Becoming a professional pianist requires you to have an ideal piano for learning and practicing. The 88-key digital piano is the piano that you require to have all these met.
This is a versatile piano designed to emulate and replicate the acoustic piano, for realistic and excellent acoustic sounds. Unlike acoustic pianos, they are cheaper and lightweight. This article will cover more about the best 88 key digital piano.
Best 88 Key Digital Piano – Top 4 Options on the Market
Why Do You Need to Buy an 88-Key Digital Piano?
There are times when one can wonder why to buy the 88-key digital piano which is more costly than others with lesser keys. But having an 88-key digital piano is more beneficial, despite being a little bit costly.
The following are some of the benefits of buying an 88-key digital piano.
1. Better practice and performance
Generally, an 88-key digital piano provides you with better practicing and performance. The piano boasts high-quality features and sound quality that enhances optimum performance.
Also for those practicing, it offers various features that enhance better practice.
2. Versatile
Most 88-key digital pianos feature weighted keys with heavy action and high-sensitivity, which renders them very versatile. They also have a reliable response while providing a realistic acoustic feel and touch.
3. Lightweight and portable
Generally, an 88-key digital piano is designed to emulate an acoustic piano, however, an acoustic piano is very heavy, which is not the case with digital pianos.
They are lightweight and easily portable, making them ideal for pianists who are on the go, as well as learners attending classes at different locations.
Another benefit of this piano is that it does not require tuning, unlike other pianos.
4. Cheap
Unlike the acoustic pianos that come at high price tags, the 88-key digital pianos are cheap and pocket-friendly, while they emulate an acoustic piano and deliver realistic acoustic sounds.
5. Ideal for learners
Learning how to play the piano using an 88-key digital piano provides an added advantage over using a digital piano with a lesser number of keys.
This piano introduces you to the full-sized keyboard which is similar to that of an acoustic piano. This means that it becomes easy to advance your skills in playing the real acoustic piano.
Most of these pianos also consist of multiple learning tools that enhance easy, quick, and fun learning.
Reviews of the 5 Best 88-Key Digital Pianos
1. High End – Nord 4 88 Stage Piano
Brilliant features
- Numeric Pad for quick program access.
- Enhanced organize mode.
- Smoother repetitions.
- Seamless transitions while playing.
- Authentic touch and feel.
Watch out for
- No stand.
Nord 4 88 Stage Piano is a digital piano designed with an 88-note tri-sensor keyboard that features the grand weighted key action, thereby emulating the acoustic piano, for an authentic feel and touch of the piano.
The Nord Stage Piano features Nord Virtual Hammer Action technology that allows you to create a new note without having to lift the keys completely, thereby delivering smoother repetitions.
For versatility, the Nord 4 88 Stage Piano boasts layer and split functions consisting of the split point crossfades. These functions allow effortless transitions from one sound or program to another while playing your keyboard.
The stage piano also features an OLED display that provides an excellent overview of your sounds.
For ease of use, the piano also features an enhanced organize mode that consists of the move function and copy/paste function, which allows you to quickly and easily arrange your work depending on your preferred order.
Also, the page view feature allows you to sort out pages easily as a song list, while the numeric pad allows direct access to programs.
2. Best Elegant – Casio PX560BE Stage Digital Piano
Brilliant features
- It is easy to use.
- Exclusive sound quality.
- 550 tones.
- Ideal for most music genres.
Watch out for
- Pricey
The Casio PX560BE is another versatile digital piano in this article from the Casio brand.
Just like most of the Casio pianos, the Casio PX560BE boasts the well-reputed tri-sensor scaled hammer action that excellently replicates the response and touch of a concert grand piano.
The heavier keys on the lower end and lighter keys on the upper end makes the keys feel more realistic, not forgetting the ivory and ebony keys feel.
For high-quality sounds, the stage piano features a multi-dimensional air sound source, that consists of the acoustic and intelligent resonator, that provides you with the best piano sounds for an exclusive performance.
Unlike the traditional definition of stage pianos, the Casio PX560BE is a stage piano that goes beyond the definition.
It features 550 tones that makes it very versatile as it covers the sounds of most musical instruments, hence, ideal for a wide variety of music genres.
3. Best with Furniture Stand – LAGRIMA 88 Key Weighted Digital Piano
Brilliant features
- Multiple connectivities.
- It has Bluetooth remote control.
- Built-in recorder.
- Features three-pedal system.
- High-quality construction with storage space.
- The piano is sleek and beautiful.
Watch out for
- The assembly instructions are not very clear.
Do you want a weighted digital piano for learning with an already set stage bench to do your practice, then this is your piano. LAGRIMA 88 Weighted Key digital piano is a versatile accessory with high-quality features to take your playing experience to the next level.
This digital piano comes with 3 soft-pedal systems, sustain, and sostenuto which creates soft, sustain notes longer without affecting the other produced.
Besides, it has an LCD screen, 80 demo songs, 600 rhythms, a built-in stereo speaker, and other instrument sounds. All these features are in this piano to enhance your playing skills and experience.
If you want to learn lessons easily from external devices like your computer, tablet, or phone and want to connect it to the external speakers, the digital piano features USB/MIDI/ Audio input and output to enable these functions.
Also, it features headphone input that allows you to keep the piano playing privately and also eliminating disturbing those people around you.
It has Bluetooth remote control that is a smart design enabling you to connect the phone, iPad with Bluetooth, and later operate the piano conveniently by remote control.
4. Best Portable – Yamaha P115 88-Key Digital Piano
Brilliant features
- Authentic touch.
- It has a sustain pedal for controlled sound.
- Digital piano controller.
- The piano sounds are outstanding.
- Built-in rhythms.
- It has an excellent finish.
Watch out for
- None.
Are you looking for a digital piano with user-friendly features and improved sound quality for your home or stage? The Yamaha P115 digital piano is what you are searching for.
The 88-weighted key piano comes with a graded hammer standard where the lower end is heavier while it’s lighter on the higher end, emulating an acoustic piano.
It also comes with a PA150 power supply and sustain pedal. The pedals enable you to play a couple of notes with your fingers while sustaining a particular tone for a controlled period.
The sound produced from this digital piano is of high quality as the AUX Out jack allows you to connect to an external amplifier 7 W x 2 or powered stereo giving you a powerful performance.
The piano also allows you to have a digital piano controller app that enables you to control many functions with your Apple or Android devices. It comes with Pianist styles whereby playing simple chords provides you with exciting accompaniment.
5. Best for Beginners – RockJam 88-Key Digital Piano
Brilliant features
- Premium sound and feel.
- Battery-powered for portability.
- It is ideal for beginners.
- Sheet music stand.
- Multiple connectivities.
Watch out for
- No music stand.
Get a cheap and affordable digital piano that is ideal for beginners and consists of the Simply Piano application that makes it easy and fun to learn, from the RockJam brand.
RockJam 88-key is a simple portable digital piano with 88 full-size and semi-weighted keys, with a high sensitivity that replicates an acoustic piano’s feel. Besides an acoustic voice, it also includes 10 modern special voices.
Privacy practice without interruption is possible as it comes with a headset input port, although, it does not include the headphones.
Another attribute is that it has a USB input port that helps you to play along with your music library. It also provides complete support for pedals and a microphone connector, for further playability.
Other Top Pick Recommendations
How to Choose the Best Digital Piano with 88 Keys?
Choosing the best 88 key digital piano can be challenging once you are in the market out there. There are multiple varieties in the market today, which makes it difficult.
When buying your 88-key digital piano, consider the following features and factors.
1. Sound quality
When playing, every player wants to listen to high-quality sounds. The 88 keys are made to emulate the sounds of a natural, realistic acoustic piano.
The determinant of the production of better quality sound is digital memory. The better the memory the more realistic sound it will produce.
Also, check on the quality of the built-in speakers and amplifiers. The better the quality in return produces high-quality sounds.
2. Tools for learning
Digital pianos mostly come with these features which are suitable for beginners. The reverbs, chorus, and built-in metronome are in pursuit of helping you stay in the rhythm.
The key can come with stickers to enable the player to know the appropriate key to play without confusion. The accompaniment tracks, recording, and playback functions go a long way in ensuring that a beginner or intermediate user is honing their playing skills.
Consider a digital piano with the most learning tools.
3. Portability
When choosing the best 88 keys digital piano, you should consider whether you can move from one area to another when conveniently carrying it around.
If you want your piano to play in a certain location only there is no need to buy a lightweight piano, while if you perform gigs in different places and attend classes and lessons, choose a 88 key digital piano you can carry anywhere.
4. Polyphony
Polyphony is the ability to play different individual notes at the same time.
The minimum an 88-key digital piano polyphony notes should have is 32 which is good for a beginner, however, for a professional player, it could go up to 264 note polyphony.
Choose the best 88-key digital piano according to your preference. As a beginner, 32 voice polyphony is better as it’s easy to learn that 128 voice polyphony.
5. Budget
Different digital pianos have a variety of features and specs which are reflected through the cost. Also, according to different brands, the cost is bound to vary.
As much as 88-key digital pianos costs are cheap it can also go as far as thousands of dollars. When choosing your ideal piano, go for the features you would like in a piano at a pocket-friendly price.
What Are the Types of 88 Key Digital Piano?
Generally, there are three types of digital pianos, categorized based on their features and usages. Some of these types of 88-key digital piano include the stage piano and keyboard.
1. Stage Digital Piano
Generally, a stage piano is a musical device designed to be used during stage live performance or in a studio. They are also used for recording jazz music and other popular music. However, a stage piano has a smooth transition with a digital piano.
Ideally, most stage pianos have a similar design with a keyboard features hammer mechanics. These pianos are designed to fully meet the requirements of lively players.
The main difference between a stage piano and a digital piano is that a stage piano does not have inbuilt speakers, therefore, it must be connected to external speakers and amplifiers.
Also, it has a variety of high-quality effects and sounds to enable the pianist to cover different music genres using the same musical instrument.
Most of the stage pianos also consist of master keyboard functions that enable them to control a bigger set-up on the stage, using different MIDI instruments.
Best for Live Performance – Nord 4 Stage Digital Piano
2. Digital Keyboard Piano
A keyboard digital piano is a fine musical instrument designed for home playing and has a smaller size than an acoustic piano, and cheaper.
Unlike the stage pianos, the digital pianos are designed with various designs that include home pianos and compact digital pianos. These pianos consist of inbuilt speakers and can also be played using headphones.
Best Sale – RockJam Compact Keyboard with 88 Keys
FAQs
1. What Is an 88 Key Digital Piano?
This is a full-sized musical instrument designed to emulate and replicate the acoustic piano.
It has 7 octaves and 3 lower notes, and each octave consists of 7 white and 5 black keys. This piano consists of 52 white keys and 36 black keys.
2. Do You Need 88 Key Digital Piano?
Yes, you need to buy one. Ideally, this piano is the best musical instrument you need to have all your needs met at a cheaper price. This piano is so versatile and comes with the most benefits.
3. What Is the Best 88 Key Digital Piano for Beginners?
Learning how to play the piano requires a versatile piano designed with a beginner-friendly mind. The following are the features of the best 88-key digital piano designed for beginners.
1. Portable.
Portability is a crucial feature in an 88-key digital piano for beginners. This feature allows for easy movement from home to class for learning.
This piano features a small and compact design that easily fits in smaller spaces while being lightweight for easy portability.
2. Cheap.
Generally, most beginners work with a limited budget which can limit their dreams of becoming a professional pianist, thus, the need for a cheap and affordable digital piano for beginners.
3. Versatility.
It should feature various voices and modes, for versatility. The multiple voices and modes allow beginners to hone their playing skills.
4. Recording function.
This is another crucial feature in beginner digital pianos. This feature allows the beginner player to record their performance and review them afterward, to know their weak points as well as acknowledging their progress.
5. Headphones.
It should consist of a headphone jack and high-quality headphones for clear sound quality. The headphones allow beginners to practice and play silently without disturbing others.
Also, the high-quality headphones give them a clear sound quality of their performance, as well as capturing their concentration.
6. Learning tools.
These are important features and functions that allow learning easy, quick, and fun.
The best ones for beginners boasts most of these learning tools that include playback, accompaniment tracks, recording, lessons, and more. These tools help the learners to easily hone their skills to professional levels.
7. Polyphony.
This is the ability to play various individual notes simultaneously. Multiple polyphony notes enhance uniqueness and creativity. An 88-key electric piano for beginners consists of a minimum of 32 polyphony notes, which is ideal for learning.
Best for Beginners – RockJam Cheap 88 Key Semi-Weighted Digital Piano
Conclusion
In conclusion, the above article has explained different information about the best 88 key digital piano. Get yourself ready to start and enjoy high-quality sounds with the 88-key digital pianos.
These digital pianos deliver realistic acoustic sounds and feel, at a cheaper price without compromising performance.
