Find the right digital piano

Do you play at home or while traveling?

If you are thinking about buying a digital piano, you should first answer the following questions before buying: “Do I just want to play my digital piano at home or am I perhaps dependent on transporting it from A to B more often?” Possible reasons for the second A variant would be joint band rehearsals in a private practice room, but also performances on different concert stages. In both cases, regardless of whether you choose the variant at home or when traveling, different purchasing criteria are crucial. In the following video playlist we will show you the basic differences between a home piano , a compact piano and a stage piano .

The digital piano for the home

If you only want to play your piano in your own four walls, you usually decide on a digital or home piano in addition to the sound and technical characteristics, which we will take a closer look at in a moment. These are visually closest to the acoustic piano. A stage piano was – as the name suggests – designed for easy transport and use on stage. Digital pianos, on the other hand, are visually more appealing and can blend perfectly with the home environment. An interim solution are the slightly slimmer “compact digital pianos”. The transition to the stage piano is smooth. Compact digital pianos are a little more space-saving, but can be transformed into a home piano with the optionally available stands or bases in the same color / finish.

Whether the piano comes in a classic black high-gloss version or in a matt version in white, or optionally made of rosewood or cherry wood, is up to your own taste and the rest of the interior of the location. The selection in the digital and home piano segment is as varied as the different furnishing styles. Once you have decided on a color variant, you will find various digital pianos in different designs in the range of popular manufacturers such as Kawai, Yamaha or Roland .

Can the sound of a digital piano compete with that of an acoustic piano?

Since the sound of an acoustic piano is produced mechanically and the individual components from the piano string, via the resonance chamber, in conjunction with a whole lot of physics play a central role, we would only like to answer this question with “yes” to a limited extent. Acoustic sound remains acoustic sound.

Thanks to high-quality digital technology, the sound of an acoustic piano or even grand piano can be recreated electronically, but very faithfully. The main reason for this is the sampling technology , which has shaped music technology since the 1990s and has been continually refined to make the sound and feel even more authentic. Modern digital pianos today even go one step further and work on the basis of physical modeling.

With this type of sound generation, the differences in quality compared to the usually cheaper sampling method are enormous. The sound is reproduced digitally and is done by calculating physical parameters. In this way, sounds can be quickly created that mimic the physical behavior of a piano in a lively and realistic manner. Given the current state of technology, this is the ultimate.

Rock around the Clock: Nothing stands in the way of playing the piano even at midnight

If you've been kissed by the muse or the rehearsal at home is going particularly well, but the clock is already approaching midnight, with an acoustic piano you would probably have finished work long ago and thanks to the reliable caretaker you probably wouldn't have gotten this far. Since the sound in a digital piano - as we have already learned - is generated electronically, the piano playing can easily be extended at a later hour thanks to the volume control. This allows us to play very quietly and is also a reason for advanced pianists to switch from the acoustic instrument to its digital counterpart.

All electric pianos for the home are conveniently equipped with a stereo speaker system and also have a headphone jack. Thanks to the option of connecting headphones to the digital piano, it works even later at night, even with the most noise-sensitive neighbor. They may also complain about mechanical noises when hitting the keys. This is comparable to impact sound and can only be avoided to a limited extent due to the built-in hammer action .

When purchasing a digital piano, you should make sure that the built-in loudspeaker reproduce both the highs and lows clearly, powerfully and without distortion. Most of the time you want to enjoy your piano playing through surround sound or share your progress with your teacher or family.

The purchasing decision depends on the feel of the keyboard

In addition to the visual and sound aspects, when buying your digital piano you should particularly value an authentic playing feel. The decisive factor and certainly the purchasing decision are the touch behavior and the weighting of the keys. For authentic piano playing, the 88 keys on all digital pianos are equipped with a weighted hammer action . The name hammer action comes from the fact that on an acoustic piano, small hammers are still responsible for striking the piano strings. In order to simulate the playing feel of a digital piano as authentically and realistically as possible, hammers are still installed, but no strings are struck anymore. Meanwhile, the built-in computer detects the key press and converts it into loud or quiet audio signals.

The better the play between the touch behavior and the weighting of the keys is coordinated, the more realistic the dynamics will be perceived. Different levels of quality can also be seen in the composition of the piano keyboard. While plastic keys are more likely to be encountered in the entry-level price segment, wooden keys are used more frequently as the price increases. We recommend that beginners purchase a digital piano with a medium-weighted keyboard. If the counterweight is too high for the beginner, this will have a negative effect on the piano playing. Finger strength and motor skills need to develop over time.

Whether the keys are made of plastic or wood only plays a minor role. Before buying a digital piano, you should definitely play different keyboards from different manufacturers and choose them based on your own comfort level. Your own taste usually says more than 1000 words.

Matching stands for digital pianos

In order to round off the appearance of a digital piano and match it as closely as possible to its acoustic model, home pianos including with not only the console - which houses the keys, the sound generation and the loudspeaker boxes - but also side panels, a rear panel and a foot pedal. When assembled, the individual components form the substructure of an electric piano. It is recommended that two people assemble the digital piano after purchasing it. The stationary models for the home can easily weigh over 80 kg. This fact ensures that they usually remain in one and the same place after assembly. In direct comparison to an acoustic piano or grand piano, the weight savings are still enormous. It can usually be easily transported by two people.

If you prefer a digital piano that is not quite as bulky but rather takes up more space and would also like to put it on its side, we recommend that you consider a “compact digital piano” or stage piano when making your purchase decision. Compact digital pianos are significantly slimmer and lighter compared to a home piano. There are usually no stands or substructures included in their including . If you still don't want to do without it, you have the option of supplementing it with optically matching stands for digital pianos. When purchasing these stands, you should make sure that the piano stand does not wobble and is stable.

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Digital piano to go: The stage piano

If you can't do without your digital piano on the go and want to use your weighted keyboard more often in different places, a stage piano is the right choice. As the name suggests (English “stage” = stage), stage pianos are primarily designed for frequent assembly and dismantling and the sometimes hectic and hard everyday life on stage.

The relatively light weight of approx. 10 to a maximum of 40 kg (depending on the equipment) and the compact dimensions make transport a breeze. You will usually look in vain for a wooden look and high-gloss finish, as well as built-in loudspeaker. The stage piano usually has to be amplified via an external loudspeaker (keyboard combo), a PA system or the hi-fi system. This is because the various instruments are controlled separately in live operation, mixed and output via a large PA system. Only some models have a built-in speaker system on board, which is usually sufficient for sound in your own four walls or smaller events.

Basically, only the 88 weighted keys and the common digital sound generation technology are reminiscent of digital pianos for home use. The weighted keyboard, which is known to be important to the pianist when playing, is enclosed in a robust and durable enclosure on a stage piano or sometimes even in a case suitable for road use, but is in no way inferior in quality to the keyboard models of the home pianos discussed above.

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