Piano Recommendations

[Mr. Study]

Hey,

I'm looking to buy a piano, my budget is $300 to possibly $450. I have NO experience with piano's but I would like to play/learn whenever I don't feel like doing anymore homework.

Could anyone recommend a piano within that range?

Thanks.

[saheh]

Acoustic or digital??
My digital I paid 800$ for a Casio
For an acoustic, you'd be looking at a very very average quality one for 300$...
I think you mean 3000$???

[Camo]

I just bought a cheap $50 dollar one from target .

[Mr. Study]

Digital my good man.

Camo, Would you be able to give me a review of that piano? I'll probably keep an open mind.

[aabattery]

Check this:

http://www.allansbillyhyde.com.au/prodcat/Pianos_and_Keyboards/Keyboards.aspx

scrolll down and some of the digital pianos are in the $200-400 range.

[Mr. Study]

Oooh, Thanks for that aabattery.

Hmm, The Casio CTK3200 and those Yamaha's look good.

 I'm guessing the brand shouldn't really matter? Or do certain brands tend to produce better quality pianos?

[rife168]

Definitely look for a used/2nd hand digital piano on ebay/gumtree. A decent used stage/digital piano would be much better than a brand new budget keyboard.
Do you want a digital piano with weighted keys or are you after more of an electronic keyboard feel? (more springy and plasticky)
Weighted keys will give you a more realistic piano feel but often the electronic keyboards have more features for a cheaper price (they are somewhat gimmicky though).
I would personally recommend a digital piano with weighted keys (Yamaha, Roland, Casio, Kawai are all good brands) and then if you want to do some crazier synth type stuff you can get a midi cable and plug the DP into your computer and use a software synth.

[Mr. Study]

Got any recommendations for a digital piano with weighted keys?

I'll probably be playing the piano during uni.

[rife168]

The new Casio privia series are good.
If you are going to buy used and it's any more than a few years old, then I would go with Roland or Yamaha. (Finding an old-ish Roland stage piano would be just about the best thing you could do). I also forgot to mention Korg earlier.
Have a look for used sections on main music shops' websites. I've bought a guitar from Musician's Friend in the US for less than half the price I could find it for here in AUS, but I'd imagine the shipping would bump up the cost quite a lot.
Have a look on eBay and on gumtree.com.au and feel free to post any links here and I'll let you know what I think.

[Mr. Study]

The privia ones are a little expensive and if I were to buy it, I'd probably love showing off with it. .I also found this fantastic piano AND it fits my budget.


http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/hi-fi-home-audio/musical-instruments/yamaha-np-31-piaggero-keyboard/659909.

I can get this at Allan Billy Hyde music but the website sometimes freezes/doesnt load.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

EDIT: Just had a look at 2nd hand pianos... Korgs, 76 keys, are in the range of $400 to $600. :O

[rife168]

Definitely go for a Korg over an np31. The np31 doesn't actually have weighted keys (I was about to buy one but that put me off it).
If you find a piano in your price range that has a few different sounds, weighted keys, midi in/out and (not as important) split and layering, then I'm sure you will probably be satisfied.
I would say that the key action and feel would be most important, followed by the quality of inbuilt sounds.

I recommend going into a music store and trying some out, if you find one you like, then you could probably find it cheaper online. Also, it will give you a feel for the difference between the key-action and feel between brands, as usually DPs from the same brand have a similar feel.

[Mr. Study]

Ahh! Yes! Weighted keys.

I'll probably go around music stores during the weekend.

Thank you so much for your input fletch-j.

[Mao]

If you don't mind it being tethered to a computer via USB, you can consider the M-Audio Keystation series. A full 88keys semi-weighted board comes at ~$200. The downside is you probably have to install Ableton or a similar digital sequencing software. The plus side is that instrument can sound like anything you want (thousands of instruments to choose from via Ableton/other software).

[Mr. Study]

88 Keys for 200 bucks?!

Any chance you know if it 'feels' similar to an actual keyboard? And their is absolutely NO CHANCE of being able to play the keyboard without a computer? Could I (If it even exists) get a usb to power socket wire? I'm pretty noob with all this :S

EDIT: Is this it? http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Keystation88es.html. If it is, it looks very nice. . If I were to get it, any chance an australian store has it in stock? (I don't like to import things with triple digits).

Just found it at Allans/Billy hyde music store for $300.

[Mao]

88 Keys for 200 bucks?!

Any chance you know if it 'feels' similar to an actual keyboard? And their is absolutely NO CHANCE of being able to play the keyboard without a computer? Could I (If it even exists) get a usb to power socket wire? I'm pretty noob with all this :S

EDIT: Is this it? http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Keystation88es.html. If it is, it looks very nice. . If I were to get it, any chance an australian store has it in stock? (I don't like to import things with triple digits).

Just found it at Allans/Billy hyde music store for $300.

If you are getting it, I recommend getting it from soundcorp (a shop in south melbourne). Order on ebay, pick-up in store. I especially recommend picking it up from the store, because their store is possibly one of the coolest stores ever. They have some very high fidelity stuff there, like headphones which cost >$1000 and studio monitors (large desktop speakers) that can empty your bank.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/M-Audio-Keystation-88es-88-Key-USB-Controller-NEW-/270912334546?pt=AU_Pro_Audio&hash=item3f13a22ad2#ht_2601wt_956
I got my 61es from them.

1. It's semi weighted, so at least it doesn't feel like a keyboard. It's somewhat similar to smaller pianos with lighter hammers, but it cannot compare with the feel on a good piano. However, hammer-action rigs are quite expensive, I couldn't find any decent ones for under $800. This one is the best value for money in the semi-weighted range.

2. The keyboard is a pure minimalistic MIDI controller. The keyboard does not have any speakers or any jacks for speakers, the output is purely digital (MIDI or MIDI via USB). I'm fairly sure the keyboard doesn't even have piano sounds on it, and all sound synthesis is done on the software side. There are a few problems with it:
- If you have a desktop, placing could be an issue.
- The software (Ableton) is quite demanding. A typical windows laptop will not run it smoothly.

However, it runs perfectly on almost any Macintosh laptops/desktops. I guess the audio-production industry is quite heavily Mac-inclined.

3. You can attach a sustain pedal to it (additional purchase).
- With Ableton installed, the keyboard is capable of producing any installed instruments.
- You can use high-fidelity speakers via the computer.
- As Ableton is a sequencer, you can record/apply effects/etc. It has a pretty steep learning curve, but it's a damn good piece of professional software.