n00b delurk - Questions on digital pianos

Perhaps unsurprisingly [ ;) ], I'm thinking of getting a piano of some
sort, and I'm considering a digital one. Coments to salient parts of the
following ramble invited...

I'm a guitarist of 30 years, and have been writing on the computer using
MIDI for about the last 10 (nearly all done by entering stuff into a
Cakewalk/Sonar sequencer). I don't read music (but have started learning).
My only real piano experience was as a kid of around seven, when we had an
upright in the house; plus the occasional tinkle since then. I've used
synthy keyboards a fair bit, and can generally mess about with chords and
melodies, albeit without the intuition that I have on guitar.

I recently bought a MIDI controller keyboard with a semi-weighted action,
both to aid the computer writing, and to use as a means of exploring piano
and Hammond organ sounds for their own sake (I've been considering taking up
a new instrument, since I don't really play guitar any more). For the last
few days, I've been unable to shake off the idea of getting a piano of some
sort for the living room - I've done a bunch of reading and have visited the
local digital piano emporium to hear some instruments.

I do want to develop my piano playing - I have no plans to become a concert
pianist, but I'd like to get to a stage where I'm fluid and can have fun on
the instrument. Most of my playing will be solo piano, with occasional
jamming along with CDs, and maybe some MIDI recording. By far, though, I'm
looking for an instrument simply to play and explore.


What I want from a piano...

Convincing sound, feel and response.
I'm not sure how this works for a guitarist. On the one hand, I'm used to
the sounds that real vibrating strings make, but I don't have a discerning
ear for piano. I do want to feel that I can lose myself in the instrument,
however. I realise that 'convincing' is a subjective thing, and that, at
this early stage, I'm probably easily convinced. The thing I want to avoid
is finding myself rather unconvinced a year or three later.

Looks good in my living room.
I don't want anything too large - most uprights are, to me, not very
attractive to look at and dominate the room too much. Modern digitals, like
the Clavinova CLP range and the Roland HP 200 series, look good to me and
are of a size that fits better with what I'd want in the room. As an
instrument to look at, they have an appeal as a sort of compact piano geared
towards domestic use. (I have no idea if such things exist in the world of
acoustic pianos.)

Longevity.
Not hundred-year heirloom longevity, but the sort of longevity where I'm
unlikely to want to upgrade (given the caveat that I might reach a standard
as a player where the limitations of digital become too evident). I'm
talking 10+ years, here. In a way, I'm asking if the best of digital piano
technology has reached the stage where the realism of the simulation is
starting to plateau. Is it a case of smaller incremental improvements from
here on, or are there still big strides to be made?

Electronic features, fibre opticals and megachips.
Ability to tailor the sound - should be able to get a balanced sound in my
room's acoustic. MIDI-speak is good - useful as a learning tool for playing
MIDI files of example pieces, and for recording my own playing. Volume
control and headphones are also good for neighbour diplomacy, and line-out
is good for recording. Two or three extra piano sounds is okay, but I'm not
fussed about having lots of other instruments (not looking for an
all-singing, all-dancing sound machine, but something that's a damn good
approximation of a real piano, that I can just treat *as a piano*, with a
few bells and whistles thrown in).

Low hassle ownership.
I've considered the acoustic/digital debate, and it's a little hard for me
to go with an acoustic. I don't want any concerns about room environment
affecting the instrument, or the hassle of it having to be regularly
maintained. This, the size, and the advantages of MIDI and volume control,
lead me to conclude that a digital is worthy of consideration, provided the
sound and feel is up to it.



My visit to the shop...

Went to the local emporium to scope out some digital pianos. The sales guy
answered questions and did most of the playing, which suited me fine because
I wanted to get an impression of the sound produced by someone that's
competent on the instrument. Listened to and plinked on, in order...

Roland HP207
Yamaha Clavinova CLP270
Yamaha Clavinova CLP240

I was initially attracted to the Roland because, on paper, the sampling
technology seemed well thought out, and it looked nice (better than the
Clavinova, I think). The surface finish of the keys felt good, too
(imitation ivory and ebony). The sound seemed okay, and the tone seemed to
change with attack in a convincing way. The Yamaha CLP270 was different -
first thing I noticed was that it seemed to have lost a lot of the top end,
and gained middle and bottom. Overall, it came across as a more mellow
instrument with a more full-bodied sound than the Roland. It also seemed to
be more 'alive' - the sound seemed to resonate more and get out into the
room better. It felt more like there were strings inside it, while the
Roland seemed a bit dull. Compared to these two, the cheaper CLP240
Clavinova was lifeless - the dynamics seemed feeble, and it just didn't cut
it against the others.

From this short 40-minute demonstration, the most striking thing was the
difference in sound between the Roland HP207 and the Yamaha CLP270. The Yam
seems to have a 'bounce' and a stringiness in it that the Roland hasn't.
I've been wondering if this has something to do with the speaker systems in
each piano.

The CLP270 has additional speakers that send the sound out the back, and out
towards the player - it 'spreads the sound out' more, but I don't know if it
does any tricks like delaying or phasing to do its emulation of the spread
from a real acoustic. It also has microphones that are used to monitor the
room acoustic, which presumably then influences some tone control type of
setting. I'm wondering if the sound I heard from the Yamaha was, in essence,
enhanced such that it had an unfair advantage over the Roland. In other
words, was it an artificially spectacular sound that might sway the listener
during a short demo? Or, artificial enchancement or no, is it actually a
better rendition of the sound spread of a real acoustic?

Although I only played a few notes on each, I liked the surface feel of the
keyboard on the Roland (I have no opinion on the actions so far). I have no
idea if the ivory bits are done right, but the black keys did feel quite
woody, and it certainly doesn't feel plasticy. However, the Yamaha had the
most impressive sound by far (and better tone controls). I do plan to return
and spend some time on candidate pianos to explore the sounds and dynamics
in more depth, but I think the Yamaha wins round 1.


Are there any other digital pianos up to 2-2.5k UKP that are worth
considering ? Am I correct in surmising that the Yamaha CLP270/280 range is
the current state of the art, or have I been swayed by the digital piano
equivalent of the fake surround sound found in TVs these days?

Any other comments/advice would be most welcome.


--
Wally


.

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