UPDATED REPORT – Jan 1, 2024 – HYBRID DIGITAL PIANOS
| REVIEW & REPORT | 10 Things You Must Know Before You Buy! | What are hybrid digital pianos? Why are they becoming more desirable to own and how much do they cost? “Hybrid” digital pianos in 2023 are essentially digital electric pianos with partial or complete acoustic piano key actions or wood parts and/or or wooden sound producing components in them. In other words, they are a combination of digital & acoustic piano parts. The top name brands that produce hybrid furniture cabinet digital pianos are Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, Roland, and Dexibell. Hybrid digital pianos almost always cost more money than just regular digital pianos.The current hybrid furniture cabinet digital pianos are the following 31 models: Yamaha Clavinova CLP-745, CLP-775, CLP-785, CLP-795GP, CVP-805, CVP-809, CVP-809GP, Yamaha AvantGrand NU1X, N1X, N2, and N3X. Kawai Concert Artist CA401, CA501, CA701, CA901, Kawai Novus NV5s, NV10s. Roland HP704, LX705, LX706, LX708, GP6, GP9. Casio GP-310, GP-510, PX-S5000, PX-S6000, PX-S7000, AP450, AP550, AP750, and Dexibell H10C, H10MG. The word “hybrid” means a combination of at least 2 different technologies or opposite types of construction (parts) combined and used in one product. A dictionary definition of the word “hybrid” states the following: “having or produced by a combination of two or more distinct elements marked by heterogeneity in origin, composition, or appearance.” A 2nd dictionary definition of hybrid says: “having two different types of components performing essentially the same function.”
What does the word “Hybrid” mean in Digital Pianos?
The word “hybrid” has especially been used to describe popular vehicles that some people drive which use both electricity and gasoline to power that vehicle. There are definitely benefits to this hybrid vehicle technology and the Toyota Prius has been one of the more well known names out there for hybrid vehicles. There are more and more hybrid vehicles on the road along with all electric vehicles, and that segment of the vehicle industry is continuing to grow. When it comes to digital pianos, the word hybrid is somewhat over-used and not as defined and with
regard to function, technology, and construction of the piano.
Hybrid Key Actions
A fully hybrid piano moving key action in a digital piano has nearly all the hundreds (and thousands) of moving action parts of a real upright or grand piano including individual properly weighted keys so that it really does feel like playing an acoustic upright or grand piano with regard to the moving keys themselves…hence the name hybrid “upright” or “grand piano.” It doesn’t get more realistic than that in terms of key action unless you purchase a real acoustic grand piano with the inclusion of felt hammers touching and muting real strings along with a real una-corda soft pedal. A fully hybrid upright piano moving key action
has almost all of the hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of moving organic parts of a real upright piano key action and produces the key movement and key response of a real acoustic upright piano and it does not get more natural than that unless you buy a real acoustic upright piano which would have the damper mechanism dampening real strings and felt hammers striking real strings.
Piano Sound Reproduction in Acoustic Pianos
Speaking of piano sound, the strings inside the piano are what vibrates when the hammers strike the strings as you are playing a piano and that’s where each of the 88 notes comes from when you are playing each black & white key. I am stating the “obvious” for many of you out there who know these things but for some people, you may not know how a piano actually works so I find it useful to be as informative as possible. When those piano strings vibrate they only make a very small sound by themselves. They are just copper and wire so they need to be “amplified” to be heard and that
amplifier is called the “soundboard.” Every acoustic stringed instrument has a wooden soundboard (see picture) and that board “amplifies” the sound of the strings in a special way so that your music can be heard loud and clear.
Piano Sound Reproduction in Digital Pianos
Kawai CA901 soundboard |
In a digital piano, the sound is generated digitally from a piano sound chip (sound engine) and is then amplified electronically through digital power amplifiers and the sound comes out through speakers so you don’t need a wood soundboard in the piano to help produce the piano sound because the electronics and speakers do that job. However, there is one brand which has added a real acoustic soundboard made of spruce-wood in 2 of its digital pianos which then gives the added “organic” elements of natural acoustic amplification along with speakers and digital amplifiers in those digital pianos. That brand is Kawai and the 2 new digital hybrid pianos which include a wooden soundboard is the CA901 and NV5s upright style digital pianos. Since there are no strings in a digital piano the natural occurring vibrations in that organic soundboard need to be picked up by the attachment of special transducer microphones on the soundboard so that the natural wood soundboard tone can be heard coming out of the additional speakers in the digital piano.
Pedaling Operation & Response in Acoustic Pianos
Another important aspect of any “acoustic” piano are the 3 pedals attached to the piano near the bottom center of the cabinet. Those 3 moving pedals are mechanical and they are connected moving wooden and metal parts that attach to those pedals which then controls the sustain, sostenuto, and soft (una-corda) pedal functions. This has a big impact on your music and how it comes out of the piano while playing a song. In a regular acoustic piano there are over 200 strings that create the piano sound when the keys move and the hammers strike the strings. Depending on the notes you play, specific strings are struck by the hammers inside the piano and those strings vibrate and sustain freely as long as you have a key pressed down or you are holding down your damper-sustain pedal.
The way a sustain (aka: damper) pedal works is that it is connected by parts to a long damper rail inside an acoustic piano where the individual dampers are resting on the rail. When the damper pedal is pushed down by your foot then those dampers in the piano are pushed up and away from all of the over 200 strings and those strings vibrate freely over a long period of time while the pedal is held down. This is what helps create long, sustained piano tones that make your music lush and beautiful. Also, every time you press
down a key and hold down that key, that specific damper on a specific note will release the string to be able to freely sustain which holds out that piano sound until you release that key. Once the damper pedal or specific key is released, then the damper (s) fall back onto the strings and the sustained note immediately stops playing.
Pedaling Operation & Response in Hybrid Digital Pianos
I mention all that with regard to the pedals, especially the damper pedal, because in a “hybrid” digital piano there are no strings as I said earlier. That’s the really a big benefit of a hybrid digital piano…the sound is generated by the digital piano sound technology which then is heard through the internal speaker system on nearly all digital pianos. The downside of a stringed acoustic piano is that it always needs tuning which can cost you thousands of dollars over the life of a piano. The tuning pins in an acoustic piano pin-block which hold the strings in place can possibly start slipping over time and cracks can form in the wood pin-block depending on the piano and weather
conditions. When a piano technician tunes the piano it may not stay in tune if there are problems in the wood pin-block holding the strings in place.
because there are no strings for the hammers to strike. Instead, the hammers are really metal rods that take the place of felt hammers (see picture) and the speed and movement of those rods are detected by optical sensors which then trigger the piano sound in an appropriate way.
Downsides of Acoustic Pianos
Again, the point of a “hybrid” digital piano is to try to re-create the acoustic piano playing experience without the downsides of an acoustic piano. These “downsides” would include the need for strings which have to be constantly tuned over the life of the piano along with acoustic pianos always being loud in volume as well as being negatively affected by more extreme humidity levels such as too much or too little moisture in the air. Acoustic pianos are also heavy (hundreds of lbs) and difficult to move and you cannot connect them to modern technology such as interactive educational piano training through computer programs or apps on tablets connected by a USB cable or through wireless Bluetooth or USB audio streaming which can be very useful to have. Digital pianos have always had advantages in many ways over an acoustic piano but not when it came to key action movement and playing authenticity…that’s where acoustic pianos had a huge lead over digital pianos. But now with some of these new “hybrid” digital pianos utilizing more authentic key actions and piano sound technology, the large differences in the past between acoustic and digital pianos are slowly being erased.
Know the Facts!
The main number one point to focus on in any hybrid digital piano is the key action and how realistic it is. Following that would be the piano sound, pedaling response, and internal speaker system projection. The user interface display and all the digital features and functions in these pianos is just “frosting on the cake” as the old saying goes. So when you are shopping for a hybrid digital piano you need to focus on the things that actually make it a “hybrid” and the more that organic materials are put into a digital piano along with operating as much like an acoustic piano as possible, the more hybrid it becomes. But don’t let the word “hybrid” fool you.
Acoustic & Trans-Acoustic Hybrid Pianos
One more thing…there is also a piano product which takes a real full sized complete acoustic upright piano and then adds a MIDI digital piano sound module and speakers to the acoustic piano which offers you a way to have a 100% real piano in your home but with the capability of playing digital piano sounds for the main purpose of using headphones for private practice. This type of “hybrid” piano is called an acoustic hybrid and not a digital hybrid. They are made by both the Yamaha and Kawai piano companies. The way this product works is that to keep the strings from being struck by the hammers and heard, the real acoustic felt hammers do not actually touch the strings in the piano (yes, there
are strings) when you play the keys.
But what I am talking about in this report are “digital” pianos which have no strings, no soundboard (on most of them), no dampers and damper rail, but they do have acoustic type (wood or partial wood) keys and/or full key actions which is the #1 most important component in any piano and that’s why “hybrid” digital pianos have become so popular in the last 10 years and they are getting better with each passing year. They are overall more realistic and natural than non-hybrid digital pianos and are in more affordable price ranges as compared with new traditional acoustic pianos.
Casio GP-510 Ebony Hybrid |
Casio – Casio has 8 models of hybrid digital pianos and they are called the PX-S5000 at $1199, PX-S6000 at $1799, PX-S7000 at $2499, AP450 at $1999, AP-550, at $2999, AP750 at $3399, GP-310 at $4299, and GP-510 at $6299. The hybrid portion of the 2 highest price Casio hybrid pianos are the physical keys made by the Bechstein Grand Piano company of Germany which offers 16″ extra long 100% all-wood grand piano white keys and also grand piano style moving hammers which are made of 100% resin and move up & down like in real grand pianos. Even though the moving hammers in both models are not made of wood and are not organic, Casio would consider them part of their “hybrid” definition because these unusual parts are the only simulated moving grand piano style hammers of any digital piano under $8000 out there and the moving hammer simulation gives these models another “hybrid” aspect that the other digital pianos in that price range do not have.
Casio GP-310 white Hybrid |
The static down-weight and moving up-weight of these GP white keys are very comfortable. They move smoothly with great response, and feels like you have real acoustic grand piano keys under your fingers. The wooden black key movement is also impressive and moves very nicely. Casio really has done a remarkable job with this key action and it’s because the action is made by the famous Bechstein piano company, the GP-310 and GP-510 is really a blend of acoustic piano technology from Germany and Casio electronic technology of Japan.
Yamaha CLP-785 ebony hybrid |
Yamaha – The Yamaha brand has by far the most models that would fall into this “hybrid” category as compared to any other brand out there. This list would include models in their Clavinova series and their AvantGrand series of digital pianos. The Clavinova “hybrid” models would include the CLP-745, CLP-775, CLP-785, CLP-795GP, CSP-170, CVP-805, CVP-809, and CVP-809GP. The AvantGrand series includes the NU1X, N1X, N2, and N3X. This adds up to a total of 12 models of digital pianos that have some type of wood or other organic components in them. The more wood and/ore organic parts are part of a particular model, the closer it gets to a real acoustic piano and therefore the more “hybrid” it becomes.
In the Yamaha Clavinova CLP-745 and CSP-170, all the white keys are made of partial wood but the black keys are not made of wood at all…they are still 100% plastic, which is fine, but they are not wood. The length of the white wood keys are shorter as opposed to grand piano keys which are longer. The CLP-745 has a key balance and movement from the front of each white key to the back of the key more like an upright acoustic piano. However, on the Clavinova CLP-775 (not available in the US), CLP-785, CLP-795GP, CVP-805, CVP-809, and CVP-809GP, all of those wooden white keys are longer in length than the wooden keys in the CLP-745 and CSP-170. The longer keys in
these Yamaha Clavinoa digital pianos is called “GrandTouch” key action and they allow for a better balance and more even amount of down-weight as you press the keys down whether you are pressing down with your fingers towards the front of the keys or towards the back of the keys, especially when playing flats and sharps.
Also, Yamaha (and others) knows that wood is the best transmitter of natural sound in an acoustic piano utilizing a wood soundboard and other wood resonating parts like a wooden chamber within the piano, wooden cabinet, wood outer and inner rims, and other wood components. These things add to the “presence,” natural vibrations, and natural resonances of the piano sound that you can hear and feel. So with that in mind, Yamaha decided to use a spruce wood speaker cone in their Clavinova CLP-785 and CLP-795GP to put out a more natural “wood type” tone is those models. So rather than incorporating a real wood soundboard (like the Kawai company has in their two top hybrid upright models), Yamaha added wood in a separate speaker cone in these 2 models to put out a more organic piano sound along with using regular non-wood speakers.
To get even closer to an actual piano playing experience of a real acoustic upright or grand piano, Yamaha also has a line of digital “hybrid” pianos called AvantGrand. There are 4 models in this lineup including one model with an actual (real) Yamaha acoustic upright key action (minus a few parts) called the NU1X ($7399) and 3 models using a real Yamaha acoustic grand piano key action (minus a few parts) called N1X ($9799) upright style cabinet, N2 ($11,999) upright style cabinet, and N3X ($17,799) full 4′ deep mini grand piano cabinet.
Kawai – The Kawai company is well known for building real concert quality acoustic grand and upright pianos and have done so for many years. Their piano products are used by piano teachers, musicians, concert artists, universities, studios, and other venues around the world. They have established themselves as one of the premier piano companies and they build some great products. The Kawai “hybrid” digital pianos start with the CA401 at just $3099 which is the lowest priced “hybrid” out of all the major brands. From there it goes up to the CA501, CA701, CA901, the Novus
NV5S, and the top-of-the-line Novus NV10S. The CA49 and CA59 have extra long 12″ white wood keys with counter weights in the bass section keys that help those graded weight keys move better.
built in with the hundreds of wood & leather connecting parts that you would find in real Kawai acoustic upright pianos minus the strings and damper mechanisms. The NV10S is like the NV5 but with a full built-in acoustic grand piano key action that comes from a real Kawai acoustic grand piano as opposed to an Kawai acoustic upright key action.
Dexibell – The Dexibell digital piano company is based in Italy and they have their own factory there. Their products are 100% Italian and not made in Asia in a country like many of the other companies do. Dexibell has been in business for a number of years but recently brought their products into the US within the last few years. For 2023 Dexibell is offering their first Hybrid type digital pianos with wooden keys and also a wood soundboard. They have 3 new models called The H10C (console) and the
H10MG which is the micro grand version of the H10C, and the lower priced H5 console vertical. The H10C has wooden keys in it there are made by the Fatar key action company, also from Italy. As you can see in the H10C photo (in polished red), the piano is quite contemporary in design and is also offered in three polished finishes at $5999 as well as matte finishes for less money at $4999.
Roland – The Roland company has made digital pianos for many, many years and they have been a top contender when it comes to building quality music products. They also have digital pianos with “hybrid” key actions in them but their digital pianos are the least hybrid of all. Roland has plastic keys and then dresses them up by putting thin wooden sides on the plastic keys so that they look like wood and feel like wood on the sides of the keys but that is the extent of their “hybrid” function and construction. I would estimate the wood content of the keys is about 20% to plastic being about 80%. Their regular PHA50 “hybrid” white keys measure less than 9″ long which is OK and they also have what they call their “Hybrid Grand Keyboard” and those
keys are constructed in the same way the PHA50 keys are done with the exception that the Roland Hybrid Grand keys are just over 10″ long which is about 1.5″ longer than their regular “hybrid” white keys.
store discount price of about $5000 for their 1st model using their grand key which is more than double the price of the Kawai piano.
Hybrid Brands & Models Comparison Facts
Generally speaking, the top most expensive hybrid digital pianos from the best brands have nearly complete acoustic upright or grand piano key actions in them with not only the real wood piano keys for both black & white keys but also all of the hundreds of moving key action parts with the exceptions of no strings, no felt hammers (because there are no strings for the hammers to strike) no dampers because there are no strings for the dampers to dampen (mute), and no wood soundboards. However, as I mentioned earlier, Kawai has two hybrid models with
the inclusion of a wood soundboard with attached transducer microphones to add extra authenticity in tonal frequency and resonation to those pianos. One of those Kawai hybrid soundboard models called the NV5S is an upright digital piano and has all of the key action parts and the other soundboard piano model just has the wooden keys.
Kawai take the top spots for the best hybrid digital piano playing experience closely followed by Casio (which is a lot less money), and then Roland as in last place, which is due to the fact that Roland uses a very minimal amount of wood in their keys (white keys only in all models) and those keys are mostly plastic in content.
top hybrid digital pianos. There are other digital pianos that I have not mentioned in this report because they are portable stage pianos (such as the Kawai MP11SE) and not furniture cabinet pianos.
Are Hybrid Digital Pianos as Good as Acoustic Pianos?
So here’s the bottom line: As much as these digital pianos manufacturers might try to create a digital piano which fully recreates the real acoustic piano playing experience, they are not there yet. They are certainly getting a lot closer, but they have a ways to go. This is because the sound of digital pianos primarily comes through speakers in the piano and this is where the main difference lies, in my opinion. In a real acoustic piano there is a big wooden soundboard which is typically made of natural solid spruce wood. The wood vibrates and amplifies the sound naturally when
the strings are vibrating and that natural sound also resonates through the wood body of that acoustic piano.
Is a Hybrid Digital Piano Worth the Money?
As a long-time experienced piano teacher having taught thousands of students over the years as well as being a pro musician and composer, in my opinion the real question is, can a person who wants a satisfying piano playing experience enjoy playing one of these new hybrid digital pianos or any digital piano and are they worth the money? The answer to that question is absolutely YES! The overwhelming majority of piano players and piano students out there, especially those who play piano recreationally at home, church, school, etc, will enjoy their piano playing experience on these newer upgraded digital pianos as much or more than a traditional acoustic piano for a number of reasons. The
key actions are impressive, the newly developed stereo piano sounds are dynamic and expressive, the pedaling is responsive along with longer and more natural sustain-decay times.
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
Hello 🙂
I just saw Roland published a new GP-9(M) that are quite pricey… Are they any valuable or is it marketing?
Thx a lot