looking for advice about purchasing

[wizzy]

Hi everyone -

I'm a student living in a tiny flat in London, and I miss my piano! I'm a half decent amateur player, but there's no way I could fit an upright, let alone a grand, into my flat. I'm looking for something that's not too expensive, which replicates the sound and feel of an acoustic piano, and I was wondering if a clavinova would do the trick. However, I have loads of questions about buying an instrument, and I'd like to get the views of others who use them, before going to a dealers - I need to know what questions I should ask!

Here are my 3 main questions:

1. I am not really interested in the computerised multi-tracking wizardry of the thing, but the sound has to be decent (I play classical music in the main, so there's not all that much call for synthesized drumbeats!) I've read articles which suggest that it's not possible to get the same tonal colour out of a digital piano, which have worried me a bit, and I'd be interested in the views of others who already own these instruments on this - is it a problem which only professionals will really notice, or will it interfere significantly with my enjoyment of playing?

2. I have been utterly confused by the different "series" of instrument, and no website I've checked out has helped. What is the difference between the Yamaha CVP, YDP and CLP series, for example???!

3. Also, within a range, does the sampling of the sound get better with the price, or do you get the same basic instrument, but pay more for the gizmos? So, will I get a better sound out of the CLP 120, than the 110, for example? (or the 150 and the 130?)

Any enlightenment on this, and any advice at all would be very deeply appreciated!
Thanks
Kiera

[jjm542]

The best advice I can offer is "go try them." You are fortunate to live in a large city where there should be no problem finding any of these instruments. Try http://www.yamaha-music.co.uk/ to find a dealer close to you. You might also check out other brands while you're at it - Roland, Kawai, Technics all make good digitals.

Re your specific questions, I'll take a stab, others will undoubtedly chime in:

1) A digital piano is not an acoustic piano or vice-versa - they are each unique musical instruments and should be evaluated on that basis. The piano "voice" will sound different in each digital and each acoustic you try. You have to listen for yourself to decide which digital voice sounds "best" to you and whether any of them sound close enough to an acoustic to satisfy your tastes. I think most people would agree that a good pianist can get more subtlety out of a good, well-maintained acoustic, but digitals have a lot of advantages too

2) The differences across lines are basically features. The CVP line has the most "gadgetry" which you say you don't need. The CLP line is basically a piano with a few extra sounds and features. The YDP appears to overlap the lower end of the CLP line, perhaps with lower-quality cabinetry and sound system - I'm not too familiar with those. There's also a stage piano line (P120, P250 etc.) that may be of interest - they have good sounds and keyboards, sort of a CLP without the cabinet or sound system, and are substantially less expensive

Within lines, you get more features, better sounds, more polyphony, etc. as you move up the numbers. The top of the CLP line appears to be highly regarded as a piano.

3) The sample quality generally gets better as you move up the lines, but let your ear be the final arbiter. The samples certainly get larger, more layers, more chromatic, etc. but whether you like the sound better is subjective. The CLP 170 has a unique adaptive sound system that some people like. Note that on the upper-end digitals, particularly the CVP series, you have a lot of ability to modify the basic sounds (EQ, envelopes, etc.)

To me, the most important features are piano sound quality and keyboard feel, both of which you have to judge for yourself. If the low-end instruments meet your needs in these two parameters, you can always augment the sound system, add external sound modules, etc. later on.

Hope that helps,

[MrVegas]

If you go over to the Keyboard magazine forums, they "rave" about the P250 having great piano sounds, great action, etc. This may be a better choice for you size-wise. I believe the P250 has some small built in amp and speakers.

http://www.musicplayer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=18