Digital for silent practice - hi end used vs new one?

Khuja Wangtishvili

I have an good acoustic, which is not subject to change. But I need digital piano for silent practice in the evenings. As I have played most of the digital pianos on the market through last 5 years, I am inclining to go with the portable format with a stand, rather than console. I looked through used piano options within my budget 800-900 EUR, and with some negotiations and luck I can have

Roland FP90
Kawai ES8
Casio PX-S3100 (new)
Roland FP30X (new)
Kawai ES120 (new)

I am also looking for small consoles of Kawai CA series, but no luck still. I am not in a hurry as well. As my piano has deep and dark sound, I would rather be inclined to have other type of piano sound in my digital than I have in acoustic.

But now the question arises: is the Roland FP90 or Kawai ES8 worth the 800-1000 EUR used, or I would be better with a new piano of lower quality? I was a bit underwhelmed with ES8, both touch and sound and I find FP90 Action much better, also the older Kawai sound while very good, is not 100% appealing to me, similar to Roland, but at least Roland has action that I like very much. I will play 90% of the time with headphones, so I do not care about internal speakers, but still want to have them.

Yes I know that there is constant development in pianos, but really I am fine with older but hi-end technology than a new one but still on the low end of the market.

There is also used CLP585 in Germany, but I have never been fan of Yamaha, and used P515 are too expensive. Binaural CFX sounds spectacular though, but pianos with it are too expensive.

Any inputs will be welcomed.

Johnstaf

Khuja Wangtishvili I find FP90 Action much better

I think it's probably the best action in a digital slab. I have an acoustic grand in the same room, and I'm very happy with the Roland. It's a matter of taste, but I think it gets the balance right.

I rarely use the internal sounds.

Del Vento

Khuja Wangtishvili Roland FP90
Kawai ES8
Casio PX-S3100 (new)
Roland FP30X (new)
Kawai ES120 (new)

I tried side-by-side the ES8 and the Kawai ES110, if I recall correctly the model numbers. They had just come out. My impression was: "I wonder why anybody in the Earth could like the ES8, this is crap". I also tried (not in the same shop) the also newly released Casio PX-130. That was okay, but I liked the ES110 more, and especially more than the price difference. In the end I bought an used Kawai ES-X which I liked more than any of the three, and paid less than any.
After a couple of years I updated that for another used Kawai CA750, which I liked almost as much as a new Kawai CA63, which was clearly out of my budget at the time. At the time I tried the Kawai CA's, I did try two Roland digital piano in a cabinet format (don't remember model numbers, but they were the "middle of the road" and the "top of the line"). I did not like them much: equal or marginally better than the ES-X, but way less than the Kawai CA63 which was on the same price range.

So, assuming things have not changed much with the action, I suppose among the ones you propose I'd like the ES-120 best of all those options.

On the other hand, things may have changed, and most importantly you are not me, so testing all of them in a shop (and others, such as the Kawai CA's, even if you won't buy them retails) is paramount. And keeping an eye on the used market is the rest. Note that often people who own cabinet pianos such as Kawai CA and Clavinovas, don't know or don't care for their model number, so they won't show up on the classified website, and you'd have to set up "warning system" with proxy words! My best one was "digital paino" (sic) because that's a common US mispell which made it sure there were not many competitor buyers.

Hope this helps

SouthPark

The genuine best recommendation from anybody as usual is certainly to just try-out, and check out the feel, the features, and the sound. This person is using an FP-30X at this LINK

Pure and absolute garbage (rubbish/trash) is certainly what comes to mind when you see that vid.

kawafanboi

check the market, and call the manufacturer on replacement parts first, if you can't find parts like replacement sensor rubbers, you'll want to avoid that model.

David B

You might want to consider a new Yamaha P125. It's in your price range. I replaced a Roland FP-30X with it. Here are the reasons why I like it.

https://youtu.be/Y6_tOgvxqr0

God bless,
David