Intro to Buying a Digital Piano

So you've absitively to go with a agenda piano instead of an acoustic. Congratulations, you've fabricated the aboriginal decision. But this is just the aboriginal step. Choosing a agenda piano can be overwhelming. There are so abounding agenda pianos on the bazaar today you accept to accomplish abiding you get the one that is appropriate for you. You don't wish to pay for appearance that you will never use, and you don't wish to leave out appearance that are important to you. This commodity will advice you accomplish the best decision.
What's important to you?
What do you wish to do with the agenda piano that you couldn't do with an acoustic? Portability may be one important feature. If so, go with a "stage agenda piano." These are carriageable clashing the agenda pianos in cabinets, or agenda admirable pianos which are stationary.
If you are just alpha to play go with a agenda piano that feels like an acoustic. This is important so you'll be use to the feel of a "real" piano if arena at your instructor's abode or in a accessible abode such as a church. I'd aswell acclaim not spending too much. You may adjudge that piano arena is not your affair afterwards a while, and you don't wish to absorb too abundant money until you're abiding you will stick with it. There are affordable (less than $600 or $500) agenda pianos that feel like acoustic pianos and complete appropriate abundant for the beginner.
How does it feel?
Most agenda piano owners wish the feel of an acoustic piano. Abounding accept abounding keys that actor the bang arresting activity of acoustic pianos. But they can feel altered from one agenda piano to another. So try a few out. There's no faculty in traveling into the data of anniversary way the manufacturers simulate an acoustic feel. The quick and bedraggled account will suffice.
Acoustic pianos use a bang arresting mechanism. You hit the key, it causes a bang to bang the strings. Some agenda keyboards use bang assuming mechanisms to challenge this feel. These are weighted-hammer activity keys. These agenda pianos feel the a lot of like acoustic pianos. The next abutting is artlessly weighted-action keys. The keys accept a weight in them to simulate the attrition an acoustic piano key would have, but it doesn't cover the hammer-striking system. Finally, there are non-weighted keys. These are like your archetypal synthesizer or abbey organ. They feel annihilation like an acoustic piano.
Play an acoustic to get the feel of it, again you'll accept something to analyze if award the appropriate feel for a agenda piano.In accession to the activity of the keys, don't overlook the activity of the pedal. Abounding agenda pianos will appear with a bargain pedal that doesn't attending or feel like an acoustic piano pedal. The bargain pedals can affectation some adversity and annoyance to the amateur because they will sometimes move as your bottom presses them. This can be actual annoying. It's account advance in a pedal that is abundant and will be stationary. Accomplish abiding that if your agenda piano does not appear with one, that the architect sells one that is adjustable with your piano.
Also, some agenda pianos will abutment assorted levels of pedaling to simulate an acoustic piano. On an acoustic, you can get altered levels of sustain by acute the sustain pedal added or by acute it less. Some agenda pianos will actor this. The cheaper ones may alone accept on/off sustain pedal, which agency you columnist and it's on. There's no half-way point.
How does it sound?
Digital piano manufacturers use altered techniques to sample sounds. The agenda piano plays the recording of the sampled sound. Back the manufacturers use altered techniques, the pianos all complete hardly different. If you wish one that sounds like an acoustic, play an acoustic in the abundance and anon analyze it to the agenda piano you are because in the aforementioned store.
Some questions to accumulate in mind:
1) How abounding speakers does it use and what admeasurement are they? Typically, the added the better.
2) How able is the amplifier? Stronger is usually better. Even if you don't charge it to play actual loud, the superior of complete will be bigger if the amplifier does not accept to ache itself.
3) Listen to the agenda decay. Hit a agenda harder and authority it down. Listen to how continued it takes for the agenda to "disappear." Did it abandon agnate to how an acoustic piano agenda would?
4) How does it complete through headphones? If you're traveling to be arena through headphones to not afflict the neighbors or ancestors members, accomplish abiding it sounds acceptable in your headphones.
5) Does it complete like an acoustic piano? You accept to apprehend both an acoustic and agenda piano to see how abutting they complete to anniversary other. If you can't acquaint abundant of a aberration that's a acceptable thing.
Polyphony
Polyphony is the bulk of addendum that can be played at already on the agenda piano. Mine has 32 agenda polyphony, but some agenda pianos go up to 128 and beyond. We alone accept 10 fingers, but application the sustain pedal, you can authority out abundant notes. Thus, you charge added than 10-note polyphony. You don't wish to lose addendum if captivation the sustain pedal because your accord is too low.
If you get 32 agenda accord you'll apparently be ok. Plus, newer agenda piano models use avant-garde algorithms to actuate which addendum to bead off if the max accord is reached. This agency that in the attenuate accident you exhausted your accord max, the keyboard will actuate which addendum could be alone after anyone noticing.
If you are sequencing or accomplishing altered choir over recordings on your keyboard you may charge added than 32 agenda accord back anniversary new articulation will accord to the best bulk of addendum your keyboard will play at once. Of course, if you are accomplishing added avant-garde techniques such as this, you are apparently already acquainted of this and would accept a keyboard with college polyphony.
Design and Display
Design is important if it will action as a appliance section as able-bodied as an instrument. Actual important for apartment that get a lot of traffic. If your piano will be in a allowance that gets little traffic, this apparently will not be an issue.
Also, accomplish abiding the buttons are set up in a analytic fashion. You wish it to be simple to use. Accomplish abiding none of the buttons could be accidentally hit while arena the keyboard. This could change your settings in the average of a performance. How embarrassing! Get a acceptable attending at the agenda piano and the layout. See some videos of agenda pianos [http://www.digitalpianoguide.com] Notice which ones accept designs and button formats that are ambrosial to you.
You aswell wish to accomplish abiding you accept a acceptable LCD affectation screen. It helps you apperceive which appearance are getting used. My agenda piano does not accept an LCD apprehend out. This was arresting at aboriginal if ambience the metronome to a specific beat. However, a quick attending through the apprenticeship chiral apparent this. Plus, back it is a affection that is acclimated often, I anon memorized it and no best bare to argue the manual.
The point is, if you wish to accomplish abiding you get to use all the appearance you paid for, it's easier to do that with a able-bodied organized LCD display. If you wish to save money and get one after an LCD (like I did), again apprehend your chiral carefully to apprentice how to dispense the keyboard buttons to accomplish the adapted result.
Bells and Whistles
What added appearance are you searching for in a agenda piano? Abounding appear with added accretion and whistles, some you may need, some you won't, and some that you'll anticipate are "cool" at aboriginal but never use.
Most will accept assorted apparatus sounds, or voices. You should get over at atomic 10 altered choir with a archetypal agenda piano. You can aswell get:
Recording capabilities
Keyboard agreeable adeptness (half of the keyboard plays one apparatus while the added bisected plays another)
Articulation layering (plays two instruments at the aforementioned time)
Metronome
Pre-recorded songs
Teaching techniques (such as silencing the left-hand allotment of a pre-recorded song so you can apprentice it while the recording continues arena the appropriate duke part)
And added features...
I achievement this has helped in your seek for the appropriate agenda piano.