Top 10 reasons to buy a digital piano instead of an acoustic piano (Digital vs Acoustic)

Digital Pianos vs Acoustic Pianos: Two popular types of pianos available in the market are the digital piano and the acoustic piano. Here are some of the advantages of buying a digital piano over an acoustic one — the more important ones being that these are practical and cost-effective alternative to the acoustic piano so it makes sense to buy a digital piano.

Highlights

While there are many difference between acoustic and digital, here are the more important ones.

• The most important difference is that both use a difference mechanism to produce the sound
• Acoustic pianos require maintenance because of the several mechanical parts. It is likely to go out of tune over a period of time, if not serviced regularly.
• You can use headphones with Digital pianos which allows you to play or practice without disturbing others, which is a huge plus actually.
• No digital piano can yet offer the playing experience of playing an in-tune acoustic grand piano such as Steinway, Bosendorfer, but these are off-limits for most families.

Acoustic Pianos: Not Practical for Many

Ever since the first acoustic piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Venice, the artistic demands of serous pianists, and the consumer demands from amateurs, families and students resulted in several piano makers and models of traditional acoustic pianos flooding the market. Improvement in technology presented us with yet another option, the digital piano, which has not become the more practical option for many, thanks to the high costs of traditional acoustic pianos and the vast improvements in digital pianos.

Though I have listed the advantages of owning a digital piano, i’m not suggesting that acoustic pianos are worthless.

If you are already an accomplished musician, composer or doing quite well with your music related endeavors, chances are that you may have an acoustic piano at home. Nothing beats the charm, elegance and feel of an acoustic piano. It’s just that for the lesser mortals (like me)…and the casual music enthusiast, owning an acoustic piano is definitely not a practical option.

Having said that, piano manufacturers are trying their level best to provide the end-users with a digital piano that is as close to the real one! The top digital pianos of today are light years ahead of the ones that existed until a few years back. And the top models come surprisingly close to the real ones in terms of sounds and touch.

Companies are also trying to make use of technology, wherever they can, to make the piano/hearing playing more enjoyable. Take for instance player pianos. So yes, users will get much better “technology integrated” pianos in the future.

Alternatives to Real Acoustic Pianos

So you have seen an acoustic piano at your school or at the church, or at one of the restaurants that you pass by. Do you find its elegance and beautiful sound too much to resist? Maybe your child has shown an interest towards the Piano and has decided that the Piano is the only instrument he/she is going to play, and has started pestering you for a piano.

So what do you do next?

Of course, you can practice for some time on a borrowed keyboard, if you can manage to get one, but eventually you will need to get yourself a good Piano if you are serious about learning the Piano.

If you visit the nearest piano shop and if you happen to lay your eyes on the acoustic pianos there, then you will surely be disappointed on seeing the price and maybe with the amount of space it occupies.

Though you may look at it with awe, practically for a lot of people, an acoustic piano just does not fit in the budget nor would they have the required space needed to keep it.

Even if you could afford one for your child, he/she may not actually go on to learn the Piano completely and after a few months, maybe give up learning the Piano and pursue something else.

So what do you do? Forget about it?

You don’t have to!

You have an alternative! Have a look at Digital Pianos!

10 Solid Reasons to Choose a Digital Piano over an Acoustic one

Here are the advantages that a Digital piano provides over an acoustic piano (not necessarily in any order of importance).

1. Acoustic Pianos are Expensive
   Acoustic pianos are expensive, and difficult to maintain. A digital piano, compared to an acoustic piano, is considerably cheaper. Since the sound on digital pianos is produced by samples, the price of the piano is dependent on the quality of the samples used. But the good thing about digital pianos is that you have so many choices that you will surely find a model which fits your budget.
2. No Tuning required
   One very good reason for you to go in for a digital piano keyboard would be that it does not need to be tuned, unlike an acoustic one which will need to be tuned once in every 6 months or so. This is a very important factor especially if you change your house regularly, since acoustic pianos tend to go out of tune whenever exposed to lot of moving around. 

   Lots of Varieties and Choices
   You have a lot of variety here. You can go in for a digital piano with the upright piano look or the grand piano look or you can go in for the more portable stage piano. Digital Pianos were originally designed to serve primarily as an alternative to a traditional acoustic piano. So you will find models that have the looks of an acoustic piano with models resembling upright and grand pianos.

   But then most performers and beginners opt in for the portable versions of these pianos.

   Read: Different types & looks of 88 key digital-pianos

3. Compact and Portable
   Some of the models, generally referred to as stage pianos, have the keyboard look. They have 88 keys but they do not have that wooden case and body around it, which is found in upright pianos. This makes them a lot easier to carry around, much preferred by a lot of gigging artists, who are basically pianists.Related: Comprehensive music keyboard instrument guide

   A Digital Piano with the upright piano look or the grand piano look may still need a lot of space but if space is a constraint for you then you should have a look at the range of stage pianos available in the market. They definitely do not need much space and you can easily move them from one room to the other, if needed.

4. High Quality Sound
   Unlike acoustic pianos, where the sound is produced because of hammers striking against the strings, digital pianos produce sound electronically; it makes use of digital piano samples to produce the sound. The more expensive a digital piano, the better are the sound samples, and you can notice that in the quality of the sound produced. Top of the line digital pianos use extremely high quality samples resulting in excellent sounds. The piano samples capture the various nuances and dynamics of the instrument and play them back faithfully.
5. Piano Keys Action
   On an acoustic piano, you can actually feel the hammers striking against real strings. Besides the keys on the bass side or the left side are harder to play and it gets lighter as you move towards the right of the Piano. Most of the virtuoso pianists prefer to play an acoustic piano precisely for this reason because they are so accustomed to this keyboard feel. Digital Piano manufacturers have realized this challenge and now you have models that can replicate the actual acoustic piano action. 

   Keyboard actions like synth, semi-weighted, weighted, hammer and graded hammer action are now available on digital pianos. From a piano players perspective, the best is the graded hammer action. The semi-weighted and weighted actions are normally used in the entry level models. You can read more on the various keyboard piano keys action like weighted, graded hammer, wood, etc. here…

6. Take Advantage of MIDI
   A digital piano can communicate with other digital hardware/software through MIDI. With MIDI, you can connect your Digital piano to a computer and turn your computer into a recording studio. You are ready to record and compose! You can even load midi files into your piano from ready-to-buy CDs and play them back from your piano. 

    

   
   
7. Enjoy Benefits of Digital Technology
   Lot of Digital pianos now have all the features of a musical keyboard – rhythms, different instrument voices, on-track sequencer, effects, etc. The more advanced ones include synthesizer features as well. Some of them even come with a remote control (mostly on player pianos) so that you can play any of your favorite song using the built-in player which then automatically starts playing the keys, that is you do not have to physically sit at the piano. 

   Most digital piano manufacturers also provide apps now that lets you easily use the various features of the piano (and also learn to play).

8. Internet and Expansion
   The more recent models let you connect your Digital piano to the internet. They also have expansion slots built in them so that you can upgrade your piano. All these features let you download additional songs, sounds, and styles onto your digital piano keyboard and that prevents it from getting obsolete soon. 

    

   
   
9. Headphones for Silent Practice
   All the Digital Pianos have a headphone output which will let you connect a headphone so that you can practice without disturbing others. Some of the models have two outputs so that you can practice with your teacher or a partner. In any case, it is good to have the option of being able to play without disturbing others; let others sleep peacefully till you become a pro. 

   Read: Input/Output Jacks, Connectors on Electric Piano keyboards

Acoustic Pianos vs Digital Pianos: What to Buy?

• Buy a digital piano if: Space is a constraint, you need something portable, you want the option to play at odd hours without disturbing others.
• Buy a real piano if: Budget is not a constraint, you’re passionate about the piano, you don’t care about all those features/sounds/effects.

Most mid-range digital pianos may not sound as good as an acoustic piano. But if you buy an acoustic piano and do not service it regularly, then it doesn’t make sense to have it; it won’t sound good and its also bad for children (any beginner) to learn on an out of tune piano.

Conclusion

Though some Pianists may not be very happy with the key action on a Digital Piano, the fact is that the more expensive pianos have much better action; they do closely emulate an acoustic piano in terms of the sound produced and the feel of its keys. The top-of-the-range models even come with the grand piano cabinet and finish to give it that majestic look. Digital pianos combine the elegance of an acoustic Piano with the affordability, portability and flexibility which is usually available with Digital Technology. You get relatively portable models, which is a boon for people who are on the move, especially the gigging musicians. I guess, you now have enough reasons to leave aside the acoustic piano and own a Digital Piano instead.

Fortunately for users, it has never been a good time when it comes to digital technology. Digital pianos are getting cheaper and better by the day. You can get some really good stuff for less than 1000 dollars though the more expensive pianos can go up to tens of thousands.

Related: Digital Piano Reviews

KeytarHQ Editorial Team

KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.