Why Premium Acoustic Pianos Are Better Than Digital 

Just want to come in here to compliment the presentation. I've been seeing a lot of piano stores that have a page lately thanks to the algorithm. And while most of them have interesting topics, nice pianos and good players, none of them nail the presentation. They often stumble over words, are very obviously looking at a whiteboard or prompter with text or deliver a monotone narration.

This channel far outperforms any other channel in most aspects, but especially the presentation. Chapeau.

The truth is... everybody would have the acoustic if we had the room or could afford the maintenance and volume of sound. For us average people, digital is good enough. 😀

Well... Is the "better" the "best" word here? What is the best piano? Is it's sound? This discussion about partials measured with an oscilloscope reminds me about the same discussion about the feel of a bike made of steal frame, Stradivarius resonance , tube amps, vinyl records, Hi res audio, etc... and when you do blind test people generally fail . Anyway, everyone has the right to believe in whatever they want. I confess I already was an audiophile in the past but I recovered from that illness.. I believe that the flag ship digital pianos can deliver not only a undeniable "real timber", but with those hybrid ones with top keybeds, the latest high tech stuff, they can put you in a concert hall, cathedral, studio, with tune and temperament as you wish when you wish with the touch of a button or two. So "better" is not the best word here. If you believe you can really hear or feel all the partials and everything else discussed in this video, yeah... go for nothing less than a Steinway class D, Bosendorfer Imperial, Fazioli F308, Bechstein 272, etc... and be happy! ;-)

edit: Yamaha, U1, 2, 3 and alike or the grandmother's upright piano don't count, in this case, please, get yourself a digital one

Really great description

10년넘게 piano vsti(100Gb over fullsize grand sample)로 만족스럽다고 생각하며 취미를 즐기고 있었지만 (잘 튜닝된) 어쿠스틱 업라이트 피아노를 들여놓은 이후,이런 업라이트에 불구 전방향으로 온몸을 휘감는, 손끝에서 만들어내는 아주 복잡하고 선명한 화음, 한음한음의 일체감은 2D에서 3D로의 변화처럼 새로운 차원이라는 걸 느낍니다 어쿠스틱은 연주자의 혼과 현재 지금의 지구의 공기와 진정한 일치를 맺어줍니다 , stu님의 과학적인 설명에 제가 왜 그렇게 느꼈는지 끄덕끄덕 적극동감합니다

A few years ago tried 2 pianos around $10,000 in different stores. The first was a Baldwin grand. The other with the Boston brand (no relations with the city) at the Steinway Gallery in Boston. Both love at first sight. The Boston upright had a 5-star rating from the European Piano Association. It mimics the sound of a grand piano and the action that allows you to repeat the same notes many times in a minute like a grand piano.
The most interesting piano was a 1937 Wurlitzer baby grand with 73 keys (low F to high F) at around $30,000. Made to fit smaller homes obviously. The cover comes in 2 small pieces that opens up on both sides. The majority of grand pianos have a 1 piece cover on top. Wurlitzer is an American brand started by German immigrants many years ago.
Besides a quality sound, there are other considerations. It's great somebody like me who has an interest in music and even have a big enough space for a piano. Those who are starting piano wouldn't appreciate the great sound of any piano. The worst I've seen is a Yamaha upright placed in a small & narrow bedroom for a child. Even for practice you hear a lot of echoes. A piano in a bedroom is not ideal for sharing your music with other people as in a living room.
The other consideration is whether someone would continue to play after the first few years. Many kids got enrolled into piano lessons by their parents. It's sad to see instruments sit at home as a piece of furniture after people quit.
You see Y1 Suzuki students playing "Twinkle Variations" on a Bosendorfer, Fazioli or Steinway grand at their first piano recital. Don't think a kid at age 5 is old enough to appreciate the great sound of a grand piano. At least not until he/she gets into playing a Beethoven or Mozart Sonata.

Hi Stu. I'm so grateful for all the advice and knowledge you have shared already, and I know you must get a lot of requests for "please make a video on this or that topic", but if I may.... given the limitations of digital pianos, and often the further limitations of the onboard speakers, I'm wondering if you might have any advice when it comes to selecting and utilizing monitors, amps, external speakers. Knowing this would be greatly influenced by the physical location/surroundings, I would specifically love to know what you would recommend for personal use in an average-sized living room. Basically, I'm wondering what options might help those of us who may never be able to have an acoustic piano at home, come a bit closer to the acoustic sound....and doing so without using headphones. Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this topic...and please forgive me if you've covered this elsewhere already. I'm a relative newbie and still working my way through many of your earlier videos.

I’m fortunate to have both, and while acoustic is better in most respects, the “problem” with my good digital + hi fi speakers is that the perfect regulation and tuning and finite VST velocity layers on the digital make me (an early intermediate player on a good day) sound much better than on my good studio upright, which lacks perfect regulation! it’s great to be able to alternate between them and to practice privately. Thanks for great video.

I tried the new Roland LX6 - I was amazed -

So true!

This is an excellent follow-up and counterpoint to your last video. A really good acoustic piano is definitely hard to beat, and a huge point made here is the area of sounding board coupled with the surrounding atmosphere. As much as I am amazed with the beautiful recordings I can get with some newer digital models, they just can't fill a space with sound like a good acoustic piano can, and the quirks that make playing an acoustic piano almost like interacting with a living, breathing thing can be magical!

Why only expensive acoustic pianos can feel like "omnidirectional soundsources you feel real connection with when you play" and cheap ones can not🤔?

Sorry, I have played both & The Korg Nautilus German & Italian Grand piano's are just exceptional when compared to a great Grand, you would only know there's a difference if you watch it on a screen one against the other.

I don't even have a premium piano, I have a kawai GL40 and I still haven't found a digital piano that can match it in sound. I get excited by tech and love digital pianos, but they're still not there yet and I don't know that they will get there for a long long time. Having said that, I look forward to digital pianos to keep getting better because I love having digital pianos as they offer so many convenient features.

Both acoustic and digital are physically and operationally different. So is their purpose. I think the comparison is unfair. I am a pianist. I have an acoustic piano and a synthesizer. It is better to make a comparison of the same type of acoustic piano. Likewise with digital.
Please use the apple to apple comparison principle.

After a tuning of our 1909 Steinway there was a special upper c note that when played had a special shimmer.  
It caused me to linger on the note, refiguring the playing my own composition. My piano, teaching me how to play my own piece!

Very well put! Couldn’t agree more 👍

I am very lucky to have inherited my grandfather's piano, which I have played since early childhood. He bought the instrument with his first journeyman's salary in 1925 (it was 4 years old at the time...). He paid off the piano over several years. No other instrument will ever be able to replace the emotional connection to this piano (even though it is not technically perfect at all). And music is pure emotion for me...

As always nice and useful review. 🙌❤ Whatever you have explained in this review is absolutely correct. I have played many expensive digital pianos but I never had satisfaction with the behaviour of action and tonal quality. As a pianist I feel Acoustic is an instrument and digital is a just substitute. Actually it’s always depends on the person to person any serious musician will be happy to use the acoustic. For a hobby musicians it won’t make big difference because and to judge the difference between acoustic and digital it requires a good musical ears and experience. In fact I prefer cheaper acoustic then an expensive digital piano because I have personally experience this many times. Now days companies like Pearl River/ Hailun and Samik makes decent entry level acoustic pianos and they are cost effective. some times we get better acoustic piano on cheaper price range and at least it can give real experience to the users. I believe every piano behaves different specially in cheaper acoustic piano categories. Any decent entry level acoustic piano can last longer than a digital pianos that’s what I feel. Acoustic pianos made from wood and metal and price of wood and metal goes up every year. The reason why I recommend decent entry level acoustic pianos over the expensive digital pianos to my customers. But every customer has a different mindset and usage considering that I give them advice. Digital has more advantage than an acoustic piano, User can do so many things with technology but it can’t give the real experience like an acoustic piano. Digital and Acoustic both have the pros and cons. As a piano player and piano specialist I feel some digital pianos are unnecessarily expensive, Especially pianos with the cabinet and hybrid pianos. Thanks! ❤❤❤

After trying many uprights, and undeniably influenced by the Stu's reviews, I purchased a Seiler ED-132. I find the tonal complexity intoxicating, even addictive. I still have a Roland RP 501R that I use at my parents' house, and when I move out of a tiny apartment, I hope to get a grand. That said, I can not imagine ever wanting to get rid of the Seiler upright such is the warmth and complexity of its tonal output. Thank you, Stu!

I second your statement about the very (few) best digitals equaling the average upright (though, just in the last 3-4 years) , but, yes, there is no way that once you cross the critical 5'8" threshold that anything digital will beat it, as there is a massive change in the sound stage and dynamics at that point. But for normal uprights for, say, a classroom, practice room, or studio, the better digitals are fantastic for that. I think that in 20 years uprights simply won't be made as the market will have died for them. But for grand pianos, probably never will have a digital replacement.

Thanks Stu, I appreciate your clear explanations. Yes, it's not a contest.
I'm a Mechanical Engineer and a musician. While I can appreciate the 'magic' of electronics and SW, I love the fact that the piano is a machine. I sometimes wonder off in my mind about all the engineering and research across centuries that went into designing basically a hammer driven mechanical acoustic filter/amplifier.
I play guitar and have similar feelings. I love the electric guitar for all the effects available, lighter faster playing and it's greater dynamic range. But I enjoy playing my acoustic, partly because I physically feel the vibration of the instrument when I play. And the sound is just all over, not coming out a speaker. It's a machine. And yes, many times it sounds a little different, needs a little tuning and really changes with new strings. It's a machine.
But I appreciate and enjoy both guitars; they have different reasons to be.


I have started learning piano but probably will stick with digitals for a time. But I plan some day to own an acoustic; just because.

I've learned so much and been entertained by all your videos. Thank you.

Digital Pianos have improved over the years

A no brainier. Unless you have not been exposed to proper pianos!

They are still a lot more hassle to record 😏

A good quality digital piano should last a lot longer than ten years if looked after properly. Old school keyboards from the 1980s often still work fine today - they were built like tanks back then. Whether modern digital pianos / keyboards will last as long is a different question though.. The main risk is probably the action needing repair or capacitors needing replacement, but older digital keyboards are usually repairable..

Hi...love your channel. I have a question i hope you can answer. I have the MP11SE already, but my son is wanting an acoustic for the house. I was thinking a good used upright. Can you please suggest a few models i can look at that would sell for around $3k as used? I am partial to Kawai, but the K500 I really want is out of reach. LOL. Much appreciated.

Every point...well said.

Hey Stu, could you do a video of addressing what kind of brand/types of acoustic pianos (whether upright or grand) lean more towards Jazz style of playing and fit that sort of character? Maybe there is no right answer but im curious for your opinion. Thanks!

Thanks again Stu for your supreme explanation and well based comments one Pianos and music. I totally agree. Yes I Play like and use digital Pianos...(Kawai) But to be honest: my 1963 Steinway hast never left any disappointment over the Last 20 years.

Fully agree. And many thanks to Merriam Music for helping me have the opportunity of enjoying the piano of my dreams, the SK2. Everyday since its arrival, our home has been filled with music and joy.

Why has Stu not REVIEWED the Nord stage 4 or Piano 5?

Your listed limitations of digital pianos are all technical problems that can and will be overcome. Which law of physics prevents a speaker system from sounding 12 overtones? Acoustic piano designs are stuck in time and haven’t changed substantially in a century, but digitals continue to improve. Also, your comparisons are only valid for properly regulated and tuned acoustic pianos. In my experience most pianos do not receive the regular maintenance they need due to increasing costs and a decreasing supply of experienced piano technicians. Sorry, but the future is digital.

One is music production and the other is really music reproduction when you get down to it

I started learning piano late in life! I've just passed my grade 4 and currently have a Roland LX-7 Digital Piano. I'm looking to get a new piano and I've got a budget of around $15,000 - $16,000. In your opinion would this be better spent on an acoustic or digital piano?

Instead of a kawaii 900 Digital Piano last Christmas I got a refurbished Yamaha U3 from the 80th for 6T€. And man, what a joy and a beautiful sound. Luckily I live in an old house with these 3,3 meters ceilings, so it has enough room to resonate and develop the sound.

Excellent statement regarding the virtues of the high-quality acoustic piano. My digital setup has a level of convenience I find satisfying, but it does not offer the texture, vibratory sensation, and control I can exercise on my past C3. You can paint with a digital program or with brushes, turps, and oils. Both can provide satisfying results, but the experience? One is one thing, and the other is all-encompassing.

Literally,i am thinking about to get a mini piano (keybird x1) to replace the clp725 in my bedroom. The real piano action and tone cannot be replaced.

I'm 30, I have an H. Schoenbach baby grand piano. Currently selling it and looking for a premium upright. Kawai I believe is the route I want to go

Technology to generate music has come a very long way but it is only an approximation and always will be.

You never have to worry about polyphony or voice stealing with an acoustic piano! Ah but the need to tune... there's the rub.

Having just watched your video about digital pianos and all their advantages, I am so pleased you produced this one. The point you make about partials (and it would apply to fundamentals) from different notes interacting is very true. In the world of electronics the equivalent effect would be called frequency modulation (FM). When two frequencies are multiplied, through FM, you get the sum and difference. Unless a digital piano has very clever piano modelling (sampling could not hope to achieve this as the combinations would be too many), I believe it just adds frequencies (i.e. notes and their partials) together. On an acoustic, if you play a note, it causes a string to vibrate, which in turn causes the soundboard to vibrate, i.e. the distance between particular points on that soundboard are changing. This in turn causes other undamped strings to vibrate and if another string has been played, it is effectively multiplying the frequency of the two (or more) notes. This generates, albeit at low level, many other frequencies which on a good piano add to the quality of the sound.

I agree with everything you point out, but did anyone mention that you don't have to switch an acoustic on, that you don't have to wait for it to start up and it works if there is a power cut. Okay, the latter is pretty rare for most of us, but not universally.

Thank you for the video. You asked for experiences. When I purchased my current piano, a Kayserburg KAM5 (52" upright), it was quite a moment when I played the opening bars of Brahms' Rhapsody in G minor. The power and richness of the sound was quite something. My previous piano was a Ritmuller RS122 (48"), but I also played two grand pianos in the showroom, including a brand new Ritmuller and a refurbished Bluthner. The sound of the KAM5, albeit an upright, in my opinion, was far superior to both of these (and a variety of other uprights). In addition, the ability to play very quietly on the KAM5 was far better too (down to the dynamic range you refer to); this was particular apparent with the second movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata. Unfortunately, the touch of the KAM5 is on the heavy side and can be tiring (and the consistency of touch could be better), but on the sound side of things it was just such a revelation. Now, I have very little experience playing the top grand pianos so another revelation moment may await, but I realise this may then be a very expensive moment! Thanks again for the videos.

I cannot disagree with anything you said. While digital pianos certainly have their place and upsides, they cannot and will never match the real deal in all things mentioned.

ribbon speakers els work

you sel that right

Everything you have said in this presentation it’s so true. But I’m into my second year of playing/composing my own pieces while learning to play the piano. If I had an acoustic piano I would get crazy pushback from my neighbours either side with me. I would be restricted to civil hours. I would come in from a days work and only be able to play for an hour or two before people started banging on the walls and ringing my doorbell. The beauty of a digital piano with a respectable action and a semi open pair of headphones is that I can play to my hearts content and not disturb anybody. The digital piano cannot compare to a decent acoustic piano but it gives genuine accessibility. 24/7 365 days a year.. 25 years ago I would have had to spend in excess of £5000 to get a decent digital piano and headphones. Today I don’t have to spend more than £800 in total. A couple of years from now when I become proficient in the basics I’m sure all that will change and I’ll want a better digital piano and an acoustic upright if not a preowned baby ground. But for the time being I must earn and merit the possession of such tools. What I have at the moment is adequate if I am serious about playing the instrument to any reasonable level of accomplishment. It’s like guitars today you don’t have to spend £2000 to get a beautifully sounding all-round guitar. 500 to £800 will get you in the zone. Unless you are going to be a professional guitarist this is more than adequate.

I am about to buy my first piano ever and it’s going to be a digital one. I don’t have a space and money to buy an acustic one. But I am really looking forward to try to learn to play at least a bit.

I started playing Piano last week (I know, I know, what am I even doing here commenting), but I have almost 20 years experience in Hifi and have owned hundreds of speakers, amps etc over the years. I do wonder if there are Hifi speakers that mixed with the right equipment and VST could create the illusion of playing a real live instrument.
There are many very expensive speakers and cabinets build to have their own resonation like an instrument. After some research and brainstorming I came up with a combination that should at least yield some interesting result. I might come back in a few months when I manage the funds for the purchase and get the actual speakers that are supposed to be the centerpiece of the chain. 😊

The first time I sat down at a top of the line concert grand Steinway, the feeling was transcendent. It felt like the piano played itself and the way I felt this swell of grandness inside of me was something that just could not be replicated in anything digital. The action, the fullness, the connection is real.