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| Acoustic Concert Grand Piano |
Digital Grand Piano vs Acoustic Grand Piano – What’s the difference? | Review | Nov 1, 2022 | What is the difference between a digital grand piano and an acoustic grand piano (aka: “real” grand piano”)? – A lot of people these days are wanting a grand piano shaped piano for their home, church, school, or studio and those types of pianos are beautiful in appearance and can also put out a big piano sound. With all of the new “digital” grand pianos these days from Yamaha, Roland, Samick, Dexibell, Artesia, Suzuki, Williams, and others, more and more people are opting for a “digital” baby grand rather than an acoustic baby grand piano. Acoustic baby grand pianos are beautiful instruments and if you get a good one, the sound is also beautiful too. I love playing great acoustic grand pianos by Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Bosendorfer, Fazioli, and other famous brands and I have been playing them for many years as well as teaching students on them as well. Playing on a real Grand piano can make that musical experience a wonderful thing, but there are definitely disadvantages to actually owning an acoustic grand piano.
Acoustic grand pianos are typically normally at least 5′ deep or larger up to 9′ in depth and take up quite a bit of space. When you play music on them the sound is loud or louder, there really is no “quieter” volume coming out of a grand piano because there is no volume control…it is acoustic instrument after-all meaning they produce sound through hammers, strings, and a wood soundboard. They are big and loud instruments, hence the name “GRAND” piano. Grand pianos also need regular maintenance such as tuning, key action adjustments, and sometimes a humidifier or de-humidifier is needed near the piano because of the local weather/humidity and how that affects the operation and stability of the piano. Needing an external humidifier or de-humidifier adds an extra cost to the piano purchase as well as extra regular maintenance. Without the proper humidity in the room a regular “real” grand piano soundboard can develop cracks in the wood dues to too much dryness or if there is too much humidity all the time then the piano soundboard and wood components can swell up and cause other issues in the piano.
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| Digital Grand Piano |
A digital grand piano never needs tuning because the tuning is permanently locked in the computer piano sound chip. The key action should not need maintenance is most digital grand pianos because they don’t have all the moving parts like acoustic pianos do unless the digital grand is a full “hybrid” digital grand piano and those pianos do have almost all the moving action parts like a real acoustic piano, but without the need for tuning, so hybrids can be a great option even though they are quite a bit more money. A digital grand piano also generally comes in a smaller size cabinet which can measure anywhere from about 2.5 ‘ deep, 3′ deep. 3’9″ deep, or 4’ deep from front to back, and they weigh approx 150 lbs to approx 300 lbs which is far less than the 700 lb – 900 lb average of an acoustic grand piano. So in terms of practicality for size and weight a digital grand piano has a lot of advantages. Add to that the fact that a digital grand piano has a master volume control so you can play it quietly at a very soft volume or simply plug in a pair of stereo headphones to play silently for private practice. Digital grand pianos also allow you to record your practice songs and play them back to see how you are actually doing or you can plug in your tablet or mobile device with a USB cable or use Bluetooth wireless to connect with external music libraries or educational learning apps to play along with “piano lessons.”
There really are some impressive reasons to choose a new digital grand piano over an acoustic “traditional” grand piano including the fact that you can purchase a “good” new digital grand piano starting at less than $5000 whereas a good new acoustic grand piano will cost you well over $10,000 and normally quite a bit more money than that, depending on the size of that grand piano. Many of the digital grand pianos are also quite beautiful and elegant inside and out so they can add that “look” to a home that many people would love to have.
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| Digital Grand Piano |
The real question is…do digital grand pianos feel, play, and sound like real pianos? In past years the answer to that question was…they really did not play like “the real thing” and this is because past digital technology was not at a point yet where it could duplicate the grand piano playing experience in a digital format. But that was in the past and we are now in the future where things have radically changed in that way and now there are a number of top name digital grand pianos that really make you feel like you’re playing a real grand piano with an expressive key action, big, resonate stereo grand piano sound, responsive pedaling, and robust internal speaker system to make that sound come alive. Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Samick, and Dexibell are producing some fine pianos these days and their digital grand pianos are impressive in a number of ways and can make even some of the more advanced pianists musically very happy.
One of the biggest things about regular acoustic grand pianos that most people think is that they will likely have a larger “resale value” as compared to digital grand pianos, and in some cases that is true. But there are also brands of grand pianos that depreciate just as much (if not more) as digital grand pianos because that acoustic grand piano brand has gone out of business such as Wyman grand pianos, Wurlitzer pianos, Kimball pianos, and other once famous brands. Wyman piano company, as an example, used to produce some very nice grand pianos as did other now discontinued brands, and trying to sell one of those pianos now will bring you just pennies on the dollar because overall, less people are buying real acoustic pianos in favor of digital pianos, so the demand is less for real acoustic pianos, and also people don’t want to pay a lot of money for a brand that is no longer in business. So just because real acoustic grand pianos cost more money to produce and therefore more money to purchase, this does not mean they retain a high resale value. It’s really all about “demand” and the “market” determines that aspect of value and the more that people recognize how good digital grand pianos can be, the less likely it is that they’ll want a regular acoustic grand piano which will definitely lower resale value as the years go by.
At the “end of the day” an acoustic grand piano is still a fabulous instrument to own and play as long as you understand the pros and cons of owning one and understand some of the limitations they can have. A high quality name brand digital grand piano certainly does have many advantages and have become more prevalent in homes, studios, churches, and schools throughout the country than ever before. As long as you stick to a top name brand and not an off-brand that produces “toy-like” digital grand pianos (which we call a “PSO” or “piano shaped object”), then you will likely get a digital grand piano that you will enjoy for years to come.
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.
