Keyboard that sounds as close to piano as possible

Dave!

Hey folks,

I'd like to continue teaching myself piano, but my keyboard (which is about 10 years old, seriously) is broken, and pretty sh*t also.

I don't have €1k+ to get a digital piano unfortunately (some day...), but I've seen/heard some keyboards sound very close to a piano, so I'm gonna try to get one of them.

I'm just looking for people's recommendations of brands/models for less than €300, and whereabouts I might get them. I'll go in and try out a few, cos I won't have the money until after Christmas at least.

I'm looking for a keyboard that sounds as close to a piano as possible, and also one with weighted keys, so that I can teach myself piano from it until I can afford a proper one.

Cheers folks

Dave

cornbb

You'll have a very limited selection of decent sounding 88 key keyboards with hammer action keys or even good weighted keys for 300 quid. Here are some options from Thomann.de, starting with the cheapest in each category:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=compact_digital_pianos&oa=pra
http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=stage_pianos&oa=pra
http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=digital_pianos_dp&oa=pra

I reckon your best bet would be to keep an eye on buyandsell.ie and adverts.ie for deals, I've seen some good electric pianos for sale on adverts before.

Quattroste

Go second hand for a better keyboard at a cheaper price.

Royale with Cheese

I had a Yamaha DGX 500, or 505... something like that. It's about as good as you're gonna get for a keyboard. Might be able to pick one up second hand for around 300, think I sold mine for €350 or so. This is the current version of it. €600 brand new. They're really fairly crap when compared to a proper stage piano though.

Dave!

Any other suggestions?

Eoin Madsen

Get a studiologic or similar controller keyboard with weighted keys, and then pick up a seperate piano sound module. There might be a Roland inside your budget. When you have more money, you can upgrade the sound module or buy a sampler or a muse receptor or something like that.

Electric pianos are just weighted keyboards with built in sounds and a whole lot of surplus wood anyway.

Hoagy

Yamaha do a 'graded touch' digital piano, €300 in Argos.
Graded Touch is semi weighted, lighter than hammer action
Have a look at it here

Dave!

Hey, just wanna bump this cos I'm planning on buying over/after Christmas

Here's a few that look like they could be good:

Thomann DP50 €500
Thomann DP30 RW/C €377
Casio CDP100 €459
Hemingway DP201 AT €377
Thomann SP5100 €329


I'm not interested in having different voices or effects on the keyboard.... all I want is the piano sound, and lots of weighted keys So would the €329 Thomann one be sufficient for that? Or I could even splash out for the €377 ones

unclebill98

Roland RD150. Great sounding Piano and knocking around for about 500 2nd hand.

Royale with Cheese

You'd really have to hear the Thomann one to really pass judgement on it. A cheap price probably means a cheap sounding piano sample, but not necessarily.

Dave!

The Thomann one is en route Here's hoping it's not sh*te........

fergaldublin

hey just wondering how you got on with the thomann. Thinking of getting one for a christmas present.

Dave!

Hey It arrived in 6 working days... no problems with delivery or anything.

I think the piano is fantastic! Haven't had any problems with it yet. It sounds perfect (to me), feels great, has a load of gratuitous effects and voices , and looks okay. It's quite big, that's the only thing! It also has 3 pedals (sustain, and... 2 others that I don't know what they do )

Everyone was quite shocked that it was so cheap to be honest. My brother is considering buying one now!

I'd certainly recommend it anyway.

I'm doing quite well with the learning by the way Mainly just playing chordal progressions really

fergaldublin

Thanks for the info dave. Will give it a go.

crosstownk

Here's some info on pedals.

You may find that your pedals are programmable which will open up a few more possibilities.

chewed

Dave! wrote: »

Hey It arrived in 6 working days... no problems with delivery or anything.

I think the piano is fantastic! Haven't had any problems with it yet. It sounds perfect (to me), feels great, has a load of gratuitous effects and voices , and looks okay. It's quite big, that's the only thing! It also has 3 pedals (sustain, and... 2 others that I don't know what they do )

Everyone was quite shocked that it was so cheap to be honest. My brother is considering buying one now!

I'd certainly recommend it anyway.

I'm doing quite well with the learning by the way Mainly just playing chordal progressions really

Hi Dave, what Thomann model did you buy in the end? I'm looking at getting the THOMANN DP-50.

Dave, which thomann piano did you get in the end? the thomann DP-50?
I have my eyes on the DP-50 set...only €519.

www.thomann.de/ie/thomann_dp50_set.htm

Dave!

Hey,

I ended up getting the DP-30 (the cheapest!). It worked out great It got a bit of a fault after a year or so, but Thomann's customer service is brilliant, so they just sent me out a new keyboard and had UPS take the old one.

Not sure what the difference is between the 30 and the 50, but the 30 does me grand.

just wondering, is the power cord that came with your digital piano a 3 pin or 2 pin?

Dave!

It's 2 pin mate, i just cut it off and switched it for a 3 pin.