Digital Pianos

A digital piano or electric piano is quite simply the next best thing to a real piano: It's almost impossible to distinguish the sound of a good-quality digital piano from that of a real piano, even a grand piano. The difference is that a digital piano produces sound digitally, output via speakers or headphones. This means that you can practise playing the piano almost silently, but you will also be prepared for a big performance in front of an audience. By the way, digital pianos are often also referred to as electric pianos or electronic pianos. Electric grand pianos or digital grand pianos are also digital pianos, modelled on the design of classic concert grand pianos.

The following buyers' guide is intended to help you find the best digital piano for you, whether you're a beginner planning to play at home or a more advanced player who's ready for the stage. Because we understand that there's always a certain level of trust involved when you buy a musical instrument, Thomann's famous 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee ensures risk-free and relaxed shopping. And after your purchase, our 3-year warranty gives you the peace of mind to enjoy your product for as long as possible.

Which digital piano is the best?

There are digital pianos for children and beginners available for less than 200 euros; even these inexpensive instruments are capable of very faithfully reproducing the authentic sound of a piano. After the sound itself, the feel of the keys and keyboard is an almost equally important factor when buying a digital piano. With a real upright or grand piano, the keyboard plays a huge role in the feel of the instrument and thus in your playing technique: Beginners in particular should make sure that the keyboard of their electric piano feels as much as possible like a genuine piano. However, we don't just look at sound and playability when choosing a new instrument – looks are important too. Your new digital piano will be an eye-catcher however else you decorate your home, and as such they are available in a wild variety of models, colours, and finishes. If you are looking more for a portable and robust solution for the stage, try one of our stage pianos, lightweight digital pianos in a keyboard-style format.

Our online guide to digital pianos provides detailed information on all the things you might have to think about when buying an electric piano. For personalised advice or help at any time, feel free to visit us, or contact Thomann's keyboard department by e-mail at homekeys@thomann.de or by telephone on +49 (0)9546-9223-33.

Which digital piano is best for beginners?

• From about age 6, children (and adults!) should start learning to playing the piano on a "regular" electric piano with 88 weighted and touch-sensitive keys.

• For learners, an inexpensive keyboard is not a real alternative to a decent digital piano.

• Essentially, the price of an instrument also determines how authentic it sounds and the playability of its keyboard.

What should I look out for in an electric piano?

• If the digital piano is intended for a child, the range of functions should be limited to the essentials, purely for manageability.

• However, a good set of speakers, a headphone jack, a metronome, and a weighted keyboard should be considered standard features on a digital piano for beginners.

• Other useful features might include integrated learning programs, a split keyboard mode for teacher–student playing, or a recording function.

• Good electric pianos have separate samples for each note. If you hear unnatural jumps or artefacts between the individual notes when testing a digital piano, then only some of the notes have genuinely been sampled: Everything else has been virtually "replicated" by the instrument's computer.

• A good digital piano should have at least a 128-note polyphony.

• If an instrument does not have its own pedals, you will certainly want one with connections for external pedals.

How does a digital piano work?

The first electric pianos only imitated the sound of a piano electronically, creating a mere approximation of the original. The advent of digital technology brought the breakthrough, allowing an almost entirely faithful reproduction of the sound of a real piano. To achieve this, the sound of real pianos (even grand pianos) is sampled, i.e. recorded, several times, key by key. This preserves not just the note being played, but also the individual playing dynamics, harmonic overtones, and even background noises that can occur when a piano is played. When you press a key on a digital piano, these samples are retrieved, reproducing the recorded sound in all its facets. The more attention a manufacturer devotes to the sampling process, the more lifelike the sound of an electric piano will be – of course, this is invariably reflected in the price. Another method applied to create largely authentic piano sounds is modelling technology: This involves analysing the entire gamut of sounds an upright or grand piano can produce using digital technology, with the results stored as a complete data package. Each time a note is played on a digital piano, the requisite analogue sound can be generated from the underlying digital data.