REVIEWS - DIGITAL PIANOS UNDER $2500 - MY TOP PICKS! Kawai MP7, Casio PX850, Kawai CE220, Yamaha YDP162, Casio PX780, Roland DP90e, Kawai CN34, Kawai MP7, Yamaha CLP430, & More

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!