Acoustic pianos are beautiful instruments, and their sound is full and rich, producing the most beautiful harmonies; but they are not convenient. The problem with them is that they are expensive, require regular maintenance, need to be tuned often, and it’s almost impossible to move them around.
This is why digital pianos are gaining a lot of popularity, plus they have more sounds and offer recording capabilities, which is perfect for artists and songwriters.
When playing a digital piano, you want a sound that is as accurate as its acoustic counterpart. You would also want weighted keys with touch response to emulate an acoustic piano. Choosing the right digital piano makes all the difference in the sound you’ll get; this is why it’s essential to select one with a sound engine that delivers a realistic sound and feel when you play.
In this post, we have prepared a list of the best digital pianos under 1000, carefully selected to deliver ultra-realistic sound, excellent key feel, and authentic touch response so that you get unique playing experience.
The Top 8 Digital Pianos Under 1000
- Alesis Recital
- Korg SP170SBK2
- Yamaha P71
- Roland FP-30
- Yamaha YPG535
- Yamaha P125
- Casio Privia PX-160
- Yamaha DGX660B
Alesis Recital | 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano
The standard piano, whether grand or vertical, has 88 keys. The Alesis Recital is a digital piano for beginners, featuring 88 semi-weighted keys for a more realistic feel and adjustable touch response so that you get excellent playing experience.
With the semi-weighted keys, you won’t get the hammer action as you would when playing an acoustic piano. If you prefer hammer action keys, then check the Alesis Recital Pro, which is designed to replicate the same action and response you get on an acoustic piano.
Furthermore, this starter digital piano comes with 5 premium voices: acoustic piano, electric piano, organ, synth, and bass. Besides, it also features two built-in effects: chorus and reverb.
Since this digital piano is designed for beginners on a budget, the sound is not as realistic as more expensive units that have better sound engines. It still provides excellent value at this price range for anybody who is learning and wants to get a more realistic piano experience instead of using an electronic keyboard.
Features of the Alesis Recital
- This piano has 128-note max polyphony for achieving a realistic sound.
- The installed 20-watt speakers provide more than enough volume for practicing, but if you need to connect it to an amp or PA system, it comes with stereo RCA AUX output.
- If you need to practice without bothering anyone, use the included 1/4” headphone output connection to mute the internal speakers for private practice.
- For practice, use the built-in metronome with tap tempo, which can be easily adjusted from 30-280 BPM.
- USB-MIDI output for use with educational software or virtual instrument plugins.
- It comes with a standard 1/4” sustain input to connect a sustain pedal (not included).
Korg SP170S | 88-Key Digital Piano
The Korg SP170S is a simple digital piano that has gained popularity among pianists because it delivers excellent sound and realistic touch at an affordable price.
It features natural weighted hammer action keys that faithfully mimic a traditional acoustic piano. When you play the lower notes, you feel a heavier action from the key, and as you play higher notes, the response is lighter, precisely as it would in an acoustic piano.
In addition, the sound of this digital piano is gorgeous because each note was carefully sampled from a concert grand piano, delivering every nuance and detail in each tone. Plus, thanks to its adjustable touch control, the performer can adjust the keyboard to respond adequately to any playing style.
Moreover, it comes with a total of ten sounds: two acoustic piano, two electronic pianos, harpsichord, electronic clavichord, vibraphone, pipe organ, electric organ, and strings. It also includes reverb and chorus effects.
Features of the Korg SP170S
- The maximum polyphony is set to 120 notes.
- It comes with all connections you need: headphone/line output x 2, MIDI OUT, and sustain pedal connection.
Yamaha P71 | 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano
If you are looking for a home digital piano for under 1000 that delivers excellent features at an affordable price, look no further than the Yamaha P71.
It features an authentic touch, only comparable to a traditional piano thanks to Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard (GHS). A GHS keyboard provides a weighted action that has heavier feel in the lower notes and lighter feel in the higher notes of the keyboard.
Practicing on a digital piano with weighted keys and hammered action trains the player with the proper finger techniques so that if later on decides to play an acoustic piano, the pianist won’t feel the difference, this is perfect for students.
Additionally, the P71 uses Yamaha’s classic sound engine, the AWM (Advanced Wave Memory), which uses advanced sampling methods to get a warm, rich, full realistic sound at different levels of volume to obtain all the nuances and detail of a grand piano.
Features of the Yamaha P71 Digital Piano
- The Yamaha P71 includes a power adapter and sustain pedal.
- It features 10 different voices. 2 piano voices, one bright and one grand, 2 electric pianos, 2 pipe organs, 2 harpsichords, and 2 vibraphones.
- The piano sounds are digitally sampled tones from real Yamaha acoustic grand pianos for better sonic accuracy.
- It comes with an output connection for your headphones for practicing without bothering anyone.
Roland FP-30 | 88-Note Portable Digital Grand Piano
The Roland FP-30 is one of the best digital pianos for under $1000 because it delivers superior sound that is only comparable to more expensive units. Since its introduction, this digital piano has been chosen by 150,000 players because of its excellent performance. (2)
The sound it delivers is rich, responsive, and realistic, thanks to Roland’s SuperNATURAL piano sound engine. This sound engine is highly acclaimed for its sonic accuracy.
Furthermore, it comes with 6 piano tones, 7 electric piano tones, and 22 other tones such as pipe organ, harpsichords, vibraphones, strings, etc.
Equally important is the touch experience you get when playing on the newly developed keyboard. Although its keys don’t have weighted hammered action mimicking a grand piano, you’ll get an authentic piano touch found in vertical high-end home pianos allowing for maximum expression when playing.
Features of the Roland FP-30 Digital Piano
- 5 different types of touch sensitivity.
- It offers four keyboard modes: Whole, Dual (volume balance adjustable), Split (split point adjustable, volume balance adjustable), Twin Piano.
- Maximum polyphony it’s set at 128 voices.
- Transpose goes from -6 to +5 in semitone increments.
- Metronome for practicing.
- You can record using the internal memory up to 30,000 notes.
- It comes with Bluetooth connectivity to use the piano with popular apps for Mac iOS or Android.
- The headphone output allows you to play in complete privacy at any time without disturbing others.
Yamaha YPG535 Portable Grand Piano
The Yamaha YPG535 is part of the portable grand piano series specifically designed for professional players, songwriters, and students that want realistic grand piano sound and soft-touch feel in a portable, affordable package, making it one of the best digital pianos for under $1000.
All of this is possible, thanks to Yamaha’s AWM Stereo Sampling, tone generating technology that delivers amazingly realistic sound with natural nuances and dynamic tones. Not only the grand piano voices are realistic but all of its 500 voices. The voice library includes strings, guitars, drums, and brass instruments, to name a few.
The YPG535 comes with a grand piano function button that, when pressed it brings up the stunning, rich, full sound of Yamaha’s grand pianos.
Moreover, this digital piano comes with a graded soft-touch keyboard that behaves like a traditional piano. The lower keys feel heavier to the touch, and the higher keys feel lighter. This keyboard doesn’t offer weighted, hammer-action keys, but still provides light-weight graded piano keys.
Features of the Yamaha YPG535
- It comes with an extensive voice library of 500 realistic, detailed sounds.
- 88 light-weighted piano keys.
- Pitch bend wheel.
- Dual and split keyboard modes.
- 5 preset EQ options.
- Song Arranger that lets you remix MIDI files easily.
- USB computer connectivity to use it as a MIDI controller or with your favorite music software.
- Connect a USB flash drive to save settings and user-created songs.
- Yamaha Education Suite that offers interactive lessons.
- 32-note polyphony.
- The package includes music rest, stand, sustain pedal, and PA150 power adapter.
Yamaha P125 | Digital Grand Piano
The Yamaha P125 is part of the P series of digital pianos aimed for beginners and intermediate players. This is the upgraded version of the popular P115. As one of the best digital pianos for under 1000, it provides excellent features, natural sound, and fully weighted action keys for realistic touch in a portable package.
Yamaha used its flagship CF series of grand pianos to sample the sound for this digital piano, hence the name Pure CF Sound Engine. This digital piano has a total of four layers of sampled sounds between soft and loud, which means that you get more gradients between soft and loud sounds allowing you to be more expressive when playing.
Moreover, the P125 has a new technology called stereophonic optimizer, which makes the piano have a more open sound so that when you play using headphones for private practice, the sound is more realistic. In other words, you feel that the sound is coming from the piano instead of the headphones creating a virtual open space inside the headphones.
With this piano, you get the ultimate grand piano realism. The keys feel like traditional ones because they emulate their dynamic feel thanks to the Graded Hammer Standard action. GHS action makes the low keys heavier and high keys lighter.
Additionally, Yamaha has included damper resonance DSP, which recreates the exact sound of the inside of the grand piano when the dampers are off the strings. Similarly, it includes string resonance, emulating the sound you get when all strings are resonating.
Features of the Yamaha P125
- The sound is sampled from the Yamaha CFIIIS, a 9-foot concert grand piano.
- 88-Key weighted action keyboard.
- Split mode allows you to play a different voice with each hand.
- Duo mode splits the keyboard into two halves, right at the center “C” note.
- Many functions of the piano can be controlled using the Smart Pianist app. Control voices, rhythms, and other settings. You can also use the Chord Tracker function to learn how to play the chords of your favorite songs. Chord Tracker analyzes the songs from your music library on your iPhone or iPad and displays the chord symbols so you can play along. This App is only available for iOS devices. (3)
- Max polyphony is 192.
- It comes with 24 voices and 20 rhythms.
- The controls include a metronome, transpose, and tuning.
- USB to host connectivity.
- The piano weighs 11.8kg (26.01 lbs.).
- In the package, you will get a music rest, sustain footswitch pedal, and ac adaptor.
Casio Privia PX-160 | Portable Digital Grand Piano
Another excellent option for a digital piano under $1000 is the Casio Privia PX-160. This is the improved version of the popular PX-150, offering more features and sounds. The Privia PX-160 is Casio’s best-selling digital piano. Let’s explore it in more detail.
Casio has done an excellent job of realistically emulating the feel and sound of a grand piano with the PX-160. It all starts with the sound engine, which they call “Multi-dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source Stereo-sampled Piano Tones,” AiR for short.
The sound engine “AiR” provides the grand piano sounds, and to achieve this, Casio accurately sampled and recorded the sound of a 9-foot concert grand piano at four dynamic levels (4). This provides you with more gradients between soft and loud sounds, allowing you to have more accurate expressions when performing.
Furthermore, the sound engine accurately simulates the Damper Resonance when the damper pedal is used, creating an accurate sound as if you were listening to an acoustic concert grand piano.
The key action in the Casio Privia PX-160 is exceptional. It features ultra-realistic weighted hammer action keys with an authentic feel, delivering a sound that accurately responds to the dynamics of the performance. The accuracy of the dynamic response is thanks to Casio’s Tri-sensor SHA II keyboard.
Each key has three sensors located in specific locations to accurately detect how soft or hard you are pressing the key. As Casio explains it, “the response feature of the Tri-sensor also takes into consideration the speed at which different sized hammers move inside an acoustic grand piano relative to the velocity the keys are played. This timing nuance provides the ultimate key-to-sound experience.”
Features of the Casio Privia PX-160
- 88 weighted scaled hammer action keys with 3 sensitivity levels, off simulated ebony and ivory materials.
- The sound engine also simulates the internal hammer response, damper noise, and damper resonance of a 9-foot concert grand piano.
- It comes with a total of 18 tones.
- Controls include duet mode, octave shift, metronome, tuning control, etc.
- Connections include line out, USB port (to Host), two mini-stereo headphones connections on front, damper pedal.
- Included Accessories are Pedal (SP-3), AC Adaptor (AD-A12150), Music Stand.
Yamaha DGX660 88-Key Weighted Digital Piano
The latest portable grand piano from Yamaha is the DGX660, featuring many settings that allow you to select different pianos tones and acoustic environments to create a sound that is perfect for you.
If you want the acclaimed Yamaha touch and feel of the CF series of grand pianos, and your budget is less than $1000, look no further than the DGX660. Let’s see what makes it so unique.
When it comes to the sound of this digital grand piano, you will hear a beautiful, realistic grand piano sound thanks to Yamaha’s Pure CF Sound Engine. As mentioned earlier, each note is generated from carefully recorded four-layer samples of the flagship CF series of acoustic grand pianos.
Thanks to the four-layer sampling, you get more gradients between low intensity and high-intensity sounds, providing you with an ultra-realistic dynamic response and expressiveness only comparable to a traditional acoustic concert grand piano.
In addition to sound, the touch and feel response are critical when choosing a digital piano. With the DGX660, you get Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) keyboard that features a weighted action with heavier touch response in the low end and lighter touch in the high notes, emulating the behavior of the hammers inside an acoustic piano.
Additionally, with this digital grand piano, you get realistic Damper Resonance that reproduces the vibration between strings on acoustic pianos, all done digitally by a digital signal processor.
Features of the Yamaha DGX660
- The piano sound is sampled from the renowned Yamaha CFIIIS, a 9-foot concert grand piano.
- You can get an adaptor to stream MIDI from your iOS devices wirelessly.
- 88-note weighted GHS keyboard.
- The maximum polyphony is set at 192.
- It comes with a total of 554 tones of different instruments, including organs, strings, drums, etc.
- It comes with more than 300 digital effects, including Reverb, Chorus, DSP, Master EQ, Intelligent Acoustic Control (IAC).
- Besides, it comes with controls such as Metronome, Tempo Range, Transpose, Tuning.
- The piano comes with internal memory for recording music. You can also connect a USB flash drive to record your songs.
- Some of its functions are Dual keyboard, Split keyboard, Panel Sustain.
- Connectivity: DC IN, Headphones, Sustain Pedal, Pedal Unit, Microphone, AUX-IN, USB TO DEVICE, USB TO HOST.
Conclusion
In this post, we have presented the best digital pianos for under 1000. We have chosen these models because they offer the best value at this price range.
If you are a beginner, intermediate, or professional piano player who needs a digital piano for practicing, writing songs, or taking it on the road but don’t want to break the bank, this list should help make the right choice.
All of the digital pianos mentioned in this post were chosen for their realistic, beautiful grand piano sound, and their dynamic response and expressiveness that their keyboards offer. Some are weighted hammer action keys, and others and semi-weighted keys. Chose the right one for you, thank you for reading this post.