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When I was little I used to play the piano, I got to fur elise level and my life took another direction, now at 25 I got back to it again, I got a small midi keyboard https://www.amazon.com/Alesis-VI25-Controller-Assignable-Production/dp/B00IWVL3SW . I thought it would be sufficient for my needs, as I wanted to have some full sized keys and thought that the stuff I play would be sufficient in this 25 key range, I wanted to play jazz, rock .. maybe metal and classical songs and I thought the pads and knobs will be very cool and I will use them..well... now this 25 key range doesn't catch what I want to play at all... I barely use the knobs and pads, I just pick some sound font, run a drum machine on the PC and play ... So I think of upgrading to a bigger keyboard . I live in a place where I can not test these products and have to just order them over the internet. The question is ... digital piano or MIDI?

Priorities:

  • how it Looks: 0 interest

  • size and price: don't have the space, money and proper neighbors for grand piano, have enough space to get a stand and put an 88 keys, potentially plug headphones in it.

  • proficiency: I don't consider playing any advanced stuff (e.g. Chopin) . Doing it just for fun ... maybe I will play with friends some time,

  • SOUND: I am interested in a good sound . I have a good headset but will I get a better sound if I have a digital piano rather than a MIDI

  • Keys: I find a slight difference in playing on a real piano vs playing on my midi but mainly in the dynamics capabilities. I am not sure how important is this to me.

  • MIDI: I think I would like to play my instrument with midi through my PC

  • pedals: I might want to use a sustain pedal.

I am considering only 1 MIDI https://www.thomann.de/gb/studiologic_sl88_studio.htm . It looks like the idea of this product is to have piano capabilities

This digital piano looks cool but I don't know if it's an overkill for me https://www.roland.com/us/products/fp-30x/

So I am considering the cheaper alternatives:

https://www.kawai-global.com/product/es110/

https://www.musicworld.bg/en/m_2570127/i_77752/Roland_FP_10_BK.html

Do you have any experience with these products, what do you think of these ?

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    For future research: MIDI is just the interface and would apply the same way to all of your choices, I have never heard it used as a category of instruments. Perhaps someone suggests a better term, but imo its keyboard vs. digital piano.
    – guidot
    Jan 15, 2022 at 18:30
  • One more thing to consider: the touch response of the keyboards. Personally, I hate the touch of the keys coming from the Fatar keyboard factory. They're just too stiff and slow. But Kawai is much better. For example the Nord Stage keyboards use Fatar action, but the Nord Grand uses a Kawai and the Grand feels much, much better. But YMMV.
    – piiperi Reinstate Monica
    Jan 15, 2022 at 19:28
  • @guidot Well the MIDI interface I use is much much better than the keyboard I had when I was little, yeah, the real piano is the BEST but for sub average player like me it does not make a whoole lot of difference, the incredible cool thing about the MIDI is the aftertouch/vibrato and I was wondering ... most MIDI keyboards are not meant to be piano replacements but that last one ... I really considered it because that is it's aim
    – Harton
    Jan 15, 2022 at 19:37
  • @piiperiReinstateMonica Thank you for your response! I watched a number of videos and read some forums and ... I don't have much of a preference for either of the digital pianos in a similar price range
    – Harton
    Jan 15, 2022 at 19:38

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This question will likely be closed because gear recommendations are not considered on topic in this forum. I will try and address some of your concerns to help you make a good choice for yourself without recommending a specific instrument.

As you probably know you have 4 keyboards listed but only 2 types of keyboards. A MIDI controller and 3 digital pianos. This is just a comparison between those two types. I will start with bullet point 4

Sound: The controller produces no sound at all and is reliant on your computer for sound. There is no “better”, as high end computer piano samples can be every bit as good as the samples on a stand alone piano so it depends on what your computer sound source is. If you’re using something simple like GarageBand for sounds the digital pianos will have superior sound quality for piano sounds. You may need to have an audio interface if you want to record the actual digital piano sound into your computer. Some digital pianos can send audio to a computer via USB, check specifications to see what each offers in this department. Remember there is a difference in sending MIDI and sending audio over USB. I believe the FP-30 is the only one that can send audio of these three but verify independently to be sure if this feature is important to you.

Keys: All four of these have 88 key weighted action so they will all approximate the feel of a real piano. The only difference will be in the proprietary feel of each brand which is of course impossible to know without testing. You might get an idea reading reviews and forums.

MIDI: All digital pianos have some type of MIDI interface built in these days, usually with a USB cable and sometimes with actual 5 pin connectors. Check the specs and photos of the rear panel to see if the MIDI interface suits you.

Pedal: They all have the functionality to use a sustain pedal and sometimes digital pianos will even allow a 2 or 3 pedal setup, emulating the 2 or 3 pedals on acoustic pianos. Pianos with furniture style stands sometimes have pedals built in but sometimes a pedal is a separate purchase. Check specs for what’s included.

Hopefully this info will help you make a more educated choice for yourself, good luck.

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  • I understand my questions does not fit, but I feel stack exchange as a home site to me , and there were no other similar recommendation sites! Thank you very much for your response ! I guess I have made a good enough investigation and I just wanted to validate my points with someone else, thank you :) !
    – Harton
    Jan 15, 2022 at 19:33
  • My pleasure. If you are happy with using your computer as a sound source and you have a piano sound you like in the computer then the controller is a simple and good choice.
    – John Belzaguy
    Jan 15, 2022 at 19:40

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