Digital Piano £600ish for teaching?

[dickiefunk]

Hi. I'm looking for a digital piano suitable for teaching up to at least Grade 8. I would prefer if it had 128 Polyphony but most importantly it needs to have a good action and piano sound. I would also like it to have the full support for three pedals.

I've been browsing around on the net and have seen the Casio Privia PX-800.

What are your thoughts on this piano?

Are there any other better options?

[sparky2305]

Hi,

Rolands Digital pianos are fantastic, I'm a big fan i have a stage piano(EP880) and a digital piano (HP220e) both fantastic sound and great hammer action!

Not really fond of casios Pianos they feel tacky and seem to be aimed at the ammateur market for pianos! and stay well clear of the M-Audio Pro Keys also feel really tacky for me.

On your price budget the one i would recomend would be the Roland RP-101 which is on DV for £635

Roland RP-101 ERW 88-Key Digital Piano - with Rose at DV247.COM

But something that is a must! go and try out the piano before you buy it, its going to be the only way to be fully satisfied with what you are getting

[dickiefunk]

Thanks for the reply. I've been looking around on the web and have narrowed my choice down to :-

Casio Privia PX-410/700/800

Yamaha YDP-140 Arius

Kawai CL-30

Roland RP-101

Any other thoughts or experiences with these?

[terminal3]

Strictly from a construction, feel, tone and brand reliability perspective, I'd always look at a Yamaha first. Never played a Yamaha digital piano I haven't thought felt really good and sounded excellent, but that's just me.

[DjRo]

Hello,

I would look at the yamaha as well. Especially if you are teaching children you would want something that is going to be strong and well contstructed! Yamaha PSR-S700 Portatone PSR Series Portable Keyb at DV247.COM look at this what you think?



DjRo

[aristocat9]

I would recommend Kawai or Yamaha. I prefer Kawai due to the piano sound and the action of the keyboard.

[ZeroZero]

Gem piano

I have had three yamaha psr never bothered to play any of them - plastic sounds. I now have a gem (got it for 680) and it responds and sounds like a real acoustic instrument. I cant get enough. IF DV cant do it, check out Hooters

[sphelan]

Originally Posted by DjRo

Hello,

I would look at the yamaha as well. Especially if you are teaching children you would want something that is going to be strong and well contstructed! Yamaha PSR-S700 Portatone PSR Series Portable Keyb at DV247.COM look at this what you think?



DjRo

I don't think that a Yamaha PSR.S700 can compare with what dickiefunk is looking for. It has organ keys as opposed to weighted piano keys. This is fine if you are teaching keyboard but I wouldn't recommend it for teaching piano.

I don't have any experience of playing any of the models you have listed dickiefunk but I can tell you from personal experience that I would rule out anything Casio. I had my own music school and used to teach piano and keyboard. In regard to piano what I had were two upright acoustic pianos (you know, the type that have been around since before all this technology started!!). Regarding the keyboard classes (of upto 10 children in a class) I only used Yamaha and recommended the children buy Yamaha after having made the mistake years before of buying a Casio myself. That and comparing the Casio and Yamaha models available in local music shops. The quality of the Yamahas was way above that of the Casios. I would regard the Casios as more of toy keyboards!

That said, I am sure the technology has improved and the new models are much better.

Now what I use is an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 M-Audio Keystation Pro 88 88-Key Hammer-Action USB at DV247.COM hooked up to a PC where I have piano software such as NI Akoustic Piano NATIVE INSTRUMENTS : Products : Sampling Line : Akoustik Piano and Elektrik Piano NATIVE INSTRUMENTS : Products : Sampling Line : Elektrik Piano plus synths such as Pro-53, Fm-8, Absynth 4, Massive and Reaktor (all included in Komplete 5 but also available separately NATIVE INSTRUMENTS : Products : Komplete / Bundles : Komplete 5). The only disadvantage of this system is that you require 3 pedals. I have just a sustain pedal connected at the moment.

Of the models you have narrowed down, I would say I like the look of either the Kawai. But then I would have to play each of them to see how they respond. That's what I think you need to do too...and look at it from the point of view of a teacher, not just a musician.

[joe]

Hi I was in the same situation myself and ended up buying a yamaha p-85 which I am very happy with, it's got a great action that I much prefered to any of the Roland and Casios I tried, it's limited on features but was only about £400 or was that £500? I can't remember, in any case it's good for me.

[sphelan]

dickiefunk, I wouldn't get sidetracked by the number of different sounds these pianos or keyboards have. Yeah, it's cool for the kids if you put on a different sound, but if what you are looking for is a substitute for a real piano, then I think you should concentrate on that sound and the rest is like candyfloss! Try each and see if the piano sound is what you are looking for. That's what I would do.