> but if you've ever actually played that $100k+ grand you're pretty much spoiled for life
This. I am a full-time collaborative pianist. Playing on all kinds on instruments comes with the territory. Most grands at venues are poorly maintained. No attention to regulation on the action even if they’re occasionally tuned. But my well-attended-to Steinway B that I spend three hours a day on at home can’t be compared to any of the digital keyboards that are in circulation now. That they have faithfully rendered acoustical samples is fabulous but the poor reproduction of the sound in 3 dimensional space detracts significantly. The ‘B’ that I play resonates over nearly 7 feet in length. Maybe that problem could be solved with speaker placement in the digital world. But the action on digitals is just not solved problem yet. Compared to the average upright or poorly maintained grand, close - even superior. Compared to a fine well-regulated grand action, there’s more work to do.
All of that said, I’m glad the digital keyboards exist, and the innovation is welcome especially if it opens up piano playing to a wider range of home musicians and kids.
You're comparing something that costs $35k and needs constant maintenance with something that costs $3k (adequate) and $10k or so (top end) and requires almost no maintenance at all.
Add a $15k studio monitor system to a $10k sampled weighted-action piano and it's going to sound pretty decent.
Actions are getting better all the time - although manufacturers are worried about competing with their own premium products so they tend to cap the action quality on electronic ranges.
And for comparison, modern $10-15k baby grand acoustics tend to sound a bit crap too. You get all the non-linearities of a shorter string length with a so-so action. And they're rarely kept in tune and maintained properly.
Assuming this includes acoustic room treatment (which is at least as, and usually more important than, speakers let alone amplifier) this still sounds quite steep. As in: I've listened to ~$5k systems with some DIY room treatment which are essentially of such high level that most people out there have no idea this is even possible at home, and of which the difference with any system 3 times the price is going to be tiny if not indistinguishable. But anyway: what did you have in mind? I'm talking general music listening, maybe someting for a piano is completely different?
Only Yamaha and Kawai make both acoustic and digital pianos. Both make expensive, cabinet digital pianos with grand piano-like actions. Yamaha caps action quality as you say, Kawai does not, and is the only one making a stage piano with a great action: the MP11SE.
I bought a 120 year old Bechstein on the cheap a few years ago. It’s not in the best shape and the key action is a little bit fucked on some keys. It also has a wooden frame which means it’s liable to go out of tune faster than a more modern variant.
But despite all this, it’s far better than any digital piano because it still fills the room with beautiful sound. And the playing the with slight inconsistencies of the action is part of learning the particular instrument. Though I’m sure this would be annoying to a concert pianist who has to learn the idiosyncrasies on demand, but nonetheless the action feels more delicate and responsive than any electric piano I’ve played. Also ivory keys are superior to plastic in their cold hard tactility.
Fully worth it if you like to play and you have the space. The price of a relatively new and workable condition grand piano is similar to a very good digital one.
