REVIEWS - Benjamin Adams, Adagio, Williams, Behringer, & Suzuki Pianos - Stay Away

UPDATED REVIEW - October 5, 2011 - As a piano teacher, musician, and digital piano specialist for more than 30 years, I have played just about all the digital pianos there are, including ones you've never heard of. Although most digital piano brands and models are generally available in nice looking cases or cabinets, that's where the similarity stops. I have blogged about this before, but there are some piano dealers that seem to value profit over quality when it comes to selling pianos, whether they be acoustic or digital. If you as the buyer don't know much about the way a piano should operate, play, and sound, then sometimes you simply judge the piano by it's looks and price. If it looks good and it's a cheap price, then many people will buy it. PLEASE don't do that! You may end up with a musical instrument that doesn't really play or sound like a piano (even at minimum standards) for the sake of looks with low price.

There are a few piano & music retail dealers that either create or carry exclusive "house brands" or OFF-brands that other retail dealers do not sell including Adagio, Benjamin Adams, Williams, Behringer, and even Suzuki. Many (but not all) of these off-brand names are not actual manufacturers but just made-up names that some retailers use to distinguish their house brand from another. These off-name or "house brands" in my opinion are almost always inferior to the name brand manufacturers such as Roland, Casio, Yamaha, Kawai, and others in almost every way. But they sell because they are a cheap price, look decent, and seem to have a lot of nice features in an attractive furniture style cabinet. Although some of these house brands or OFF-brands do and can look attractive on the outside, but in my opinion they can do more harm than good to the student or player who wants to play or learn to play the piano properly (at minimum standards).

The piano keys must work properly, not make a lot of noise, respond evenly, have a smooth dynamic response, and the sound needs to resonate properly with the proper amount of polyphony memory. If possible, buy a recognized brand from a manufacturer that has been in business for many years and knows how to build digital pianos properly. Some of these off brands like the Benjamin Adams, Williams, Adagio, and Behringer pianos are made by unknown Chinese manufacturers who use questionable digital technology and sell them at cheap prices to some large US retail dealers (including Costco who sells Suzuki & Adagio). Having digital pianos built in China is not an issue, in and of itself, as many top name manufacturers build their pianos in that country but they own and operate those factories as opposed to buying them from someone else.

If you want something for a cheaper price, then buy either a good name late model used name brand cabinet piano or a new lower priced name brand digital piano. Those instruments sound and play much better than the off name or house brand 88-key digital pianos. Simply put, stay away from the brands I mentioned in the title of this blog if you want a satisfying piano playing experience, unless you have low expectations. It's unfortunate because there are parents out there who know little or nothing about pianos and how they need to play, and then they purchase these lesser known lower price "attractive" digital piano brands for their kids thinking they have done a good thing. But in the long run they have not really saved money and potentially made it difficult for their kids to learn to play properly once the child starts taking lessons and needs to play correctly.

When it comes to a name brand 88-key furniture style digital piano that I recommend including Roland, Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai, one of the more popular models right now is the Casio AP620. It comes in an attractive cabinet that will perform and sound very much like an acoustic upright piano and also has lots of cool built-in educational features at a lower price that many piano teachers & students recommend. At $1399 normal internet discount price, the Casio AP620 is a good investment and is far less money than purchasing a regular new acoustic piano. I have previously reviewed the AP620 piano on my blog so go to the link below to learn more about it and look at other digital piano reviews while your there. As the old saying goes, you can't always judge a book by its cover so be careful out there and do your homework. As always, I am here to help you.

Casio AP620 -   http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2010/01/all-new-casio-celviano-ap620-piano-is.html

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Casio AP220 Digital Piano - Best lowest priced cabinet digital piano

AP220 in brown color

UPDATED REVIEW - December 4, 2012 - CASIO AP220 & AP420 models including the satin black are now DISCONTINUED! - However, Casio America has just introduced the brand new 2013 model Privia PX750 & PX850 digital pianos for the same pricing as the old AP220/420 (see more info at the bottom of this page!) These new models are a huge upgrade over the 4-year old technology of the 220 & 420 in terms of piano key action movement, the keys themselves (brand new synthetic ivory & ebony key tops), the quality, response & expression of piano sound, and the internal speaker systems. The new attractive compact cabinets (PX750 available in satin black, brown, and white and the PX850 available in satin black only) are also an improvement in my opinion (although cabinet design is somewhat subjective). In other words, I would not recommend the AP220 and AP420 at this point because the new PX750 & 850 blow them away:).

Discontinued (no longer made) - Previous AP220 REVIEW: I recommend the Casio AP220 piano for people on a tight budget. Some piano shoppers want the lowest priced new digital cabinet piano they can find...period. People ask me "what's the best new cabinet digital piano (something that looks like a piano) for well under $1000?" Well I have played all of them and can tell you the Casio AP220  is the winner, especially in the US market. Other top brands that I like including Roland & Kawai don't offer a new full size cabinet piano under $1000 and Yamaha's least expensive furniture cabinet digital piano is the YDP135R priced at $999. The 135R is a very nice piano but it is also $200 more than the Casio. The Casio AP220 is priced at only $799 internet discount and yet offers more features than the Yamaha YDP135R. 

AP220 in black color

There is also a very important thing to know about digital pianos when looking for a low priced model that is good; there are a few "off-brands" that may look OK and even sell for less money, but they have cheap electronics and keyboards and don't play well at all. It would be better to save your money than to buy one of those brands (take my word for it). So just because it might look good does not mean it plays good. If the piano you want needs to be under $1000 and it doesn't say Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, or Korg...forget about it.

Basically, Casio "owns" the low price piano market with their low priced pianos. There are a few lower priced digital cabinet pianos out there sold under the names of Williams, Benjamin Adams, Adagio, and Suzuki but I advise staying away from those pianos for various reasons (you can read about them in my other blog articles here). The AP220 has a nice hammer weighted and graded piano action, good tone for its price using 128-note polyphony memory to produce a piano-like sound, it has an attractive cabinet, it works well, and has lots of cool features including USB to computer or iPad connection, which the Yamaha YDP135 does not have. If you have an iPad/tablet device, the music educational and composition apps that are available right now are super cool and make playing music even more exciting (upper left pics). The AP220 has 16 instrument tones (incl pianos) as opposed to the Yamaha with only 6 total sounds. The AP220 has 16 watts of audio power and the Yamaha has 12 watts. The Casio's keyboard touch action is improved over older models and feels pretty good. The Yamaha's key touch (GHS) is their basic lighter weight GHS key action and it can be a bit noisy too (I've played it many times and have experienced that). Also the Yamaha has only 64 notes of polyphony memory compared to the Casio at 128 notes. 128-note polyphony is double the tone memory of the Yamaha and is better when playing more notes together using pedal sustain along with it. 

So here's the bottom line; if you are a beginning piano student or a parent of one, or you are just on a tight budget, then the AP220 may be a good piano choice for you.

I have written some detailed blog reviews of the new 2013 model Casio PX750 & PX850 (which are available now) so please click on the the links below to find out more about these impressive pianos:)

Casio PX850

Casio PX750 review
Casio PX850 review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me at 602-571-1864

Kawai CN33 Digital Piano - REVIEW - A very nice instrument

UPDATED REVIEW - April 5, 2013 - Recommended - The Kawai CN33 is now discontinued and has been replaced by the new CN34 which is an upgraded piano but at a higher price. Remaining CN 33's in Kawai stores are being more heavily discounted now while they last. The review below is a previous CN33 review I did when that piano was still a current model.

Kawai produces some great digital pianos and a model that has been one of their most popular is the furniture cabinet CN33. Kawai is well known for their acoustic pianos and many professionals as well as beginning students play on Kawai acoustic pianos. I know many people who own Kawai acoustic grand pianos and love them. However, in years gone by, Kawai has not been known for their digital pianos until somewhat recently. I believe Kawai has finally come out with new digital pianos that, in a lot of ways, is better than many of the more popular Yamaha Clavinova CLP digital pianos as well as equal to or better than the Roland HP digital pianos, but for less money.

The Kawai CN33, which has normally sold at discount of $2199 for the basic Rosewood color (depending on the piano dealer) is a very nice piano. These pianos are not available from general music stores in the US like Guitar Center or Sam Ash or from on-line stores, but only through Kawai piano store dealers. They are available in a variety of good looking cabinet finishes (pics at upper, middle, and lower left), although most dealers usually carry just one or two colors at the most, however I believe there are about 5 different color choices which is very nice.

The CN33 is nice because it's main focus is on piano tone and acoustic piano style key action along with a reasonable amount of extra features such as having 36 instrument sounds which includes eight piano variations along with electric pianos, organs, strings, choirs, and a few others. It has an easy to use digital interface display with a red LED (light emitting diode) technology instead of the LCD (liquid crystal display).

The CN33 has a basic 2-track recorder with 3 song memory locations along with other editing and basic functions like layer, split, duel play, and a few other things. It also has an interesting feature called "concert magic" which allows a beginner to feel as if they are playing well by pressing any key (or keys) and playing along while a built-in song is being played, and not hearing any mistakes on the melody no matter what key you press. Wow, I wish that was the way my songs came out all the time! However, I think it's somewhat gimmicky and there are other ways to have fun and actually learn to play a piano although young kids and beginner adults might enjoy it for awhile. Kawai also has built-in piano lesson songs in the CN33 from Alfred publishing which the student can play along with. The accompaniments come from a few popular Alfred lesson books and you can play along with the actual (standard MIDI) songs at any speed. However, they are "piano only" songs and are not fully orchestrated General MIDI arrangements. They are limited to a few of the Alfred publishing company books and that's it. So there are limitations to that feature but it's useful nevertheless.

The CN33 does have an very nice key action touch (with let-off feel and ivory touch keys), although it has a 2 sensor key action (as opposed to 3) but does have a resonant piano tone with good harmonics. However, the polyphony note memory is only 96 notes which is somewhat low compared with other Kawai digital piano models at 192 and 256 note polyphonic (much better tone and resonance), but over all, Kawai has done a good job with this model and I would recommend it.  Current discount prices on the discontinued CN33's, assuming there are any remaining at stores, are around $1700-$1800 on average.

If you would like a Kawai piano for a better piano playing experience under $2000, then I suggest you look at the newer CE220 ($1899 internet price) with actual wood piano keys, 192-note polyphony, and a much better piano tone. Check out my blog review ion that model: Kawai CE220 Review

Casio PX850

Another very good piano option in an even lower price range is the new 2013 model Casio Privia PX850 ($1099 internet discount price). I have personally played this piano and in most cases I would definitely recommend this new model over the older Kawai CN33 because it has 256 note polyphony, 40 watt 4-speaker sound system with a new sound projection feature for even better fidelity, upgraded ivory & ebony key feel, MIDI & audio wav file recording and playback along with duet function, layer, split, and advanced sound dynamics with triple key sensor system (wow). It also has a high speed USB connect to iPad feature for interactive music education and performance using an iPad or other tablet & computer devices. Beyond that, the piano looks attractive in its more compact furniture cabinet and has a full key cover. But the number one most important function in any piano needs to be the key action movement and this model does not disappoint. The keys move smoothly and are a graduated piano weighted key movement like that of a good upright piano. It's hard to argue with all this when the price is only $1099 and a 3 year parts & labor factory warranty is included. Casio may not be thought of as a piano company like Kawai (Kawai does make some fabulous acoustic grand & upright pianos), but after 30 years of producing digital pianos, the Casio company definitely has a winner on their hands and its worth your consideration. For more info on this model please go to my following review: Casio PX850 Review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Yamaha CVP 501, 503, 505, 509 - Very nice Clavinova pianos but pricey

UPDATED REVIEW - Feb 10, 2013 - Yamaha has just introduced the brand new CVP601, CVP605, CVP609, & CVP609GP (mini grand version) digital pianos. These new models are available in the US now and are just showing up in stores, but are more money than the CVP500 series. They replace the discontinued models CVP501, CVP503, CVP505, CVP509, and CVP409GP. The 600 series is vastly upgraded in cabinet design, piano sound, key action, internal speaker systems, and overall features and includes (it's about time!) user friendly touch screens instead of the former non-touch screens. I don't have pictures yet for this new series yet but a few of them are available on the internet at other sites.

If you like being on the cutting edge of music technology and quality piano reproduction when it comes to spending your money, then getting the new CVP600 series might be the way to go, especially when it comes to the mini-grand version since that model had not changed from the older 400 series until now. So the mini grand version will be going from the 400 series to the new 600 series in one leap, and it's about time Yamaha made that happen too! However that model is selling for well over $10,000US and probably closer to $15000...YIKES...that's a lot of money!

With regards to the current 500 series...my review is here. Yamaha has a top of the line series of digital pianos called the CVP (stands for Clavinova Versatile Piano). They have made the CVP models for many years and their current incarnation is the "500 series." In the last few years they have had the "300" & "400" series CVP's, but it's now the "500" series (makes sense). The lowest priced model is called the CVP501 and then goes up to the CVP509. Rather than get very in depth about each one of them (they have many features and you can find them on the Yamaha web site), I will say these pianos are lots of fun, have nice user interfaces (overall) and offer many features for beginners and professionals. However, I think these instruments are somewhat pricey (as will be the upcoming 600 series)...even when they are "on sale." In the US market, the CVP pianos are sold exclusively in local piano stores by piano salespeople... you cannot normally order them on-line. Pricing varies from store to store but when they are "on-sale" in any given store, you can figure the CVP501 should be priced at approx $3300 or so, the CVP503 at approx $5000 or so, the CVP505 at approx $6500, and the CVP509 at approx $8500....give or take a few hundred and depending on cabinet color/finish. These prices are approximate and you can probably purchase one for less (or more) depending on the dealer.

The Clavinova pianos are higher priced partly because they are only sold in selected Yamaha piano stores, and also because the Yamaha name usually commands a higher price because they are known as an excellent acoustic manufacturer. In my years of experience playing these pianos and knowing others who own them, most owners of these CVP pianos unfortunately use no more than approx 25% of all the features these pianos have built in to them (which is typical of other brands too). That may change on the 600 series because it will have a touch screen and be more user friendly. The CVP500 models do sound & play great, there's no getting around that. The CVP's are primarily known for their very realistic and musically correct accompaniment style background arrangements (especially on the 505 & 509) along with improved instrument sounds with articulation like guitars, sax's, horns, strings, electric pianos, and organs. They also have somewhat easy to use display screens (the 600 series touch screens will be much more user friendly) with larger LCD displays (color on 2 of them), especially on the CVP509 (that display screen is a huge). The CVP501 & 503 cabinets are pretty basic although some of CVP models are available in the polished ebony finish which is very attractive, but they cost quite a bit more money. Otherwise the lowest priced cabinets are in the simulated rosewood finish.

In our tech world of iPads, iPods, LCD color TV's, etc, you would think for the higher selling price, the CVP 501, & 503 user interface monitor screens would be larger and in color.  As an example, the CVP503 has a black & white screen and it's also not that big, and yet the piano sells for over $5000 at discount. However, the CVP503 piano does sound quite nice and feels pretty good as far as key action and there are a lot of cool rhythms and instrument sounds on that one. But for around $5000 it should look extra good and it should also have a large user interface color screen which the CVP503 is lacking (a good reason why this model wasn't brought back in the 600 series). I do like the follow-along lights teaching system on the CVP501 and the other CVP's, but the 501 model only has the basic Clavinova GH key action response as opposed to the better GH3 in the other CVP models which has the additional key sensor (hence the "3" in the GH name). However, the new CVP601 (coming out next year) does have the better GH3 key sensor action as well as USB audio wav file recording (in addition to the normal MIDI recording & playback) which allows for higher quality CD type recordings and playback of your songs which almost all good digital pianos have now starting at about $1500 and are other good reasons to wait for the new 600 series:)

The top model CVP509 is an excellent instrument with the GH3 wood key action and synthetic ivory key tops. It's great sounding, lots of fun with useful features, incredibly realistic instruments, style arrangements & rhythms, but it's also very pricey. One of the problems with digital pianos selling (at discount) in higher price ranges like these models do, is depreciation. In 5 years or so they're likely to lose perhaps as much as half their cost or more based on accelerated depreciation of high end instruments along with newer technology that comes out in the future. But for some people who have the money and/or are planning on keeping the piano for a very long time, or they know this will be their last piano, then faster & larger depreciation is irrelevant and the CVP's (especially the CVP505 & CVP509) are great instruments and super fun to play! 

People generally purchase these Yamaha Clavinova CVP pianos because they want great quality sounds, super realistic chord arrangements, and realistic upright piano key action (they are not grand piano key actions), and these pianos certainly deliver in that way. Some people also like to use the multi-track player/recorder, vocal harmonizer with built-in mic input, built-in lesson and notation software, and a few of the other features. But beyond that, many of other features that are in the CVP's are (in my experience) seldom used by most US buyers.

By the way, with regard to the follow-along visual lights above the keys, this feature shows you what key to press when playing along with the built in songs and it will even wait for you to catch up. That is a fun feature and can be useful in the beginning for adult students and children of all ages. But at the end of the day, teachers generally don't like those things and it can create bad habits for younger students who take lessons and want to progress upward into new skill levels. However for adults (and very young children) who just want to play for fun and get music out of the piano as quickly as possible, the follow-along light system definitely makes that happen.

Kawai CP179

Another line of pianos similar to the Yamaha CVP's you should consider is the Kawai CP models. Kawai is well known for their professional concert grand pianos and digital home pianos and their CP series interactive series are definitely big competition for the Yamaha's. Coincidentally, Kawai and Yamaha have their international headquarters in the same city in Japan and are well known rivals. Both Kawai & Yamaha offer touch-screens on these interactive models, and in my opinion the CP series have a more elegant styling in their furniture cabinets. Another big difference between the Yamaha and Kawai is in their top models (Yamaha CVP609 vs Kawai CP179). Kawai offers a grand piano wood key mechanism and Yamaha has an upright wood key mechanism). In my opinion, the Kawai CP179 (upper left pic) is a better playing and sounding instrument than the Yamaha CVP609 when it comes to piano sound and touch. However, the ensemble arrangements on the CVP605 & 609 are really spectacular. But you'll have to be the judge of that for yourself. Before you jump into a Yamaha, definitely check out a Kawai and you can go to their US web site to get more info.

Casio PX780

Another, much lower priced piano that is going to be big hit when it comes out around beginning of April for its useful features, nice key action and good piano sound along with a very low price, is the Casio Privia PX780 ($999 internet price - left pic). It has surprisingly realistic piano tone & touch, ivory feel keys, 128-note polyphony, educational technology, and many other features that people want in a much lower price including 360 nice accompaniment arrangements with fingered & one fingered chord play, which is great fun at any skill level. The PX780 can even directly interface by a USB port with a laptop or Apple iPod/iPod 2 for greater expansion using interactive new computer music software for lessons, composition, arranging, and full music notation and digital sheet music that is readily available in the marketplace. Also, Yamaha makes a lower priced digital piano with many interactive features called the Arius YDPV240 which is internet priced at just $1999 in the US. It's a fun instrument and I recommend it although that model uses the basic lighter weight Yamaha GHS key action and only has 64-notes of polyphony but is generally fine for most beginner and recreational players or students. However at $1000 more than the new Casio PX780, the Yamaha is somewhat hard to justify now as the best bang for the buck:)

You might also want to be aware that Yamaha has their Clavinova CLP series which is Yamaha's more traditional digital piano without the big screens, automatic chords, lights, etc, etc. But the new Yamaha CVP 600 series has the new improved piano sound and other features of the new CLP400 built into those CVP models along with big touch screens and added interactive features, but they are much higher priced. 

I have also done an in-depth review of the lower priced Casio PX780, so if you're looking to get into that lower price range, then check it out at this link: Casio PX780 review

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864 

REVIEW - Suzuki MDG-100 Micro Grand Piano - STAY AWAY!

UPDATED REVIEW - April 24, 2013 - SUZUKI MDG100 Digital Piano is now discontinued and replaced by the new MDG200 - MDG100 & MDG200 NOT RECOMMENDED - MDG200 REVIEW Coming Soon.

MDG100 review here: Have you ever heard the saying "you can't judge a book by it's cover?" We'll that saying is especially true when it comes to the Suzuki MDG100 micro grand digital piano. It looks nice in its shiny black cabinet, but that's where the nice stops.

Suzuki (the brand) does not make its own pianos but they use an unknown factory in China to make the pianos for them. In my opinion it really doesn't matter where a piano is made but it's who makes it and the quality and parts that go into it. Yamaha & Kawai have pianos made in China, but those pianos are in a different class, and it shows. As an example, the black shiny cabinet finish can be just a thin coat of material or multi layers of material that stand up to wear & tear. So it's the materials & workmanship that cause the price to go up or down, and then you get what you pay for. If you don't want to pay a lot of money for a cute little micro grand, Suzuki may be perfect for you, however you will eventually notice the difference as well as big deficiencies.

There is very little else that I like about the piano except the fact that it looks cute. The piano doesn't play good, doesn't sound good, the cabinet is normally flimsy and wiggles & wobbles if you barely move it, and the controls and sounds are extremely weak as far as quality, based on everything I have seen from this piano so far...and I am not exaggerating. This model has been carried by Costco for awhile and also by a couple of on-line music dealers.

When I first saw this piano at Costco, I got a chance to play it extensively in their store. I was fortunate that it was not busy while I was there so I could spend some time on it. What was interesting to me was, as people approached this piano in the aisle way and saw it (while I was standing there), the first reaction from a shopper was always "it's so cute and pretty, I would love to have one." I was not surprised by this emotional response as it is expected because the piano is cute, but once you get past the cuteness, you'll probably wish you had bought a better musical instrument, in my opinion. Yeah I know you can bring it back to Costco (in almost any condition) and they'll give you your money back...but do you really want to go through all that time and hassle?, I wouldn't.

Costco's price has been approx $1499 on this model which seems low, but what shoppers don't understand is once you get past the cute cabinet, you have (in my opinion) a very poor musical instrument with inferior technology, which is too bad.

On one occasion at Costco, I tried to slide/push the key cover open  where it slides up into the piano and then it got stuck real tight (not a good sign). The key cover would hardly move when I tried to slide it out again and then got stuck again going back up. OK, maybe that can be repaired, but the piano was a new model in their store and it should have worked properly like they usually do on the 'good brands.' This is a red flag to me on what the workmanship on this piano could be like in other ways too. I have played and examined thousands of digital pianos over the years and rarely encountered anything like that on the higher quality digital pianos brands that I have used extensively including Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio, and others.

However, what really got my attention was the piano key action expression and key velocity reaction time. In other words, as I was playing a song, the volume of the notes I was playing were very choppy and irregular as I pressed the keys lighter and then as I gradually played with more pressure on the keys. It was like adjusting the volume on your TV remote and having it start out somewhat loud (no soft volume) and then jump to a much louder volume with nothing in-between. That would not only be very annoying, but does not allow for normal smooth musical expression, especially when playing lightly and that is not a good thing for piano students either. This is the way the Suzuki micro grand was obviously designed and there's nothing that can be done about it including changing the velocity sensitivity (a function)...nothing helped.

The physical keys themselves felt OK on the piano but they had a very noisy plastic sounding key action movement to them. And when I tried to play a bit faster with more repetition while using the sustain pedal (which is a normal way to play), some of the notes didn't respond at all, as if they were silent (dead)). I suppose if you always play slow then that wouldn't be a problem..but that's not realistic when playing in a normal fashion. So the key action was, to put it mildly... bad, and I've run into this before on some other "off brands" I have played. The piano sound itself was very basic and tinny in tone quality overall (you may not notice this unless you have heard how real pianos sound). In fact, Costco sells a Casio 88-key portable piano with weighted keys for $449 that plays and sounds better than this Suzuki in my opinion, and that doesn't say much for the Suzuki.

When a person is playing piano, they also need to use the sustain damper pedal (right pedal), although if you are an absolute beginner, you may not be using the pedal until you understand the keys and notes first. But it won't be long until you will need to do that and the piano needs to respond with a good piano sustained sound and resonance when the pedal is pressed down. Unfortunately, when I was holding the sustain pedal down (the right pedal) with my foot on the MDG100 piano, as I played the keys, the piano notes would decay (fade away) very fast. If you've never played an acoustic piano much or at all in the past, then you might not know that the piano sustain pedal on the right is supposed to sustain or hold the notes for a longer period of time than the Suzuki does.In other words, this is a deficiency for those piano who would be at a higher skill level than a beginner.

There are a total of 138 instrument tones on the piano with some sounding unrealistic (compared to many other digital pianos in similar price range). In fact, I have personally heard new Yamaha & Casio keyboards under $300 do a much better job at recreating realistic instrument sounds than this Suzuki. The same situation is true for the drum patterns and chord accompaniments. As far as other features of this piano, the built-in speaker system has (according to Suzuki) a total of 120 watts of power (2x60 watts stereo). That would be a a very good volume and hearing it should be no problem, but bigger audio power is useless if the piano and instruments sound cheap and play poorly...and in my opinion they do. That's like someone who sings bad who then sings louder to make up for singing bad (like on American Idol sometimes). How does that help anything?...it doesn't.

There is an SD card slot and an iPod docking station on the piano but it's all for show and no go as far as I'm concerned. Not long ago I reviewed a digital micro grand piano called the Williams which is sold by Guitar Center, and it and the Suzuki are not much different except the Williams had even worse physical problems on the one I saw then did the Suzuki. Regardless of what the manufacturer or store might otherwise say or believe, my advice is...just stay away from this instrument if you are looking for a satisfying piano playing experience and want a good piano investment for the future. 

I am not only a musician but also a piano teacher and it grieves me to know that parents may purchase one of these pianos for their children or themselves to take lessons or play on, not realizing what they bought was actually just a P.S.O. (aka: a Piano Shaped Object). It looks good but won't help someone to learn to play correctly or smoothly because the player will have to be compensating for the pianos inability to play the way it should play. And I'm not one of those teachers who demands perfection from my students...quite the opposite. I want them to learn and have fun, but it's no fun when you learn that your piano can't do the basics of what a regular piano should be able to do.

Yeah I know...it's CUTE! But if you can get past that and know that "at the end of the day" you need it to be a reasonably good musical instrument, then I advise you to opt for something else...unless you have very low expectations. I have actually seen some "positive reviews" of this piano out there by individuals who have apparently bought one, but as the old saying goes, 'ignorance is bliss," and if people can't notice the issues I have mentioned, it doesn't mean they are not there, it just means those people have not discovered them because they do not have prior piano experience. The deficiencies in this model is not limited to just one specific piano that I played on. The fact is, all MDG100's will have been made exactly the same and play exactly the same, deficiencies and all. 

Samick SG110

So save your money and pass on this one if you want a much better playing experience and want to be sure your piano will play at minimal levels for basic piano lessons. You usually don't get something for nothing and a good digital piano in a micro/mini grand cabinet that will work correctly and sound good is going to cost more money (generally around $3000 - $4000 for a decent one). If you want to stay in the "under $2000 price range" (or thereabouts) then I suggest you look at the Samick SG110 mini grand (above left pic). The Samick company is a well known acoustic grand & upright piano manufacturer which has been in business for many, many years. Their new SG110 mini grand is very nice in my opinion, and although it is sold in piano stores for substantially more money than $2000 (around $3000), I can show you how to get a new one for nearer to $2000. I have done a review on that model if you go here:  Samick SG110 Review.

Another option is to consider buying a digital vertical/upright piano from Kawai, Yamaha, Casio, or Roland. My two favorite models right now are the Kawai CE220 ($1899 internet price) and the Casio PX850 ($1099 internet price). Both pianos are fine instruments and have realistic piano tone, hammer action key touch, and very cool digital features that many people will enjoy. The Kawai CE220 is by far the better piano and even a professional piano player could feel comfortable playing that model because the key action (keys) comes from real wood full size acoustic piano keys along with having an incredibly smooth grand piano tone that far surpasses anything else in the under $2000 range. So if you are looking for super high quality piano reproduction and don't necessarily have to get a "grand piano look," then the Kawai CE220 would be my recommendation and a much better long term investment over something like the Casio PX850. But as for the Suzuki MDG100 or any other Suzuki MDG model, in my opinion you should stay away if you are looking for a good piano playing experience no matter what skill level you are at.

FURTHER MDG100 UPDATE: When a model is discontinued, sometimes there are used ones for sale by stores or private owners by that time. In the case of the MDG100, I have noticed you can find many used MDG100's for sale and some of these pianos are being sold in "as is" condition with problems and non working parts. This is an indicator of that model  being somewhat unreliable and having had enough problems where they are showing up that way. Suzuki is not the only brand with these issues but they are definitely occuring on the MDG100 so be careful what you buy regardless of price and regardless of brand.
                               

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864