Artesia Harmony – REVIEW | Digital Piano 2023 | The Pros & Cons

With regard to the Artesia Harmony…I do like it overall…in its price range….and that is a key point…in its price range. It is acceptable as an entry level digital piano with regard to piano playing and learning along with some “bells & whistles” that it offers. So if you really want to keep your purchase in a lower price range and also want a furniture type stand, triple pedal unit, and bench, then this Artesia Harmony is good for that. But…there are some caveats (aka: things you should know).

The Artesia Harmony key action moves nicely overall because the key movement is lighter and not as heavy or fatiguing as a few of the other digital pianos are in this same price range like Donner, Alesis, Williams, and others. However,  the Artesia key action is certainly not perfect. There seems to be noticeable inconsistencies in key movement going up & down from one key to the next when I was playing it. What I mean by that is how much finger force is needed to press down the keys from one key to the next and how fast or slow the keys come back up. If you press down a white key (for example) the amount of finger force to press it down (measured in grams) should be almost identical to the key next to it. 

On the Harmony model I found this situation (called static touch-weight) to be inconsistent as tested on both black and white keys. For instance, when I press down on a middle C white key, it should take the same amount of force from my finger to initiate the key starting to go down (aka: static touch-weight) every time…but it does not, at least it did not for me. Sometimes when I press down on the middle C key it takes more force and sometimes it takes less force to get the key to start going down. 

This is most noticeable when pressing on the keys very lightly. It’s like there is some friction inside the key mechanism that changes depending on when you play (press) on the key. Also, when you go up the keyboard (to the right) on play the D above middle C, that key is suppose to be about the same with regard to how much force it takes for your finger to start the key going down as compared to the middle C below it. 

But I found this to be inconsistent at best. In fact when I went up to the D key above middle C, that D key should have been approx (but not exactly) the same force (static down-weight) to press down as the middle C key.  As you go up (to the right) on the keys, the keys should be incrementally taking less force to press down from resting position. But it actually took a noticeable amount more finger force to press down that key from resting position. Then the D# key took a noticeable mount less force to press down the key from resting position when I played it.

What all this means is that although as a beginner you may not likely notice these inconsistencies because you wouldn’t know why it’s happening or realize it, but as you get better in your piano playing and progress in your playing skills, at that point you may notice these inconsistencies. At that point in my opinion you’ll definitely want to move up to a much better digital piano when it comes to key action and the way the keys move. When I play on a name brand like Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, and Korg for instance, I do not find these kinds of inconsistencies in their key actions.

Again, if you press on the Artesia Harmony keys very lightly, these key movement inconsistencies will likely be noticed. But if you play on the keys harder then you would be less likely to notice these things. But that does not mean they are not there. So it all depends how “picky” you are when it comes to key actions and the impact it may have on you as you start to progress in your playing skills or are already at a higher intermediate to advanced level. 

The bottom line is…the Artesia Harmony key action is fairly light to play overall as opposed to the extra heavy key actions that I don’t like on other models that I have played from Donner, Williams, and even Roland sometimes. I prefer the somewhat lighter key actions because they generally move better for most people. So the Harmony is good in that way but the key movement static down-weight is noticeably inconsistent to me.

Also, concerning this Artesia key action…I definitely noticed the key action movement making some noise when the keys were moving and hitting bottom and then when they were coming back up. If you play the keys more lightly then that noise is not as apparent and you may not hear it at all. But if you play on the keys harder and a bit more aggressively and the piano is at a lower volume or you have headphones plugged in, then you (or if there is another person in the room when you are wearing headphones) can hear that noise from the key movement. When the keys go down harder then the keys have a “knocking” sound when they hit bottom, like there isn’t much felt or padding below the keys. When the keys come back up then there is more of a clunky type sound as if there is not enough felt above the keys/hammers.

If you are playing music somewhat loud then you may not hear the key action noise. However, when you are playing at a low volume level and if you play the keys a bit harder, then this noise may be distracting to you. Also, when you use headphones for private practice, then the key action noise can more easily be heard by others in the same room (as I just mentioned) while you are playing silently for yourself. This may also be a somewhat distracting to others.

Key actions on all digital and acoustic pianos do have mechanical noise…they all do to some degree because the key actions move mechanically up & down. But some key actions make more noise than others. I have played many other types of digital pianos, especially from the more well known brands and most, but not all of those pianos have quieter key actions, even in the lower price range. I only mention this because many people have asked me about key action noise before and it can be an important subject depending on who you are and what you need. 

The next most important aspect of any piano is the piano sound. In other words, does it sound realistic, is it consistent from one note to the next in terms of tone and dynamics, and is the volume of the individual keys balanced from one octave to the next? For a beginner who has little if any experience playing a piano, they likely would not know or recognize these differences or be able to tell if a digital piano sound was balanced or sounded real. For most people who are at novice skill level, the Artesia is fine in this way. If you play multiple notes (chords) then hearing the notes individually and being able to know if there are deficiencies in the piano sound will be more difficult.

The reality of the Artesia Harmony with regard to piano sound realism is that it is expressive in tonal dynamics, you can hear the percussive nature of the notes, especially in the upper octaves, but overall the piano sound is somewhat basic and definitely has some tonal inconsistencies based on my playing time on it. When you play notes on a good piano (acoustic or digital) they are supposed to have a very similar tonal character going from one note to the next. 

However, there are some notes on the “Harmony” in certain octaves that have a more dynamic, brassier tone, which is fine. But then when you play the note just after a brassier piano sound on that octave, that next note was noticeably more muted and mellow to my ears. Muted and mellow can also be fine but to have one tone immediately follow a much brighter and brassier tone is not consistent….and that’s what I am talking about.

By the way, this model is not the only one to do that because I have played a number of other digital pianos in this price range and some, but not all, do it as well. If you want a more realistic piano sound experience then you’ll need to spend a bit more money on a more well known name brand such as Casio, Yamaha, or Korg, based on my playing experience with them. But at the “end of the day” so to speak, you may not notice these anomalies like I did so it may not be an issue for you.

When it comes to piano pedals, the piano triple pedal unit included with the Artesia Harmony is attractive and seems to work fine as far as triggering the soft, sostenuto, and sustain function. The sustain pedal does not trigger a half-damper effect, but that is fine for beginners. However, when you get to an intermediate or advanced level, then you’ll want to move up to a better digital piano for many reasons including more authentic pedal functions. 

The piano sustain-decay time is fairly long when using the sustain pedal so that’s a good thing. I have played other digital pianos in this price range with short piano sustain times which makes the piano sound choppy and not smooth. So the Artesia Harmony does a good job that way. The color of the pedals are simulated brass color but those pedals are not actually brass. However, I would not expect that in this price range. You can also use a single sustain pedal (not included) if you want to use this piano as a portable unit on a metal stand. You would just purchase that single sustain pedal on Amazon to get what you need. You can see in the image below how the single pedal would look when plugged into the piano

I will say that I found the triple pedal unit to be somewhat noisy when pressing the pedals down, although it was fine when the pedals are coming back up. Since the pedals are enclosed in their own self-contained unit and then placed in the bottom center of the stand, the pedal mechanism including the springs inside are independent from the stand itself. I have played other digital pianos with noisy pedal movement so the Artesia Harmony pedals are not the only ones. However, there is enough pedal noise when the pedals are moving down that it could be a bit distracting. There are definitely quieter pedal mechanisms out there on other digital pianos.

As for the internal sound system in the model, when I first played this piano the piano sound coming out of the speaker system was just OK, but I was not impressed . The sound can get loud enough with its two 15 watt 4ohm speakers and amps, so that’s not a problem. But the piano sound overall is artificial and sounds to me more like a toy piano without much bass response when played at normal volume However,. if you turn up the volume past 3/4 on the master volume knob, then the sound gets bigger with more bass response, but it still sounds artificial. 

If I plug in a good set of stereo headphones to the Artesia Harmony then the piano sound quality and bass response is much

better and I liked it that way. But when you play that same piano sound going through its own internal speakers, it’s a different story and just sounds more plain and artificial to me. Again, the volume is fine through its speakers, but not the quality or authenticity of sound when playing at normal volume.. 

You can get a much better quality (authenticity) piano sound and volume through the internal speakers of the newer Casio PX-S1100 digital piano ($679) or the Yamaha P-125 digital piano ($699) for examples. The Artesia Harmony does not come close to those 2 model names in that way. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. 

I assume there will be people out there who may be satisfied with the piano sound the way sounds through the Harmony speaker system, and that’s fine. It may be enough for you given its price. But for me I would spend a bit more money to get a more authentic piano playing experience through a better upgraded internal speaker system from a popular name brand like the ones I mentioned.

The polyphony memory chip in the Harmony piano is rated at 64-note polyphony. Polyphony is typically rated in mono and not stereo and means up to 64 notes of polyphony. Most memory chips these days have at least 120 note capacity up to 256-note capacity (and more). So the Artesia Harmony piano is definitely on the low side of polyphony when it comes to how many notes can play simultaneously either with one sound or more than one sound mixed together. The piano sound itself is in stereo in this model and the stereo field actually sounds pretty good. 

But when you have a stereo piano sound then each note usually takes up 2 notes of polyphony leaving which then leaves just 32 notes of polyphony for the stereo piano sounds. When I played some nice arpeggios from lower to higher octaves using my sustain pedal, then the bass notes would drop out when I got up to the higher treble notes and I was not surprised by that. But for the average player that should not be an issue.

So when is having more polyphony instead of less polyphony important in a digital piano? The importance of it all is when you have a more experienced player who plays more complex piano music including using their sustain pedal and/or playing big chords with arpeggios. Typically speaking, the better of a piano player you are then more polyphony will become important. As an example, if I just played more simple songs with basic chords and not doing fancy arpeggios or just playing up to an intermediate level, then 64 note polyphony memory for the piano sound would likely be enough.

But on a digital piano you can also layer/mix 2 sounds together at the same time (such as piano & strings) and when you do that then each sound uses polyphony memory and when you combine those sounds together then those notes do drop out when playing bigger chords and/or arpeggios. When I mixed 2 instrument sounds together then it was fairly easy for me to use up all the polyphony with more obvious note drop-out where certain notes immediately stop playing. But for most people at a beginner or early intermediate skill level who are not combining sounds, then you likely will not notice note drop-out, even with the 64-note polyphony chip. Also low polyphony piano sound engines also typically have a more artificial sound.

The reason a few digital piano companies use these lower polyphony digital chips/engines is because they can get them for less money than the updated larger memory chips/software. Less money for parts normally means the digital piano will sell for less money than digital pianos with the new and better polyphony chips. That’s another reason why the Artesia Harmony sells for less money than some other portable digital pianos out there. But again, for a beginner or even early intermediate, 64 note polyphony should be enough if mainly using the piano sound.

Now it’s time to talk about the “bells & whistles.” The Artesia Harmony does have a number editing and sound features along with a few other functions. These features and functions include combining any 2 instrument sounds together at the same time along with being able to control the relative volume of that “layer,” special effects for the instrument sounds including adjustable reverb, chorus, and EQ, digital touch sensitivity response, transposing the key your playing in (modulation), and electronic metronome for rhythm and timing help. There is also a power button and master volume control knob on the control panel.

There are a total of 13 panel buttons on the Harmony with 8 of those buttons for the instrument buttons with 2 sounds per button and one button that toggles between those 2 sounds in each instrument button. The 16 instrument sounds in this model are fairly standard with 2 acoustic piano sounds, organs, harpsichord, electric pianos, strings, choir, guitar, etc. The 2 acoustic piano sounds are pretty decent overall and have some good percussive attack to them and also good sustain time of the back-end of the piano sound as you hold down the sustain pedal. 

So overall I like the piano sounds and they are in stereo. Bu they are still fairly basic in realism as compared to a few other portable digital pianos in the $500 to $700 price range. As for the realism of the non-piano instrument sounds, those sounds are definitely on the low side of realism in my opinion and even $200 keyboards from Casio and Yamaha are much more authentic in that way as compared to the Artesia Harmony.

However, most people who purchase this model will likely be focusing on the piano sounds when playing it so the other instrument sounds won’t matter as much anyway. But those sounds are OK and you can still enjoy them, especially if you are a beginner. It is easy to access all of the instrument sounds from the panel and easy to see what you have selected because each button has a blue LED light in it.

When it comes to layering 2 sounds together, you just press any 2 instrument buttons at the same time and then those 2 sounds will instantly mix together. To go back to a single sound you just push any instrument button. The transition from one sound button to another is smooth and there are no sound dropouts when changing sound if you happen to holding down the sustain pedal…so that is good.

There are 4 other panel buttons just to the left of the instrument buttons and those features include reverb & chorus effects along with metronome and tempo. The reverb is to give the instrument sounds for of an echo effect to make it sound larger and fuller than it is. Chorus is a modulation effect more suited for electric piano sounds. 

Just so you know, there are no recording-playback features on this model. You cannot record yourself when playing and then hear it play back. Other digital pianos in this price range or slightly higher do have recording and playback features so if that is important to you then the Artesia Harmony would not have it.

The metronome is the electronic timing “tick-tock sound” timing feature and the tempo button controls the speed (slow/fast) of the metronome. There are also some internal editing/control features for the metronome that you access from the function-edit mode so that you can change the time signature and volume of the metronome. You would need to look in the owners manual to figure out how to change metronome functions and that does take time to learn and is not intuitive.

There are other internal editing control features to change aspects of the EQ setting, touch curve response, transpose key, layer balance volume, etc. I did not personally find much difference in EQ bass or treble settings nor in touch response as compared to other digital pianos. Using those internal editing features is not especially intuitive and you need to refer to the owners manual often to learn how to use those functions and even then you may likely forget how to access them. 

As far as connectivity goes, the Harmony model has a number of connection ports. This would include USB output to external device (computer, tablet, etc), a proprietary connector for the triple pedal unit that comes with the piano, a single sustain pedal input for a optional single sustain pedal, right and left side RCA audio output jacks (output jacks are good to have), and one 1/4″ stereo headphone jack with all connectors located in the back of the piano. I did notice that when I plugged in my trusty stereo headphones that there was near as much volume coming out of the headphone jack of the piano as there was through the internal speaker system. 

The Harmony can also work on 6 D-cell batteries for battery power which is very cool so that you can take it anywhere you want to go or if you simply don’t have access to electricity. Not too many 88-key digital pianos have battery power. These days “D’ cell batteries aren’t a cheap price anymore and D cells add weight to the piano. Other digital pianos with battery power use AA batteries which are smaller and lighter, and also a bit less money.

The piano itself  (without cabinet & pedals) weighs about 30 lbs and the dimension measurements is approx 52″ x 14″ x 5″. The piano comes with a matching furniture stand, matching black bench, triple pedal unit, owners manual, and the music rack (rest). So as far as size and weight go for just the slab portion (piano), the Artesia Harmony is definitely manageable although there are a couple of other brands that have models which are a bit smaller and also lighter. The cabinet/stand adds extra weight and size but is fairly compact otherwise.

With regard to a warranty on the Harmony, there is a 1 year Artesia warranty on parts and labor. In my opinion 1 year is not very long and I would have preferred to see at least 2 years or 3 years. There are other digital pianos in this general price range that offer longer warranties. My opinion is that if a new digital piano is good enough to last 1 year without any issues, then it should be good enough to last at least 2 or 3 years (or longer) without any issues. So in that way I believe Artesia could be offering a much longer warranty just for “peace of mind” as the old saying goes. Will the Artesia Harmony have repair issues after that 1 year warranty? I would not know the answer to that question. But I do know that a longer warranty is better for the consumer than a shorter warranty.

In conclusion it is apparent to me that this Harmony model by Artesia is in a good price range and can be a good practice piano (overall) for beginners. But it is not something I would recommend for higher skill levels do to the limitations I mentioned earlier. Given that it comes

with a furniture style stand, triple pedal unit, and bench for $540, that price is actually very good because at that similar price range there are a few other brands that don’t come anywhere close to this Artesia in terms of piano playability in my opinion and those brands include Williams, Artesia, Donner, and Suzuki.

However, there are a few other brands & models that definitely surpass the “Harmony” with regard to what you get for the price in the “lower” price ranges. That would include models by Casio and Yamaha. Casio has the newest models that just came out for $499 and $569 with optional stand and triple pedal at an extra cost. But those 2 models noticeably surpass the Artesia Harmony in our opinion when it comes to piano playing authenticity for piano sound, touch, and pedaling along with digital features and functions.