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| Kawai CP209 |
UPDATED REVIEW- July 9, 2013 -Digital Grand Pianos...
What to know when shopping for one - Digital Baby Grand Pianos from Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Kohler, Omega, Suzuki, and others with full featured ensemble & music functions can be lots of fun to own! I receive inquiries from people who are looking for a good digital Baby Grand piano with lots of "bells & whistles" on it with cool digital technology. In this Digital Grand Piano buyer guide, I try to help educate people on "how" to purchase a good full featured digital Baby Grand Piano and what is available with regard to various brands and price ranges. The sizes of these pianos can be the small mini sizes which are less than 3 feet deep on up to 5' deep. Price is not necessarily an indicator of cabinet size so you need to decide what size piano will be best for you. However typically the larger the piano the bigger and fuller the sound will likely be.
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| Yamaha CVP409GP |
The features many people ask for in full featured pianos are a large & good variety of higher quality instrument sounds including good acoustic pianos, strings, brass (a variety of horns), woodwinds, reeds, flutes, synthesizers, guitars, world instruments, and others. People also ask for a good helping of drum rhythm patterns, ensemble style chord backing tracks, easy play features, a bigger user interface screen, a mic input for singalong/karaoke, extensive recording & song playback options, an authentic acoustic piano feel, and a full sounding speaker system, and even a built-in moving key player piano system. Polyphony note memory can be anywhere from 60 notes to 256 notes, and more polyphony is important if you are a more advanced player with a much higher skill level or are doing extensive recording or multiple layering with accompaniments. However for normal use in most families who just play for fun and are not skilled players, 64 notes of polyphony will likely be sufficient. In addition to all this, it seems everyone wants the best looking Baby Grand piano they can get with the most authenticity in cabinet design and function and they want it all for generally around $5000 or less. That's where the most popular price points generally are, and although there are people who can and are willing to spend more money to get what they want, they are in the distinct minority of buyers.
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| Omega LX802 |
The problem with wanting to get a good digital baby grand piano is that you will normally need to make many sacrifices to get what you want in the
lower price range. Yamaha, Roland, & Kawai which are all great digital piano manufacturers with super fun digital technology along with great on-board educational features for students, do produce some exciting and impressive
full featured ensemble type digital Grand Pianos in small & larger sizes. You can be very happy with any of them as they are all great. However, they are NOT in the $5000 or less price range. In fact those models which include the Yamaha CVP609GP (which just replaced the 409GP) & CGP1000, Roland KR115M & 117M, & the Kawai CP209 are all normally priced at well over $10,000 and going up to $20,000! So they're not cheap:)
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| Samick SG450 |
The digital piano brands that currently offer a full featured ensemble Baby Grand at around $5000 or less include Adagio, Suzuki, Williams, Samick (left pic), Viscount (not available in most states), Omega (above left pic), Sejung (not available in most states), Cameron & Sons (private label), and a couple of others. Typically when you spend less money on a digital Baby Grand you get less quality and reliability. If you see them selling for around $1500-$2000 or so, they will likely be very poor in key action and sound and those are the main features I recommend to people to look for 1st and then the fun ensemble & digital features should come after that. The lower priced digital pianos are typically measure anywhere from about 3 feet deep (mini or micro size) to a larger 4' deep size and are normally "hybrid" cabinets with regard to the cabinet style, construction, finish quality, lid, bench, legs, pedal assembly, etc. This is done to save money because a full size
real authentic acoustic grand cabinet between 4'-5' deep is considerably more money just for the cabinet and finish and Kawai, Yamaha, Kohler, and Roland do have those sizes.
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| Adagio 8820 |
As far as the digital technology & quality of the brands I
do not recommendunder $5000 (based on years of personal experience), there are a number of them that have poor piano tone, key response, key action, tonal dynamics, key velocity realism, and other digital features. I refer to those piano and brands simply as GPSO's..."Grand Piano Shaped Objects" and little more than that:) They don't play good, sound good, function well, or hold up good over time. I have been around most of these brands and various models my entire music career and there are just certain ones that have not improved much (or at all) and still are on my "not recommended" list. Those brands include, Suzuki, Adagio, Williams, Sejung, and a small variety of "house or private label brands." A house brand is one that is sold by a piano or music store and they buy a pre-made digital piano from a Chinese manufacturer and have their own name put on the piano so that they can have an "exclusive" name that no one else has. It makes marketing and promotional sense for the music store to do that, but it certainly does not mean it's a good piano. In fact, is likely not a good piano. Cameron & Sons is one of those "house brands" as is Williams, Adagio, & Suzuki. Not all house brands are bad (some are good because they have control over the quality or technology used) but it is not common. Sejung is an actual Chinese brand you made not have heard of before but I have actually played them and was definitely not impressed with tone, key action, or construction and these are the main ingredients that need to be good in a digital piano, and that's probably why most piano stores won't carry them. Sometimes you do get what you pay for:). I was however recently impressed with the new Omega LX802 and had the experience of playing this new Omega digital 4'1" Grand and was quite impressed with the piano tone, key action, and dynamics for its price along with some cool digital technology including a large color touch screen, all for under $5000.
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| Suzuki MG350 |
It's great to have lots of cool functions in a digital ensemble Baby Grand piano and they are fun to use, and many of these low quality baby grands have those functions. So on paper they might seem to be good pianos to consider. But if you cannot get a
quality piano that plays and responds well as a piano, then I don't believe it really matters what else is in the piano and what it does. And in the lower quality pianos, even those extra functions are generally not so hot much of the time. As for Suzuki & Adagio, just because they are sold primarily by Costco (and they are) does not mean they are good. Adagio is really not a brand (as far as having their own manufacturing facility) and there are no parts in the piano that come from North America (all Chinese). Suzuki is also not a brand in the traditional sense and they do not build their own pianos (all are pre-made in China as far as I know). The Suzuki piano also brand has nothing to do with any other Suzuki products made either including motorcycles, cars, violins, lessons, or anything else connected with their name. I done a number of reviews on Suzuki & Adagio pianos have been very disappointed with all of them especially for there key action, velocity response, tone dynamics, and quality, and I have personally played many.
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| Roland KR117M |
It's important to know that just because a piano is completely or partially made in China does not mean it's bad, and I don't want people to think that. There are some very good piano manufacturing facilities in China now and even Yamaha & Kawai get a number of their pianos made there these days. Whether we like it or not, we all live in a world economy and China is a big part of it. As long as the piano is produced with good oversight, good construction, and reliable technology with up to date musical features, that's what really counts and the brand is not the always the issue.
When it comes to digital pianos, generally speaking, you can normally get more piano quality and features for the money ($5000 or less) if you
do not get a Baby Grand cabinet and instead get a regular vertical upright style furniture cabinet. You will pay a premium for a nice digital baby grand furniture style cabinet, especially the larger cabinets in the higher priced models. But the look and sound of those instruments are certainly impressive and if you plan to own it for a long time and you have the "disposable income," go for it and enjoy.
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
