unless you r willing to spend some big $$$ on a digital piano that has real piano action inside (aka hybrid pianos). and if you r going to pay tha' big $$$ you can already own a decent acoustic piano. no digital piano will feel like an acoustic piano. in a piano action you have this "escapement" and then you have "aftertouch". if noise is a one part of an issue, today one can be retrofit a silent system in an acoustic piano. turning an acoustic piano into a silent piano plus is no compromise in the touch.

problem with any electronics, when a model is discontinued, parts may not be available anymore. as for wear and tear, unless is a hybrid digital piano (with a real piano action), i dont think there much wear and tear in a digital piano. most of the time is either works or not, and if it doesnt, direct replacement 1to1... getting a second hand in the market is generally (if everything is in order) would save some $$$$, only IF. as for new, warranty is 1 part of it others will be new technology > new function > power > speed etc...

in no order
1. number of keys,
2. sound sampling,
3. features,
4. number of sounds/voices,
5. number of rhythms,
6. polyphony,
7. touch response,
8. function panels,
9. lcd displays,

i guess is about there...

Polyphony
consider how many notes the instruments can play at once = expressed as its polyphony. 1 note = 1 polyphony. a quick look at your fingers may suggest that 10 is a lot?? not exactly... imagine playing 3 chords with both hands plus sustain pedal and repeat the those chords 2 more times in the higher octaves, you will now be sustaining 24 notes = 24 polyphony.

Therefore, it depends what you doing with the digital piano.
32 = if you playing with a lot of sustain i think it will fill up very fast. & layer ie. piano + strings etc...
64 = pretty fine
128 = typically good
192 = between both 128 and 256
256 = "sales pitch level"


This post has been edited by jhp: Dec 20 2017, 05:23 PM