The digital piano market is not the same as it was just ten years ago. New, unexpected brand names have emerged as quality competitors. Features that were once thought unobtainable for less than a couple thousand dollars are now available on keyboards for less than a few hundred dollars.
Why choose a digital piano?
If you've ever wanted to learn to play the piano, but budget and space are constraints for you, a basic digital piano with realistic weighted keys and piano tones could be just for you. Many modern electronic pianos fulfill this criteria and come with standard additional bonus features such as headphone connections, allowing recording of the tunes you play, additional instrumental tones, as well as layering or distorting tones with special effects. Of course, digital pianos require no tuning at all. All this makes it an extremely attractive option compared to the traditional acoustic piano.
Now more than ever is a great time to grab a digital piano as a suitable alternative to an upright acoustic or grand piano. Purists will insist to their deathbeds that nothing can ever quite match the authentic touch, weight, or resistance of the ivory keys, or the booming, resonant sound produced by the hammers of a traditional piano, but modern piano makers are certainly trying their best to prove these people wrong, and they seem to be succeeding more often than not.
What's the best brand?
Anyone looking for a modern piano today won't be left wanting for choice. From Yamaha to Casio to Roland to Korg to Kawai (interestingly, all are Japanese companies!), each brand has their own separate families of pianos. The list of differences (usually related to appearance or portability) between each family shrinks with each passing year. Expensive Yamaha Clavinova features can now be found in the more affordable and supposedly more basic Yamaha P-Series of pianos. It becomes almost pointless to keep up with the minute differences between each family of pianos, especially as the more basic entry-level pianos become increasingly more sophisticated over the years.
Yamaha used to be the "go-to" brand for general-purpose or entry-level pianos. If you wanted more realistic sound or feel, Korg and Roland were notoriously more expensive but definitely "worth it". The new kid on the block today, Casio, certainly seems to stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the gang who've been in the music industry for quite a while.
Ask anyone what they think of when they hear the name "Casio", and exquisitely-designed pianos would be far from their mind. Electronic gadgets, calculators, watches, even toy plastic keyboards are more commonly associated with Casio. In recent years, however, Casio's new technological advancements in achieving an affordable level of touch and feel realism has catapulted it from the realm of toy keyboard assemblers to the big league of competitive piano manufacturers. That's not to say the other brands are sitting on their laurels, but Casio should most certainly not be discounted offhand when considering a purchase of a good piano today.
The beauty of the acoustic piano
The piano is no doubt a beautiful instrument, both aesthetically and acoustically. Perhaps nothing can ever truly beat the beauty and majesty of an acoustic piano and the respect it commands, whether at home or on stage. Digital pianos, however, have come a long way, and definitely deserve due consideration, especially as technology advances and they become ever more affordable.
The author maintains a site reviewing the most popular digital pianos in the market today at Digital Piano Reviews Blog Dot Com. He recommends the Casio Privia PX-130 Digital Piano for those interested in an affordable, portable entry-level piano. Those interested in a more fully-featured piano might consider reading the Yamaha P155 Digital Piano review instead.
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