We're moving, and the my lovely accoustic piano is having to go in the living room, so I'm not able to play it as often or as loudly as I'm used to!! In order to soften the blow, I am having a 'music room' (I also play violin and guitar) upstairs, and so have decided to get a digital piano to complete the musical scene.

I am post grade 8, so would definitely want something of good quality and with as much of a 'real' piano feel as possible. Additionally, I want to have headphones so I can practise with minimum embarrassment! As far as budget is concerned, I guess £500 to £1,000 obviously the less the better - moving house is expensive enough!

Anybody got any advice/recommendations about what would be a good buy? What have any of you got, and how happy are you with them????

Ta!!!|

I have a Kawai didgital piano and I love it!!! I have had no problems with it and it has done me proud!:D

Sounds promising piano *singing* lover

What model is it?? How much was it???? Where did you get it from??????

I'm nothing if not demanding......

It cost £650 (my mum and dad think it was only £400, hopefully they wont find out lol), I got it from South Queensferry in Edinburgh. . I honestly cannot remember the model of it, I promise I will try and find the manual to find out for you.

That would be great! I'm a long way from Ed/burgh but maybe could look online.

Promise I won't tell your M&D!!!!!!

Hi there,
Most people tend to reccomend the Yamaha CVP series. They tend to offer the best feel and realisticness, and feel similar to Yamaha grands, which are quite decent pianos. I've got a six year old CVP 109, but now they are on the 309, and Jools Holand reccomends them. I am not a salesman, just suggesting!

Sorry to hijack this post, but this is something I'm interested in too. Budget is very much an issue, we're looking for something not more than about £600.

Two I'm wondering about are a kawai and a
yamaha

I don't know if anyone knows any of these two models and has an opinion?

We've heard the Kawai in a local music shop and it sounded great to my unmusical ears. My daughter (the musical one!) had a go and liked the sound and feel of it.

I was searching the internet yesterday for a cheap copy of Musition and came across a website that sold it at a good price. I then discovered that they give an educator's discount, this was very substantial! After abit more searching and an email to see if I was entitled (being a private music teacher) and they said yes! I discovered they also sell digital pianos. Might be worth having a search online for an educator's discount if you are teaching. Wish i'd discovered it earlier!

EDIT: PLease read comment below instead of this one.

I would buy Yamahas overall.

I'm confused. If you're getting a "music room", why do you need to have your acoustic piano in the living room when it could go upstairs?

As for digitals, they are all heretical so if you're used to a decent acoustic, you will only be disappointed and wonder why you spent all that money on something electronic. It might sound harsh, but I guarantee a pianist of your facility will ultimately feel let down.

Seconded. But didn't you start a thread recently about getting rid of a U3 in favour of a digital???

Yes, mother
It is fair to say I do not possess the facility of our originator on this thread and whilst my replacement thoughts were due to lack of space/family needs, in this case we already learn that the acoustic is going downstairs with a music room atop. I'm just confused about why a digital is needed in the first place...

ok, your comments are forgiven.

I agree with Mr B that acoustic is best and we have 2 acoustic pianos in our house. We have have recently, however, also bought a digital Yamaha to use in a very sunny room because of the temperature changes and it is also very good. I have used several of these of different models in schools.

Thanks for all the advice!

Yes, agree re: accoustic - defo much more satisfying to play, but my reasons for digital are twofold: really don't want to lug piano upstairs - done that before in a previous house and it was v. stressful and difficult, and secondly, I want to be able to practise without disturbing the whole house or next door. To me, insulating an accoustic with duvets, blankets, etc produces a much less satisfactory sound than a digital piano!!

Anyhoo, have now taken the plunge and bought a Yamaha CLP240C. Am looking forward to practising with headphones and playing the accoustic whenever possible (when neighbours and OH are out!) or performing perfected pieces rather than work-in-progress!

Also got to bear in mind my OH is not musical! He doesn't mind me playing, but finds repetitive practising irritating!!!!!

I think anyone who says that a modern digital piano does not match an accoustic hasn't played or listened to the latest designs. I recently recorded a piece on my Roland digital piano (£1500 new) and played it alongside a professional recording on an accoustic grand and frankly you would be very hard put to tell which was which.

Technology is moving on so fast that it changes almost daily. It took me some time to understand all the available settings but you can set up all the modern designs to produce the sort of sound you want. Digital photography went through the "it is not as good as film" stage and now the quality is superb.

I am extremely happy with the Roland although I accept that all the other major makes are probably just as good.

Anyone good luck with your search for a suitable instrument.

Hmmm, I'm not sure I agree here. I have a kawai digital and am perfectly happy of it. I didn't do grades as I learnt in France, but finished the conservatoire and play somewhere around diploma level.

Certainly a good quality acoustic is the ideal, but for the price spent, you will never get an acoustic that will sound or feel like a good digital - you'd need to spend way more.

I learnt on good acoustic pianos and I do not regret getting my kawai at all - I have never once felt let down by it.

Allan

I have the basic model Yamaha - and it sounds like, for what you're describing, it would suit your purposes. It's small, it's fairly lightweight, and it's just over £600. I got mine through an ABC, and I have it on six month rental, as a trial. What's good abotu this is that at the end of the six months, I can either buy it, in which case, they take all my rental charges out of the final payment (i.e. I'll end up paying about £300 when I need to settle), or I can upgrade to a better one (and still have the rental taken out of my purchase cost), or hand it back or carry on renting.

I think, for your circumstances, this might not be a bad scheme as you can make sure that you use the thing a fair bit before you commit yourself to having yet another piano round the house.

Mr B - out of interest, when did you last try a digital? I'm under the impression that the technology has recently significantly improved.

What Roland have you got?

Hi All,

My first posting here and interestingly I appear to be coming at this topic from the opposite direction! I have had a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-130 for a few years now. I tried the basic Roland model but didn't like it at all. I found that over headphones, the decay sounded unnarural and not at all like an acoustic piano. The Yamaha is used for writing and recording purposes, and I rarely need to depart from the basic piano sound.

I now find myself in the wonderful position of having an empty room and am looking to fill it with a baby grand, as now I would like something less practical - i.e. just for playing! Having read some of the previous posts about which brand, secondhand or not etc., I am now totally confused.

Could anybody suggest a make/model for me to go and try out? Have yet to commence this odyssey for the perfect piano and realise it's primarily down to trying loads of them but a little guidance would sure be handy.

Thanks.