F20 with optional stand

REVIEW - Roland F20 portable digital piano for 2014 - Partially Recommended - The Roland company of Japan has made some great music products over the years including synthesizers, digital pianos, guitar products, computer music products, digital drums, digital accordions, and lots more. They are well known for their keyboard instruments and professionals from all over the world own and play them. Roland also has a line of home style digital pianos which start at about $1299 and go up from there. The new 2014 model F20 portable digital piano ($899US internet price - furniture stand optional at $119) is Roland's lowest price 88-key weighted action digital piano ever and comes in an attractive satin black finish for the US market. I was excited to get a chance to play this brand new model especially since I am a big fan of many of Roland's pro products and higher priced digital pianos.

Essentially, the new F20 is really a portable version of their higher priced RP301R/F120R (the F120R is not sold in the US) digital cabinet pianos with less features. The F20 has a basic control panel situated on top of the piano above the left hand keys and and sound selection is done by holding a sound category button down and pressing the appropriate key on the left hand portion of the keyboard (the owners manual has the sound chart for this). The F20 operating system is similar to Kawai & Yamaha portable pianos in this way and is fairly easy to use. The F20 uses the same piano sound technology as their RP & F120 models which they call the SuperNATURAL piano sound utilizing 128-note polyphony along with this model having a total of 35 nice sounding instrument tones including electric pianos, organs, guitars, strings, synths, bells, etc, 32 fairly authentic drum rhythms & auto chord styles (nice for rhythm & timing training and playalong), and has most of the connectivity functions of RP301 including USB output to iPad/computer as well as USB flash drive input to record and save songs as well as play multi-track General MIDI song files (I talk about this further down in this review).

The F20 is suppose to be a portable piano and as far as it's overall size and configuration goes, it is portable and it can be used on an option Roland furniture style stand or a keyboard x-style stand. However, the weight of this piano without a music rack (which does come with the piano) is slightly over 44lbs which makes it pretty heavy for a lower priced portable piano as compared to the other top brands including Casio, Yamaha, and Kawai. In fact this piano is between 10-20 lbs heavier and 5" deeper (nearly 16.5" deep) than the competitive models, so if you plan to move this piano often, then there are better options as far as weight and size is concerned.

Ivory Feel-G textured keys

But the most important considerations in any digital piano should be key action, piano sound, and pedaling and when it comes to the new F20, that's where this piano falls short in my opinion. Roland is using its Ivory Feel-G keyboard action which is available in all of its digital pianos that sell for under $2000. This includes the F20, F120, F120R, RP301, RP301R, FP50, and RD300NX. I have reported on this Ivory Feel-G keyboard before in other reviews and overall, I don't like it as compared to the key actions of the other 3 top brands in the under $2000 price range including Kawai, Yamaha, and Casio. In fact Kawai offers 3 different key actions in this price range, Yamaha offers 2 different key actions, and Casio offers one and they offer more playing realism in terms of the key weight, static touch weight, movement, and feel. This newer ivory feel-G key action is supposed to be heavier in key weight and closer to that of a real acoustic piano, and it is heavier. Roland did improve that part from previous models although the key movement is somewhat sluggish when playing softly or lightly, especially compared to other digital piano brands in the same price range and also compared to regular acoustic pianos. The upgraded Roland key actions (Ivory Feel-S and PHAIII) in the higher priced HP models as well as the the new portable FP80 move noticeably better and I do recommend those models for key action. The synthetic ivory material on the white keytops does give the keys a textured ivory look and that part is nice although that particular texture does tend to get dirty looking easily from dirt and oils in the fingers, but it can be cleaned.

Acoustic Grand escapement diagram

Roland also claims to have added an "escapement" feature in the Ivory Feel-G key action which they also have in their better key actions. This key action mechanism is supposed to duplicate more closely the touch of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano. Unfortunately, this "escapement" feature is virtually non existent in the G-Keyboard as opposed to the escapement feature in the Roland S and PHAIII series of key actions found in the majority of Roland pianos including their HP series. You just cannot feel it the escapement feature in the new F20 (at least I could not and I know what it should be doing), no matter how hard or softly you press the keys. Roland might as well as have not mentioned this feature on their specs because it just doesn't work based on my playing experience with the Ivory Feel-G key action. This is not the case with the better Roland key actions as you can definitely feel this feature on those pianos and it's quite realistic.

acoustic piano keybed and felts

Finally, with regard to key actions, Roland has also had a noticeable problem with their Ivory Feel-G key actions making a very loud thunking/thumping sound when the keys are played with some force or if you just have a heavier hand in playing the keys, so to speak. Some previous Roland digital pianos in past years at about $2500 had this issue and I have played many of them and they all did the same thing with having a loud knocking sound when the keys were going down and hit the bottom. Unfortunately it is no different in this new model F20. The loud thunking noise when playing the keys sounds like there isn't enough felt under the keys to prevent the keys from knocking on the keybed underneath the keys. The picture above left shows a regular acoustic piano with special felt under each key to prevent excessive key noise when the keys hit bottom. It would be a similar concept in a digital piano where some sort of felt or special dampening material needs to be used to allow the keys to play without hitting the bottom keybed or metal frame (in digital pianos). I don't know what causes the excessive noise exactly, but when you especially play at lower volumes or use headphones for private practice, the thumping/knocking noise from the keys can be quite disturbing and distracting and I have had owners of Roland pianos with this issue tell me this before. However, if you play the keys very lightly or softly you really don't hear the knocking noise, which is good. But that's not the way most people play because it's necessary to use dynamics & different expression and therefore you will eventually run into this situation, especially if you're a student or if you're somewhat more advanced in your playing skill level and use more force in playing the keys a bit harder with more dynamic expression (like I do).

With regard to the SuperNATURAL piano sound which Roland claims is a superior reproduction of an acoustic piano, I do think the piano dynamic range, key volume expression and pedal sustain decay time is very good and better than Yamaha in this price range. However,  the smaller 12 watt total stereo, two speaker sound system in this model (the speakers are in back of the piano) seems to make the piano sound a bit thin and tinny especially when you play the middle to upper part of the keyboard and this would also include listening through headphones. The lower bassier piano sounds are full and resonate, but as you get up to the middle and upper octaves, that's where the piano starts sounding somewhat electronic and thin. You can control the brightness and reverb effects on the piano which helps a little and a first time player/student or someone who doesn't know what pianos are supposed to sound like may not notice this unnatural piano sound when playing in middle and upper octaves, and so it may not be an issue for some people. But this is an issue for me and that's why I am pointing it out.

The F20 has a bunch of very cool features such as 32 interactive style accompaniments (backing tracks) so that you can "play with the band." This feature allows you to play regular pop, jazz, classical, country, big band, and other styles of music on the piano and then a background group of instruments (including a drummer) will follow your playing and recognize your chords and notes (chord recognition technology) and play appropriate backgrounds just like a band or orchestra would do. It doesn't wait for you like the teaching system on some Yamaha digital pianos but instead fills in some great multi instrumental music behind you piano playing. This is a fun feature for people who cannot play or don't really want to learn to play in a traditional way such as for adults not wanting to take lessons. The quality of these background arrangements are very good which is a Roland specialty, and I like them very much although the bass line accompaniment only plays correctly in the root position of the chord. In other words, the bass line recognizes the outer not of the 3 finger left hand chord and therefore plays incorrectly in chord inversions. Even though you may not know what I am talking about here, you can just take my word for it that this is not normal and doesn't sound right, and for me that's a problem and an unfortunate oversight on the part of Roland. Other brands of interactive chord style pianos from Yamaha and Casio do not have this issue. On the plus side the Roland F20 is even more intuitive and natural sounding than other brands of digital pianos utilizing this interactive feature but the incorrect bass line issue is a problem for me and I would not use the chord styles because of that. Also based on my experience as a piano teacher and musician, this chord style feature  is normally not utilized by piano students or their piano teachers unless the students are older (late teens or adults) and the teacher is able and willing to teach this chord method of play. This is something you could learn to use on your own but you need to have good rhythm and timing for it to sound good and understand the concept of playing that way. It really is a fun way to make music in ways that you would not otherwise do, but it's also a feature you and/or your family may not use much.

Other useful features on the F20 is a 1-track recorder for recording and learning along with being able to save your recorded songs direct to a USB flash drive (left pic), a headphone out put in back of the piano (I would have preferred that jack to be in front), a keyboard adjustable split function for playing style accompaniments or splitting the keyboard for two different sounds, the ability to layer two sounds together for the two different tone buttons with adjustable relative volume, three key sensitivity adjustments to change velocity curve (how loud the initial sound is when you first press a key), a USB flashdrive input for playing General MIDI songs or even audio WAV file songs for play along and learning with your favorite tune. You can slightly speed up or slow down the audio WAV file song while learning to play it which is useful and a very cool feature. See my blog article for more info on General MIDI here: General MIDI educational features and why they work The F20 also has a direct USB to computer output (above left pic) for connection to a laptop or iPad for even more fun with your piano which is a nice feature to have! Another unique feature of the Roland F20 piano in this price range is that it can wirelessly connect to an iPad using an optional Roland wireless USB adapter. Without a wireless connection you would be using a special cable/iPad connection adapter & cable which is how it would connect for other digital piano brands. The wireless feature is a very unusual to have in this lower price range under $1000 (assuming you have wireless in your home) and can help reduce clutter from cables.

My final conclusions are...if it were not for the less than desirable keyboard action movement & key knocking noise along with having the thinner sounding piano tone in the middle to upper octaves on the main piano sound, and the unavailability of a optional 3-pedal system, the Roland F20 piano would have been nice competitor to the other brands in this price range. If you personally like the Roland F20 piano, assuming you get a chance to try it out, and the deficiencies I have mentioned here do not bother you, then you should buy it because at the end of the day...it's your money and there are many things to like about this piano:). As far as optional pedals for this piano, as I just mentioned, Roland does not offer a triple pedalboard system for this model, so you cannot set it up like a traditional piano as you can on the Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio pianos in this price range. The single piano style sustain pedal that comes with this model may be sufficient for some people (and does do the job of sustaining) but it would have been helpful if Roland had also produced a nice pedalboard that you could buy for an additional price, and I am disappointed they didn't do that especially considering all of their completion does offer it. Roland is really a great company and I just wish they did not have these fundamental issues on this new F20 but otherwise Roland builds reliable products that have a big following and I do like many things they produce including their higher priced home furniture cabinet HP/LX digital pianos.

The bottom line is that it's all about playing music and enjoying the experience because it can add years to your life, make you feel good, instill discipline and lifelong abilities in your children, and it's something that's good for the entire family. When shopping for a new portable digital piano you should also consider the other options in this price range by Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai who build competitive models that, in my opinion, offer you more "bang for the buck" as far as a satisfying piano playing experience, and this would include the Yamaha P105, Casio PX350, and Kawai ES100 as very nice pianos for their price, and they're also less money than the Roland F20. But as I said earlier, if you think the Roland F20 seems like the best option for you, then buy it. Go to the following links to read my reviews on these other models:

Yamaha P105 review
Casio PX350 review
Kawai ES100 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.

MFP1

REVIEW - Roland MFP1 portable digital piano at Costco - Partially recommended - The Roland company has just come out with their lowest priced weighted 88-key digital piano ever called the MFP1 available at Costco. There are actually two versions of this piano available from Roland with one being called the Roland FP20 ($899US internet price without stand or bench) which is available on-line from piano & music dealers in the US and other countries, and the other model is called the MFP1 ($999 with bench, headphones, and Wifi adapter) which is the identical model but only available at Costco in the US (as far as I know). The interesting thing is that although the F20 is offered in two colors (either satin black or dark walnut), the new F20 seems to only be available in the satin black color in the US and the MFP1 at Costco seems to only be available in the dark walnut cabinet finish. Roland offers both these colors in the F20 version but the black is all I see available in the US at any internet or store dealer whereas in other countries both colors in the F20 may be available. Did you get all that?! It is a bit confusing but there is a reason for this confusion in the US market and it has to do with Costco.

Costco is a Roland digital piano dealer for a few of the lower priced Roland digital piano models in the US. But to give Costco an edge in the US market, it would seem that Roland provided Costco with the exclusive market for the simulated walnut color (with contemporary black top panel and music rack), gave it a new name MFP1, and included a matching furniture stand, bench, and a couple of other accessories, and this MFP1 is offered at a lower package price than any music dealer is offering for the identical F20 model in satin black. It's simply a strategic advantage that Costco has over anyone else in the US (that Roland has given them) with regard to a better advertised price, as long as you like the dark walnut color, which is actually fairly attractive. If you are as big and powerful as Costco is, it is no surprise they have an advantage over other US retail sites and stores. Of course you can easily return this piano if you don't like it (like just about anything else you can buy there) and get a full refund. That's another Costco advantage.

Roland F20 satin black

Now that you understand this, it's also important to understand that the new Roland MFP1 and F20 are identical in every way as far as construction, digital features, key action, internal speaker system, and all other characteristics go (except for cabinet color). If you check out the specifications of both models you will see this for yourself. I have done a very detailed review of the new Roland F20 and to learn more about this new MFP1 at Costco, please read my review of the F20 at the following link before you purchase this piano as there are some notable deficiencies (in my opinion) in this piano with regard to some important aspects of piano playing: Roland F20 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 Reviews - The Best Digital Pianos of 2013

UPDATED REVIEW - December 2, 2013

Best Digital Pianos under $1000US

Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Casio, Suzuki, Korg, etc...which one is best and which one should you buy?! Greetings to everyone shopping for a digital piano! My name is Tim Praskins and I am a digital piano expert and have been teaching & playing on them for over 40 years (started teaching as a young teen:) and have taught 1000's of students during my extensive music career. I play acoustic concert grand pianos, digital pianos, and pro keyboards professionally and do free digital piano consultations for schools, churches, piano teachers, studios, and families all over the world to help you decide what piano might be best for you in your price range. There are some people out there who say they specialize in digital pianos orhave had some experience on them, but that does not necessarily mean they know what they are talking about. However, I do know what I am talking about when it comes to hundreds of different models of digital pianos now and in the past, and I am willing to share that info with you at no charge and explain it on your level and give you free personal advice.  I do not have a retail store or warehouse because as a teacher & pro musician, I work out of a music studio and offer advice without needing to "sell" pianos.

There are 4 brands of digital pianos that I recommend right now which, in my opinion, are acceptable as good 88-key piano type weighted key action brands in the lower price range under $1000US. Those brands are Yamaha, Casio, Kawai, and Roland. There are other brands in the lower price range, but at this point don't have what it takes to make my acceptable list. There are some specific 2013/2014 models under $1000 internet discount price that are currently available which I especially recommend. You can certainly get a good piano playing experience in this lower price range and it may not be necessary for you to spend more money (over $1000) on a digital piano, even if someone tells you you need to spend more money. However, if you do have the budget to spend more than $1000 (up to $2000), the quality of piano sound & key action reproduction in a few of those models are really good and can be even more enjoyable to play, especially if you have a higher playing skill level or just want a piano that sounds and plays even more like a real acoustic piano. *If you would like to learn more about the best digital pianos between $1000-$2000, go to my review of those pianos at the following link:  
New Digital Pianos under $2000
 
Casiooffers 7 models of piano type weighted key digital pianos under $1000 selling price including the basic CDP120 ($349US), the Casio PX150 ($499US), Casio PX350 ($799US), PX750 compact cabinet model ($799US - lower left pic), PX780 compact cabinet model ($999US internet discount price), and the AP250 full size cabinet model ($999US internet price - above left pic). Casio also offers a new Pro Digital Stage Piano called the PX5S at $999US internet price which is not really a "traditional digital piano." It has no built-in speakers and is primarily for people who want to perform on stage, church, in studio, etc, and will be using their own powered monitors or speakers, but want something a bit more flexible in terms of live instrument sound and effects along with controlling capabilities. Go here for my full PX5S review: Casio PX5S Review.

Yamaha offers 7 models including the P35 ($449US internet price), P95 ($349US - just recently discontinued), P105 ($599US - left pic), as well as the DGX640 ($699 - now replaced by the new DGX650 at $799US), YDPS31 (same as YDP135R but in compact cabinet), P155 portable piano ($999US internet price not incl stand, pedals, or bench), and the YDP135R ($999US). I recommend all of the Casio's and Yamaha's mentioned here although the Yamaha P35 and Casio CDP120 models are quite basic and use a lower priced key action, piano sound chip, speaker system, and pedal system. But they can be adequate for awhile depending on the need and budget. 

Korg SP170S

Korg offers two models under $1000 including the SP170S ($499US) and the new SP280 ($699US). I really don't recommend the Korg SP170/170S (left pic) because I just don't like the key action, dynamics, and velocity sound response (although the regular piano sound itself is good), and these are the most important aspects in picking out digital pianos. Also, I don't like the sound selection system it uses and the case/cabinet is a bit plastic looking as compared to the Yamaha & Casio. The new SP280 is the replacement of the older SP250 and is better in some ways than the SP250.  The SP280 has an upgraded internal speaker system although it is using a newer but downgraded key action (which I do not like) and I am still not a big fan of the piano sound which is quite similar to the less expensive SP170 in the way that it plays as compared to the other brands. So in reality, the best options are either the newer Yamaha or Casio pianos. Some of the Yamaha & Casio pianos I recommend are portable so you would need to purchase an optional furniture style stand (or cheaper metal stand), pedals, and bench to make it complete. But even that expense should not put you over (or much over) $1000 if that's where you need to be.

Kawai ES100 w/opt stand & pedals

Kawai offers one new 2014 model that just came out which is called the ES100 portable digital piano at $799US internet discount price (not including optional 3-pedal crossbar unit and furniture stand). This is the first time the Kawai piano company has had a digital piano available in the US for under $1000 and I must say that it is very impressive. The ES100 hammer weighted action and acoustic piano type sound is excellent in it's price range and just may be be the best in its class. The ES100 is designed to be a lightweight portable piano replacement because of its minimalistic design and lack of some of the "bells & whistles" other pianos have. But if you don't need or want much in the way of extra features and just want a great piano playing experience in a low price range, the Kawai would be one to pick. It is better overall in my opinion than the Casio PX150 & Yamaha P105, (and also the higher price P155 - $999US), but the ES100 is also $200-$300 more than the Casio PX150 and Yamaha P105. But as they say, you don't get something for nothing in this world (unless you're the U.S. government:). Go to the link below to read my ES100 review.

Roland F20 with optional stand

Roland also just came out with a new 2014 portable digital piano with weighted key action which is the first one they've had under $1000, and it's called the F20 ($899US internet price) and has an optional furniture stand that's not included. It comes in two colors which are black & dark walnut (not available in the US) and also has a minimalistic control panel design with function buttons on the left side above the keys. The Roland F20 is loosely based off their F120R/RP301R digital pianos which have been out for a couple of years and the F20 has many of their features including the same key action and piano sound, same USB output and flash input, many of the same cool functions including wireless capability, but in a compact portable cabinet with a smaller internal speaker system including a nice metal damper/sustain pedal. At $899 the new F20 is Roland's lowest price digital piano and a much better product than the slightly higher priced F120 ($1299 internet price) in my opinion. However, I am not a fan of the F20/F120/RP301 key action that Roland calls Ivory Feel-G keyboard. I have played that key action many times in other Roland models and it feels sluggish, a bit unbalanced, and the key action is quite noisy (clunky going down) when you press the keys harder and more aggressively. The knocking noise that it creates when the keys hit bottom is quite distracting, especially at lower speaker volume. To me the key action is the single most important thing to get and that's where this piano primarily falls short (not a good place to fall short), but this new model does have some very nice features.

Adagio digital piano

All of these brands & models mentioned here are the piano style weighted 88-key digital pianos, although the key action movement will be slightly different from one model to another. They all have built-in speakers although the power & quality of the speaker system vary, and overall all of my recommended pianos are acceptable depending on your musical goals and experience. However, there are other brands and models out there in the lower price ranges as well, but I recommend against them because they are of much lower quality (in my experienced opinion) are not up to my minimal student practice or recreational playing standards for key action, piano sound, and pedaling. These brands include Adagio, Suzuki, Williams, Adams, Robson, Artesia, as well as any spring key action digital pianos such as the Yamaha DGX505, Yamaha YPG535, Kurzweil SP4-7, etc, so be careful when looking for inexpensive pianos because what you see on the outside may not reflect what's actually on the inside. I have even seen some owner recommendations on-line and on large popular music store web sites for these "off-brand" pianos, but in my opinion they are only a POS (piano shaped object) and in few other ways resemble what an acoustic piano should play and sound like. But if you don't know what you're talking about and have little experience playing real acoustic pianos, it might be easy to imagine you have purchased a good instrument when in fact, it's not goo and will create and foster bad playing habits. The Suzuki & Adagio brands (which I do not recommend) are normally found primarily at Costco on-line in the US, but that does not mean they are good musical instruments just because they are sold there. Nice, attractive exterior cabinets (which some of them do have) does not always mean those digital pianos are good for playing music correctly...even at minimum standards. Just because a digital piano is attractive on the outside does not make for a good inside with regard to key action, sound, realism, electronics, reliability, etc. I would suggest you stay away from these  brands if you want a good piano playing experience.

Yamaha YDP135R

Of the four brands mentioned in the lower price range I believe Casio overall offers a noticeably better piano playing key action experience than Yamaha or Korg, although Yamaha has some very nice models at $1500US and above. The lower priced Yamaha P105 & DGX650 are also quite fun to play and certainly worth looking at and I do like them, but the new Kawai ES100 portable piano key action and piano sound is better in my opinion than Roland, Yamaha, Korg, and Kurzweil portable pianos under $900. But ultimately, all of these models I mentioned here would be fine, although everyone I talk to pretty much wants the closest reproduction a regular piano as they can get for the least amount of money. For many beginner or recreational piano players and students, it can be difficult for them to determine which piano actually does do the better job in terms of the piano touch, tone, and pedaling realism because sound and touch are normally a subjective thing. Also, to make matters more difficult, it's not likely you'll find all of these pianos in one place at one time to try them out, or even find some of them locally at all. One of the best things to do in my opinion is to your research and then listen to an experienced expert like myself and then you'll get a better idea of what might work best for you and your family.

With regard to  beginner piano students and their music education, as a long time private & group piano & keyboard teacher, this is something I know a lot about. It is never too early or too late to start piano lessons and enter into the exciting & rewarding world of playing music. I teach and have taught students from 4 years old to 94 years old. Whether you play piano as a recreational hobby, or go on to do it professionally as many of my friends and some students have done, it's always a tremendous blessing for me to see people at any age enjoy the piano playing experience and bring music into their lives in a very personal way. The little girl in the left picture (she's my granddaughter:) is involved in piano lessons and she loves it whether she's playing on a big concert grand piano such as the Steinway 9' grand she is sitting at (above left pic), or whether it's at a digital piano utilizing iPad apps to further enhance the learning and playing experience.

If you want important info on the best way to proceed as far as lessons and learning go as well wanting to be sure you're getting the right instrument for your needs and budget, please contact me and I'll be happy to answer your questions. Also, click on the links below to read my reviews on these pianos under $1000.

Casio AP250 Review
Casio PX150  Review
Casio PX350 Review
Casio PX780 Review
Casio PX750 Review
Korg SP170S Review
Korg SP280 Review
Yamaha P105 Review
Yamaha YDP135R Review
Yamaha DGX650  Review
Yamaha P155 Review
Roland F20 review
Kawai ES100 review

Casio PX780

Of all the digital pianos out there under $1000 I would say overall my favorite new cabinet piano under $1000US internet discount price right now is the 2013 model Casio Privia PX780 at $999US internet discount price (left pic). This piano really surprised me for its low price after I played it because it has a nicely designed compact cabinet with the 3 built-in full function pedals and slide out key cover, and it had a pretty big sounding acoustic piano tone with a wide dynamic range. The key action has a three sensor key technology not normally found in less expensive cabinet digital pianos until you get above $1600 in other brands (the Yamaha Arius series does not have this in any model). The Casio PX780 also has the synthetic ivory & ebony keys (normally found on pianos in higher price ranges), 128-note polyphony piano memory (which is more than sufficient in most cases), half-pedal recognition damper sustain pedal (a good feature for piano students and players), fairly realistic acoustic piano hammer (graded piano weighted) key action, direct USB output for instant connectivity with laptop and iPad (go to the following link to learn more about iPad apps: iPad Apps and learning piano), and hundreds of useful built-in educational features. 

iPad app

There are some people who equate the name Casio and its lower prices with lower quality, and it is true that sometimes lower price CAN mean lower quality (especially in key action & piano sound) such as what I have experienced with the Williams, Adagio, and Suzuki digital pianos. When it comes to recognizable & respected brand names in the acoustic piano world, Yamaha & Kawai pianos have always been known to be in that recognized group and many pianists, piano teachers, churches, schools, and families do own Yamaha & Kawai acoustic pianos. But competitive Yamaha & Kawai digital pianos right now cost far more money than the new Casio pianos depending on the model. Casio actually is a highly respected Japanese technology company which has been in business approx 60 years (that's a very long time) having produced millions of electronic products including keyboards & digital pianos for about 30 years. Casio is not necessarily my favorite digital piano company because I don't actually have a favorite. Kawai, Roland, Yamaha, & Casio are all my favorites but each one does better in different price ranges and it also depends on your musical goals and budget as to which brand and model will be best for you.

Casio PX780 digital piano

In my opinion any of these name brand recommended pianos I mentioned under $1000 would be fun to own and play, but the Casio company has really outdone themselves with their new PX780 at $999US internet price and the only downside to the PX780 right now is that it seems to be selling out in the US quite fast based on what I am seeing lately and it's difficult to find one in person to see. However from the response I am getting from people who own them, it looks like this model is a "home run."But...even with all that being said, the Casio PX780 still may not be the right instrument for you. There may be a better option depending on your particular needs & musical goals so contact me before you make a piano purchase anywhere and I will give you free expert advice. Go to the following link to read my recent review on the Casio PX780: Casio PX780 review. Also, for just $100 more you might want to take a look at the Casio PX850 at $1099US internet discount price which I also recommend and is very popular throughout the US. You can read my review of that model at the following link: Casio PX850 review.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: If you plan on getting any of the popular lower priced pianos under $1000 for Christmas, do not be surprised if dealers run out of stock of them soon! This seems to happen almost every year about this time and this year may even be more difficult (or impossible) for buyers trying to get one if they wait until the last minute, so don't do that! If you want help then please contact me before you make a decision and I can also help you in finding the best model and at the best price:)

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

REVIEW - Artesia AP8 & AG41 furniture style Digital Pianos - NOT RECOMMENDED - Artesia is another one of those digital piano brands that I call a PSO (Piano Shaped Object) which means that it looks like a piano but otherwise does not play like a piano. The Artesia brand is available in the US exclusively at Costco on-line. These pianos look good on the outside but are not good on the inside based on my playing experience with the AP8. Casio has regularly offered the low quality Suzuki & Adagio digital piano brands which I have previously reviewed, but I would think by now that Costco would stick to name brands instead of continuing to go down the off-brand road of trying to sell off-brand names that are not good, especially a name that no one has heard of like Artesia.

Artesia is a brand belonging to a company called Virgin Musical Instruments who imports a variety of different kinds of musical instruments from China, which is a main source in the world for low price musical instruments. Having musical instruments made in or imported from China is not a bad thing as long as the products are high quality, reliable, has advanced electronics, good design and construction, and works properly. Some of the major piano brands like Kawai, Roland, Casio, and Yamaha have instruments made in China and they are quite good because those name brand companies know how to design & produce good overall digital pianos. But when it comes to off-brand digital pianos, especially those sold through Costco, I have not found any of them to be good, and in fact, they are pretty bad overall when it comes to getting a realistic piano playing experience. These off-brand digital pianos typically have certain things in common such as bad key actions, bad piano sound, bad pedaling, and are typically unreliable based on my experience with them and the Artesia AP8 & AG41 are no exceptions based on my experience with it.

Artesia AG41 digital grand

I was really hoping that the Artesia AP8 console furniture digital piano with matching bench in dark imitation rosewood finish would be an instrument that offered a high quality piano playing experience because of its attractive appearance and array of built-in features, especially at the low Costco price of $999US which is a very popular price range for most families. The impressive looking Artesia AG41 4'1" deep baby grand in polished ebony ($2399US Costco price) is the identical piano in terms of functions and features with an added docking port for an MP3 player and a much larger, more powerful speaker system. Both models have 64-note piano polyphony memory, 138 built-in instrument sounds which includes just 2 piano sounds but has a large selection of instrumental tones, 99 drum rhythm and auto accompaniment chord play for left hand including jazz, rock, country, Latin, etc. The Artesia pianos as have General MIDI playback with SD memory card which is a nice feature, 3-track recording and playback with 4-song memory, 9 setup memories, layering & splitting of 2 sounds, 4-hand duet play, auto one-finger harmony for right hand auto-chords, lots of special effects including reverb, chorus, phaser, delay, brightness/EQ, transpose, touch response, and the piano if fairly easy to use with a digital LCD display screen.

Artesia connectivity jacks

Both pianos have a weighted key action and 3 functioning pedals along with lots of connectivity including audio output, audio input, headphone jacks, USB output, SD card input, and MIDI ports which are underneath the piano. Even some some the name brand pianos do not have this much connectivity for internal and external connection in this price range. The Artesia AP8 has two speakers going through stereo 40 watt power (total) and the AG41 has 6 speakers going through 120 watts of power. So really... what's not to like about these pianos!? They look great and have most of the functions & features people are looking for in their respective price ranges. The Artesia specification sheet and internet product description such as when it says

Artesia AP8

"balanced Hammer Action,""advanced, weighted hammer action design,""excellent response and smooth playability that will satisfy even the most demanding teacher or professional performer,""incredible sound realism with its acoustic sound sample processing,""It records the actual acoustic instrument capturing their remarkable depth, expression and essence," etc, etc would have you believe these are the most wonderful digital pianos ever made and at their low prices, will be impossible to resist! The Virgin Company warranty on these pianos is only 1 year parts and labor which is a small warranty as compared to the major brands, but when you buy it at Costco they (Costco) have a very generous return policy in case you cannot resolve issues with Artesia (Virgin Music Instruments) or the when the product warranty is expired. Based on my experience with reliability on these off-brand digital pianos, I would be concerned about this short 1 year warranty as most name brands have a 3 year warranty.
I just got though asking the question "what's not to like about these pianos" and the answer is... A LOT! Yep, all is not what it seems on these pianos from their appearance and specs and unfortunately Costco has done it again...decided to carry off-brand pianos that in my opinion don't even get up to the quality piano level of a new $450 Yamaha or Casio portable piano in terms of a good piano playing experience. Before I start (unfortunately) tearing these pianos apart in a negative way, I will say that some of the fun features on these pianos including left and right hand chords, drum rhythms, accompaniment SD card playback, and additional instruments sounds do work and are fun. In fact some of the intro's, ending's, and left hand chord arrangements sound good and when I played the AP8 I had a real enjoyable time using those features. But that is not why most people normally purchase digital pianos. People tell me all the time that they want the piano to have the best and most authentic weighted piano hammer key action with minimal action noise, best piano dynamics and resonate sound, realistic quality pedaling, and full clear piano sound out of the speaker system. On all these fundamental piano functions, the Artesia unfortunately falls very short.

Artesia control panel

At first when you play this piano it seems like the piano sound, key action, and pedaling might be good. The keys are weighted pretty nicely, there is a piano sound and some dynamics, and the pedals work overall and sustain is OK. But the more I played this piano the more I disliked the piano playing experience. First and foremost is the fact that the keys are noisy and bottom out like plastic hitting wood over and over. In other words when I pushed down on the keys with minimal strength, they made considerable knocking noise like there was no felt under the keys. That was not enjoyable and a big deficiency. The keys are also stiff when playing lightly and softly. They don't push down easily like a regular acoustic piano and the key movement is also uneven amongst the various keys. Physically the keys have weight and resistance to them but in all other ways they are not like playing a real acoustic pianos or even the pianos from Casio, Yamaha, and Kawai starting at $350. So the Artesia piano key action fails my tests and I am not surprised because all of the off-brands I have played from Costco or anywhere else have key action problems.

As far as the piano sound and the response of the sounds to key pressure across the keys, I give this piano a big F (failure) for the piano sound in this price range. First of all, believe it or not, the piano sound is out of tune with itself...yes you heard me right, notes are out of tune! How do I know this?...well when you play some octaves together (2 notes at a time) the notes are not in tune (unison) with each other and are noticeably "off pitch." If you have ever heard a tuned acoustic piano or played another brand of digital piano where the notes are in tune, then you would know what I am talking about when you hear them out of tune. The Artesia piano keys/notes are definitely out of tune and this is also obvious when you layer a different instrument sound along with the piano sound because that 2nd instrument sound is out of tune with the 1st piano sound when played together which is also not good. In addition to this, when you play the piano sound on the right hand along with using the auto-accompaniment left hand chords, the piano sound is out of tune with the left hand accompaniment chords. The out-of-tune problem is not limited to the piano sound of which there are only two piano sounds on this instrument. The other sounds like harpsichord, trumpet, strings, etc, are also out of tune with themselves when playing octaves, fifths, fourths, and chords in various keys. I tried using the master tuning function to raise and lower the tuning pitch but that just changes the tuning for all the notes at one time and it did not help the situation with individual notes. On the Artesia product description it says "The AP8/AG-41 is a digital piano and therefore never needs tuning." Well if this is true as far as never needing tuning (and normally it is true), then Artesia (the Chinese manufacturer of this piano) has likely used a digital piano sound chip that is permanently out of tune on various keys because digital piano notes cannot be tuned individually like an acoustic piano. This simply makes the Artesia piano unacceptable to me just for this reason alone not counting the physical problems with the key action.

LCD display screen

With regard to the quality and consistency of the piano sound across the keyboard, this too is also not very good. Some of the notes sound as if they are a different piano from the notes (keys) next to them. The recording of that note was not good and it shows when you play one key at a time going up or down. Also, some notes when playing the keys come in noticeably louder than other notes (keys) next to them, so the piano volume and sound is inconsistent across the keyboard and this is also not good. When you combine all of this with the issues I described above, you have a real PSO...piano shaped object that resembles a real piano but does not really play like one, even at some more basic levels.

There are 3 full size pedals on these pianos. They look good, function properly (soft, sostenuto, sustain/damper), but there are some deficiencies. The sustain pedal (right pedal) does not have the half-pedal feature which allows for a medium amount of sustain when you would press the pedal about half-way down. The Artesia sustain pedal is just an on & off pedal which is OK but not great and even the inexpensive name brand digital pianos have the half-pedal function. The pedals themselves seem to be physically cheap and not made well because of the metal clicking noise I heard when pressing the pedals down as well as
side-to side lateral movement which should not be there. That looseness in the pedals themselves (I have seen this on other off-brand Chinese digital pianos) can and probably will cause problems in the future and that would not be good. Even the pedal height off the ground was too high compared to most other pianos I have played and that extra height makes pushing on the pedals more difficult.  The piano stand assembly is fairly easy to do but a couple of the screw holes on the AP8 did not line up well with the screws and two screws could not be tightened all the way down during my experience with it. Also the pedal connector port in the piano did not hold the pedal cable too well and was loose so that it is possible for the pedal cable to fall out and the pedals not work. All of these issues can be attributed to cheaper materials, parts, and/or poor workmanship and not necessarily shipping issues, although that is possible too, However the Artesia piano should be able to function and operate well regardless and that was a disappointment to me.

SD card input slot

I do like the control panel layout, the buttons that light up, the display screen, and the fairly intuitive functionality. However there were some simple things that this piano should have done that it did not do including being able to slow down a playback MIDI song from the SD card playback. When the song is playing back I found no way to reduce or increase tempo of the song. It is important to be able to use that tempo feature when trying to learn songs but the tempo control was disabled during song playback with no apparent way to use it and that was a big disappointment to me. The speaker system in the AP8 is quite weak for what it is and the piano sound is generally muffled through the speakers. If you try to use the built-in EQ brightness control to correct for the muffled sound, then the piano tone is tinny or thin through the speakers which is odd because the AP8 has two speakers and 40 watts of power which is quite good as compared to some name brands in this price range.  Actually the sound of these Artesia pianos are much better through a good pair of stereo headphones and if the internal piano speaker system actually sounded like that, then it would be a big improvement.

As I mentioned before, some of the instruments sounds in these models are pretty good and it's fun to play along with the drum rhythms, accompaniments, recording, and general song playback using the SD card slot and functions. But as for the fundamentals of the Artesia pianos including key action (most aspects) piano sound realism, and pedaling realism, they just aren't good and that's where the quality really needs to be. The 64-note piano polyphony sound chip is also weak as compared to most pianos in this price range with 128 note piano polyphony (piano memory sound chip). The cabinet on the AP8 vertical piano is finished with
a thin layer of imitation rosewood veneer contact paper type of material which is glued to the cabinet. I found that this rosewood veneer was starting to become unglued on one of the front corner edges of the piano. This situation caused a very sharp corner where it was possible to actually scape or cut your skin if your fingers, hand, or arm was to move across this corner. I have not found this issue occurring on the name brand digital pianos because they use different materials or have better installation and product quality. The control panel is slanted and easy to see and I like how they did that. However that panel is made of black plexiglass (plastic) and not only can scratch easily but it picks up fingerprints easily when touching and also shows smear spots when putting your fingers on that plastic when touching the buttons.

Artesia AP8 with closed key cover

I have been a piano and keyboard teacher as well as a pro musician for many years and it never surprises me when a person plays a piano like this and actually likes it. This is because there are people out there who don't know if a piano is out of tune or not because their ears do not know what to listen for. These people cannot tell when a key action or pedal function does not respond correctly because they have little experience playing a good piano...or any piano, and I have seen this happen many times. So with all that being said, there are some individuals who will like these pianos because they cannot see, feel, or hear the deficiencies and that can be bad for piano students who really should play on a digital piano that can respond like a real acoustic piano as much as possible in their price range such as models from Casio, Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai. Because the Artesia pianos look good (both models) and have fun features along with their low prices and they're available at Costco, people will probably take a chance and buy them because they can easily return them to Costco, although packing them up properly is not a small job. I would advise that you look at the name brand models instead of Artesia and you will and /or your children will get a much better piano playing experience and then you won't need to worry about returning the piano because you've discovered it's not what you had hoped for. It should not matter what extra digital features are in a digital piano if that instrument has difficulty just being a piano. Do it right the first time and get something good. Go to the following links to see my recommendations: Digital pianos under $1000  Digital pianos under $2000.

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

REVIEW - Artesia AP8 furniture style digital piano - NOT RECOMMENDED - Artesia is another one of those digital piano brands that I call a PSO (Piano Shaped Object) which means that it looks like a piano but otherwise isn't much better than that. The Artesia AP8 ($999 Costco price) digital piano is available in the US exclusively at Costco on-line. These pianos look good on the outside but are not good on the inside based on my playing experience with the AP8. Casio has regularly offered the low quality Suzuki & Adagio digital piano brands which I have previously reviewed, but I would think by now that Costco would stick to name brands instead of continuing to go down the off-brand road of trying to sell off-brand names that are not good, especially a name that no one has heard of like Artesia.

Artesia AP8 digital piano

Artesia is a brand belonging to a company called Virgin Musical Instruments who imports a variety of different kinds of musical instruments from China, which is a main source in the world for low price musical instruments. Having musical instruments made in or imported from China is not a bad thing as long as the products are high quality, reliable, has advanced electronics, good design and construction, and works properly. Some of the major piano brands like Kawai, Roland, Casio, and Yamaha have instruments made in China and they are quite good because those name brand companies know how to design & produce good overall digital pianos. But when it comes to off-brand digital pianos, especially those sold through Costco, I have not found any of them to be good, and in fact, they are pretty bad overall when it comes to getting a realistic piano playing experience. These off-brand digital pianos typically have certain things in common such as bad key actions, bad piano sound, bad pedaling, and are typically unreliable based on my experience with them and the Artesia AP8 & AG41 are no exceptions based on my experience with it.

Artesia AG41 digital grand

I was really hoping that the Artesia AP8 console furniture digital piano with matching bench in dark imitation rosewood finish would be an instrument that offered a high quality piano playing experience because of its attractive appearance and array of built-in features, especially at the low Costco price of $999US which is a very popular price range for most families. The impressive looking Artesia AG41 4'1" baby grand in polished ebony ($2399US Costco price) is the identical piano in terms of functions and features with an added docking port for an MP3 player and a much larger, more powerful speaker system. Both models have 64-note piano polyphony memory, 138 built-in instrument sounds which includes just 2 piano sounds but has a large selection of instrumental tones, 99 drum rhythm and auto accompaniment chord play for left hand including jazz, rock, country, Latin, etc. The Artesia pianos as have General MIDI playback with SD memory card which is a nice feature, 3-track recording and playback with 4-song memory, 9 setup memories, layering & splitting of 2 sounds, 4-hand duet play, auto one-finger harmony for right hand auto-chords, lots of special effects including reverb, chorus, phaser, delay, brightness/EQ, transpose, touch response, and the piano if fairly easy to use with a digital LCD display screen.

Artesia connectivity jacks

Both pianos have a weighted key action and 3 functioning pedals along with lots of connectivity including audio output, audio input, headphone jacks, USB output, SD card input, and MIDI ports which are underneath the piano. Even some some the name brand pianos do not have this much connectivity for internal and external connection in this price range. The Artesia AP8 has two speakers going through stereo 40 watt power (total) and the AG41 has 6 speakers going through 120 watts of power. So really... what's not to like about these pianos!? They look great and have most of the functions & features people are looking for in their respective price ranges. The Artesia specification sheet and internet product description such as when it says

Artesia AP8

"balanced Hammer Action,""advanced, weighted hammer action design,""excellent response and smooth playability that will satisfy even the most demanding teacher or professional performer,""incredible sound realism with its acoustic sound sample processing,""It records the actual acoustic instrument capturing their remarkable depth, expression and essence," etc, etc would have you believe these are the most wonderful digital pianos ever made and at their low prices, will be impossible to resist! The Virgin Company warranty on these pianos is only 1 year parts and labor which is a small warranty as compared to the major brands, but when you buy it at Costco they (Costco) have a very generous return policy in case you cannot resolve issues with Artesia (Virgin Music Instruments) or the when the product warranty is expired. Based on my experience with reliability on these off-brand digital pianos, I would be concerned about this short 1 year warranty as most name brands have a 3 year warranty.
I just got though asking the question "what's not to like about these pianos" and the answer is... A LOT! Yep, all is not what it seems on these pianos from their appearance and specs and unfortunately Costco has done it again...decided to carry off-brand pianos that in my opinion don't even get up to the quality piano level of a new $450 Yamaha or Casio portable piano in terms of a good piano playing experience. Before I start (unfortunately) tearing these pianos apart in a negative way, I will say that some of the fun features on these pianos including left and right hand chords, drum rhythms, accompaniment SD card playback, and additional instruments sounds do work and are fun. In fact some of the intro's, ending's, and left hand chord arrangements sound good and when I played the AP8 I had a real enjoyable time using those features. But that is not why most people normally purchase digital pianos. People tell me all the time that they want the piano to have the best and most authentic weighted piano hammer key action with minimal action noise, best piano dynamics and resonate sound, realistic quality pedaling, and full clear piano sound out of the speaker system. On all these fundamental piano functions, the Artesia unfortunately falls very short.

Artesia control panel

At first when you play this piano it seems like the piano sound, key action, and pedaling might be good. The keys are weighted pretty nicely, there is a piano sound and some dynamics, and the pedals work overall and sustain is OK. But the more I played this piano the more I disliked the piano playing experience. First and foremost is the fact that the keys are noisy and bottom out like plastic hitting wood over and over. In other words when I pushed down on the keys with minimal strength, they made considerable knocking noise like there was no felt under the keys. That was not enjoyable and a big deficiency. The keys are also stiff when playing lightly and softly. They don't push down easily like a regular acoustic piano and the key movement is also uneven amongst the various keys. Physically the keys have weight and resistance to them but in all other ways they are not like playing a real acoustic pianos or even the pianos from Casio, Yamaha, and Kawai starting at $350. So the Artesia piano key action fails my tests and I am not surprised because all of the off-brands I have played from Costco or anywhere else have key action problems.

As far as the piano sound and the response of the sounds to key pressure across the keys, I give this piano a big F (failure) for the piano sound in this price range. First of all, believe it or not, the piano sound is out of tune with itself...yes you heard me right, notes are out of tune! How do I know this?...well when you play some octaves together (2 notes at a time) the notes are not in tune (unison) with each other and are noticeably "off pitch." If you have ever heard a tuned acoustic piano or played another brand of digital piano where the notes are in tune, then you would know what I am talking about when you hear them out of tune. The Artesia piano keys/notes are definitely out of tune and this is also obvious when you layer a different instrument sound along with the piano sound because that 2nd instrument sound is out of tune with the 1st piano sound when played together which is also not good. In addition to this, when you play the piano sound on the right hand along with using the auto-accompaniment left hand chords, the piano sound is out of tune with the left hand accompaniment chords. The out-of-tune problem is not limited to the piano sound of which there are only two piano sounds on this instrument. The other sounds like harpsichord, trumpet, strings, etc, are also out of tune with themselves when playing octaves, fifths, fourths, and chords in various keys. I tried using the master tuning function to raise and lower the tuning pitch but that just changes the tuning for all the notes at one time and it did not help the situation with individual notes. On the Artesia product description it says "The AP8/AG-41 is a digital piano and therefore never needs tuning." Well if this is true as far as never needing tuning (and normally it is true), then Artesia has designed and produced a piano sound chip that is permanently out of tune on various keys because digital piano notes cannot be tuned individually like an acoustic piano. This simply makes the Artesia piano unacceptable to me just for this reason alone not counting the physical problems with the key action.

LCD display screen

With regard to the quality and consistency of the piano sound across the keyboard, this too is also not very good. Some of the notes sound as if they are a different piano from the notes (keys) next to them. The recording of that note was not good and it shows when you play one key at a time going up or down. Also, some notes when playing the keys come in noticeably louder than other notes (keys) next to them, so the piano volume and sound is inconsistent across the keyboard and this is also not good. When you combine all of this with the issues I described above, you have a real "PSO"...piano shaped object that resembles a real piano but does not really play like one, even at some more basic levels.

There are 3 full size pedals on these pianos. They look good, function properly (soft, sostenuto, sustain/damper), but there are some deficiencies. The sustain pedal (right pedal) does not have the half-pedal feature which allows for a medium amount of sustain when you would press the pedal about half-way down. The Artesia sustain pedal is just an on & off pedal which is OK but not great and even the inexpensive name brand digital pianos have the half-pedal function. The pedals themselves seem to be physically cheap and not made well because of the metal clicking noise I heard when pressing the pedals down as well as
side-to side lateral movement which should not be there. That looseness in the pedals themselves (I have seen this on other off-brand Chinese digital pianos) can and probably will cause problems in the future and that would not be good. Even the pedal height off the ground was too high compared to most other pianos I have played and that extra height makes pushing on the pedals more difficult.  The piano stand assembly is fairly easy to do but a couple of the screw holes on the AP8 did not line up well with the screws and two screws could not be tightened all the way down during my experience with it. Also the pedal connector port in the piano did not hold the pedal cable too well and was loose so that it is possible for the pedal cable to fall out and the pedals not work. All of these issues can be attributed to cheaper materials, parts, and/or poor workmanship and not necessarily shipping issues, although that is possible too, However the Artesia piano should be able to function and operate well regardless and that was a disappointment to me.

SD card input slot

I do like the control panel layout, the buttons that light up, the display screen, and the fairly intuitive functionality. However there were some simple things that this piano should have done that it did not do including being able to slow down a playback MIDI song from the SD card playback. When the song is playing back I found no way to reduce or increase tempo of the song. It is important to be able to use that tempo feature when trying to learn songs but the tempo control was disabled during song playback with no apparent way to use it and that was a big disappointment to me. The speaker system in the AP8 is quite weak for what it is and the piano sound is generally muffled through the speakers. If you try to use the built-in EQ brightness control to correct for the muffled sound, then the piano tone is tinny or thin through the speakers which is odd because the AP8 has two speakers and 40 watts of power which is quite good as compared to some name brands in this price range.  Actually the sound of these Artesia pianos are much better through a good pair of stereo headphones and if the internal piano speaker system actually sounded like that, then it would be a big improvement in sound quality through speakers.

As I mentioned before, some of the instruments sounds in these models are pretty good and it's fun to play along with the drum rhythms, accompaniments, recording, and general song playback using the SD card slot and functions. But as for the fundamentals of the Artesia pianos including key action (most aspects) piano sound realism, and pedaling realism, they just aren't good and that's where the quality really needs to be. The 64-note piano polyphony sound chip is also weak as compared to most pianos in this price range with 128 note piano polyphony (piano memory sound chip). The cabinet on the AP8 vertical piano is finished with
a thin layer of imitation rosewood veneer contact paper type of material which is glued to the cabinet. I found that this rosewood veneer was starting to become unglued on one of the front corner edges of the piano. This situation caused a very sharp corner where it was possible to actually scape or cut your skin if your fingers, hand, or arm was to move across this corner. I have not found this issue occurring on the name brand digital pianos because they use different materials or have better installation and product quality. The control panel is slanted and easy to see and I like how they did that. However that panel is made of black plexiglass (plastic) and not only can scratch easily but it picks up fingerprints easily when touching and also shows smear spots when putting your fingers on that plastic when touching the buttons.

Artesia AP8 with closed key cover

I have been a piano and keyboard teacher as well as a pro musician for many years and it never surprises me when a person plays a piano like this and actually likes it. This is because there are people out there who don't know if a piano is out of tune or not because their ears do not know what to listen for. These people cannot tell when a key action or pedal function does not respond correctly because they have little experience playing a good piano...or any piano, and I have seen this happen many times. So with all that being said, there are some individuals who will like these pianos because they cannot see, feel, or hear the deficiencies and that can be bad for piano students who really should play on a digital piano that can respond like a real acoustic piano as much as possible in their price range such as models from Casio, Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai. Because the Artesia pianos look good and have fun features along with their low prices and they're available at Costco, people will probably take a chance and buy them because they can easily return them to Costco, although packing them up properly is not a small job. I would advise that you look at the name brand models instead of Artesia and you will and /or your children will get a much better piano playing experience and then you won't need to worry about returning the piano because you've discovered it's not what you had hoped for. It should not matter what extra digital features are in a digital piano if that instrument has difficulty just being a piano. Do it right the first time and get something good. Go to the following links to see my recommendations: Digital pianos under $1000  Digital pianos under $2000.

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 WARRANTY REPAIR SERVICE INFO - What you should know when buying a new digital piano! Roland, Kawai, Casio, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzeweil, Suzuki, and others. New digital piano comes with factory warranties but are they good, are they long enough, and how do they work? Read my report below to find out.
   
Purchasing a new digital piano for you and/or your family can be a tremendous investment in your musical future and you hope that the digital piano you choose will last a long time without any service issues. When purchasing a new digital piano you generally get a manufacturer warranty on it. The length of a warranty is different from one brand to another and also different depending on the model of digital piano within the same brand. Warranty time can also be different for the parts vs the labor. When buying a digital piano it is always good to know what the warranty time is and what it covers and who is providing the warranty coverage. Based on my experience of buying and using many digital pianos and keyboards over the years, the length of warranty should be at least 1 year for both parts and labor and the the longer the warranty time is, the better. Personally I would want a digital piano that had at least 3 year warranty for parts as parts can be expensive depending on what is needed.

Having a good warranty is fine as long as you can actually get the service your piano needs. It would not matter if you had a huge 100 year warranty if you could not actually get it repaired. Repairing broken digital pianos requires a good, knowledgeable technician who knows what he/she is doing and who can get the proper parts from the manufacturer to repair the piano. It is not necessarily easy to repair a digital piano if it becomes defective, and diagnosing the problem does require an experienced technician who has done that kind of work before. A digital piano that is having "issues" in operating correctly may or may not need parts depending on the problem because It may just need a wire reconnected or a part reinstalled correctly and that requires a technician's labor. Generally speaking, the top brands of digital pianos these days work well and rarely need service, which is obviously a good thing. The manufacturers really don't want them to break because it costs them money and time and also can hurt their reputation, and top name manufacturers don't want that to happen so they work hard at building reliable products. 

Digital piano circuit boards & parts, control panels, buttons, keyboard actions, power amps, speakers, LCD displays, wiring, cabinet parts, and installation are complex and require high quality intricate manufacturing. This is no easy thing to do and is what separates the good brands from the bad ones. Buying a "pretty, nice looking piano" will not be of value to you if the piano breaks all the time or does not work properly because of inherent design flaws or manufacturing. I have seen this many times over the years where a piano will look good on the outside but will use inferior parts and construction and will give you continual problems. Even if that instrument has a long warranty will be of little consolation to you if you cannot get it fixed because parts are not available or technicians will not work on it because the piano brand has a bad reputation.

Some people think that paying an extra premium price to get these "extended warranties" on new digital pianos sold by music & piano stores can be a good thing. I have seen a few piano/music stores sometimes say to people that the piano manufacturer warranty covers less than it really does or is not as long as it really is. In other words the store salespeople knowingly or unknowingly lie to you about the quality and length of time of the actual manufacturer warranty just to get you to buy their expensive extra so-called extended warranty for virtually the same coverage. Be careful of that kind of thing as it does happen in US stores and you could be paying money for something you don't need. If the piano manufacturer already has at least a 3 year or more factory warranty (which many of them have), and it's a good brand, in my opinion there is little need to spend extra money on an extended warranty, especially if that warranty costs a lot of money and does not extend the entire warranty time to at least 5 years or more, and that's a very rare thing. Some store extended warranties say that they will cover accidents that could happen to the digital piano such as a spilled drink in or on the piano, or broken part caused by an accident to the piano, or in case of failure they may replace that piano. However in all my years of teaching piano and working around 1000's of kids and adults over the years, it is rare that I have heard of accidents or complete failures occurring to good new digital pianos for home use beyond the original manufacturer warranty. It rarely happens on newer name brand digital pianos based on my experience, so my advice is to just be sure you have a good top name piano brand with a good manufacturer warranty because that is what really counts. Those warranties will cover what you really need and usually provide replacements or refunds if the piano is defective beyond repair.

If you should ever need to use the manufacturer warranty then there is a process on how that works. Digital piano warranty work is serviced by factory authorized technicians that are normally self employed and don't work for piano/music dealers. The technicians do the repair work in the their shop or in your home, church, school, or or venue depending on the location of the piano, the warranty coverage, and the technician. Some new digital piano warranties (usually for portable digital pianos) only allow for carry-in service where you take it (or ship it) to a local technician to get the piano serviced. Other digital piano warranties (usually on furniture cabinet style pianos) allow the technician to come to you and service the piano there at no extra charge. However, if there is not a digital piano technician near where you are located, then you will probably have to pay an extra "travel charge" to the technician to get him/her to come to your home, school, church, etc, if they do that at all. 

In most medium to larger cities in the US there is usually at least one digital piano technician who can service these new digital pianos. However these technicians are almost always independent techs who do not work for piano stores as I mentioned earlier. They are self employed and therefore usually work on most or all of the better brands of digital pianos to help them stay in business. Piano or music stores across the US use these independent techs to do their digital piano service and if you buy from a local store, that store simply contacts the local tech to call you and set a service appointment, but you can do that yourself just as well. So in reality, when it comes to digital piano service, the local store does not really provide anything more than you can do for yourself with a phone call and/or email. The service tech works directly with the manufacturer to get parts and service advice they need and then they do the warranty work on your piano.

It's also good to know that if you live in an outlying area far away from a major city, you will likely not get quick service coming to you, if you get it at all. Independent techs must travel many miles to get to where you are should you need service and it could be weeks or more than a month until that tech can make time to travel to where you are, if they go there at all. At that point it will also cost you a lot of money to get that service tech to travel that distance. In reality, you don't get something for nothing and if you choose to buy a digital piano knowing you live in a remote area, you better be sure you choose a top name brand with a good product reliability track record or you may be in for nightmare getting your piano repaired if you live far away from the service technician. In that case you may need to bring the piano to where the service tech is and drop it off for service repair. Depending what the piano needs to be repaired, your piano may need to stay with that tech for a week to two weeks or more before it can be fully repaired assuming the needed parts are available (if parts are required). 

So am I scaring you now about digital piano repairs and buying digital pianos!? I hope not because in reality the top name brands produce well made reliable digital pianos that should last for years without breakdown. If something does go wrong on a new top name digital piano, then it usually occurs within the first 3-6 months and a couple of these top brands will even replace the piano for you during that time instead of you needing to find a repair tech for it. Out of all the name brand digital pianos available in the US and other countires, overall I hear of very few service issues on these pianos because they are made well and do stand the test of time...as long as you take care of them.

Based on my experience with them, the best digital piano brands to buy with a good track for handling any service issues in the US would be Kawai, Roland, Casio, and Yamaha. They have excellent service departments, handle service issues pretty quickly, and are generally responsive to the piano owner. However, when it comes to buying used digital pianos with no factory warranty I recommend you think twice before buying one hoping that you'll save money doing it that way. Go to my review on used digital pianos at the following link to find out more about buying used digital pianos. Used Digital Pianos. 

*Before you buy any digital piano anywhere, please contact me first because I can give you more important info on the piano and also on any potential service issues that may be connected with that piano, especially the off-brands of digital pianos. You may want to stay away from those brands. People want their digital piano to sound good, play good, and work good, and that's not a lot to ask for these days so be sure you buy a digital piano that will perform and hold up in the way you want it to. Don't just buy the piano for its looks and/or longer warranty. Get a good name brand new piano and you will likely not be disappointed or need any repair service 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.

REVIEW - Kurzweil SPS4-8 Digital Piano Orchestra - Recommended - In the world of home cabinet style digital pianos with built-in speakers under $2000, they are generally designed to reproduce (or try to reproduce) an acoustic piano sound and piano key action along with some brands & models having extra instrument sounds, recording functions, and fun features. Roland, Casio, Kawai, and Yamaha (the mainstream digital piano brands) all have some great cabinet digital pianos under $2000 price range but they all are somewhat similar in that they don't usually have non-piano instrument sounds that are great as compared to real instruments such as concert strings, organs, guitars, brass, woodwinds, percussion, electric pianos, and other sounds including synths. However, the instrument sounds on this new Kurzweil SPS4-8 digital piano ($1199 internet price including furniture stand and larger music rack) are absolutely outstanding and blow away all of the other brands in this category. Add to that the outstanding acoustic piano samples of Steinway grand pianos on this instrument and you have an unbeatable combination in a portable digital piano called the Kurzweil SPS4-8 along with a powerful built-in speaker system and European built Fatar graded piano hammer key action.

I have been playing Kurzweil pianos and keyboards ever since the introduction of their famous K250 pro digital piano in 1984, which had the first Steinway acoustic grand piano sample (incredible sound at the time in a real musical instrument), and I still really enjoy the Kurzweil piano sound to this day. The Kurzweil digital piano sound technology has always been advanced over some other brands throughout the years and they still put out some great instrument sounds, although other brands have caught up to them in some areas. 

Kurzweil digital piano technology was created and introduced many years ago by the the well known American inventor Ray Kurzweil (pictured left in his younger years - the pianos are named after him). Kurzweil piano's big claim to fame in the beginning days of that company was the fact that Ray was able to reproduce the sound of the grand piano, concert strings, concert choir, and brass/horns in a much more realistic way than was ever done before in consumer digital keyboard instruments back in the '80's & '90's. The Kurzweil sounds have been used extensively in movie & TV music production and are used by popular bands and musicians around the world. In fact, when you hear grand pianos, full concert string symphonies, choir/voice sounds, and brass/horn sounds in various movies & shows, it's likely that they used a Kurzweil piano to do that. 

Stevie Wonder with Kurzweil piano

One of the reasons Ray Kurzweil created his new digital piano technology was at the request of Stevie Wonder many years ago. Stevie wanted a digital instrument that had the highest quality acoustic piano sound possible based on technology in those days along with a more realistic piano touch and a few other high quality instrument tones. Stevie already had an association with Ray Kurzweil because Ray invented and produced the acclaimed "reading machine" for the blind, which Stevie Wonder was using. Ray Kurzweil is known in music and scientific circles around the world and in fact, Ray even predicted the rise of the Internet back in 1988 before it was here. So there is certainly a celebrated history in the Kurzweil company. Kurzweil did go through some growing pains in the last 20 years and was sold a few times and had some company difficulties until the gigantic Hyundai company bought them some years ago. Kurzweil now produces a full array of pro and home digital pianos some of which are very good and I have reviewed other models on my blog.

In the case of the SP4-8 digital piano, it is simple in its concept by focusing directly and exclusively on producing high quality authentic stereo instrument sounds only. What I mean by that is there are no automatic drum rhythms, no auto-chords, no recording features, no flashdrive, no built-in lessons or educational features, no low quality mono instrument sounds, and no 3-pedal option as it only comes with one sustain pedal which generally enough for most players. What the SPS4-8 does have is 128 spectacular stereo piano & instrument sounds (most digital pianos in this price range have simple mono instrument sounds) along with another 64 spectacular stereo instrument sound combinations (2 or more preset tones at one time). This piano also allows the user to create their own sounds or combinations and save
those special set-ups into 64 user memories for recall at any time. So you get individual 128 factory sounds, 64 individual factory combo setups, and 64 of your own setup memories giving you access to 256 instruments or instrument combinations at any time you want...and that's a lot of incredible sounds and power in one instrument. In fact, you can even load in brand new stereo instrument sound samples from your computer to the piano using a huge library of new sounds provided by Kurzweil on a special website download page. Few other companies have anything like this available to the user which allows you to expand the sound banks on your piano in this way! Any and all of internal and external Kurzweil sounds aren't just run-of-the-mill instrument sounds, but they are intensely dramatic realistic sounds that will make you believe the actual violin, guitar, organ, piano, clarinet, synth, electric piano, etc, is right there playing live in your home, church, studio, school, or stage.

Kurzweil SPS4-8

The SPS4-8 looks cool as a portable piano and is fairly lightweight at just 41lbs not including the furniture stand which comes with the piano at no extra charge. The SPS4-8 has an easy to read LCD user digital display screen which allows the player to see what functions are being selected and what's going on in the piano where many digital pianos in this price range either have no digital display or have simple LED displays which can be hard to understand. The SPS4-8 can also be useful for more advanced digital piano owners or professionals for live performance because you can layer/combine up to 4 instrument sounds at a time, including grand piano. You can put 4 sounds of your choosing together in a layer and play them all at once like a complete orchestra. You can control the volume, transpose key, effects, and other aspects of each sound separately from the other sounds...just like in a real life orchestra or band. Most digital pianos in this price range cannot do this.

Or...you can select up to 4 different areas of the 88 keys on the piano and split up to 4 instrument sounds to be played in real time independently of the other sounds. In other words, you can have a set of keys play a piano, another set of keys play organ, another set play trumpet, and yet another final set of keys play a concert flute, and you can pick whatever instruments you want to have. It's like directing an orchestra where one instrument can be played after another in real time. So you could assign four sets of 22 keys each on the piano which equals a total of 88 keys. Each key area is referred to as a "zone" like the end zone of a football field. A zone of keys is generally considered to be a part of the 88 keys and you can have up to 4 zones as long as they add up to 88 keys. This is good for live performance or for recording up to 4 instruments played one at a time into an external audio recorder which is great for home studios.

For people who want to "tweak the sound just a bit" the SPS4-8 has editing buttons for changing brightness levels, key touch levels, reverb echo levels, and other aspects of the piano so you can customize your own sound if you wish. There is also a pitch bend control which gives an instrument slide movement for authentic reproduction of  clarinets, saxophones, and guitars as well as a modulation control to add vibrato in real time to an instrument (like a violin) whenever you want. Kurzweil has designed this piano to be your own personal piano orchestra whether you are a beginner or professional so you can be the conductor of a full orchestra:)

As I mentioned earlier, Kurzweil is known for it's realistic instrument sounds including its grand pianos. The Kurzweil grand piano sounds are very smooth and resonate  with a lot of organic detail and expression with very good dynamics. The key action is solid and comes from Italy designed by the Italian key action company called Fatar. This particular key action is a graded hammer action and is not too heavy and not too light, but light enough to move quickly. This is helpful when playing non-piano sounds like strings, horns, or woodwinds. The acoustic piano sounds include a number of exclusive offerings including the famous 9' Steinway concert grand piano which is pretty amazing.

As far as other useful & important features go, the SPS4-8 has some great connectivity including MIDI & USB connectors to connect your laptop, desktop, or iPad to the piano for use with software and apps. Also this piano has balanced audio input jacks and output jacks for connecting external sound systems or running the audio sound from a computer or iPad back through the piano speaker system so you can hear your computer sound or iPad/Android sound coming back through the piano internal sound system or through the piano headphone jacks. There are two stereo headphone jacks for private practice and the piano power is connected by an external power supply included with the piano.

Some of the more common functions of the SPS4-8 which are equally nice to have is the key transpose feature as well as easy layering and splitting of sounds. With regard to the key transpose function, this feature is nicely setup and accessed on the piano making it easy to transpose keys in half-steps while playing the song or in the beginning of a song before you start. This is great when wanting to sing in a different key than the actual key of the sheet music or when you want to change keys just so you're not always playing in the same key range. On other pianos the key transpose feature can be much harder to access and more difficult to use. Layering two sounds together is fun and there is a also relative volume control for those two sounds making it easy to control the volume of both instruments. Splitting the keyboard electronically into 2 different sides offers you the ability to have a different sound on the left hand and and a different sound on the right hand at your choosing.

The SPS4-8 has a surprisingly powerful speaker system for a portable piano with 38 watts of total power in stereo into 4 separate speakers with the main speakers housed in what is called "ported enclosures" which adds to the bass response and fullness of the piano sound. The piano and its control panel seem very durable and well made with easy to see buttons, and the size & weight of the piano seem quite reasonable for what it is. The weight is only 41lbs (without the included furniture stand) and the dimensions are 52" wide by 15" deep.

So what are the downsides to this new model? There really isn't anything major if you understand what this piano is supposed to do. The piano polyphony memory is 64-note polyphonic which is on the low side of polyphony these days as far as the number is concerned. However, Kurzweil has a proprietary system that takes care of that which they call Dynamic Voice Allocation. Simply put, the 64-notes of polyphony on this model is more than enough for most piano players unless you are doing extensive layering with complex sounds. This is true for many other digital pianos as well, so for me, it is not an issue...and the sounds on this piano are so realistic that the polyphony memory seems to handle it nicely. As for pedaling, a 3-pedal option is not available so if you plan to use 3 pedals for piano playing then you'd want to look at another piano. However, many people playing recreationally or even professionally typically only use the one sustain pedal (furthest right pedal on a piano) so one pedal is good enough unless you or your piano teacher think you need more than that. The cabinet and stand on this model is quite contemporary and "open" in its design and appearance so it may not be right for you if you need a digital piano that looks more traditional in a fuller cabinet with 3 built-in pedals. A bench does not come with this model so that would be an optional purchase but many benches are available on-line at a fairly low cost.

With a nice, well positioned user interface control panel with buttons, easy to read backlit LCD display screen, lots of useable functions and features, well designed connectivity, great piano and instrument sounds, all housed in an attractive cabinet with stand & music rack (incl single piano pedal) along with an unusually nice internal speaker system, this Kurzweil SPS4-8 is a winner in the lower price range near $1000. Also, this piano does a lot more than I mentioned in this review with regard to more professional applications and control, and in case you are interested in that info, you can let me know.

In my opinion the SP4-8 is unique piano because it does not have any MIDI or audio recording & playback features, no drum rhythms, no microphone inputs, no automatic accompaniment chording, and it is also not as lightweight as other portable digital pianos under $1500 or under $1000. For portable or standard cabinet model digital piano options that may be more traditional and have these other features, if that is what you may prefer I would recommend you look at my reviews for digital pianos under $1000 and also for digital pianos under $2000. But, if you want to focus on getting a reliable piano with beautiful grand piano sounds, orchestral, & band instrument sounds with advanced flexibility to use and control those sounds in a nice looking portable case and you don't care about all the other stuff including not needing a standard furniture cabinet with 3 pedals, then the new Kurzweil SPS4-8 might be the perfect piano for you, your school, your church, your kids, or to play professionally. It can also easily connect this piano to an iPad or computer through it's direct USB output so you can use some great educational apps that help with home piano education & practice. At the end of the day it's all about making beautiful music that moves your soul and in my opinion this piano can do that.

- The following link will take you to a Kurzweil webpage with audio recordings of the realistic stereo sounds from the SPS4-8 which you may enjoy...I certainly did:).  
*Make sure you listen to these sounds through a good set of stereo headphones of stereo monitors connected to your computer, iPad, cell phone, or any device that you are using to listen to these sounds

- Piano & orchestra, and synth sound demos

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

REVIEW - Roland HP504, HP506, HP508Home Digital Pianos - Recommended - New for 2014 - The Roland Corporation started making digital pianos many, many years ago and is well known throughout the world for building higher quality, advanced digital music products that piano students, players, teachers, professional musicians, churches, and studios use. I have played and used many of the Roland music products including digital drum kits, MIDI guitars, home organs, pro keyboards, digital pianos, pro audio systems, keyboard & guitar amps, headphones, special effects systems, MIDI products, and other music gear.

HP508 polished ebony

I am no stranger to Roland music products and have played them for well over 30 years and recommend many of the models they produce. But when it comes to digital pianos, which is my specialty, I am very picky about quality and realism in terms of accurate piano key action and key touch, authentic piano sound  & dynamics with full expression capability, realistic pedaling response, and durability, especially in the higher priced models such as these new Roland HP series pianos. The HP (stands for home pianos) series has been out for many years and Roland is well known for them. These pianos seem to get better every time a new model comes out and the Roland HP series is a strong competitor to the Kawai CN & CA series as well as the Yamaha Clavinova CLP digital piano series in similar price ranges. Since Roland does not publish its retail or store discount prices nor are these instruments available on the Internet in the US, getting price info is a little hard to come by in the US. However, it's my best guess at the moment (based on past model pricing) that the HP504 in satin finishes will sell in local US Roland stores somewhere between $2600-$3000US, the HP506 in satin finishes will sell between $3000-$3500US, and the HP508 in satin finishes will sell between $4300-$4600US. The HP506 and HP508 are also offered in a special high polished ebony finish which should increase price about $700-$800US each...so there is definitely a premium for ordering a high polish ebony finish but they are certainly beautiful to look at.

Although these new Roland models are just coming out now as of this review date (HP508 satin black left pic, HP504 lower left pic) I have already had the opportunity of playing these pianos many times. I really did not expect them to be much better than the previous HP503, HP505, and HP507 models because the pianos look pretty similar overall, and based on digital feature specifications, it did not look like much had changed. However, I was very surprised that they had changed (improved) in a big way with regard to the fundamentals of piano playing including key action, sound & dynamic response, and pedaling. The best product change analogy I can use is when Apple computer company upgraded their iPad2 to the iPad 3 with Retina display screen. 
The iPad Retina display was a huge upgrade in terms of the screen display quality and realism for images, The processing power was greater too and buyers were very impressed and bought them in huge numbers. The new Roland HP504 (left pic with bench), HP506, & HP508 is much the same way in its new upgrades of noticeably superior piano performance over previous models. The new key actions are much quieter and move better, the piano sound and dynamic range is much more realistic & pure, and pedaling is improved. For those people who play digital pianos or have played good acoustic grand pianos, they would be able to tell how good these new Roland pianos really are as compared to anything that Roland and other piano companies have had before. The subtleties in tonality, nuance, dynamic range, and expressiveness are evident when playing complex music in ways not possible on Roland pianos in the past.

Roland has two new upgraded piano hammer weighted graded key actions and they have been given names beyond the boring model numbers used in the past. The best key action, which is in the HP506 & HP508, is called Concert Keyboard (an appropriate name actually). The key action in the HP504 is called Premium Keyboard. The difference between the two is that the Concert Keyboard feels more like a real grand piano to me and the Premium keyboard is not quite as realistic as the Concert Keyboard but still very enjoyable to play and much better than most other brands in its price range. This is the first major key action upgrade in many years for the Roland company in terms of feel, key sensor ability and sensitivity, reaction time, and overall quietness of key movement and keybed. All Roland furniture cabinet digital pianos in the lower price range (under $2000) use the older and unimpressive ivory feel-G key action which I do not like and have said so on reviews of Roland pianos using this key action. Maybe one day those G key actions will improve but for now Roland has done an excellent job in producing an impressive playing experience with the new Concert & Premium key actions.

New synthetic ebony keys

But as I mentioned before, unless you have played piano before or have a very musically trained ear for listening to high quality acoustic pianos, you may not be able to recognize how good these new models are as compared to some lower priced digital pianos or other brands and models. This is because sound and feel are, at the end of the day, subjective & personal and objectivity for the untrained ear and fingers can be difficult to obtain. Having said that, the piano sound realism, key sensitivity, and dynamic range along with a much quieter key action than ever before is really quite amazing in all three models, and it really does give you the impression that you are playing a real top quality acoustic piano and much more so than previous Roland piano models.  The key weight and static touch weight (amount of finger pressure required to press keys when keys are at resting position) are excellent as well as key balance from bass through treble range and from black keys to white keys. Unless you get a chance to play one of these pianos locally you'll just have to take my word for it:).

New synthetic ivory keys

Both new Roland key actions also incorporate a grand piano simulation movement with a "let-off/escapement mechanism" (left pic). This key movement simulates the key action feel of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano (upright movement such as what you find on Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos), and of the major brands, only Roland & Kawai have this feature in digital pianos retailing under $8000. When you press the keys down slowly on a real grand piano, you can feel a slight hesitation or notch about half way down when the key action is moving and this is called the escapement or let-off effect. Generally speaking, upright acoustic pianos do not have this feature but grand pianos do. Is this let-off/escapement feature a necessity for playing a piano?...not really...but it's cool to have because it does offer even better playing accuracy or feel, especially for more advanced players:) The white piano key tops are coated in a synthetic ivory material which (tries to) duplicates the feel of the older acoustic pianos which had real ivory keys and has a slight textured feeling to them. This synthetic ivory was on the previous models too. But on these new models Roland has added new synthetic ebony for the black keys which completes the total realism of playing a real organic piano keyboard on all keys. This synthetic substance on both black & white keys has a slight texture and helps absorb sweat from the fingers and offers a smoother playing experience. It also looks a bit classier than the all shiny white and black keys and I personally like this "feel" very much.

HP506 rosewood

The piano cabinet and control panel have also been redesigned in a good way with nicer, more contemporary lines, a better sleeker looking panel layout with redesigned buttons that don't stick up quite as far, functions that are a bit more intuitive to use, and satin cabinet finishes that look more realistic are are more scratch resistant. Even the company logo on the piano was redesigned and located on top of the music rack where it looks elegant and classier, which is a small but important touch in my opinion. Roland did keep something that was on previous models and that is where the control panel is located and the fact that the key cover is a two stage cover allowing the player the ability of covering the control panel without covering up the keys. This allows for a visually more minimalistic acoustic looking piano when playing it and yet you can easily slide the cover back up inside the piano and expose the control panel again so you can use the buttons to change functions and features. I really like how that works and I am a big fan of having the buttons up above the keys as opposed to on the left or right side of the piano keyboard as in other digital piano brands and models.

The acoustic piano sound itself (taken from Steinway acoustic grand pianos) on all the Roland HP pianos are identical regardless of model and they all have 128-note polyphony piano memory (how many notes can be played and sustained at one time) which is more than enough for even the most complex piano pieces because of Roland's advanced polyphony voice allocation. It's a fancy way to say you won't run out of notes even when layering two sounds together or playing complex MIDI files. Roland calls its acoustic piano sound SuperNATURAL Piano meaning that Roland has attempted to reproduce a much  more "natural & beautiful" acoustic stereo sound in their digital pianos and I feel they have done this quite well on these new models. In fact, if you plug in a good pair of stereo headphones to one of these pianos they would all basically sound the same to most people and have a great piano sound except that the higher price HP508 would have more key touch
sensitivity settings (100 of them as opposed to 5 on the other two models) as well as more digital sound enhancements including what Roland calls Piano Designer effects. There are certain tones that occur inside a regular piano when the hammers hit the strings and the strings are vibrating as well as how the pedals work. Some of those nuances (Duplex scale, hammer noise, damper noise settings, and digitally opening and closing the lid of a grand piano at different height levels) are included in the HP508 which are not in the HP504 & HP506. Whether or not these features are something you will personally hear and notice one way or the other, is questionable, depending on your ears, expectations, musical experience, and sensitivity.

All in all, I like the SuperNATURAL piano sound very much and it offers a beautiful acoustic playing experience more closely associated with the Steinway grand piano sound because Roland takes its piano sounds directly from Steinway acoustic grand pianos, although Kawai & Yamaha have very nice piano tones in their higher priced digital pianos too . It's about apples & oranges...some people like one better than another because everyone has different ears and reacts to sound differently. I personally really enjoy playing and listening to the Roland acoustic piano sound in these new pianos...especially in the models with upgraded internal speaker systems like the new HP508. It really gives you the feeling you're playing a huge grand piano.

With regard to the piano pedals, they operate very smoothly and feel realistic to press down and incorporate the three traditional pedal functions (damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft) of regular acoustic pianos. They do work better than other digital pianos I have played and also simulate a good note sustaining experience using a damper continuous detection pedaling feature. This function gives the player incremental note sustain amounts rather than just on & off or half pedal. It is definitely a much more realistic acoustic piano playing experience than other brands as well as physically feeling like the pedal is changing resistance when being pressed down. Roland calls this feature Progressive Damper Action. Having good piano pedals and operation is very important, especially to more advanced players, so Roland does a very good job in this way.

HP508 control panel

The HP models offer many high quality instrument sounds divided into 4 control panel buttons above the keyboard. These sounds include 14 variations of acoustic  grand pianos, 5 upright pianos (uprights are generally not found on other brands), 10 electric pianos, and 321 additional instrument tones (just about anything you can think of including strings, organs, banjo, synth, sax, trumpet, sitar, guitars, individual drum sounds, etc:) for a total of 350 tones which is a lot! You can see all of the instrument names and other function descriptions in the LCD user display screen which is very nice for displaying relevant info and the HP508 has a slightly better and larger display screens for accessing even more information. On the panel button with the 321 extra instrument sounds, it can be a bit tedious in getting to the sound you want by scrolling to it with the value +/- button, but this is true of other brands as well. You change change the "tonality" of the sounds by increasing or decreasing the brilliance or mellowness of the piano & instrument sounds and you can take any two sounds and layer them together or split them separately on either side of the keyboard. The pianos also have the duet twin piano feature which lets you electronically divide the 88-keys into two identical 44-key keyboards playing the same notes in the same octaves so that two people can play the same music at the same time. It's a great feature for teacher-student, parent-child, etc, and many of the top brands are including that feature in their pianos too.

USB ports

A digital MIDI recorder is built into each model featuring 3 tracks of recording and playback (for up to 3 separate instruments) and being able to save the songs on a USB flashdrive which is very cool. There is also an audio wav file recorder which allows actual CD recording and playback giving a precise rendition of your song which you can then play along with or save on a USB flashdrive for loading onto your computer to use in notation programs or attach to emails to send to family & friends so they can hear you on their computers...lots of fun with that. You can also plug in another instrument or microphone into the pianos and record that sound along with the piano and combine them. You can also use a key transpose feature on the pianos to transpose your recording (including the external audio source) to another key for singing or modulating the song up or down in semi-tones one step at a time. Even playback speed of MIDI and audio song files can be adjusted up or down which is very cool for audio and most digital pianos cannot do this on audio wav/CD files. So that means you can play along with your favorite CD song direct in your piano and slow it down to 75% of original speed to learn how to play it at a better (slower) speed while learning...and it still sounds good! I have not seen audio/CD song tempo control before on any other brand that has audio record or playback.

General MIDI sound

All Roland piano HP models playback General MIDI song files from a USB flashdrive which is a great feature and one I use all the time in my studio. The General MIDI song format allows you to play your piano parts along "with the band or orchestra" and to interact with multiple instruments at one time using well known piano lesson books including thousands of popular songs which can be found on the Internet. For more info on the General MIDI format go here: General MIDI and Playing Piano. Roland has a number of other ways its pianos can record music and playback songs for music education & learning that are quite useful and can be important when trying to learn music whether you are a beginner or professional. But this comes as no surprise because for years Roland has built professional recording & music learning devices for musicians, teachers, and students who use them in their home or studio for more effective practice sessions. If you want to know more about this you are welcome to contact me.

Roland iPad App

All of these models can connect directly to an iPad for another interactive way of learning about music and playing the piano, and I use iPad piano learning/teaching apps in my studio which provide a cutting edge visual way of interactive piano practice and learning. A unique feature of the Roland HP pianos is that they can do a wireless USB connection to an iPad using an optional Roland wireless USB adapter. On previous models there was this USB wireless connection to iPad, but now on the new HP models there is also wireless audio to hear the iPad music coming directly through a Roland designed and created app that allows you to play music from iTunes (with tempo & transpose control) and hear it through the Roland piano speakers without need of connecting audio cables from the piano to the iPad. This is quite helpful and unique and I have not seen this featured offered on other brands before. The audio sound from other non-Roland iPad music apps still need connecting cables but that's true of the other brands too. Roland also has a special Roland piano education app for good interactive ways of building piano skills. There is also a Roland designed iPad app to visually navigate the Roland control panel from the iPad, which is very cool. This feature makes your overall user experience much more enjoyable and intuitive.

The speaker/audio system in each model is good and gets better as you go up in models with the HP508 being best of all. Each piano model has more audio power, bigger speakers, and more speakers than the model before it and the better internal speaker systems do make these pianos sound more realistic. The HP504 has 24 watts of total audio power going into 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers, the HP506 has 74 watts (an upgrade over previous model) of total audio power going into 4 amplifiers and 4 speakers, and the HP508 has 150 watts (an upgrade over previous model) of total audio power going into 4 amplifiers and 6 speakers. The HP508 is a bit taller piano (about 45" tall with music rack up - about 38" tall with music rack folder down) so that the 6 speakers can be laid out inside the piano with 2 near the top, two near the keyboard, and two below pointing forward (instead of down in the other two models). This system gives a more balanced approach to recreating the acoustic piano playing experience and it really makes the piano sound like a big upright or acoustic grand piano. So it's not just the power or the internal audio systems themselves, but how and where they are installed in the piano and how the individual piano tones are projected through those different systems. Roland has been in the professional pro audio business for many years so they do have experience in this area and it shows in these digital pianos, especially the HP508.

The best way I can sum up and identify the major changes from the previous models to these new models are as follows:

1. New PHA-4 Concert Keyboard with Escapement and Ebony/Ivory Feel features Roland’s latest high-resolution touch-detection technology 
2. Fortissimo (dynamically very loud) playing styles are fully expressed with the new Dynamic Harmonic feature, which provides both a unique tonal character and powerful sound
3. New Individual Note Voicing to customize the sound to your taste by adjusting the pitch (tuning), volume, and character of each note independently including Stretched Tuning: -50.0 – +50.0 cent, Note Volume: -50 – 0, Note Character: -5 – +5
4. Headphones 3D Ambience effect sound experience while using headphones for private practice
5. Display music scores and selected HP-508 tones & songs with Piano Partner app for iPad
6. Independent volume control for headphones, volume limit function, and a 4 level tilt adjustable music rest which no other major brand has
7. Better connectivity with mini stereo input and output jacks as opposed to stand just standard 1/4 jacks

I do need to point out that while all of the upgrades on these new pianos are pretty impressive, the most interesting new feature to me is that for the first time that I know of on a top name home digital (upright style) piano, you can actually electronically adjust each of the 88 notes one at a time for tuning, volume, and character (voicing). On all other top name digital pianos you can only do this for all 88 keys at one time, but not for each note individually. This may not be useful or ever necessary for beginner thru early intermediate players, but for more advanced players you may have reason to want specific notes individually altered because of the way you hear your music and the notes that are playing. It's all about the "ear" and about your piano playing experience & skill level, thus you may find this new and impressive feature useful to be able to play your music exactly in the way you want it to sound over 88 individual notes.

The only new feature I found that was not impressive and actually useless (at least to me) was the "3D effect" through headphones. It's supposed to give you the impression the piano sound is all around you coming from different directions. Roland calls it "an immersive sound experience" but I call it "dumb." Sorry about that but maybe I wasn't using it correctly or hearing it right...but it just didn't sound good to me. I much preferred the standard stereo listening experience through headphones and that was very good.  Fortunately you can adjust the level of that 3D effect as well as turn it off. I did adjust the level but by the time I got it to where it was OK to me, it was practically off anyway:). Oh well, you can't have everything be great and if that's all the disappointment I had in these new models, then that is a fairly small thing to complain about.  Also, it's important to have/own excellent sounding stereo headphones for private playing because you want to capture all the nuances and quality of the new enhanced Roland piano sound dynamics. I can give you some good recommendations if you don't already have headphones.

HP508 satin black

As with just about all lower priced digital pianos under approx $3000 discount price, I would have preferred the internal speaker systems on the HP504 & HP508 to be better than they are, but this is true for the other brands too. I am a big believer in upgraded internal sound systems in all good digital pianos, and if I had my way, they would all have upgraded internal sound systems closer to the HP508, although that would certainly increase price. However, if the piano has built-in audio outputs like the Roland HP's do, you can add a small external sound system to these pianos (like you would to a TV, iPod, home stereo, etc) and then you can enhance the sound quality that way. It works well and is relatively inexpensive to do (between $150-$400), and doesn't take up much space at all. I have done this myself and the sound can be very impressive.

HP506 rosewood closed key cover

If you want a realistic and satisfying "acoustic piano" style playing experience without an over abundance of digital features (no drum rhythm patterns, no automatic chord styles, etc), the new Roland HP504, HP506, and HP508 would be an excellent choice depending on your budget, and I do highly recommend them. They are a big upgrade from the prior models in key action & piano dynamics and play great.  Also, as compared against the other popular name brands such as Yamaha & Kawai, the new Roland pianos have the latest piano technology out there right now, and in a number of important ways they surpass what the other brands do in similar price ranges. Although these new HP pianos do a lot more than I have mentioned in this review in terms of digital features they have, those things are just "frosting on the cake" as far as I am concerned. Once you get up into this price range it's mostly all about piano playing in my opinion, and that's definitely where the Roland HP models excel. As I always tell people, do your homework before making a buying decision, but you can't go wrong on any of the new Roland HP digital pianos.

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

REVIEW - Roland DP90e & DP90Se compacthome Digital Pianos - Recommended - New for 2014 - The Roland Corporation started making digital pianos many years ago and is well known throughout the world for building higher quality, advanced digital music products that piano students, players, teachers, professional musicians, churches, and studios use. I have played and used many of the Roland music products including digital drum kits, MIDI guitars, home organs, pro keyboards, digital pianos, pro audio systems, keyboard & guitar amps, headphones, special effects systems, MIDI products, and other music gear.

DP90Se polished ebony

When it comes to digital pianos, the most important things to look for are accurate piano key action and key touch, authentic piano sound  & dynamics with full expression capability, realistic pedaling response, and durability, especially in the higher priced models such as these new Roland DP series pianos. The DP series of pianos has been out for a number of years and Roland is well known for them and they get better every time a new model comes out.  No other major brand in the higher price range over $2000 has a digital piano quite like the Roland DP series with regard to a unique combination of upgraded looks & design in a special compact form, realistic acoustic style key action & acoustic type sound, authentic pedaling response, and useful digital features. The DP90e & DP90Se are new 2014 models and are just coming out at Roland stores soon. I have played them both and like them very much. The 
differences between the two models is that the DP90e has the middle grade key action called "Premium Keyboard" and the cabinet comes in a satin black finish, and the DP90Se has the best "Concert Keyboard" action and the cabinet is available in the upgraded high polish ebony and high polish white finishes. The price difference is about $1000 between the two models (DP90e vs DP90Se) but the upgraded finish and key action is significant and worth the difference in my opinion, if it's within your budget and fits your home decor. Both pianos are/will be available on the internet and discount selling price for the DP90e available in satin black with matching bench is $2599US and the DP90Se in polished ebony with matching bench is $3499US and polished white is $3599. 

What makes these models unique as far as appearance goes is the cabinet design. They are smaller and less deep than the average home piano in this price range and the special built-in folding lid of the pianos quietly and slowly (with built-in slow close key cover) folds down over the entire piano top creating a completely flat surface like a small table or desk. The music rest on the inside of the lid supports sheet music and books and it folds up as well. For apartment dwellers or people living in small condos or just have limited space, this cabinet design is definitely good at saving space and looking elegant at the same time...especially in the high polish finishes. Although these Roland models are just coming out now, I have already had the opportunity of playing the new DP pianos and really like them. I did not expect them to be much better than the previous DP models because the pianos look pretty similar overall and based on digital feature specifications, it did
not look like much had changed. However, I was quite surprised that they had improved in a big way with regard to the fundamentals of piano playing including key action, sound & dynamic response, and pedaling. The best product change analogy I can use is when Apple computer company upgraded their iPad2 to the iPad 3 with Retina display screen. 
The iPad Retina display was a huge upgrade in terms of the screen display quality and realism for images, The processing power was greater too and buyers were very impressed and bought them in huge numbers.
The new DP series are much the same way with its new upgrades of noticeably superior piano performance over previous models. The new key actions are much quieter and move better, the piano sound and dynamic range is much more realistic & pure, and pedaling is improved. For those people who play digital pianos or have played good acoustic grand pianos, they would be able to tell how nice these new Roland pianos really are as compared to anything that Roland and other piano companies have had before. The subtleties in tonality, nuance, dynamic range, and expressiveness are evident when playing complex music in ways not possible on Roland pianos in the past.

Roland has two the two new upgraded piano hammer weighted graded key actions as I mentioned earlier called Concert Keyboard (an appropriate name actually)and Premium Keyboard. The difference between the two is that the Concert Keyboard feels more like a real grand piano to me (upgraded design and construction over the Premium keyboard found in the DP90e, which is not quite as realistic as the Concert Keyboard but still very enjoyable to play, and much better than most other brands in its price range. This is the first major key action upgrade in many years for the Roland company in terms of feel, key sensor ability and sensitivity, reaction time, and overall quietness of key movement and keybed. All Roland furniture cabinet digital pianos in the lower price range (under $2000) use the older and in my opinion unimpressive ivory feel-G key action which I do not like so much and have said so in reviews of Roland pianos using this key action. Maybe one day those G key actions will improve but for now Roland has done an excellent job in producing an impressive playing experience with the new Concert & Premium key actions.

New synthetic ebony keys

As I mentioned before, unless you have played piano before or have a very musically trained ear for listening to high quality acoustic pianos, you may not be able to recognize how good these new models really are as compared to some lower priced digital pianos or other brands and models in this price range. This is because sound and feel are, at the end of the day, subjective & personal and objectivity for the untrained ear and fingers can be difficult to obtain. Having said that, the piano sound realism, key sensitivity, and dynamic range along with a much quieter key action than ever before is really quite amazing in both models, and it really does give you the impression that you are playing a top quality acoustic piano. The key weight and static touch weight (amount of finger pressure required to press keys when keys are at resting position) are excellent as well as key balance from bass through treble range and from black keys to white keys. Unless you get a chance to play one of these pianos locally you'll just have to take my word for it:).

New synthetic ivory keys

Both new Roland key actions also incorporate a grand piano simulation movement with a "let-off/escapement mechanism" (left pic). This key movement simulates the key action feel of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano (upright movement such as what you find on current Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos), and of the major brands, only Roland & Kawai have this feature right now in digital pianos retailing under $8000. When you press the keys down slowly on a real grand piano, you can feel a slight hesitation or notch about half way down when the key action is moving and this is called the escapement or let-off effect. Generally speaking, upright acoustic pianos do not have this feature but grand pianos do. Is this let-off/escapement feature a necessity for playing a piano?...not really...but it's cool to have because it does offer a playing accuracy and feel that is subtle but yet noticeable, especially for trained players. The white piano key tops are coated in a synthetic ivory material which (tries to) duplicates the feel of the older acoustic pianos which had real ivory keys and has a slight textured feeling to them. This synthetic ivory was on the previous models too. But on these new models Roland has added new synthetic ebony for the black keys which completes the total realism of playing a real organic piano keyboard on all keys. This synthetic substance on both black & white keys has a slight texture and helps absorb sweat from the fingers and offers a smoother playing experience. It also looks a bit classier than the all shiny white and black keys and I personally like this "feel" very much.

The acoustic piano sound itself (taken from Steinway acoustic grand pianos) on both Roland DP pianos are identical and they both have 128-note polyphony piano memory (how many notes can be played and sustained at one time) which is more than enough for even the most complex piano pieces because of Roland's advanced polyphony voice allocation. It's a fancy way to say you won't run out of notes even when layering two sounds together or playing complex MIDI files. Roland calls its acoustic piano sound SuperNATURAL Piano meaning that Roland has attempted to reproduce a much  more "natural & beautiful" acoustic stereo sound in their digital pianos and I feel they have done this quite well on these new models. In fact, if you plug in a good pair of stereo headphones to either piano they would both sound identical. 

All in all, I like the Roland SuperNATURAL piano sound very much and it offers a beautiful acoustic playing experience more closely associated with the Steinway grand piano sound because Roland takes its piano sounds directly from Steinway acoustic grand pianos, although Kawai & Yamaha have very nice piano tones in their higher priced digital pianos too which come from their acoustic pianos (Kawai & Yamaha grands). It's about apples & oranges...some people like one better than another because everyone has different ears and reacts to sound differently. I personally enjoy playing and listening to the (Steinway sampled) SuperNATURAL acoustic piano sound in these new pianos

With regard to the piano pedals, they operate very smoothly and feel realistic to press down and incorporate the three traditional pedal functions (damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft) of regular acoustic pianos. They do work better than other digital pianos I have played and also simulate a good note sustaining experience using a damper continuous detection pedaling feature. This function gives the player incremental note sustain amounts rather than just on & off or half pedal. It is definitely a much more realistic acoustic piano playing experience than other brands as well as physically feeling like the pedal is changing resistance when being pressed down. Roland calls this feature Progressive Damper Action. Having good piano pedals and operation is very important, especially to more advanced players, so Roland does a very good job in this way.

DP90e satin black

The DP models offer many high quality instrument sounds divided into 4 control panel buttons above the keyboard. These sounds include 14 variations of acoustic  grand pianos, 5 upright pianos (uprights are generally not found on other brands), 10 electric pianos, and 321 additional instrument tones (just about anything you can think of including strings, organs, banjo, synth, sax, trumpet, sitar, guitars, individual drum sounds, etc:) for a total of 350 tones which is a lot! You can see all of the instrument names and other function descriptions in the LCD user display screen which is very nice for displaying relevant info. On the panel button with the 321 extra instrument sounds, it can be a bit tedious in getting to the sound you want by scrolling to it with the value +/- button, but this is true of other brands as well. You can change the "tonality" of the sounds by increasing or decreasing the brilliance or mellowness of the piano & instrument sounds and you can take any two sounds and layer them together or split them separately on either side of the keyboard. The pianos also have the duet twin piano feature which lets you electronically divide the 88-keys into two identical 44-key keyboards playing the same notes in the same octaves so that two people can play the same music at the same time. It's a great feature for teacher-student, parent-child, etc, and many of the top brands are including that feature in their pianos too.

A digital MIDI recorder is built into both models featuring 3 tracks of recording and playback (for up to 3 separate instruments) and being able to save the songs on a USB flashdrive which is very cool. There is also an audio wav file recorder which allows actual CD recording and playback giving a precise rendition of your song which you can then play along with or save on a USB flashdrive for loading onto your computer to use in notation programs or attach to emails to send to family & friends so they can hear you on their computers...lots of fun with that. You can also plug in another instrument or microphone into the pianos and record that sound along with the piano and combine them. You can also use a key transpose feature on the pianos to transpose your recording (including the external audio source) to another key for singing or modulating the song up or down in semi-tones one step at a time. Even playback speed of MIDI and audio song files can be adjusted up or down which is very cool for audio and most digital pianos cannot do this on audio wav/CD files. So that means you can play along with your favorite CD song direct in your piano and slow it down to 75% of original speed to learn how to play it at a better (slower) speed while learning...and it still sounds good! I have not seen audio/CD song tempo control before on any other brand that has audio record or playback.

General MIDI sound

Both Roland piano DP models play back General MIDI song files from a USB flashdrive which is a great feature and one I use all the time in my studio. The General MIDI song format allows you to play your piano parts along "with the band or orchestra" and to interact with multiple instruments at one time using well known piano lesson books including thousands of popular songs which can be found on the Internet. For more info on the General MIDI format go here: General MIDI and Playing Piano. Roland has a number of other ways its pianos can record music and playback songs for music education & learning that are quite useful and can be important when trying to learn music whether you are a beginner or professional. But this comes as no surprise because for years Roland has built professional recording & music learning devices for musicians, teachers, and students who use them in their home or studio for more effective practice sessions. If you want to know more about this you are welcome to contact me.

The DP90e and DP90Se can connect directly to an iPad for another interactive way of learning about music and playing the piano, and I use iPad piano learning/teaching apps in my studio which provide a cutting edge visual way of interactive piano practice and learning. A unique feature of the Roland HP pianos is that they can do a wireless USB connection to an iPad using an optional Roland wireless USB adapter. On previous models there was this USB wireless connection to iPad, but now on the new DP models there is also wireless audio to hear the iPad music coming directly through a Roland designed and created
app that allows you to play music from iTunes (with tempo & transpose control) and hear it through the Roland piano speakers without need of connecting audio cables from the piano to the iPad. This is quite helpful and unique and I have not seen this featured offered on other brands before. The audio sound from other non-Roland iPad music apps still need connecting cables but that's true of the other brands too. Roland also has a special Roland piano education app for good interactive ways of building piano skills. There is also a Roland designed iPad app to visually navigate the Roland control panel from the iPad, which is very cool. This feature makes your overall user experience much more enjoyable and intuitive.

The speaker/audio systems are identical in both models with 24 watts of total stereo audio power going into 2 amplifiers and 2 speakers. I would have preferred the audio power in the DP pianos to be a bit stronger and deeper sounding (at least in the DP90Se) but the cabinet itself helps it resonate pretty well and there is enough volume for the average size room. However you can connect external powered speakers or a home stereo to these pianos to give it more bass and fullness if that's what you desire (I would personally do that because I like big sound), but overall the sound coming through the speakers will be good for most home applications.


The best way I can sum up and identify the major changes from the previous models to these new models are as follows:

1. New PHA-4 Concert Keyboard with Escapement and Ebony/Ivory Feel features Roland’s latest high-resolution touch-detection technology 
2. Fortissimo (dynamically very loud) playing styles are fully expressed with the new Dynamic Harmonic feature, which provides both a unique tonal character and powerful sound
3. New Individual Note Voicing to customize the sound to your taste by adjusting the pitch (tuning), volume, and character of each note independently including Stretched Tuning: -50.0 – +50.0 cent, Note Volume: -50 – 0, Note Character: -5 – +5
4. Headphones 3D Ambience effect sound experience while using headphones for private practice
5. Display music scores and songs with Piano Partner app for iPad
6. Independent volume control for headphones and volume limit function
7. Better connectivity with mini stereo input and output jacks as opposed to stand just standard 1/4 jacks

I do need to point out that while all of the upgrades on these new pianos are pretty impressive, the most interesting new feature to me is that for the first time that I know of on a top name home digital (upright style) piano, you can actually electronically adjust each of the 88 notes one at a time for tuning, volume, and character (voicing). On all other top name digital pianos you can only do this for all 88 keys at one time, but not for each note individually. This may not be useful or ever necessary for beginner thru early intermediate players, but for more advanced players you may have reason to want specific notes individually altered because of the way you hear your music and the notes that are playing. It's all about the "ear" and about your piano playing experience & skill level, thus you may find this new and impressive feature useful to be able to play your music exactly in the way you want it to sound over 88 individual notes.

The only new feature I found that was not impressive and actually useless (at least to me) was the "3D effect" through headphones. It's supposed to give you the impression the piano sound is all around you coming from different directions. Roland calls it "an immersive sound experience" but I call it "dumb." Sorry about that but maybe I wasn't using it correctly or hearing it right...but it just didn't sound good to me. I much preferred the standard stereo listening experience through headphones and that was very good.  Fortunately you can adjust the level of that 3D effect as well as turn it off. I did adjust the level but by the time I got it to where it was OK to me, it was practically off anyway:). Oh well, you can't have everything be great and if that's all the disappointment I had in these new models, then that is a fairly small thing to complain about.  Also, it's important to have/own excellent sounding stereo headphones for private playing because you want to capture all the nuances and quality of the new enhanced Roland piano sound dynamics. I can give you some good recommendations if you don't already have headphones.

HP506

If you want a realistic and satisfying acoustic piano style playing experience without an over abundance of digital features (no drum rhythm patterns, no automatic chord styles, etc), the new Roland DP90e and DP90Se would be an excellent choice depending on your budget, and I do highly recommend them. They are a big upgrade from the prior models in key action & piano dynamics and play great.   As compared to the other popular name brands such as Yamaha & Kawai, etc, the new Roland pianos have some of the latest piano technology out there right now, and in a number of important ways they surpass what other brands do in similar price ranges. Although these new DP pianos do a lot more than I have mentioned in this review in terms of digital features they have, those things are just "frosting on the cake" as far as I am concerned. Once you get up into this price range it's mostly all about piano playing in my opinion, and that's definitely where the Roland DP models excel. By the way, Roland makes a new traditional cabinet version of the DP90e & DP90Se which are called the HP504 & HP506 (upper left pic) and they are priced similarly but do have a couple additional differences including more cabinet color options. Check out my review of those pianos at the following link: Roland HP504, HP506, & HP508 Review. Regardless of what you decide to purchase, do your homework before making a buying decision and you can't go wrong with any of the new Roland DP or HP 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.

AZPianoNews.com - Digital Piano Reviews - by Tim Praskins

UPDATED: March 11, 2014 - Welcome to AZ Piano News, your #1 source for digital piano reviews, news, shopping & buying tips, and other useful information. My name is Tim Praskins and I established this piano news blog in 2009 as a way to provide my 40 years of piano expertise & experience to the public. I review and talk about digital and acoustic pianos, piano and keyboard lessons, and help piano shoppers around the world in deciding what digital piano would be best for them. I am a well known international digital piano consultant to teachers, schools, churches, studios, families, and beginner through advanced piano students. I teach a number of different instruments in my music studio and am a pro musician who plays acoustic grand & upright pianos, digital pianos, pro keyboards, synthesizers, church & jazz organs, and guitars of all types. I know more about digital pianos and how they compare to each other and to acoustic pianos than most people in the world and I started playing them when they first came out decades ago. I have continued to play and teach on them professionally and have direct hands-on experience with high end and low end digital pianos so that I can advise people on what to look for and stay away from. There are also "inside tips" that I know about (which others do not) in helping you make a good buying decision.

Erik Praskins

My son Erik who is in his 30's, is quite musical (plays piano, guitar, drums) and has learned about digital pianos through the years from me and his own personal experience. He works with me in my studio and is very knowledgeable with digital pianos (like Father, like son) and is definitely capable of helping you with your questions too.  I also have three daughters, two of whom are accomplished local piano teachers & musicians and the other an accomplished flute player. They are independent from me and do not work in my studio. So there is lots of music in my family and always has been. My son Erik & I will give you helpful advice for FREE (free email and/or phone consultations - phone for US residents only) because we love music and want people to experience it on a good piano that works well and sounds great. Playing & teaching music is the most important thing in my life just behind my commitment to God, family, friends, and helping others achieve the satisfaction & personal expression that I have had and continue to have with music!

The following is a brief overview of what you can expect from my in-depth detailed piano blog and reviews:

Digital Piano Reviews
All of my digital piano reviews are completely unique, unfiltered, and updated regularly, and the information I provide is done through my own personal experience & research. I am not paid, persuaded, or endorsed by any piano company on how I review pianos and other instruments which allows me the freedom to say what I really think...and that's always a good thing:). Therefore I will tell you if a piano is a Best Buy, Recommended, Not Recommended, etc. My goal (as well as my son Erik) is to share with you what we know about these pianos, piano lesson programs, and ways to shop that will help you make the right buying decision and save you money in the process. Many of the top name brands I review include Roland, Kawai, Casio, Yamaha, Samick, Korg, and Kurzweil just to name a few. I also review off-brands such as Suzuki, Williams, Adagio, Artesia, and others that are found at Costco and large consumer or music stores.


WARNING - Please Read This below!

It's good to be aware that there are some digital piano review sites on-line which are either out of date, show discontinued models as the newest models, give high marks to some bad digital pianos, or are reviewed by people that just do not know what they are talking about (they pretend to know things) in my opinion. When we see something like that then we encourage people to STAY AWAY from those reviews as they are likely done just to get you to purchase them on Amazon and other web sites that pay those so-called reviewers a "commission." If you see Amazon, Ebay or other product buying links, then that is a BIG RED FLAG! Making money by selling pianos is one thing, but recommending vastly inferior pianos or telling people things that just are not true so you can make money is quite another thing. Be careful out there and be sure you contact us first before making a buying decision.

What is a Digital Piano?

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

Digital Keyboards

A keyboard  is missing one or more of those digital piano elements. It may sound like an acoustic piano, but not feel like one at all (unweighted or semi-weighted keys). It may feel like an acoustic piano but not sound like one at all, or it may feel, sound, and operate like a digital piano but not have 88 black and white keys (maybe just 49, 61, or 76). Please go to the following link to learn more about the differences between digital pianos and digital keyboards: Digital Keyboard vs Digital Piano - What's the difference?

Why Choose a Digital Piano vs. Acoustic Piano?

Choosing between a digital piano and traditional acoustic piano can be a bit confusing because there are different opinions out there depending on what a person's musical experience is. A piano teacher you talk with may have a different opinion than another experienced piano teacher. A piano store salesperson may differ with a general music store salesperson, whereas a professional musician may agree or disagree with all of them. So it really just depends upon your musical goals, skill level, budget, and expectations when it comes to playing piano for yourself and/or for your children. I happen to like both acoustic and digital pianos but I am more fond of digital pianos when it comes to overall music learning and piano playing pleasure. However, playing on a top quality real acoustic grand piano is a fabulous experience especially if that grand piano is a Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Bosendorfer, Boston, Essex, or any fine grand piano. However unlike digital pianos, you cannot plug in headphones to a regular acoustic piano for private practice, you need to regularly tune an acoustic piano, and you are linited to just one single piano sound as opposed to a variety of great piano sounds and features that good digital pianos have these days. Go here for more info on differences between an acoustic and digital piano: Digital Piano or Acoustic Piano - What should you buy?

Which Digital Piano Should I Buy?

Everyone has different goals when purchasing a digital piano which is based on your experience, how you intend to use it, budget factors, and many other reasons. We openly encourage all readers of this blog who are considering buying a digital piano to contact us first.  We can help you get the lowest price on the new digital piano the best fits your needs and your budget no matter what it is. Check out our shopping tips article at the following link Shopping Tips. You can also email us directly, or call us if you live in the US. Again, welcome to...
  





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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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

Samick Acoustic Grand

UPDATED REVIEW - January 20, 2014 - Samick SG450, SG310, & SG110 Digital Baby Grands - Recommended - The Samick Piano Company is a well known South Korean piano & musical instrument manufacturer which has been making acoustic grand and upright pianos for over 50 years. Their line of acoustic piano products include the Samick brand as well as Kohler & Campbell, Seiler, Pramberger, Knabe, and others. Samick is also one of the largest guitar building companies in the world and has made thousands of guitars for famous companies including Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, and others and also builds the Greg Bennett and Silvertone line of acoustic & electric guitars. I have personally played on and owned Samick acoustic pianos in the past as well as Samick made Greg Bennett guitars, so I am very familiar with their instruments and they are overall impressive for the price.

The Samick company (US headquarters Nashville, TN - left pic) has also built many digital pianos over the years, however these instruments were just average or below average (I have played many of them) and not competitive with other top piano companies like Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, or Casio, and I would not have recommended them in the past. But the Samick company now has some very attractive, well built, and nice playing polished ebony small digital baby grand pianos in a lower price range all under $4500 store discount prices. I have played played these Samick digital Baby Grands and liked what I felt and heard for the price. I was impressed by the fairly realistic hammer weighted key action which moved and responded to velocity and dynamics much better than other digital baby grands I have played in the lower price range. Beyond that, the piano tone was more realistic, although it wasn't quite up to the level of a Roland, Yamaha, or Kawai digital baby grand, but those brands are a lot more money in comparison (sometimes many thousands more). So for the money, the Samick digital grand pianos are sufficient in producing a satisfying piano playing experience for many people and they look great too.

Two main reasons why I believe these pianos are much better than they used to be is because Samick has a business relationship with the Fatar key action company and the Orla digital design &  sound electronics company, both of which are located in Italy. These two well known Italian companies have been designing quality digital piano components for many years and are respected in Europe and around the world. Samick is now using these two company's high quality (I have played them and they are really good) graded hammer piano key actions (with nice dynamic response) along with convincing stereo digital piano & instrument sounds and had them built into these models. I believe the resulting outcome is that Samick has the best digital pianos they have ever offered and these instruments are at very reasonable prices (in my opinion) for many people looking for a beautiful and well built furniture cabinet along with good piano action, overall sound, and digital features.

The lowest priced and smallest of these three new pianos with a premium European Fatar key action is called the SG110 mini grand piano (left pic) which will generally be discount priced at Samick piano stores for about $3495. The polished ebony SG110 with 385 high quality instrument sounds and 3 full functioning brass pedals measures about 3 feet in depth from front to back so it can fit in many small spaces. The built-in stereo speaker system has 4 speakers going through 60 watts of audio power. This piano feels and sounds quite nice for its size and really looks attractive and is much better than the "off brands" I have played such as the ones from Costco and various music stores. The legs of the SG110 sit directly on the ground and have no casters like it's bigger brother the SG310, and the inside of the piano is all black to match the piano exterior.

The next model is called the SG310 (left pic) and is normally discount priced at local US Samick stores for $3995. It is identical to the SG110 except for some important features such as having upgraded hardware & appointments including a 2-piece hinged lid (like a real acoustic grand), 2 level grand piano lid adjustment, thick  & sturdy tapered legs, and measures approx approx 4' in depth from front to back, so it's somewhat larger which gives it a more authentic grand piano appearance for a slightly bigger space. The built-in stereo speaker system is larger and more powerful with 6 speakers going through 120 watts of audio power so it has a much fuller tone. This model is my favorite of the two because of its larger size, its looks, and it fuller sound, so as far as I'm concerned, it is easily worth the difference in price, although that difference could put some people out of their budget. But you should also look at this as a long-term purchase as well. The key cover and legs of the SG310 have extra upgraded hardware on them and the music rack shape has a slightly different design than the SG110.

Both SG110 & SG310 models (SG310 - left pics) have a fairly realistic European made graded piano weighted hammer action (as I mentioned earlier) with 3 functioning brass pedals, 64 notes of polyphony which is OK for the price and fine for most people (128 notes would have been better), and 385 very impressive instrument sounds including electric pianos, organs, strings, guitars, synths, brass, woodwinds, percussion, and many other very cool sounds. These pianos also include 20 panel memories for saving your favorite setups and a 16-track General MIDI multi-track player/recorder using a USB flash drive which enables you to save and load songs and even use the piano to play continuous music of your choice just like a player piano but without moving keys. The SG pianos also allows you to play accompaniment lesson songs from popular piano lesson curriculum which is great for practicing your lessons and listening to the songs that are in the lesson books while you play:). Each of the 16 instrument tracks, including the melody line, can be individually muted (switched off) so that you can isolate certain parts for better understanding of how that part plays and sounds, which is great for learning and playalong. That is a very useful feature not found in many digital pianos. Go here for more info on how General MIDI lesson & song accompaniments can help you play better and have more fun: General MIDI songs & lessons

SG310 front view pic

The SG110 & SG310 pianos also have 3 standard piano pedals, keytouch sensitivity control to change the touch response, headphone jacks for private practice, a user friendly backlit LCD display screen, dedicated front control panel buttons, and stereo audio outputs and computer connections. There are also a number of other features on these two models that in my opinion make these Samick pianos worth owning for many people. With good looks including sliding key covers, the ability to have the piano lid open up with your choice of two levels of height (full or 1/2 open), a matching bench, and nice sound and graduated hammer piano key action with some cool digital features, I believe these small digital baby grand pianos are hard to beat (in this authentic grand cabinet style) for the money. Samick's US headquarters is in the Greater Nashville, TN area and they offer a 3 yr parts & 1 year labor warranty good anywhere in the US. Based on everything I have seen and heard from these two pianos, I would recommend them, although for more advanced players there may be better options.

SG450

Finally, Samick makes a top of the line model called a SG450 (left and lower left pics) which is the identical piano to the SG310 in most ways incl cabinet size & design, speaker system & audio power, General MIDI play/record features, and other functions. Two of the big upgrades is the SG450 has the "easy-play chord features" and a much nicer, larger, and more intuitive user LCD display screen which allows you to see the variety of functions better. along with a different and more intuitive control panel. The SG450 also has 476 impressive instrument sounds (wow, how many can a person possibly need, but they are nice!) some of which are specialized orchestral sounds including a built-in easy play Rhythm Orchestra with 520 musically correct automatic left hand chord accompaniment styles (1-finger/3-finger easy play) and helpful drum patterns for all styles of music, a right hand harmony note system when you play auto-chord style on the right hand. The easy play chord style system includes Classical, Jazz, Latin, Rock, Country, Big Band, Swing, Broadway, Ragtime, New Age, Christmas, Disney, and everything in-between. This kind of system is great for people who do not play piano or don't want to play in a traditional style but want to have fun just using chords on the left hand. Other features include "continuous play music" playing from a USB flash drive for your own personal "player piano library" (all three Samick models can do this) which is great fun for just listening to great music through your piano even if you are not playing it yourself. The SG450 also has real time volume controls over various functions in the piano, a variable brilliance control for a variety of different acoustic piano sounds, twin piano mode which electronically divides the 88 keys in half for two identical 44-key piano keyboards (with the same octaves and tuning) which is great for two people playing at the same time...very cool. Piano store selling price for this piano is usually about $4500 and is my favorite model of the three. 

Considering how heavy a regular small acoustic baby grand weighs, which is approx 600-700lbs, the lighter weight of these small digital baby grands makes them much easier to move and assemble than traditional pianos. The SG110 3' deep baby grand weighs in at 165lbs and the 4' deep SG310 & SG450 (left pic) weigh in at 260lbs each. Not bad considering their size. But whichever Samick digital baby grand piano you may choose, I believe you'll likely have a good time playing it and be especially pleased with how they look. There certainly are better digital baby grands for piano tone, dynamics, pedal decay & resonance, key action, and other features from brands like Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai, but those pianos are substantially more money. Also, there are digital baby grands for less money such as Suzuki, Adagio, Artesia, and others, but I have not found any of them to be acceptable even at minimum standards. You just don't normally get something for nothing out there so it's good to be very careful when spending this kind of money. Samick piano company seems to be the one of the those manufacturers that has been able to fill a niche of offering higher quality digital grand pianos (especially with regard to key action and sound dynamics) at very reasonable prices. There are many things to think about when investing in a digital piano and I can help you figure it all out if you contact me.  

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

* Also, below a video of the SG310 in action. The guy playing the SG310 in the video is a pretty amazing player and the SG450 would sound the same although even better:)


 

REVIEW - Recommended - New Yamaha P255 portable digital piano. The Yamaha piano company is well known for producing some great musical instruments and the new P255 ($1299 internet discount price - furniture stand and triple pedals optional) is no exception. This just released model available in satin black or in satin white takes the place as the top "P series" home/stage digital piano over the older P155 ($999 internet discount price) which is still available at local stores. The older P155 came out 5 years ago which is a long time for a digital piano to be produced, so it was just a matter of time before it got upgraded and Yamaha definitely upgraded that model in a number of ways, most of them being a big improvement.

Essentially the new P255 is a fairly easy to carry (approx 38lbs), self contained portable piano with a powerful built in speaker system and is made for people who want to primarily play piano although it does do many other cool things. The P255 also offers a very nice selection of other instrument sounds including the primary sounds that people are looking for such as electric pianos, organs, strings, harpsichords, etc. The additional instrument sounds, many of which are in stereo do sound great and I enjoyed playing them. The older Yamaha P155 does the same thing but the quality of sound realism for not only the piano sounds but for all instruments, is much better on the P255 as compared to the P155. So there is a noticeable difference there and I am happy to see that Yamaha has upgraded the piano in this way.

What sets this instrument apart from some of the other portable digital pianos is the sound, features, and design elements that it has for its $1299 price. The built-in speaker system has 30 watts of audio power going into 4 quality speakers including 2 round main speakers and 2 tweeters (speakers are in the back facing out) which is more audio power than in the typical portable pianos in this or lower price ranges. So for those people who want a bigger sound without connecting to external speakers, the Yamaha P255 would be able to do that and the overall volume is also fuller and louder through a good pair of stereo headphones. The next notable new element in this piano is the 256-note polyphony memory chip. This is double that of the older P155 (128-note polyphony) and allows for higher music playing complexity when layering & playing 2 sounds together as well as recording 2 sounds together while playing a third live sound over the top of that recording. The piano sound itself is upgraded over the less expensive P105 piano ($599 internet price) as well as the older P155. The piano sound on the P255 is just more realistic than that of the P155 and other Yamaha pianos in this price range and the added acoustic piano type elements such as string resonance in the piano sound are impressive and helps with producing a more realistic piano tone.

The piano key action in this model is what Yamaha calls "GH" graded hammer weighted key action with synthetic ivory keytops. The GH key action is used in a variety of Yamaha digital pianos in higher price ranges, but the P255 would be the first model that I know of in this lower price range ($1299) to have it. Typically Yamaha has used its basic "GHS" key action in this price range so having the GH action is an improvement over the GHS in a more realistic weighting and movement of the keys, quieter key action, and more stability. However, I am personally not a big fan of the GH key action because it is, in my opinion, heavy or resistant (as compared to acoustic pianos I have played) when pressing the keys lightly or softly. I like the keys to go down more easily when playing softly or lightly so it is not fatiguing and so that I can play more quickly. The GH key action just does not do that for me but for other people they may like the playing experience of the GH key action. Don't get me wrong, I can certainly play the GH key action and can make good music, but I just don't enjoy the action near as much as I do on other top brands and models such as Roland, Casio, or Kawai.

synthetic ivory keytops

As I just mentioned, Yamaha has included its "Synthetic Ivory Keytops" on the P255 keys themselves which simulates the feel of the real ivory on older acoustic pianos many years ago. It also cuts down on the white plastic look you get from the standard white plastic keys on digital & acoustic pianos. I like this synthetic ivory key material and it also can help absorb sweat from the fingers when playing, but it is not absolutely necessary to get a great playing experience because most real pianos these days don't have have synthetic ivory keytops. They have shiny white plastic keytops and I don't hear pianists complaining about it:). But...the synthetic ivory is still nice to have.

FC4 sustain pedal

The P255 comes with one piano style sustain pedal which is quite nice and works well for basic sustain function. When it comes to piano pedaling and achieving a realistic pedal playing experience, the P255 is very good at that, especially with regard to note decay time. Decay time is how long the note sustain time will last when playing a key (or keys) and holding the pedal down without letting go and listening to how long you can hear the piano sound until it naturally fades away. Some digital pianos do this well and others don't. The lower notes of the piano keyboard always have longer pedal sustain times than higher notes, and the higher note sustain times on digital pianos are always more difficult to recreate, but the P255 does a good job and I was quite impressed.  As a long time piano tezcher I believe that good, authentic pedaling is important to have, especially if you are a more advanced player so this is an area that should not be overlooked.

There is also a piano pedal sustain feature called half-pedaling which the P255 does offer as do other piano brands and models. Half-pedaling means that rather than just having on or off pedal sustain, there is a middle amount of sustain based on the pedal being pressed about half way down. This feature, which is quite useful for higher skill level piano players, is more realistic especially when comparing to what a real acoustic can do, but unfortunately the included sustain FC4 pedal cannot trigger this function. You would need to purchase a special optional Yamaha piano style pedal (FC3) for about $45 to make that happen and get a similar designed pedal or the optional triple pedal unit for those that want the upgraded system. Why Yamaha didn't just include the upgraded single pedal is beyond me because there is no reason not to have it, and in the $1299 price range, I don't know anyone who wouldn't want that kind of pedal. As an example, Kawai includes a deluxe sustain/half-damper pedal with its ES100 portable digital piano ($799 internet price) so if they can do it in my opinion Yamaha be able to do that. I call that either an oversight on Yamaha's part or just a way to get you to spend more money (that's my guess). As you can tell I am bothered by small details, but to me as someone who plays piano well and expects the little things to be there, Yamaha dropped the ball on this one. 

When it comes to the P255 control panel and functions, Yamaha has nicely redesigned and upgraded it from the older P155 piano. There are a total of 24 instrument sounds including the acoustic pianos as opposed to 17 on the P155. The layout and design is less cluttered and more classy/simple sleek looking and a bit easier to navigate and use. You can layer any two sounds together for simultaneous play or split two sounds for left hand/right hand which is nice. Although the older P155 had editing controls for setting brightness, reverb, effects, touch
sensitivity, etc, the P255 is not only simpler and more efficient to use, the effects themselves have been much improved including the reverb/echos, and a new 3 band graphic EQ has been included for incremental custom changes to the overall sound including treble, mid range, and bass. The P155 has this but the changes are preset and not near as functional and changeable. The reverbs and effects such as chorus, phasers, etc are quite good and a nice upgrade as well. Each sound can memorize the effects that you put on it so you can have different effects applied to different sounds and they will be recalled when you go back to that sound which is very nice.

Yamaha has also developed an iPad app that can be used to access the various functions on the control panel in an easy and intuitive way. So if you have an iPad you can use with the P255, the P255 app (left pic) is a great help in getting through the various piano functions. Roland piano company also has an app for many of its digital pianos so it is beginning to become more common to see but definitely a plus, especially for digital pianos that otherwise may not be as intuitive to use on their own. I am disappointed in the fact that Yamaha did not put in a LCD
display screen in place of the older basic LED user display screen. LCD screens allow for
displaying the actual function or feature such as "grand piano,""live grand", "DX E Piano,""Pipe Organ Principal,""Vibraphone," etc. Instead, the older style LED display has simple character displays like GP1, GP2, OR3, CL4, etc. You just cannot know what the actual sound or feature name is of the function you are using, and to me, that is a big oversight on Yamaha's part and an inconvenience for the user. Even cheaper price portable digital pianos like Casio PX350 ($799) has a LCD display screen as do stage pianos like Kawai MP6 ($1349). I suspect that Yamaha believes the solution for that is to use its P255 iPad app for a much better user interface, but I don't want to dedicate my iPad to the P255 just to have more intuitive control over my piano. So I am disappointed Yamaha did not upgrade its built-in LED display to a more user friendly LCD.  

older P155 sound buttons

One of the things I like to do when playing portable digital pianos (or any digital piano) of this caliber and price range is to switch from a piano sound, which is always going to be the main sound that people use, to another instrument sound while playing a song. Sometimes it's nice to have an instrument variety as you are playing. Unfortunately on the Yamaha P255, when you switch from a piano sound (and there are 4 of them) to another instrument sound while playing, the piano sound immediately drops out and stops immediately until you play another key with the new sound. This makes for very choppy piano playing assuming you want to switch sounds while you play, which many people do...and I for one like to do that. On the older P155 this issue did not exist as far as I know, but on the new P255 it does exist and I am a bit disappointed by that. For some people this will not be an issue at all, but for others it may be a bother, but not so much that you can't learn to live with it....but you shouldn't have to.

P255 instrument sound buttons

As with many other Yamaha models, the legato/sustaining instrument sounds such as Choir, Organ, and strings do not sustain when holding the sustain pedal down but instead decay and fade out like the piano sounds. In this price and for this new model being able to keep the sustained sound of these instruments going would have been more natural, especially when combined with the piano sounds. Other brands in this price range like Kawai, Roland, and Casio do not have this issue, and for me I would have much preferred the instruments sounds to sustain as long as I held down the sustain pedal, but they do not. The Kawai company even gives you the option of having it both ways with a function that activates continual sustain hold or cancels it. Once again, it is a relatively small issue but still inconvenient, at least it is for me.

There are other new features in this model that I like (as compared to the older P155) and they include the addition of 10 realistic sound drum rhythm patterns so that you can play along with a drummer which can help with rhythm and timing. The Yamaha P105 portable piano ($599 internet price) has this feature as well. The P255 drum patterns are basic but do include Latin, Rock, Swing, Waltz, etc, along with an intro and ending so that it sounds more natural when you are using that feature. But once again, you don't know what rhythm you are getting from the drum button because there is only a LED display screen which reads
out simple things like drum pattern 1, 2, 3, 4, etc... definitely not intuitive. The P255 can also record audio wav files of you playing the piano and save it to a USB flashdrive along with being able to sing through the piano with a microphone plugged in to the audio input and save your vocal performance along with the piano playing. I like this feature and although it's not the only brand that can do this, in this price range, it's pretty cool. Another useful new digital feature offered is what Yamaha calls sound boost which gives you the ability to have an instant increase in volume, brightness, and/or power when you want it rather than doing it manually by adjusting the master volume or using the 3 band EQ. This is good for live playing situations where you think this may help your overall piano sound when playing solo or singing at the same time.

back connections

As far as connectivity is concerned, as with previous Yamaha portable pianos the P255 has a USB flashdrive input on the front (as I just mentioned) to play and save 2-track MIDI recordings one at a time or simultaneously as well as record your own performances and play them back.  Their is USB output to iPad and laptop computer so you can use useful iPad apps and computer software to enhance your playing experience and help with music education. This feature was not previously on the older P155. There is also 2 stereo headphone jacks on the right left of the piano and audio outputs, MIDI in/out, USB out, and stereo audio input on the back of the piano, which are useful.

new EQ sliders

As far as the way the piano looks, the physical design, music rack, and even cabinet colors of the P255 has been redesigned and upgraded. Gone are the wood tone finishes and in its place are either satin black or satin white cabinet colors which give the piano a more contemporary, sleek look to it. The music rack is bigger & longer and holds more music than before, and the control panel buttons and controls (as I mentioned earlier) are overall easier to use. Even the LED light in the buttons have changed and are a bright white color instead of red like on the P155 which is nice.

plastic sides

However, there is one thing I noticed which, in my opinion, is clearly undesireable. For some reason Yamaha decided to use black plastic plexiglass type material (plastic) adjacent to each side of the keyboard rather than extend the mat finish of piano onto that area.  On the white P255 case the plastic is shiny white color plastic. Although the shiny white plastic doesn't look quite as cheap to me, the shiny black plastic really shows up as looking cheap and it scratches easily too. If Yamaha went to all the trouble to improve the visual aspect of their new P series piano, why did they choose this plastic, easy to scratch plastic material? Was it to save money or did someone at Yamaha really think this was a good thing? If the material was on a very small area of the case then that may not be as bad. But it occupies the entire top end piece on either side of the 88 keys. Plastic  can also crack and break easily if it takes a big hit, although I don't know what would happen on this model as I obviously can't test it for that:). Oh well, and just when I thought the redesign was perfect!

triple pedal & furniture stand

In the final analysis the P255 in both the satin black and satin white colors is a major upgrade from the older P155, and it shows in mostly very good ways. However as I mentioned earlier, I am personally not a fan of the Yamaha GH key action with regard to the key weight and static touch weight (a bit stiff) when initially touching the keys, although it is built well and durable and for many people will be good. The other negatives I mentioned are the lack of LCD screen which almost forces you to use an iPad to better navigate the P255 because it has a lot of functions (some that I have not mentioned in this review) which are much more difficult to understand and/or use without the P255 iPad app navigation. The other noticeable negative to me is the plastic sides which could eventually get scratched up if you take the piano places and don't have that area protected inside and outside of a carrying case, or if your cat walks across that area:). For the $1299 price, the P255 is overall a very good step up from the lower under $1000 price range for a lot of people who are looking for a portable piano with built-in speakers to take with them or to put in small spaces. An optional furniture stand ($129.99) and triple foot pedal assembly ($89.99) are available for those people who want the P255 to look and function more like a actual piano and those options do come in handy for that purpose and function well too. As with all digital pianos it's all about musical enjoyment and being personally fulfilled in your piano playing. So no matter what you decide to buy make sure you do it for all the right reasons and get a piano that satisfies your musical soul and you'll not regret it. The new Yamaha P255 may be the perfect digital piano for you.

If you want to purchase a new digital piano in a much lower price range with fewer features, but still want great quality piano key action, piano sound realism, and pedaling, then the new ES100 portable digital piano from Kawai ($799 internet price - left pic) may be a good option. Although its samller internal speaker system is not as big and full as the Yamaha P255, I do like the piano hammer weighted key action better as well as overall piano sound realism and you can always plug the piano into an external speaker system. The ES100 does not do near as much as the P255 but some people don't need & want all of those features while other people do. Go here to check out my review on that model: Kawai ES100 review

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

REVIEW - The Roland Corporation of Japan, which is well known around the world for high quality professional music products, has just released its new 2014 model digital pianos including the new top of the line LX15e upright digital grand piano in polished ebony and polished white. The LX15e ($7299US retail store price)replaces the previous LX15 and although they look the same on the outside, they are definitely not the same on the inside. Until now Roland has had an impressive array of home digital pianos that were competitive with other brands. But they, like all other major digital piano brands I have played in the past, fell short in the piano's ability to really play and sound like a high quality acoustic piano. The previous digital piano models got close but ultimately it was not close enough in my opinion to satisfy a more advanced and demanding piano player, and you would have needed to pay a lot more money to get to that level of authenticity in a digital piano. However, in my opinion the new Roland LX15e has changed all of that with its ability to come much closer to the grand piano playing experience in an upright digital piano using brand new technology. In the US this model is not available on the internet and only available at local Roland authorized piano stores. It would be my best guess that store discounts on this model will be somewhere between 10%-20% off based on my previous experiences with these pianos, but it just depends on the store you go to, product availability, and overall consumer demand. Based on my evaluation of this model, I believe demand will be high and so discounts will likely be minimal. It's the supply/demand scenario that generates the type of discounts you get: if the demand is big and supply from the Roland factory is low, that situation will raise the price instead of lowering it, so it just depends on how that all goes. 

With regard to the all important piano key action which should be the #1 feature any shopper should consider in buying a digital or acoustic piano, the new Roland LX15e Concert Keyboard action (that's the name they give it)  is upgraded and has a noticeably superior piano performance over previous models. The new key actions are much quieter and move better with a realistic balance from white to black keys and from bass to treble. The piano sound and dynamic range is much more realistic & pure with smooth incremental changes, and pedaling is improved with long sustain/decay time. For those people who play digital pianos or have played good acoustic grand pianos, they would be able to tell how good this new Roland piano really is as compared to anything that Roland and other piano companies have had before. The subtleties in tonality, nuance, dynamic range, and expressiveness are evident when playing complex music in ways not possible on Roland pianos in the past.

In addition to a physically better built key action in the LX15e, for the first time ever in any major brand of digital piano that I know of, Roland now has 4 electronic key sensors per key as opposed to 3 key sensors in their previous models as well as in other brands such as Yamaha & Kawai. The new Roland 4-sensor piano sound response system (PHAIV) is in all of the new DP, HP, & LX models and makes a huge difference in my opinion in overall touch sensitivity, dynamic range, and piano tone subtitles and is especially noticeable if you are a more advanced player. The more key sensors there are in a digital piano, the better off you will be in achieving maximum realism in achieving acoustic piano response. The Roland furniture cabinet digital pianos in the lower price range (under $2000) use the less costly, older, and (in my opinion) unimpressive ivory feel-G key action which I do not like much and have said so on reviews of Roland pianos using this key action. So I don't give Roland high marks for everything they do but in the case of the LX15e, so far I see nothing to complain about and everything to like, especially concerning the all important key action.

The Roland Concert Keyboard key action also incorporates a grand piano simulation movement with a "let-off/escapement mechanism." This key movement simulates the key action feel of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano (upright movement such as what you find on current Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos), and of the major brands, only Roland & Kawai have this feature in digital pianos retailing under $8000. When you press the keys down slowly on a real grand piano, you can feel a slight hesitation or notch about half way down when the key action is moving and this is called the escapement or let-off effect. Generally speaking, upright acoustic pianos do not have this feature but all grand pianos that I have ever played do have this feature. Is this let-off/escapement function a necessity for playing a piano?...not necessarily because most upright pianos do not have it as I mentioned...but it's cool to have
because it does offer even better playing feel, especially for more advanced players:) The white piano key tops are coated in a synthetic ivory material which tries to duplicate the feel of the older acoustic pianos which had real ivory keys and has a slight textured feeling to them. This synthetic ivory was on the previous models too. But on these new models Roland has added new synthetic ebony for the black keys (left pic) which completes the total realism of playing a real organic piano keyboard on all keys. This synthetic substance on both black & white keys has a slight texture and helps absorb sweat from the fingers and offers a smoother playing experience. It also looks a bit classier than the all shiny white and black keys and I personally like this "feel" very much.

The user control panel (left pic) is upgraded with regard to the buttons and controls over the lower price Roland HP series and is the same as the previous model LX15. The buttons are a bit more solid and meatier as opposed to smaller buttons on other models. The control panel layout is placed above the keys as opposed to the left side of the keyboard as they are in other brands. I am a big fan of having the buttons up above the keys as opposed to being on the left or right side because they are easier to get to and more intuitive to use. I have played thousands of digital pianos over the years and one of the most irritating things for me is
not being able to quickly and easily change a sound or function on a piano when I want to. There will always be a learning curve in utilizing the various functions on all digital pianos, but in this higher price range having a simpler layout with a minimal but usable amount of buttons is a big help and I believe this model does a good job as compared to other brands in this price range. The Roland fallboard style key cover built into this piano is the type you would find on an acoustic grand piano where it folds down, and I do like that as it gives an even more authentic appearance to this model. When the key cover is opened up fully, the top of it has a music support that  acts as a music rest for sheet music and gives you a lot of room to place music on, so that's a nice feature.

The acoustic piano sound itself on the Roland LX15e taken directly from a 9' Steinway concert acoustic grand piano, has 128-note polyphony piano memory (how many notes can be played and sustained at one time) which is more than enough for even the most complex piano pieces because of Roland's advanced polyphony voice allocation. It's a fancy way to say you won't run out of notes even when layering two sounds together or playing complex MIDI song files while playing live over the top of it. I have played very complex music on this model and the polyphony was more than enough to handle it including when I layered two sounds together. Roland calls their Steinway recorded acoustic piano sound SuperNATURAL Piano, meaning that Roland has attempted to reproduce a much more "natural & acoustic stereo sound in their digital pianos and I feel they have done this quite well. In this model specifically as compared to other brands, the piano sound itself is much more organic in nature and do get a sense that you are not actually playing a digital piano but instead you're
playing a real acoustic piano, and that's the ultimate goal for most piano players. The piano sound itself offers an acoustic playing experience more closely associated with the famous Steinway grand piano sound because as I mentioned earlier, Roland takes its piano sounds directly from the $120,000 Steinway concert acoustic grand pianos. Kawai & Yamaha also have very nice piano tones in their higher priced digital pianos taken from their grand pianos, so it's about apples & oranges...some people like one better than another because everyone has different ears and reacts to sound differently. I personally enjoy playing and listening to the Steinway grand sound of the Roland LX15e....especially because of its upgraded internal speaker system that projects the sound through the top lid that lifts up and really gives you the feeling you're playing a big grand piano.

The key touch sensitivity settings which helps determine how sensitive the sound response is to your touch, has 100 incremental selections as opposed to 5 settings on other Roland piano models as well as on other brands. There is also additional sound enhancements including what Roland calls Piano Designer effects. This includes the tones that occur inside a regular acoustic piano when the hammers hit the strings and the strings are vibrating, as well as how the pedals work. Some of those acoustic piano nuances/elements including what's known as duplex scale, hammer noise, damper noise settings, and physically opening and closing the lid of a grand piano at different height levels, are included in the LX15e. Whether or not these features are something you will personally hear one way or the other is hard to tell depending on your ears, expectations, musical experience, playing skill level, and sensitivity. But I can assure you that these upgrades in the LX15e as compared to the lower cabinet models Roland HP506 & HP504, do bring another level of piano playing authenticity to the LX15e.

With regard to the piano pedals, they operate very smoothly and feel realistic to press down and incorporate the three traditional pedal functions (damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft) of regular acoustic pianos. They do work better than other digital pianos I have played and also simulate a good note sustaining experience using a damper continuous detection pedaling feature. This function gives the player incremental note sustain amounts rather than just on & off or half pedal. It is definitely a much more realistic acoustic piano playing experience than other brands as well as physically feeling like the pedal is changing resistance when being pressed down. Roland calls this feature Progressive Damper Action. Having quality piano pedals & accurate piano pedal operation is very important, especially to more advanced players. Roland does not skimp on this area of piano playing like some other digital piano manufacturers do.

The LX15e offers many high quality instrument sounds divided into 4 control panel buttons above the keyboard. These sounds include 14 variations of acoustic grand pianos, 5 upright pianos (uprights are generally not found on other brands), 10 electric pianos, and 321 additional instrument tones accessed through one button called "other" that offers just about anything you can think of including strings, organs, banjo, synth, sax, trumpet, sitar, guitars, individual drum sounds, etc, for a total of 350 tones, which is a lot. You can see all of the instrument names and other function descriptions in the LCD user display screen which is very nice for displaying relevant info, and the LX15e has a slightly better and larger display screen than most of the other Roland home cabinet pianos for accessing even more information, which is helpful.

Roland sound selection iPad app

As I just mentioned, on the control panel there is an instrument category button called "others" with the entire set of 321 additional instrument sounds in it. However, getting to the sound you want in that button can be a bit tedious because you need to scroll up or down with the value +/- button, but this is true of other brands as well. To help out with this issue, Roland has created a special iPad app that allows you to select (assuming you have an iPad) all of the instrument sounds on the piano from an iPad connected wirelessly to the piano. This iPad Roland app called Piano Partner, displays all 350 tones from within the piano which are easy to find and select right from an iPad. Of course you need to dedicate an iPad to the piano which not everyone can do as it does add extra cost, but it is very cool to do it that way. On the control panel editing buttons you can change the "tonality" of the piano sounds by increasing or decreasing the brilliance or mellowness of the piano & instrument sounds and you can take any two sounds and layer them together or split them separately on either side of the keyboard. The LX15e also has the duet twin piano feature which lets you electronically divide the 88-keys into two identical 44-key keyboards playing the same notes in the same octaves so that two people can play the same music at the same time. It's a great feature for teacher-student, parent-child, etc, and many of the top brands are including that feature in their pianos too.

A digital MIDI recorder is also built in andfeatures 3 tracks of recording and playback (for up to 3 separate instruments) and being able to save the songs on a USB flashdrive which is very cool. There is also an audio wav file recorder which allows actual CD recording and playback giving a precise rendition of your song which you can then play along with or save on a USB flashdrive (lower left pic) for loading onto your computer to use in notation programs or attach to emails to send to family & friends so they can hear you on their computers...lots of fun with that. You can also plug in another instrument or microphone into the piano and record that sound along with the piano and combine them together. There is a key transpose feature on the LX15e to transpose your recording (including the external audio source) to another key for singing or modulating the song up or down in semi-tones one step at a time. This is useful if you want to sing along and get the song in a comfortable singing range for your voice. Even playback speed of MIDI and audio song files can be adjusted up or down (faster/slower) which is great for audio, and most digital pianos cannot do this on audio wav/CD files. So that means you can play along with your favorite CD song direct in your piano and slow it down to 75% of original speed to learn how to play it at a better (slower) speed while learning. 

The LX15e also plays back General MIDI type song files from a USB flashdrive which is a great feature and one I use all the time in my studio. The General MIDI song format allows you to play your piano parts along "with the band or orchestra" and to interact with multiple instruments at one time using well known piano lesson books including thousands of popular songs which can be found on the Internet. For more info on the General MIDI format go here: General MIDI and Playing Piano. Roland has a number of other ways its pianos can record music and playback songs for music education & learning that are quite useful and can be important when trying to learn music whether you are a beginner or professional. But this comes as no surprise because for years Roland has built professional recording & music learning devices for musicians, teachers, and students who use them in their home or studio for more effective practice sessions. If you want to know more about this you are welcome to contact me.

Air Performer

Another very cool and useful feature is the ability to connect directly to an iPad for another interactive way of learning about music and playing the piano, and I use iPad piano learning/teaching apps in my studio which provide a cutting edge visual way of interactive piano practice and learning. A unique feature of the Roland LX piano is that it can connect wirelessly to an iPad using an optional Roland wireless USB adapter and specially created Roland iPad apps. In addition to that, Roland has designed a wireless audio feature to play music from iTunes (with tempo & transpose control) and hear it through the Roland piano speakers by way of a new Roland Air Performer app without need of connecting audio cables from the piano to the iPad. This is quite helpful and unique and I have not seen this featured offered on other brands before. The audio sound from other non-Roland iPad music apps still need connecting cables but that's true of the other brands too.

As far as the built-in speaker/audio systems in this model, the LX15e has 160 watts of total audio power going into 4 amplifiers and 6 speakers. The LX15 is a taller piano than its competition so that the 6 speakers can be laid out inside the piano with 2 near the top, two near the keyboard, and two below. This system gives a more balanced approach to recreating the acoustic piano playing experience and it really makes the piano sound big & full. So it's not just the power or the internal audio systems themselves, but how and where these components are installed in the piano and how the individual piano tones are projected through those different speakers and amplifiers. The LX15e lid is able to be opened up in a tilt position to allow the piano sound to come up & out naturally like a grand piano with it's lid open. This unique feature really does give the sound a chance to resonate through the room in a more organic way and it make s a noticeable difference compared to pianos without this feature. Roland has been in the professional pro audio business for many years so they have experience in this area and it shows in the LX15e.

The best way I can sum up and identify the major changes from the previous LX15 model to this new one are as follows:

1. New PHA-4 Concert Keyboard with Escapement and Ebony/Ivory Feel features Roland’s latest high-resolution touch-detection technology 
2. Fortissimo (dynamically very loud) playing styles are fully expressed with the new Dynamic Harmonic feature, which provides both a unique tonal character and powerful sound
3. New Individual Note Voicing to customize the sound to your taste by adjusting the pitch (tuning), volume, and character of each note independently including Stretched Tuning: -50.0 – +50.0 cent, Note Volume: -50 – 0, Note Character: -5 – +5
4. Headphones 3D Ambience effect sound experience while using headphones for private practice
5. Display music scores and selected LX15e tones & songs with Piano Partner app for iPad
6. Independent volume control for headphones & volume limit function
7. Better connectivity with mini stereo input and output jacks as opposed to just standard 1/4 jacks

I do need to point out that while all of the upgrades on these new pianos are pretty impressive, the most interesting new feature to me is that for the first time that I know of on a top name home digital (upright style) piano, you can actually electronically adjust each of the 88 notes one at a time for tuning, volume, and character (voicing). On all other top name digital pianos you can only do this for all 88 keys at one time, but not for each note individually. This may not be useful or ever necessary for beginner thru early intermediate players, but for more advanced players you may have reason to want specific notes individually altered because of the way you hear your music and the notes that are playing. It's all about the "ear" and about your piano playing experience & skill level, thus you may find this new and impressive feature useful to be able to play your music exactly in the way you want it to sound over 88 individual notes.

The only new feature I found that was not impressive and actually useless (at least to me) was the "3D effect" through headphones. It's supposed to give you the impression the piano sound is all around you coming from different directions. Roland calls it "an immersive sound experience" but I call it "dumb." Sorry about that but maybe I wasn't using it correctly or hearing it right...but it just didn't sound good to me. I much preferred the standard stereo listening experience through headphones and that was very good.  Fortunately you can adjust the level of that 3D effect as well as turn it off. I did adjust the level but by the time I got it to where it was OK to me, it was practically off anyway:). Oh well, you can't have everything be great and if that's all the disappointment I had in these new models, then that is a fairly small thing to complain about.  Also, it's important to have/own excellent sounding stereo headphones for private playing because you want to capture all the nuances and quality of the new enhanced Roland piano sound dynamics. I can give you some good recommendations if you don't already have headphones.

LX15e key cover & top lid closed

If you are looking for a realistic and satisfying "acoustic piano" style playing experience without an over abundance of digital features (no drum rhythm patterns, no automatic chord styles, etc), the new Roland LX15e would be an excellent choice depending on your budget, and I do highly recommend it. At almost 45" tall with the top lid opened up (42" with the lid closed), a depth from the wall of only 19" and weighing just 200lbs, the piano is a slim but powerful upright style piano with enough height to make it look real. The LX15e is a big upgrade from the prior model (LX15) in key action & piano dynamics and a joy to play.  Also, as compared against the other popular name brands such as Yamaha & Kawai, the LX15e has the latest piano technology out there right now, and in a number of important ways it surpasses what the other brands do in similar price ranges. Although the LX15e does a lot more things than I have mentioned in this review, those features are just "frosting on the cake" as far as I am concerned and I don't believe they need to be talked about here. Once you get up into this price range it's mostly all about piano playing in my opinion, and that's definitely where the Roland LX15e excels. As I always tell people, do your homework before making a buying decision, but you can't go wrong on any of the new Roland digital pianos that have just come out, especially the new LX15e.

Roland HP508 polished ebony

One last thing...if you like what you read about the Roland LX15e but you want or need to get into a lower price range, take a look a the review I did on the new lower price Roland HP504, HP506, and HP508 digital pianos. They have similar features and piano playing realism compared to the top of the line LX15e, but they are substantially less money. In fact, the HP508 is the identical piano to the LX15e except the HP508 is in a more traditional looking cabinet offered in three different finishes and has slightly less audio power. Go to the following link for my review of those pianos: Roland HP504, HP506, HP508 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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

REVIEW - Recommended - 2014 Kawai MP7 Digital Piano - The Kawai piano company is well known for building some great acoustic upright & grand pianos used by piano teachers, professional pianists, and concert venues all over the world. Kawai is also known for their high quality home & professional digital pianos and for the last few years has had a very popular stage piano called the MP6 which I have recommended as a best buy in its lower price range. The MP6 has now been replaced by the all new 2014 model MP7 ($1799US internet discount price) and the upgrades in this new model far exceed what I expected them to be.

The Kawai MP7 digital piano is the type of  instrument that can provide a very satisfying piano playing experience to a wide variety of piano enthusiasts including families, students, professionals, churches, schools, and just about anyone wanting a portable 88-key digital piano with the highest possible piano playing realism under $2000. In fact after thoroughly playing and exploring this new model and all it can do, I can safely say this is the finest new digital piano under $2000 that I have ever played, and I have played them all including Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Kurzweil, Casio, Kurzweil, Nord, and others. What sets this piano apart from all the others are the features that everyone is looking for: the most realistic key action, the best dynamic response from the piano & instrument sounds, the most control over musical expression, smooth and responsive pedaling, and an overall playing experience that will move your musical soul. This is what the new MP7 is...a way to bring out any piece of music so that the listener and the player will believe they are playing a good acoustic grand piano as well as a host of other quality instruments.

Although the previous model MP6 was an amazing instrument in my opinion for its low price of $1499US, the MP7 has gone way beyond that by offering (what I call) a gourmet pallet of ingredients that allows the player to fine tune their piano sound (both acoustic & electric) in such a way that you are experiencing music in ways not achievable in the past with any digital piano that I know of in this price range. In other words, when you are creating a gourmet meal, you use the finest ingredients possible and fine tune those ingredients in such a way that no other standard meal comes close. Another analogy would be like driving a fine tuned precision made Lamborghini as opposed to a standard BMW. That's the difference between the former Kawai MP6 and the new Kawai MP7 in my opinion, and as compared to other brands of portable digital pianos under or near $2000, the difference is even more dramatic. If you have played piano for any length of time you will immediate notice the power, smoothness, the detail in sound and key action, and the realism of every note on the keyboard that makes you say "wow!" All this is not to say that the MP7 will replace a Steinway, Kawai, or Yamaha grand piano any time soon (it'll be awhile before that happens!), but it's the closest thing you can get under or around $2000 in a digital piano.

When it comes to the non-piano instrument tones such as guitars, brass, woodwinds, percussion, strings, choirs, synths, and so on, I know there will always be a difference of opinion as to what brand and model is better. Although the MP7 offers very high quality in this area and all the instrument sounds are improved over the prior model MP6, there are other great brands that offer nice instrument sounds too. But when it comes to the bread & butter of what most people want (as I mentioned earlier) which is the acoustic piano sound authenticity, electric piano sound realism, a precise and responsive key action with superior dynamic range and lots of nuanced control, this is where the MP7 really shines.

The Kawai MP7 has a new redesigned cabinet and control panel layout as compared to the former MP6 and the thing I noticed right away was that the cabinet itself looks more like an acoustic piano and less like a keyboard. The MP7 now closely resembles its newer bigger brother called the MP11 ($2799US internet price) in looks and design. You'll notice that the front of the MP7 has some height to it above the keys where the Kawai logo is placed on the cabinet. It not just a flat at about the same height as the keyboard like in other brands of digital pianos, but there is a height difference between the keys and the piano top that really makes you feel as if you are in front of an acoustic piano. Sometimes just feeling like you are playing a real acoustic piano makes a difference too, and that's true in this case. Beyond the physical difference, there is the new user interface. The display screen is larger than the previous MP6 screen and it reads out more internal information to the user so that you can move from one sound or function to the other more quickly and easily.

The MP7 has 256 high quality instrument sounds including 28 different acoustic piano settings, 20 electric pianos, 36 Hammond style organs (jazz, rock, gospel), 20 pipe organs, 20 string orchestral selections, and a large assortment of choirs, brass, woodwinds, synths, guitars, percussion and more. It also has an additional 256 high quality factory preset combination layers & splits from bands and orchestras that give you famous recognizable multi-layered sounds already setup on the MP7 to use instantly instead of having to create all the settings yourself. There are 100 professional sounding preset drum patterns for play-along with the built-in drummer including rock, jazz, latin, blues, funk, waltz, gospel, country, and many other popular rhythm styles, and the MP7 allows you to control the tempo, volume, and other aspects of the rhythm section.

As far as the user interface goes, and as I just mentioned earlier, the MP7 has a new larger LCD display (which I like) and the piano itself is laid out with lots of buttons, sliders, and knobs, and if you have not used a stage piano like this before, it may look a bit intimidating at first, somewhat like the cockpit of an airliner:). But in reality, the piano is fairly easy to use (it's true:), and access to the functions and sounds  (even for a beginner) are understandable once you get familiar with the basics, so that after a short time anyone can make great music on this piano. The nice thing about the larger LCD screen is that the editing functions including the 4 sound control access knobs and buttons that surround the screen and are right in front of you as opposed to having controls sitting much further way from the screen like they are on
many other brands of digital pianos. Also, when it comes to making great music on the MP7, it is virtually limitless with the things that you can do, even if you don't play well. If you happen to be a skilled pianist, you can play advanced levels of classical, jazz, or pop music and it will keep up with you and provide you with the musical inspiration you're hoping for because you can get to the editing functions fairly quickly and make those subtle changes to your sound that professionals love to do.

However, be aware if you are not already, that the MP7 does not have built in speakers, has no furniture stand available for it, and does not come with any bench. It is a stand alone portable "stage" piano (but certainly not just for stage) so you would need a good set of powered stereo monitors, a sturdy and functional digital piano stand, a reliable comfortable bench, and so on. Accessories from one manufacturer to the other are not all built the same, and some differ in quality and may not be a good match for this MP7, including what is in some of the prepackaged bundles on the Internet. Please contact me directly before you buy anything and I can tell you what would work the best for this piano at a low price. Once you get the proper speakers, stand, bench, and headphones (should you need them), then you make make inspiring music on the MP7 that will keep you playing for hours.

The grand piano graded hammer key action on the MP7 which is an upgrade over the former MP6, is Kawai's newest model with a key movement that is smooth, quick, accurate, has the escapement/letoff feature of a grand piano which allows it move like a grand instead of an upright. The key weight balance between the bass & treble sections and between the black & white keys is amazingly good...really feels like you're playing an acoustic piano. The keytops have the Kawai ivory touch material which is a satin reproduction of actual ivory used on older acoustic pianos and it really feels good to the fingers to play on and is sweat absorbent. The key movement is very quiet as compared with other brands and that is something Kawai key actions are known for...being sturdy, well built, and quiet while moving easily with just the right amount of touch weight required to play the keys. I am a big stickler (concerned about) static touch weight because that's how much pressure you need to have to push the keys down from resting position. If the touch weight needed from your fingers is too heavy or too light, you will not get the correct dynamics, smoothness of sound, and proper technique when trying to play a piece of music, as well as possibly feeling fatigued in your hands if the touch weight is too heavy. Whether you are a beginner or pro, key movement and touch weight are very important and the MP7 is very responsive in this way.

The new Kawai MP7 key action now has 3 key sensors per key instead of 2 key sensors that were on the previous MP6. The additional key sensor is especially helpful is recreating the correct response from the notes when playing faster and more repetitive key movement. The articulation of sound and response from the new key action is a big upgraded and adds to the authenticity of what you get out of this instrument and I could tell the difference. Now when you play on this new instrument and you are repeating the notes at a fast velocity and not letting the keys come all the way up before you replay that key again, the new 3-sensor action will sense the keys and won't miss that note sounding again. This is certainly an issue if you play either a bit sloppy or are just a much better player and need a precise repeating action with balanced key weight and the correct velocity sensing key electronics.

Kawai calls its new acoustic piano soundHarmonic Imaging XL (HI-LX) 88-key sampling, which is just a fancy way of saying that Kawai has increased the memory chip capacity they use (over the prior model MP6) to capture the acoustic grand piano sound as well as record each note on a full size Kawai concert grand one at a time for the most complete reproduction of piano sound, as opposed to recording a note and then digitally stretching that note to become other notes rather than actually recording each one. The stretching process save time and money in creating the digital piano sound but it is not nearly as realistic as 88-key individual note sampling with their large capacity piano memory chip. That's why some of the cheaper digital pianos (and a few that are more money) don't sound so
good...because they sound more digital instead of organic. The MP7 sounds quite organic (natural) because of this upgraded piano sound chip and I was very impressed when I put it through its paces. It has beautiful tone, nice sustain & decay, great overtones, resonance, and other organic nuances that piano sound should have. In fact, using the micro editing features provided on this instrument allows the user to change the personality of the MP7 piano sound so you can also recreate other acoustic pianos like Yamaha, Steinway, etc, so there really is no limit to what you can come up with if you don't mind using some of the cool editing and sound creation features on the MP7 piano.

Then there is the upgraded 256-note maximum polyphony chip in this new piano memory chip. 256 notes of polyphonic (non-stereo) polyphony translates to how many notes or keys can be played and sustained at any one time (while using the pedal) before the memory gives out and the single notes cut off. On a regular acoustic piano there are only 88 keys but when an acoustic piano is played from one side to the other, you are hearing the sound in stereo (bass strings on left, treble strings on right) and the sound also organically moves around inside the piano. I don't want to get too complex with explanations but just understand that whatever the polyphony number is stated on any digital piano, you need to divide that by 2 if you are using a stereo piano sound
(such as what's in the MP7) or other stereo instrument sounds. If you combine other instrument  sounds with a stereo piano sound and play them at the same time (such as piano & strings), each key played would take up even more polyphony memory until you could possibly use up all the memory when playing and then some sounds wouldn't be heard anymore. So in simple terms...the more polyphony piano memory the piano has, the more complex your piano sound can be and the more you can do with your music. For a beginner this is never an issue and 256-note polyphony is far more than necessary. But for an advanced player who also likes to combine multiple sounds together on their digital piano such as an acoustic stereo grand piano, stereo symphonic violins, classical guitar, and stereo choir, 256-note polyphony memory can be an extremely important thing to have. Higher polyphony is also important when playing back multiple MIDI sound tracks when using the MP7 16-track MIDI playback system. In all cases, the Kawai MP7 has more than enough sound polyphony memory to satisfy even the most demanding player.

One thing about playing a digital piano that many people overlook is the piano pedaling and whether or not it is authentic and will keep up with your music allowing for realistic control over damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft pedaling. Pedaling is very important for expression and adding the required amount of resonance and sustain effect, and the MP7 does a great job of this.The MP7 comes with a pro quality single damper pedal (left pic) that looks like and functions as a acoustic piano pedal. The pedal is heavy duty, durable, and feels good to push with your foot. The pedal also does something that many single pedals included with portable pianos don't do...and that function is called half-pedaling. Half-pedaling is the amount of active sustain you get when you press down the pedal about half way and you would hear a medium amount of sustain rather than just on or off. The amount or type of half-pedal sustain can be adjusted in a few different ways depending on how you want it and if you would be connecting to external MIDI pianos or instruments. In either case, the pedaling realism on the Kawai is very good. 

Another part of the pedaling experience is being able to get an adequate amount of damper pedal resonance along with the proper amount of piano decay/sustain time. Pedal resonance is the sound you get when you hold the sustain pedal down and strike a note and the sound will naturally reverberate for awhile inside a real piano. This acoustic piano pedal resonance has been digitally recreated in the MP7 and is also adjustable for more or less of that effect...and it sounds very realistic. Pedal sustain decay time has to do with how long (how much time) the piano sound will be heard while your damper pedal is pressed down and you let go of the key after playing it. The longer the decay/sustain time, especially in the bass and mid-range key sections, the more natural the piano sound will sound. The MP7 has some good natural decay time but in my opinion it could be longer in some ways. On most other digital pianos you cannot change that function (length of sustain/decay time) but on the MP7 you can change it by using a control that lengthens or shortens the amount of time the piano sound will decay/sustain. This is a very cool feature and allows the player to customize the pedal playing experience to suit their musical needs. Although this pedal decay time feature is very usable, the average player may not need it. But to know it's there is a very good thing and I have used it myself to adjust for playing different kinds of music that require different pedaling results. So as you can see, pedaling can get complex or it can be simple...and the MP7 is excellent is recreating pedal realism with the one included pedal. Kawai also offers an optional F30 triple pedal unit so the player can access all three standard pedal functions and have the traditional piano experience including the sostenuto and soft pedal. The triple pedal unit can also be assigned to control other aspects of the MP7 including changing instrument sound selection, organ rotary speed activation, and other useful features, and I would definitely recommend the triple pedal unit to give you the complete piano playing experience.

The electric piano sounds on this piano are definitely worth noting and talking about because they are very impressive. Professional keyboard players are always looking for the most authentic reproduction of the classic electric piano sounds that originated from Wurlitzer electrics, Fender Rhodes electric pianos, Yamaha DX7 digital piano keyboards, and a number of other well known electric models from the past. Unless you know what the original electric pianos from these brands and models actually sounded like, you can't really know if a digital piano does a good job in reproducing
them. But now with the new MP7, the electric piano reproduction technology with micro editing enables even the most obscure detail to be accessed in getting these electric pianos to sound "real." You can hear the organic noise of the keys move, the key clicks, the internal metal tines and parts that come through in the MP7 sound reproduction, the organic reeds used in the old electric pianos, the old style bell like tones of the vintage instruments that all the pros are looking for. They are all there in the MP7 and you can dial in special effects in ways not possible in past Kawai models so that you can customize your electric pianos exactly in the way you want them. For those players who love the vintage electric piano & keyboard sound experience, the MP7 will amaze you like few other digital pianos will, especially in this price range. 

Another thing pro players look for as far as requested instrument sounds on a digital stage piano is the famous Hammond B3 tonewheel electric organ (left pic), which is a staple of jazz, rock, blues, and gospel players all over the world. If you haven't heard of the Hammond B3 organ before, don't feel bad because even though you may have heard the sound before in recordings or being played live on stage, typically only musicians know the name of the organ. I have played hundreds of electric Hammond organs over the years and the Kawai MP7 does an amazing job of not only recreating that B3 sound in factory preset buttons for easy & quick access, but for the first time on a Kawai digital piano it also gives the player digitally interactive reproduction of the famous Hammond B3/C3 organ tonebars/drawbars which you can control in the MP7 display screen in real time through buttons or by slider bars located to the left of the screen, which is very useful. This interactive feature lets the player control the tonebars in minute detail just like using them on the real Hammond organ. All of the Hammond organ style sound & control features can be recreated with special micro editing allowing you to true B3 sound while changing the functions of the organ in real time. This would include Leslie rotary cabinet effects, incremental rotary speeds which then can be activated by the modulation wheel, buttons, or foot pedal including editing and control of vibratos, EQ, amp simulations, stereo field, reverbs, digital effects, and you can combine many of these micro editing features in ways that allows you to create literally hundreds of new organ sounds. You can use the MP7 factory presets to get your sounds instantly or customize them exactly as you want it (as I just mentioned) and then save that customized sound to a memory button for recall later on. There are a total of 256 memory buttons in the piano to save your custom setups in and then you can transfer those sounds to a USB flashdrive if you like for safe keeping. Whatever you want the organ sound to be, this piano can do it including having huge pipe organ sounds for the classical music lover...I am one of those:). The traditional classical/church pipe organ sounds are also very convincing and there is a big variety for all styles of classical & church pipe organ music which are impressive. All of the organ sounds and control in the MP7 is a huge upgrade over the former Kawai MP6.

As for all the other sounds on this piano, some people will use them and some won't. After all, the MP7 is first and foremost a piano and the best I have ever found under $2000. But some people will want the additional instrument and keyboard sounds and have good use for them including the synths, strings (the strings are beautiful stereo reproductions), guitars, choirs, brass, reeds, and so on. All of the instrument sounds are really good with some much better than others. However, another reason all these 256 instrument sounds are so important is
because the MP7 has the ability to play back16-track MIDI song files from a USB flashdrive, and those playback songs use many of those live 256 instrument sounds in real time performance. These multi-instrument song files can be used for piano education and playalong as well as for learning a multitude of new songs of which there are hundreds of popular pieces in every music category that you can think of and can get off the internet and load into the MP7 for song playback. There are playback controls for song tempo, transpose key, and even the ability to select separate instruments in the song and mute them (turn off that instrument sound) in the playback mode. Those are great features and if you want to learn more about MIDI songs and what they can do go to the following link: Play and learn piano using MIDI songs.

One of the things I like to do on the MP7 is to have immediate and easy access to multiple sounds at one time so you can add or subtract them while you are playing using an actual mixer with volume slider controls. This kind of feature allows you to layer up to 4 individual sounds at one time such as Concert Grand Piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, synth/strings, and B3 organ, or any of the other 256 sounds on the piano. You can put those sounds into groups of four (main & 3 subs) and then save them as a setup into a memory button. You can then access each saved setup without having to recreate it and then use them in any combination 1-4, or all four at one time and control each instrument's volume relative to the other in real time as you play. You can also customize each of the four sounds that are selected using effects such as reverb, chorus, EQ, sustain, pedal decay, transpose key, octave, brightness, key touch sensitivity, and the list goes on. In other words it's like having a real group of four instrument players and each one can play and tune his instrument independently of the other and yet all four can play at one time with the perfect volume and dynamic balance that you control...and that's pretty exciting, at least it is to me:).

The instrument sounds can also be split across the keyboard into and up to 4 zones. A zone is any section of the 88 keys that you choose to setup as its own area. In other words, you can split up the keyboard into four areas of any size, as long as all 4 zone areas add up to 88 keys. You could then assign a different sound in each of those four areas such as pipe organ in the 1st 15 keys, harpsichord in the next 20 keys, piano in the next 25 keys, and concert trumpet in the remaining 28 keys, which all add up to 88 keys being occupied by 4 sounds. You can even control a sound from an iPad instrument app in one or more of the zones. You can then individually edit each sound with regard to the key that it is in and move it up or down in octaves so the sound isn't too high or
too low so that each sound compliments the other, or you can adjust each sound's brightness, effects, volume, vibrato rate, touch sensitivity setting, damper pedal effect and sustain, and so on. You could also set up just 2 zones within the 88 keys and have 1 instrument sound in one zone and 3 sounds in the other zone such a piano in the lower zone of keys and strings, flute, and brass section in the upper zone with each sound setup in it's own octave, brightness,
sustain, and even have one of the 3 sounds/instruments in the upper zone only play when you strike the keys at a certain velocity or finger strength. That kind of thing is called velocity switching and allows you to control which sound comes in and when, just depending on how hard you strike the keys. Now that's a lot of power. What's really interesting is that this kind of split keyboard setup with multiple zones is easy to do and takes less than 1 minute to setup and save...it's that simple. You can can be as complex in creating your split keyboard setups as you like or as simple as you like such as 2 zones and 2 sounds with no editing...whatever level you are at on the MP7 can likely accommodate your musical needs and then some. 

A feature that I find very useful on digital pianos is the ability to recordyourself and play it back. Almost all digital pianos have some sort of a recording feature with some being better than others. The MP7 can do this is two ways... either a 1 track MIDI (non-audio) recording for simple song play and music writing ideas, or a multitrack overdub audio recorder that lets you record multiple tracks, one instrument over the other, in either wav (CD quality) recordings or MP3 audio song files. This feature is not found on any other digital piano under $2000 and is incredibly cool because it allows you to orchestrate and arrange any song so that you can play & record each instrument that you want in the song so that when one instrument is recorded, you play that recording back while you record the next instrument audio track over the top of that. Each instrument can be individually setup exactly the way you want it to sound and then recorded and saved to a USB flashdrive to be played back on your computer or MP3 player (iPod, etc).
You can also take a MIDI recording from any MIDI file found on the internet and convert it to
audio for playback as a wav or MP3 file. You can even take a audio or MIDI formatted song and play a specific part of it over and over for practice in a non-stop loop so that you can playalong with that part to learn it better. With the new 1/4" audio inputs and independent volume slider controller on the panel of the MP7, you can also plug in a microphone or any instruments (including iPad sounds) and record it live through the piano and mix it with your recorded keyboard playing, including loading in iTunes to the audio player to play along with them and record them into memory, which sounds great. Multitrack audio overdubbing and playback using the actual sounds on the MP7 (as well as external sounds) is a fantastic way of creating music in ways that you could never do before on a digital piano in this price range. 

All digital pianos have some special effects which are necessary to help recreate the organic playing experience you would get on the original instrument. Those special effects might include a variety of reverbs, chorus, phasers, chorus, amp simulations, pitch shift, detune, compressors, wahs, a multitude of individual EQ settings (as well as global EQ settings), etc, depending on the sophistication of the effects section of the digital piano. The MP7 has a sophisticated, but easy to use effects section as well as having what is known as virtual piano technician effects. This system gives you the ability to add and subtract the actual organic elements of an acoustic grand piano including being able to "voice the hammers" of the piano to increase or decrease the mellowness or brightness of the piano tone with regard to how hard of soft the felt is on the actual piano hammers in a real piano. There is also a function called Topboard (below left pic) that simulates raising or lowering the lid in a grand piano from and higher position to a closed position. This function will act like the grand piano lid being moved up or down and this effect changes the piano sound coming out of it. This feature is not normally found on pianos in this price range...and it really does work. 

Most effects systems on digital pianos in this price range are fairly minimal and some are not very good at all, but the MP7 uses new pro effects not offered before and in a much higher quality range (recording studio quality), and this makes a big difference in recreating the surround sound and multi effects that you would naturally get with the original instrument being played live. Each of these special effects can be edited and adjusted independently of the other and independently for each of the 256 sounds in the MP7, as well as independently for each of 4 sounds that reside in each of the 256 combination setups that you can create from scratch and save, or just use the automatic factory settings. Yikes!...that's what you call a lot of editing and creation power. The MP7 piano and instrument sounds are already very nice just out of the box, but everyone has there own tastes when it comes to sound and realism, so the MP7 is not limited to the specific sounds built into it but instead can be adjusted to a person's own individual musical tastes and expectations and quickly saved in the over 500 memory slots in the piano for easy access when you want to get to your personal sounds....that's a lot of power.      


The Kawai MP7 is also known as a controller keyboardand that ability is useful for beginner players up through seasoned professionals. A controller is something that controls things such as external devices that you want to add to the MP7...makes sense, right?:). Well, when it comes to giving the player ultimate control over all types of external devices, the MP7 does an excellent job. One of the useful things that people do these days when wanting to add new things to their existing digital piano is connecting an iPad. The iPad music and piano apps are so varied and advanced these days that you can add new sounds to your playing by controlling them from the MP7 when you play they keys. The way it works is that you would
connect your iPad to the MP7 by using a USB adapter and cable and plugging the iPad into the
MP7. After you do that then you can route the audio signal of the iPad by connecting the appropriate audio cable from the iPad to the new audio input on the MP7. The audio input also has a real time volume control on the front panel of the MP7. When you play the keys (a song) on the MP7, your playing would trigger the new instrument sounds or any other MIDI functions on the iPad, and then you could hear those new sounds coming back through the audio input in the MP7 which would go out to your external audio speaker system or stereo headphones. You can control the input device volume directly from the MP7 using a volume slider control independent of the other volume controls on the MP7 piano. The controlling aspect is further enhanced because you can assign your iPad device to one of 4 zones/channels of the MP7 and activate the MP7 independently or in conjunction with the sounds in the MP7 (as I mentioned earlier). In other words, adding iPad apps including Garage Band, is like adding brand new sounds, drums, recording, effects, interactive music education, etc. You can also do this with a laptop computer interfacing with notation software for music composition or arranging all easily controlled by the Kawai MP7.  Professional players use iPad as well as MIDI sound modules, MIDI keyboards, virtual computer software for laptops, and other devices to add even more power to the MP7. 

As far as additional connectivity on the MP7 goes, on the back of the piano it has MIDI in/out/thru/ audio outs, dual audio inputs, single damper pedal input, optional triple-pedal input for full acoustic piano pedals, expression pedal input to control expressive sustained instruments such as pipe organ, church organ, synths, strings, etc, all on the back of the piano. Kawai has (finally) written the names of the connectors on the top back of the piano directly over where the connectors are located so that you know where they are. Prior to this you's have to actually look behind the piano to know where to pug in things and that is always a big pain! So that has been taken care of too...and I commend Kawai for doing that. On the front of the piano it has a stereo headphone jack input and a USB flashdrive input. 

The cabinet color and case materials have been upgraded from the previous MP6 and is now a sleek semi-gloss textured black metal top as compared with a charcoal grey-black top that more of a plastic feel. Even the lettering/names of the functions and buttons are in a more contemporary design and the text is a brighter white and much easier to see. The pitch and modulation wheels which change the pitch and vibrato of any instrument, as well are assignable to control any number of functions on the piano, are standard on this model and have been moved into a more useable position than was on the MP6. Even the design of the keyboard cheek blocks (other the left and right side of the keyboard) have been redesigned for better functionality and are in a more durable material, and they just look better. The end caps of the piano are made of mahogany veneers and add a touch of class to this model and the MP6 had that as well....which I like very much because the other stage pianos are typically all black/white plastic and/or metal.  The piano weighs in at just 46lbs which is not light, but for this much piano given its durable metal construction (not plastic), solid cabinet, and hammer weighted keyboard, that's not bad. The piano measurements are approx 53' wide x 13' deep x 7' high, and Kawai produces its fitted own semi-hard travel case with wheels for those people who want to take the piano with them for events or functions.  

In the final analysis, after playing this new piano many times already, I believe the Kawai MP7 surpasses any other brand or model for what it does in its price range under or near $2000 including some some pianos over $2000, and what it does is pretty amazing both in features & functions offered, especially the realism of the acoustic piano playing experience. Ultimately the MP7 is designed for people who want, what I consider to be, the best overall combination of excellent responsive piano key action, acoustic & electric piano sound realism, user interface, and additional useful features all rolled up into one portable piano. Whether you are a beginner and just want to play piano without using most of the additional features, or you are someone at a higher skill level who also wants a piano they can grow into and you like using additional sounds and features, the Kawai MP7 is a very good choice. It looks good, sounds good, plays good, and allows you to make awesome music...so what more can you ask for?!

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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

MFP1

REVIEW - Roland MFP1 portable digital piano at Costco - Partially recommended - The Roland company has just come out with their lowest priced weighted 88-key digital piano ever called the MFP1 available at Costco. There are actually two versions of this piano available from Roland with one being called the Roland FP20 ($899US internet price without stand or bench) which is available on-line from piano & music dealers in the US and other countries, and the other model is called the MFP1 ($999 with bench, headphones, and Wifi adapter) which is the identical model but only available at Costco in the US (as far as I know). The interesting thing is that although the F20 is offered in two colors (either satin black or dark walnut), the new F20 seems to only be available in the satin black color in the US and the MFP1 at Costco seems to only be available in the dark walnut cabinet finish. Roland offers both these colors in the F20 version but the black is all I see available in the US at any internet or store dealer whereas in other countries both colors in the F20 may be available. Did you get all that?! It is a bit confusing but there is a reason for this confusion in the US market and it has to do with Costco.

Costco is a Roland digital piano dealer for a few of the lower priced Roland digital piano models in the US. But to give Costco an edge in the US market, it would seem that Roland provided Costco with the exclusive market for the simulated walnut color (with contemporary black top panel and music rack), gave it a new name MFP1, and included a matching furniture stand, bench, and a couple of other accessories, and this MFP1 is offered at a lower package price than any music dealer is offering for the identical F20 model in satin black. It's simply a strategic advantage that Costco has over anyone else in the US (that Roland has given them) with regard to a better advertised price, as long as you like the dark walnut color, which is actually fairly attractive. If you are as big and powerful as Costco is, it is no surprise they have an advantage over other US retail sites and stores. Of course you can easily return this piano if you don't like it (like just about anything else you can buy there) and get a full refund. That's another Costco advantage.

Roland F20 satin black

Now that you understand this, it's also important to understand that the new Roland MFP1 and F20 are identical in every way as far as construction, digital features, key action, internal speaker system, and all other characteristics go (except for cabinet color). If you check out the specifications of both models you will see this for yourself. I have done a very detailed review of the new Roland F20 and to learn more about this new MFP1 at Costco, please read my review of the F20 at the following link before you purchase this piano as there are some notable deficiencies (in my opinion) in this piano with regard to some important aspects of piano playing: Roland F20 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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

REVIEW- Digital Piano key actions - hammer weighted, weighted, semi-weighted, and unweighted- What's the difference and which key actions are best for 2013/2014?! Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, Kurzweil, Korg, and more.

Question?...can digital pianos exactly duplicate acoustic piano upright & grand key actions in touch, movement, response, and overall playability? The simple answer is no, unless they have actual identical organic acoustic piano key actions in them. I want to say categorically that asking for a mainstream digital piano to give you a full and complete replacement of a good acoustic piano is like asking for a Toyota Corolla or Ford Focus to duplicate a Lexus or Mercedes Benz in the way they drive and feel! I don't care what the digital manufacturer tells you about how accurate and perfect their piano actions are, they are not exactly the same as a real acoustic piano...so don't expect it to be.* If digital and acoustic key actions were the same (including the sound realism & reproduction), then there would be little need for acoustic pianos. Duplicating a full & complete realistic acoustic grand piano sound in digital pianos is also a big issue and that has not completely happened yet due to limitations in current technology, including cost, and I will deal with that issue in a future blog. *A few Yamaha digital pianos in their AvantGrand "N series" (starting at about $5000) are using acoustic piano key actions derived or modified from their Yamaha acoustic pianos.

Famous Concert Pianist Van Cliburn

When it comes to playing  piano, there is nothing more important than the piano key action. It is the heart of any piano including both acoustics and digitals. Good, responsive weighted key actions give people an organic connection to the song they play and the instrument...in other words...the feel, movement, response, and interpretation based on touch. Without a realistic, quality key action in a piano, nothing else really matters. It would be like a transmission in a car...if it doesn't operate smoothly and correctly and built to last, it doesn't matter how good the engine or your multi-speaker stereo system is in that vehicle because without a good transmission, the other stuff really doesn't matter:). The same is true for the piano. It is a complex subject and not necessarily easy to understand but I am here to educate you in easy to understand language that hopefully will help you make the right buying decision.

Acoustic upright piano felt hammers

In a digital piano, with the exception of only a few models that have actual or modified acoustic piano key actions in them, all of the key actions in digital pianos use plastic, metal, and/or wood (in the keys themselves), or a combination, depending on the brand and model. Also, all of the connecting parts in an acoustic piano including the felt hammers moving and striking a string are absent from a typical digital piano because there aren't any strings in digital pianos so there is no need of those parts... (except for a few digital pianos that have all of the acoustic action parts, but don't have the strings and instead use a digital sound technology. In place of acoustic piano strings there are digital key contacts or optical sensors in digital pianos that trigger the digital sound (stored in a computer chip) to be heard through speakers inside the digital piano. The Yamaha "N" series AvantGrand digital pianos are good examples of this (as I mentioned earlier) with full acoustic key actions but generating sound through digital electronics as the hammer mechanism triggers the sound senors. The key action movement and feeling are excellent but those pianos are quite expensive and the digital features are very minimal compared to most other digital pianos.

acoustic piano with weights in keys

Digital piano key actions can consist of or be called fully hammer weighted key movement, weighted key movement, a semi-weighted key movement, or an unweighted key movement. Another term used by manufacturers to describe piano key actions is graded key action (either semi weighted or fully weighted) which means whatever the type of key action the digital piano has, if it is graded then the weight of the keys themselves are slightly heavier on the left side and get progressively lighter as you go up to the right side keys. This is the way all acoustic piano actions are because the hammers inside the piano needs to strike different size strings (thick on the left and thinner strings on the right side) so the power of the key weight needs to be different for different keys. There are actual round weights inside the back of the wood keys of an acoustic piano (as you will notice in the picture above left), so the digital pianos try to duplicate this key weight on each key. Also in acoustic pianos, the key action needs to overcome inertia and move properly when the key is played repeatedly. This requires the key action to be built and setup in the proper way and is in addition to the actual weight in the key.
Are you getting confused yet??:)...I am!:). I bet you didn't think a piano key action could be so complex?! Have you ever studied car transmissions or engines and what makes them work correctly? A piano action is a similar thing compared to what makes one transmission or engine good while another transmission & engine might not be so good.

spring loaded key action

Almost all "keyboards" that have 61 keys & 76 keys (or somewhere in-between) have unweighted key actions (although a few may still be "graded)." Some of them have semi-weighted key actions, and a couple of them have fully hammer weighted (simulated acoustic piano movement) key actions. An unweighted key action is what it sounds like, there is no weight in the key mechanism...it is a spring loaded key movement (pic above left) which makes the key come back up very fast after you push it down. That's OK for keyboards because most people don't buy them to get the piano playing experience. Also, some pro musicians are not as concerned with proper piano playing and they want to play other sounds such as brass, woodwinds, guitars, etc., which can require a lighter, quicker movement which unweighted keys can do. Unweighted keyboards are also significantly lighter in weight because they are made of lightweight plastic and therefore much easier to carry. It's important to note that nearly all digital pianos and keyboards are touch sensitive in their key actions. That means when you touch the keys harder of softer you will get a different volume out of the sound depending on how hard you play the keys. This is obviously important and it is normal in pianos. Some keyboards under $100 are not touch sensitive and this is OK for a young child for a short while as they get used to playing. But it's not something you would want to use for lessons or practice very long or that child (or adult) will likely get into bad piano playing habits.

Yamaha CP1 digital piano key action

The graded hammer weighted digital piano key actions are closest to the feel of real acoustic pianos with some being better than others. They have some weight/counter-weight designed into the key actions (to simulate real weights in acoustic pianos as I described earlier) and do not use a simple spring mechanism. These key actions generally have a much more realistic acoustic feel and will give you the best reproduction of key actions in a digital piano without having to use 100% acoustic piano parts which is otherwise very expensive.  At that point the choice gets to be a bit subjective depending on your playing experience, skill level, and expectations. I would advise that a person should stay away from unweighted and semi-weighted key actions (found mostly in 61 and 76 key keyboards) if they want to learn to play the piano correctly. If you don't have the budget for (cannot afford) a digital piano with piano weighted keys, then a keyboard with spring action is certainly better than nothing, although you will likely get into bad piano playing habits if you play on it long enough which I recommend you don't do, especially when it comes to your kids. 

Carbon fiber acoustic grand action

Real acoustic pianos are divided up into two basic categories...vertical & grand. The vertical pianos have different names due to their height and they consist of spinet, console, studio, & upright pianos. Depending on which one of those vertical pianos you play in the same brand, the key action may feel differently from each other. To make matters even more confusing, different brands can feel different from each other with some key actions being harder to play, easier to play, slower to respond, quicker to respond, etc. Then there are grand pianos (digital & acoustic) in several different depths from about 3' deep to over 9' deep which consists of micro grand, mini grand, baby grand, grand, concert grand, etc. Beyond that, there are brands like Kawai which use special composite material in some of their acoustic grand pianos (ABS carbon fiber material) as opposed to all organic wood parts so they can strengthen certain parts that otherwise would be wood. The pianos with these carbon fiber parts will (according to the manufacturer) be more consistent over time, not wear out, and not be subject to weather conditions in areas with more dryness or humidity, which can adversely affect the acoustic piano key action's ability to operate correctly. Wow...so many variations in key actions that it can make your head spin!

acoustic upright piano key action

People constantly say to me all the time "I want a digital piano that feels & responds like a real acoustic piano." When I hear that I will inevitably say to them "have you played many different acoustic pianos? Do you know what an acoustic piano should feel like?" It is rare that I speak with someone who really knows what they are talking about when it comes to piano key actions and what they should feel like when playing them and that's because unfortunately there really is no standard where all acoustic pianos feel one way. It's like saying that all vehicles should feel the same when driving them but that's just not the case. Cars, SUV's, van's, sports cars, etc, ride differently, move differently & behave differently, and so it is with piano key actions...and that's why there is such a wide variety so people have choices based on how they want to play and feel their music.

So how does somebody decide on what is right for them, their kids, their school, their church, their band, etc? It's obviously not an easy task and there is no "one size fits all" answer. The manufacturers try to make you believe their key actions on their brand & models are the best...but you wouldn't expect them to say anything less...would you? After all, they are in business to make money. A variety of digital piano companies say things like "our piano feels just like a grand piano," or "moves just like a grand piano," or "simulates a grand piano nearly to perfection," or "has a superior grand piano experience," or offers a "comfortable playability of a grand piano," or "you can enjoy a grand-piano experience at a fraction of the size and price," or offers a "mechanical
design that closely resembles that of our grand pianos’ actions," or that "you can enjoy the playing response and expressive capability of a concert grand piano," etc, etc, etc. It's a wonder
that regular acoustic grand pianos sell at all anymore given that the digital piano manufacturers claim their pianos can do just what an acoustic  grand piano can do, and your enjoyment will be just as great! With that being said, they would have you believe there is no reason anymore for anyone to want a Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, or other respected acoustic grand piano apart from looks, cabinet style, and the volume/loudness of sound since grand pianos are larger and louder. But other than cabinet, getting an even louder piano sound in a digital piano is no problem because you can connect a larger and better external speaker system to most digital pianos. So why do Yamaha & Kawai (as examples) continue to produce thousands of great acoustic pianos worldwide if their digital pianos are so great with regard to reproducing the grand piano key action movement & response along with realistic piano tone and cool functions in nice looking cabinets?! You can figure that answer out for yourself:). It's because digital pianos (depending on brand and model) can simulate the acoustic piano playing experience but in reality, not replace it.

Roland PHAIII key action

A question many people ask me at that point is "why would I need a regular grand piano when I am being told by the manufacturers through their advertising and marketing that their digital pianos can replicate what a grand piano can do?" In my opinion many of the digital piano manufacturers are just making this stuff up (is like, sounds like, plays exactly like, is just like, etc) when it comes to comparing any digital piano they have to a real top name acoustic grand piano, with maybe the exception of the expensive Yamaha AvantGrand "N series" digital pianos which feel great and are very authentic because they have real acoustic piano key actions, but

Yamaha AvantGrand N3 digital piano

even they have their drawbacks in other ways. It is fair to say that the good digital piano manufacturers do try to produce the highest level of piano playing realism they can, given the constraints of technology and price points. But at the end of the day if they were really honest about it, the manufacturers would tell you that their pianos are certainly not identical to acoustic piano key actions. However, in most situations a person can have a verysatisfying piano playing experience with many of the new digital pianos out there. Since most people play for recreational purposes  for themselves, for their school, church etc, playing and listening to a good digital piano can be beautiful and exciting and can come "close enough" to the key action and sound of an acoustic upright or grand piano where the average person. including many experienced players. could not tell the difference...and isn't that what counts?It about you not being able to tell the difference and also knowing a particular digital piano is good enough to play the music you want to hear in a very enjoyable (and proper) way.

I personally know of pro piano teachers and musicians who prefer playing on digital pianos because touch sensitivity velocity curves, voicing, and other key action attributes (left pics) can be easily & electronically adjusted which you cannot do on an acoustic piano (plus good digital pianos don't go out of tune). You can also change other parameters of digital piano key action response (such as how the "hammers" behave) as well as parameters of the piano sound. These kinds of changes can give you the feeling that you are playing on a real organic acoustic piano and allows you to personally "connect" with your music. Ultimately, the music you hear coming from a piano is subjective (and personal), and to prove that point, I have had people tell me they enjoy listening to and playing a piano they bought that in my experienced opinion was a really bad digital piano (a piano that I know is very sub-standard). But these people thought their piano was good. In fact, they were so certain they had a great instrument that they bragged about it and gave those digital pianos good internet reviews ...Yikes! But...it is really no surprise to me this kind of thing happens from time to time because it just depends on your point of view and what kind of music experience you have had in your life. This also means that some (but not all) of these consumer reviews you see on-line cannot be trusted because of who may be reviewing the particular piano and their actual music experience...so you gotta be careful when reading personal consumer reviews!

So what is a person to do who does not have piano playing experience and is looking for a good digital piano and knows they should get a good piano key action? Can you trust local piano stores, music stores, piano teachers, salespeople, piano technicians, internet amazon consumer reviews...what & who can you trust for you to make an informed decision on key actions? In just looking at the

Casio Privia piano key action

variety and complexity of 88-key digital piano weighted key actions from each of the good digital piano companies, you will see as of the date of this blog article (as far as I know) that Roland has 3 different key actions, Korg has 2 different key actions, Kawai has 6 different key actions, Yamaha has 7 different key actions, Kurzweil has 6 different key actions, and Casio has two different key actions. Some of these actions try to simulate an acoustic upright piano and some try to simulate a full grand piano action with let-off/escapement mechanism. As I mentioned earlier, each digital piano manufacturer tells the consumer that each of their key actions is superior to any other brand in their price ranges. They also say that their key actions are realistic in just about every way and very reliable...but what else would you expect them to say?:). They are all in business to make money (as I mentioned before) so they think they need to

Digital Piano wood keys

say these things...even if these statements are not entirely (or nearly) accurate. I know of some manufacturers who knowing make stuff uo about their products just to sell them and get you to buy them. When it comes to names piano manufacturers give their piano key actions, Roland calls one of their digital piano key actions "progressive hammer action," Kawai calls one of theirs "Grand Feel," Yamaha calls one of their digital piano key actions "Graded Hammer 3," and Casio calls one of their key actions "Tri-sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II (that's a mouthful!)." There is no shortage of key action names but they are only names, and names are irrelevant and mean nothing if the key action is not good!

Kawai digital piano ivory feel keys

Some of the brands have come out with a synthetic ivory & ebony material that is supposed to duplicate the feel & texture of older acoustic pianos that used real ivory & ebony on their keytops during the days when that was allowed. Many years ago various world governments set up laws forbidding the use of ivory on pianos to save elephants where the ivory was coming from. If you have ever played an older upright or grand piano with real ivory keys on the keytops, an elephant gave their life (or tusks) for you to have that! Real Ivory on piano keys is a sweat absorbing material and also can help with finger movement smoothness. But...the real organic ivory also had a tendency over time to dry out, crack, break off, and to have yellowish discoloration. The newer synthetic ivory keytop material used on some of the digital piano models has a non-stick, non slippery feeling to them and can make it more enjoyable to play. They will (as far as we know) not have the dryness or discoloration problems of organic ivory, but durability of this new synthetic material has not been proven yet over time so no one really knows. In fact, on one of the major brands, the synthetic ivory they first came out with had a few negative issues which I think have been resolved at this point. But the overall synthetic material "feeling" is subjective and not necessarily something you need to have, especially considering most current model name brand acoustic pianos do not have ivory keys... they have the regular white plastic keytops. So if regular shiny white key tops are good enough for some of the best grand pianos out there, do you really need this new synthetic ivory material? That question is fairly subjective and therefore ivory feel keys may or may not be important to you.

Fatar weighted key action

When it comes to the design, construction, and installation of digital piano key actions, some of the key actions out there are done by the actual manufacturer such as Roland, Kawai, Yamaha, & Casio whereas other key actions are made by someone else for them (such as Fatar key action company in Italy). In some cases "off-brand" digital piano actions do not even meet the most key action basic standards (typically designed and made in China, but not always) so I tell people to stay away from them. A good key action moves smoothly and helps the piano sound to come out incrementally with minimum key force but with enough downward key weight and upward key weight & resistance to build good finger muscle strength. A good key action must have proper "hammer style" graduated key weighting, proper key travel depth, key pivot point, proper key width & length, static & dynamic downward & upward touch-weight, and good solid key movement with minimal noise levels. Unlike almost digital piano key actions, acoustic piano key actions need to be adjusted from time to time by an experienced piano technician, just like the alignment on your vehicle has to be calibrated and aligned by an experienced auto mechanic. Digital pianos (without acoustic piano key actions) have a big advantage over acoustic pianos with needing no key action maintenance, which is obviously a money and time saver if you plan to own the piano for many years.

Kawai digital piano key action

Wear & tear and long periods of time can also change the characteristics of key action feel, movement, and response, for digital as well as acoustic pianos. Action changes over time can also occur due to internal lubrication (or lack of it) of action parts, and outside high humidity (as well as dryness) in the air at different times of the year can affect acoustic piano key actions as well as some digital piano key actions. The list of differences in the way key actions behave due to inside & outside conditions plays a part in the overall playing experience a person will have with a piano. Due to the numerous variations of piano key actions in acoustic pianos & digital pianos, I have known some very picky people who have shopped acoustic & digital pianos for months and even years until they finally found theirperfect key action that was adjusted and regulated (for acoustic) and it played in a way that was perfect for that particular shopper. Some of that pickyness is usually due to a person's finger muscle strength, type of songs they play, personal expectations, piano playing experience, and playing skill level.

Korg digital piano key action

So, will it be like that for the average digital piano shopper in needing to spend months or years shopping for a digital piano with a good key action?...definitely not!:) As an example, the Casio digital piano company, which only offers two key actions, does a good enough job in my opinion for a majority of digital piano buyers and players who want to be in the "under $1000 price range." Kawai has some very enjoyable key actions in furniture cabinet digital pianos for over $1000 as does Yamaha, Roland, and others, as I mentioned earlier. Are all models and their key actions in those brands (and other brands) all good?...not necessarily. A few key actions in those brands have noticeable deficiencies which in my opinion may get in the way of your playing success and enjoyment, and that would not be good. This is because there are some key actions that have bad volume/velocity response, noticeably unrealistic key movement, loud mechanical noisy movement, and/or other deficiencies.

I am generally pretty lenient when it comes to criticizing name brand key actions but I must be honest and say that I do not like the following key actions: The Korg SP280 NH (natural weighted hammer action) key action which is quite heavy and mushy to push, unnatural in movement, bad in dynamics, and unenjoyable to play overall. If it wasn't for the key action, the SP280 would otherwise have been a good choice. Korg had a much better key action in the previous model but they changed it and in the process created a bad key action (at least for my taste). The other higher priced Korg key action is enjoyable to play. I don't like the Roland ivory feel-G key action used in their RP301/301R, F120, R20, and RD300NX. It is also unrealistic to play (in my opinion), mushy, and produces a very loud knocking noise when playing the keys harder. Other Roland key actions are much better and quite enjoyable to play. I am not a big fan of the Yamaha GH key action in the Arius & P155/P255 pianos. The action is not bad but it just takes too much touch weight (for my liking) to get the keys to go down from a resting position and can be a bit fatiguing to play in my opinion. The  Kurzweil digital piano company also has a couple of poor key actions in my opinion with their digital pianos with are sluggish, harder to push, inconsistent, etc. However some of their other key actions (a few made by the Fatar key action company) are more enjoyable to play.

I would advise that when doing your digital piano research and trying to figure out what model has a good (acceptable) key action, that you contact me first I will be happy to give you more detail about what you should know concerning key actions and what best would fit your particular needs. I can also help you find good new digital pianos (with the proper key action) for less money. At the end of the day, you can be happy playing on many of the quality key actions that are manufactured today by the name brand digital piano companies including pianos for under $1000 as well as in the higher price ranges. However, just because a digital piano costs a lot of money does not necessarily make its key action good as I can personally attest to in my own professional playing experience. Please don't buy any digital piano anywhere before you ask me about it:). Better to be safe than sorry!

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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

UPDATED REVIEW - May 27, 2014- BEST DIGITAL PIANOS under $2500 down to $1000. For a recent review of new digital pianos under $1000 go here: New Digital pianos under $1000

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 MP7

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 MP7portable piano keyboard (left pic - $1799 internet discount price) is one of my new favorites for great piano sound and key action in a portable model along with flexibility to make it a very enjoyable piano own. The MP7 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 with piano dynamics for the softest tone to the loudest...and everything in between. The new MP7 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.

The Kawai MP7 does not have automatic chord arrangement styles like a few of the other pianos but it can play back general MIDI song arrangements for lesson piano books and general ear training which is a great feature to have. This feature also allow the player to mute out specific instruments so that you can play those parts along with the song for learning and enjoyment The MP7 is mainly built for superior grand piano tone and 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 MP7 certainly passes my test with flying colors. If you are an experienced piano player, advanced student, very particular in wanting the most realistic piano tone & touch possible, or are a beginner and just want the best pure piano experience (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." Below is a link to a review I recently did on the MP7 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. Go to the following link for my review on the Kawai MP7: Kawai MP7 Review

Casio PX850

The Casio Privia PX850 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 $1099 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 PX850. Go to my review to read more about this impressive piano: Casio PX850 review. *Casio also has a new model called the PX780 at $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 PX780 Review

The Kawai piano company has a very popular digital piano called the CE220 furniture cabinet piano (left pic - $1899) with the features that so many people want. The CE220 has actual wood acoustic 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. Go here to read CE220 Review: Kawai CE220 Review


Kawai also makes another model called the CN34 (left pic) which has an internet/store discount price of $2399 for the basic rosewood color (black is $100 more). 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 MIDI playback & recording from a menu of 324 instrument sounds along with audio wav & MP3 recording & playback. So the CN34 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 CN34 offers the best bang for the buck in this price range for a traditional furniture cabinet model digital piano when compared to what Roland, Yamaha, or Casio has to offer. In fact, in my opinion, even the popular Yamaha Clavinova CLP440 digital piano which sells at piano stores

Kawai CN34 with key cover closed

for approx $3000 discount price (for basic cabinet color) is not up to the Kawai CN34 in many ways, except for a more powerful 80 watt internal speaker system in the Yamaha. However, for most families, the Kawai CN34 is plenty loud enough with its 40 watt full range speaker system and if you needed more power, you could just connect a small external powered speaker system/monitors to the piano. But when it comes to the Kawai brand it would seem that the lower priced CE220 is in a better price range and offers enough upgraded features to satisfy many families. Kawai also offers a compact furniture model digital piano called the ES7 ($1999 internet discount price). This model has a few similar features as compared to the CN34 but in many other ways is quite different. Go to the following link to read my review of the ES7: Kawai ES7 Review

Yamaha YDP162

The Yamaha Arius YDP162 cabinet piano ($1499 internet price - left pic) is a really fine piano overall with nice piano sound and has many features including 128 note polyphony, ivory feel keys, 40 watts of power, layer & duo, a very smooth key action (although a bit heavy to play at times), and a more traditional cabinet. Yamaha makes a complete series of the Arius models and you can go here to read about some of them as well as my review on the new Yamaha YDP162: Yamaha YDP162 review. Yamaha also has the Clavinova series digital pianos with it basic model called the CLP430. The CLP430 is quite popular with families around the world and sells on average in the US at Yamaha piano stores for about $2200 based on my experience with this model. Go here for my review on the CLP430: Yamaha CLP430 review

The Roland company is well known for making some very nice home & professional digital pianos over the years and they have a new model called the DP90e (internet discount price $2599 - left pic) that is unique among the top brands for its contemporary compact cabinet design, piano sound realism, and smooth feeling grand piano  style key action along with some very useful digital features. I think this model is quite impressive and is surprisingly powerful for its compact size. I would recommend you definitely consider this model although it's just $100 more than $2500. I have done a blog review of this piano (along with its upgraded brother the DP90Se) at the following link: 
Roland DP90e Review

Roland HP506

A person can spend more than $2500 and have some other good piano choices such as the new Roland HP506, Yamaha CLP440, and others. So there certainly are plenty of very nice digital pianos for more money (up to $20,000 and more for digital Grand Pianos), but most families who want to be under $2500, 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 including Musicians Friend, Music & Arts, Woodwind and Brasswind, and a few others. Also I would stay away from the brand Benjamin Adams sold by the Sam Ash company as well as Suzuki& Artesia sold primarily in the US by Costco. 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 simply do not offer it.

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.

When I evaluate digital pianos, I always look for higher quality and I believe that beginner piano students or recreational piano players should not have to spend a lot of money to get a good digital piano that performs properly. There are standards you should look for in a digital piano and if you do not get them, you will be sorry later on. 

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 anyone who wishes to contact me and will answer their questions about what might be best for them based on the actual facts about what these pianos can actually do. 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 people getting good digital pianos, playing good music, having good piano instruction, and enjoying the entire experience. Go to the link below to see what music involvement can be like in the lives of children and why you should should get your children and/or yourself involved in music. I have been involved with this group in the past and their may be a similar opportunity in your area.

Phoenix Conservatory of Music - Helping Kids achieve success!

REVIEW - Yamaha CLP525 Clavinova Digital Piano - Recommended - New for 2014. The Yamaha piano company makes some great music products and I own some of them so I know about it first hand. I own a Yamaha acoustic piano, Yamaha guitars, Yamaha keyboards, and other Yamaha products. They have been reliable products and I have had them for many years. Yamaha is certainly not the only good name in digital pianos as there are other great brands out there such as Kawai, Roland, Casio, and a few others. However I think it's pretty safe to say that Yamaha is the most well known brand in digital pianos and that's partially because they produce thousands of acoustic pianos every year for students, recreational players, and professionals and have been doing it for decades.

Yamaha Clavinova CLP525

The new Clavinova series model CLP525 is Yamaha's new low price Clavinova digital piano for 2014 and is only available at authorized piano stores in the US, and not on the internet or the pro music stores like Guitar Center, etc. In other countries the Yamaha Clavinova brand may be available on the internet and/or in piano stores. As far as I know, US retail price is about $2500US and store discount selling price is somewhere between $1900-$2000US. As far as I can tell, the CLP525 is basically a Yamaha Arius YDP162 ($1499US internet discount price) but with the GH3 key action which has one additional key sensor in each key as opposed to two sensors in the YDP162, and a 256 note polyphony

Yamaha Arius YDP162

chip as opposed to the 128 note polyphony in the YDP162. The extra polyphony memory is useful especially if you are a more advanced player playing more complex music. However, 128-note polyphony piano sound memory (depending on how it is allocated) is usually more than sufficient for most people, especially in this price range. The additional key sensor (GH3) in each key is important in that it allows for better electronic sensing and response for faster repetitive key movements, especially for more advanced players. There are other brands and models in this price range that also use 3 key sensors (Casio, Kawai, Roland) so Yamaha is not the only one to do it under $2000US. Both Yamaha pianos look the same except with a different Yamaha logo on the front of the CLP525 and front legs were added to the CLP525 which does make it look more elegant and adds to the furniture look of the that piano as compared to the Arius YDP162 which is a pedestal style with no legs. The CLP525 comes in two colors (with matching bench) which is dark satin rosewood with simulated wood grain, and satin black color (they are attractive), just like the YDP162, although the trim color of the key cover is different. In certain lighting conditions the dark rosewood finish on the piano can look almost black. Both pianos are pretty basic otherwise and have many of the same digital features.

The physical key action movement on the new CLP525 feels the same to me as compared to the Yamaha YDP162. The key action is the #1 most important thing to look for in any piano and although the key action is solid, and quiet when it moves, admittedly I have not been a big fan of the GH/GH3 plastic key action because of the resistance of the key when pressing down on it from key resting position. The action is the GH series which stands for graded hammer. Nearly all good digital pianos in this price range have a graded hammer action which means the keys are weighted slightly heavier on the left side and get slightly lighter in weight as you go up the right side of the keyboard. However the overall weight or heaviness of all the keys when you push them down is what I don't particularly like as compared to other digital piano brands. This weight or extra resistance to finger pressure is called static touch weight. What I notice about this GH3 action is that the keys take a lot more pressure to push down whether your fingers are on the front part of the white keys or on the back of the white or black keys. As an example, if you were to go and press the keys on the new Yamaha NU1 digital upright piano
(approx $5000US store discount price - left pic) with a real wood key action movement in it, you would notice right away how much easier it is to press the keys. This is the way a good digital upright style key action should be but the Yamaha CLP525 as well as the lower priced Arius YDP162 have key actions that are much stiffer to the touch, even as compared to other brands I have played in this price range, especially when playing lighter or softer pieces of music. So with that in mind, I do not personally enjoy playing the GH/GH3 plastic key actions near as much as I do playing the keys on the newer Kawai, Roland, and Casio digital pianos. I certainly can play the GH/GH3 actions and make some good music with them, but I prefer a key action that allows for a quicker response and easier touch. Did you know that good grand piano key actions are even easier and quicker to play than upright key actions? Yep...it's true so with that in mind, the Yamaha GH/GH3 key action doesn't come anywhere close to a grand piano key action, but it obviously wasn't designed to do that either. Apart from that, I like the reliability & quietness of the key action as well as the feel of the keys because it has the ivory feel (simulated) key tops on the white keys, which is a nice touch, instead of just the white plastic tops. However, most acoustic pianos do not have simulated ivory feel keytops so that feature is nice but not "necessary" to have a good playing experience.

The pedaling is quite good with 3 full pedals at a reasonable height that respond to the normal acoustic pedal functions including damper/sustain with half-pedal control, sostenuto pedal, and soft pedal. The soft pedal also triggers other functions such as being able to speed up and slow down the simulated rotary speaker sound of the jazz organ tone when that tone is selected. That's a cool feature (if you like the jazz/rock organ sound) and it's also on some of the Kawai digital pianos I have played. The piano pedal decay sustain time is also good and that's important when playing in a legato or slower fashion. The pedal color on the rosewood finish piano is brass while the pedal color on the black finish piano is chrome, so that is a nice touch.  

There are 10 basic (but nice) sounds on this CLP525 which is fine and 3 of them are acoustic piano sounds (brighter, more mellow, etc). There are a couple of good organ sounds (church, Hammond B3 jazz/rock sound), strings, harpsichord with plucking (very nice), etc. The stereo acoustic piano sound reproduction is actually quite nice and there is good sustain and resonance coming through the piano. Yamaha also uses a feature they call "smooth release" which helps with producing a more natural sustain when releasing the keys more slowly as opposed to playing in a staccato fashion. Both pianos have their acoustic piano sounds sampled from Yamaha's CF series grand pianos (this is true for all of the lower priced Yamaha digital pianos I have played down to about $600US) and both pianos sounded the same to me in that way when I played them. 

CLP525 left side control panel

Some of the features that are included in this model are being able to combine any 2 instrument sounds together to play live on the piano, record 2 instruments/tracks one at a time in the MIDI format for playback to hear your music and save 1 song into memory of the piano (there is no .wav audio recording), use key transpose function to shift into any pitch/key up or down and not change the physical keys you are playing, playing in a duet or duo mode so two people can play at the same time with the keyboard electronically split in half with the two sides playing the same notes & pitch with one person being on the left side and the other person being on the right side, select a digital metronome with different time signature settings & speeds to help with timing and counting, and being able to change key touch sensitivity from hard to light, although that does not change the actual physical key resistance and firmness. The CLP525 does let you transfer basic MIDI songs from a computer into some digital memories  in the the piano, but these MIDI songs are limited to basic standard MIDI files and most of the good MIDI file songs that are out there are in the General MIDI/multi-instrument format which cannot play back on the CLP525 correctly, so you would be limited to basic piano or organ type playback music.

You can connect the piano to an iPad or computer using the USB output on the piano which is helpful for using software of iPad apps, which I like and use in my studio. There are no audio output or input jacks so the piano cannot be connected to external audio systems except through the stereo headphone jacks (there are two of them)...which I do not particularly like because of limitations connecting it that way. It is important to note that when using an iPad connected with this piano, you would need to rely on the internal iPad speaker to hear the music or sounds coming out of the apps. Unfortunately in most cases, the iPad sound through it's tiny speaker gets drowned out by the piano when your playing on it. If the piano had an audio input jack(s) built into it, then you could run the iPad sound through the piano speaker system and hear the iPad at a good volume and in stereo, which would be very helpful. This is not the case with the CLP525 since it does not have an audio input jack and this is an unfortunate omission in this day & age of technology, especially at this price.  Also, the additional extra built-in features/functions of the CLP525 need to be accessed with a special function button on the piano while referring to a menu inside the owners manual so it makes using those functions more complex. But this is true of some other brands and models as well in this price range. It's a way to reduce the amount of buttons on these pianos which is not necessarily a good thing when trying to figure out how to access the functions. 

The internal sound system of the CLP525 with 40 watts of power (20x2 stereo) into 2 separate internal speakers is certainly adequate for most rooms and 40 watts of power is fairly standard in most brands in this price range. The lower priced Arius YDP162 has the same internal speaker system so there is no difference there. There are also good digital pianos in this lower price range (under $2000US selling price) with less audio power than 40 watts but in many cases they are more than sufficient in volume output for a variety of rooms so you don't necessarily have to get 40 watts of power to enjoy playing or listening to the piano. Ask me for more info on this.

CLP525 with closed key cover

As I mentioned earlier, this new Clavinova CLP525 is really a combination of the Arius YDP162 in a slightly nicer looking cabinet with the front legs along with the better piano polyphony memory chip of other Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos including the 3 key sensor capability. It's a more affordable Clavinova digital piano available at less money than previous Clavinova models, but overall it's very basic in its features but is good for what it does. It's for people who mainly want to play piano and want something minimalistic with just a few additional features combined with a basic but fairly easy to use control panel at a selling price under $2000, which is where most digital piano shoppers want to be.

This is the first time in quite awhile that Yamaha Clavinova's have been competitive in this lower price range so that is a big step for Yamaha with this model. I do recommend the new CLP525 as a good instrument and it can satisfy many people at many skill levels with its high quality features, although as I mentioned earlier, I do not personally like the key action movement as compared to other brands and models of cabinet digital pianos under $2000 selling price such as the Kawai CE220 ($1899US), Kawai CN24 ($1799US), Kawai KDP90 ($1149US) Casio PX850 ($1099US), and the new Roland RP401R ($1599US). In my opinion for its price, the CLP525 also should have a lot more technology built-in such as audio recording, USB flashdrive input, audio connections, multi-instrument MIDI lesson song playback from flashdrive, rhythm accompaniments to help
with timing & rhythm practice, and keyboard split function like some of the other models under $2000, because I have seen these things be very useful to students and players. This would have made the piano much more competitive and given it a huge advantage over other brands. As it is now, it's nice, but it could have been great for its price. To get some of the extra upgraded features you could always move up to the next model in the Clavinova line but that would put you well above the $2000US selling price. Or you could use some interactive iPad apps with the CLP525 or go to another brand with more digital features at less money but with more realistic key action movement and piano sound (in my opinion) such as the popular Kawai CE220 including bench ($1899US internet discount price). The Kawai piano has an actual wood key piano key movement along with 88-key piano sampling, USB flashdrive input, multi-instrument MIDI playback, more educational features, easier access and more intuitive control panel, etc. It is a strong competitor of this new CLP525 and can be purchased in the US on the internet and in Kawai authorized piano stores. Go to the following link for my review of the Kawai CE220: Kawai CE220 Review 

At the end of the day it's about what YOU want, what satisfies your musical and/or piano learning needs, what type of piano cabinet you want, and the amount of money you can or want to spend. Although there are many good options and I know it can be confusing, do your homework and if you have specific questions you are welcome to contact me as I am happy to help.

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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

UPDATED - April 1, 2014 - TOP 7 Digital Piano Shopping Tips - READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY! Shopping for a new digital piano is generally not an easy thing to do. There are so many brands, models, sizes, styles, colors, prices, and places to buy them from that it can make the shopping experience a difficult one. So what can a person do to make this an easier, more enjoyable experience when it comes to shopping for and then actually purchasing a new digital piano? Well...I'm glad you asked because I have some good answers for you!

I have been working with, playing & teaching on hundreds of different types and brands of digital pianos and keyboards over my long music career. I keep up on all the latest brands, models, and digital technology and understand the things you need to know when shopping for a new digital piano. My digital piano blog is the finest resource for digital piano reviews and info on the Internet and you can find some useful info. However I want to share with you my top 7 things that I believe will enable you to more easily make an educated, informed decision on buying a new digital piano. Although the info I am providing here for you is very useful, you will still likely have questions and want some specific advice while doing your research on digital pianos, and if that's the case, I invite you to contact me personally with your questions and I will respond with the best advice I can give you (at no charge). The best way to make contact with me is to email me first, and if you live in North America, I am also available to talk with you by phone once we establish what your questions are by email.

1.Know what your budget is before you shop - If you can, have a pre-determined budget before you go out shopping and also allow some room for increasing your budget based on the "wow" factor of the piano either in its appearance or because of its digital features that impress you. Don't limit your budget but don't spend more than you have to to get what you want. There are many good, competitive brands out there and some can do similar or even more advanced things for less money than a more expensive model in another brand, so shopping around and doing research is important. If you don't know what digital pianos cost or have no idea how much you'll need to spend to get what you really want, then just keep an open mind and don't settle for something just because it's a cheap price. You're buying a piano and it needs to work correctly and help you make good music. Go here for my reviews on digital pianos under $1000: Digital Pianos under $1000. Go here for my reviews of digital pianos under $2000: Digital Pianos under $2000.
Go here to read about the new Roland HP pianos priced between $2500-$5000:  Roland HP Piano reviews. Go here to read about Yamaha Clavinova CLP 400 series digital pianos priced between $2000-$5000: Yamaha Clavinova CLP400 series Reviews

2.Know your what your musical goals are before you shop - Who will be playing and/or taking lessons on the piano? Are you looking for your kids to learn the piano? Are they beginners or more advanced? Do you want them to learn to play recreationally for fun or do you (or they) want to be involved with playing music in a more advanced, serious way? Will any adults be playing the piano? Do they already play well or are they beginners? Is the latest, cool digital piano technology desirable to have in the piano such as USB/MIDI plug & play output to iPad for utilizing exciting music educational apps? Would a better, more realistic piano key action be important? How about having the ability to play along with lesson songs recorded in the General MIDI format which helps with practicing your lessons at home? Digital piano features including more realistic piano sound & key action are usually directly related to your musical goals. Be sure you know what your goals are before you shop for and buy a new piano. Don't let a piano sales web site or piano/music store salesperson sway you into buying what you don't need one way or the other. You might be able to accomplish your musical goals on a $1000 digital piano or maybe you'll need a $4000 digital piano instead? But just because someone says you need a $4000 digital piano doesn't mean that you really do. You may be able to have a great time and accomplish your musical goals for half that price or less.

3.Know what style and/or color of digital piano you prefer - Are you wanting a portable digital piano that can easily be removed from a stand and transported or easily carried or would you like a more attractive furniture style cabinet in an upright or baby grand style? Some of these digital pianos look very beautiful in a home or studio depending on their cabinet design and finish. Do you prefer brown, black, white, satin or polished finish, etc? All of these considerations are important things to think about before you start shopping because different cabinet finishes, styles, and designs can add some cost to the final price you pay. You can also get digital pianos in the small baby grand furniture cabinets and I happen to like digital pianos in the small baby grand cabinets and I know a lot of people who feel the same. But they may either be out of your price range or too large to fit in your space. Just because a piano can look good on the outside does not mean they are good musical instruments on the inside. So be careful to not be "pulled in" by cabinet alone. After all, you are buying a musical instrument to play and enjoy music, and if the piano does not play well then at the end of the day, the cabinet will be of little consolation to you.

4.Know what to expect when you shop "on-line" or go to a local music store - When you are shopping for a piano and doing research, unfortunately many salespeople who work at on-line internet stores, general merchandise stores (like Costco, Sam's Club, etc) or local "mainstream" music store chains such as Guitar Center, Sam Ash, American Music, etc, typically do not know what they are talking about when it comes to new digital pianos, based on all my personal experience. They usually cannot explain the differences or why one piano model might be better than another for your particular needs and musical goals. They don't know the right questions to ask you to determine what you need or even how to use the various features & features of these pianos. In reality, many of these people are simply clerks or order takers depending on where you shop. I know this because I have been to these stores and have talked with numerous salespeople & clerks over the years who try to help you (when you ask them to), but they are mostly too inexperienced with these kinds of products to know much, if anything. Occasionally you'll find a knowledgeable salesperson who can help you and has your best interests in mind, but this is pretty rare. Mainstream music or general merchandise stores carry pianos that are usually lower priced models (under $1500) than what you'll find at an actual piano store. But price is not everything because you need to make sure you're getting the right one for your needs. When you shop for digital pianos at an actual piano store, those salespeople tend to know a lot more about the products they have and can help you better, but the pianos they carry are generally higher priced models over $2000, but you can negotiate with the salespeople for their "best discount price" as some piano stores are flexible on their discounts. You will see many new digital pianos in traditional piano stores that are simply not available in the mainstream music stores and you may really like one of them and be able to spend that kind of money. Different types of stores have different price ranges and experienced or inexperienced salespeople, so it can become a bit frustrating to shop for a new digital piano because you can wind up becoming confused as to what you really need and how much you should pay for it! However, if you want help with clearing up the confusion...Contact me forFREE ADVICE BEFORE YOU BUY! My motto is, "you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a satisfying digital piano playing and practice experience!"

5.Know what the digital piano feature"terminology" means - Have you heard of term "polyphony,"graded hammer key action, key action escapement/letoff mechanism, key sensor dynamics, half-pedaling, General MIDI song accompaniments, ensemble style arrangements, drum patterns, multi-track recording - synthetic ivory keytops, sound attack & decay control, reverb, plastic vs. wood keys, stereo sampling, USB Core MIDI connection (plug & play), MP3 & WAV file audio recording, harmonic overtones, sympathetic vibrations, etc? These are terms which are used to describe various functions and features of the piano sound, key action, and other technologies available in digital pianos that may be of importance to you. Is it important to have 256 notes of polyphony as opposed to 64 notes or have more key sensors in the piano as opposed to less? Is synthetic ivory keytops really necessary for a good playing experience? Is a more powerful built-in audio/speaker system better to have when trying to recreate an acoustic piano experience? Is a portable piano with external speakers better than a furniture cabinet piano with internal speakers? Do you need built in visual music notation in the piano as opposed to connecting your piano to an iPad or laptop computer to get the same thing or have even better results that way? Should you get a piano with a good user display screen as opposed to a piano without a display screen? Is MP3/WAV file audio recording important and/or would General MIDI song files help you practice better and have more successful results?  Do you need a USB flash in the piano to save and play your recorded music or input other prerecorded music such as iTunes directly into your piano? Can you sing into the piano through a microphone and if so, will the piano record your voice and play it back, or are there other better ways of doing that? Which of these features are more important and necessary if you are a beginner player as opposed to an advanced player? As you can tell, all of this can be overwhelming to think about but they are all considerations when looking to buy a digital piano. I can help you sort through some of these things if you want help...just let me know.

6.Know what brands & models are available -  There are many of them and some are good and some are...bad. I have personally seen some of the digital piano brands sold through general merchandise and mainstream music stores and some of them are just inferior overall and in some cases, down right terrible. Those brands can look great on the outside and have a very low price, but as far as investing in your piano future, you would be very sorry you spent the money, especially if your goal is to get a good piano. Here are some examples of digital piano brands that are available (not in any particular order): Roland, Kawai, Yamaha, Samick, Kurzweil, Omega, Korg, Viscount, Kohler, Adagio, Suzuki, Adams, Casio, Williams, and there are others. Within these brands there are multiple models available. So how do you choose and where can you see them? In many cases, you cannot physically see many of the brands or models in a store because of many reasons. Some stores cannot afford to carry many models so they limit their selection, they may not have the space, or they may not be able to get those brands. You just have to research and eventually place your order (if you haven't actually seen it in person) and trust that it will work out good. And even if the brand is a highly respected manufacturer, that does not guarantee you the model they have is superior to another or is the right piano for you. As an example, right now Yamaha has a digital piano model called the Arius YDPV240 that sells for around $2000 and yet it uses the same lighter weight key action called the GHS key action as is in their $600 portable digital piano. However if you spend LESS money at approx $1700 for a Yamaha YDP181 or approx $1500 for a YDP162, you get their upgraded GH key action found in the more expensive Yamaha CLP Clavinova line, although the Clavinova uses a 3rd key sensor in that GH action and refers to it as GH3.

Roland HPi50 interactive piano

Just because one piano is more or less money than the next model does not necessarily translate into a better or worse piano. In my opinion the piano models should stand on their own and they need to have the right balance of technology, construction, reliability, and price to compete and be the right piano for you. So don't rule out one piano over another just on "paper specs" alone or what a brochure says. All the brands and models are considered WONDERFUL & AMAZING by their makers because that's what they're supposed to say as they are in the business of selling them to people like you. But what you read may not be the actual reality as I have found many times. So be careful when shopping for a specific brand and limiting yourself to that brand or model just because a friend, piano teacher, or on-line consumer review says it's a really good. There may actually be better choices out there. The great thing about digital pianos is that their technology (in most of the good brands) keeps getting better & better as the years go on. And with the amazing technological improvements we see in everyday electronics like cell phones, iPad's/tablets, computers, TV's, home audio & video recording, GPS, and a host of other incredible devices, one thing is for sure, digital pianos will become even more exciting in the future than what they are now.

7. Know the conveniences of owning a digital piano - On most digital pianos you can play in privacy using stereo headphones which is one of the nicest features about owning a digital piano and great for a families sanity when you have other noisy things going on in the house at one time! Plus you don't feel intimidated or embarrassed when you play wrong notes cause no one can hear you:) You can (on some models) electronically divide the 88 keys into two identical 44-key pianos and have two people play at the same time including teacher & student, brother & sister, etc. You will not need to tune your digital piano...EVER! That will save you a minimum of $1000 if instead you had an acoustic piano and tuned it just once a year for 10 years which is fairly normal for people who own acoustic pianos. You can connect to the internet from a USB/MIDI to iPad/computer output. There is an
incredible world of music related learning, notation, and composing apps and programs out there that make playing & learning the piano great fun, especially for kids. You can't do that on an acoustic piano:). You can record yourself playing and then listen to how you did. That helps with understanding what you did right in your piano playing and what you did wrong. It's a great practice tool. A furniture cabinet digital piano is typically much lighter than a regular acoustic piano so it's fairly easy to move, and a portable digital piano can easily by moved and you can even take it with you as many of these portable digital pianos weigh anywhere from about 25lbs to about 50lbs. You can be creative and mix instrument sounds together to create a full orchestra or band which motivates many students and players because you can better recreate the music that you hear on CD's, radio, iTunes, etc.

In reality, some people can be just as happy playing and learning on a $800 digital piano as they can on a $5000 digital piano and that's because they cannot recognize the differences based on their previous piano experience. It all really depends on your playing skill level, your piano playing or music experience, and what your expectations are. In the $1500 range, there are digital pianos that play & sound great for the price and have helpful built-in digital piano technology and will be more than enough to satisfy many people. But there are also $2500-$5000 (and up) digital pianos which do many things, some of which you'll never use, but the realistic full acoustic piano sound and higher quality key action are so good that it justifies the price in some cases.

Casio PX850 3-sensor hammer action

You can be certain there are usually big differences among various new digital piano brands and models, but you just have to know what those differences are and why you might want or need them. You don't necessarily have to go to a traditional piano store to buy a digital piano because you can get good ones on-line these days for low prices at internet stores. But piano stores do offer some very cool models with great technology that you will not see in the mainstream music stores. Some of that newer digital piano technology on the higher priced pianos is great for helping you learn and play better and some of the furniture style cabinets look quite attractive in a home living area. One of the big questions I get asked by many people across the US and the world is "do I really need all those bells & whistles on a digital piano?" As an experienced piano teacher & musician my answer is always "it just depends what your musical goals are and the kind of music you'll want to play." Music is supposed to be enjoyable to play...that's why most people do it...it feels good and it can be a very deep, moving experience for many (it is for me). So will the "bells & whistles" make you feel better? They just might do that (and for many people they do) and then you'll be very happy you have them. But for those people who are absolutely positive that they want to primarily play piano and do little else on the instrument except get the best key action movement and piano sound realism they can for their budget, there are definitely digital pianos that do a better job of that than other models. I can give you free help with your questions if you email or call me direct (calls from North America residents only please).

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

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!

REVIEW - Kawai MP11 Digital Piano - RECOMMENDED - Portable Stage Digital Grand Piano - The Kawai piano company is known for producing some fine acoustic grand pianos played all over the world by accomplished pianists. After playing many Kawai acoustic pianos through the years, I believe they know what it takes to design professional quality grand pianos. Kawai has finally produced a portable digital piano that I consider to be as close to a grand piano
key action as I have ever felt in a portable piano under $4000. Natural playing, high quality grand piano key actions is what all good piano companies aspire to produce and the key action is the #1 feature that any piano shopper should consider when purchasing any piano, acoustic or digital. For the first time that I know of, the all new Kawai MP11 has full length acoustic grand piano natural wooden black & white keys which have been designed to actually play & function like a concert grand pianos. This new MP11 digital piano ($2799 internet discount price) replaces the previous MP10 which was a very popular piano for the Kawai company for a long time and also had a very nice wood key action. However, the MP11 has been upgraded in very significant ways including key action, piano sound, pedaling, functions, cabinet redesign, and more, and it is well worth its slightly higher internet discount price ($2799) over the previous MP10 and other digital pianos.

Up until now all portable digital pianos have had limitations with regard to how the black & white keys moved & are weighted because the key length and fulcrum points are different on digital pianos as opposed to a real grand piano. Although many of the new digital pianos play quite well and are enjoyable to play as compared to an upright piano, the amount of finger pressure it takes to push a regular digital piano key down because of upward key resistance along with proper key travel for both black & white keys is like that of an acoustic upright piano instead of a grand piano. People say to me all the time "I want a lower priced digital piano under $3000 (portable or cabinet) that plays just like a real grand piano." Well my answer is "forget about it," and all the hype about how many of these new digital pianos play just like real top name grand pianos is just not true when it comes to the key action! I am not saying that many good digital pianos don't feel great and are not a pleasure to play, but all these other portable stage type pianos don't come close to the Kawai MP11 in actual grand piano playability in its price range.

Typically when you play the black keys as well as the near the back of the white keys on most digital pianos, your fingers will need to exert a much larger of amount of pressure to push down the keys as compared to the front of the keys. This is called static touch weight because it's a measurement of pressure you need to push the keys down from resting position. If the touch weight needed from your fingers is too heavy or too light, you will not get the correct dynamics, smoothness of sound, and proper playing technique when trying to play a piece of music, as well as possibly feeling fatigued in your hands and fingers if the touch weight is too heavy. Whether you are a beginner or pro, key movement and touch weight are very important and the MP7 is pretty responsive in this way. There are some digital pianos that are more difficult to play than others with regard to this static touch weight situation and some well known brands are very unreasonable in the amount of resistance the keys give when trying to press them down. In fact, on the new Kurzweil cabinet and portable digital pianos, pushing down the black keys and the backs of the white keys is so hard you think there might be something holding them up from going down easily. I would never recommend a piano like that to my students. Unfortunately piano shoppers overall are not aware of how a good piano key action should really play and they think because it has black & white keys and sounds like a piano, then it must really play like a piano. This is a common mistake people make when shopping for a piano but understandable if you don't play piano well and don't have lots of experience playing many different kinds of pianos, like I do.

Acoustic upright & grand pianos (left pics) have different key action movements and construction compared to each other because of the key length, design of the key actions themselves, gravity exerting itself in different ways on the key action, and size of the area the key actions have been installed in, to name a few reasons. This would be true for most digital pianos that normally use shorter length key with a pivot/fulcrum point & key weighting not conducive to full grand piano key response. To make my point, assuming you have an opportunity, just play (push on) the keys slowly from front to back on the black & white keys on a good acoustic grand piano and then try doing that on many brands and models of digital pianos such as Yamaha/CLP/CVP/DGX, some Roland & Kawai digital pianos, or Casio PX/AP digital pianos for example. You will likely find that none of the Yamaha or Casio digital piano key actions in those pianos are near as easy in pushing the black or white keys down as you get to (play) the back of the keys as opposed to the front of the black& white keys. This harder, more resistant key touch is characteristic of upright pianos and there are certainly a lot of people that enjoy playing upright acoustic pianos. But...good name brand grand pianos (overall) offer a richer playing experience that allows for subtle nuances and playing results are are simply not possible on most other pianos. With inconsistent, overly resistant, or unbalanced digital piano key actions out there, you may have a more difficult time with proper playing technique, key and note response, and overall enjoyment playing the piano depending on what you buy, especially if you have higher expectations. This is not to say that top name digital piano companies don't make some excellent "non-grand piano" digital pianos with comfortable & enjoyable playing key actions, but what it does mean is that there are some notable differences in key action amongst brands and you need to sure about what you're getting.

It is true that many new top name brand portable digital pianos other than the Kawai MP11 have, overall, very enjoyable & highly playable key actions such as the new, less expensive Kawai MP7 with its responsive RH2 key action including the escapement mechanism that is found in grand pianos. But with regard to giving you real authentic grand piano key movement, key travel, & balance no matter where your fingers are on the keys and what keys are being played, the new Kawai MP11 Grand Feel digital piano is the only new portable digital piano that will do
that in my opinion, and I have never felt a key action in a portable digital piano ever get that close to a real concert grand feel before. With acoustic grand piano features such as letoff/escapement which is the subtle notch or hesitation you feel as the key is depressed about half-way down when playing slowly, staggered balance pins that allow for a traditional grand see-saw key movement, brass guide pins that go through the key from top to bottom that offers key stability and restricts side to side movement of the key, or counterweights that balances the the
hammer weight of each key which helps lighten the touch during more delicate passages of music, there is just nothing else that comes close to it. In fact, if you are a more advanced piano player and you close your eyes while you are playing the Kawai MP11, you may think you are playing a $100,000 concert grand in terms of key action feel, movement, and response. The most authentic key action built in a top name digital piano these days is the Yamaha AvantGrand N series digital grands which use an actual complete grand piano action, but those pianos are in furniture cabinets and start at approximately $7500 discount price in piano stores and go up in price from there to about $15000. Other than these expensive Yamaha specialty pianos, the Kawai Grand Feel key action in the MP11 is the next best thing in the lower price range under $3000.

The new Kawai GF (Grand Feel) key action is really the heart and soul of the Kawai MP11 piano. Although the acoustic piano sound itself and 3-pedal system is very impressive and realistic, there are other good portable digital pianos out there under $3000 that also sound quite good such as the Kawai MP7 ($1799 internet price) that I mentioned earlier, or the new Roland RD800 portable digital piano ($2499 internet price). But when it comes to authentic grand piano key movement, key size, key structure, graded hammer weighted key balance, key feel, and key response, the Kawai MP11 is in a league of its own and there is no question about that as far as I am concerned. The keytops have the Kawai ivory touch material which is a satin reproduction of actual ivory used on older acoustic pianos and it really feels good to the fingers to play on and is sweat absorbent, and it is visually attractive as well.

The actual key movement is very quiet as compared with other brands and that is something Kawai key actions are known for...being sturdy, well built, and quiet while moving easily with a reasonable amount of touch weight required to play the keys. Then you add to that the newly designed 3-senor electronics under each key to better sense key/note repetition so that when you are playing the keys, no matter how fast your key repetition is or at what height the key is at when pressing them back down (strike point), the new 3-sensor electronics will keep up with your playing and not miss any notes. In addition, Kawai’s action technology also monitors the speed at which each key is lifted. These subtleties influence the release character of piano sounds, providing a greater range of expression between staccato and legato playing. Yamaha, & Casio also use 3-sensors in their digital piano key electronics so this is not exclusive of Kawai pianos. But not all key sensors are created or installed equally on different brands so to me, the MP11 seems to be a bit more responsive in that way then other brands I have played.

The new MP11 piano sound chip has a huge 256-note piano polyphony memory which allows the piano sound to be played with as much complexity as possible without running out of notes. The Kawai MP11 piano sound comes directly from their best concert grand pianos and is sampled in stereo using two microphones positioned in just the right way on a concert grand to get the authentic sound of what a real grand piano should sound like. I like the Kawai piano tone very much and it has a natural complexity to it regardless of the type of music you are playing. Kawai calls its new acoustic piano sound Harmonic Imaging XL (HI-LX) 88-key sampling,
which is just a fancy way of saying that Kawai has increased the memory chip capacity they use (over the prior model MP10) to capture more of the acoustic grand piano sound as well as having recorded each note on a full size Kawai concert grand one at a time for a closer reproduction of an acoustic piano sound as opposed to recording one note and then digitally stretching that note to become other higher or lower notes like some other piano brands do. The digital note stretching process that some brands use does save time and money in creating the digital piano sound, but it is not nearly as realistic as 88-key individual note sampling with its large capacity piano memory chip such as what Kawai is using. That's why some of the cheaper digital pianos (and a few that are even more money) don't sound as good...because they sound more digital instead of natural.

In a real acoustic grand piano there are also all kinds of organic elements going on inside that piano when you are playing it. Things like damper pedal resonance, damper noise, dynamic tone, brightness, sympathetic vibrations,/string resonance, key noise, hammer noise, plate noise, resonance, etc. Reproducing these natural occurring acoustic piano sounds takes a lot of memory in the digital piano electronics and the Kawai MP11 does a fine job of this. In fact you can edit these acoustic elements within the MP11 so that it suits your own particular musical desires & needs. The dynamic range & tonality (soft to loud/mellow to bright) of the MP11 piano sound is also impressive and you can electronically change that range so that the overall piano tone can be more or less dynamic with different tonal changes. That function is called the Virtual Piano Technician and there are so many ways of editing and modifying the piano sound on the MP11 it's really quite amazing, and I, for one, like that kind of thing because then I am not locked into someone else's sound. I just make a few simple changes through the user display screen under the editing functions and turn a knob or two, and then I have made my changes and can save them to memory. So when it comes to acoustic piano sound, the MP11 is outstanding in its price range in my opinion.

One thing about playing a digital piano that many people overlook is the piano pedaling and whether or not it is authentic and will keep up with your music allowing for realistic control over damper/sustain, sostenuto, and soft pedaling. Pedaling is very important for expression and adding the required amount of resonance and sustain effect, and the MP11 does a great job of this. The MP11 comes with a pro quality triple pedal unit that functions like acoustic piano pedals. The pedals are heavy duty, durable, and feels good to push down with your foot. The damper pedal portion also does something that many included pedals with portable pianos don't do...and that function is called half-pedaling. Half-pedaling is the amount of sustain you get when you press down the pedal about half way and you would hear a medium amount of sustain rather than just on or off. The amount or type of half-pedal sustain can be adjusted in a few different ways depending on how you want it and if you would be connecting to external MIDI pianos or instruments. In either case, the pedaling realism on the Kawai is very good.

Another part of the pedaling experience is being able to get an adequate amount of damper pedal resonance along with the proper amount of piano decay/sustain time. Pedal resonance is the sound you get when you hold the sustain pedal down and strike a note and the sound will naturally reverberate for awhile inside a real piano. This acoustic piano pedal resonance has been digitally recreated in the MP11 and is also adjustable for more or less of that effect...and it sounds very realistic. Pedal sustain decay time has to do with how long (how much time) the piano sound will be heard while your damper pedal is pressed down and you let go of the key after playing it. The longer the decay/sustain
time, especially in the bass and mid-range key sections, the more natural the piano sound will sound. The MP11 has some good natural decay time but in my opinion it could be longer in some ways. On most other digital pianos you cannot change that function (length of sustain/decay time) but on the MP11 you can change it by using a control that lengthens or shortens the amount of time the piano sound will decay/sustain. This is a very cool feature and allows the player to customize the pedal playing experience to suit their musical needs. Although this pedal decay time feature is quite usable, the average player may not need it. But to know it's there is a good thing and I have used it myself to adjust for playing different kinds of music that require different pedaling results. So as you can see, pedaling can get complex or it can be simple...and the MP11 is excellent is recreating pedal realism with the included F30 triple pedal unit so the player can access all three standard pedal functions and have the traditional piano experience including the sostenuto and soft pedal. The triple pedal unit can also be assigned to control other aspects of the MP11 including changing instrument setup sound selection, organ rotary speed activation, and triggering other useful features.

The MP11 is unique in its operating control panel and functions setup and not at all like any other portable digital piano under $3000 in the way you use it. The control panel has been redesigned and is now even more simple, straight forward, visually intuitive, and operates in a way which in my opinion will make you want to play music for hours. Rather than have many buttons, sliders, knobs, and other controls very close to each other for all sounds & effects (as you would find in most other brands and/ore models), the MP11 is like having three separate instruments in one.  In other words you don't to be a rocket
scientist or keyboard pro to use the functions & features. There is a nice size user LCD display screen directly above the middle of the keyboard (near middle C) in the center of the panel. To the far left of the display screen there is a separate acoustic piano sound section with all of its own controls and buttons and a variety of acoustic piano sounds (12 of them). The pro quality piano reverb and efx controls really help with the overall piano sound authenticity and the piano editing section has some extra cool features like being able to play a second piano at any octave above or below the main first piano at the same. So basically you have two distinct acoustic pianos in different octaves playing at the same time on all keys and you can adjust both piano's relative volume and other functions as well. It's just like hearing two pianos at once and you can use it for single finger octave playing too. Then there is a separate electric piano section with all of its own controls & buttons and a variety of impressive vintage electric piano sounds and clavinets (12 of them). It is important to point out that the electric piano section has three independent quick access effects buttons where you can layer and control a variety of special effects (129 of them including phaser, chorus, amp simulations, etc) to the electric piano sounds which gives those electric pianos a natural, organic feel as you might experience with the real instruments. It is unusual to get that kind of control in this type of instrument. Finally, there is a miscellaneous instrument sub section with a variety of non-piano sounds including some very realistic
sounding strings, pads (synths), mallet instruments, European harpsichord & jazz bass selections (16 total sub sounds). Each section also has its own velocity touch curve settings which means that each sound section can have its own key touch response with six preset touch weights giving you the perception that the keys weight has actually been altered. That means, as an example, that you can have a heavier piano key action, a slightly lighter electric piano key action, and an even lighter or quicker sub sound category key action for the strings, pads, etc so it feels closer to playing a synth keyboard with those sounds as opposed to a piano. Once you set up each section the way you like, you can then save those settings in the setup memory area (below left pic) and easily recall them later without having to recreate your setup all over again. Having three completely independent sound sections offers enormous flexibility found in few new digital pianos at any price range these days based on my experience with them. 

In each of the three separate instrument sections you can only play one instrument per section at a time, but you can combine each of the 3 sections together and play (up to) three instruments at the same time. So for instance you could have the concert grand piano in the piano section (section 1) combined with one electric piano in the E Piano section (section 2), and then combine those two sounds with the symphony strings in the miscellaneous sub section (section 3). Unfortunately you cannot play more than one sound at a time within one section. As an example, the harpsichord sound the sub section 3 cannot be combined with the
symphony string sound, which is also in sub section 3. Personally I think the classic harpsichord sound in the MP11 (which is quite realistic) would sound great together with a symphony string orchestra sound. Also, another example would be to be able to split the keyboard and have an upright jazz bass sound on the left hand and a stereo vibraphone sound on the right hand as is common in jazz and other music. Unfortunately you cannot do that on the MP11 because both of those sounds are in the same section and only one sound can be used at a time in a section. You can do that on the lower priced Kawai MP7 portable digital piano because the operating system on that model is very different from the MP11 when it comes to playing and combining tones and there is much more flexibility in that way, as there is on other brands of digital pianos. But Kawai obviously did not design the MP11 with unlimited sound combination flexibility in mind. It is, after all, mainly for playing piano.

However, the MP11 has something which somewhat makes up for that shortcoming which the Kawai MP7 does not have. In addition to the three separate instrument sections on the MP11, in each of those sections there are three additional sounds (they are the same in each section) that can be added one at a time (or in any combination) to the main  instrument that is playing in that section. Those three extra sounds include what Kawai calls Air (sounds like an airy synth), Bell (sounds like synth bells), and Vocal (sounds like a choir). Each of those three additional sounds have their own independent volume controls accessed from within the display screen using the knobs on the outside of the screen. The main volume control of each section also controls the overall volume of the main sound in the section together with any of the three extra sounds. Those three additional tones cannot be played without the the main sound in that section being heard. 

Explaining this in  words can be a bit confusing so here is an example of what I am saying. In the Acoustic Piano section 1 you could add the vocal choir sound to any one of the acoustic pianos. In the Electric Piano section 2 you could add the Air sound (and maybe the Bell sound too) to one of the Electric pianos, and in the sub section 3 you could add a vocal and bell sound to the string symphony tone because you can use up to 3 additional tones added to any one section sound. If you used the 3 additional Air, Vocal, and Bell sounds in each section (controlling all their volumes independently) and add them simultaneously to each section which can play one main instrument sound at a time, you could
actually have up to 12 sounds with their own independent volume settings playing on every note that you play! I have done this and it's a massive sound that comes out of that piano (like a huge orchestra) when you do it right and max it out completely...and the large 256-note polyphony at that point is not enough to handle that kind of output as many of those sounds are stereo, there is pedaling involved, and if you play complex arpeggio movements on the keyboard, you will run out of polyphony. But I tend to torture these instruments when I play them and do a review like this, so that is no surprise. Few other people would do what I do on these digital pianos when it comes to using these features, especially all at one time. It is worth noting that you can, once again, save all of your custom layered settings into user memories (upper left pic) for easy and quick recall later on.

The acoustic piano playing experience is the meat & potatoes of the MP11 and the rest of the features and functions is the "frosting on the cake."  I believe that is the best way of looking at this piano when considering a purchase. However, there are some amazing electric piano sounds on the MP11 including Fender Rhodes, Yamaha DX7, Wurlitzer vintage electrics, beautiful string sounds, soothing pad/synth sounds, accurate old world harpsichord, beautiful vibes, and percussive marimba tones, and great upright bass sounds that have that organic acoustic feel with that string twang and tone to them which are very impressive. You can easily split the keyboard into (up to) three independent sections with dedicated split buttons and assign a different instrument sound to each section of keys and decide where that sound needs to be and how many keys it should occupy. You can change the transpose key, octave, intonation, organic elements, reaction times, reverbs, effects, EQ settings, touch sensitivity, voicing, and a whole host of editing parameters that enable you to modify the sounds you are using in each section in ways you cannot believe! Once you make those editing changes you can save them in a huge bank of internal memories for later instant recall with a total of 248 memory banks for combination memories as well as individual sound memories.

There are 100 professional sounding preset drum patterns for play-along with the built-in drummer. These patterns include a variety of rock, jazz, Latin, blues, funk, waltz, gospel, country, and many other popular rhythm styles. You can control the tempo, volume, and other aspects of the rhythm section and its fun to interact with the rhythms, especially if you enjoy a little help in sounding better than you are or you are just wanting a drummer to join in on your music.. The 100 drum rhythms are part of the metronome feature which also includes different adjustable metronome timings to help you practice a piece of music.

A feature that I find very useful on digital pianos is the ability to recordyourself and play it back. Almost all digital pianos have some sort of a recording feature with some being better than others. The MP11 can do this is two ways... either a 1 track MIDI (non-audio) recording for simple song play and music writing ideas, or a multitrack overdub audio recorder that lets you record multiple tracks, one instrument over the other, in either wav (CD quality) recordings or MP3 audio song files. This feature is not found on any other digital piano under $2000 and is incredibly cool because it allows you to orchestrate and arrange any song so that you can play & record each instrument that you want in the song so that when one instrument is recorded, you play that recording back while you record the next instrument audio track over the top of that. Each instrument can be individually setup exactly the way you want it to sound and then recorded and saved to a USB flashdrive to be played back on your computer or MP3 player (iPod, etc). You can also convert a MIDI recording to audio for playback as a wav or MP3 file. You can even take an audio or simple MIDI song and play a specific part of it over and over for practice in a non-stop loop so that you can playalong with that part to learn it better.
With an independent volume slider controller on the panel of the MP11, you can also plug in a microphone or any instruments (including iPad sounds) and record it live through the piano and mix it with your recorded keyboard playing, including loading in iTunes to the audio player to play along with them and record them into memory, which sounds great. Multitrack audio overdubbing and playback using the actual sounds on the MP11 (as well as external sounds) is a fantastic way of creating music in ways that you could never do before on a digital piano in this price range. It's good to be aware that the MP11 does not play or record 16-track General MIDI type song files. I believe this functionality should have been included in the MP11, but hey, who am I and what do I know?:). It would have obviously added to the cost of the instrument and Kawai probably thought this feature was not necessary in the MP11...although I would have used it.

The Kawai MP11 is also known as a master (MIDI) controller piano and that ability is useful for beginner players up through seasoned professionals. A controller is something that controls things such as external devices that you want to add to the MP11...makes sense, right?:). Well, when it comes to giving the player ultimate control over all types of external devices, the MP11 does an excellent job and it now has 4 independent MIDI out zones to make controlling multiple external devices even easier and more intuitive. You can control the over 60 parameters of each MIDI channel independently along with zone volume settings and see them in the display screen.
You can also save all of your MIDI setups in a large bank of user memories so that you do not ever have to reconfigure them, which can take a lot of time. One of the useful things that people like to do these days when wanting to connect external MIDI devices and use the MIDI zone controllers to add new things to their existing digital piano is to connect an iPad. The iPad music and piano apps are quite exciting and you can add new sounds from an iPad to your playing by controlling them from the MP11 when you play the keys. In this way you can get the additional instrument sound layering and splitting through MIDI devices that the MP11 does not provide on its own. So this pretty much solves that problem and opens up the MP11 do do things musically it may not be able to do by itself.

The way a iPad works with the MP11 is that you would connect your iPad to the piano by using a USB adapter and cable and plugging the iPad into the MP11 USB port. After you do that then you can also route the audio signal of the iPad by connecting the appropriate audio cable from the iPad (mini headphone jack) to the audio input on the MP11. The audio input also has a real time volume control slider on the front panel of the MP11 called Line In. When you play the keys (a song) on the MP11, your playing would trigger the new instrument sounds or any other MIDI functions on the iPad, and then you could hear those new sounds coming back through the audio input in the MP11 which would go out to your external audio speaker system or stereo
headphones. The controlling aspect is further enhanced because you can assign your iPad device to one of 4 zones/channels of the MP11 and activate the MP11 independently or in conjunction with the sounds in the MP11 (as I mentioned earlier). In other words, adding iPad apps including Garage Band, is like adding brand new sounds, drums, recording, effects, interactive music education, etc. You can also do this with a laptop computer interfacing with notation software for music composition or arranging all easily controlled by the Kawai MP11. Professional players use iPad as well as MIDI sound modules, MIDI keyboards, virtual computer software for laptops, and other devices to add even more controlling power to the MP11. In fact, you can connect MIDI devices with MIDI connectors into the MP11 using the in-out-thru jacks on the piano and also connect a USB device like a computer and use (and control) the external devices at the same time. This is a big feature for people who want to have external controlling flexibility of devices that have different connectors.

As far as additional connectivity on the MP11 goes, on the back of the piano it has MIDI  1/4" audio outs, fixed XLR outputs with a ground lift (for pro applications), dual audio inputs, single damper pedal input, three separate pedal inputs for damper-sostenuto-soft, expression pedal input to control expressive
sustained instruments such as pipe organ, church organ, synths, strings, etc, all on the back of the piano. Kawai has (finally) written the names of the connectors on the top back of the piano directly over where the connectors are located so that you know where they are. Prior to this you's have to actually look behind the piano to know where to pug in things and that is always a big pain! So that has been taken care of too...and I commend Kawai for doing that. On the front of the piano it has a stereo headphone jack input and a USB flashdrive input for loading and saving recorded songs and backing up panel memories. 

The cabinet color and case materials has been upgraded from the previous MP10 and is now a sleek semi-gloss textured black metal top. It comes with a sturdy metal removable music rack to support your sheet music. The lettering/names of the functions and buttons on the case itself have been redone in a more contemporary design and the text is a brighter white and much easier to see. I like the ergonomics/layout of the MP11 and it feels comfortable to look at. The knobs, light-up buttons, and sliders are high quality and feel sturdy and solid to the touch and are easy to use with good spacing between them. The body of the MP11 has been extended in depth by slightly over 1" to accommodate the longer key action inside the piano. The end caps of the piano are made of mahogany veneers and add a touch of class to this model and the MP10 had that as well which I like very much because the other stage pianos are typically all black/white plastic and/or metal. The piano weighs in at almost 72lbs which is not light, but for this much piano given its durable metal construction (not plastic), solid cabinet, and hammer weighted keyboard, that's not bad. The piano measurements are approx 54' wide x 18' deep x 7 1/4" high. If you need a case for this piano semi-hard travel case with wheels for those people who want to take the piano with them for events or functions.  

The Kawai MP11 is considered to be a portable stage piano (controller) because it has no speakers built in and with its built-in external controller functions, it can easily control many other MIDI devices including computers, keyboards, and sound modules that recording studios and professionals use when creating music. It also has two wheel controllers (pitch bench & modulation) which work well and are assignable to other functions for quick, specific controlling. Although all of these controller functions can help users in a number of ways, for many people they may not use any (or very few) of those things because they really just want to play the piano
 ...and that's OK as far as I am concerned. At its heart the Kawai MP11 is an excellent piano that can be played anywhere by anyone at any skill level who enjoys good piano music and wants the most authentic piano key action along with a beautiful acoustic piano sound and excellent pedaling they can get in a portable digital under $3000...period. Although having hundreds of instrument sounds and functions can be fun as well as useful for some people (I like them), there is something to be said for an elegant, simple to use digital piano like the MP11 focused on fewer things but offering the best results in playing piano in this price range.

Kawai MP11

In the final analysis I believe this will be what most people will use this piano for...to play piano and many people will set this instrument up in their home living rooms, family rooms, home recording studio rooms, in their church, school, or other traditional venue where it will be connected to some nice speakers (there are specific ones I recommend) or to some high quality stereo headphones so that you will feel like you're playing a real 9' concert grand piano...and really, isn't that what it's all about? The MP11 will put you there and give you control over your music along with some nice additional features to add even more life to your music so that it will move your musical soul, inspire you, and allow you to play music on a digital piano in
ways you may not have thought possible. The piano action is designed to move without all the complexity of an acoustic grand piano, although in reality, even this piano will not replace a real top quality 9' grand piano anytime soon. But it sure does offer the closest rendition I've ever played in this price range...and I would recommend this piano to anyone who believes this is what they want. Unfortunately, there is one problem with regard to actually buying and owning the new MP11. They have been so popular since coming out a few months ago that they are out of stock everywhere in the US and there is, from what I am told, a huge waiting list to get one and it may be awhile yet until they're available again. It's that old "too little supply for too big of demand" which is causing this huge delay for the Kawai company here in the US. So if you want one of these little babies, you better not be in a rush at this point because it's going to be awhile. But I believe it's worth the wait if you want really want what this piano has to offer and you're willing to spend the money to get one. My advice would be...put one on order now to get in line, wait, and just be happy that you will get one at all whenever they become available again!

Kawai MP7

By the way, for those people who cannot afford or don't want to be in this $2799 price range, the new "little brother/sister" of the MP11 (called the MP7) has many of the same functions and controls of the MP11 and even has the same piano sound and pedaling functions, but is at a much lower price of $1799US internet discount price. It's really not "little" as the MP7 has a very similar size and appearance compared to the MP11. At $1000 less than the MP11, the MP7 may be a very good option for you (I like it a lot) and although the key action of the MP7 is not the MP11 key action, it is the best key action under $2000 of any digital piano built today in my opinion and it's super enjoyable to play. Check out my Kawai MP7 review here: Kawai MP7 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.

* I recommend eMedia educational software. If you decide to make a purchase after clicking on link below, I have arranged a big discount for you direct with eMedia for their educational software and that discount price is displayed through this link only! I want to see everyone learn to play and enjoy piano!