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

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 their piano actions are, they are not exactly the same as a real acoustic piano...so don't expect it.* 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 acoustic piano sound in digital pianos is also a big issue and that has not completely happened either 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 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...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 so this blog review is comprehensive and long but I am here to educate you in easy to understand language that 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 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. 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 key with lead weight

Digital piano key actions can consist of either a fully hammer weighted key movement, a weighted key movement, a semi-weighted key movement, or an unweighted key movement. Another term used by manufacturers is graded key action which means whatever the type of key action the digital piano has, 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. Otherwise each wood key in an acoustic piano would be very light and they would all weigh the same which would not be good in trying to strike different size strings inside the piano. There are actual lead weights inside the keys of an acoustic piano as you will notice in the picture above left. 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. However, on many of these digital pianos it's difficult to tell if the weighted or unweighted keys are really

spring loaded key action

"graded" properly or not, and the grading can be so subtle that you cannot feel it unless you are very experienced. Most importantly, however, is that the key action itself has to be a good one to begin with, or the grading effect is useless and will not really help the action if the action is a bad one. 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.

unweighted plastic keyboard keys

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 allows for the key to come back up after you push it down. That's fine for some cheap keyboards and even many pro keyboards because they are not as concerned with proper piano playing and are used more often to control other sounds such as brass, woodwinds, guitars, etc., and also make the entire instrument lighter. *It's important to note that nearly all digital pianos and keyboards are touch sensitive. 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.

acoustic piano with weights in keys

Weighted digital piano key actions are even closer to the feel of acoustic pianos with some being better than others and they have some weight/counter-weight in the key action and do not use a simple spring mechanism. Fully "hammer-weighted" (simulated) key actions generally have a much more realistic acoustic feel and those key actions 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. Real acoustic pianos have actual individual weights inside the pianos keys to make them heavier and acoustic keys can have a different amount of weight in them depending where the key is on the piano as I mentioned earlier (above left pic).

Yamaha CP1 digital piano key action

Most (but not all) 88-key key with hammer weighted (and graded) actions produced by the top digital brands including Kawai, Yamaha, Roland, and Casio (left pic) are quite good in various price ranges with some being better (more accurate & realistic) than others. 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 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 will feel differently from each other. To make matters even more confusing, different brands can feel different from each other! Some key actions are 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 every digital piano key action is said to be able to do just what a grand piano can do, and your enjoyment will be just as great! With that being said, it looks like there is no reason anymore for anyone to want a Steinway, Yamaha, or Kawai 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. This means that for all practical purposes, acoustic grand pianos are obsolete now and a thing of the past...right? 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 good tone and cool functions in nice looking cabinets?! You can figure that answer out for yourself:)

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?" I just tell them to buy the least expensive new digital piano they can and then you'll have a grand piano!!...Just kidding!No, I don't do that...because that would not be true. In my opinion all of the digital piano manufacturers are kind of making this stuff up (is like, sounds like, plays 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 are 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 obtain 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, but in most situations a person can have a very satisfying piano playing experience with many of the new digital pianos out there including their brand. Since most people play for recreational purposes just for themselves, 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 and 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 most music 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...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 need to

Digital Piano wood keys

say these things...even if these statements are not entirely (or nearly) accurate which in some cases they are not based on my playing experience with some or all of their models. 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 remember, they are only names and names are irrelevant 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 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 o poor key actions in my opinion with their MP10 and CUP2 digital pianos. Sluggish, harder to push, inconsistent, etc. However some of their other key actions (made by the Fatar key action company) are 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.