It has a built-in speaker system (redesigned with the new PX-160 model, it looks sleek) and contains two 1/4 inch headphone jacks for left and right line outputs. Why? Well, first off it sounds incredible! The sound quality is definitely there. You’re learning and/or already playing some classical piano and need a good digital keyboard to practice on.įor anyone in this situation, I’d recommend the Casio Privia PX-160 (available on Amazon). I go into detail about the benefits and share a personal example of where buying a ‘semi-weighted’ MIDI keyboard ruined my technique on regular acoustic pianos (like the Grand Piano I had to play).Īnyways, let’s get to the core question here. If you’d like more details as to why this is, read the previous section about weighted keys on digital pianos. Weighted keys with resistance are absolutely critical in building up good playing technique, especially when it comes to classical piano. Thinking just a little bit into the future and practicing on a quality, weighted keyboard will pay dividends for years to come. It’ll make your life easier down the line and let you practice on a piano that actually feels like the real thing. The point here is, get some genuine-feeling weighted keys like the ones on the Yamaha P71 (Amazon) and you won’t regret it. playing sections quietly in piano then switching over to loud forte). It throws your sensitivity and muscle memory for a loop, making it hard to re-adjust for volume (e.g. My fingers were so used to the smaller MIDI keyboard with lightly weighted keys, I had to sit there and re-adjust to a regular Grand Piano for a little over an hour. Oh boy, was that a rough warm-up session.
So, as it goes, I played it for roughly 3 weeks nonstop and recorded some great songs, but then I had to go and play on a Grand Piano. There was some resistance, but it didn’t feel like a genuine acoustic piano. I bought a really small (49 key) MIDI keyboard to record some music on my computer (it was the Axiom 49).Įven though the keys claimed to have been “weighted” it was extremely subtle. I’ve actually had a bad experience with this roughly a year back. It’s the best way to learn, plain and simple. You should be able to feel the weight of each key under your fingers during every single practice session. To recap the benefits of weighted keys once more (even if you’re a beginner), I’ll start by saying that you want as little of a difference as possible between the digital piano you’ll practice on and a typical grand or upright piano. The best digital piano with weighted keys is the Yamaha P71 (available on Amazon).