Review – Digital Piano Buyer’s Guide: Best Digital Piano under $1500 (Casio PX850, Yamaha YDP142, Roland F120, Kurzweil MP10)

In this digital piano review, I’d like to introduce some of the bestselling home digital piano models today within the price range $1,000-$1,500. I am not going to tell you whether I like a specific piano or not, because I believe the final decision is always up to you.

You might heard someone saying “this piano has bright sound,” or “this one has warmer sound. The sound of digital piano also varies, and I don’t believe I should say “oh, this is a better sounding digital piano than the other one.” So I want to leave these final decisions for you, and I believe the decision-making factors (such as sound, touches) have a lot to do with personal preference, not with such value-laden words as “good,” “better,” or “worse.” You are the person who is going to play the piano all the time, not the person who talks or about it, and this includes me. I will just tell you about some facts about best selling models, and I want you to be the final judge.

<Roland Digital Piano F-120>

<Kurzweil Digital Piano MP10>

 <Casio Digital Piano PX850>

<Yamha Digital Piano YDP142>

The digital pianos that I am going to introduce today are Casio Privia Digital Piano PX850, Yamaha Arius Digital Piano YDP142, (this is the newer version of YDP141) Roland Slim Digital Piano F120, and Kurzweil Home Digital Piano MP10. First, let’s have a look at the comparison chart.

These four features (amplifier volume, keyboard sensitivity, keyboard touch, and price) are probably what you have to care when shopping for digital pianos. Speaker output volume level (amplifier) are conducive for better sound; Keyboard sensitivity and keyboard touches are related to “feel” of touches. Casio PX850 and YDP142 have only 3 sensitivty levels, so they might be able to limit the expression of players; this means that even if you want to play your piano at very little volume (like pianissimo level), those two pianos cannot express it because it will just let you play at medium volume(mezzo piano)! Kurzweil MP10, however, will enable you to express from very little volume like ppp (pianissimo) to the loudest one like fff (fortissimo) because it has 10 sensitivity levels. Regarding touches of each piano, Roland F120 has the most outstanding touch, because it actually employs “escapement,” which grand acoustic pianos use. Casio PX850, Roland YDP142, and Kurzweil MP10 have all similar “weighted” action in different names.

If you care about the realistic touch for piano education go for Roland F120. If you want the best piano sound, choose Kurzweil MP10. (It uses the renowned synthesizer sound chip from PC3) If you are the person who believes in brand reliability, buy Yamaha YDP142. Or if you are on a budget, Casio PX850 is a great choice. Like I said, the final decision is always up to you. The following table explains the brand strength of each manufacturers.

Brand Strength
Roland	Most Realistic Representation of Acoustic Piano Touch
Kurzweil	Best Sound Technology (The renowned PC-3 Chip)
Yamaha	Brand Reliability (They also manufacture acoustic pianos)
Casio	Affordable Price

The following table is a comparison chart. This is based on our customer’s review.

Bestselling Home Digital Piano Model Comparison Chart ($1000-$1500)
	Pros	Cons
Yamaha YDP-142 ($1099)	Affordable Price Brand Reliability;Yamaha also manufactures acoustic pianos and speakers Bench Included	Weak Control Panel
Casio PX-850($1099)	Affordable Price 256 Polyphony         Ivory Key Top	Bench Not Included           No Regular Size Pedals
Roland F-120($1299)	Most Realistic  Representation of Acoustic Piano Touch Best reputation for digital musical instruments Sleek Design; Modern Looking	Bench Not Included          No Regular Size Pedals
Kurzweil MP-10($1499)	Best Sound System     Bench Included 88 Tones & Versatile Control Panel	Relatively Pricey

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I am an authorized dealer of all the main digital piano manufacturers such as Yamaha, Kawai, Casio, Roland, Kurzweil and etc; I’ve played almost every available model from those companies, so I can be as objective as possible. I am also an active piano music composer and I have played piano for over 20 years. I am not paid by or affiliated with companies, either. I write this blog post to help you to make right decisions based on the 15+ years piano sales experience. If you want to talk with digital piano specialists including me at ER Music Gallery, please come to our website and chat with us. Both www.erpiano.com and www.ermusicgallery.com are ER Music Gallery’s online homes. We offer the best price than any other online stores. You can get the promo code after chatting with us :)