Have you ever wondered how you could entertain friends as the pianist in a quartet, even though your apartment is so small? Have you dreamed about taking piano lessons, even though you can't afford to buy and maintain an acoustic piano? Have you hoped to find an instrument for the whole family, including one child who loves classical music and another who prefers rock 'n' roll?

Well, with a digital piano, you can do all these things! It is the one instrument that everyone can use and enjoy, whether it's in a home, school, business, or house of worship. And with more than 150 pianos to choose from this year, you're guaranteed to find exactly what you're looking for.

WHY DIGITAL?

Why would you choose to buy a digital piano rather than an acoustic model? Because the new digital pianos offer many advantages over acoustic models. For example, you can practice with headphones and not disturb your neighbors. Also, two people can easily move or carry a digital piano up and down stairs. Another advantage is that a digital piano never needs tuning. And if cost is a concern, you'll be pleased to know that most digital pianos cost less than acoustic pianos.

You'll find a digital piano with the latest technology for every level and style of playing. Because these new models are uncomplicated and surprisingly user-friendly, a digital piano's modern features will put even traditionally minded players at ease.

Find out how wonderful these digital pianos are. Go play one for yourself! Visit a piano dealer and run your fingers over the keys of a few new models. You will be surprised by how much they feel, sound, and look almost exactly like traditional pianos.

We've gathered information on all the available digital pianos here to make your shopping easier. Beginning on page 24, you'll find a series of comparison charts for digital pianos sorted by cabinet style: upright, grand, and portable. Below you'll see definitions for chart categories. To understand the abbreviations certain categories use, refer to the chart key on page 26.

This year, 12 manufacturers have submitted entries to our charts. Some of these companies are well known as acoustic-piano manufacturers, and others are known for making professional keyboards like those you hear on hit records.

KEYS

Digital pianos come with 76 or 88 keys. Uprights and grands usually have 88 keys, and portables are available in 76- or 88-key versions.

To choose the right number of keys, consider these three criteria: the amount of space you have, your budget, and the type of music you play. An 88-key piano may also be available as a 76-key model for a lower price. A 76-key portable digital piano is great for people who have to bring their own pianos to their performances. You can successfully play most classical music on a 76-key piano. You may also choose one of these smaller pianos if space or cost is a consideration.

If jazz, Late Romantic classical music, or just traditional taste influences you, go for the 88-key piano. This is the standard size for acoustic pianos. If you aren't sure which size to get, we suggest you buy an 88-key piano so you can play any type of music.

ACTION

The second most important element in a piano after its sounds (see page 21) is how the keyboard feels when you play. On a digital piano, the keyboard's action (the mechanism of its keys) determines the feel.

Digital pianos offer three different types of action: weighted-hammer action, weighted action, and nonweighted action. Your own preference, experience, and the style of music you play will determine which action is best for you. To understand the differences between these three types, it helps to visualize how the keys on an acoustic piano work.

When you press a key on an acoustic piano, the key moves a lever that causes a hammer to strike (and then bounce off) a string. There are no springs; the weight of the hammer and levers causes the key to return to its normal position. This weight and the momentum of the moving hammer create much of an acoustic piano's feel. How well a digital piano re-creates the feel of an acoustic piano depends on the type of action it has.

Several high-end digital pianos offer weighted-hammer action, delivering an authentic acoustic-piano feel. This action features a key mechanism that emulates the weight and movement of hammers. Some mechanisms include small moving weights or bouncing hammers attached to the keys to achieve the desired feel. Most manufacturers have their own version of the weighted-hammer action under a variety of names. If you are a serious piano player, you should probably choose a piano with a weighted-hammer mechanism.

Weighted-action keyboards offer a less expensive but still quite effective emulation of acoustic pianos. This very common digital-piano keyboard includes a weight in each key but forgoes the expense and complexity of the hammer mechanism. Many pianists find this type of action delivers solid piano performance with a feel that suits their playing styles.

The nonweighted (or synth-action) keyboard feels the least like an acoustic piano, but it has its own advantages. Thousands of professional keyboard synthesizers have this type of keyboard. It has plastic keys and uses springs (rather than weights) to return the key to its initial position. Synth-action keyboards produce a quicker and lighter feel than weighted keyboards, and they work well for certain types of music and for playing the sounds of instruments other than the piano (which many digital pianos have). Beginners and people who do not have strong fingers often like synth-action keyboards. This also happens to be the least expensive type of keyboard action.

To decide which type of keyboard action is best for you, visit a dealer and try different pianos. If you are not an experienced player, bring along a friend who has experience using a piano as you intend to. Take your time when deciding on the keyboard action. Some piano manufacturers offer different types of action on different models, so experiment on several pianos.

ADJUSTABLE TOUCH

Digital pianos are unique, and so are the people who play them. For example, one person may play the keys harder than another. Does this mean the person with the stronger fingers always plays louder? Not if your piano has a feature that lets you adjust the sensitivity of the keys.

This feature often comes in three basic settings, such as hard, medium, and soft. A few higher-level pianos let you choose from dozens of levels to find the perfect sensitivity for your touch and the music you're playing. The response of the keys won't feel any different when you change a setting: the change is in the digital signal sent when you press the key, not in the action of the key itself.

A light setting means that the piano responds to a lighter touch. For example, if you play lightly but want the piano to sound as though you're playing harder, you would choose a light setting. Beginners often prefer this setting because they lack finger strength. On the other hand, if you are a trained pianist, you may want to use a heavy setting so that you must use a heavy touch to play the key loudly.

POLYPHONY

Polyphony is the number of notes an instrument can play simultaneously. Manufacturers may describe it as a number of voices (24-voice polyphony) or a number of notes (24-note polyphony). You might think you wouldn't need more than 10-voice polyphony because you only have 10 fingers, but if you sustain a large chord and play other notes on top of it, you may use more than 10 voices. For this reason, digital pianos have at least 24-voice polyphony.

Many styles of playing need more polyphony. If you play a two-octave glissando and don't want any notes to “fall off” or disappear too soon — or if you plan to play duets — you will want a piano with at least 24-voice polyphony. For sequencing with several other instrument sounds or for playing along with prerecorded song disks, your piano should have 28 or more voices of polyphony to ensure that each instrument has its own voice.

SOUNDS

As you begin to shop for your new piano, one question that will probably pop into your mind is, How do the new digital pianos sound? Their superb sound quality will amaze you. Today's digital pianos use digital-sampling technology to emulate fine acoustic pianos: The digital piano's computer memory stores digitally recorded sound (also known as a sample) from an actual recording of a high-quality acoustic piano. Each time you play a note, the digital piano replays the recording.

The quality of the sound is contingent upon the type of acoustic piano recorded and the technology used. Some of the best digital pianos have several different piano samples for each key because acoustic pianos sound slightly different depending on whether you play them softly or loudly. (In these pianos, the sample played back is determined by how hard you hit the key.) A number of digital pianos have samples recorded in stereo, and many even have special synthesis enhancements to increase the realism of the sound.

A digital piano's sound is a result of more than the sample's quality and the technology used to replay the recorded notes; a recording is only as good as the system that plays it. Digital pianos contain a high-fidelity sound system to reproduce the piano sound accurately. Several manufacturers use the same basic electronics in all their digital pianos. The main distinction in sound between pianos results from the different speakers and amplifiers in the various models. (Read about speakers on page 23.)

You can't evaluate sound quality until you've listened to several pianos at a music dealer; and because everyone has a different ear, you may prefer a different piano sound than the one your friend likes. Fortunately, you can have fun with this part of piano shopping. When trying out some of the digital pianos, take time to listen to the built-in demonstration programs designed to show off the instrument's best features.

Some pianos offer fewer than 10 sounds, whereas others offer more than 500. Before you decide more is better, consider whether you are going to use all those extra sounds you'll be paying for. You can always get more sounds later by adding an external sound module to your digital piano using its MIDI capabilities.

PERCUSSION

The first number that appears in this column is the number of percussion sounds available (handclaps, drums, cymbals, and so on). The second number in this column indicates the number of available auto-accompaniment rhythms. Some manufacturers refer to a piano's percussion sounds as a kit. This means the piano has the sounds of the drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments you would find in a standard drum set. (In our chart, the first number includes these sounds.)

If you are considering buying a digital piano that can play back prerecorded song disks, you will probably want some percussion sounds. Show tunes and pop songs often use rhythm and percussion instruments. You may want to get a piano with at least a few percussion sounds so you can enjoy song disks, even if you don't plan to use percussion when you're playing or composing.

EFFECTS

Digital effects alter the character of a sound. You'll probably use effects on other instrument sounds more than you will on piano sounds. The chart indicates whether a piano has any of the five most common effects: chorus, an effect that doubles or adds fullness to sounds; delay, a single-echo effect that repeats notes as you play them (this often works well with percussion sounds); equalization, a boost or drop in bass or treble; reverb, a series of diminishing echolike effects that simulates the sound of playing in a large room; and tremolo, a wavering pitch suited to woodwind and string sounds. The chart will also indicate how many effects can be used simultaneously.

Digital pianos that list O (for other) in this column have other unique effects, such as rotary speaker, pitch shift, and vibrato. Some have programmable effects you can combine as well.

SEQUENCER

A sequencer allows you to record your performance as you play; you can then play it back at a different tempo or with different instrument sounds. Different manufacturers have various terms for sequencers, including song recorder, performance memory, music recorder, and digital recorder.

The first number given in this entry on the chart shows how many tracks the piano's internal sequencer has. Each track allows you to record a separate part. For example, a 2-track sequencer can record left and right hands separately, or it can record a bass part and a piano part. An 8-track or 16-track sequencer is useful when you are recording a song with many different instrument sounds.

The second number in this entry indicates the sequencer's limit (given in notes). Only the disk size limits sequencers that record directly to disk. For an alternative to a built-in sequencer, connect your piano to a computer and add a software sequencer. (See “The Computer Connection” on page 52.)

DATA STORAGE

The storage capacities of digital pianos vary just as those of personal computers do. A common option is a built-in disk drive, which allows you to record and save your songs for future playback. If you don't save your performance to disk, your piano's sequencer may forget it as soon as you turn off the piano. Most disk drives found on digital pianos are the same as the 3.5-inch floppy-disk drives found on personal computers.

You'll also need a disk drive to play any of the prerecorded song disks available for digital pianos. Many pianos read disks formatted only by certain manufacturers, but pianos with disk drives that are Standard MIDI File compatible (indicated in the chart with the abbreviation SMF) can read any MIDI song disk. (See the sidebar “MIDI Song Disks” on page 35.) Some drives can both read and write MIDI data, while others are read-only. Flash ROM, found on some digital pianos, is a kind of updatable ROM.

PEDALS

Many digital pianos have pedals like those on acoustic pianos. Some pianos offer one pedal, others provide two, and a few models have three. Portable pianos that do not come with a pedal often have one or more jacks so you can add an optional pedal.

In general, the pedals on digital pianos are the electronic equivalents of the pedals on acoustic pianos. The pedal on the right is almost always a sustain pedal; and like the sustain pedal on an acoustic piano, it prevents muting of the notes when you lift your fingers from the keys.

If a digital piano has two pedals, the one on the left is probably a soft pedal. In an upright acoustic piano, the soft pedal usually moves the hammers closer to the string, diminishing the force of the hammer blows. In an acoustic grand piano, the pedal shifts the keyboard and hammers sideways so that the hammer does not strike one string of each note; the volume is thereby diminished. Of course, a digital piano accomplishes the same softening effect electronically.

The third pedal, if provided, most often emulates the grand piano's sostenuto pedal, which sustains the notes you are holding when you hit the pedal but not the notes you play thereafter. This pedal lets you sustain a chord or bass note, for example, and play a clean, unsustained melody on top.

MIDI PORTS

Digital pianos that are equipped with MIDI ports (In, Out, and Thru) can communicate with other instruments and even with computers. A piano may have some or all of the three MIDI ports. The chart indicates the type and number of ports a piano has.

Connecting a digital piano to a computer requires a MIDI interface. In many cases, this interface is a separate device that connects to the MIDI In and Out ports on the piano; however, some digital pianos have built-in computer interfaces, as will be indicated in the “Other Jacks” column on the chart. (To learn more about pianos and MIDI, see “MIDI 101” on page 47.)

HEADPHONE AND MIC JACKS

If you live in an apartment or want to practice in privacy, you should buy a digital piano with a headphone jack. You may even want two headphone jacks if you plan to play duets or practice with a teacher.

A microphone jack allows you to plug in a microphone and sing along while you play or while someone else accompanies you. You can even use your piano for karaoke if it has a microphone jack and a disk drive that can read disks containing prerecorded songs. (Some digital pianos have video connections to let you display lyrics on your television screen!)

OTHER JACKS

The entries in this column describe how you can use your piano with other pieces of your home-entertainment system and your computer. Computer interface indicates that you can connect your digital piano directly to your computer. (Most interfaces are for PCs. Mac users should inquire about compatibility.) You can add another pedal to pianos that list extra pedal jacks.

You can employ in and out jacks to amplify your piano with a P.A. system, a keyboard amplifier, or the amp and speakers in your home-entertainment system. A few digital pianos even have video ports that can turn your television screen into part of an at-home karaoke system.

DISPLAY

Many pianos feature easy-to-read displays for choosing sounds, effects, and so forth. Pianos with fewer features and sounds don't really need a display and usually have a panel of buttons instead.

Don't minimize the importance of a clear, readable display; you want easy access to all the features you paid for. Try out several pianos with different displays to see which ones you prefer. Some displays are easier to read than others, and some pianos organize their display data more intuitively than others.

SPEAKERS

Speaker placement and quality vary between models. (You should be aware that some portable digital pianos do not have internal speakers.) You may be able to hook your piano up to your home stereo system or to a set of external speakers. Be sure to ask the manufacturer or your piano dealer what options you have.

A digital piano with three or more speakers generally has a separate speaker dedicated to reproducing low-frequency sounds, which usually results in better overall sound. Some pianos may allow you to pan sounds: you can have piano sounds coming from the left speakers and string sounds coming from the right. This gives an orchestral feeling to your performances.

POWER

The comparison chart gives power specifications for each amplifier. For example, “100 × 3” means the piano has three amplifiers, each with 100 watts of power, for a total of 300 watts. An entry reading “15 × 2, 50 × 2” indicates that the piano has four amplifiers total, two at 15 watts and two at 50 watts (130 watts in all).

DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

Your choice will also be influenced by how and where you intend to use the piano. You'll want to pay close attention to size and weight if you are looking for a digital piano that will fit in the corner of the living room of your third-floor apartment. On the other hand, if you are putting your piano in a spacious family room, dimensions and weight probably won't be deciding factors when you choose between models. Some manufacturers offer the same piano housed in a portable, upright, or grand cabinet, so no matter what size you choose, you'll get the same features.

A portable digital piano is an obvious choice if you need to travel with your piano or if you want to store it at times. Cost might also be a factor; these are often the least expensive pianos. If portability is a determining factor, you may want to investigate home keyboards (see “Today's Hot Home Keyboards” on page 10).

Digital upright pianos are the most popular style for home, school, and church. A good rule of thumb is that larger cabinets usually contain bigger speakers and amplifiers for better sound quality. And you'll find that digital upright pianos vary in appearance from traditional spinets to modern consoles to modest keyboard-and-stand combinations. A digital grand may be your first choice if you want your piano to take center stage in your living room or if you have a stage area where you want to feature a beautiful piano.

Pianos with more speakers are heavier, and those with more keys are wider. Upright pianos stand about 36 inches high and 55 inches wide; portables are about 6 inches high. A piano's depth measurement tells you how far it will project from the wall against which you place it. Note also that the dimensions given in the chart for grand digital pianos indicate whether the piano is a full grand or a baby grand.

FINISHES

Other important criteria for buying a new piano include the cabinet's look and style. You can choose a finish that complements your decor, such as a traditional high-gloss ebony. Manufacturers also offer different wood-grain finishes such as mahogany, rosewood, and cherry. Whichever style and finish you choose, you'll cherish your piano as an heirloom for years to come.

PRICE

Digital pianos range in price from less than $1,000 for many portable models to more than $10,000 for some grands. The chart shows the suggested retail price ranges for the majority of brands to give you an idea of the relative costs of different models and features.

Retail prices can vary between regions and individual dealers as a result of factors such as shipping and distribution costs, the time of year, and manufacturer policies. Because of this variation, some manufacturers decline to publish an actual price.

YOUR WISH LIST

All digital pianos give you the same basic features, but the quality and the number of those features differ between models. If you are a more advanced musician, you might want to investigate some of the subtler aspects of digital pianos. On some digital pianos, you can make interesting adjustments not possible on an acoustic piano: for example, playing with different temperaments or with split or layered keyboard sounds.

Manufacturers and authorized dealers can provide brochures for specific pianos that describe the available features in detail. (Consult the “Glossary of Terms” on page 59 to help decipher the brochures.) After gathering information and testing different instruments, you'll be ready to choose the piano that meets your needs. If you're not an advanced piano player, you can ignore most of these special features and still make an intelligent choice when buying your piano.

Keep in mind how you will use your piano, because this determines which style and features you really need. A sequencer is an excellent option for educational use, and it's also worth the extra cost. For church use, you may want a digital piano that also has good organ and choir sounds. MIDI capability is very important for professional use. And for home use, many people buy a piano that complements their furnishings aesthetically.

THE PERFECT FIT

Buying a piano is a long-term investment, so choose one mainly for its sound and keyboard feel and secondarily for any extra features it may include. If you're not sure about needing certain features, you're probably better off buying a basic digital piano in a higher-level series rather than buying a top-of-the-line piano in an entry-level series. Remember that you can often add on features such as a sequencer or more instrument sounds.

How do you make the final choice? Fortunately, you can limit your list of choices fairly quickly. For instance, most digital-piano manufacturers really make just one or two truly different upright pianos. All the digital pianos from a specific series might have the same sound-generation electronics. The differences between models consist of the number of features, the cabinet style, and the power of the sound system. Therefore, when comparing pianos, you might first want to compare brands. When you find a brand you like, choose the model that has the specific features you desire.

Finally, don't forget the fun factor. Playing music should be an enjoyable experience, so don't hesitate to include features such as auto-accompaniment or unusual instrument sounds in your piano.

Finding the best digital piano — whether you'll be using it in your home, a place of worship, a business, or a school — isn't a result of good luck. It is the reward of careful research. We've provided the comparison charts and the feature articles in the 2004 Digital Home Keyboard Guide to help you become a confident, knowledgeable shopper and a well-equipped player. With all this information at your fingertips, you'll find a digital piano that fits just right.

Jennifer Conrad Seidel has been the editor of Electronic Musician's Digital Home Keyboard Guide since 1996.