Digital Piano or Acoustic Piano? - What Should You Buy? Kawai, Yamaha, Steinway, Roland, Casio, Kurweil, etc

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yamaha digital grand piano

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

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

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

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