I've had a play on the new digital piano, and it seems OK - not the same as a real piano, but much much better than the Casio keyboard I did have. My youngest son likes the prerecorded tunes - he sits at the piano and pretends to play them - but still prefers the Casio keyboard with its light up keys. My oldest son starts piano lessons tonight, and prefers the digital piano. It will have to do until we can get a bigger house!

That's interesting, I didn't know that.

I played a number of different digitals before I bought mine. My favourite (which was far out of my price range) was the Yamaha GT20. It was half way between an acoustic and a digital. It looked, felt and sounded like an acoustic - but you could use it with headphones. It had an acoustic frame, keyboard and hammers, but no strings. The movement of the hammers was converted into digital by a series of laser beams. You could then either use the headphones or the built in speakers. Speakers were placed at judicious points within the piano to replicate where the strings produce sound, the sound then used the piano as a sound box in the same way that the strings do.

It was an absolute delight. I wish that I had the money to buy one. If I had then I don't think that I would have felt the need to buy my acoustic a few years down the line.

Just out of curiosity, how much was it?

I think they're around £3k, but it was a while ago I was looking so I'm not sure if they come down any lately.

I recently bought a new Roland digital piano for £1500 - the HP103e - and I have been delighted with it. The piano sound is synthensised from an actual concert grand while the keyboard is exactly the same as that of a piano and weighted to feel the same.

You can also do a lot to vary the accoustic in which the piano is played, focussing the sound about three feet ahead of you, exactly the same as it would sound on a real grand.

I like to play a lot of harpsichord works as well as piano and this it does at the press of a button. These are the only two instruments that interest me but it does do others as well.

I played a traditional piano for years but when this became due for a major and expensive overhaul I put the money into the Roland instead and I have just loved the extra dimensions it brings. I think a modern, quality, digital piano is certainly worth serious consideration.

RT

i've got a Yamaha 28OPM with wooden keys, it was around £2,400 in January, now it's nearer 3 grand. It's certainly the best looking of the upright digitals, and it sounds great. Only thing is I borrowed most of the money to pay for it, but it was well worth it. It has a storage memory which enables you to record yourself, and keep the music when you unplug the instrument...unlike my last one, a Roland HP3e, which kept the recording only for as long as it was switched on.

I have a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-820, which they stopped making a while ago.



I've had it since I was 9, I'm now 16 and it's gotten me through all my grades up to 8.



...and now it's dying. As in it's started making all these funny noises and won't play properly.



Sigh. Oh well...

FINALLY!

My Yamaha P70 has arrived (in a ginormous box)! I ordered it 3 weeks ago and now i finally have it! I spent all morning playing it even though i have an essay to write... I have to say that i'm pretty satisfied, and as i'm getting more and more the feel for the keyboard, i'm enjoying playing it more and more!

In regards to sound, its OK...u can tell thats its not a grand, but for the purpose of practicing without getting kicked out of your apartment by the neighbors, its great!

YEY

Yay for you

Excellent!
I've been very happy with the yamaha P70, have only just sold it as I've 'upgraded' to an acoustic piano (I don't have the problem of waking people up and my acoustic piano has a third pedal which makes it VERY QUITE for practice).