expirediconian | Staff posted Sep 30, 2022 11:29 PM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expirediconian | Staff posted Sep 30, 2022 11:29 PM
Kawai 88-Key Digital Piano's: CA49 Compact $1699, ES110 Portable
+ Free Shipping$519
$699
25% offAdorama
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the 49 is about the price you can talk a dealer down to.
That said, I think that my general advice applies: if you're considering a digital piano, try it in person before you buy. It's the only way to judge the action. You can also get a better feel for the sound playing it yourself vs listening to a sample online. Of course, listening to samples online is also very helpful! But it doesn't replace playing the piano in person, which is also the only way thata you can judge the sound of the internal speakers and to what degree you can tweak the sound.
Musical instruments are personal. Don't assume that your preferences will line up with any given reviewers'. So, *personally*, while I'm not too impressed with this sale, I still think the Kawai lineup from $1.5 to $3k has better values than the lineups of Roland, Yamaha, Casio, and Korg.
To my ears and fingers, Rolands don't start being competitive until the mid-$3ks, when they let you heavily tweak the action and sound using digital controls (it's very flexible and very cool). I also think almost all Rolands look as ugly as sin. That might color my impression.
I didn't care for the Yamaha action in this price range and the sound didn't impress me either, but I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about why. Higher-end Yamahas are have excellent reputations that seem to be justified but I didn't have the budget to shop those.
I didn't care for the sound of any of the Casios under $3k. Still, if you have to get a new digital piano for under $1k, the Casio PV-870 and PV-780 may be your only options with acceptably realistic action.
Korg has excellent sound synthesis and good action across its lineup but builds in underwhelming speaker systems even on its flagship G1. Korg starts to win more comparisons if your budget drops below $1.5k, as the LP-380u is one of the best values in digital pianos in spite of its disappointing speakers. IIRC you can usually find it for ~$1k if you haggle.
Again, this is all personal. I wouldn't be surprised if many of you disagree with me on some or all of my conclusions! Even if we agree about sound and action we might make different purchasing decisions because of visual aesthetics. After all, these things aren't just sound generators, they're also large pieces of furniture.
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I don't think it will drop "much" more by BF, but it's possible.
Ya, no else has any interest in doing so, because they likely order 5 at a time and have no interest in discounting it..
the 49 is about the price you can talk a dealer down to.
you may be interested in studio monitors once you get the es110, 2 of these.
https://slickdeals.net/f/16064791-tannoy-reveal-502-studio-monitor-speaker-single-79-free-s-h?v=1&src=SiteS
and this cable, you don't need this cable on the s360, only if you get the 110,
I highly recommend adding speakers to any piano, it's Miles better than the inbuilt speakers.
https://www.amazon.com/MIATIN-6-3...222&sr=8-1
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kawai action also has slightly longer key stick,
you may be interested in studio monitors once you get the es110, 2 of these.
https://slickdeals.net/f/16064791-tannoy-reveal-502-studio-monitor-speaker-single-79-free-s-h?v=1&src=SiteS
and this cable, you don't need this cable on the s360, only if you get the 110,
I highly recommend adding speakers to any piano, it's Miles better than the inbuilt speakers.
https://www.amazon.com/MIATIN-6-3...222&sr=8-1
kawai action also has slightly longer key stick,
fp30x would work better because it has line out with the right source impedance.
es110 also has proper line out for monitors.
"will it be cheaper" come black friday, i don't know, it won't be by much though.
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the 110 uses rhc, it's more/less the same, but lighter touch and does not have letoff.
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