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Alesis Recital | 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano | Review & Demo

Today we're going to be looking at one of the most popular musical instruments on Amazon in Canada and the United States - the Alesis Recital. This is an 88-note, non-weighted but touch-sensitive digital piano.

Given the massive popularity this instrument has achieved, we figured it was definitely worth taking a look at here to see if all of the attention was deserved, or simply the result of effective marketing.

We'll cover everything from the sound, action and features, and leave you with our overall verdict on this 88-key digital piano.

Are Semi-Weighted Keys Okay For Piano Lessons?

Before we start digging into the specifics of the Alesis Recital, let's have a quick discussion with regards to whether or not an action that is not fully weighted is appropriate for someone learning piano.

88-Key Semi-Weighted Action

The Alesis Recital features an 88-note action, and the dimensions of the keys themselves are pretty close to those found on a real piano. While touch sensitive, the action is unweighted, and weighted keys are a pretty often recommended feature for anyone looking for an instrument when they or their child starts lessons.

An argument is going to be made that there's certainly a basic level of technique that you can start to build and work on with this instrument, but most piano teachers will agree that weighted keys are required to start developing the proper sense of control and dynamics needed for taking piano lessons and learning the instrument.

It's definitely important to keep this in mind if you're starting lessons and looking for a piano. With that out of the way, let's jump into the sound engine.

Alesis Recital - Sound Engine Alesis Recital Digital Piano - Sound Engine Strong Value

One of the big things Alesis focuses on in their marketing literature is the argument that the Alesis Recital is a one-of-a-kind instrument for the price not only because of the 88-note action but because of the quality of the tone engine and speaker system.

Some reviews online will state that the Alesis Recital can go head-to-head with the Yamaha P-45 in terms of tone, especially since the Recital has 128-note polyphony and 20-watt speakers. But let's hold our horses a second here - the P-45 absolutely smokes the Recital from a sound perspective to the point that it's not even close.

That said, the Recital costs about half as much as the P-45 so that really needs to be kept in mind. When Alesis claims that the Recital is one of a kind for the price, they have a legitimate point.

It's just going to come down to whether the Recital is delivering enough, or if the jump to a higher price point and a superior playing experience from a Yamaha or Casio would actually make more sense.

128 Note Polyphony & 20 Watt Speakers

The 128-note maximum polyphony count is a nice bonus, and the speakers are pretty decent, though if you crank them anywhere above 75% or so there is definitely some distortion happening.

Grand Piano Sound

Now, specifically to the character of the grand piano sound here. Right away it's clear that it's actually a pretty complex sample that Alesis is using. They don't disclose what types of sampling they've done or how many sample layers were used, but the point is, the sound is pretty decent.

There's a reverb engine with a few modifications possible so you can adjust the character of the tone to some extent. There's also Chorus which you can use on the non-acoustic piano tones, of which there are 5 in total including electric piano, organ and synth, as well as a Modulation effect.

For the price, definitely some pretty decently realistic sound happening here.

Digital Piano Action Alesis Recital Digital Piano Action Touch Sensitive

As mentioned above, the Alesis Recital features an 88-note, non-weighted, spring-loaded action. There are a couple of levels of touch sensitivity, perhaps 3 or 4, so there's some amount of dynamic control possible here. There's adjustable touch response across a couple of levels as well.

The key dip however is a lot shallower than you'll get on a real piano, so the transition from this instrument to an acoustic piano will be hampered somewhat by that.

Who is this Action Suited For?

So who is this action really appropriate for? If you're a parent looking for a keyboard to spark some interest and get your child into lessons and gauge overall interest, the Alesis Recital and this action would probably work really well.

Sure, if things go well, you might need an upgrade sooner than you might have expected, but fortunately, the initial financial investment isn't totally staggering.

The Recital could also work really well for folks who need an 88-note action for gigging and aren't concerned at all with whether or not the action is weighted.

Additional Features Metronome & Transpose

The Alesis Recital has a fine selection of additional features. For starters, there is a built-in metronome with adjustable BPM. This is pretty key for students as they work on developing their internal sense of time and rhythm. A built-in metronome saves you an additional purchase.

Transpose is also covered as well. The benefit of this feature is that it allows you to shift the pitch of the keyboard without changing where your fingers happen to be playing.

Layer, Split Mode & Twin Piano

You can also get into layering of 2 sounds, and Split Mode is present as well, as is Twin Piano. Alesis refers to this as a powerful educational feature which is an exaggeration, but it is definitely a useful feature to have.

Professional keyboard players certainly make extensive use of Layering and Splitting the keyboard, but for beginners and students, features like this are included more as fun ways to engage a learner.

Skoove Premium Subscription

Certain packages of the Alesis Recital also include a free subscription for 3-months of Skoove Premium which is an online piano lesson platform with new music theory tips.

Connectivity - Power & RCA Audio Alesis Recital Connectivity Connector Ports

In terms of connectivity, the Recital has a DC and includes a power supply in the box, which is actually nice because at this price point, often a power adapter is not included. You also have the option to power the Recital with 6 D Cell Batteries.

Oddly, there are stereo RCA outputs in case you want to connect the Recital to an amplifier or stereo. It's not as common anymore to have RCA outs on a keyboard as it's now usually 1/4-inch outs, but having an RCA out is better than nothing.

Pedals

There's also a pedal input for a sustain pedal, but keep in mind that a sustain pedal is not included. The Recital does not support half-pedalling, so you can add on a pretty basic one to get some sustain happening.

Headphones

Of course, a stereo headphone output is present for private practice, and there's a USB-MIDI port for connecting to devices for apps or software synth plugins.

Closing Thoughts

Considering the comparably low price point, is the Alesis Recital delivering a solid instrument for the price? We would definitely say the answer is yes.

Is it a long-term solution for piano lessons? Most definitely not, but for getting introduced to music, the Alesis Recital will do the trick.

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Kawai DG30 | Digital Grand Piano Review | RHIII Action, Bluetooth MIDI, Onkyo Audio System

Finally, an affordable digital grand piano from Kawai. If there was one glaring hole in Kawai’s otherwise strong digital piano lineup, it was without question a digital baby grand piano that didn’t totally break the bank like previous models like the CP1.

And the fact is, there’s a real demand for products like this - just look at the success of Roland’s GP line. Kawai has finally answered the bell and plugged this hole with the brand new Kawai DG30.

That means it’s time for a review. We’re going to jump right into our dissection of this new instrument to see if it matches expectations and how it measures up to other options in the market. Be sure to check out the accompanying video as well for an even more in-depth analysis and some playing examples.

Kawai DG30 Digital Grand Piano - General Overview Why is this a Big Deal?

We first heard about the new DG30 back during NAMM 2020. We, and many other dealers, have been begging Kawai for something like this for years, so naturally, we were very excited to see to learn that the DG30 was on the way.

We knew there was going to be a serious market for this piano, and given Kawai’s track record, we were sure they would be able to produce an excellent instrument for this category.

First Impressions of the Specs Sheet

When we finally got our hands on the specifications sheet we were in all honesty a little bit underwhelmed. The specs sheet just didn’t have the wow fact of a Kawai NOVUS 10 or NOVUS 5 for example.

Now that we’ve finally had a chance to play one and disregard some of our previous expectations, the overwhelming consensus is that this is a very satisfying piano to play that also happenns to look great.

Attractive Cabinet

And this shouldn’t be a surprise as the DG30 is essentially a Kawai CN39 in the piano cabinet of a small grand piano - the same sound engine, speakers, keyboard action, etc. The CN39 is a wonderful instrument in its own right, so despite our lack of initial enthusiasm for fancy new specs, we’re perfectly fine with Kawai’s choice here.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the piano sound.

Kawai DG30 - Piano Sound Digital Grand Piano - 4 Speaker System With 2x 20-watt Amps from Onkyo 4 Speaker System With 2x 20 Watt Amps from Onkyo

To start, the DG30 has a pair of 20-watt amplifiers for a total of 40 watts of power, coming at the player through a 4 speaker system. There are two main speakers aimed at the floor, and two tweeters for some of the higher frequencies.

Onkyo Audio Technologies was a big contributor here as the speaker/amp configuration was designed in concert with them, and they have supplied the signal processing technology.

Progressive Harmonic Imaging Sound Engine

It features the Progressive Harmonic Imaging (PHI) sound chip with 88-key stereo sampling, which as mentioned, is the same version found in the CN39, as well as the CA49. The focus of this sample set is the beautifully recorded Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano.

Progressive Harmonic Imaging Sound Engine

The 88-key stereo sampling is significant as it means each and every note of the SKEX was recorded individually as opposed to only recording one in every four or five notes and stretching the sample. Individual note sampling produces a far more accurate tone.

Other Sounds

There are 355 built-in sounds, and the vast majority of these are high-quality. The acoustic pianos and vintage electric pianos are definitely the highlights.

That said, Kawai always has nice church organs and as a result, their digital pianos have been quite popular with the worship community for many years. The Kawai DG30 would make for a fine digital piano for a Church looking for a versatile digital piano that happens to look like an acoustic baby grand.

OLED Display User Interface

Navigating the controls is the same as on the CN39 as well, with an easy-to-use control panel with an OLED display located on the cheek block.

256 Note Polyphony

The polyphony is a strong 256 notes which might sound like overkill, but it will be important to some as you can have 16 MIDI tracks going in at once on this thing.

A large polyphony count like this also ensures that even if you’re layering and adding effects, the polyphony is never going to get strained.

Virtual Technician

The Kawai DG30 is also equipped with Kawai’s Virtual Technician feature, which gives the player access to 19 editable sound-related parameters.

If that’s too intimidating, there are several Smart Presets that give you specific combinations of the parameters pre-determined by Kawai. Check out the video for some examples of this, as well as some playing examples of the different grand piano sounds.

Cabinet Resonance

Some final observations related to sound; despite the sound specs lining up exactly with the CN39, we are noticing an effect the cabinet seems to be having on the sound, namely, there’s some real cabinet resonance coming through. This isn’t in the marketing literature, but we’re definitely picking up on it.

On to the piano action.

Kawai DG30 - Piano Action Responsive Hammer III Key Action Responsive Hammer III Key Action

The Kawai DG30 is equipped with Kawai’s Responsive Hammer III action. Though they’ve kept the name the same, this is the latest, upgraded version of the RHIII.

This action is known for being one of the best plastic key actions available and features grade-weighted hammers, ivory touch white key surfaces, let-off simulation, triple sensor key detection, and counterweights.

The dynamic output is very accurate, as is the weighting. The texture on the key surfaces offers a nice balance between grip and glide, and the white keys are rounded for ease of piano playing experience.

The Best Plastic Key Action Available?

There’s not much more one could really ask for with this action - it’s responsive, offers the player a ton of control, and the repetition speed is good. In fact, many people consider the RHIII to be the best plastic action currently on the market.

Roland’s PHA4 often gets considered as well, but it doesn’t have the counterweights or the repetition speed that the RHIII does.

You need to jump to a wood-based action for a real upgrade from here, but to keep the price down on the DG30, Kawai elected for this action as opposed to the wood-based Grand Feel Compact.

Kawai DG30 - Connectivity

Connector Ports

Let’s start with the physical connector ports. The Kawai DG30 has both 1/4” stereo line inputs and line outputs. This is really important because if you’re looking for the aesthetics of a baby grand piano for a venue, such as a restaurant or other performance space, but would like something maintenance-free, the DG30 is going to be a great choice.

1/4” stereo line outputs ensure you can connect the DG30 to an amp or external speaker system for more power than what the 40-watt amps can muster.

After that, we’ve got dual headphone jacks, as well as USB Type A and B connectors.

Bluetooth MIDI & Bluetooth Audio

The Kawai DG30 also has Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio. Bluetooth MIDI means you can connect to Smart devices to access apps like Kawai’s Sound Museum apps and playback recordings, while Bluetooth Audio means you can stream music directly through the DG30’s sound system.

This makes the DG30 a wonderful piano for entertaining - who won’t be impressed hearing high-quality audio coming from your grand piano at your next party?

Kawai DG30 - Features Internal Recorder

The Kawai DG30 is a strong internal song recorder that can record both WAV and MP3 files, and you can save up to 16-Track standard MIDI recordings to a flash drive.

This might not be the most relevant feature to the average DG30 buyer, but it’s a nice perk that carries over from the CN39.

Metronome & Other Functions

In terms of other features, the DG30 has pretty much everything else you’d expect, such as a metronome, transpose, built-in rhythms, and a built-in lesson function. There’s a variety of built-in lesson books too such as Alfred Lesson Songs, Czerny, Chopin, and more.

Kawai DG30 - High-End Cabinet

Genuine Polyester

Now to the cabinet. Kawai went all the way here by using genuine polyester for the Ebony Polish finish, as they do with their acoustic grand pianos. This is worth noting because not every piano company uses real polyester for their ebony polish finishes, and instead, often takes a much less durable approach.

Polyester does make the instrument heavier, but two people would still be able to move it, so keep that in mind if you’re a restaurant owner looking to spice up your establishment.

Full Appointments

Rounding out the cabinet is an attractive key cover, music rest, and a 2-position top board for an even more aesthetic effect.

Grand Feel Pedal System

Lastly, we have to mention that the DG30 is using Kawai’s Grand Feel Pedal System with half-pedal support, which is something pianists just love. Kawai has applied three different spring pressures to the three pedals - Damper, Sostenuto, and Soft- mimicking the exact feel of a grand piano pedal system.

Closing Thoughts

Thank you for sticking with us at Merriam Music Blogs and Articles through this review of the DG30. We’re thrilled that Kawai has added this to their lineup. The Kawai DG30 is going to compete really nicely against Roland's GP-607, and in fact, we have a comparison video between the two that you can check out here.

The Kawai DG30 is a competitively priced, musical, and perhaps most importantly, beautiful digital grand piano from Kawai ready for a variety of settings. And with Kawai’s great reputation and warranty coverage, you can feel confident going with the DG30 rather than some no-name branded digital piano from a big box store.

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Keyboard Stands | Which Type is Best For You?

The popularity of digital pianos has ushered in an increase in innovations in the world of keyboard stands. While serving a simple purpose, these accessories can vary in design and be better suited to different situations.

Digital pianos in the slab and stage formats are built to be portable - something lightweight enough that musicians can carry them for short distances, transport them in cars or public transit, or store it in small spaces like a closet, dorm room, or a touring van.

Manufacturers achieve the smaller footprint mostly by compressing the electronics and speakers (much like a laptop vs a desktop computer) and ridding it of its pedals and furniture. What this means is if one of these becomes your instrument of choice, you'll very likely also need to purchase a sturdy keyboard stand to go with it.

In this article, we'll cover the most popular keyboard stands available on the market today, approximate price ranges you'll run into, and which stand is appropriate for different situations, all the way from basic home use, to those gearing up for a world tour.

It's important to know that there is no single best keyboard stand, but a variety of great choices depending on various considerations.

Types of Keyboard Stands “X” Style Keyboard Stand X Style Keyboard Stand

This simple X-Style stand gets its name from its design. There are two sets of 2 steel pipes each connected with a steel strut. There is a scissor-type folding action with a basic axel that connects the two sections; this design allows for height adjustments and for the stand to be collapsed completely flat, making it the lightest, easiest, lowest cost stand on the market meaning you can find these for sale in most musical instrument stores.

It also has the lowest weight capacity, is prone to some wobble, and isn’t known for its durability. Some digital piano manufacturers, such as Yamaha and Casio, offer a low-cost X stand option as well.

When to use them?

The X-Style keyboard stand is the best stand when portability or cost is the only consideration, and your piano weighs less than 40 lbs (ideally less than 30 lbs).

“Double X” Style Stand

Double X Keyboard Stand

The Double X-Style stand is an improvement on the first design, where the horizontal pipes that act as the feet and platform are braced with two sets of scissoring struts, instead of one set as with the first design. These also offer adjustable height via locking straps or some other type of locking mechanism.

When to use them?

Where portability and cost are top priorities, and the weight of your keyboard is somewhere between 40 - 70 lbs.

Z Stand Z Style Keyboard Stand

The Z-stand is one of the best blends of portability and stability on the market. Several companies make the type with a few differences in how they collapse. But once fully deployed, they’re all virtually the same and are ideal for heavier keyboards.

There are two steel ‘Z’s which sit parallel to each other, connected by two telescoping shafts, and the vertical part of the ‘Z’ also telescopes, giving the stand both adjustable width and height, with lots of leg room. These are generally speaking high-quality options.

There are also certain heavy-duty Second Tier Keyboard Stand versions that allow you to place two keyboards on them at once, allowing keyboardists to rapidly switch between two keyboards or even play both at once. The single-tier stand is of course more popular, but these exist for those who need them.

When to use them?

If you have the budget for a $100 - 150 stand, you're looking for a height-adjustable piano keyboard stand, and it will be receiving frequent use and/or moves, this is an ideal option (with the collapsing arms). They’re rugged, stable, and can handle the largest and most heavy keyboards out there with great sturdiness.  Hercules and Roland both make great options.

When not to use them?

For super small keyboards in the 61 or 76 note range that are 20 lbs or smaller, this would be overkill.

Folding Table Style Keyboard Stand Folding Table Style Keyboard Stand

We don’t actually know if the industry has a ‘name’ for this, but these types of stands look like those ubiquitous folding tables that you see at every wedding or event hall. The top of the table is rectangular, and two sets of legs swing down from hinges along the two short sides of the table. This tabletop option is also a sturdy stand.

When to Use Them?

The Table Style stand is essentially going to serve the same types of keyboardists, keyboards, and digital pianos as the Z stand, but in scenarios when portability isn’t as important.

For example, if your keyboard is going to spend most of its time occupying space on a Church stage or rehearsal room, the Table Style stand might be an enticing option.

“T” Stand

The final stand type is referred to as a T stand since that’s precisely what it looks like when folded up.  There are four articulating arms, all with a 90-degree elbow, which form the legs of the stand. They’re attached at either end of a central spine and are highly flexible.

When to Use Them: Like the Table Style Stand, the T stand is another alternative to the Z stand that will come down to personal preference.

Closing Thoughts

We hope that this article has provided some insight into what might be the best choice for you, whether that’s a single X stand, double X stand, Z stand, Table Style stand, or T Stand.

Ultimately, the focus should be on finding a stand that's stable and will last a few years, and not fall apart on a gig if you’re a performing musician.

Thanks for reading! Visit Merriam Music for more Articles and Blogs and Don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more Digital Piano Reviews and Covers.

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Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 | 88-Key Digital Piano | Review & Comparison

Hello and welcome to another digital piano comparison video and article here at Merriam Pianos. Today we’ll be comparing two of the most popular digital piano models available for under $1,000 CAD on the planet.

On the one hand, we have the Yamaha P-125, which is a favorite here at Merriam Pianos as well as around the world. On the other hand, we have the Casio CDP-S350 which is a relatively new model from them meant to serve the entry-level 88-note weighted action digital piano market.

These portable keyboards are very close in price and appearance, so naturally, many people shopping in this general category, both beginners and experienced musicians, will end up comparing them during the decision-making process. Let’s jump in.

Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 - Background The Sub $1,000 Digital Piano Market

When we’re talking about weighted 88-note keyboards available for under $1,000 CAD that is worth serious musical consideration, there’s a fairly small set of instruments to choose from. When we say serious musical consideration, we specifically mean things like quality of tone, speakers, and action - basically, the features that should be top of mind if you’re considering a practice instrument for someone taking piano lessons.

This price range used to be a barren wasteland when it came to credible musical options, to the point that it was almost a cruel joke. If you were trying to get something that felt and sounded like a real piano even five years ago, you were in for a tall order, to the point that there wasn’t even much market demand.

Casio PX-160 - Game Changer Casio CDP-S350

In many ways, Casio has led the way in driving more robust development in this price point by all manufacturers, especially with the release of the PX-160 which really redefined the landscape.

What we're comparing today are two very prominent models in this price range that are absolutely worth musical consideration. The Yamaha P125 runs about $100 more than the Casio CDP-S350 compact digital piano, but nonetheless, these two pianos are sure to be endlessly compared.

That said, they are very different machines, and they deliver very different feature sets. Throughout the remainder of this review, we’ll be exploring those differences, and hopefully painting a picture for anyone looking at both of these pianos as to which one will better suit their needs.

Piano Sound: Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 Casio’s Dynamic Stereo Sound Engine

The Casio CDP-S350 is poised to replace the Casio Privia PX-160, but if you went by appearances alone, you wouldn’t know it. The only thing that's really similar between these two instruments is the price point - everything else looks totally different, including a fully redesigned user interface that consists of a super easy-to-use backlit LCD display that makes for great accessibility.

And the other big change - the CDP-S350 is loaded up with 700 instrument sounds. This is a real rarity for the category - typically, digital pianos available in this price range with 88-note weighted actions and quality sound engines tend to have very few sounds.

The sound engine, Casio’s Dynamic Stereo Sound Engine - is delivering a high level of authenticity pretty consistently across the 700 sounds. The acoustic piano sound is quite robust, especially due to the S350’s 16 watts of speaker power.

Yamaha Pure CF Sound Engine

Over on the P125 and we have Yamaha’s Pure CF Sound Engine. For people who are seeking a portable digital piano whose primary role is to be a piano, we think the P-125 has the edge here in terms of acoustic piano sound.

The tone, driven by the high-quality CFIIIS concert grand piano, has more subtlety, especially with things like damper resonance, string resonance, and various reverbs, and we suspect there are more sample layers going into the sample itself - likely a four-layered sample. There is 24 sound presets in total, and while they’re all quite useable (especially the electric pianos), this is of course much less of a selection than what the S350 is offering.

Speakers

Two of the onboard speakers on the P125, tweeters, are upward facing, which is a nice touch since it makes it a lot easier to actually hear what’s going on. There are two additional speakers, so we’re definitely hearing a more full-spectrum sound in terms of the onboard speaker system than what the S350 is delivering.

64 vs 192 Polyphony

Another important difference is polyphony. On the P125, there is 192 note polyphony compared to just 64 notes of maximum polyphony on the S350. If there's one spec on the S350 that is a little puzzling, this would be it, especially since they offer a recording track that allows you to add multiple tracks - you’ll be running out of polyphony fairly quickly.

Having a stronger polyphony count is really important if you plan on getting into any arranging or layering, and even for more complex classical playing.

Quality vs Quantity of Sounds

Somebody looking primarily for an acoustic piano replacement is likely going to lean toward the P-125. Beyond a more complex piano tone, the P125 also offers things like Sound Boost, Stereophonic Optimizer, and Intelligent Acoustic Control which further help in refining the sound.

Somebody looking for a wider set of sounds and features, perhaps even for gigging, will probably find a better value on the S350.

Piano Action: Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 Piano Action

Casio’s Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard vs Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard

The Casio CDP-S350 is using a new key action from Casio, which they’re calling their Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II. The P125 is using the Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) action, which is a staple throughout Yamaha’s lineup. Both of these actions feature 88 weighted keys so the crucial box is checked with the correct number of keys here.

Neither action features escapement, but there is a big difference between the two actions that are immediately apparent and that’s with regard to the texture on the key tops.

Key Tops

The GHS action has a glossy keytop as opposed to a textured keytop on the white keys and in some instances, it ends up providing too much grip which in turn can cause the skin on your fingers to peel back. Fortunately, there is a slight matte texture that eliminates this problem on the black keys.

The S350’s action has an exaggerated texture that provides a very nice level of glide, which is a definite advantage here. More expensive Yamaha pianos have actions with textures, so it’s a shame that Yamaha isn’t incorporating a texture into their GHS action.

Responsiveness

In terms of responsiveness, we’d also have to give the nod to the S350 here - the P125’s GHS action just feels a little bit too spongy. This is a super personal thing, and the GHS action has many loyal fans, but this just happens to be our observation.

The S350’s Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II feels like a slightly heavier version of Kawai's RHC action found in the ES110, and in some ways, actually feels even more solid. The touch sensitivity also happens to feel better than the GHS here as well. It would work well as a synth or MIDI controller.

Ultimately, the GHS is a fine action, it’s just been out for quite a few years now and happens to feel a little bit dated when it comparing to a new action such as Casio’s Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II.

Features: Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 Auto Accompaniment

Both pianos feature built-in auto-accompaniment, which is really great for the price point. Auto-accompaniment allows you to use your left hand to generate harmony, and it will add drums and other musical instruments as a sort of backing band, allowing you to play overtop with your right hand.

Both piano keyboards pull this off really well, though there are significantly more accompaniment rhythms and patterns on the S350, so if this feature is important to you, take note of that. The Casio CDP-S350 also gives you the option of running it with AA batteries and given its extremely slim frame and lightweight, it’s a very portable instrument in every sense of the word.

Other Functions

Other features like Split Mode, Duet, and Layer are covered on both pianos, as well as standards like a metronome and transpose. The S350 has a pitch bend wheel which adds to its potential appeal as an arranger-style instrument.

Both pianos also have a built-in MIDI recorder for recording and playback.

Connectivity: Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDP-S350 Casio - Chordana Play App

When it comes to connectivity, both pianos have class-compliant USB ports (USB MIDI), and this is how you’ll connect to your iOS device (iPad and iPhones), Android device, or computer since neither instrument has a Bluetooth connection, unfortunately. That said, you should definitely check out the free apps such as the Casio Chordana Play for Piano app and the Yamaha Smart Pianist App.

Both pianos have headphone stereo outputs as would be expected, but an area where the P125 excels is that Yamaha has included an AUX out port if you’d like to connect to an amplifier, you can do so without having to use the headphone jack and an adapter as you do on the S350. The S350 also has an audio input.

Pedals

Both pianos include basic footswitch sustain pedals, though we would recommend upgrading to nicer offerings from each company. Each also has the option to add a triple pedal unit, as well as a matching keyboard stand. Each piano includes a music rest and power adapter (power supply) in the box.

Closing Thoughts

This pretty much sums up our comparison of the Yamaha P125 vs Casio CDPS350. These instruments are close in price, with the P125 being slightly more expensive and offering a more piano-centric experience. The sound engine and speaker system on the P125 are geared toward people who are looking for an instrument to be primarily used as an acoustic piano substitute.

On the Casio side, the obvious immediate strength is the sheer number and variety of onboard tones since there’s simply nothing else in this price range with solid tone and touch that overs this range of sounds.

The interface is easy to navigate, which makes getting around the rhythm functionality, playing internal demo songs, or selecting from that huge amount of tone. From an action perspective, we do prefer the CDP-S350’s hammer action keys over the P125’s as well.

Ultimately, we’ve got an interesting mix of pros and cons on both sides. The P125 is going to be an enticing choice for many people simply by virtue of being a Yamaha product, and rightly so - it’s a very good instrument made by a very good company. But we would strongly recommend anyone intrigued by what they read about the S350 here, give it a shot - for many people, it will actually be a better fit.

Thanks for reading!

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Upright Pianos - Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Upright Pianos

In today's article we are talking about Upright Pianos - literally everything you need to know about Upright Piano. If you're in the market for an upright piano, this is the article for you.

We're not going to tell you what piano to buy or how much money to spend, but we are going to cover all of the critical areas of difference between these lovely instruments, including the price ranges, the sizes, and what makes one different from another, and finally, how to go about selecting one.

Please check out the accompanying video for an even more in-depth explanation and some playing examples as well!

Opening Thoughts

Since, 2020, we have experienced an almost two-fold increase in the number of medium-range and premium-range upright pianos that are sold in Canada.

One has to ask the question - why? What are the trends that are driving these spikes in sales? Dovetailing with this question is another that often gets asked; "Why would I buy an upright piano that costs as much as a baby grand piano?" Most people have a traditional paradigm in their mind that says if you can afford the baby grand, that's always the preferred option, both from an aesthetic standpoint as well as a musical one.

That said, there are a number of realities that are pushing people towards these higher-end uprights, chief of which is the bevy of musical reasons why an upright piano might be a better alternative. Let's start there before moving into our upright piano overview.

Upright Pianos - General Overview Upright Pianos - Kawai K Series Space

The first reason someone would go with an upright is obviously space. More and more people out there are living in smaller urban situations, often times in stacked townhouses. Stacked townhouses of course come with a lot of stairwells. Grand pianos not only take up a lot of floor space, but they're also really challenging to deliver inside 0stacked townhouses and condos.

Design Innovations

A second reason is that there has been more innovation on the upright side of things than the grand side of things over the last several years. A big one is an advancement in hybrid and silent upright pianos available. Hybrid and silent grand pianos exist too, but there's been more advancement done on the upright side of things, and hybrid grands also happen to be very expensive.

Now, let's look at upright pianos as a whole.

Upright Piano Sizing K-300 Upright Piano Dimensions

Acoustic Upright pianos come in a number of different sizes. They typically start around 42" in height (generally known as a console piano), and go up inch by inch until about 54". The common sizes you'll typically encounter are 44", 46", and 48", which happens to be the size of the extremely popular Yamaha U1 and Kawai K-300 professional upright pianos.

The Yamaha U3 at 52" also happens to be a very popular vertical piano, and there are a few high-end German uprights that get up to 54".

You can't always draw absolute conclusions on things like scale design, string length, or soundboard size simply based on the cabinet size, but the size is a general barometer for how loud and powerful an upright piano is.

Price Ranges Used Upright Pianos

What can you expect to pay for an upright piano on the private market or from a retailer? Starting at the very bottom, you can find used pianos for as little as free. These are typically smaller North American-made wood finish uprights from companies like Baldwin and Heintzman, typically built anywhere from 50 to 100 years ago.

Free Uprights

A free upright piano of this vintage is not going to be particularly musically successful. In many cases, if you really strip away all of the bias associated with acoustic versus digital, a digital piano for around $1,000 or so is actually going to give you a better instrument to play on than a free acoustic used upright, especially if the upright is a spinet piano.

$1,000-$4,000

Moving up from there and you'll start to find used Korean, Indonesian and Japanese pianos, anywhere from about $1,000 to $4,000 generally speaking. These are the instruments such as Yamaha U1s, Yamaha B series, Kawai K3s, Samick's, Young Chang's, etc., built from the early 1970s and on.

There's a thriving market for this kind of piano, especially Kawai and Yamaha uprights, and there are certainly some great deals to be had, even if you're not getting the piece of mind that comes with a new piano warranty.

$5,000-$20,000

This category is less common, but you will of course find lightly used uprights out there, as well as used high-end handmade upright pianos that will typically fall somewhere between $5,000-$20,000.

Of course, anyone spending upwards of $20,000 on a used upright piano is looking for a very specific type of instrument that is probably going to retail for in excess of $40,000 new.

New Upright Pianos $4,000-$10,000

New upright pianos start at around the $4,000 USD range, and these are going to be for 44" (sometimes called studio pianos) factory-made upright pianos, typically built in Indonesia or China. If you're going with an instrument from a reputable company, Kawai and Yamaha, you can expect a mechanically sound instrument with a fairly consistent tone and stable tuning. There's not a lot of tonal refinement available at this price range, but for people who are just starting out, you can really start developing proper techniques and have an enjoyable musical experience.

$10,000-$15,000

The next jump brings us to about $10,000, and this is where you start to see 46", 48", and maybe even 50" pianos from those same companies. As the height increases, in some cases, so will the quality of the materials and the design, and a lot of these instruments are built both for the home, and for institutional settings.

Once we cross the $10,000 threshold, we start to get into the hybrid pianos, and hybrid in this case means pianos where there is some component of European manufacturing, combined with Chinese manufacturing. There are a number of brands that mix and match both labor and parts between a European factory and a Chinese factory.

In this category, we're basically trading off the advantage of Japanese assembly, for slightly more expensive components and design, offset by the lower costs of Chinese assembly.

$15,000-$20,000 The sweet spot for people looking for a really great balance of high-quality tone, high-quality materials, and manufacturing quality that is equal to that of a Japanese plant is when you get above $15,000. These are going to be European-built pianos, likely either from the Czech Republic, Poland, or possibly even Germany. These are instruments that can match or exceed the musical performance of a similarly priced baby grand.

$20,000 & Up

Once you hit about the $20,000 mark it becomes a real connoisseur's marketplace. You're largely into European and American-built pianos at this point, and it becomes a highly subjective, highly personal matter of taste with fantastic sound quality, excellent responsiveness of touch, and timeless design.

That $20,000 ranges all the way up to about $60,000 or $70,000 for the most expensive upright pianos in the world, such as the C. Bechstein Concert 8 or the Hamburg Steinway & Sons K-132.

So, that's a rundown of the price ranges you can expect to see out there for upright pianos. Let's move on and discuss the key differences between a factory-made instrument, versus a handmade one.

Factory vs Handmade Craftsmanship

The term handmade is actually a bit of a misnomer, because there's actually some hand workmanship that goes into most factory pianos, and machines involved in making traditionally defined handmade pianos.

A much better way to look at these two categories is to think of limited production vs mass production, with limited production instruments also taking way longer to build.

Most of the upright pianos that carry the label handmade have had some machining that's been used along with computer automation, but there's been an enormous amount of time by one or several members of the assembly crew that has gone into assembling and regulating the action, the assembly of the shaping of the soundboard, and into the engineering of the carpentry to allow for the maximum resonance of all acoustic materials.

Manufacturing Time

The difference in the manufacturing time can be extraordinarily large. For a $4,000 or $5,000 factory-made upright piano, we could be looking at a total manufacturing time of just a few dozen hours, somewhere in the range of 30 to 50 hours. On the other hand, with the C. Bechstein Concert 8 for example, the manufacturing process takes over 300 hours!

As we would say, this huge amount of extra time leads to massive refinement in the soundboard, regulating the action at fanatical levels, and studiously voicing all of the hammers for maximum bloom on every note. And in the case of an instrument at this quality level, the entire cabinet is actually resonating as another acoustic component.

That pretty much sums up the difference between factory-made and handmade. Let's move on to differences with regard to country of origin.

Country of Origin

Another common question or line of research people get into is understanding the difference between American, Asian, and European-made upright pianos. Does the country of origin affect the musical performance or build the quality of a given instrument?

American Made Pianos

Let's talk about the quintessential American sound first. There are only three manufacturers remaining in the United States right now making upright pianos, which are Charles Walter, Mason & Hamlin, and Steinway.

Are there any consistent factors across these three piano makers? American uprights, much like American grands, tend to have a very mid-range heavy tone. There's often high use of maples and other hardwoods, which tend to accentuate mid-range frequencies. American pianos tend to have large dynamic ranges, and they're also known for their exterior furniture as well.

On the negative side, American pianos aren't known for particularly great actions or control. They are also not known for a great deal of tonal consistency from the lower range to the upper range. But, if you're looking for that specific American tonal profile, you won't find it elsewhere.

Asian Made Pianos

If you're looking for a more precise experience,  Asian and European pianos will offer a little more in this regard. When it comes to Asian pianos, it's very difficult to lump them into a single category, because while you have some very basic low-quality pianos from China, there are also so much nicer, more advanced pianos coming out of certain Chinese facilities.

You also have Japan with a very mature piano market that's literally 100 years old. There are also still Korean pianos, but that market has greatly declined and production has instead moved to Indonesia.

Is there any sort of tonal consistency to any one of these 4 Asian countries? With Japanese-made pianos, yes. Japanese Kawai and Yamaha pianos sound pretty consistent, if Kawai is considered darker and warmer, while Yamaha's are usually thought of as brighter with more attack.

Indonesian pianos are generally pretty consistent too. Beyond that, it's a complete mash of tonal styles, designs, and materials being used, to the point that isn't fair to say that there's an 'Asian' sound.

European Made Pianos

On the European side of things, you're generally getting higher grade materials, such as a more expensive or higher grade hammer felt and a higher grade of spruce used for the soundboard. The action regulation typically done at European factories tends to be very high also.

These refinements are generally going to deliver a more precise tone, especially with regard to the consistency across all ranges. There's typically going to be a higher degree of control in terms of the touch, and the quality of the build means the instrument is going to last longer.

We've covered some of the basics. Now, how do you go about choosing one of these pianos for yourself and for your home?

How to Choose an Upright Piano

Upright vs Hybrid Digital

What are the questions you should be asking while you decide on a piano? The first thing you'll have to decide is if you're going to go with a traditional acoustic upright or a digital/acoustic hybrid. An acoustic/digital hybrid is something that combines both digital components as well as acoustic components.

This combination allows an otherwise fully acoustic piano to be played completely silently. The Kawai K300 Aures for example has a digital piano control panel built right into the side, and you can mute the piano and plug-in set headphones so you can play without disturbing others. This added flexibility is a huge deal for some people, but it does add about $5,000 to the price.

Bass Clarity

Once you've decided whether you're going acoustic or with some type of acoustic-digital hybrid, the next questions really come down to playing style, tonal style, and spending some time in front of these prospective instruments.

There are areas on upright pianos that tend to be weak spots, and this is where a really great design immediately solves a lot of issues. One of the things that people focus on with upright pianos is bass clarity, and this is very difficult to achieve in a shorter instrument due to the shorter string length.

When you're first shopping for an upright piano, one of the things you'll want to look for is to make sure you're getting something that's got a nice clear bass tone. It doesn't mean that you have to get a 52-inch piano or even a 48-inch piano as there are shorter uprights out there with great bass registers.

Break

Another weak spot you'll find on some upright pianos is the break, which is the transitional area of the piano where it switches from steel strings to copper-wound strings. This transition can sound very abrasive and metallic if the design isn't well executed, so pay attention to that.

Action

The third weak spot can be the action. There are actions out there made entirely of wood, and others that combine wood with synthetic parts. While there's been debate about incorporating synthetic parts in the past,  the vast majority of the professional community, both on the technical side and musical side have both accepted and recognized that a really great synthetic action can be just as musical, and in some cases have significant maintenance benefits over inexpensive wood action.

So, don't focus on the material so much as the playing experience, which is the true test of whether or not you're playing a good action. Make sure to play the action at a very soft dynamic range, as well as medium and loud dynamic ranges to see how it responds. The hardest thing for an upright piano to do is to deliver accuracy when playing softly, particularly if you're playing fast at a low dynamic range.

Ultimately, you want to make sure that the action on the instrument you're considering can deliver what you need. This can be especially important for students and beginners who do their lessons or perform on a grand piano but practice on an upright at home.

Clarity of Tone

Our last suggestion for where to really judge an upright piano is going to be in the clarity of the tone, particularly in the top-end range of the instrument.

Upright treble strings are so short, proportionally speaking, that you need even more refinement at smaller tolerances in order to achieve really great clarity on the top of an upright piano. What we mean by clarity, in this case, is an absence of buzzing or uncontrolled harmonics.

Higher-quality uprights have great clarity and no distortion, while lower-quality ones start to distort when the volume gets pushed. Let's move on to our final section.

Differences Between Upright Pianos

In this final section here we'll discuss why one upright piano may differ from another upright piano. For instance, why does one 48" piano cost $8,000 while another 48" piano costs $30,000? Well, there are about eight or nine components in an upright piano that will directly contribute to both the cost and thus the quality of the musical experience.

Cabinet Construction Back Post - Cabinet Construction

The first thing we'll focus on is the back post and overall cabinet construction. On our example instrument in the accompanying video, you'll see five large back posts. There is a variety of approaches that manufacturers take with back posts in general. The function of back posts, as well as the overall construction and design of that cabinet, is to provide strength and rigidity. When you get into a higher-level instrument, it actually also takes on tonal importance.

On something premium like a C. Bechstein, Bösendorfer, or Steingraeber, the cabinetry on the back is so precise and designed in a way that not only is it giving the instrument strength, but it's actually contributing to the transmission of energy and tone throughout both the soundboard as well as the cabinet.

On lower-grade instruments, back posts strictly serve a structural purpose, and they're not actually contributing a lot to the resonance of the instrument. So a key difference here is the level and design of the carpentry on a given piano.

Agraffes Upright Piano Agraffes

Agraffes are another feature you'll generally only find on higher-end uprights. These contribute to further string alignment and ensure precise termination after the string has been struck. Their presence can help eliminate things like false beats and uncontrolled harmonics. Less expensive pianos will use a pressure bar for the same purpose, though a pressure bar is not considered as good as a set of agraffes.

The Bridge

A third difference is how the bridging has been approached. Like on a grand piano, there's quite a variety of bridge designs you'll see on various pianos, and an equally wide range of costs to execute said designs.

There's everything from a solid bridge with a single piece of wood, to hardwood bridges with a cap, to vertically laminated bridges, which is by far the most expensive type of bridge. The better the bridge, the better the energy from the strings is transmitted to the soundboard.

To pull this off effectively can get very expensive very quickly, so generally speaking, the less expensive the piano, the less expensive the bridge design.

Soundboard Material

The next difference is the soundboard, and this one is a big deal. Soundboards come in different sizes and with different materials selected. Virtually all soundboards use some type of spruce, but whether or not the spruce is solid or laminated makes a huge difference.

Laminated soundboards are actually significantly stronger and more stable, but the big knock against them is that with all of the layers of wood and glue, the soundboard's ability to resonate and sustain the vibration is dramatically reduced. You've got all sorts of factors that are actually going to suck up more energy.

As such, pretty much all mid-range and high-end soundboards are made with solid spruce, as the acoustic properties are just that much better.

Soundboard Design

The next difference in soundboard design is whether or not to taper or leave it untouched. All soundboards have some type of curve, but a tapered soundboard has been thinned out towards the edges, which allows more of the soundboard to activate and resonate. This means that a smaller tapered soundboard will resonate as much or more than a larger, non-tapered counterpart. This is a time-consuming process, so again, tapering starts to appear as you move up in quality, so less expensive pianos generally don't have tapered soundboards.

The last distinction with soundboards is the choice of spruce. The two main types are some form of White spruce (typically Alaskan or Austrian), versus Sitka spruce. Sitka is a very common, less expensive spruce that tends to have a warmer tone, but with less clarity and sustain. White spruce tends to be more expensive and has a tighter grain, meaning the wood is older and grows more slowly.

Action Refinement

Last but not least is the action, but it's quite simple - the more expensive the upright, the more refined the action is from a design standpoint and the more time that has gone into regulating the action at the factory level.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks so much for sticking with us through this long read. We hope you've found it helpful, but in any case, definitely check out the accompanying video at the top of the article so you can see and hear some of the things we discussed for yourself. If you're new to our channel, we would sincerely appreciate it if you would subscribe to our Youtube Channel.

And if you're in the Greater Toronto Area, don't hesitate to pop into one of our showrooms to try some used and new pianos out for yourself with a selection covering much of what's available out there in the piano world.

Visit Merriam Music for more piano reviews and articles.

The post Upright Pianos — Everything You Ever Needed to Know first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Kawai CA79 | Digital Piano Review | Kawai Concert Artist Series

Kawai's Concert Artist series (CA series) pianos have been a mainstay of the high-end digital piano market for several years now. The current lineup is 4 models strong, and today we'll be looking at the second most advanced from the top as review the CA79.

The Kawai CA79 incorporates many of the same features as the flagship CA99, leading many to regard it as a high-value alternative to the top model in the class. We're going to start right away by checking out the piano sound and moving on from there.

Be sure to check out the companion video for a more in-depth review and some playing examples.

Kawai CA79 Digital Piano Kawai CA79 Piano Sound

The first thing that stands out about the Kawai CA79 is the sound engine, which happens to be the exact same sound engine featured in not only the Kawai CA99 but also in Kawai's most advanced digital pianos - the NOVUS NV10S and NV5S.

Shigeru Kawai SKEX Rendering Engine Shigeru Kawai SKEX Rendering Engine

The centerpiece of this sound engine is Kawai SK-EX Rendering Pianist Mode, which features an 88-note multi-channel sampling of their premium Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano with additional Resonance Modelling added on.

With this mode engaged, you're given access to what is without question one of the most advanced piano sound engines available in a digital piano and delivers a truly stunning piano playing experience.

For all other tones, Kawai's Harmonic Imaging XL sound engine (HI-XL), which also features stereo sampling and some acoustic rendering of parameters, is also included (66 presets available in this engine.)

Limitless Polyphony

If the sound engine is your top priority, the Kawai CA79 gives you literally the exact same sound engine as the NOVUS NV10S for about 1/4 of the price, and the limitless polyphony on piano tones that this entails.

At this point, you might notice the CA79 has the same action as the CA99, and since the sound engines are the same, wonder why anyone would spring for the 99. The speaker system is where a very large difference emerges.

Speaker System

The Kawai CA79 uses a conventional speaker system, while the CA99 adds a real solid spruce soundboard which functions as a giant, additional speaker. When playing acoustically, the difference is actually quite significant in terms of the presence and warmth.

We also found that the CA99 plays perfectly out of the box, whereas the CA79 took a little bit of tweaking inside of the Virtual Technician Function to get it optimized.

All of that being said, the CA79 is still no slouch in the speaker department with no less than 3 distinct sets of speakers for 6 total speakers, designed in collaboration with Onkyo.

Kawai CA79 - Speaker System

First, there's a pair of woofers on the bottom producing most of the low frequencies. From there we have 2 mains responsible for the mid-range frequencies, and finally 2 tweeters with diffusers for the highs.

There's a total of 100 watts of amplifier power here pushing out there, which while less than the 135 watts on the CA99, is still very substantial.

After checking out everything sound-related here on the CA79, it's pretty hard to deny the killer value Kawai is delivering here for the price.

Kawai CA79 Piano Action Grand Feel III Wooden Key Action Grand Feel III Wooden Key Action

The Kawai CA79 uses the Grand Feel III action (GFIII), the same action used in the CA99. This is a new update to the Grand Feel II, which is what Kawai was using in the previous generation CA78 and CA98.

The Grand Feel II was an excellent action, but what the Grand Feel III brings is a whole new way in which the end of the key stick is attached to the capstan, with a more refined system of connection. This new system is intended to be more durable over a longer period of time than what was used in the GFII.

The GFII did end up receiving quite a few warranty claims after prolonged use in demanding settings such as post-secondary music institutions.

Extended Length Wooden Keys

So, what does the GFIII bring to the table? For one, it's an extended-length action with 100% wooden keys approaching the key stick of a real grand piano. It's also got a triple sensor for highly accurate MIDI output, counterweights, grade-weighted hammers, and let-off simulation.

Textured Key Surfaces

The key surfaces are also covered with an ivory touch texture on the white keys and an ebony texture on the black keys. This provides a perfect amount of grip, especially when your hands start to get sweaty when playing.

Deep Dynamic Control

Compared to most other digital piano actions out there, the GFIII, courtesy of the extended key length, is providing a deeper level of control and comes much closer to the experience of playing a real acoustic piano action. For the price range, we think it's the best digital piano on the market currently, though the Roland Grand Hybrid action is up there too.

The only real step after this action is to move beyond the Kawai CA series into the NOVUS series hybrids which feature a genuine acoustic piano action, but with that of course comes a substantial price hike.

Kawai CA79 Piano Features Kawai CA79 Piano Features LCD Touchscreen

A huge upgrade from the CA78 is the new and improved LCD touchscreen. The 78 had a screen as well, but there were some navigation issues. Fortunately, those have been addressed, and getting around the new touchscreen is a breeze.

For a detailed exploration of the menu and all of the things you can edit, check out the video review linked above as Stu does a nice walkthrough of the various menus (more fun to watch than read the owner's manual).

Pre-loaded Music & Lesson Books

The Kawai CA79 has all kinds of preloaded classical music built in, along with a selection of lesson books. There's also an internal 2-track recorder which can be great practice as it allows you to record yourself and playback the recordings. You can also record MP3, WAV, and SMF files to USB.

Cabinet & Pedals

The Kawai CA79 also features an upgraded gorgeous cabinet design with elegant music rest and comes available in Premium Rosewood, Satin White, Satin Black, and Ebony Polish. The cabinet looks much more like a real upright piano than ever before.

Kawai's great Grand Feel Pedal System also makes a return with damper, sostenuto, and soft pedals all weighted to replicate the feel of a grand piano pedal system.

Kawai CA79 Connectivity Kawai CA79 Connectivity

For connectivity, there's an impressive lineup here. Going down the list, we have dual headphone jacks (Kawai's Spatial Headphone Sound optimizer is included), 5-pin MIDI In and Out, a 1/4" line output. 1/8" line in, as well as USB to Host and USB to Device.

Lastly, there's also Bluetooth MIDI for accessing apps for iOS and Android, and Bluetooth Audio which makes your CA79 able to stream music from your devices.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks for joining us for a look at the Kawai CA79. This is a high-end digital piano that's going to work really well for advanced players who need affordable and space-saving practice instruments, and even for beginners who simply want something nice, both musically and aesthetically.

The action and sound engine are as good as it gets for the class, and for some people, the extra cost of the CA99 is not justified by the inclusion of the soundboard.

Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel for more reviews and visit our website for more in-depth product reviews & articles.

The post Kawai CA79 | Digital Piano Review | Kawai Concert Artist Series first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Casio SA-76 | Mini Keyboard Review & Demo | 44-Keys 100 Sounds 10 Integrated Songs

There's no question that Amazon happens to be the primary place many people shop for goods, and that now includes keyboards. Huge amounts of keyboards are sold through Amazon every year.

We decided to go onto Amazon ourselves to see which digital pianos happen to be most popular and determine whether they're actually good buys, and whether or not they're worth all of the 5-Star reviews.

In today's article, we're going to look at one of Amazon's best sellers with the Casio SA-76 44-key portable keyboard.

Let's start with some background.

Casio SA-76 | General Background Battery Powered Option

The first thing that you should know is that this instrument does not come with a power adapter. It supports a power adaptor, but that's an optional extra that you'll have to add on if you want one. As long as you've got the right pin polarity and the right adapter size, pretty much any universal AC adapter will do the trick, so you don't necessarily need to add the Casio branded one.

You can also operate the Casio SA-76 with 6 AA batteries as the power supply, and that's probably the way most family's buying this for young kids will use it.

Super Affordable

The next thing worth noting about the Casio SA76 keyboard is how inexpensive it is. To be able to get something with any kind of piano function for under $100 is a big deal, and up here in Canada, it runs for around $70 CAD and $60 USD in the United States.

Accurate Tuning

It's easy to take for granted when you're playing on a $200, $300, or $400 musical electronic instrument that it happens to be in tune, but so many baby and toddler musical toys aren't even close to being in tune.

Some people might ask if that even matters, but if you're trying to give a young child a musical toy to start laying some musical foundation, it should absolutely play in tune.

Casio SA-76 - Key Specs Casio SA-76 - Key Specs 44 Note Keyboard with Mini Keys

The keyboard has 44 total notes, meaning it's half the number of keys you'd find on a normal piano or keyboard. The keys are also thinner and shorter, hence the name mini keys, as smaller size keys make it easier for small fingers to play. The keys are not touch-sensitive, but that's not going to matter for a young child beginner.

LCD Display

There's a helpful LCD display screen for navigating the different music options, and the interface, in general, is going to be very easy even for a young kid to use.

100 Sounds + 8 Note Polyphony

You have the option of 100 different tones to choose from, with 8 notes of polyphony. 8-note polyphony is not much but fine for the intended use of this beginner keyboard.

Built-In Songs & Rhythms

There are 10 built-in songs and 50 drum patterns, as well as a couple of different playing modes, and even a metronome.

Speakers

There are 2 small speakers and amps on each side, with a total of 2.4 watts of amplifier power.

Casio SA-76 - 3 Piano Modes Casio SA-76 - 3 Piano Modes Tone Mode

As mentioned, there are 100 sounds to choose from on this keyboard. Some of the sounds are quite convincing, while others definitely are not, but it's expected that an instrument this inexpensive would not have the most consistent sound quality.

Out of the 100 sounds, there's a mix of pianos, electric pianos, organ sounds, synthesizers, reeds, harmonica, brass, strings, guitar, bass, mallet instruments, and various others. All of this is available to you in Tone Mode.

Pattern Mode

The second mode on the keyboard is called Pattern Mode. Which is where you start getting into the rhythms. There are 50 drum patterns to choose from and have fun with and 5 drum pads.

Song Bank Mode

Then, there's a third mode called Song Bank Mode. There are 10 built-in songs that you can play back, and this is what is going to get toddlers up and dancing around the house. The songs are fun, high-energy, and perfect for getting a little one excited about music.

Who Is This Instrument For? Casio SA-76 - Young Beginners Best to Avoid If...

Who is this instrument for? Well, we can start by saying who it's not for. The Casio SA76 doesn't have any MIDI connectivity so anyone looking for a super inexpensive and compact MIDI controller or portable & arranger keyboard for production, this won't cut it.

While it is made for toddlers, it's also not the most durable, so the average 18-month-old wouldn't have a problem quickly breaking the keys, and that unfortunately won't be covered under warranty. You'll want to make sure your child is at an age where there a little more gentle with toys.

Young Beginners

So, we're left at this being aimed at young learners to see if there's some musical interest there, at the most basic of levels. This would be a really great gift for a young child, instead of a bit of a cop-out of a gift card, and having them interact with it even for a few minutes a day would probably be a good gauge of whether or not there's some early musical interest.

It's hard to pinpoint an exact appropriate age, but we'd probably it's going to be great for kids around 2 and a half years of age, up to about the age of 7. It's not quite technical enough to keep an older child interested since there's no Bluetooth or other connectors to get it working with a phone.

Perfect Musical Exposure Toy

For the price, this is a really good way to expose a child to some basic musical ideas that can serve as a great building block for furthering musical education.

The biggest downside is that there's no MIDI output which would have actually opened this up to a lot more power. There's no sustain pedal, but this isn't a big deal given the fact that the action isn't touch-sensitive.

Other than that, for what you're getting for the money, this is probably one of the best musical exposure toys on the market. And sure, you could jump for one of the Casiotone 61-key portable keyboard workstations or something from Yamaha that's a bit more substantial, but that's not really necessary.

Closing Remarks

Thanks for reading! We hope you've enjoyed this look at a popular seller on Amazon the Casio SA-76 Mini Keyboard. If you're a parent out there and you are looking for exactly what we're just described, hopefully, you found this helpful.

We'd recommend checking out the accompanying video for a more in-depth review and checking out the rest of our YouTube channel for more musical instrument reviews. Don't forget to visit our website for more article reviews.

The post Casio SA-76 | Mini Keyboard Review & Demo | 44-Keys 100 Sounds 10 Integrated Songs first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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Casio CTK-2550 | Portable Keyboard Review | Best Budget Keyboard

Anyone familiar with us and our YouTube channel will know that we generally keep our digital piano reviews focused on 88-note musical instruments with weighted actions - essentially, digital pianos that emulate acoustic pianos.

That said, in this review, we’ve got something a little bit different as we’ll be looking at a very popular 61-key portable keyboard with Casio CTK-2550. This is an easy-to-use, well-laid-out instrument that’s either going to be a perfect introduction to the whole world of music for a youngster or simply a great-sounding way for other beginners or experienced players of all ages to have fun with some music-making.

Casio CTK-2550 - A 61-Key Portable Keyboard Suitable for Beginners

Something that jumps out right away is that the Casio CTK-2550 lets you run it on battery power, meaning you don’t have to plug in the included AC adapter if you don’t want to. Having some flexibility with regards to the power supply is a definite plus.

We have 61 full-size keys here, but it’s important to point out that they are not touch-sensitive, meaning no matter how hard or soft you press the keys, the volume is always going to be the same, nor are they weighted, even if they are piano-style keys.

With that, we have to give some words of caution to parents who possibly aren’t musicians themselves, and aren't really sure how important things like touch sensitivity and weighted keys are. If you’re looking for a practice instrument for your child to practice on at home while taking piano lessons, 88 weighted keys with touch sensitivity are essential.

There’s just no way around this. However, if you’re already experienced with piano and looking for a secondary instrument, or if you’re simply trying to ignite some creative spark in your child, especially with fun things like the new dance music mode for creating electronic dance music (more on that below), this is going to be a perfect instrument.

CTK-2550 - High-Quality Tones There are 400 different high-quality tones on the CTK-2550, including a variety of grand pianos, electric pianos, synths, and many other sounds. The sounds are very good in general, especially for the price, and having such a wide variety of sounds and textures is going to be great for exposing a youngster to music. The Polyphony is somewhat lean at 48 notes, but that’s fairly standard for the price point. There are 10 different Reverb settings to choose from, and certain sounds can have effects such as Flanger which can be added.

Let’s move on to the various arranger features/functions.

Casio CTK-2550 - Powerful Lesson Functions

Equipped with Intelligent Auto-accompaniment

The Casio CTK-2550 is equipped with intelligent auto-accompaniment, meaning it will follow you depending on the notes you play.

Chordana App

You can connect the CTK-2550 to the free Chordana Play App for iOS and Android devices which makes navigating the large selection of sounds easier and more enjoyable.

100 Presets

There are also 100 rhythms to choose from, including an assortment of dance music rhythms with different variations of drum beats

60 Song Bank Tunes

There’s a song bank with 60 preloaded songs, and you’ll definitely recognize some with titles like "Amazing Grace" and "Greensleeves.”

Dance Music Mode

The Dance Music Mode allows you to choose from a variety of rhythms, bass lines, and synth parts to create your own dance music loops.

The Dance Music Effect further enhances this experience, which is undoubtedly very fun. Stuck on a tour bus with a long ride ahead? Fire this up and you’ll easily kill hours of time playing around with the various styles of EDM.

Additional Features and Connectivity Other staple features like a metronome are covered, and there’s also a solid lesson function with a lesson system and lesson lite, including a voice fingering guide built-in as well. There’s of course a headphone output, and you can use the device’s headphone output as a line out if you want to connect to an amp for more juice. There’s also a port for a damper pedal, and an audio input, which is how you’ll connect to external devices. You can also load MIDI files of your favorite songs this way too. It includes a music stand, whereas a keyboard stand is extra if you’d like to add one. Closing Thoughts

We hope you’ve enjoyed our look at the Casio CTK-2550. This isn’t the typical instrument we review over here at Merriam Pianos, but we definitely felt this one was worth our attention.

It’s actually quite a fun, diverse instrument with a lot to offer. Again, it’s not meant as an acoustic piano substitute for someone in piano lessons, but as a lightweight, compact, and feature-heavy keyboard, the CTK-2550 is a really nice offering.

Shop More Digital Piano Here

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Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160 | 88-Key Digital Piano Review & Comparison

Welcome to another piano review here at Merriam Music! In this article and accompanying video, we’ll be comparing two absolute titans of the entry-level market for 88-key digital pianos with weighted actions as we look at the Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160. We’ll be comparing the actions, sound engines, speaker systems, and peripheral features - everything you'll want to know about these instruments before making a decision.

Let’s kick off our discussion by focusing on sound engines.

Digital Piano Sound Comparison: Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160 Casio PX-160 Polyphony

The Yamaha P45 and Casio PX-160 are really well-matched when it comes to price, but when we take a closer look at the sound-related specs, it becomes immediately apparent that the PX-160 is delivering some exceptional value. Just look at the polyphony counts for example - there are 128 notes of polyphony over on the PX-160, whereas the P45 has half of that at 64 note polyphony.

Speakers

The same thing continues when it comes to the speakers - the P45 has dual 6-watt amps/speakers for 12 watts of power versus dual 8-watt speakers for 16 watts of amplifier power on the PX-160.

Sound Engine: AiR Sound System Yamaha P45 Advanced Wave Memory Engine

For the price, it really is quite remarkable what Casio has brought to the table here in terms of sound quality with their AiR sound system. Since sound is a super personal and subjective thing, however, at this point we’d recommend checking out the video as Stu Harrison takes us through a playing comparison of both pianos’ default grand piano sounds.

In terms of the actual acoustic piano tone, both instruments are definitely bringing something satisfying to the table. If you demo both pianos with headphones (which we would recommend) you’ll notice that the PX-160 has a lot of air surrounding the sound, which maybe shouldn’t be a shock given the name of the sound engine.

This is a really great feature as it gives the player a sense of being in a larger room behind a real piano. The Yamaha P45 has a more simple tone courtesy of the Advanced Wave Memory engine (AWM stereo sampling), but it's still delivering a satisfying playing experience.

Yamaha has sampled their CFIIIS concert grand piano for the core piano sound, and while this piano has been replaced by the newer CFX concert grand, this is still a super high-end grand piano to be working from.

Additional Sounds

Beyond the core acoustic piano sounds, both pianos have some additional instrument sounds worth exploring, with 18 total sounds on the PX160, and the P45 has just over half as many with 10.

Even though there are only 10 sounds on the P45, all of the essentials are covered, such as some electric pianos, strings, organ, and harpsichord. The P-Series pianos always have nice electric piano sounds, and that holds true here.

The PX160 has all of the same types of sounds, plus several more given its larger count overall. The quality is high for the price points on both pianos in terms of the onboard voices, but the PX160 obviously gets an edge here due to the greater number of sounds. Both pianos offer some user control over the Reverb settings.

This sums up our discussion on sound. Let’s move on to action now.

Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160 | Piano Action Review and Comparison Full-size, Weighted Keys, 88-key Keyboards

We certainly had some big differences in the sound systems of both pianos, but when it comes to the action, the differences become even more obvious, even if both pianos are using full-size, weighted keys, 88-key keyboards. This is apparent right away when you first play the PX-160’s Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II due to some really dramatic textures on the white and black keys.

Yamaha P45 Graded Hammer Standard

The Yamaha P45 Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) action on the other hand doesn’t employ any type of texture on the white keys and instead features a glossy feel, with a matte finish on the black keys.

For the P45, this has been an area of criticism within the industry for a few years now, as the piano player’s fingers can slide on the keys in playing situations with higher humidity, which of course aren’t uncommon for portable digital pianos.

Casio Privia PX160 Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II Casio Advanced Triple Sensor Action

Neither action has escapement or let-off as it's sometimes known, and only the FP10 and its PHA4 action boast this particular feature in the price point. The Yamaha P45 action uses a dual-sensor which is typical for the price, but the PX160’s action features a more advanced triple sensor action meaning it has a greater capacity for touch sensitivity.

A beginner looking for an instrument for piano lessons won’t really feel a difference here, but an experienced musician looking for a good value practice or secondary instrument probably will, as will those looking for an accurate MIDI controller.

The weighting is good on both pianos, with the Yamaha feeling a little bit lighter.

As far as weighted action digital pianos go, both of these feel good overall for the price. Are you going to put either one on your wishlist if you’re looking to dive into advanced classical repertoire? No, but that’s not the point, and you’re probably not looking for a portable keyboard in that case anyway.

Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160 | Features/Connectivity Comparison

Both the PX-160 and the P45 have all of the basics covered when it comes to normal digital piano features. Both have a metronome, transpose, dual-mode (Layer), while the PX160 has Split mode, and the P45 has Duo mode.

USB-MIDI Connections: Yamaha P45 and Casio Privia PX-160 USB/MIDI Connectivity

There’s no built-in recorder on the P45 like there is on the PX160, but thanks to USB-MIDI connections both pianos are easily connectible to computers for recording anyway. The PX160 has discreet 1/4” line outputs which is a very nice bonus for the price point, while you’ll have to use the headphone jack on the P45 which isn’t ideal.

Keyboard Stand and Pedal System: Yamaha P45 vs Casio PX-160

Both pianos include a basic footswitch sustain pedal, though we recommend upgrading to a more substantial damper pedal. Also included with each are a power supply (power adapter) and a music rest.

Both are available with optional matching keyboard stands, while Casio also gives you the option of opting for a triple pedal system as well.

Casio PX-160 Keyboard Stand and Pedals Final Thoughts

At the price both of these pianos are available, there aren’t too many other compelling options out there, aside from spending a little bit more and jumping to the Roland FP10 with its superior tone and touch (no triple pedal though!.)

Between the P45 and PX160, the PX160 definitely out-specs it on paper and makes a pretty compelling case for itself. That said, there are plenty of folks who will simply prefer the tone and touch of the P45 for their own personal reasons, not to mention the comfort that comes with selecting a Yamaha product.

Tough to find in stock, even on Amazon, but if you can, both are among the best digital pianos available in the entry-level class.

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Where to Find the Kawai Serial Number & Where are Kawai Pianos Made?

One of the questions we get on pretty much a daily basis from customers all over the world is where to find the Kawai serial number on their piano, and more specifically, where does Kawai put them on their acoustic pianos. This is of course very important information if you’re looking at a second-hand piano, or looking to sell your own.

In this article and companion video, we’ll cover how to find the Kawai piano serial number production dates and actual dates of production, what the serial numbers actually mean, and by extension, where Kawai pianos are currently made.

Hopefully, this FAQ answers the questions you have and means you don’t have to contact Kawai directly.

Where to Find the Kawai Serial Number on a Grand Piano Kawai Grand Piano Serial Numbers

So, let's start by addressing the easiest question of all; where to find the serial number on a Kawai piano.

Kawai grand piano serial numbers are going to be imprinted directly on this iron plate. The easiest way to see it is to simply remove the music desk and look just behind the tuning pins. Here you’ll find two different pieces of information stamped onto the plate.

The first will be the serial number - a 5 to 7-digit number that is preceded by a letter two. The second thing you’ll find stamped there will be the exact model number, whether that’s KG2, RX3, GL10, etc.

On some of the higher-end instruments, the model number might be a crest or emblazoned marking as in the case of a handmade Shigeru Kawai SK-7. In most cases, it’s likely to be ink directly on the plate just like the Kawai serial number is.

Where to Find the Kawai Serial Number on Upright Piano Kawai Upright Piano Serial Numbers

The serial number is going to be located in a similar place on a Kawai upright piano, but given the inherent physical differences, you’ll go about finding it in a different way.

Typically, you’ll be able to see both the serial and model numbers if you flip open the top lid as both will be stamped towards the top of the plate.

The serial number will generally be on the right-hand side, and like on the grand pianos, will be anywhere from a 5 to a 7-digit number that may or may not be proceeded by a letter. To the left, you'll see an alphanumeric code that indicates the model, such as K-300, ND21, or a KX model for example.

What Does the Serial Number Tell Us?

The serial number can actually tell you quite a bit about a given piano besides the age. The Kawai Technical Support website has a fairly extensive list of serial numbers and serial number ranges separated by Country of production, which goes all the way to as recent as 2020 production.

Japanese Built Kawais

A couple of quick ways to tell where your musical instrument was produced are based on the format of the serial number. If you’re looking at a seven-digit number, that means that the piano was produced in Japan, very likely at the Ryuyo factory in Hamamatsu.

A seven-digit number also indicates that the piano was built from about the early 1970s onward. The current serial number ranges that you’ll find in more recently built pianos all start with a 25 or 26, with the latest crop getting up to about 2.7 million.

If there’s any doubt about whether or not a Kawai piano was made in Japan, you can rest assured that if there’s no letter in front of the seven-digit serial number, it was definitely Japanese-built.

Japanese Built Kawai Serial Number List Indonesian Built Kawais

Any Kawai serial numbers that are preceded by the letter F indicate that the piano was built at Kawai’s secondary factory in Karawang, Indonesia. They produce a number of different models at their Indonesian facility including the GL-10 baby grand piano, and K-15, and they also finish production on the K-200s here as well.

In some of those models, there are also a number of components coming in from Japan with final assembly taking place in Karawang, Indonesia.

These pianos usually start with the letter F which is followed typically by about a five-digit number. These numbers are also available on Kawai's website. Most of these pianos are usually no older than about 15 years old to 20 years old.

Indonesian Built Kawai Serial Number List Chinese & North Americans Built Kawais

There are always questions about whether any Kawais are coming from China or whether another company that does a lot of OEM like Pearl River produces pianos for them.

In North America - and we can say this with complete confidence - every single Kawai piano coming into North America for sale is either produced at the Japanese factory in Ryuyo in Hamamatsu or at the Indonesian factory in Karawang. There are no Chinese-produced, partially Chinese-produced pianos that are landing in North America for sale within North America currently.

In the past, Kawai did produce their KX series uprights in China for the Canadian market, but production of the KX series pianos stopped in 2013. These pianos feature 5-digit serial numbers with no preceding letter.

Kawai was also produced from 1988 to 2004, and these pianos have 4 to 6-digit serial numbers preceded by the letter A.

Chinese & North American Built Kawai Serial Number List

Production Date vs Sold Date

One last consideration we need to point out; when looking up a serial number, we need to caution potential buyers about one idiosyncrasy of the piano industry that happens to be very different than electronics and cars.

In the piano business, there are a lot more difficulty warehousing products in the specific region where said product will eventually be sold. As a result, manufacturers tend to ship in very large batches which means that some pianos might end up sitting in the warehouse for a long time.

For example, this means you may be looking at a piano with a serial number stating it was built in 2017, yet the current owner is able to produce a receipt showing that it was purchased new in 2019.

Discrepancies like this are common and simply indicate that the piano was finished at the factory in 2017, but not sold until 2019. This is still a brand new piano in 2019 that never would have been out of the box and well taken care of in a climate-controlled environment up to the point of sale.

Wrap Up

We hope that this article and companion video has been able to shed a little bit of new light on where you can find the serial number on your Kawai pianos, and what that serial number may mean. We also have a handy serial number lookup on our website that may be of use to you too.

Thanks for reading!

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Roland LX706 | Digital Piano Review | Roland LX Series Luxury Digital Upright Pianos

Roland’s LX line has been with us for several years now, and the current lineup of three models strongly serves as Roland’s home digital piano flagship models and is without question among the finest digital pianos currently available.

While the value proposition of the entry into the LX700 series, the LX705, and the LX708 top model are very clear, sometimes the model in the middle - the LX706 - can be overlooked.

In this article and companion video, we’re going to do a deep dive into this Roland piano that perhaps didn’t always get as much attention as it deserves, though we suspect that may change. In fact, for a good number of people investigating options in this class, the Roland LX706 upright digital piano might actually be the best overall option when considering its specific combination of high-quality performance, aesthetics and price.

Roland LX706 Digital Upright Piano - Background Roland LX 700 Series

As we mentioned above, there seems to be a tendency for the LX-706 to sometimes get overlooked. In fact, the first time we took a look at Roland's most recent incarnation of the LX series, even we skipped over the LX706.

Now, this wasn't at all a slight against the LX706, but rather an expression of what our customers were telling us, as most of the people shopping with us were opting either for the LX705, or if they were going to make the jump, they were going all the way to the LX708 since it was only marginally moree expensive than the 706.

For a fairly modest price increase, the Roland LX708 offers an 8-speaker system as opposed to the 6-speaker system on the LX706, more powerful amplifiers and a taller cabinet.

This brings us to 2022, and as everyone is well aware, we’re living in a time of extreme inflation. The piano industry has not been immune to this and as a result, we’ve experienced a series of significant price hikes on many products, to the point that LX708 is now quite a bit more expensive than the LX706 costing almost as much as a new piano of the acoustic baby grand variety.

The LX706 now occupies the price point that the LX708 did when we first reviewed the series. This being the case, we suspect that the LX706 is going to start getting a lot more attention, especially from folks in the market looking to keep the budget well under $10,000, whether that’s Canadian or American currency.

Let’s start by discussing everything sound related to the LX706.

Digital Piano Sound Roland LX706 Sound Engine Roland’s PureAcoustic Piano Modeling

The LX706 is loaded up with Roland’s newest and most advanced piano sound engine with the PureAcoustic Modeling Ambience Technology engine.

Modeling technology refers to the real-time creation of piano tone that is not dependent on the playback of a sample. This means that we’re working with a computer model that’s taking into account many sound-related factors such as the striking of the string by a hammer, cabinet resonance, soundboard type and even the mechanical sounds that the pedals make.

This gives the user an immense level of control to go in and tweak a number of parameters to further shape the piano tone to their preference.

That said, this engine sounds pretty darn great right out of the box, to the point that many users won’t ever even feel the need to get in there and edit the tone.

American & European Grands

The PureAcoustic engine features two core grand piano patches. While Roland hasn’t specified which two pianos they used for inspiration and simply refers to the two presets as American and Europe, their website shows photos of a Hamburg Steinway and New York Steinway so it’s safe to assume that these are the instruments these presets were modeled after.

The European and American Grands have very different characters, which is welcome as it gives us a lot of variety to work with. Starting with the European Grand, and the kind of depth and sustain we’re hearing means that they’ve definitely modeled a 9’ concert grand piano. Switching over to the American Grand, and that’s definitely the case here too.

Interestingly, between those two sounds the American sound is slightly more open and sounds a little less blended than the European, nor is the American sound as thick.

Roland has made significant efforts in recent years to increase the dynamics of their sound engines, and what we mean by that is the variations in tone between playing loud and soft. Roland was known for being a step behind Kawai in this regard, but now we would definitely put them on a level playing field.

PianoDesigner

As we mentioned above, there’s a crazy amount of user control available with this tone engine, similar to the level of control you get with some VSTs like Pianoteq.

With that in mind, there are actually three levels of editing that you can get into depending on how deep you want to go. For those looking at it simply there’s the My Stage feature, which is really a set of presets with different configurations of the parameters.

If you want to go a layer deeper, you can directly edit 6 bigger picture parameters - PureAcoustic Ambience, Key Touch, Brilliance, Master Tuning, Temperament, and Hammer Response.

Finally, if you really want to go down the rabbit hole, there’s the Piano Tone Edit button, and this gets quite intense, allowing you to edit things like Single Note Character, Single Note Volume, Single Note Tuning, Soft Pedal Manipulation, Damper Noise, Soundboard Type, Cabinet Resonance, Key Off Resonance, Full Scale String Resonance, Duplex, Hammer Noise, Key Off Noise, and Lid height.

Polyphony

Another thing that’s very notable about this engine is that the polyphony is limitless on all piano category tones.

Is this really necessary? Not really, since anything over about 96 and up is going to be fine for solo piano playing anyway, but it does show just how powerful this sound engine is.

Other Sounds

Moving out of the acoustic piano tones, and things shift over to a more conventional tone generator delivering 256 notes worth of polyphony across more than 300 total sounds.

Roland’s electric pianos are probably the best in the industry with the most realistic playing experience, and the organs would also be in that conversation. In fact, all of the core sounds are of professional quality, and once you get past those, we move into the General MIDI 2 bank, which is why the total count is so high.

Navigating the various sounds is quite easy on board, but it’s even easier on a smart device via the new Roland Piano App, which replaces the somewhat clunky Piano Every Day app.

Acoustic Projection Speaker Sound System

The LX-706 features a powerful 6-speaker system referred to as the Acoustic Projection Sound System.

The 6 speakers consist of a pair of large cabinet speakers with speaker box, a pair of slightly smaller near-field speakers with speaker box, and finally a pair of tweeters.

The total amplifier power is a robust 74 watts, and Roland has done an excellent job of integrating the speaker system into the cabinet of the instrument, resulting in some very organic-sounding cabinet resonance.

While the speakers may be even better on the LX-708, this is nonetheless a serious hi-fi setup.

Keyboard Action Roland LX706 Hybrid Grand Hybrid Grand Keyboard

Whereas the LX705, like most other higher tier Roland digital pianos, uses the PHA-50 action, the LX-706 receives the more advanced action that only otherwise goes in the LX-708 - the very exclusive Hybrid Grand Keyboard with wooden siding.

What makes this action more advanced than the beloved PHA-50? Something that isn’t talked about as much as it should be in the digital piano space - is pivot length.

The logic here is that the closer a digital piano’s pivot point is to that of a real piano (generally a grand piano), the closer the sense of motion and control is going to be to that of an acoustic piano.

We’ve gone in and measured, and the Hybrid Grand action is boasting a pivot length that matches most 7-foot grand pianos. In fact, the Hybrid Grand has a longer key pivot length than any other digital piano action as it’s even slightly longer than Kawai’s much revered Grand Feel III.

The end result is an action that is arguably the best digital piano key action outside of the actual acoustic piano actions used in the Hybrid instruments from Kawai and Yamaha.

The keys feel very even regardless of where you play them, and advanced techniques typically reserved for acoustic piano actions are possible here, making even advanced classic repertoire totally possible.

Stabilizer Pin

Another feature worth highlighting is the presence of a stabilizer pin, a vertical pin that sits in the middle of every key near the back.

This has the same effect as the balance rail pins do on an acoustic piano which is to provide torsional stability. This means there is no lateral motion when playing this action, and also ensures excellent long-term durability.

Escapement, Triple Sensor & Textured Key Tops

Another thing that needs to be highlighted with this action is the presence of escapement, which is a recreation of the same physical feeling one gets when playing an acoustic grand piano action.

The Hybrid Grand action is also loaded up with a triple sensor meaning the MIDI output and dynamic potential of the action are very good.

Like the PHA-50, there are also Ebony and Ivory feel textures on the top of the keys here which provide a good sense of glide while also absorbing skin oils.

Additional Features Roland LX706 Dimensions Cabinet & Finish Options

The LX706 features a gorgeous cabinet with seriously impressive carpentry. In fact, the LX series cabinets arguably feature the nicest carpentry in the class.

In terms of the finish options, the LX-706 is available in your choice of Charcoal Black, Dark Rosewood, or Polished Ebony for an additional cost.

Connectivity

The LX-706 features the standard array of connectors one would expect from a high-end home digital piano.

Running down the list we have dual headphone jacks, USB Type A and B, a stereo mini line in and 1/4” L/MONO, R output jacks.

The LX-706 is also equipped with both Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio, meaning you can take advantage of the 706’s excellent speaker system by streaming music directly from a device through the piano.

Other Functions

The LX-706 is loaded up with almost 400 built-in songs including the Roland Piano Masterpieces and a large stable of lesson music.

It also has a built-in 3-part MIDI recorder so pianists can record their practice sessions or do some arranging, as well as all of the standard features one would expect like a metronome, transpose, twin piano, split, layer etc.

Closing Thoughts

Given everything the Roland LX706 has to offer, and most importantly, the fact that it’s also equipped with the same core features as the LX-708, namely the PureAcoustic engine and exclusive Hybrid Grand action, with the large price difference now in effect it seems like a safe bet that it will increase in popularity.

Sure, there will always be those who want to go all the way and get the superior speakers and cabinet only found in the LX-708, but the fact remains; the LX-706 is one of the single nicest home digital pianos on the market, period.

Thanks for reading!

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Kawai K-300 AURES 2 | Hybrid Piano Review | Play Silently with Headphones Anytime

Even before the onset of the 2020 and 2021 global lockdowns that saw much of the world spending much more time at home than usual, hybrid pianos, i.e. fully acoustic pianos augmented with digital piano features, were becoming increasingly advanced and increasingly popular.

With the onset of the events of 2020 and 2021, demand for these instruments went through the roof to the point that they were rarely ever in stock without being presold. After all, many people live in crowded households or in close proximity to neighbors making it hard to find a time during the day to make all kinds of noise on an upright or grand piano. Having the option to flip a switch and play your otherwise fully acoustic piano with headphones opens up all kinds of possibilities.

This brings us to the Kawai K-300 AURES 2 hybrid upright piano, which serves as an update to the first-generation AURES. There’s been a few critical upgrades, yet everything that made the first-generation AURES so popular and so well-liked remains in place.

With all of that out of the way, here’s our review of the new K-300 AURES 2.

Kawai K-300 AURES 2 - Background

Kawai K-300 AURES 2 Hybrid Piano AURES vs ATX

It’s important to clarify off the hop exactly what kind of instrument the K-300 AURES 2 is and how it differs from a standard K-300 or an ATX K-300. So, what we have here is a standard K Series Kawai K-300 Upright Piano augmented by the digital sound engine technology featured in Kawai’s premium NOVUS series hybrid digital pianos and Kawai’s Hybrid Soundboard amplification system which features nothing short of 4 high-performance transducers.

This means that in addition to being able to plug in a set of headphones and play without bothering others, you’re given full reign of the cutting-edge SK-EX Rendering Engine, and Harmonic Imaging XL engine (with 90 total sounds), both of which can be used acoustically via the transducer powered solid spruce soundboard speaker system. You can also stream music through the soundboard speaker system via Bluetooth Audio, giving you what amounts to a high-fi stereo setup.

The contrast here with the ATX-labeled instruments is that while they still have the silent functionality and tone generator, the transducer soundboard system is absent.

This is important to note because while the Kawai K-500 is available in an AURES 2 model, the Kawai K-200 is only available in an ATX format.

Differences from AURES 1 to AURES 2

Next up, many people will be wondering what the differences are between AURES 1 and AURES 2. While there are certainly more similarities than differences here, let’s get into exactly what the improvements are.

First of all, there has been an update to the transducers, though Kawai hasn’t been very specific as to what those improvements are. It seems like the placement of the transducers has been changed, and it sounds like there's also been an update to the mechanism of the transducers themselves.

While there seems to be some confusion online as to the amount of transducers with some people suggesting that the AURES 2 has more transducers than the AURES 1, this isn’t actually the case as the AURES 1 also had 4 transducers, so the differences really seem to be in the placement and the design.

The second big difference with the AURES 2 is the absence of the control panel on the left side. For most users, this will be a positive thing because many will agree that this improves the overall aesthetic of the instrument.

While not everyone was bothered by the constantly backlit control panel, there were plenty of users who felt it cheapened the look of an otherwise beautiful upright piano. The other advantage here is that by removing the screen, they’ve removed one of the components most prone to mechanical failure down the road.

This means that to get in and control all of the digital piano-related functions, you will do so from a smart device by connecting either through Bluetooth MIDI or through the USB port.

The last difference with the AURES 2 is that it features an updated version of the SK-EX Rendering engine, which happens to be one of the most advanced digital piano tone engines currently on the market available in any new piano.

Kawai K-300 AURES 2 - SK-EX Rendering Engine Update to the K-300 Professional Upright Piano

In terms of the acoustic instrument portion, there has been a small update to the K-300 itself, which is the addition of the microcell dampening rest rail for the underfelted hammers (double felted hammers).

This takes the already great repetition speed of the exclusive Millennium III upright action (with ABS-Carbon composites, extended key length and textured key surfaces) and makes it even better. Kawai first deployed this microcell technology in the K-800 and K-500, and how it’s made its way into the K-400 and K-300.

When looking inside the piano, you can see that the mahogany core hammers have virtually no bounce at all when resetting.

Otherwise, this is the same high-quality upright piano that has won Acoustic Piano of the Year for consecutive years in MMR magazine with perks like a soft fall fallboard, heavy-duty back posts, steel reinforced keyslip and high-quality casters.

AURES 2 Functionality

Let's dive in now and still cover the bulk of what you get with an AURES instrument for people who are just exploring this technology for the first time, or for those who might be comparing the K-300 AURES 2 to an equivalent product from Yamaha or another piano company.

Given that the K-300 AURES 2 is a fully acoustic piano augmented by digital technology, there are multiple different playing modes to choose from, as we have alluded to throughout this review. Let’s get a little bit more specific about each mode.

Aures 2 Functionality Mode 1: Acoustic Piano

The first playing mode would of course just be as a standard acoustic piano. To have it play in acoustic piano mode, you’ll need to make sure that you have the electronics totally turned off or the volume knob set to zero, otherwise, you’ll still get sound coming from the transducers. You’ll also need to make sure that the middle pedal, which serves as the mute rail, is not engaged.

With many silent upright pianos of the past, the piano action was compromised as a result of the added technology. This is not the case with the last few K-300 ATX and AURES pianos where the acoustic piano experience is completely maintained. Pianists can rest assured that they’re getting a K-300 of equal quality, performance and craftsmanship to their non-AURES brethren.

Mode 2: Transducers Engaged

The next playing mode is when you engage the damper rail which stops the hammers from striking the strings and turns on the electronic components. The transducers engage and the sound generated via the digital sound engines actually plays through the K-300’s tapered soundboard. This is definitely one of the coolest and most unique aspects of AURES musical instruments.

Honestly, it’s worth visiting a piano gallery or showroom that carries Kawai products just to see this in action for yourself, or with your favorite music streaming through the soundboard via a smart device.

Mode 3: Acoustic Piano Layered with Digital Sound

The third playing mode is a sort of hybrid mode that adds the AURES’s tone engine to the acoustic piano sound. With the mute rail not engaged, simply turn on the electronics, adjust the volume, and you can layer any one of the AURES 2’s many sounds over the acoustic upright piano sound.

For example, an absolutely classic pairing is to layer some strings over the acoustic piano sound, but any of the AURES 2’s 90 sounds are available here.

Mode 4: Silent Mode

The fourth and final mode is commonly referred to as silent mode. This simply means you have the mute rail engaged and electronics turned on, but instead of playing sound through the soundboard, you plug in a set of headphones.

This of course allows you to practice anytime you’d like with a fantastic acoustic upright piano action without disturbing others.

Stu’s Advice to Present & Future K-300 AURES 2 Owners

When drilling down to do this review, Stu noticed that there are two or three notes on the piano that produce some odd acoustic effects when using the default SK-EX concert grand sound when playing with the transducers and soundboard.

An easy thing that dramatically reduces that effect was simply switching the Rendering Character to Classic 2. This odd acoustic effect will probably only be audible in certain rooms, if you happen to be noticing this, simply switching to Classic 2 fixes the issue.

Connectivity Kawai K-300 AURES 2 Connectivity

Given the K-300 AURES 2’s digital piano components, it naturally has a number of connector ports built-in right underneath the keyboard.

There are dual headphone ports so two people can actually play or listen with headphones on at one time. There’s also classic 5-pin MIDI in and Out, as well as USB Type A and B.

Next, there’s a 1/8” stereo line in, and a 1/8” stereo line out. Rounding out the connectivity is the Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio connectivity. As we mentioned, having an AURES 2 is essentially like having a high-end stereo system. Being able to stream music and hear it played through the K-300s soundboard is a truly singular experience!

Closing Thoughts

Thanks very much for checking out our review of this truly special instrument. If you aren’t yet familiar with hybrid instruments or have been exploring the option for a while, the K-300 AURES 2 is a class leader through and through.

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Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway | Piano VST Comparison | Yamaha CFX vs Hamburg Steinway D vs Kawai SK-EX

Anyone whose been a subscriber to our channel or blog will know we’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple of years exploring the world of piano VSTs. As a result, our resident piano reviewer and company president Stu Harrison has become something of a VST aficionado.

In today’s video and companion article, Stu will be joined by his wife Annie Bonsignore, who also happens to be a professional vocalist and frequent collaborator of Stu’s.

Annie is going to randomly toggle between three meticulously recorded VST instruments from some of the most well-known brands - Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway and some of their high-end models with the Hamburg Steinway D-274, Shigeru Kawai SK-EX and Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Pianos - to see if Stu can actually tell the difference between these three pianos without knowing which one he’s playing and hearing.

This should be a good test to see how our pre-conceived notions about a given instrument affect our musical perception of said instrument since Stu will not know which instrument he is playing.

We’ll get started here with a little bit of background information.

Yamaha vs Kawai vs Steinway - Background Information & Piano Design

Let’s start by covering some of the differences that make a Yamaha, a Steinway, and a Kawai different from one another. These are three of the most recognizable piano brands in the world, and in terms of full-sized concert pianos, their flagship concert grand pianos- the Hamburg Steinway Model D, Yamaha CFX and Shigeru Kawai SK-EX - are among the most commonly selected instruments by pianists who perform in concert halls and with symphony orchestras.

All three piano manufacturers and these specific pianos have a very interesting pedigree and interesting history, but for our purposes, what’s really important is to look at the major differences in the design and materials used in these instruments that contribute to the unique sound that they each produce.

We’ll take a quick look at each instrument.

Hamburg Steinway Model D Steinway Model D - VST UI

The Steinway & Sons Model D’s most people in North America are used to are of course New York Steinways which use Sitka spruce for their soundboards. Since we’re working with a Hamburg Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano made at the Steinway factory in Germany here, the soundboard will be either be an Austrian or Bavarian white spruce. In either case, it would be slow growth, high altitude spruce grown in the 700 to 1,000-meter range, such as what would also be used in other high-end European pianos like a Bosendorfer or Steingraeber.

This soundboard material is different from what Yamaha and Kawai are using, and the Steinway has some other things that make it unique as well. For one, they use an inordinate amount of Hard Rock Maple in their inner and outer rims and feature a remarkably strong pinblock.

There are several aspects of Steinway design which make it unique. It uses an inordinate amount of Hard Rock Maple in their inner and outer rims, which gives it a very specific tonal flavor that is often described as a blended tone.

The Hamburg Steinway also has a treble bell, and in combination with the specific duplex scale, this tends to create a very particular treble experience with an ambient wash and well-defined attack. Steinway D’s are also known for having an extraordinary dynamic range to them, to the point that it’s almost impossible to make them distort.

Now, they’re not known for having the widest tonal palette compared to other fine instruments, but in terms of dynamic potential and ability to project across the range, they’re really quite exceptional and one of the main reasons Hamburg D’s are often cited as one of the top two or three concert pianos in the world.

Pianos from the Hamburg factory are also generally regarded as a tier above their New York counterparts, and that includes the Steinway Model B, Steinway Model A and Steinway Model M.

Shigeru Kawai SK-EX

The Shigeru Kawai SK-EX has borrowed quite a bit from the Steinway grand piano heritage, as have most modern pianos (fun fact, Kawai manufactures the Steinway sub-brand Boston). The SK-EX uses vertically laminated bridges, just like the Steinway does and a Hard Rock Maple cap, just like the Steinway does also.

The rims also feature some Hard Rock Maple, though not as much as the Steinway, and it also blends a number of other hardwoods as well. The SKEX does not use a treble bell, and the approach to the treble generally in the Shigeru is quite a bit different. The SK-EX also uses Sitka spruce, just like a New York Steinway but different from the Hamburg’s Austrian or Bavarian spruce.

The end result is a tone that isn’t as blended as the Hamburg Steinway, but at the same time, it’s not as clear and defined as a C.Bechstein or Bosendorfer’s tone. Really, it's sitting somewhere in the middle and is overall very warm but also very colorful.

It’s capable of both a very intimate sound but can also be pushed for serious fortissimo volume and power as well. In general, SK-EXs are often regarded as very versatile instruments which is why they’re so popular among

Yamaha CFX Yamaha CFX - VST UI

The Yamaha CFX first hit the market several years ago and served as the next-generation update to the CFIIIS concert grand piano, which was the Yamaha Corporation’s previous flagship model CF Series 9 footer.

That said, the CFIIIS was seen a step below a Steinway or Shigeru Kawai, whereas the new CFX is at a level where it can now properly compete with these other two concert grand pianos by upgrading the specs to what one would expect out of a top-tier instrument,

For instance, they’ve gone with a high-quality European spruce soundboard and are also vertically laminating their bridges. The rim consists of a blend of Beech and Mahogany for its own unique tonal experience as part of what they’ve called their Acoustic Resonance system.

They’ve also improved the piano wire and bass string material and levelled up their hammer design while going with a very realistic ivory substitute they’ve dubbed as Ivorite for the white keys and a matte finish for the black keys.

The end result is a tone that is still on the brighter end of the tonal spectrum, but the middle partials are much more present than they were previously. Overall, it’s a more natural sound than what Yamaha has been able to achieve in the past.

Note that the CFX is also available as the Disklavier Enspire Pro version (DCFX) which allows you to record and playback right on the CFX as a digital piano can.

Piano VST Comparison Kawai SK-EX - PIano VST Comparison

As mentioned above, we’re not going to be in a showroom playing the actual acoustic piano versions of these musical instruments, but rather VST versions. In the case of the Hamburg Steinway Model D and Yamaha CFX, we’re using the Vienna Symphonic Libraries Synchron engines, while for the SK-EX, we’re using the Kawai’s NOVUS NV5’s SK-EX Rendering Engine, which combines a multi-channel sample of the SK-EX with a resonance modeling engine.

The reverb is set up as similarly across the 3 samples as possible, and we’ve tried to make the settings as evenly as possible as well.

Stu’s Blind Playtest

We would definitely recommend checking out the video to see and hear the blind playtesting for yourself. In the end, Stu was able to guess 9 out of 10 right, only at first mistaking the Hamburg Steinway D for the SK-EX, but he would subsequently realize this and eventually change his answer.

Stu is obviously a gifted and highly experienced piano player, but it does speak to how distinct these three samples truly are with how accurate his blind play-testing proved to be.

Annie’s Ranking from a Vocalist’s Perspective

We’d also recommend checking out the latter portion of the video to hear professional vocalist Annie Bonsignore sing along with each sample and give her feedback as to how she would rank in terms of compatibility with a vocalist.

She ultimately enjoyed the SK-EX the most due to its warmth and very dynamic tonal range. She had the Yamaha CFX ranked second and liked it overall, she just, however, felt it was a little bit too bright and perhaps a bit like an upright piano.

In third, she had the Hamburg D as she felt it was least equipped to compliment the contours of the natural human voice.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks very much for reading! This has been a very interesting experiment comparing these three superb concert grand piano samples that we hope you’ve enjoyed.

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Roland RP107 | Digital Piano Announcement | Replacement for Roland RP102

p>Roland’s RP102 has been a staple of the home digital piano market since its release in late 2017. The least expensive home digital piano with 88 weighted key touch from Roland, the RP102 has been a popular alternative to other best-sellers like the Yamaha YDP-144 and Kawai KDP75.

With the recent announcement of an update to the RP102 in the form of the new Roland RP107 SKU, we knew we needed to do a video and write a quick blog post about it, sharing everything we know at this point.

RP107 have not shipped to North America at this point, but we expect them to start hitting store shelves soon.

Why was the Roland RP102 Popular?

As we mentioned in the intro, the RP102 has been Roland's most basic 88-key weighted action digital piano. By the home piano, we mean that the RP102 has an integrated stand and built-in triple pedal system with damper, soft and sostenuto pedals.

Roland PHA-4 Action

The RP102 has a fairly basic 12-watt speaker system to keep the cost down, but otherwise, it has some really strong points going for it, making it an especially attractive option for the price. For one, it has the PHA-4 Standard Keyboard action, which in our opinion, is the top action available in this price range.

Bluetooth MIDI & Roland Apps for iOS & Android

Despite a fairly bare-bones on-board feature set, when used in conjunction with Roland's apps, the full General MIDI II sound bank was unlocked, giving the user access to hundreds of sounds including synthesizers, electric pianos, guitars and a host of drum rhythms.

And as an early adopter of Bluetooth MIDI, connecting to a smart device to access the apps was easy.

Roland SuperNATURAL Piano Engine Roland RP107 3D Headphone Ambience

The RP102 also boasts a very nice sound generator with Roland’s SuperNATURAL Piano Sound. While the speaker system isn’t robust enough to maximize the sound engine when playing acoustically, it sounds fantastic when playing with headphones with a lush grand piano sound, due in part to the built-in Headphones 3D Ambience effect.

What’s Improved on the Roland RP107? New BMC Sound Chip

The first key improvement featured on the new RP107 is the inclusion of Roland’s BMC sound chip. This advanced new chip is also being featured throughout the new FP series instruments, as well as the upcoming Roland F107. Not only does this chip offer increased complexity on acoustic piano tones and all sounds frankly, but it also doubles the polyphony from 128 notes to 256. So, we can safely expect the RP107 to sound better than the RP102.

Bluetooth Audio Roland RP107 Connectivity

While the connector jacks have remained the same with the RP107, Bluetooth Audio has been added which is a very exciting addition given the price point that the RP107 will be available at.

Bluetooth Audio allows you to stream music directly from a device and playback the music through the RP107’s built-in speaker system, whether for playing along with or simply listening to.

16-Watt Speakers

Roland has given the speaker system on the RP107 a modest bump in power output, from 12 watts to 16 watts in total coming from the amp. Combined with the BMC, this extra bit of power is sure to have a larger-than-normal effect on the overall quality of the sound.

Roland Piano App Roland Piano App

Roland’s Piano Every Day app had many great features, but the user interface was clunky and met with many complaints. Fortunately, Roland took the criticism to heart and addressed the issues thoroughly, resulting in the new Roland Piano App.

When using the RP107 in conjunction with the Roland Piano App, you can remote control all of the features of the RP107 from the convenience of your smart device thanks to Bluetooth connectivity with a beautiful new interface. Everything from the metronome, touch sensitivity, twin piano, master tuning, and everything else, while also greatly expanding the functionality by adding additional sounds, sheet music via the Roland Cloud and rhythms.

Closing Thoughts Roland RP107 Dimensions

While the RP102 was a highly relevant instrument during its run, there’s no question that the RP107 is a welcome arrival, and serves as a meaningful advancement with some very notable improvements, particularly with regard to sound. Roland’s warranty coverage is always great so that’s a confidence booster as well.

If you’re looking for a very capable yet affordable home digital piano with slick cabinet styling that also happens to come with everything you need in the box, including a piano bench, music rest and power supply, the Roland RP107 is set to be a compelling option that should be on your wishlist waiting for checkout, picking up where the RP102 left off.

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Yamaha NP32 | Yamaha Piaggero | 76-Note Keyboard Review

As we’ve done a handful of times in the past, in this review we’ll be taking a look at something other than an 88-note weighted digital piano as we examine the Yamaha NP32 76-note keyboard.

Yamaha doesn’t even refer to the NP32 as a digital piano in their marketing literature either, but rather as a portable keyboard due to its compact size, and there’s actually a fairly strong market for these types of keyboards - lightweight, portable, battery operated power supply and budget friendly with a practical design. The Piaggero NP series keyboards have been a successful and popular line for Yamaha.

Let’s open up the box and get into it.

Unboxing / Opening Thoughts

Upon opening the box we were happy to see a power adaptor and a music stand. These two things aren’t always included in the box for free with keyboards so it was nice to see them here.

The quality of the case is actually a lot higher than we were expecting considering the space-saving size and price, and there’s also a sustain pedal which is great. We’re also seeing a MIDI input which is great since that means this thing could function as a fairly inexpensive MIDI controller.

Now that we’ve unboxed the Yamaha NP32 and had a look, let’s get it plugged in to see how it sounds.

Piano Sound AWM Stereo Sampling

There are 10 total sounds built-in here courtesy of Yamaha’s AWM stereo sampling engine, and we’re actually quite impressed with the high-quality voices, which we were from the first note.

The default acoustic piano sound is a sample of one of Yamaha’s Concert grand pianos, and it actually boasts a pretty rich tone (Yamaha makes some of the finest grand pianos). The second piano tone is more mellow, though there are some adjustable reverb settings.

Other Sounds

From there, the NP-32 features some classic electric piano sounds referred to as E.Piano 1 and E.Piano 2, and we’ve also got strings and vibes. For the price, these are definitely some great-sounding voices, so if that’s your main area of focus, the NP-32 should be a top choice for the class.

Polyphony & Speakers

The polyphony is also totally acceptable at 64 notes, and the speakers are very good for the price at 12 watts generating pure tone.

Piano Action Yamaha Piano Action Graded Soft Touch Keyboard with 76 Keys

Yamaha refers to the action here as the Graded Soft Touch Keyboard, and also as being a Piano Style Keyboard. There are 76 keys in total, and in general, it’s similar to the action you’d get on a synthesizer.

What matters to the consumer however is the fact that this is an unweighted, spring-loaded action. There is some degree of touch sensitivity, but it’s definitely not a particularly sensitive action.

For a portable, battery-powered Piaggero instrument, this action gets the job done. And even an experienced musician who needs something super light for occasional practice or working on original compositions could totally get by with this action.

Are 88 Keys Essential?

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a serious practice instrument, you’re not going to want to settle for anything less than 88 weighted keys with touch sensitivity - this is simply the case if developing piano technique is the goal.

If action is a bit of an afterthought and you like everything else about the NP-32, by all means, add it to your wish list. If a realistic action is important, you’ll want to focus on a different musical instrument.

Piano Features Yamaha NP32 Features Functions

The NP32 has a number of useful features and essential elements. The record button delivers an easy one-touch recording of your practice sessions, and a trusty metronome, along with transpose, is covered as well.

Battery Power

The battery life isn’t spectacular, but it’s certainly not bad either, and there are also a number of demo songs and preset songs built in.

Finish Options & Accessories

The NP-32 is available in both Black or White finishes, and Yamaha includes a music rest in the box. A keyboard stand and bench are optional add-ons.

Connectivity Yamaha NP32 Connectivity

Connectivity is solid as well with a headphone port, sustain pedal port (with half-pedal support if you upgrade to the FC3A pedal) and a USB to Host terminal, meaning you can access a range of apps for your iPad or other iOS devices including Yamaha’s Digital Piano Controller and Notestar apps.

There’s no built-in Bluetooth connectivity, but the optional UD-BT01 adaptor from Yamaha can be added for easy operation of Bluetooth functionality.

Closing Thoughts

When all is said and done, the Yamaha NP32 is sure to leave many consumers with a lasting impression, as evidenced by the plethora of positive customer reviews from all over the United States and Canada.

Is it a perfect instrument? No, but for a relatively affordable keyboard that’s highly portable and boasts a really good piano tone, the NP32 is a very solid option and competes well against alternatives from Roland and Casio.

As long as weighted keys aren’t essential and this is the general budget you’re working with, the NP32 is another solid entry from Yamaha.

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Bechstein vs Steinway Pianos | Everything You Need to Know

If you're a piano shopper or performer and you're investigating the highest echelons of the piano business, it's going to be awfully tough to miss these two titans - Steinway & Sons and C. Bechstein. Sure, there are a small handful of other pianos in the same top-quality tier that garner an equal level of musical respect, such as Bosendorfer, Fazioli and Steingraeber & Sohne, but no other two piano makers have achieved the same scale and dominance in their respective markets than Steinway or C. Bechstein have.

Whereas Fazioli and Bosendorfer sell just a few hundred units per year, C. Bechstein produces over 4,000 musical instruments annually in Seifhennersdorf Germany, and Steinway also remains well into the four-digit territory between their Hamburg Germany and New York factories.

But what many don't realize is just how close in design these two instruments actually are, despite the fact that they are musically very different from one another.

In today's article and companion video, we're going to cover the musical and technical differences between Bechstein vs Steinway pianos. We’ll also look at their similarities, a rundown of their histories, and a snapshot of how things look for these manufacturers today.

Let’s start with C. Bechstein.

C. Bechstein Early History

German company C. Bechstein has been producing pianos for over 150 years. Their story begins in the city of Berlin in 1853 when German Master Piano Maker Carl Bechstein began constructing highly personalized, bespoke upright pianos for the top artists of the day - a tradition of excellence with the vertical format that continues to the present day.

The small shop quickly grew to a large-scale operation, and by the turn of the 20th century, C. Bechstein was producing several thousand pianos annually.

WWII

At the height of C. Bechstein's popularity, their pianos were the preferred choice of European and British aristocracy, as well as the preeminent concert halls of the day due to their superb build quality, musical capabilities and stunning cabinetry.

Unfortunately, the tensions and the destruction resulting from the two World Wars virtually ended the company. Luckily for us, C. Bechstein has undergone a complete rejuvenation over the past couple of decades.

Today

With new ownership and a massive investment of capital into the company, C. Bechstein has been experiencing a renaissance since the early 2000s. With the purchase of the already existing Bohemia Piano Factory in the Czech Republic, they've also begun producing pianos under the C. Bechstein Europe umbrella with the resurrected W. Hoffmann brand, serving as a high-value European alternative to the top-level professional Japanese pianos from Kawai and Yamaha.

In addition to that factory acquisition, they've also revamped many of their flagship piano models with more advanced scale designs, improved cabinetry, and very notably, a brand new action and hammer division, making them one of the few piano companies worldwide to manufacture their own hammers in-house.

Current Piano Lineup

In addition to the three quality lines from their Czech factory, C. Bechstein produces German-made upright and grand pianos in two quality levels. The lower-priced Academy Series line is on par quality-wise with the very best handmade Japanese pianos and certain other German companies.

The higher-priced C. Bechstein Concert Series sits right at the top of the heap for overall quality and craftsmanship in terms of what’s available anywhere in the world today.

With extensive recent redesigns throughout the entire C. Bechstein Academy and Concert Series lineups, the current C. Bechstein pianos are noticeably superior to what the company was producing even 10 to 15 years ago.

Certain C. Bechstein grand pianos and C. Bechstein uprights are regarded as the best pianos available for their specific size - the C. Bechstein Concert 8 is held by many as the finest upright piano money can buy, and the C. Bechstein C234 is widely considered as the best semi-concert grand piano currently in production.

Differences Between Academy and Concert Series Lines Materials

Some of the specific material differences include the AAA Austrian white spruce in the Academy Series versus the much more expensive Val di Fiemme spruce used in the Concert series - this is an extremely rare red spruce, and is sourced from the same forest that Stradivarius cultivated for his legendary violins.

Mahogany hammer moldings are used in the Academy line versus the stronger and lighter walnut hammer moldings in the Concert line. From there, C. Bechstein uses the high-quality Silver Line Action in the Academy Series versus their top-tier Gold Line Action featured on the Concert Series. The geometry is quite similar between these two actions, but the Gold Line Action is built to an even stricter tolerance level.

C Bechstein Hammers Manufacturing Time & Designs

The manufacturing time for the Academy series is roughly half that of the time they spend on their Concert Series. Certain specific design differences include non-tapered soundboards in the Academy Series versus tapered soundboards in the Concert Series. A thicker, full hardwood rim with more laminations is used in the Concert Series along with solid beech bridges and a pinblock that also has more laminations, contrasted with a slightly thinner rim and less complex bridge design and pinblock in the Academy series.

There is some debate amongst C. Bechstein lovers throughout the world as to which design is superior. The mid-20th century C. Bechstein’s had a very romantic sound with a less complex tone and less projection often described as intimate.

The present-day C. Bechstein models use virtually every best practice and design feature known to the piano industry and as a result, the tone is probably described best as something falling between a Steinway and a Fazioli in terms of the dynamic response, extremely wide color pallet and staggering cabinet resonance.

Steinway & Sons Early History

Steinway & Sons is without a doubt the most recognizable piano brand in the world. German immigrant Heinrich Engelhart Steinweg, eventually known as Henry E. Steinway, opened a small workshop in Manhattan in 1853 after years of piano making in Germany.

After obtaining over 100 design patterns, multiple location changes, and of course, anglicizing the family name to Steinway, Steinway would emerge as the dominant force in American piano manufacturing. In the 1880s, wanting to expand to the European market, Steinway opened a facility in Hamburg, Germany to supply Europe and the rest of the world.

Rise to Worldwide Prominence

Into the 1900s, Steinway became one of the most successful consumer brands in the world, pioneering many of the marketing techniques that we would now call product placement. Steinway Concert halls in London, New York, and Germany became the center of culture for many affluent and newly moneyed successful families and business people.

The newly minted Steinway Artist Program created and to this day maintained a monopoly among touring classical pianists.

Today

Steinway still produces pianos in both New York and Germany, with the New York factory supplying the Americas and the German factory supplying the rest of the world.

Steinway is no longer family-owned, and it has changed hands several times throughout the last 100 years. The company has had stable ownership since about 2013 after it was acquired by a New York-based private equity firm.

While the pianos from both factories are renowned for their quality, pianos from the German Hamburg factory are often regarded as superior to New York, though, there has been an effort in recent years to bring the American factory up to a similar standard that was established by its German counterpart.

Current Piano Lineup New York Steinway Steinway Pianos - Model D

Steinway’s New York facility currently produces a single upright piano, the well-regarded 52” K52, which is available in a couple of different finishes.

In terms of the grand pianos, they offer a full lineup ranging from the 5’1” Model S baby grand piano to the 9’ Model D with four models in between. Their pianos are very popular in the high-end market among musicians and play the role of a sort of status symbol.

Despite improvements to quality consistency in recent years, the NY Steinway’s are still generally regarded as a step below their German counterparts.

Hamburg Steinway

Like the New York facility, Steinway’s Hamburg facility also offers the 52” K-52 as their only upright piano currently in production.

The grand piano lineup is the same except for one extra model, - the 7’5” C227. The German pianos are voiced quite differently from their American counterparts and do feature some differences in materials.

Differences between Bechstein vs Steinway Sub-Brands

When we sit down to compare these two venerable brands, several key differences emerge. The first thing is their approach to their sub-brands and sublines. In Steinway’s case, we're talking about the Boston and Essex lines, and with C. Bechstein, we're talking about W. Hoffmann and Zimmermann.

Where Steinway elected to contract the construction of Boston to Kawai (Samick now manufactures one model as well) and Essex to a series of changing Chinese manufacturers, C. Bechstein directly manufactures all aspects of their five European-made lines and contracts the manufacturer of the Zimmermann line only.

The major differences between these two approaches has to do with consistency, both in terms of a model-to-model comparison, but also in terms of the overall quality of a given line from year to year.

For example, Essex have gone through different manufacturers over the years, with varying degrees of success. On the other hand, every single W. Hoffman acoustic piano from all three lines (Vision, Tradition, Professional) leaves C. Bechstein’s Czech factory with no detectable differences from one year of manufacture to the next.

Design C Bechstein Design

There are of course also a number of design differences between these two manufacturers when comparing lines of equivalent quality. Virtually every structural part of a Steinway grand is made with hard rock maple, including the rim. This focus on a specific, very dense wood colors the tone in a very distinctive way and also creates a very resonant structure.

C. Bechstein uses a variety of dense hardwoods in their grands as opposed to only maple. In addition to maple, they also use mahogany as well as beech. Whereas maple tends to produce a mid-range heavy tone with great projection, C. Bechstein’s use of multiple hardwoods combined with a super precise structure produces a tonal profile that is much closer to that of a Fazioli - very colorful, but with a dynamic response closer to that of a Steinway.

New York Steinway & C. Bechstein actions are also quite different. New York Steinways feature their patented Accelerated Action while C. Bechstein uses an action that is much closer to a Hamburg Steinway action. On first touch, C. Bechsteins feel lighter with a sense of a deeper key bed, whereas a Steinway will have a heavier touch and the sense that the key bed is more shallow.

Musical Differences

Musically speaking, Steinways tend to have a much more broad range of tone between dynamic extremes. In other words, the character of tone is quite different when playing softly versus when playing loudly. This is less consistent from model to model and less consistent through the top to the bottom of the range, however, whereas C. Bechstein’s tend to be extremely consistent throughout all ranges and across different models.

Steinway’s tend to have a slightly darker color in the upper range with less clarity, and the softer dynamic ranges are more notably flat in tone compared to a C. Bechstein. Bechstein’s are also known for their unique bloom-like character of tone.

What These Differences Mean

The real-world implications of these musical observations mean that anyone considering a Steinway will most definitely want to play the exact piano in the showroom that they’ll be taking home due to the lack of consistency from piano to piano and model to model.

This also brings us to another question people always ask; will a piano from either of these manufacturers increase in value over time? The short answer is no.

Although there are instances where one could sell their piano for more than they bought it for, i.e. a high-end piano purchased in the 1920s will of course sell for a higher price than one hundred years ago, this completely ignores the effects of inflation.

Ultimately, these instruments are highly complex machines that unfortunately do not improve with age over time. Unlike a violin or cello, in which age may legitimately make the instrument more valuable as the wood seasons, a piano is at its absolute peak at some point within the first five years of its ownership. When inflation is accounted for, the best that an owner can probably hope for is a lifetime of wonderful music-making with a slow and predictable depreciation against its replacement cost.

Similarities Between C. Bechstein & Steinway & Sons

Despite many differences, there are surprising similarities between these two manufacturers that not everyone is aware of. For one, C. Bechstein Concert and Hamburg Steinway grands use a treble bell in their larger models. This is something that was originally innovated by Steinway and later adopted by C. Bechstein.

A second similarity is that both manufacturers use a highly tapered, old-growth spruce soundboard in their top German instruments. Steinway doesn't disclose their exact type of sourcing of spruce, but by all accounts, they still use Alpine Sitka. C. Bechstein on the other hand is a little more transparent in this regard and they use a minimum of 1,000-meter altitude red spruce from the Val di Fiemme, which is in Italy, of Stradivarius fame.

Closing Thoughts

We hope that you've enjoyed this exploration of the history, similarities and differences between C. Bechstein and Steinway & Sons pianos.

Thanks very much for reading, and be sure to check out the companion video!

The post C Bechstein Concert 8 | Upright Piano Review first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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C Bechstein Concert 8 | Upright Piano Review

C Bechstein has been making high-end upright pianos longer than almost anyone else in the industry. Given their pedigree, it’s not a huge surprise that today they’re known for producing some of the finest hand-made upright pianos money can buy.

In this article and companion video, we'll be taking an in-depth look at their ultra upright piano - the crown jewel of their entire upright piano lineup with the legendary C Bechstein Concert 8 Upright Piano.

The World’s Finest Upright Piano?

Whether it’s respected industry critics, elite pianists, aficionados or simply connoisseurs, there’s a veritable legion of people who think that the Concert 8 is the best upright piano on the planet. There’s a litany of upright and grand piano best-practice piano manufacturing techniques and materials employed on the Concert 8 that support this opinion, such as the extremely rare tapered Val Di’ Fiemme red spruce sourced for the soundboard, or an action so extensively regulated that it outplays most grand pianos.

We’re to cover a lot of ground as to what makes this piano so special, and why many of the 20th century's greatest artists, such as Simon & Garfunkel, Sir Simon Rattle and even the Beatles relegated their Steinways to compose on a Concert 8.

Let’s get into it.

C Bechstein Concert 8 - Background Information

Let's start with a bit of background about this instrument. As we stated in the intro, the C Bechstein Concert 8 Upright Piano has a reputation going back many decades as being the finest upright piano in the world.

Now, this is not something that we would throw out there lightly or as a Bechstein dealer trying to sell their products. To prove our point, if you refer to the Larry Fine "Piano Book", the current Piano Buyer edition states in writing that the Concert 8 is consistently held as one of the finest upright pianos ever made. Larry Fine is considered one of if not the foremost critic in the piano industry as a whole.

Country of Origin

The Concert 8 is made entirely in Germany, and it's handcrafted with fanatical attention to detail. It is the only upright piano that Bechstein label's as being part of their Concert piano series, alongside the C. Bechstein grands, at least partially because it's more than capable of the sophisticated dynamics typically only found on German grands.

Compared to their other top-level uprights, the Concert 8 has a thicker pin block, and longer tuning pins, giving better hold and control of the pins, resulting in a more stable tuning and consistent pitch.

Recent Redesign

The Concert 8 has been a staple C. Bechstein instrument for most of Bechstein’s existence, but it received a fresh design upgrade in recent years that brought it more in line with a grand piano and to an even higher overall level.

Who Should Consider a Concert 8?

If you’re in the market for a premium quality acoustic piano and you’ve got the budget, even if you haven’t previously considered an upright piano, you simply can’t avoid a Concert 8 if your list were to include the absolute best of the best.

Quite frankly, even if you even were in the market for a grand piano, in the 5 to 5.5-foot range with a budget of $70,000 - $80,000 USD, such as a larger W. Hoffmann Professional or smaller Bechstein Academy, there's a good chance you’ll get a higher level musical experience out of the Concert 8. There's no question it dramatically outplays many run-of-the-mill grands on the market.

With some background information out of the way, let’s move on to a discussion of the action.

Piano Action C Bechstein Hammers Bechstein’s ‘Gold Line Action’

Bechstein's upright actions have always been part of their overall appeal, and this is especially true of their top ‘Gold Line Action’ because they spend an inordinate amount of time regulating and prepping them - the same amount of time you can expect on grands that cost $100,000, which is extremely unusual for an upright piano.

The Concert 8 has over 170 measurable man-hours of manufacturing time at the factory applied to it. A good amount of that time is specifically devoted to regulating and weighting the acoustic assembly of the C Bechstein Concert 8, and the result is an incredibly responsive action that's also super fluid, and with the large 52" frame, you can match the sound volume of grand pianos with little effort.

Action Materials

In terms of the materials, this action is getting the same highest quality wood and hammers as their Masterpiece Class grands, even the concert grands, which is a dark burl walnut crown hammer and burl Vavona. Every C. Bechstein piano also gets its own custom-made hammers, including the Concert 8, which is again, very rare in the industry.

Action Weighting

The weight of the action is also worth noting. If somebody is used to an upright piano being a little bit lighter than a grand, you're not going to get that on the Concert 8. The Concert 8 is instead weighted much closer to a grand piano. We should emphasize that we’re not saying the piano is heavy or arduous, but rather that they've weighted it to create an authentic grand piano experience.

Upright Piano Sound - Timbre and Construction Materials Color

Let's move on to sound. If we could describe the sound profile of the C. Bechstein Concert 8 in a single word, it would be color. The tone of the C Bechstein Concert 8 is complex and sustaining, with a very clear fundamental tone. Each note produces a vast array of well-balanced harmonics, and the soundboard is responsive enough to maintain the clarity of every tone even when pushed with thick chords at high volumes.

The treble is strong with a beautiful singing attack with very low hammer noise, and the mid-range is lush with plenty of tonal palette to play with. The bass is warm without being overly resonant, and the transition to the bass from the tenor is barely detectable, like a fantastic 6’ grand.

Soundboard: Val Di’ Fiemme Red Spruce

At the heart of this magical tone and distinctive timbre is of course the Italian Red Spruce soundboard, from the famed Val Di’ Fiemme. The very same source of spruce that Stradivarius used for his violins.

If every piano could have an optimized sound development or a unique sound like this, I'm sure every manufacturer would love for that to be the case. But this is cold, hard science and engineering with an untenable price tag for most manufacturers that actually gives us the tone that we are hearing.

Other Notable Design Features C Bechstein Concert 8 Design Features

The Concert 8 has agraffes from top to bottom, a “double duplex” stringing technique, and a fully integrated frame and plate structure for maximum sympathetic resonance.

The entire frame of the instrument is designed to amplify the tone, much in the way a grand is, while deadening the less ‘attractive’ resonating components within the instrument. This same philosophy is also applied to every C. Bechstein grand piano

Cabinetry

We also need to talk about the cabinetry. By cabinetry, we’re not referring to the exterior appearance, but rather the actual substructure of wood that holds this instrument together.

At the back of the piano, there are six full-size back posts, all of them being solid hardwood. These back posts are mounted directly to the frame along with inner rim-type material to help activate some of the less naturally responsive parts of the soundboard.

In terms of aesthetics, on the top left at the back is a beautifully milled-in Bechstein logo that's just an extra nice little touch of elegance and precision on the instrument.

Optional Sostenuto & Vario System Upgrades C Bechstein Concert 8 Vario System

It's also worth mentioning that the Concert 8 is available with an optional sostenuto pedal, and recently, it's also available with Bechstein's Vario System add-on, which allows for silent practice with headphones.

Conclusions

As much as one must marvel at the high price tag for this instrument at over $80,000, the inevitable question gets asked: even in a grand piano, could you purchase an instrument with a finer tone for less money?

The answer of course is no. We have the occasional Shigeru Kawai in our showroom that may come very close, but by and large, most customers would, on average, need to spend $100,000+ to achieve this level of finish and detail in a piano.

The Concert 8 is as deserving of the claim “Finest Upright In The World” in 2022 as it was 50 or 100 years ago, and every bit worth a try if you can find one.

The post C Bechstein Concert 8 | Upright Piano Review first appeared on Merriam Pianos

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