[jpelg]

DNBM,

Obviously you are serious about your craft (far more than I) and deserve a nice keyboard. I agree that those "tweener" (<$2000) models just don't satisfy overall, and not enough to warrant the extra cash. That's why I recommended the Casio as a "beater". The better models you are currently investigating look really nice. You've managed to pique my curiosity regarding the new Kawai MP8 - damn you

!

Let us know what you end up getting.

 

[DoNotBugMe]

The MP8 definitely looks like a steal at $1999. If the sound portion of it delivers, it should give the P250 and its Roland equivalent a run for their money. But based on the samples I heard on Kawai's site, I came away a little less than impressed (compare it side to side with the CA series for example).

MP8 Samples
Sample 1 - Sample 2

CA9 Samples
Sample 1 - Sample 2

I've done a little more searching, and it doesn't appear that there are any Viscount dealers in my area. It's shocking that my area (Bay Area) has so few music stores/dealers to begin with. There's 1 authorized Yamaha dealer, 3 for Roland, and 1 for Kawai.

I'l report back once I have a chance to try those 3 models above. If money were no object, I would splurge on a GranTouch or a silent Acoustic but alas, our pockets are not THAT deep.

 

[DoNotBugMe]

One more week has passed, and I've narrowed down and have adjusted my focus more.

Kawai wooden action while great is too light for me, so Yamaha it is. Now it's down to which one.

CLP-270, CLP-280, CVP-307

The dealer quoted an official price for the CLP-270 (don't think it's list price because it was fairly low for a list price) of $4000. By standards, I think that $3200-$3300 (with delivery but pre-tax) would be more than fair.

The dealer didn't quote a price in the CLP-280, but it should be $1000 more than the CLP-270 and lists for around $5400, so somewhere in the ballpark of $4200 and a couple hundred more for the nice ebony or mahogany polish would be reasonable.

The final candidate is one I haven't really brought to light just because of the price which I thought was much higher but turned out not to be the case. The CVP-307 has a list price of $6500, but can be easily be brought down to $5200. So what's the difference?

The CVP-307 is like the CLP-270 except that it has a ton (and I mean a ton!) of features that make it very good for both piano practice and composition. You can record stuff, output it as sheet music and send it off to the computer. The converse is true. You can take MIDI files on the computer, play them back on the CVP and even show the sheet music for them on the CVP's screen. That's just one of many alluring features. Given that I do own a CVP currently, I appreciate the extra features it provides and may feel more at home with it, but it all comes back to price. I really like the features on the CVP, but it costs more than the 280, and I lose the wooden keyboard. The 309 has this keyboard but it costs yet another $1000 more, so somewhere in the $6000's, far out of my budget.

So that's a little update on my piano search. I'll report back again in about a week.

 

[AdamP88]

Wait, you live in the bay area, DoNotBugMe? Check out Pianos Plus in Hayward. That's where I got my Viscount. They carry Yammies as well.

 

[DoNotBugMe]

I think I've come to a decision now (still needs final approval from those controlling the pursestrings

). I'll be going for the Yamaha Clavinova CLP-280 PE (polished ebony). The wooden hammer action is exactly what I was looking for, and it has just enough features to satisfy my needs. It's about quadruple the price (roughly $4600) of what I was originally looking at (low $1000's), but it's exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks to everybody who provided input.

Along with this, I will be purchasing a pair of AKG headphones (probably the K601's unless something goes wrong) as well as a HeadRoom Micro "Stack."

I do have one more question that has to do with sound quality. I am contemplating the purchase of a fine product called Ivory . It's a state-of-the-art piano sound sample library containing 40 GB worth of samples for 3 world-class concert pianos! Has anybody used this before whether it's merely for performance or for its intended use, recording?

 

[Neko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoNotBugMe It's about quadruple the price (roughly $4600) of what I was originally looking at (low $1000's), but it's exactly what I've been looking for.

Ouch, that seems like alot. Out of curiosity is the digital more for personal use or preformance or recording?

Nothing can beat the feel of a real piano in my opinion, had some bad experineces with digitals for preformance examinations >_<

 

[DoNotBugMe]

It's for personal use and personal recording. I would love to opt for an acoustic, but there's the noise issue, and buying a silent acoustic is far out of budget (that's already halfway towards a grand piano right there).

Apart from the Yamaha GranTouch which can seen as a slightly neutered acoustic, the CLP-280's wooden hammer action is about as good as it gets in a digital piano. But I can understand how you feel during examinations. I haven't ever played a single good piano at piano examinations.

 

[DoNotBugMe]

Edit: Site was lagging and posted message twice.

 

[rsaavedra]

Must say thank you to all the posts in this thread!! It really helped me choose my digital piano. Have been looking for a while. After a few searches both on the web and also on headfi, then reading reviews on Amazon etc, and then trying some at stores, I decided to go for the Casio PX-100. The price is great, and the hammer action of its keys is really excellent! That's what I was most interested in, since I want it for practicing and exercising. Got the wood stand since it gives a lot more rigidity especially on a rigid floor, the X stand wasn't good enough for me. Here a couple of pics, thanks again!!!