Ask any seasoned piano player and they will tell you that nothing beats the sound and feel of a grand acoustic piano. Unfortunately, however, acoustic pianos are often not a very practical instrument for new learners or those who live in apartment blocks.
Fortunately, digital piano technology has advanced tenfold over the past decade and many digital instruments now sound and feel as realistic as their acoustic counterparts. What’s more, digital versions have the added advantage of having many additional features, such as hundreds of different sounds, onboard tutorials, ready-to-play accompanying tracks and more.
There are many benefits to choosing a digital piano over an acoustic one, but perhaps the main benefit is that a digital instrument never needs to be tuned. Anyone that owns an acoustic piano knows how inconvenient and costly it can be to have to have the instrument regularly tuned. A digital instrument is always in tune. In addition, a single digital instrument has many different user selectable tones, such as church organ, electric keyboard, honky-tonk, grand piano and classic upright piano.
Another benefit that digital pianos have over acoustic pianos is that they have a headphone socket. This means that players can practice all hours of the day without disturbing anybody. In addition, many digital pianos have a lineout socket, which can be connected to a computer and used to make digital recordings. Alternatively, the lineout socket can be connected to an amplifier and speakers for live performances.
A further key advantage of digital pianos is that they are portable. While still heavy and bulky, a digital piano can be transported between locations by a single person without any damage. In contrast, moving an acoustic instrument between different locations requires at least two people and the piano often has to be retuned every time it is moved.