REVIEW - DIGITAL PIANO KEY ACTIONS - Which ones are best? Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, Kurzweil, Korg, and more

UPDATED REVIEW- September 16, 2015 - Digital Piano key actions - graded hammer weighted, weighted, semi-weighted, and unweighted- What's the difference and which key actions are best?! 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 a digital piano has an actual identical organic acoustic piano wooden-key key action with all the connecting key action parts with a hammer hitting with an actual piano string. Anything short of that would be a best, a simulation with some digital pianos manufacturers doing a much better job of that than others. I don't care what the digital manufacturer tells you about how accurate and perfect their piano key 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/tone 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, but there are no actual strings inside the piano.

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 graded hammer weighted key actions give people an organic connection to the song they play and to the instrument...in other words...the feel, movement, response, and interpretation of the song that is being played based on piano touch. Without a realistic, quality key action in a piano, nothing else really matters in my opinion. 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. Piano key actions 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 a real 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 for those parts in most cases, except for a few models of digital pianos in higher price ranges that have most or all of the acoustic type action parts, but don't have the strings and instead use a digital sound sensing 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 electronic sound senors. The key action movement and feeling of the keys in the AvantGrand series are excellent but those pianos are quite expensive (approx $7500 and up) and the digital features, available sounds, and user interface control panel are very minimal compared to most other good digital pianos in lower price ranges.

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 actual weight in the key...it is a spring loaded key movement (pic above left) which makes the key come back up very fast after you push it down and also much more difficult to press down like it would pressing down on a real spring. That's OK for keyboards because most people don't buy them to get a real piano playing experience. Also, some pro musicians are not as concerned with proper piano playing technique and they want to play other sounds such as brass, woodwinds, guitars, etc on the keyboard which can require a lighter, quicker movement which unweighted keys can do better. Unweighted keyboards generally are also significantly lighter in total weight because they are made of lightweight plastic, are typically smaller, 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 piano lessons or practice because that child (or adult) will likely get into bad piano playing habits if they use it too long.

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 portable of stand-up cabinet digital piano with piano weighted keys (they start at only $399 for a recommended portable model), then an inexpensive  keyboard with spring action is certainly better than nothing, although as I just mentioned, 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 that does not mean that any of them are necessarily bad or something you should stay away from. So it is with piano key actions...and that's why there is such a wide variety so that people have choices based on how they want to play and their musical goals.

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! Copyright AZPianoNews.com 2014

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 4 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 knowingly make up stuff about their products just to sell them and get you to buy them. When it comes to special 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" graded 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 NH (natural weighted hammer action) key action in many of the Korg models is quite heavy and mushy to push, unnatural in movement, subpar in dynamics, and (for me) unenjoyable to play overall. If it wasn't for the key action, the Korg models with the NH key action would otherwise be much better choices. The other higher priced Korg key action with the RH3 hammer weighted key action in some of their models is much more enjoyable to play. I don't like the Roland ivory feel-G key action in their RP301/301R, F120, R20, and RD300NX. That action is less than enjoyable to play, mushy, and produces a very loud knocking noise when playing the keys harder as they strike the bottom. Other Roland key actions are much better and quite enjoyable to play such as their new PHAIV key action in the RP401R ($1599US internet price). 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 poorly made key actions in some of their their digital pianos witch 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 and you want some specific advice, that you contact me first I will be happy to give you more detail about what you should know concerning key actions and what would best fit your particular needs and budget. I can also help you find good new digital pianos (with the proper key action) for quite a bit less money that internet and store discount prices. 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.

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