The only problem we had was the LCD was solid blue when we turned it on. I haven’t figured out the exact problem. I reversed the AC/DC adapter and it hasn’t happened again (we’ll see).

I’m writing this review because I had a few questions that I wished I knew the answers to, but could not find anywhere online before I bought this product sight unseen.

1. Question: How many degrees of loudness are there, depending on how hard you strike?

Answer: A lot. At least 8, but I suspect if my fingers were more dextrous and my ear better I could hear many more levels of touch sensitivity. In any case it sounds in this respect just like a piano to me.

2. Question: Does the timbre of the note change depending on how hard I strike the key?

Answer: Yes, and this effect depends on which keys you strike. In the low notes you hear a realistic sounding distortion when you slam down on the key. On the high notes you hear that hollow sound of the wood piano frame when you nail it. This latter effect was so realistic that I had to turn off the keyboard to be sure it wasn’t something that was physically happening inside the box rather than a simulated effect.

Question: On a sustained note does the sound simply fade, or does the quality of the sound change in a natural sounding way as it fades out?

Answer: Again, it sounds just like a real piano to me in this regard.

This keyboard has a “graded hammer action” so that the weight of the keys at the top is lighter than the weight at the bottom. While they may have reproduced this effect accurately, it is almost indiscernable to me with the keyboard off. But with the keyboard on, the weight of the keys feels absolutely distinct from top to bottom because the “strings” at the top and bottom respond so differently. That is, the sound is so good that it tricks your brain into sensing that the keys have completely different weights.

I bought it in spite of the fact that I wasn’t sure of the answers to these questions, and it is exactly what I had hoped for. It feels and sounds just like a piano to me, especially with good headphones, which allow me to practice scales in my living room without driving my family insane.

Thanks for reading this,

Mark

I love that this keyboard has the weighted keys, so that it feels more like a real piano. My children love the 50 million voices and such you can play with.

I really got it to replace my piano, so I haven’t played with the many technical accessories, but it is a beautiful sounding keyboard, and the weighted action is done well. I love that it has the built in speakers with volume control, plus the ability to use headphones.

My recommendation is to spend a few hundred bucks more and get a basic Kurtzweil. The improvement in the action, the sound, and the extra pedals is well worth the money. Only buy this piano if you can’t afford the extra two or three hundred dollars (assuming that you have a local dealer willing to offer you a “sale”).

I bought this unit based on the positive reviews and my satisfaction with lower-end Clavinovas. I was looking for a MIDI-compatible electric keyboard for my kids to use while at our cabin.

Cons:

It has a cheap-lightweight build and rocks on carpet when played.

The action feels like a spring-loaded underweight key-clearly inferior to a Clavinova.

The maximum volume is much lower than a real piano.

The screen is really tiny.

My 11-year old daughter uses the poor quality of this piano as another reason not to practice.

None of my kids like to play this piano.

Pros:

The built-in music library has some fun tunes that my kids have spontaneously decided to learn.

The polyphony (simultaneous tones) holds up better to other brands at a similar price.