What is the Best Digital Piano Under $1000?

Grand pianos are excellent equipment that provides musicians with endless opportunities. These instruments come with all sorts of features some of which you have never imagined. While all of us would really love to get our hands on this equipment, the truth is that with their price tag, not all of us will have the opportunity of using them. This, however, doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your music dreams. Digital pianos have a provided an extraordinary opportunity where we can enjoy some of the best features of grand pianos at a more affordable price. On top of that, digital pianos are more compact and portable meaning that you can rely on a single device to do all your home, studio or even on-the-road gigs. They are designed to last and withstand the harsh surrounding environment in which they are used.

The weirdly good problem with digital pianos is that there are so many of them in the market. There are literally hundreds of amazing digital pianos to choose from. This can easily overwhelm even the most advanced of players and for beginners, choosing one particular keyboard can become impossible. This is why we took the initiative of doing the difficult task of analyzing all the best keyboards that cost less than $1000 to create a short list that you can choose from easily.

Here are the best digital pianos under 1000:

1. Yamaha P-115

Yamaha has always been a highly-respected brand in the music industry. Their expertise has given the world some of the best pianos and the Yamaha P-115 falls in that category. This amazing instrument comes with so many features compressed into a single portable unit retailing at a very affordable price.

The Yamaha P-115 is designed with 88 graded hammer action keys that are balanced perfectly for a natural feel. The top notes are light and they become heavy as you move towards the lower end. The keys, therefore, feel and respond just like those from an acoustic piano. Their instant reactions make Yamaha P-115 a surprising option for virtuoso playing.

Yamaha p115 digital piano

In terms of sound functions, the keyboard provides over 14 voice options including two new additions i.e. Rock-organ and Wurlitzer. The P-115 features piano samples from Yamaha’s best-selling grand, the CF III Concert grand. This keyboard is, hence, among the few pianos within this price range offering the best sound quality. Yamaha then went ahead to top it all with string resonance that works like an acoustic instrument.

In their attempt to improve the keyboard’s ability for virtuoso performance, the keyboard received an upgrade to 192 note polyphony. This allows you to sustain different passages for extended periods delivering a natural response that mimics acoustic pianos.

For ease of use and accessibility to different functions, Yamaha p-115 has a compatible app through which you can edit and save different settings of the keyboard. You can also create custom settings from this application to personalize the keyboard and make it more convenient for you.

Another unique feature from this instrument is the ability to split the keyboard into two equal parts. Now, how in the world is this useful? Well, imagine you were using this keyboard to teach your kids how to play. By splitting the keyboard, they’ll both be able to learn simultaneously within the same unit without interfering with each other! It’s an interesting feature that’ll be very useful in any household with children.

Specs

• Dimensions: Length 1163mm; width 295mm; height 163mm
• Weight 11.8kg
• CF Sound engine; 192-note polyphony and 14 voices
• Comes with 50 piano songs, 14 demo songs 4 reverbs, sound boost, choruses, intelligent acoustic control, 14 accompaniment presets and 10 pianist styles
• 5-280bpm metronome
• Duo, layer and split functions
• Tuning: 414.8 – 446.8 Hz
• Transpose: -6 – +6
• Two 7w speakers
• Headphone, USB, Aux, and MIDI outputs

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2. Casio PX 850

The Casio PX 850 features the highest note polyphony of any digital keyboard in the market. At 256-note polyphony, the piano is way ahead of all its competitors within its price range and performs even better than other high-end keyboards. With such a high maximum polyphony getting complex passages will be a lot easier since no tones will ever be clipped or masked. That is just but one of the great things about the beauty that is PX 850.

Looking at the keys, Casio PX 850 comes with 88-touch sensitive keys that are designed with Scaled Graded Hammer Action. These keys have managed to mimic the actions of an acoustic piano in that the sound output will be affected by how fast or slow the differently-sized hammers operate. You’ll also have the opportunity to adjust the sensitivity of the keys into three different levels. This is a very useful feature that helps people of different tastes to use the keyboard comfortably. You can also decide to change the sensitivity depending on your mood or the type of music/performance that you are planning to put up. You could also decide to turn it off altogether and focus on other functions. We also can’t avoid mentioning the attempt made in replicating the ebony and ivory feel of keys as is common in acoustic pianos. Yes, it doesn’t work exactly like a premium acoustic piano but it does perform a lot better than plastic keys.

All the keyboards in the Privia product line of Casio come with the intelligent resonator technology. This technology has been vital in delivering true tones as recorded from grand pianos. With the Hammer Response, Strong Resonance and damper response you’ll be able to get authentic sounds from the strings whenever you use the damper pedal.

Connectivity options are also quite reasonable. You can connect this keyboard with your mac or windows computer to access additional features. The best part is that the keyboard is readily compatible with all these PCs. No need to download drivers or any software to get started. All you have to do is connect your computer and get down to the real business.

Casio PX 850 Specs

• Dimensions: Weight 53.4”; Height 33”; Depth 11.8”
• Weight: 81 pounds
• 88 weighted keys
• Tri-sensor scaled hammer action
• 256-note polyphony
• Acoustic and intelligent resonator sound mechanism
• Three different touch sensitivity options (can be switched off)
• 10 preset voices
• 60 preset songs + 10 user songs
• 4 Reverbs, 4 choruses
• Functions: Split, layer, and duet mode
• Transpose: -12 – +12
• Tuning: 415.5 – 465.9 Hz
• Tempo setting: 20 – 255 BPM
• Auto power off feature
• Response: Hammer, Damper and String Resonance.
• Lid and key off simulators
• Connectivity: Damper, Sostenuto, and Soft pedals; headphone jack, USB to host and USB to device
• Two 20W amplifiers
• Two 4.7” + Two 1.97” speakers

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3. Yamaha DGX-660

The DGX-660 is considered by many as the ultimate “Portable Grand”. This 88-key piano comes with premium grand piano sounds that are designed to meet the taste and expectations of all seasoned keyboard players out there. What makes this keyboard standout is not just the features and other kinds of stuff fit into it but it’s also due to the attention is given in its entire construction including the exterior. The DGX-660 looks and feels amazing. The keyboard has a stylish finishing and comes with a synthetic wood grain stand. Unfortunately, from this construction, the keyboard isn’t made to be moved frequently but occasional non-rigorous traveling shouldn’t be a problem.

The keys on the 660 are made of plastic. Of late, most keyboards with plastic keys have been using low-quality plastics which has been problematic especially with moisture accumulation and responsiveness. With the DGX-660, we are glad that Yamaha invested in premium plastic that has delivered a more executive feel and an even better response. The keyboard also features Graded Hammer Standard key-bed. This one tries to mimic the feel of a grand piano where the keys move from heavy to light. You should be able to notice its impact as you play. It works pretty well. However, anyone who has ever used an acoustic piano before will notice a few differences.

Another area where the DGX-660 performs well is in the connectivity department. This keyboard has so many ports and connections making it an extremely versatile instrument. You can connect the keyboard to different other music devices that will improve the performance of the keyboard even further allowing you to make better music. One connectivity that stood out for us is the port to three pedal units like the Yamaha LP7A for professional performance. This feature is especially useful to pianists who are familiar with acoustic piano pedal configuration. With this pedal, you’ll also be able to utilize the half-damper function to change the clarity of the piano’s resonance depending on how much you press it.

Yamaha DGX-660 also comes with other features to make your playing easy and fun. Take the style recommended, for instance, with this feature, you can choose an accompaniment that is appropriate for the rhythm that you are already playing. There is also a metronome that works alongside the damper pedal making it easy for you to change time signatures and also allows you to adjust the sounds from bells to clicks.

Yamaha DGX-660 Specs

• Dimensions: Width: 1397mm; Height 146mm; Depth 445mm
• Weight: 21kg
• 88 Graded Hammer Standard Keys
• Fixed, Hard, Medium and Soft touch responses
• Full Dot LCD (320 by 240 dots
• Monochrome color
• Pure CF Sound Engine
• 192-note polyphony sound
• XGlite and GM compatibility
• 41 reverbs, 44 choruses, 237 DSP and 5 Master EQ
• Supports Intelligent Acoustic Control
• AI Fingered, Full Keyboard and Multi Finger options
• 100 preset songs
• You can record up to 5 songs or 6 tracks
• Tempo range: 5-280
• Transpose: -12 – 0 – +12
• Tuning 415.3 – 440.0 – 446.2
• Connectivity: Pedal unit, sustain pedal, headphones, aux in, USB to host, USB to device, microphone, and DC in (12V)
• Two 6W amplifiers
• Two 5cm and two 12cm speakers
• Auto power off feature

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Final Thoughts

With the above list, getting your ideal digital piano within a $1000 budget should be a lot easier. These instruments are excellent options for pianists of different skill levels. Even beginners will be able to utilize some of the educational features of these keyboards to learn and perfect their skills. We are confident that your music creativity will be fully utilized by whichever one of the three keyboards above.