Digital - are they any good

[quinie]

Due to mess with piano at the moment (see "my piano won't stay tuned")other half thinks it may be worth looking at a digital one - in my mind I can't imagine that it would ever be anywhere near as good as a new one - what do you reckon?

[Barrie Heaton]

That depends on who you ask here is not the best place However, some folk think they are the best thing since sliced bread, some say they are OK but prefer a real one and the diehards who would not be seen dead with one

They do loos a lot of value they are not very good on pedalling and the top treble sucks on most However, they have a lot a advantages as well……

Hmmm….. you can fit them under the bed errrr you can plug them into a computer

The will be others that will give you a lot of good reason why to buy one

Barrei,

[janetwilson]

I am renting a Clavinova 110 (a fairly basic Clavinova) at the moment. It's not bad.. sometimes I like the sound because it is quite mellow, and sometimes I hate it because it's a bit synthetic - basically, it is a recording of a good piano.... The bass sounds good. As your previous reply says, the worst bit is the high end of the treble. In general, it is lacking in resonance and in my case I find the damper pedal doesn't un-damp quites as much as a normal piano (i.e. don't get such a nice "blurred" sound.. er.. probably not the technical term for it).
I'm grade 7-8 ish and wouldn't want to stick with the Clavinova long-term, but it is OK as a temporary expedient.

[steved]

I've been looking into this quite a lot over the past few weeks - so far just via various forums prior to going to try some. The impression I have gained is that, on digital as with conventional pianos, you get what you pay for, and that at the top end there's not a great deal of difference between digital and real. However the range of prices on new digitals is smaller - £5000 is about top money for something worthwhile.
I would not be without a 'real' piano (looking for a S/H grand at the moment), but wanted to get something fairly transportable for those odd occasions where putting the grand in the boot isn't an option. Could also be useful when I can't get to a real piano due to TV being on. At present I'm torn between spending perhaps £300 on a fairly basic keyboard, and £2000 on something which allows me to experiment with different sounds and so on.
One important thing on digital keyboards - you need to view the purchase in much the same way as you would a computer. It's going to depreciate quickly, and next year's model will be better and cheaper. Certainly they seem to be coming on rapidly.

Advantages - well these depend on your perspective. Depending on your perception, and what you buy, they could include:
No regular maintenance
Portability
Use with headphones
Other instrument sounds
Computer connectivity

But you do need to accept that a digital piano's secondhand value will fairly quickly approach zero.

HTH
Steve

[Gill the Piano]

If I might be sexist at this point, Quinie...it's always men who think something with lots of bells, whistles, switches and buttons to press will be a good idea. This observation is based on over 20 years tuning real pianos for women whose husbands/other halves periodically try to make them buy something with gizmos... Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the air raid shelter at the bottom of the garden if anyone wants me.

[janetwilson]

I was at a piano club today (recommended if you are in London area!) and met someone who was a very good amateur pianist (playing Bach Preludes and Fugues) and surprised to discover all she has at home is a fairly basic Clavinova, which she's reasonably happy with as a practice piano. However, she also rents practice rooms regularly on a real piano...

[A440]

It's a different instrument (as I always say). Everyone is quite happy with acoustic and electric guitars being different instruments. No amount of pretending will turn a pile of circuitry into a piano.
However if you want the best of all options, get a piano with a silent system. That way you can use the real keyboard as a motherboard for midi use. They are amazing.
Try a top of the range Kemble (they have very reasonably priced silent systems) and you won't look back.
Don't buy two instruments when one is better.

[Rolandroger]

Hi

I have both a Roland digital piano and a Bentley Compact acoustic piano(aka a real piano).

As far as digital pianos go the Roland is far superior in sound quality, and authenticity (in reproducing an acoustic grand piano sound) to any of the Yamaha digital pianos I have played in the past (including Clavinova)

I devote more or less an equal amount of time to playing both my Roland and Bentley instruments and very often my wife or friends/neighbours, listening in another room, cannot say for sure which instrument I am playing. This is a testimony to the quality of sound of the Roland.

The Roland has very similar weighted key properties to the acoustic Bentley so it is very easy to switch from one to the other and experience no great change in key pressure.

I think there does exist a lot of "snobbishness" amongst some so called "purists" on the digital vs acoustic subject, but one only has to recall that when the modern piano was invented by Christofori there must have been many composers and musicians of the day facing the same dilemma.

Personally I love both equally and each has its own pros and cons, but in general I'm all for embracing new technology.