's actually easier than it sounds but unless you have need of this feature then you'll likely never use it.

The 2-track (2-part) recorder/player on the C1 Air allows you to record a left and right hand part separately so you can play one at a time and then play them both back simultaneously or record one part/hand and then play the other part/hand live with the recorded part. This is really useful and practical when learning how to play a song using both your left and hand hand playing separate parts with bass clef and treble clef. It helps you hear how you are actually doing and it's also like having a teacher with you because once you learn and play one part and record it, then you'll be able to play that part back as often as you want to and then play the other hand/part against it so you have something to play with. It's like someone playing one hand while you play the other only it was you who played the first part...you just recorded it for playback so it could be heard while learning and playing the other hand. This is a very cool feature for any piano student, especially as you become a little more accomplished in your playing. The C1 Air also has an adjustable tempo digital metronome to help with your timing and rhythm which is very important, so that is good. Unfortunately the C1 Air can only save a maximum of 1 user recorded song so if you want to record another song you need to record over the previous song which is a limitation as I would have preferred there to be more user song space to save multiple recordings. For some people that won't matter but for others it will. Inside the piano memory are 40 well known classical piano pieces that you can play back and listen to or play along with. You can control the volume of those songs, the tempo faster or slower at whatever speed you desire, and you can even mute either the left hand or right hand parts if you want to play along and learn the parts separately from sheet music you can buy. The classical songs in the 40-song library are the original full arrangements and will play one after the other automatically so you can just use it like a player piano if you want to and listen to them as they are (in my opinion) beautiful to hear and relax by. Korg does have their upgraded model called the G1 Airwhich can save and play 99 recorded songs, so that model has virtually no recording limitations in this way. The G1 Air also has other recording functions as well as other interesting features for people who want to upgrade assuming you have a slightly larger budget to do so.

When it comes to connectivity to the piano, the C1 Air has a stereo line output and 2 stereo headphone jacks along with MIDI in/out connectors. Unfortunately there is no USB to external device connector so the only way to connect with a tablet (iPad) or computer to use external software or apps is to purchase an adapter cable with MIDI connectors on one end and a USB connector the other. This will allow you to connect the C1 Air to an external USB device with that adapter but it would have been more convenient and intuitive if the C1 had a regular USB connector built in like many other models out there. That's something which Korg should have done but is not a deal-breaker for me because an adapter cable can be purchased that will make things work but that cable adapter will cost you approximately $40. But once you do that then you can use all kinds of interactive iPad music educational and fun apps for learning to read music, understanding rhythm & timing better, and having a great time with interactive musical games. The ability to add musical learning apps and additional enjoyment to the C1 Air from an iPad is something I definitely recommend to everyone to enhance the learning and playing experience. Even the regular piano teaching curriculum by popular publishers such as Faber & Faber as well as Alfred that piano teachers and students are familiar with, have come up with their own teaching apps based on their music learning books and some of those books have been digitized and made available from an app so you can see the music, hear the music play itself to be able to follow along with, and actually see the notes and how they move with the song. Along with that, you can slow down or speed up the lesson song and if you are playing the notes on the C1 Air piano following the notes in the lesson app and you play a wrong note, the app will recognize that you played a wrong note and then pause the song until you play the correct note...so it's interactive, intuitive, and motivating to the student no matter what age you might be...pretty cool.

I will mention that when plugging in a pair of stereo headphones, the C1 Air has a special circuit built in called "sound optimization" which gives the headphone sound more of a 3D type surround sound effect kind of like you aren't really wearing headphones because the sound feels like it's going around your head and ears rather than straight into the ears as it would otherwise without that feature. Actually I do like it, but not all the time as the regular stereo headphone sound can actually be more natural sometimes depending on the music you are playing and the sounds you are selecting. Fortunately you can turn that "surround sound" feature on and off depending on what you want. Speaking of wearing headphones, the stereo headphone amplification circuit inside the C1 Air is so good and so powerful that it literally sounds like you are hearing a grand piano in your head when wearing a good pair of stereo headphones. The sound is loud and clear and very powerful assuming you like it that way, but of course you can always turn the volume down to whatever level you like. Some other digital pianos in a variety of price ranges that I have tried when using headphones can sound under powered and small, but not the C1 Air. Playing in privacy using good headphones is really an amazing listening experience as far as I am concerned and those kinds of things do impress me.

As far as the internal audio sound system goes, as I mentioned earlier in this review, that's where the C1 Air is really impressive and makes the piano sound like it's gigantic in size. The way the sound projects out of the speaker system and the fullness and richness of the tone is really surprising given the smaller compact size of the cabinet. When it come to big piano sound that will give you the impression you're actually playing a real grand piano, the C1 Air really blows everything else away in this price range with its 50 watt powered sound system housed in its own speaker box chamber which helps the sound resonate more naturally. The sound also comes right at you instead of projecting away from you as it does in other digital pianos. It's immediate soundgratification and in my opinion that's what a lot of piano shoppers want...to be able to play a digital piano and have that piano really fill up the room like a real acoustic piano instead of sounding small and somewhat anemic like some other digital pianos can do. For instance, the Roland F140R compact digital piano which sells for $1249 only has just 24 watts of total power with 2 separate speakers. The Yamaha Arius YDP-144 ($1099 internet price) has just 16 watts of total power with speakers pointing down underneath the piano rather than towards the player. The sound of that piano is definitely tinnier and thinner and it's due to the under-powered speaker system with speakers pointing down towards the floor. It's one thing to offer a reasonable good piano sound chip in a digital piano, but if the internal speaker system can't put it out in a way that it sounds really good then that's a problem as far as I am concerned...unless the piano is in a much smaller room or you generally want to play the piano quietly most of the time, then it's fine. But for me, I like the piano sound (and non-piano sounds) to be full, bassy and resonate, and the C1 Air will really make that happen for you just like a real baby grand. I did notice the piano sound could have been a bit more clear coming through the C1 Air speakers offering even more treble high frequency definition. I happen to be an "audio snob" when it comes to sound:). However, if you adjust the "brilliance" control on the C1 Air with a higher amount of brightness, then that livens up those higher frequencies quite a bit more which makes the sound clearer and more defined. So you can definitely "tweak" the piano sound in a variety of ways if if want to do that. The upgraded and slightly higher priced Korg G1 Air has an even more impressive internal speaker system than the C1 Air, so if you want to check that one out you can do it here at the following link: Korg G1 Air Review 

Now we need to ask the question...why does Korg call this piano C1 "AIR?" Well it's not because there is air in the piano or that the piano flys in the air. It's because the C1 Air has wireless Bluetooth connectivity to allow an audio song from an external device to be sent "through the air" to the piano speaker system so that you can play hear a song from your Bluetooth capable cell phone or tablet (iPad), or computer music library through the C1 piano without need of connecting cables. This is a very cool feature and no other top name brand digital piano under $1500 that I know of can do this. You can then take your music on your device and use the powerful internal speaker system in the C1, as I described earlier) to listen to your songs from another part of the room or another room nearby so you can play your music and hear it in a way you may not have been able to do before in your home, studio, school, church, or other venue. This type of wireless connectivity also allows you to play the piano live along with your pre-recorded music to learn the song or just have fun playing along with your favorite songs. Bluetooth audio is all about hearing your MP3 or audio wav file songs and not about Bluetooth MIDI connection or any other MIDI connection. I have personally tried this Bluetooth wireless audio through the C1 Air and it works great and automatically pairs (connects) your device with the C1 piano without needing to do anything special...it just works smoothly and easily and sound great. If you have never tried this type of thing before you'll likely be surprised just how awesome this technology really is and how much fun you can have with it.

The piano cabinet is a nice small size which can fit into many small spaces and it come in 3 attractive cabinet colors including matte black, matte brown, and matte white. With the piano key cover closed the C1 Air measures just 53" wide x 14" deep x 30" tall. With the key cover opened up then the piano height becomes 36" tall. The weight of the piano is just 77 lbs so it's very easy for 2 people to move it around. Another nice cabinet feature is that unlike other digital pianos in this price range including digital pianos for slightly more or less money, the C1 Air has front connected support legs built into the piano. This allows the piano to have more stability and keeps it from rocking back & forth as a few other digital pianos can do. Also the C1 Air includes a slow-closing key cover so when you lower the cover to close over the keys, the key cover does just come crashing down on your fingers. It has a braking system that more slowly releases the cover to come down more gently which is a great feature. The piano closes up perfectly flat so it doesn't even look like a piano when the key cover is down...which is pretty cool. When the key cover is open it has enough mass/thickness to support a nice music light which can attach or clip on to the top of the key cover. A lot of digital pianos cannot do this so that's a nice feature when you want to light up your music in darker places. Speaking of darker places, I like the fact that the buttons on the piano control panel light up with red lights when they are depressed so you can easily see which function or sound you are using. The recording tracks also light up green when you are using a few different recording features on the piano. There are quite a few digital pianos that don't have light-up buttons or a digital display screen so you may not know what function you are using at the time. Another thing I appreciate about the C1 Air is that when you are playing instrument sounds (pianos, strings, organs, etc) and want to switch to a new sound while you are playing, the previous sound does not just drop out and stop playing. It keeps on sustaining until you press the keys down again and the new sound is heard. This is also true when you use the transpose key or are changing relatives volumes of layered instrument sounds while playing so the transitions are very smooth and uninterrupted. So this piano works well in that way which is especially important for live performance playing.

One more thing about this piano worth mentioning is something I do not normally talk about in my reviews. Many of the Japanese digital piano companies as well as the non-Japanese companies (Suzuki, Artesia, Kurzweil, etc) normally have their products manufactured in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and/or other Asian countries because costs of doing business there are much lower than in Japan. Many years ago most Japanese designed products were also manufactured in Japan and the quality of those products made there were always much higher than products made in the other Asian countries. That has changed a lot now so that many items made in China, Indonesia, and other countries come out much better than before because those workers have better training and oversight. However, just about anything still made in Japan comes with higher quality and lower failure rates based on my experience with them. Korg is the only Japanese digital piano company that I know which actually still has their digital pianos made in Japan in the Korg digital piano factory which they have had for many years. That's pretty amazing considering the relatively low selling prices of their digital pianos and having them built in Japan with the high quality that they are known to have. So in my opinion that is definitely a "bonus" in terms of higher quality workmanship and longevity when it comes to Korg products as opposed to some other digital piano companies out there. Korg even offers a limited edition Ash color cabinet in the C1 Air as seen in the photo. The factory warranty on this model is 5 year parts and 5 years labor when registered on the Korg website after purchase of piano.

All in all, if you are considering a digital piano in this price range (around $1500 down to about $1000) I would recommend you definitely consider the new Korg C1 Air as a very good choice, especially if your main goal is to play piano because that's what this piano is really all about. Although it does other things, has other functions, and allows you to play other excellent, usable instrument sounds, it's really all about the "piano playing experience" and not about having drum rhythms, hundreds of sounds, 16 tracks of recording, audio recording, interactive accompaniment tracks or apps, or other "bells & whistles." The C1 Air has arguably the best, most convincing responsive weighted and graded piano key action out of any brand in this price range which comes from their top-of-the-line Korg professional series Kronos stage pianos. Along with natural big stereo piano sound reproduction through its compact but yet amazing internal speaker system (you do not need any additional speakers or sub woofers for this model) and dependable pedaling with noticeably long damper decay-sustain time, this piano gives you the immediate impression you are hearing and feeling a big acoustic grand piano with 2 very convincing and different sampled grand pianos at your disposal (from Steinway & Yamaha Grand Pianos) along with their useful variations. In my opinion the Korg C1 is at a very competitive price given what the "competition" has to offer in this general price range, and the Korg C1 Air piano playing experience is very impressive in my opinion especially coming from a company who is primarily known for professional stage digital pianos and not as much for their home digital pianos.

*Take a look at a well done video demo below of the C1 Air:


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.

🎹 Yamaha NU1X Digital Piano / UPDATED REVIEW / 2020 Hybrid upright piano / The Yamaha piano company has been producing acoustic and digital pianos for many decades and is one of the premier piano companies in the world. Many superstar musicians, piano teachers, and universities own and play Yamaha pianos and in fact I own a couple of their pianos and use them in my large teaching studio. Yamaha is certainly not the only good digital piano company out there but there is no disputing they are in the top 3 companies making acoustic and digital pianos in the market today. It comes as no surprise that of the 4 top digital piano companies in the world including Roland, Casio, and Kawai, Yamaha is the only company that produces a new full hybrid upright piano model called the AvantGrand NU1X ($6599US discount internet price for polished ebony and $6899US for the polished white color) which comes closer to replicating the actual piano key action playing experience of a real upright piano than any other model on the market today. In fact, even though the NU1X is in an upright form, the key action response is more like that of a real grand piano in terms of "feel" in my opinion and the way it moves. The Yamaha AvantGrand series includes the NU1X with the "U' signifying "upright" piano and the other Yamaha hybrid digital piano models are called the "N" series (N1X, N2, N3X) which are designed to replicate the grand piano experience, but those models sell for well above $10,000US. *Special announcement: Yamaha just raised it's price on the NU1X by 10% due to tariff price increases so if you have seen it for less money prior to Nov 1, it is no longer that way! The prices I listed here are the new price increases. Sorry!


So what is a hybrid digital piano and why are so many digital piano manufacturers calling some of their higher priced digital pianos...Hybrids? Well, that fact is that for years every digital manufacturer has been trying to figure out how to produce a digital piano that gets as close as possible to actually playing and sounding like a real organic high quality acoustic piano because that has always been the goal. But the technology available over the years to accomplish this task has been limited and the manufacturers could only do so much with what they had. The best way to get as close as possible to a real piano in a digital piano is to use acoustic piano parts such as wood keys, wood soundboard, wood cabinet, full functioning actual acoustic piano key actions (above Yamaha upright piano pic), and so-on and mix it with the digitally produced piano sounds from a real piano. The more parts (moving & stationary) a manufacturer can take from a real piano and put it into a digital piano, the more that digital piano will become like a real acoustic piano...at least theoretically.😉

Unlike any other digital piano in this price range, the Yamaha NU1X actually takes a real acoustic key action (built by Yamaha in their acoustic piano division) including all 88 individual wood keys and all moving parts for each key that would normally be in an acoustic upright piano, and they put that into the NU1X. In this price range there are a few manufacturers that offer a 100% wooden key or a partial wooden key, but beyond the wood key itself there are no other real authentic acoustic piano moving parts in the other brands. This is probably because it takes approximately 59 separate key action parts per key including all the small original parts that go from the key up to the individual string in a real piano. So if you took all 59 parts in the key and hammer action (per key) and multiplied that number by 88 keys (total keys on a piano), you would have 5,192 total key action parts in an upright piano of which most of those parts are connected together and move in a specific way when you depress the key. Yikes!...that's a crazy number of parts but this is one of the reasons why regular new acoustic pianos are so expensive because there are so many individual parts involved not counting the cabinet parts, pin block parts, tuning pin parts (for the strings), soundboard parts (for the strings), etc. Also, because there are so many wood and organic parts in an acoustic piano and in this NU1X, there are more natural occurring tonal vibrations which can be felt by the player as they play the piano. As I said earlier, the more original wood and organic parts from a real piano that are in the digital piano, the more organic and natural the piano playing experience will be.

The new NU1X key action has all these hundreds and thousands of parts that work together in harmony with each minus the actual felt hammers, wood soundboard, strings, and string parts (because there are no strings inside the NU1X) since the piano sound is produced electronically and then comes out a special internal speaker system specifically designed for this piano. So there are no strings, no soundboard to amplify the strings (don't really need one), and because there are no strings the NU1X never needs tuning. So the question is...why is it necessary for Yamaha to build a digital piano with all of these 59 parts per key (minus the actual felt hammers, etc) when most digital pianos don't have all these connected. complex parts? There are a number of digital pianos that do have wooden keys which move pretty well but the other parts of the key action are not there like they are in the NU1X. So does that really matter? The answer is that it depends on what your musical goal is and how much you are willing to spend to get there. A piano key action is the most critical part of any acoustic or digital piano and the more precise the key action is, the more precisely you can reproduce the actual piano playing experience you would otherwise get from a real high quality acoustic piano such as the famous Yamaha U1 or U3 upright piano which has been a staple for many piano teachers and students for lots of years, but there is a very high cost for those pianos and they need maintenance, tunings, etc...and they are also heavy.

If the the key action is awesome in a digital piano then all you need next is a great piano sound chip with authentic piano sounds coming through a high quality internal audio system where the piano sounds behave "organically" along with responsive pedaling to control those piano sounds for sustain and/or soft playing. Ultimately this is what the Yamaha NU1X is all about...an acoustic piano playing experience without the strings and maintenance! No tuning, ever, the ability to control volume with a single master volume knob if you want to play more quietly which you cannot do on a real acoustic piano, using stereo headphones to play silently so as to not disturb others in the room or in the house which you cannot do on a real acoustic pianos, and finally having the ability to interface with external devices for music education, on-line piano lessons, and/or song writing, etc using computers, iPads, etc.

When it comes to describing the feel and movement of the NU1X I would classify it as a lighter, fast moving, responsive key action that offers a great deal of expression. In fact the NU1X key action is quicker, lighter, and even more responsive that the Yamaha Clavinova CLP digital pianos...but it should be that way because it is designed to replicate the "real thing" and is also in a higher price range than most of the Clavinova CLP series of digital pianos with the exception of the CLP685 also being in a higher price range. I happen to like a quick responsive key action and although there are one or two of the Yamaha Clavinova CLP models which offer a very satisfying key action response for most people, the NU1X goes beyond the CLP models into the next level of authenticity of expression because every single key movement up & down is more nuanced and more controllable because of all those original key action parts that are part of this model. The keys are actual all-wood keys with extremely durable and long lasting acrylic resin key tops for the white keys (just like the real) and you can also feel the escapement/let-off movement in the key action when you play the keys softly. In my opinion the expense of this actual acoustic piano action is worth the investment if your looking to be at the highest level possible of authenticity in a key action for an upright style digital piano. I will say that the keys themselves when they move up & down are noticeably noisier than the CLP Clavinova models and it's especially noticeable when playing at low volume or with headphones. You can hear the keys make an obvious knocking sound (like knocking on wood) when the key is pressed down when playing music. This can be somewhat distracting when (as I said) you are playing at low volume or with headphones. But at regular louder volume with the master volume up a bit more, then that knocking sound pretty much blends into the piano sound and it's not noticeable at that point. This is normal for actual acoustic piano key actions to have louder key actions when the keys go up & down, but those acoustic pianos are always so loud that you really never notice any key movement noise at all. But digital pianos can have the volume turned down very low because after all, they are digital and can do that as well as being played privately with headphones.👍😊

OK, so there is a very impressive key action in the model, but how does it translate to triggering and playing the piano sound in a way that reacts like a real piano for loud and soft, mellow to bright, playing the key lightly to get a delicate piano tone or playing the keys aggressively to get that thunderous piano sound, all of which is necessary for tonal dynamics and expression? The way Yamaha handles this is by using non contact "optical fiber" as opposed to the standard physical rubber key contacts under the piano keys as all the other models and brands of digital pianos have. This allows for a more precise piano sound response without needing to be limited to just 3 key contacts under each key. With non physical key contact optical fiber, the piano does not need to rely on a limited number of physical sensors like other digital pianos but instead has unlimited potential when it comes to allowing electronic sensing of the key/hammer movement without limitations. At the top of the NU1X action there are metal tubes (see pics at left side) that simulate the movement and weight of real actual piano hammers in a key action. There are no other digital pianos by any manufacturer that offer digital pianos with this kind of detailed physical action design. When the key action is moving, because of precise digital optical measurements in real time, there is an unlimited amount of electronic sensing of the key movements at many more velocities than you would get on a standard digital piano physical key contact under each key which is limited to three key sensors. The NU1X optical sensors are triggered when the keys go up & down in the path of the optical senors so the piano sound is triggered and this type of optical sensor action also eliminates wear & tear of normal physical key contacts which then offers a longer life for the keyboard action. This technology provides more advanced key repetition recognition and more accurate key movement sensing which is very impressive and results in a more natural piano playing experience as you would get on a real acoustic upright piano. So when you consider all of the authentic piano parts this NU1X key action has combined with optical sensor technology for recognizing what the key movement is actually doing along with how and when the piano sound comes out, you have a piano playing experience that can be considered "real" which can easily satisfy beginners through advanced players in my opinion.

A few other things worth mentioning with regard to the NU1X key action is the fact the keys are properly weighted and graded in weight from bass through treble. There are actual physical weights in each key so that the bass keys have more weight as opposed to the middle octaves and upper treble octaves which have less weight, just like real acoustic upright and grand pianos. Also, unlike plastic key actions in digital pianos, each key in the NU1X is cut, installed, and operates independently of the keys next to it so that every key has an independent see-saw movement and is also more stable because each key is placed over an individual center metal pin so that the motion of that key can be isolated from any key around it plus that type of construction and key installation allows each key to function in tight formation one after the next without the lateral key movement that can occur in some non-wood digital piano key actions. All of this is to say that the key action in the NU1 is the "real deal" and the only other digital piano key actions made like like out of any brand are the much higher price Yamaha AvantGrand "N" series which go to the next level in replicating full size grand piano key actions.

As for the piano sound chip and the dynamic tonal realism that people are looking for, in my opinion the NU1X does not disappoint. In the prior model NU1, I was not very happy with the piano sounds because I felt they were just too artificial relative to what I had expected and what a good acoustic piano actually sounds like. However, in this new improved model NU1X, Yamaha completely redesigned their piano sound technology by using upgraded sound samples coming from the top Yamaha acoustic concert grand and the top European Bosendorfer (from Vienna Austria) concert grand combined with a new physical modeling process which Yamaha calls VRM or Virtual Resonance Modeling. VRM allows for more organic elements of a natural piano sound to be incorporated and mixed into the actual piano sample so that you will hear vibrations and tonal reproductions from the wooden cabinet of a real piano, from the soundboard of a real piano, from extra long natural sustain decay time using pedaling like a on a real high quality piano, and even from sympathetic overtones and resonances you would hear in a real acoustic piano. With this Virtual Resonance Modeling technology combined with Yamaha's new higher quality piano samples in stereo with a maximum 256 notes of polyphony and having all this sound come through a new improved internal sound system (which it needed), the NU1X rises to the occasion in my opinion of producing possibly the most natural feeling, natural sounding acoustic piano playing experience from a digital piano in any brand under $6000US internet selling price. It is interesting to note that the piano sound chip in the NU1X are the same sounds that are in their CLP Clavinova series digital pianos. So should you want to spend a bit less money but want a quality piano playing experience with those same upgraded acoustic piano sounds from the NU1X, then definitely check out the Clavinova series, especially the CLP645 in polished ebony cabinet which sells on the internet at $3999US discount price.

One more important area of the piano with regard to piano sound are the three pedals which include damper-sustain, sostenuto, and soft. Without good responsive pedals that also physically operate properly, your piano music especially for those who play at an intermediate through advanced levels, will be noticeably less realistic, have shorter sustain-decay times, and your music will sound more artificial. The most important aspect of the pedals is the damper-sustain (the right pedal) which should enable the piano sound to sustain (hold out the piano sound) at proper volume and sustain time levels so your music won't be choppy and therefore will have a more beautiful tone. On digital pianos when playing a note and holding the right pedal down, the damper sustained piano tone will be heard and then eventually fade out over time which is commonly called "decay time" or how much time it takes for the sound to fade away. On real acoustic pianos the decay time is relative to how large the piano is, the size of the strings, and which notes are being played including bass notes, middle octaves, or upper treble octaves. The fade-out time for the piano sound while holding down the pedal can be anywhere from about 10 seconds or slightly more on the higher treble notes up to about 30 seconds and more on the middle to lower bass notes. That's a pretty long time but is necessary to achieve good harmonics, overtones, sympathetic vibrations, and resonances and to make your music sound fuller. On many poor quality digital pianos the sustain decay time can be anywhere from 3-10 seconds total sustain time from upper to lower octaves on the keyboard. That kind of poor response makes the digital piano sound very artificial as well as sounding like a toy. The NU1X is up to the standards of a real acoustic piano in this area of sustain-decay time with very long fade-out times on both the upper and lower octave notes so your music can be more natural and that's something which is personally important to me when I play piano. Not only do the physical pedals look attractive and contemporary in their chrome finish, but they work well going up & down because of the new Yamaha GP response system, but they do what they are supposed to do in replicating a high quality acoustic pedaling experience for all three pedals that you would get on a real high quality acoustic piano. The pedals are spaced out correctly and are the proper size so there is no compromise in that area. The GP system offers the grand piano damper pedal experience along with different levels of physical resistance in the pedal as you press down on it, which is pretty cool. Beyond that, the NU1X also has a half-damper sustain function which enables the player to have a variety of sustain levels from short to long depending on what position your pedal is in when it is depressed, and that will give you a lot more control over the music. So when it comes to pedaling, in my opinion the NU1X pedals feel good without being too heavy and those pedals (including sostenuto and soft) respond well in giving the playing the type of control over the music that advanced players look for.

There are piano shoppers out there who tell me they don't need much more functionality and features in a digital piano other than they really just want the piano to just be a great piano and technologically maybe offer a few more things such as some additional piano and instrument sounds, a bit of recording capability, an electronic metronome, and some device connectivity to interface with a computer, iPad, etc. Basically that is what the NU1X is all about...a minimalistic approach to technology but in a way that still offers enough useful features for most people but not much more. The control panel is to the left side of the keyboard and has 9 very small hard buttons on it to control the user interface. The control panel uses a small LED display screen which displays numerical numbers and very basic letters to signify what functions or features you have selected. As someone who likes and appreciates digital piano technology, I personally do not like the user interface experience in the NU1X and it was pretty much the same thing on the previous NU1. In my opinion the buttons are much too small, to hard and firm to press down easily, and the LED screen is using old technology in trying to get you to understand which feature you are actually using. With all the technology, buttons, and display screens that Yamaha has at its disposal in other digital piano products, you would think that they would have done a better job in this area with the new NU1X model...but they did not.

With regard to pressing buttons or having display screens on the piano, I know that some people will say..."I really don't care about the user operational experience of the piano because I just want to play the piano and not much more. But in this higher price range and given where we are with improved technology these days, in my opinion there really is no excuse why Yamaha could not have devoted more attention to the user control panel and maybe just put in the same, more advanced control panel they already have in their new Clavinova CLP series of digital  pianos, which is very nice and easy to navigate (even if Yamaha had to modify it just a bit). As far as I am concerned, that would have been a perfect solution in allowing the user to have a more intuitive and satisfying way of using the features of the NU1X as opposed to making it more difficult to use and also making the piano look "old & tired" with regard to regurgitating old control panel technology because it was cheaper or easier to do. Yes, I know...Yamaha probably wanted to make this piano look as "minimalistic" as possible like they did in their previous NU1 model. But they could have also accomplished this task in a different and more updated way that would have been a lot more satisfying. The piano already costs big dollars so how much more could it have been to update the display screen, buttons, and user interface?...definitely not much more and it would have been worth it because once a person buys this piano it's not likely they are going to buy another piano for a very long time...if ever again. When I see so many good improvements in this new model when it comes to the actual piano playing experience and then Yamaha has to stick in its old, unintuitive technology when it comes to the control panel user interface, I just don't understand why they would not want to update it but still keep it minimalistic in appearance? Yes, you can still access the features of this piano using the controls they have now, but that is not the point. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything but I was really hoping Yamaha would come out with an impressive change to that area of the piano because they already have the newer technology in other models, but they did not include it in the new NU1X in terms of their hardware.

But on the brighter side of technology, since I first published this review Yamaha just came out with a new way to interface with the features and functions of the NU1X using their new Smart Pianist iOS app for iPad and iPhone which allow you to download this new app and control the NU1X from there. Now all the issues I have with the user interface of this piano have pretty much been solved when using this app to control the NU1X. If you have an iPad or iPhone (or will be getting one) then all you need to do is download the Smart Pianist app for free from the app store and then connect the device to your piano and start using the app to change instrument sounds, use the recorder, add reverb effects, transpose to a different key, and play songs, etc and the operation to do this is simple, intuitive, and works great and the visual icons and controls that Yamaha has put into this app are fun to use as well. So even though I still would like to have seen a much better user interface built into the NU1X, if you have an Apple iOS product and connect it to the piano using an appropriate optional wireless MIDI connector (available on-line) or you connect your device with a proper USB cable, then you can control the piano and select the features you want to use in a much more understandable and enjoyable way on your iPad or iPhone. Yamaha is also making use of their Smart Pianist app on other Yamaha piano products such as their Clavinova line of digital pianos so that you can control those features as well from the Smart Pianist app. The NU1X just got a whole lot better because of Yamaha's commitment to technology with regard to external devices such as iPad (Android control should be coming soon) in helping to interface with the cool features of their digital pianos.

OK...so now on to some other features of this piano which includes having adjustable touch sensitivity, reverb/echo effects to add more of a large room or hall effect on the piano sound, a 1-track 10 song MIDI recorder although I wish it would have been a least a 2-track MIDI recorder for separate left & right hand recording, a useful 1-track wav file audio recorder (which was not on the previous model) so that you can take a recording of yourself and transfer it through a USB flash drive inserted into the piano to then play on your computer or convert it to an MP3 file to play on your iPhone, iPad, etc. There is also an adjustable digital metronome for help with rhythm and timing along with tempo control, the ability to transpose electronically to any key, intelligent acoustic control, a stereophonic optimizer, and having a total of 15 very pleasing instrument sounds 5 of which are acoustic piano tones, 3 electric piano tones, 2 different classical harpsichord tones, 1 celeste, 2 pipe organs, 1 pop/jazz organ, and a piano-strings layered combination sound which is very nice. The prior model NU1 only had 5 total instrument sounds so the NU1X is definitely an improvement over the prior model in terms of the total sounds as well as the quality and authenticity of those instrument sounds. Unfortunately none of the 14 single tones can be layered or split with each other which is unfortunate in my opinion. Even the most basic inexpensive digital pianos can do that as can all the other non-AvantGrand series of Yamaha digital pianos. Yamaha obviously thinks the average user won't care about that aspect of tone control on this model, but I beg to differ. If you're going to make a digital piano then at least put in the basics when it comes to the instrument sounds and what you can do with them. This just proves that in reality the NU1X is all about piano playing and most of the other features in this model take a back seat. Finally, with regard to the control panel, the master control volume is located just underneath the front of the piano on the left side so that you don't see a volume knob or volume slider on the actual control panel itself which is a nice touch and minimizes the digital controls.

On the NU1X as in the previous model, you can use stereo headphones to practice in privacy. But in the new NU1X as well as the new Clavinova 600 series,Yamaha has developed a new headphone technology called binaural sampling which simulates an audio multi-dimensional effect in which the result is like hearing the piano sound all around your head (as if you were not wearing headphones) rather than directly into your ears like normal headphone sound. This special effect is the result of Yamaha using a variety of specialty microphones to record the actual piano sound experience coming out of their top CFX acoustic grand piano and then processing that sound in a way to where you hear it through stereo headphones (any brand of headphones) like it would sound in an acoustic environment. It a very cool listening experience but unfortunately only applies to the CFX piano sound and not to any other sounds in the NU1X including the Bosendorfer piano sound, which is disappointing because I like that piano sound.

As far as connectivity goes, the NU1X has USB output to external device (computer, iPad, etc), USB flash drive memory stick input, 2 stereo headphone jacks, MIDI in & out connectors, stereo mini audio input jack, and dual auxiliary audio output jacks. A new feature on this model is audio Bluetooth connectivity. There are a few different digital pianos offering this feature these days including all off the Yamaha CLP Clavonva pianos with the exception of the first two models. Bluetooth audio connectivity enables you to run your iTunes/ Google tunes through the very impressive piano speaker system wirelessly without need for cables so that you can hear your prerecorded audio song files coming through the piano speaker system from whatever Bluetooth song player device you may have.
This is a very useful feature because then you don't have cables connected to or on the piano to get in the way of the cabinet and make things look messy, and the internal speaker system in the NU1X really makes the songs sound great. You can play along with them live on the NU1X hearing them through the speakers or through the headphones too. With Bluetooth connectivity one of the big benefits to that technology is that you can control your music from other parts of the home or room so that you do not need to be nearby to select, play, and hear your audio songs through the piano. So when it comes to connectivity this piano has what most piano shoppers want...lots of flexibility.

The quality of the internal speaker system in the NU1X is far superior to the previous NU1 in my opinion. In the past model I did not particularly like the sound coming through the speaker system because it sounded artificial to me and not at all like a real piano especially because sound was not coming out near the middle to top of the piano where hammers are normally striking the strings. In the NU1X Yamaha really improved that part of the playing experience with a more robust speaker system offering better components, more audio power with 4 speakers going into 180 watts of power. There are speakers at the top front of the piano pointing out to the player through an escapement slot in the piano so the piano sound can easily get out to the players ears as well as large speakers below the keyboard inside the piano coming out down by your legs as you're sitting down. I really was surprised how clear, lifelike, and encompassing the piano sound was when I played the NU1X through its speaker system as compared to the older NU1 and I believe the piano sound coming from this piano will be more than enough to fill a big room without any problem.

Speaking of sound, in an acoustic piano there are sound vibrations which come through the body of a piano coming up through the wooden keys when the hammers strike the strings and all those piano sound vibrations can be "felt" by your fingers as you touch the keytops. In other words, the keys themselves in an acoustic piano actually vibrate just a bit because of the strings causing vibrations throughout the body of the piano which can be felt by your fingers as they sit on top of the keys. All those organic wood parts that connect each key to the hammer in a regular piano are resonating when the strings are vibrating and being heard which gives the player a much more organic connection to the piano. So not only can you hear the piano but you can feel what you are playing through the keys. The NU1X actually replicates this experience because of the authentic wood key action and how the speaker system resonates the piano sound through the body of the piano. I never did get that tactile feeling from the Yamaha Clavinova digital models because their key actions are completely different, but I do get that feeling through the AvantGrand pianos including the new NU1X. For those of you who do not play piano or are just going to play recreationally, this extra natural feeling in the keys may not make a difference at all in your piano playing. But for some other people it's just one more thing that elevates the NU1X above its competition in the world of digital pianos.

I really do like the design and look of the NU1X cabinet at approx 40" tall x 60" wide x 18" deep and this new model looks just like a real acoustic piano although the weight of this model being only 240lbs is definitely lighter than an actual acoustic piano of the same height which weighs approximately 350lbs. I think the design of the NU1X is quite elegant with its front support legs and contemporary lines combined with a few nice curves along the outside of it and a music holder rack that can be flipped down to support the sheet music once the key cover is opened up. In my opinion the NU1X is an outstanding mix of just enough features to keep most people very happy who like technology along with a cabinet design and finish including a slow-close fallboard key cover and matching padded bench which offers an expensive look to all of it while keeping the measurements and weight in just the right place that work for most rooms. The back of the piano is closed once it is assembled so that you cannot see through the piano from the front of it and therefore does not give off the appearance of a typical digital piano. Other than a few buttons and a simple LED screen on the piano which goes dark in a few seconds after you select a function button, the piano takes on an acoustic look to it and can fool someone into believing that the NU1X is really just a nice looking, great feeling, beautiful sounding acoustic piano which is always in tune. But for its $6000 price tag, it better be nice and do something special because you can buy some pretty nice new acoustic pianos and other digital pianos for that money! So why would someone want this piano when there are so many other options? That's a pretty easy question to answer because the NU1X is the only digital piano on the market in its price range which has an authentic "complete" (except for the felt hammers & strings) acoustic piano key action inside of it along with being able to produce a very impressive grand piano sound with traditional full pedaling with no tuning ever and the ability to be played quietly or silently. Being able to connect with external devices is also a big plus for many people. You cannot do any of that with a regular acoustic piano in this price range and other digital pianos such as Yamaha CLP and CSP models are great as are some Roland, Kawai , and Casio digital pianos, but those models are for other purposes and are different in a number of ways. If it wasn't for the somewhat noisy knocking sound coming from the key action when the keys hit bottom (especially when the master volume is down low) that I mentioned earlier, then this would be a 100% great choice. However, with that being said, if you want something simple to use that is very attractive and closely approximates a real upright acoustic piano key action with great key movement response and expression that can also produce a grand piano sound experience, then the Yamaha NU1X may be the perfect piano for you.

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.

🎹 Yamaha AvantGrand N1X ($8999 internet price), N2 ($10,999 discount price), and N3X ($17,000 approx store discount price) / UPDATED REVIEW / 2020 / Hybrid Digital Pianos - I have played various professional brands of acoustic grand & upright pianos for a very long time including Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Baldwin, Mason-Hamlin, Bosendorfer, and many others. The drawbacks to playing large acoustic pianos in your home is that they are obviously big, they're always loud (or louder), they're very difficult to play at soft volume...and of course they need regular tuning & maintenance. Also, with all of the useful computer/iPad music technology out there these days for educational and music playing purposes, it is much easier to connect to that world through a digital piano as opposed to a traditional acoustic piano. Good acoustic pianos can still be an amazing instrument to play and if all you want to do is play piano, you are not concerned or bothered by the loud volume of an acoustic piano, and you are fine with spending money every year on maintaining the acoustic piano, and you can afford a top brand acoustic grand piano at a minimum of $15000 on up to $100,000 or more, then I would recommend you purchase an acoustic grand piano because there is nothing like the real thing. However, if you are like me and need a good high quality piano with a smaller "footprint," you don't like playing a piano that's out-of-tune often which can be the case depending on the climate you live in, you would like to play the piano very quietly at times so you don't disturb others in the house and you know you cannot do that on a regular acoustic piano, and you would like to easily connect with technology including an external computer, tablet, etc, then the Yamaha AvantGrand series of Hybrid digital pianos may be the perfect instrument for you to consider because it offers all of those desirable features without the size, cost, and maintenance of a full size acoustic grand piano.


It's was approximately 8 years ago when I did a review of the previous AvantGrand series which included the N1, N2, and N3. This was the 1st ever truly hybrid digital piano that combined a great Yamaha "acoustic grand piano key action" in contemporary polished ebony piano cabinets with all digitally sampled piano sound from real acoustic pianos, along with other digital piano technology. These 3 models have been popular ever since for people who wanted as close of a grand piano playing experience as they could get but without all the inconveniences and costs associated with a real full size acoustic grand piano. But after over 8 years of being on the market, Yamaha has "improved" the AvantGrand "N" series pianos and come out with a new version of the N1 which is now the N1X and a new version of the N3 which is called the N3X. It is interesting to note that so far Yamaha is keeping the previous N2 in the lineup "as is" with no changes...so far other than the selling price going down a bit. Whether Yamaha makes any changes to the N2 (they should) or even discontinues it is yet to be seen. In my opinion, of the 3 previous models the N2 was considered by many to be the one most people wanted to get because it had the much nicer cabinet (over the N1), much more advanced internal speaker system over the more basic N1, it took up a lot less room than the N3 4' deep grand shaped version while otherwise being the identical piano (with the exception of cabinet & internal speaker system), and it was definitely less money than the N3. So if someone wanted a big, full, resonate piano sound along with a big bass response (which most piano players love) and you wanted the actual grand piano key action playing experience (the real hybrid action), the N2 was the one to go for. I would have thought that Yamaha might have upgraded to N2 to the specs of the N3X by now, but as I just mentioned so far they have not done that. Then is it worth "dropping down" to the newer N1X to get the "upgraded" piano sounds and newer digital features but. at the same time, giving up the bigger and better internal sound system and the much nice cabinet design and construction...maybe it is and maybe it isn't. There are reasons to consider both sides of that question since the two models are only $1000 apart, and yet the N2 is way less money than the newer N3X at a difference of $5600 so then even if you can afford to purchase either the N2 or the N3X and you don't absolutely need to "grand piano shaped" model because was you are really after is that "grand piano acoustic key action, maybe the N2 is the better buy? I will explore those questions (and more) below.

What makes the AvantGrand series of pianos unique is that they have Yamaha Grand piano key actions in them...actual all wood fully implemented original parts with the exception of the felt hammers which are instead metal rods that trigger optical sensors which are located at both the hammer portion of the key action as well and the keys themselves. As the "hammers" move back & forth when striking a key, they trigger that special advanced optical sensing system which causes the piano sound chip to make the piano sound. The sound you get is also relative to the velocity of the keys that are moving and the optical sensors can tell how fast or slow the keys are going in fractions of a second at any given time. There are no strings in the piano or acoustic wooden soundboard like you would find in a real acoustic piano. So the thing that makes the AvantGrand series of pianos be referred to as "Hybrid" is the fact that they have a real fully functional (but without hammers) acoustic key action which is ultimately what most piano players are primarily concerned about...key action, followed by piano sound and pedaling response...and then cabinet design and structure. The N1X, N2, and N3X all have the same acoustic "grand piano" key action in them including the let-off/escapement feature that is found in real grand pianos. The key actions are not patterned after upright type pianos but instead the actions come from actual Yamaha acoustic grand pianos and then slightly modified (in size and configuration) for the AvantGrand series. This means that no matter which model AvantGrand that you would purchase, the key action movement and response will all be the same...and that's a very good thing. The key action really is a joy to play, especially for those people who have had experience playing full size acoustic grand pianos and this key action gives you a great range of sensitivity which allows you to get a full dynamic range of tonal expression out of the piano sound. When it comes to pianos in general including both acoustic and digital pianos, the "weight" of the keys and the minimum force it takes to press the keys down and the maximum force of the keys coming back up once you press them down is of critical importance to advanced pianist and acoustic piano key actions can (for the most part) be "regulated & adjusted" to get the movement of the keys to be set to exacting standards. Key weight/force and key resistance can be measured in grams as far as how much force the key requires from the fingers to press down aka: touch-weight/down-weight) and how fast or slow the key returns to its resting position (aka: up-weight). Although there is no "exact" perfect regulated weight for key actions, there are some approximate rough standards for acoustic grand pianos and that would be about 50-55 grams of touch-weight pressing the keys down and approx half of that weight coming back up. Some people prefer it to be lighter at about 47-50 grams going down and other people prefer it to be slightly heavier at 55-60 grams of touch-weight with about half that weight (23 - 30 grams) for the return force of the key. I am talking about these things because when you are spending this much money on an Avantgrand model you definitely want the key action to be regulated as close to a large acoustic grand piano as possible. When I measured key action weight on a new Yamaha acoustic 9' CFX grand piano, the touch-weight as measured on Middle C was 53 grams and the up-weight was 27 grams which is just about perfect. It could be a bit less or a bit more but those figures are very good for key action movement. When I took a measurement recently on a new N3X AvantGrand, the touch-wight/down-weight of the key action at Middle C was 55 grams and the up-weight was 23 grams which means that the up-weight of the action was just a bit too weak. Fortunately that can be adjusted on all keys because the Avantgrand key actions are real acoustic key actions. But the adjustment process can take quite a while and can be somewhat expensive for a technician to do. So although adjustments can be made in the key actions and for some advanced players should be made, the optimum key action weight settings are approximate and the key movement can be enjoyed as long as it moves within acceptable guidelines. I also took the measurements of a N2 key action weight which is the same key action as in the N3X. That N2 key action measurement was 59 grams of down-weight and 23 grams of up-weight on the one I measured, although I have played many of them. The N2 was on the slightly heavier side of down-weight force when initially touching the key but it was 23 grams of force coming back up. So either the down-weight needs to adjusted to be lighter or the up-weight needs to be adjusted to be heavier, or both need to be slightly adjusted...but that all depends on the player and what they want and how the key action feels to them. It is true that friction, weather, and humidity can make a big difference in how those keys actually move so things can change in an acoustic key action depending on the area of the country you live in and how you take care of your piano.

The piano sampled sounds in the new Yamaha N3X and N1X is from their top of the line Yamaha CFX 9' acoustic concert grand and the Bosendorfer 9'6" acoustic Viennese concert grand. Yamaha owns the Bosendorfer grand piano company of Vienna, Austria so that is why they also include that piano sound in the new Avantgrand models. Both of those pianos are rich and vibrant in their tone but yet uniquely different with the Yamaha being a more bombastic, energetic tone while the Bosendorfer has a more melodic, sweeter piano tone but still with depth of tone. Both are rich in flavor and you could like either one or both of them depending on the music you are playing. On the older Avantgrand model N2, the piano sound comes from Yamaha's previous 9" concert grand called the CFIIIS which was equally as popular and beautiful as the newer CFX model, in my opinion. I say "equally" because both those 9' acoustic grand piano models  had a big sound and Yamaha's proprietary way of building acoustic grand pianos that many professional players love. The CFX model AvantGrand has had some "tweaks" and other things done to it as compared to the CFIIIS AvantGrand including the addition of "Virtual Resonance Modeling" (VRM) which tries to simulate the vibrations that occur organically in the real wooden grand piano in terms of having "virtual" cabinet vibrations and sympathetic string and tonal vibrations. But the "recorded" piano sound that is put into the former N3 and current N3X is still done with microphones and technology that tries to capture the original sound of those acoustic pianos and they can only go so far given the sound is recorded electronically and then heard through speakers in the digital piano. Without an actual soundboard, real strings, and an all wooden case built like a real piano, all digital pianos just try to "copy" the real thing but they aren't the real thing. In that way it just depends what your playing experience is on real acoustic concert grand or regular grand pianos and how often you have played them which can determine how you will feel about the authenticity of this hybrid digital pianos. One advantage to the new "X" series is that they more & different acoustic piano samples in them with both the Yamaha and the Bosendorfer, as I mentioned as opposed to only the Yamaha in the N2 model. However, when you think about it, acoustic pianos have just 1 piano sound per piano so what you get is what you have. In a digital piano there are more sound options for grand pianos typically, so in the N3X and N1X you have 5 different grand piano sounds and in the N2 there are just 2 grand piano sounds....but hey, that's still one more than a real piano! The bottom line is, all 3 pianos offer a very satisfying piano playing experience overall, and with that very special Yamaha acoustic grand piano key action, the combination is really nice. I will say that the sound of the N3X is much more immediate to the ears when sitting on the bench playing music with the music rack down in a flat position. When the music rack is up in its normal position so that you can put sheet music on it, in my opinion that rack partially blocks the sound coming from the speakers flowing directly towards your ears. With the music rack in the down/flat position then the piano sound flows without being blocked in any way and so is more clear, more immediate, and overall more enjoyable, at least it was to me. I did not get that same impression with the N2 or N1X as the speakers are much closer to the player and the sound flows more quickly and naturally...at least that's the impression I had.

One other thing that is interesting about piano sound in a real acoustic piano is that sound is made up of vibrations and those vibrations travel through the air along with resonating and vibrating physical things that the sound comes in contact with and the wood soundboard of the piano is what amplifies those frequencies and vibrations into the piano sound. Without the wood soundboard there would be no piano sound in a real acoustic piano. That's what the speakers in a digital piano do, they are in place of a wood soundboard and that's where the sound comes from. But that's not the only thing sound vibrations in a real wooden piano...you can also "feel" those vibrations coming through the wooden cabinet of the piano as well as through the wooden keys of the piano. In fact when you are playing piano keys using your fingers to press the keys down, you can "feel" sound vibrations coming through the keys themselves and going into your fingertips giving you an organic sensation that helps further connect you to the music you are playing. Since the piano sound in digital pianos come through speakers and the cabinets of digital pianos are not actually solid core wood or wood veneers but instead are usually MDF board, then there are few or no vibrations coming through any other part of a digital piano cabinet or keys themselves. An example would be if you had a big stereo sound system in your home connected to your TV and you're watching a scene with lots of dramatic music going on with big bass frequencies coming out of those speakers. You can feel those vibrations coming into you and rattling the walls of your room, etc...so not only do you hear a big sound, but you also feel it. With the AvantGrand digital pianos, Yamaha created a digital system called TRS (Tactile Response System) that would give the player the physical sensation you would get in "feeling" vibrations in the keys themselves on the AvantGrand N2 and N3X like you would get in a real piano. The N1X does not have this TRS feature so you need to bump up to the N2 to get it. The amount of vibrations you get through the keys is electronically adjustable as well so you can change the amount of "vibrations" you get from the keys. There are no other digital pianos I know of with this feature and although it may not be "deal-breaker" if a digital piano did not have this system, which most do not, it is a cool feature to have and it adds a touch more of that organic playing experience that more advanced pianists will appreciate.

All three pianos have fairly smooth pedaling allowing the nuances needed for all kinds of music, although the piano keyboard itself does not physically move laterally when pressing down the "soft pedal" like it would when using the una corda/soft pedal on a real acoustic grand, but it doesn't have to because it's after all...it's a digital piano and there are no dampers for pedaling, it's all electronic in that way. All three models have a built-in sustain/damper pedal with half-damper effect, middle sostentuto pedal, and left soft pedal. Since the N1X and N2 are upright vertical style, the pedals are built into the bottom of the piano. On the N3X there is a traditional looking triple pedal lyre so that it has the look and feel of traditional grand piano pedals but without the full compliment of parts. The pedals are quite firm to press down as is the case on some acoustic grand pianos. So if you like firm pedals then you'll like the pedaling experience on the AvantGrand models. It did appear as if the height of the triple pedals when measured from the floor up to the bottom of pedals on the N3X seemed a bit higher than on a traditional acoustic Yamaha grand piano, and my preference are for pedals that are a bit closer to the ground for easier access and less ankle strain...but that is a preference that I have and not everyone is the same in that way. The half-damper effect for the sustain pedal is adjustable and also the sustain/decay time for the piano sound is very long which is good, and you have variable sustain amounts using the sustain pedal in a "half position." The pedals overall reacted nicely and a variety of music can be played knowing the pedals do a good job of reproducing what they are like (with the exception of physical una corda pedal.

N1X

The AvantGrand series is obviously not intended to be a digital piano with a vast array of built-in technology & features let alone many extra instrument sounds, layering, splitting, drum patterns, etc. These digital instruments are primarily made to replicate an acoustic grand piano playing experience with cutting edge digital technology in beautiful (and very contemporary looking) polished ebony cabinets designed to replace the actual acoustic grand piano experience whether in an upright configuration or baby grand style configuration. Do they actually completely replace that acoustic grand experience for everyone? No they do not because different people have different musical standards, tastes, and musical experiences so they will all have different opinions as to what constitutes a "real" grand piano playing experience. So for some, this piano will not do it, and for others it's more than they dreamed of having. As far are the digital functions and features of the pianos, the N3X and N1X each have 10 instrument sounds including 5 acoustic piano tones, 3 electric piano tones, and 2 harpsichord tones. The less expensive N1X actually has 15 instrument sound which is 5 more than the N3X and those sound include the same 10 instrument tones but also adds celesta and 4 different organs (3 pipe organs & 1 jazz organ). The organs tones are really very nice and why the N1X got more sounds than the more expensive N3X, I don't know...but you would think it might be the other way around. The N2 has just 5 instrument sounds including 2 acoustic pianos, 2 electric pianos, and 1 harpsichord. Those sounds are very good, particularly the acoustic piano tones, but there are just 5 of them. Unfortunately there are no strings, choirs, or other tones in these pianos. You can access all of these Avantgrand tones on the control panel slide-out drawer by pressing the sound button and simultaneously pressing the +/- button or through the Smart Pianist app for iPad (which I talk about below). There are a few reverb/echo effects for more realism in the instrument tones, a brilliance control to add more brightness to the tone or make it more mellow, and an adjustable digital metronome to help with keeping you "on the beat."

Yamaha's 256-note polyphony piano sound chip in the AvantGrand pianos (polyphony is important when more notes and damper pedaling are used at the same time in a piece of music) is still very high for today's digital piano standards. A good digital piano reproduces an acoustic piano sound that is recorded in stereo on a chosen acoustic piano with multiple microphones placed near or inside the acoustic piano, and that recording is what you hear in the digital piano along with other technology that adds to the organic nature of that sound. In a stereo piano sound (not mono) of a digital piano, each part or side of the stereo recording takes up separate polyphony so that 88 keys really needs a minimum of 128 notes of polyphony per side. On top of that, if there is damper resonance coming from the damper/sustain pedal and this would also require polyphony memory. Also, in my opinion the AvantGrands should have been made to allow the player to mix or layer two stereo instrument tones together which is a more common feature of other digital pianos that have many more instrument sounds including strings, choirs, organs, etc. Even the more basic Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos have many more instrument sounds that I personally enjoying listening to and playing. I am guessing Yamaha did not do that because maybe the so-called "wise" people at Yamaha just didn't think people would care to layer/mix 2 sounds together in these new AvantGrand models such as harpsichord & piano or piano & strings, etc, because the pianos are marketed to people who just mainly want to play piano and those people would not care about this feature, but I would disagree with that thinking.

All three pianos have a digital transpose/modulation feature which is great if you want to modulate the key you are playing in (up or down) and you don't know how to do that by manually playing in another key, a 1-track MIDI recorder and also wav file audio recorder to record your playing in either format and be able to save it for playing back later.  The upright style N2 (and N3X) has a concealed sliding drawer (left pic) that pulls out from under the piano keyboard to expose the instrument control buttons needed to change sounds and functions. This is a very nice way to hide the controls to make the piano look more natural although the buttons are very small on the control drawer which can make it a bit difficult to select functions and features, especially if you have "fat finger tips" like I do. The buttons on the N1X are exposed on the front right side panel of the piano (to the right of the keyboard) and those buttons are unusually hard to push down although the N2 buttons are a bit easier to press...but not by much. Why Yamaha chose to have two different sets of control buttons on the N1X, N2/N3X doesn't make sense to me, but no doubt it saves them money. You will likely only want to push the buttons when changing instrument sounds and maybe for a couple other features like recording, and for many people the grand piano sound is the main reason why someone would buy one of the AvantGrand digital piano models. However, I will go on record and say that I personally do not like the small, hard-button user interface on these pianos. When the previous models (N1, N2, N3) first came out I was disappointed in the user interface and the way it worked (although I did like the slide-out control drawer itself). But now that Yamaha "refreshed" both the N1 and N3 to the N1X and N3X, I thought that Yamaha would have updated that user interface and made it more intuitive and easy to use...but they did not...and I am definitely disappointed with Yamaha on that level. Also, there is only a basic LED user display which only reads out basic numbers or letters to indicate the feature or function you have chosen. In these newer versions Yamaha certainly could have updated that older, clunky display to a more modern, user-friendly LCD with more displayed information so you could know what going on when you press a button...but again, Yamaha did not do that. On the N2 and N3X, being able to tuck away a "sliding drawer" back under the piano keyboard is a great idea, but not at the expense of such a clunky interface, especially in this day and age of more advanced user interface technology. However, with this in mind, Yamaha does have an excellent "work-around" to this clunky interface that is on the N1X and N3X and it's a proprietary iOS app called "Smart Pianist." This very cool app allows you to take an iPad and use your color touch screen to control the piano functions and features instead of doing it with the buttons on the piano. It works well, it's fun to use, and it gets the job done in a much more intuitive way. All you need is an iPad, a cable connection to the USB output of the piano, or an optional wireless device to allow you to connect with Bluetooth wireless MIDI connectivity. Unfortunately because the N2 model is from the previous generation (non-X) AvantGrand series, the Smart Pianist app does not work with the N2...bummer! But...if you mainly just want to play piano and occasionally use another sound here and there and maybe do a basic recording, then the slide-out drawer should be enough, especially because there are only 5 instrument sounds on the N2.

I think it is also important to mention that there is another way to navigate through the additional functions and features of the AvantGrand pianos including metronome, song volume, brilliance control, transpose, etc, and for this additional navigation method you would you a "chart" found in the owners manual of the pianos called "Quick Operation Guide." The chart shows you how to press either the song button, piano/voice button, or the function button plus simultaneously pressing a specific white or black key on the keyboard which would then trigger or activate that function or allow you to change that function in some way like adding more to it or less to it. For instance, if you want to use the metronome then by pressing the metronome button on the control panel slide-out drawer and then pressing the B or Bb note in the 4th octave of keys, you could  decrease the tempo incrementally. If you wanted to increase the speed of the metronome tempo then you could press the metronome button on the control panel and then at the same time press the D or Db key in the 5th octave of keys to incrementally increase the metronome temp. This might seem like a lot of work just to alter one function in one way...and you would be right! But...for some people this may be a workable alternative in using features if you chose to do it that way. Personally I would rather have a dedicated button and an LCD display screen to quickly tell me what was happening...and that's why, at least for me, the Smart Pianist app is the way to do it.

The Yamaha Smart Pianist App has a number of specific advantages over using the physical control buttons on the piano in that slide-out drawer on the N3X and the button panel in the N1X. Just so you know, you either need to connect your iPad to the piano USB output using a USB cable and Apple "Camera Kit" Lightning adapter cable.or purchase an optional Yamaha Bluetooth MIDI wireless adapter so that you can connect without a cable (which definitely would be nicer to do). Some of those advantages to this Smart Pianist app are pretty apparent such as you don't have to find and press those silly, small, hard buttons on the control box slide-out drawer or on the side panel of the N1X. To choose a sound on the slide-out control drawer you have to press the "piano/voice" button and then while holding that button down you have to simultaneously press the +/- menu navigation button to scroll to the instrument sound number that you want to get to. So as an example, you want the Bosendorfer Imperial Piano sound, then you hold that  piano/voice button down and then press the +/_ button twice so that the LED display screen says number 2. Number 2 is that sound and you only know that the #2 is that Bosendorfer sound because you looked in the owners manual in the sound list. The LED display itself tells you nothing except showing a number and/or basic letter depending on what function you are trying to find. Since that drawer is on the far left side of the piano under the keyboard, just reaching over there is a challenge and then to use one hand and two fingers to hold down those 2 buttons simultaneously is a big "pain" as well....that is unless you want to also reach over with your right hand and then use 2 hands to switch sounds...NOT. You would think that once you have selected a sound that you want then when you switch that sound to another one all you should have to do is press the +/- button and go up or down to the number you want. But nooooo...you gotta hold that piano/voice button and the +/- button simultaneously again to move to another function/sound...and all this grief for a mere $17,000...ridiculous. So...the Yamaha Smart Pianist app is how Yamaha overcomes this navigation mess with a slick, easy to use interface on your iOS iPad device by using you color touch screen to easily switch to different instrument sounds, do song recording, play songs, transpose the key, see actual sheet music notation, play audio MP3 siles. and do many other things not available without that app.. Some of those features that are both on the piano and in the app you might NEVER want to do using the piano slide-out drawer where getting what you wants happens generally by coincidence and not necessarily because you navigated correctly. I guess you can tell that I really despise the control drawer and the way it is set up, especially because after 7 years Yamaha left it the way it was on the previous model because after all...it costs less money to do it that way. But...the app solves those issues and I am very happy about that, especially because there are some very cool features in the N3X and also in the N1X that you otherwise would likely not use because it just takes too much work to figure out and use. However, if you don't have an iPad or don't really want to use that type of thing then you can use your iPhone to control the app as well...although that's too small to comfortably navigate those functions and features in my opinion. One more caveat to the app...Although it does work nicely on the N3X and N1X, it does not work with the N2 because the N2 is from the previous generation before this app was available and it is not backwards compatible. So for you AvantGrand N2 shoppers...you just need to be happy with that slide-out drawer on the N2 and mainly just play the piano sound (which is what many people do) and occasionally switch to one of the other sounds and maybe do a simple recording from the control box. But as I said, for some people what they mainly want to do is play piano so at that point using an app on your tablet device to control the piano is not necessary.

The biggest major difference (although there are some others) among these pianos besides cabinet structure, is the on-board internal sound system. Each piano is different in that way and the sound system in each model was designed to give the player the spacial feeling of playing a real acoustic piano as much as possible within the size and structure that that model. We're talking about a lot of speakers, a lot of dedicated power amps, and about strategic placement of these speakers and power amps to give the player the sense of playing the real thing. That has always been one of the main problems and downsides with digital pianos; spatially and environmentally that mostly don't emulate the organic nature of sound coming out of a good acoustic piano. However, Yamaha has done an excellent job with trying to solve this dilemma and it shows. Overall the key action feels great to play (yes it is like playing a real grand piano) and the grand piano sound is overall also satisfying, but let's not lose sight of the fact that there is no standard for "greatness" when it comes to grand piano touch and tone in any good grand piano. Everyone has different expectations and experiences and so these pianos will either blow you away, or you may be slightly disappointed when comparing them to what you "think" a grand piano should feel and sound like. It's quite subjective, especially if you happen to play at a higher skill level like I do, but I happen to like these instruments a lot and they are a joy to play for me. The sound system in the N3X includes a whopping 615 watts of total power which is powered by 15 separate amplifiers going through 12 speakers that are configured in 4 sets of 2 speakers each on the inside of the piano pointing upward and 4 larger speakers at 6.3" in size (for the bass response) under the piano pointing down. It's really quite the powerful speaker system for one piano. The N2 internal speaker system consists of 380 watts of total power which is powered by 12 separate amplifiers going through 12 speakers with 2 larger speakers being 6.3" in size...and that's a lot of power and speakers for an "upright style" cabinet. The N1X piano has 180 watts of total power which is powered by 6 separate 30 watt amplifiers going through 6 speakers with one larger speaker being 6.3" in size. So when it comes to speakers, amps, and power, all three models obviously do a very good job and the lid of the N2 and N3X opens up whereas there is an inset grill just behind the music rack in the N1X so the higher frequency piano sounds can more easily escape (sound escapement feature) upward and out so the player can hear it better and more distinctly even though there is no lid that opens up like the other 2 models.

With regard to the other things these pianos can do when it comes to extra digital features, the AvantGrand pianos have some useful things, but they are relatively basic as compared to the lower priced "standard" Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos which have many more features than do these much higher priced AvantGrand "N" series hybrid pianos. There is no doubt that Yamaha was thinking that their AvantGrand pianos were designed to give you the best piano playing experience in a digital piano for any price and for Yamaha to include lots of "bells & whistles" were just not necessary and would only raise the price even further (maybe). So instead of giving you nice easier to use and read LCD display screens, adding hundreds of instrument sounds, and multi-track recording functions, Yamaha built these pianos to be obviously "minimalistic" in the way they look and they way they work. I think some people will like that and others will not...it just depends on your point of view on that subject and alos the fact that both the N2 and N3X have slide-out/in drawers that are hidden just under the piano keyboard when you want them to be and the N1X has the control buttons and small LED screen inserted into the left side block just to the left of the keyboard and is always exposed...but it's definitely minimal.

N2

If you're using a good set of headphones in the AvantGrand pianos, which is great to do, then all of the spacial speaker placement and cabinet resonation are not relevant and do not work at that point. Then what you have remaining is that great grand piano key action coupled with the proprietary piano sound chip coming through headphones. I will say that when listening through headphones on the N3X and N1X, the Yamaha CFX piano sound has a special "technology" for the headphone sound experience called "Binaural Sampling." Essentially this process makes the recorded acoustic piano sound that you're hearing come "alive" with great stereo separation, a wide audio range left to right, and just a more organic, natural piano sound. However, this Binaural experience is limited to the one Yamaha CFX piano sound and does not apply to the Bosendorfer piano samples or other piano sounds. So when listening through headphones I was very pleased with the stereo headphone listening experience when using the CFX piano sound, but not pleased at all when using the other piano sounds when the Binaural effect was on. It was as if something was noticeably missing...like the sound felt narrow and lacked realism...especially as compared to the CFX Binaural tone or just playing the piano without headphones and listening through the internal speaker system. I am not sure why Yamaha could not have a better headphone listening experience and being able to have that "binaural" sound when using those great Bosendorfer piano samples (and other piano tones), but for some reason that was not included...and that to me is a big disappointment...especially when paying nearly $10,000 and more for these models. Interestingly, the N2 piano sound through headphones including the main piano sound and the 2nd brighter piano sound were almost as good (but not quite) and full sounding as the Binaural CFX sound through the N1X and N3X using headphones. However, that binaural effect can be turned off in the N1X and N3X and when that happens then the stereo headphone sound changes and the Yamaha CFX piano sample doesn't sound as realistic and full but the other piano sampled sounds (Bosendorfer, etc) do sound better and more realistic than when the binaural effect is on. It sounds a bit strange but that's the way it works. So it's may be better to leave the CFX binural effect off when using headphones if you plan on switching between piano sounds a lot or else you can just leave the CFX binaural effect on if you will be using that specific piano sound most of the time and then turn off that effect through the Smart Pianist app while listening through headphones to the other piano sounds, which is the best way to do that.

Connectivity on digital pianos can be very important for a lot of people because you may want to connect the piano to an external sound system for various reasons, especially if the piano is for a larger venue like a church, school, etc, or connect to a computer or other external device to use software programs for recording or writing music notation, or you may want to play music through the piano speaker system from your personal device digital music library (iTunes, etc). The AvantGrand N3X and N1X have 1/4" audio line outputs, stereo line input mini jack, USB output to external device, USB flashdrive input for MIDI/Audio file storage, standard MIDI in/out connectors, and dual stereo headphone jacks. The N2 does not have the USB output connection to external device because on the first series that came out back some years ago, those Avantgrand models did not have a regular USB output so you had to reply on MIDI connectors on the piano to connect to a computer, iPad, etc and would need to purchase an option connector cable to convert the MIDI signals to USB so that you could more easily connect to a computer or tablet at that point. That was a bad move on the part of Yamaha to not include a standard USB connector in the piano...especially given the cost of these piano. So at least they went ahead and added the USB connection in the new "X" models. The N3X additionally has in &out audio XLR output connectors for pro live applications if you were to be running very long cables to connect to an external sound system such as in a very large venue, concert hall, etc. A few of the connectors are underneath the front left side of the piano and can be accessed from the front of the piano while the other connectors including the USB output are located towards the back of the piano towards the left side.

I feel it's also important to mention that there is no Bluetooth connectivity on any of the AvantGrand models so you cannot connect audio or MIDI wirelessley by way of Bluetooth being built into the piano. Although not everyone uses MIDI or audio with these pianos, some people do and using an external device like a computer or iPad is an example of when people might want a wireless connection so that you don't have to run a cable. Also on other (but not all) Yamaha digital pianos, Yamaha has added streaming audio that is able to be transmitted through a USB cable when connected to the piano. That means that if you do need to connect your external device to your digital piano with a USB cable, you can hear any of the music generated in an app or program through your piano speaker system without the need for an additional audio cable. The AvantGrand models do not include this type of newer technology either. However, there is a so-called "work around" which means that you can purchase an optional Yamaha Bluetooth MIDI wireless connector that plugs into the MIDI ports of the piano and will allow the piano to transmit a MIDI signal wirelessley to an external device without the need of a cable connection so you can use MIDI apps on your tablet such as a nice array of educational piano lesson curriculum or additional instrument sounds that are available in the app store. You can also buy an optional Bluetooth wireless "audio connector" and plug it into the stereo audio input of the N3X or N1X and then you can hear the audio/music from an external device (your digital music library, etc) come through the piano internal speaker system without need of connecting cables. The N2 does not have the single stereo mini input jack but instead has the older and less practical dual 1/4" input jacks, so you would need an additional adapter to connect to the N2 to use any optional Bluetooth wireless adapter. The bottom line is that you can get the job done when it comes to Bluetooth wireless connectivity...but you have to jump through some "hoops" to make it happen. Yamaha could have done a much better job in this area by providing state of the art technology built into the N3X and N1X since those are the new models...but they did not do that and no doubt because of the costs in doing so and retrofitting all of that into the cabinet and electronics that were already in there from the old models.

The cabinets on these 3 AvantGrand models are definitely contemporary and attractive for their sizes. They are only available in a polished ebony finish which is by far the most popular color along with chrome hardware and cabinet accents on the body of these models and chrome casters and pedals on the N3X. Each model is unique with the least expensive N1X upright style model having a completely open bottom with no privacy panel or solid cabinet below the piano keyboard area like the N2 has. Some people will like this design and some people will not...just depends on your tastes in furniture and also how much money you want to invest in one of these pianos. The least expensive N1X measures 58" wide x 39" high (not including music rack height) x 24" deep and weighs in at 258 lbs. The N2 measures 58" x 40 x 21" and weighs in at 313 lbs. The N3X grand shaped model measures 58" x 40" x 47" deep (just under 4 feet in depth) and weighs in at 439 lbs. A traditional baby grand piano averages about 5' in depth and can weigh nearly twice as much as the N3X so for a lot of people the N3X will be a good size because it can fit into more spaces. It was surprising to me that the N3X only had one height position for the lid which was "opened all the way" instead of 2 height positions normally found on a grand piano which are "full height" position and also 1/2 height lid position for a lower profile appearance. The N3X lid can be lowered to a "closed" position as all regular acoustic grand pianos can do, but that flat lid position does noticeably muffle the sound quite a bit because it covers up most of the speakers although you can still hear it...it's just muffled and not as clear. When it comes to traditional heights of acoustic upright pianos, the height is generally about 48" tall and the height of a more basic shorter acoustic console piano averages about 42" tall, so the height measurement of the N1X and N2 cabinet is below that of an acoustic upright or console piano. However, when you have the music rack on the N1X and N2 in the up position to support sheet music, then you add extra height to the piano in that way if you measure from the floor to the top of the music rack. But it is only the music rack at the front of the piano that gives it this extra height. Otherwise, the cabinet measurements are for the actual cabinet itself. All 3 models have a "slow-close" key cover (fallboard) so that when you close the lid over the keys the cover comes down very slowly so that it will not crash down on fingers by mistake which was a problem with regular acoustic piano key covers some years ago. The cabinet design of the N3X is very different as compared to a normal acoustic grand piano because of the extra contemporary geometric design that Yamaha has used for this cabinet and its noticeable at the back of the piano as well as the front and interior of the piano with its distinctive interior color and design where an acoustic grand piano soundboard would normally be. You will either really like the cabinet design and "interior design" (and color) of the N3X or you won't...it's usually one way or the other. The same is true with the N1X and N2...they are definitely not traditional in their appearance and for a lot of people that's a good thing when it comes to digital pianos these days. I personally like the N2 cabinet design and appearance as well as the big piano sound that it puts out. But I do still run into a number of people who want a completely traditional look when it comes to piano cabinets and if that's you, then you may not buy any of these AvantGrand models simply because of cabinet and not because of how they perform. Cabinets are always quite subjective when it comes to getting something you you personally like and when you are in this price range then it needs to be a careful consideration.

To sum up my experience with the AvantGrands, I really do enjoy playing them with those authentic Yamaha acoustic grand piano key actions minus a few parts including dampers/damper rail, felt hammers, etc, because there are no strings and therefore you don't need those parts in the key actions. Knowing that you can turn down the volume in these pianos with a volume control and also use headphones for private practice are big reasons why people buy this series of pianos along with never having to tune the piano. Certainly being able to connect the piano to an external device with apps or software for creating music notation or utilizing special multitrack recording features and educational curriculum are also good reasons to own a hybrid digital piano such as an AvantGrand over a traditional piano. The impressive speaker systems in these models do put out some convincing volume & sound that will fill up a big room and make them sound like they are 3 times their size, although the N2 and N3X go beyond what the N1X does in that way. But, for its size the N1X does sound impressive in its attractive cabinet. Also, the fact is that all three models will give you the same grand piano key action playing experience and the N1X will give you the same great piano sound chip as the N3X does, especially if using a good set of stereo headphones because then the internal speaker system doesn't matter, it's all going through headphones which makes the playing experience on the less expensive N1X the same as the N3X grand. There are also some additional functions and features of the AvantGrand series of pianos that I have not covered in this review because they are secondary in my opinion to the info I have provided here, so there definitely is even more that you can do with these pianos...but overall I have discussed the things that are most important to know in making an educated buying decision in this higher price range, especially is you are comparing them to regular acoustic pianos or other digital pianos. Whether you are at a very advanced piano playing skill level (professional, etc) or even a beginner, in my opinion, if you have the disposable income and like what these pianos do and how they will work for you and your musical needs, then buy one, enjoy, and make beautiful music!

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

Korg SP280

Korg LP-380 & SP-280 Digital Pianos / UPDATED REVIEW / 2020 - The Korg Keyboard & Pro Music Products company has been popular with professional keyboard players for many years and I do like many of the products they make and have used them professionally. You see the keyboards on stage and in a variety of venues all over the world and they make great synthesizers, keyboard workstations, and a bunch of cool pro products. However, they are not really a "player" (haha) in the digital piano world:) They used to make a number of home/portable digital pianos like Roland, Yamaha, and Casio do but they just have 4 basic 88 key models now including the B2, LP-180, the SP-280 portable piano, and LP-380 compact furniture cabinet pianos. The SP-280 portable model ($699 internet price) and the compact furniture style piano LP-380 ($1099 internet price) has been available for awhile now and are still current models. They both come in black or white cabinet finishes.

Korg LP380

I was disappointed to find out that the top of the line Korg RH3 key action is not in the SP280 portable digital piano, but instead has Korg's basic NH key action which is not near as good in natural key weight and movement as compared with the more advanced RH3 piano weighted key action. However, the newer LP380 cabinet model still does have the better upgraded RH3 key action which is a very good thing and I do highly recommend that model:) The Korg RH3 hammer weighted key action is one of the main reasons I like Korg digital pianos so much along with a big, full piano sound. After playing the SP280 a number of times I feel that the NH key action in the SP280 is a bit sluggish in this particular model (in my opinion) especially when playing softly and trying to reproduce a wide dynamic range, and it just doesn't do that too well, especially when compared to a good acoustic piano. Nevertheless, the NH key action is physically quiet and doesn't make much noise when the keys move up & down, so I give high marks to Korg for that. Korg is using this NH key action in other models as well and there is a noticeable difference in the two key actions (NH vs RH3) although the NH action is weighted and feels more like a piano than keyboards do and also the piano sound chip has a lot to do with expression.. 

As far the piano sound goes, Korg increased polyphony piano memory from 60 notes to 120 notes on both the SP280 and LP380 so that is a nice upgrade and much needed for better extended note sustain and sound layering. The main stereo acoustic piano sound is big and full and has good sustain decay time (with half damper control) when using the piano sustain pedal included with the SP280. Many digital pianos in this price range cannot trigger the half-damper, more realistic pedal sustain with the included single pedal, so the SP280 is very good when it comes to this feature. Although I do like the acoustic piano sound in the SP-280 portable, it has noticeably limited sound dynamics when playing soft to hard, delicate to loud, etc as compared to Casio, Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai in similar price ranges. In other words, when you try to express yourself and want more natural "color" to the music as you play the keyboard, the Korg SP280 in my opinion just doesn't cut it for me. It's like the piano sound itself is good but doesn't change character too much as you strike the key harder or softer like a real piano would. Also when the volume knob/slider is up somewhat loud, when you try to play more quietly and strike the keys easier, it is somewhat difficult to get a quieter touch volume...it's like the the volume is automatically too loud to strike the keys easily enough to get a quiet response. This is not true on other good digital pianos I have played where the volume knob or slider was on loud. On some of those better pianos you could still play lightly at a very soft volume because the dynamics-tonality and/or added key sensors allowed for more natural response. But if you are a beginner (or you just don't care) you may not notice this right away. The LP380 furniture cabinet model with the advanced RH3 key action does offer more control over the sound dynamics and is noticeably more enjoyable to play.

The bottom line is, music has tonal dynamics, color, tonal changes, and expression and when you play a good musical instrument correctly (piano, guitar, violin, clarinet, etc), you will be able to achieve those tonal dynamics, full expression, and color and then you'll be happy the instrument can do that. As I mentioned earlier, in the beginning it does not matter much about dynamics and tonal changes, but as a student progresses (or if you already play well) they'll not be able to play more intermediate & advanced music in the way it was intended to be played and heard, and so that would be a deficiency of the SP280 in my opinion. One of the impressive features of the SP280 as well as the LP380 is the internal audio power and speaker system. These two models both have 44 watts of total power (22 watts per side stereo) with nice sized built-in speakers, so if you are looking for a big loud piano sound, both pianos do that nicely and the SP280 is especially impressive in that way for its low price. In fact it has the most powerful speaker system in this price range of all the major brands. However, the sound on the SP280 comes up towards you through its speakers on top of the keyboard and if you have the volume up much past 1/2 way -3/4 volume, it gets to be much too loud coming right up at you. The speakers are in a different place on the LP380 so it is not the same in that way and sound is dispersed in a better way. As a comparison, the Yamaha P125 portable piano ($599 internet price) has just 14 watts of total power but it also has 4 speakers as opposed to two in the Korg SP280, and the Yamaha in my opinion is plenty loud and full because the sound is projected in a different way and using 2 additional speakers helps too. So you would think that at 44 watts for the Korg SP280, which is 3 times the power of the Yamaha, the sound would be better and fuller than the Yamaha P115, but it really isn't in my opinion...it's just louder, but louder does not always make for "better." In fact, the SP280 is much louder through headphones too so you cannot play much past half volume that way either. If you were playing in a large crowded noisy room either professionally or at home, the extra volume would be helpful, but even then it can get too loud for the person playing it as opposed to people in the room hearing it at a distance. Again, the LP380 put out a much more balanced, better dispersed sound with more volume control dynamics so the piano playing experience on that model is a lot more enjoyable. The LP380 is the only digital piano with a separate enclosed speaker box/chamber mounted under the keyboard and this system allow the sound the sound to be positioned so that it comes out towards you (the player) rather than the speakers be in the bottom of the piano pointed down to the floor like many of the other brands do. So not only do you hear the piano sound in the LP380 better, you also feel that sound as well, and that makes it more organic and natural.

SP-280 control panel buttons

The SP280 portable does have a nice contemporary new design and styling with its rounded corners, back, and sides and the control panel buttons are easy to use, nicely laid out and accessible with buttons centered above the middle of the keyboard. Korg did a great job with that, although the features themselves on this piano are a bit basic (same as LP380) but they offer good control over the functions. The LP380 compact cabinet piano is also very nice with its flat closing top and out-of-the-way buttons located on the left side of the top control panel. It's a simple but elegant look so does not appear to be unnecessarily cluttered with buttons. The cabinet takes up a small footprint and the internal speaker system points the sound towards the player instead of away from the player like other brands and models do in this price range. So when it comes to putting together an efficient and impressive piano in terms of key action, piano sound, and pedaling response in this price range, the Korg company has done a great job in the LP380 model, and an OK job in the SP280 portable.

Both piano models offer 30 very good instrument sounds including electric pianos, strings, organs, choirs, etc, layer two sounds together, reverb echo, transpose, 3 key touch sensitivities, adjustable metronome for rhythm timing, stereo audio outputs, and other useful features including duet partner mode. Partner mode is the ability of the piano to allow to people to play the same song at the same time. It's useful but only when two people want to practice the same song at the same time dividing the 88-keys electronically into 2 44-note keyboards. Neither model has a recording feature (which is too bad) nor USB direct connection to computer or iPad. However, both models have standard MIDI connector ports so that you can buy a separate adapter cable which converts MIDI to USB and then you can connect either piano to an iPad or computer. The SP280 does come with a basic metal keyboard stand/legs included in the price which mounts to the piano and allows for good leg room when sitting at the piano, although I don't personally like the look of the stand unless this will be on-stage or in a bedroom. The stand is functional but not very attractive in my opinion. The SP280 and LP380 also have a number of preset temperaments or tunings including tunings for middle eastern and Indonesian music which is very cool.

My general assessment of these pianos is that if you are wanting to spend somewhere between $700-$1100, the LP380 is a great choice from Korg. There are also other choices as far as key action is concerned such as what Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai have to offer with their digital pianos when it comes to key action and key action response including the Casio CGP-700 compact portable piano ($799 internet price - left pic shown with included stand unit), and the Kawai ES110 portable digital piano ($729 internet price - lower left pic shown with optional stand & 3 pedal unit which are extra costs). You'll get a good responsive key action, nice piano playing dynamics & tonality for piano sound, more overall features, USB direct connect to iPad and computers (on the Casio & Yamaha), and the portable Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai pianos are much lighter in weight than Korg SP-280. The Korg SP-280 portable weighs in at about 40lbs and the Yamaha Casio, and Kawai weigh in at about 26lbs each (without stand). Having 30 instrument sounds and big audio volume is great in the Korg SP-280 but having less sounds with

Kawai ES110

better key action and sound dynamics is even more important in my opinion and you can always connect external speakers to these pianos for more volume if needed. However, it's the Korg LP380 that really shines and when you compare that model against some of the other brands & models in that price range such as the Roland F140R ($1199 internet price), the Casio PX-870 ($999 internet price), and the Yamaha YDP-144 ($1099 internet price), in my opinion the Korg LP-380 furniture cabinet model is the much better buy and offers a lot more "piano bang for the buck" in that price range in my opinion, with the Casio PX870 following right behind it. Both Korg pianos are similar pianos in different cabinets with the similar features (except for the big difference in cabinet, speaker system projection and design, and most importantly...key action) and I believe that a person could be happy with the Korg SP-280 but a lot happier with the LP-380 depending on your musical goals, playing skill level, music experience, and expectations.

Korg G1 Air advanced digital piano

I have always loved playing Korg pro digital pianos and keyboard products because that is what this company is especially known for and the quality and durability of there better models are well known to be very good and reliable and it is no different with these digital pianos. In fact, Korg is the only brand out of all the popular digital piano brands to have their cabinet digital pianos manufactured in Japan in their own factories as opposed to being made in China, Indonesia, or Malaysia as other famous brands will do. So when it comes to a very good value, you really don't have to look much further than Korg, and especially with regard to the LP380. However, Korg does produce some even more authentic home digital pianos with even better piano sounds, internal speaker systems, and other features. Those pianos are called the Korg C1 Air andKorg G1 Air. Check out my reviews of those models and then contact me for more info and lower prices than on the internet for any and all digital pianos.

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 CA58 Digital Piano / REVIEW / Jan 2020 / Article: In the world of digital pianos, the Kawai piano company from Japan is a "big player." Kawai has made acoustic and digital pianos for decades and is known throughout the world for high quality concert and home grand pianos, upright pianos home digital pianos, and pro stage pianos. Kawai only makes pianos. The Kawai name comes from its founder Mr Kawai and has long been
synonymous with high quality musical instruments. But one thing about the Kawai company, they are not as mainstream in terms of name recognition as is Yamaha, Roland, Casio, etc because Kawai only produces pianos and not all the other products such as guitars, clarinets, computer music products, synthesizers, watches, calculators, motorcycles, etc like the other companies do. They just concentrate on 2 things...acoustic pianos and digital pianos. But that level of product focus has propelled the Kawai company past its competition in many cases offering the best digital piano for the buck in a number of price ranges. The new CA58 ($2999 satin rosewood, $3099 satin black or satin white) is one of those digital piano models that has become very popular for Kawai and voted #1 in a short amount of time mainly because it puts out a lot of high quality piano sound with an amazingly realistic proprietary wood key action that no other digital piano brand or model has been able to reproduce.

The CA58 digital piano (CA stands for "Concert Artist" series) is a perfect example of a category killer in my opinion for digital pianos under $3000 down to about $2000. There are several reasons for this but first and foremost is key action authenticity. I have played the CA58 a number of times and the proprietary key action that Kawai built for this model which they call "Grand Feel Compact," sets it apart from all other brands and models of digital pianos in this price range. Very few digital pianos under or around $3000 have wooden keys but Kawai made all of the white keys out of real spruce wood and those keys are "all wood" and not just wooden sides or limited to small portions of the keys. The bass octave keys also has "counter-weight" built into them to give the heavier bass keys a quicker movement to the action which helps the overall playability of the piano. Most white keys in other brands of digital pianos are relatively short in length and measure about 7" to 9" long but the Kawai CA58 wooden keys measure 12" in length which is quite long for digital piano keys. In real acoustic pianos, especially grand pianos, the keys are even longer and this is because the longer the key length is from front to back of the entire key (the part you can see and the part behind the key cover that you cannot see) the more evenly balanced the key movement becomes. An even key movement and touch weight from the front of the key to back of the key as well as from one key to the next is very important when it comes to playing technique and your ability to express yourself musically. So the 12" Kawai wooden keys are pretty amazing when it comes to key length, particularly when compared to the newest and best Roland upright digital piano models which sell for $6000 at discount price. Those keys are called "hybrid grand" keys but in reality they are not really hybrid nor are they grand. The white keys in these top of the line new Roland digital pianos are not quite 10.5" long and the only wood they use in the keys are small, thin slats of wood glued onto the sides of the plastic key. Those keys play fine but in my opinion do not come close to these all-wood longer keys in the Kawai CA58 in realism and movement. Kawai also has upgraded models above the CA58 called the CA78 (approx $4000 discount price) and CA98 (approx $5500 discount price) and those keys are nearly 14" in length which is about as good as it gets in reproducing a real grand piano key action "feel" for digital pianos in that price range.


So when it comes to key action movement and authenticity which is the most important thing in a digital piano and for that matter, any piano, for about $3000 discount price) the Kawai CA58 is a real winner because of its balanced movement up & down the keyboard and from the front of the key to the back on both the white and black keys. To add even more realism to the the key action movement, Kawai has regulated that 12' (white) wooden key action to have some very impressive and realistic down-weight (aka:static touchweight) as well as upweight key return. In other words, the amount of force needed from the fingers to press down the keys from key resting position and then the amount of force pressing against the fingers when the key is coming back up is critical for best piano playing technique whether you are a beginner and especially if you are an advanced player. Some piano keys are very "heavy" and require a lot of finger force to press down on the keys and if that force (measured in grams) is too high then your fingers, hands, and/or wrists can become fatigued after awhile and that's not good. You want a comfortable and enjoyable piano playing experience and the way the keys move up and down is very important and need to have the proper key weight measurement. In a real grand piano the middle C key typically has a touch-weight of approximately 55 grams and an up-weight (key return weight) of about half that much or maybe a little more. In fact the touchweight (keys going down are comfortable when the force measures somewhere between 50-60 grams of finger force pressure on the keys. As an example, there is a popular brand and model digital piano between $2500 -$3000 which a key action that not only has much shorter keys and all-plastic keys, but the touchweight in that piano at middle C key measures about 90 grams of force to get the key to go down and about 45 to 50 grams of key return force. However, in this Kawai CA58, the touch-weight (aka: down-weight) finger force needed is just 59 grams (much lighter and closer to a real acoustic grand piano) and the upweight (key return) force of of the keys coming back up is about 33 grams which is also very good because then the keys are not coming up too hard against your fingers. Based on my playing experience with the CA58 and my personally having taken key weight measurements, I can say that the way these keys feel to play will make even a seasoned piano player think that they are playing a high quality acoustic piano. This key action is also very quiet and sturdy when those keys are moving up & down. There are many digital pianos out there with noisy keys and that noise can be heard, especially when you turn down the piano volume coming out of the speakers...that's when you can really hear the key movement noise. All key actions make some noise including acoustic pianos, but the quieter the key action is the better off you will be. Also, when you use headphones and want to play privately so that you don't disturb other people in your home, then the quietness of the key action can be more important because you want that experience to be as pleasant as possible for other people nearby so they don't have to listen to keys making too much noise when those keys are going up & down. But in the Kawai CA58, the keys are noticeably quiet when they are moving up & down and for me that is very important, In my opinion this Grand Feel Compact key action gets 5 big stars or 10 out of 10 when it comes to producing a key action that is way out in front of everyone else.

Not to overdo my discussion on key action, but Kawai also a couple other things that make their key action more enjoyable to play and that is the key "let-off" (aka: escapement) feature and the synthetic ivory key tops and satin black key tops. The let-off feature is found in real grand pianos and the way that works is when you are playing grand piano keys very slowly, as the key goes down about 1/2 way or a bit further you will feel a slight hesitation, notch, or bump as the key moves downward. This "feeling" is something which occurs on all grand pianos but is generally not felt on upright acoustic pianos. That key movement escapement feeling can give you more control over your piano playing, especially if you are a more advanced player and are used to playing grand pianos. It feels fairly realistic on the Kawai CA58 with that Grand Feel Compact key action but at the end of the day it is just a simulation and not the real thing so for me is not a deal-breaker if it is not there...but it is nice to have. Under each key are key sensors to sense the key movement as you are playing the piano so that your piano sound comes out smoothly and correctly when the keys are repeating the notes slow or fast. Each key has 3 key sensors which is typical in this price range and it's a good thing because it more accurately senses the repeating note regardless of where the key is located in its key travel from resting position to fully depressed or in the middle and regardless of if the key is going down or coming back up. The proprietary material that Kawai uses on its white keys gives those keys the "feel" and "look" of real ivory from acoustic pianos of years ago when real, organic elephant ivory was actually used on the tops of the white keys. As for the black keys, those key tops used to be made out of ebony from real organic ebony trees from Africa, India, and other countries with ebony trees. Since it is illegal to harvest ebony trees, Kawai is using a matte black finish to give those black keys a better "feel" than the normal shiny black plastic finish on other key actions. The result of this synthetic ivory and matte black keys is a better "finger feel" while being able to absorb sweat from the fingers due to the material being more porous than pure plastic, and the look of those keys is classier and less bright & shiny. So Kawai has also done a great job in making the keys look good and feel good based on my experience playing this key action many times.

It seams that just about everyone who is shopping for digital piano mentions to me that they want a digital piano that actually "sounds like" a real acoustic piano...but that is easier said than done for a lot of these digital pianos. It takes special piano sound reproduction technology to really make you think your hearing a real piano when playing these digital pianos. The CA58 has 42 instrument sounds divided info 8 separate categories. There are a total of 10 piano sounds in that list with 8 of them being grand piano tones, one being an upright piano sounds, and the other somewhat more electric in tone. The other instrument sounds include strings, organs, vintage electric pianos, harpsichords, mallets, synths, choirs, guitars, and bass sounds. There are no horns, reeds, woodwinds, banjos, accordions, etc in the instrument sound library, just these primary sounds. But it's the grand piano sounds that most everybody is interested in and how "real" they are. Given that there are 8 usable acoustic grand piano sounds, that is actually quite a lot compared to other digital pianos in this price range where some of them have only 4 selections to choose from. But it is the quality of those piano sounds that really count and how organic and natural they are from when you first press down the key, to way the sound rings out, changes expression, and what it sounds like when using your sustain pedal and the natural sympathetic string vibrations, overtones, and/or resonances you hear when playing that piano sound.

In the CA58 Kawai uses sampled recording technology to capture a real grand piano tone and this particular piano sound chip in the CA58 is the same one they use in their most expensive upright model called the CS11. It is called the HI-XL stereo sampling piano sound chip with individual 88-key note reproduction and 256-not polyphony piano power. What that all means is that this chip has more memory content and capability than the Kawai digital pianos below this model and therefore the piano sound will have a higher definition resolution to the piano sound than other digital pianos also with plenty of polyphony power to play even more complex pieces of music without what is known as "note-dropout" which can occur when playing a lot of piano notes (in stereo) and not having enough polyphony power to handle those notes. For people who have experience playing real grand pianos or you know what a good grand piano actually sounds like, then you could likely tell the difference between the realism of the piano sound on CA58 as compared to other brands in this price range and also to some lower priced Kawai digital pianos such as the CN39 or CA48. The amount of dynamic piano tonal range variation from soft to loud and mellow to bright as you play the keys more softly and then play the keys with more force, is very impressive. There are also big differences in each of the acoustic sound selections with some being noticeably brighter, some being more mellow, some being being a combination of bright and mellow depending on how you are playing the music. The other part of the piano sounds that I enjoy when playing this model is that you don't get the impression that the piano sound is artificial as you would with some other brands and this was very apparent to me. Kawai has done a great job with their recorded sampling technology in capturing a lot of nuances and organic content of what real acoustic grand pianos actually sound like and it is apparent in the CA58 when you play it. It is expressive and natural all at the same time. It is true that the piano sound recordings are indeed "recordings or samples of the real thing and then when you play the keys you hear the sound through internal speakers in the cabinet. So in that way it is artificial because it is being artificially amplified through speakers and there's nothing you can do about that. But this is true for all other digital pianos so it's no different for any other brand or model. For most people they will be more than satisfied with the result of the piano sound in the CA58 because Kawai has been able to optimize all of it to sound fairly natural as a real piano would sound and for me personally, I actually really enjoyed it and there are so many good acoustic piano variations that there is definitely something for everyone. That's the upside to having more piano sound choices in this model than in other brands and models that only have 3 or 4 of them because you can find a great piano sound for all kinds of styles of piano music including classical, jazz, pop, ballads, rock, pop, etc.

When it comes to the "other" instrument sounds in the CA58, I was impressed with almost all of them and that's something I was surprised about because usually I'll find just a small handful of sounds that I like in these digital pianos and the rest sound fake and artificial to me. Withe the CA58 I felt like just about all of them were very high quality and definitely musically satisfying. Whether the sounds were string symphonies, pop, jazz, or church organs, the vintage electric pianos from the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's, and other instrument tones, whether using them separately or mixing 2 of them together or splitting 2 of those sounds, they were really good and made the piano more fun to play...and its a good thing when these digital pianos can be more fun to play and own. I also like the fact that it's pretty easy to navigate the sounds in the display screen and select them as well as quickly and easily layer and split them with another sound. The user display screen and control panel to the left side of the keyboard has an operating system that's fairly intuitive to use once you play around with it a few times and press a few of the navigation buttons to select what you want to get. Some of these new digital pianos have a proprietary app to use on a tablet (iPad, etc) where you can control the piano functions from the color touch screen of your external device. The Kawai CA58 does not have an app so you will need to use the piano control panel buttons and interface user display screen. But as I said, once you use it for a short time then you'll get the "hang of it" and be able to easily navigate the functions and features to get what you want out of the piano. The screen is large enough to display good information and it is a back-lit screen to see the information more easily.

The 3 pedals on a piano are important and if you a beginner then the only pedal you'll likely be using for a long time if the right sustain pedal. The other 2 pedals is the center sostenuto pedal (a specialty piano rarely used anymore), and the left soft pedal which momentarily dampens or softens the  volume of the notes being played. The right sustain pedal is by far the most important pedal because it sustains (holds out) the piano notes for a certain amount of time until those piano sounds naturally fade out and disappear.  The amount of time it takes for those piano sounds to fade out on the CA58 is approx 35 seconds which is a very long time and close to what real acoustic pianos do when holding down the sustain pedal when playing a piano note in the middle to lower octaves and letting the notes sustain for as long as possible. The sustain pedal also triggers "half-damper" pedaling which means you can get a variable amount of sustain depending where the pedal is when pressing it down...in other words the pedal sustain is not just on & off. On some other digital pianos I have played the "decay sustain time" and decay volume level tend to be very short (sometimes less than 10 seconds of decay time) and sounds quite artificial and choppy. The CA58 in my opinion has a more natural pedal sustain response along with good "soft pedal" response and the normal sostenuto pedal functioning when needed. The pedals also feel good to press down with them not being too hard or too easy to press down. So the feel of those pedals is good along with being relatively quiet when those pedals move up & down. A lot of people don't really consider the pedals as something to think about when shopping for a digital piano but actually the pedals are very important to the authenticity and outcome of the piano sound when you play it. The 3 fundamental parts of any piano is key action, piano sound realism, and pedal movement and sustain control, and the CA58 pedals work very well so I am happy to see that.

There are some other cool digital features on the CA58 which can make the piano playing experience even more exciting which allows for editing the piano sounds to customize them in different ways along with digitally changing the touch sensitivity of the key action and all kinds of other things and the following list is just some of the other things this piano can do: Basic Settings, Headphone  Settings to adjust stereo sound position i n your ears when wearing headphones, Key Transpose to change keys up or down, Song Transpose to change key of recorded songs playing back, Tone Control to change EQ settings of piano sound, Speaker Volume, SHS Mode, Phones Type, Phones Volume Line In Level, Tuning, Damper Hold, Split, Four Hands setting, Bluetooth MIDI, LCD Contrast, Startup Setting, Factory Reset, Auto Power Off , Virtual Technician Settings to edit and change piano sound parameters including Touch Curve (light+, light, normal, heavy, heavy+), Voicing: (mellow, right, dynamic), Damper Resonance, Damper Noise, String Resonance, Undamped String Resonance, Cabinet Resonance, Key-off Effect, Fallback Noise, Hammer Delay, Topboard Simulation, Pedal decay time adjustment, Minimum Touch, Stretch Tuning adjustments and on/off, Temperaments, Key Volume, Half-Pedal Adjust, Soft Pedal Depth, and lots of other things. Kawai also has a dedicated Virtual Technician app for iOS (iPad) where you can visually see all many of these functions and be able to use and trigger them from your color touch screen in a more intuitive way that helps with wanting to try out these functions. The CA58 also has 6 different types of reverb effects that allows you to enhance the piano sounds and overall instrument sounds in a positive way by adding some extra "richness and spaciousness" to the sounds that would not be there with out those effects. Many digital pianos have "reverb effects" but a lot of those reverb./ambience selections are more toy-like in there sonic reproduction and not like the more professional HD quality studio effects you would find on the CA58. There are so many ways to edit the piano sounds to customize them to "your tastes" and I like the fact that not only can you control that process from the piano but that you can also control it from the Kawai proprietary Virtual Technician app for iPad.

However, there are a lot of people who buy a digital piano mainly to play piano and with that in mind having to 'customize" the piano sounds to further enhance your piano playing experience is not necessarily what most people like to do. So if you are one of those "plug & play" people who just wants to have a great selection of impressive piano sounds and setups, Kawai added what they call  "The Smart Mode" which which has factory edited "piano set-ups" already designed by the pro musicians at Kawai. What the Smart Mode does is take those Virtual Technician editing parameters/features and puts them altogether in a variety of "customized" Smart Piano settings that add even more piano realism to your playing rather than you having to figure out how to do it. In other words, you get customized touch, effects, and resonances applied to the piano sounds that give you more types of piano settings to choose from. So not only do you have 10 acoustic piano sounds with 8 of them being different grand pianos, one of them being more pop sounding, and the other being an upright piano, but you also get 10 additional piano setups which really makes a total of 20 different piano settings in the CA58 which is a huge variety and more than any other brand or model in this price range.

Kawai also has ways to save your favorite set-ups so that you do not have to set them up all over again. There is a "registration" feature which stores 16 of your own customer setups including layers of 2 sounds, splits of two sounds together, added special effects such as reverbs, chorus, delays, etc, and other things that you nay have saved for a favorite setting. After saving your setup then you can instantly recall it whenever you want. If you happen to have a favorite piano sound out of the 10 total pianos sounds in the CA58 and you also have a favorite key to play it in that you want to electronically transpose it to, and you maybe want to layer a beautiful concert string symphony  sound with that stereo grand piano and you want to have the piano always come up that way when you power up the piano, then you can do that. Kawai has what is known as a "power-up" memory mode where you can save your most favorite setting, regardless of what sounds(s) you want it to be, and then every time you turn on the piano, that sound will come up. This great for people who have a favorite piano sound or just love to use a layered sound often and you prefer the piano to be that way each time it powers up. It's a cool feature and on that can definitely be useful.

The CA58 has some impressive recording functions for people who want to do recording of their music which can be useful if you are a beginner student and want to hear how you're doing on your piano practice independently for both left & right hand practice or if you are an advanced player and want to make a serious digital audio recording of your music or composition. There is a standard 2-track MIDI recorder for left & right hand recording and playback and uses MIDI instrument format to record the sounds in the piano to playback your song. You can record one sound or layer or spilt 2 sounds and that's the most you can do in the MIDI format. You cannot take that recording off the CA58 and play it on an external device and expect it to sound like it does in the CA58, because it won't do that. The more authentic sound recording and playback are audio files and the CA58 has both formats...uncompressed wav file recording and also compressed MP3 recording (iTune type audio files). Most digital pianos that have audio file recording and playback capabilities are limited to 1-track or just a one time recording with whatever sounds you choose from your digital piano. The CA58 also has "over-dub" recording capabilities for the audio file recording so that you can layer a new recording(s) with the same sound or another instrument sound on top of the first recording (and so on) to create your own personal arrangement or multi-track  recording. This is a really cool feature and one that can add additional authenticity to your music, and once you are done doing the recording you can save it to a USB thumb-drive for storage and later playback. Using the recording features is fairly intuitive and you can see what's going on within the user LCD display on the piano. Beyond the sounds that are in the CA58 for you to use in your recordings, you can also import other instrument sounds and effects from external devices through the stereo audio input of the CA58 and trigger those sounds while you play the CA58 keys and hear what is coming into the CA58 through the internal speaker system of the CA58. You can then record any of those "outside" sounds into your CA58 audio recording and make them a part of your song. That is pretty sophisticated technology and removes the limitations that many other digital pianos would have in terms of recording and playback flexibility. The CA58 does not have a full-blown 16-track MIDI recorder like a few other brands do, but the 16-track type of recorder is limited to only the sounds within that piano and those sounds and then when you have made that recording you cannot export it to another device and have it sound the same, because it won't. With audio song files you can play them on any audio wav or MP3 song player (computer, iPhone, iPad, Andoid, etc) and they will play and sound the same as they do on the CA58.

On Kawai certain digital piano models they have had included a special proprietary fun educational learning system for many years that has been great for beginner students and for people who may play the piano but just want to have some added musical enjoyment. This exclusive feature is called Concert Magicit is designed to let a person (even with no piano playing experience whatsoever) play along with familiar songs that are built into the CA58, but in a way which offers extensive rhythm and timing training while not having to play the "correct notes" for those songs to sound good. In other words...you can be a bad player but still sound good! In the basic learning mode of the Concert Magic system, a person can play any key on the keyboard and get the correct left hand chord and the correct right hand note of the chosen song...all by pressing one note at a time anywhere on the keyboard, sounds a bit silly but it works and helps non-players understand what timing and rhythm is all about. The point is to press the key(s) in a steady constant beat beat without having to worry about playing the right note or even at the right time. When you can play any note on the keyboard in a constant fashion and have the song sound correct and be recognizable (hearing both left and right hand notes come out in the one key you are pressing, then that encourages you to want to play more because it sounds so good! You can also learn to play the key in the correct rhythm time so that it (the beat) comes out correctly and still not have to know the actual notes of the song yet. This takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do its super fun and it makes even 2 year old children sound good and it's fun for the entire family. There are 176 different well known songs from different eras and music categories within the Concert Magic Music Library along with different modes of learning including Easy Beat, Melody Play, and Skillful. I have played with this Concert Magic feature a number of times on a variety of Kawai digital pianos and I always have fun doing it. So whether you are an adult or child beginner or a more advanced piano player like me, I guarantee you'll have great fun using the Concert Magic system and you'll be especially impressed in how interactive you can be with the song library in making creating a fun learning environment for your family while you learn the fundamentals of rhythm & timing in a way that no other digital piano brand can do. I know that not everyone will want to use this feature, especially if you are purchasing the piano to play in a regular way and you already know how to play. But for a lot of people, especially children, I believe you will enjoy this Concert Magic feature quite a bit. Also, when it comes to rhythm and timing and learning more about it (which as a long-time piano teacher I consider very important), most digital pianos like the CA58 have a digital metronome built in that helps you count out the beat and gives you a variety of beats/time signatures to choose from so that you can follow it and count more accurately. Digital metronomes are very useful and necessary in my opinion. However, drum rhythm patterns like real drummers would play also help with learning rhythm & timing in a more "real-world" way because drummers play actual musical style such as jazz, waltz, rock, pop, Latin, country, blues, big band, swing, ballad, march, etc. The CA58 not only has a variety of metronome settings but it also has 100 fairly realistic drum rhythm patterns/styles such as the ones I mentioned and variations of them that make playing your piano lessons (and songs in general) a lot more fun. You can control the volume and tempo of those drum rhythm styles so they fit in with your music better. They really do help you play "with the beat" so that you could eventually successfully play along with a real drummer...perhaps in a band or orchestra or just when playing the CA58.

In addition to those learning functions, Kawai also has built-in piano lesson songs in the CA58 which are derived from well known piano lesson curriculum that teachers use all over the country. So what you can do is purchase the actual lesson books at a music store for these piano lesson songs and then when you are learning to play piano, you can actually hear the songs live on the CA58 as well as slow down the tempo of those songs while you're learning and practicing them, and also listen to the left hand and right hand parts separately so you can better understand what is actually going on. It's a very cool feature and extends over to a number of lesson books that teacher's use and this system is found only in Kawai digital pianos. The lesson songbooks and curriculum included in the CA58 include the following: Burgmüller 25 (25 Etudes Faciles, Opus 100)Czerny 30 (Etudes de Mécanisme, Opus 849), Czerny 100 (Hundert Übungsstücke, Opus 139)Beyer 106 (Vorschule imKlavierspiel, Opus 101)J.S. Bach: Inventionen, Sonatinen Album 1, Chopin Walzer (Chopin waltzes series), Alfred’s Premier Piano Course Lesson 1A, Alfred’s Premier Piano Course Lesson 1B, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 1A, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library Lesson Book Level 1B, Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course Lesson Book Level 1. I think that some people will take advantage of these hundreds of songs, especially if they are taking lessons from a teacher who uses some or all of these lesson and songbooks. But regardless, it's a cool feature that if taken advantage of can be a big help in hearing the song and playing along with it when you have that music as opposed to only having the music and books but not necessarily understanding what that song sounds like or the way it really moves. This type of things also can train "the ear" to better recognize musical patterns in a song by listening to the song in real-time and this CA58 feature can go a long way in helping you understand what it's like to also "play by ear" which is a great thing to learn with the help of the Kawai CA58.

The connectivity inputs and outputs of the CA58 is fairly extensive and definitely an upgrade from the lower price model Kawai CA48. The features include USB MIDI output, USB flashdrive input, Standard MIDI input and output, two 1/4"line out audio jacks with volume control knob, 1/8" stereo line input jack with volume control knob, 1/4" and 1/8" stereo headphone jacks, and Bluetooth MIDI wireless connectivity. There are different Bluetooth types of connectivity on digital pianos and the CA58 has Bluetooth MIDI and not Bluetooth audio. Bluetooth audio wireless is when you can stream songs from an external song library in your device (iPhone, iPad, Android, etc) to hear that music come through the speakers of the digital piano. The CA58 cannot do that but you could add that capability by purchasing an optional Bluetooth audio receiver and plugging it into the MIDI ports of the CA58 and then the piano will receive a Bluetooth audio signal from an external device. The Bluetooth MIDI wireless connectivity is so you can wirelessly connect with your iPad and use the Kawai proprietary apps called Virtual Technician and Sound Museum to control some aspects of the piano and control them from the color touch screen of your device. This a cool feature so that you would not need a special cable to do that connection. However, you could also get a special USB to device cable and plug in your external device to the piano USB port so that you could connect with your device and use those apps in that way...so you would not necessary have to use the Bluetooth MIDI if you did not want to or for some reason the Bluetooth wireless wasn't connecting properly. There are other USB apps available in the app store which lets you connect with some cool interactive piano lessons and other things these apps can let you do. So when it comes to how you can connect with this Kawai CA58 piano, overall it does a very good job and if you need more connectivity, as I mentioned, you can add it later in a few different ways.

Every digital piano out there should have an adequate internal speaker system and the CA58 is no exception. In this price range the audio power should be at least 100 watts and have 4 internal speakers. Sometimes there are 2 power amplifiers powering the speakers and sometimes there are 4 separate amplifiers, one for each speaker. The CA58 has a total of 100 watts of audio power powered by two 50 watt amplifiers all going through 4 speakers. Two of those four speakers are larger than most of the other digital pianos in this price range that have 4 speakers so coupled with the 100 watts of audio power and 4 higher quality larger speakers, there is plenty of volume that comes out of this model and very good bass response, even at lower volume levels. So in terms of the speaker system pushing out a healthy amount of sound, it does a good job although I would have preferred to see 4 amplifiers in this model instead of two, but it works fine and still sounds good. There is a speaker projection grill just to back of the piano top which allows the sound to come up and out of the top back of the piano. This is a cool feature which I have not seen on any other brand of piano in this price range. The sound coming through stereo headphones is also powerful and can be adjusted from the piano for the 'stereo field" of the headphones as far as how you hear it and the projection of that sound all around your ears. Kawai calls that feature "spatial headphone sound" and it can make a big (positive) difference in your piano playing experience when using a good pair of stereo headphones. I like the way Kawai implemented this virtual spatial technology in enhancing the headphone piano listening experience.

The Kawai CA58 cabinet is attractive and well designed with nice geometric lines and curves that give it a bit of subtle elegance without looking boxy and old. The cabinet finishes are well done and come in satin (matte) black, dark black rosewood, and satin white along with a standard size matching padded benches with music storage. The cabinet finishes have a bit of a "sheen" to them but they are not the glossy polished finishes available in other models. The key covers in this model work nicely sliding back and forth to cover up the keys and the music racks that support the sheet music are adjustable, can even lay flat if needed, and they work well. The measurements of the cabinet are 57" wide x 18" deep x 36" tall with the music rack folded down so it is overall fairly compact for what it is. The weight of the piano fully assembled is 161 lbs such there is some substantial weight to it without being too heavy. The piano is fairly easy to assemble and there are assembly videos on-line to show you how to do it. Personally after my own experience playing the Kawai CA58 for many hours, there is a lot to like about and very little to dislike. The piano sound chip is amazing given the price range of this piano, the pedals work and respond well, and most importantly the key action is absolutely superior in every way as compared to all the other major brands out there in this price range and even beyond this price range. When you put this all together and add a competent internal speaker system, some impressive and usable digital features, great connectivity all put into a very nice looking cabinet, this piano is a real winner. Kawai offers a 5-year parts and labor warranty with in home service on this model so it is well protected. In fact, I doubt you would ever need to use this warranty because judging from what I know so far, this model has had virtually no issues in terms of operation or cabinet and should last for many, many years. I certainly would recommend this piano over just about any other model out there to anyone wanting an "upscale" digital piano without moving up much over $3000 to the $4000 range and beyond that. These pianos are available in local Kawai piano stores in the US and also at a couple of on-line internet dealers as well. But before you buy anywhere please contact me as I can show you how you may be able to purchase for even less than internet or store price including free shipping, no tax, brand new, and this is true of many other brands and models of digital pianos.

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.