Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this product 5 months ago from GuitarCenter. I recently started learning piano after years of contemplating others playing. I've always been fascinated and intrigued by music. My plan to conquer music was twofold; demystify music theory and start my quest of a piano. I was looking for; - Anything able to replicate the experience of a real acoustic piano (as close as possible). - Not exceeding a budget of $500. - Easy to transport from one location to another. - Not bulky because I live in an apartment. A digital piano seemed the way to go. After weeks of research, I finally made up my mind for this Privia PX-160. Below is a summary of the relevant information which helped me in my decision. Pros: - 88 keys. I am still a beginner working on simple concepts and songs. I don’t actually need 88 keys. I saw cheaper digital pianos with 76 or 61 keys. It seemed to increase the portability and ease of transport, but I wanted 88 keys to staying closer from an acoustic piano. A long term investment. - Weighted keys. On an acoustic piano, the left keys are heavier than the right keys. If I understood all of this completely, there are 3 main types of mechanisms to emulate this feel: semi-weighted (springs under the keys like in a mattress), weighted (a lever with weight is attached to the keys - adds extra weight to the overall piano) and graded hammer action ( some small “hammers” behind the keys). Most brands have their proprietary mechanism, for Casio, the mechanism is called the "The Tri-Sensor Scaled keyboard" which falls in the third category above. - Touch sensitivity / responsiveness / touch response: the harder you push they key, the louder the sound (and lightly for a quieter sound). That characteristic allows the player to transmit more emotion in his play and not just execute a partition. - Built-in speakers. My budget was less than $500. No extra money to buy an amplifier or any speakers. I needed decent built-in speakers, after all, that’s how we share what we play. - The maximum amount of polyphony is set to 128 notes. I was looking at something around 64 notes. I got a hard time getting my head around this concept. This is simply a way to specify "how many notes the piano can sound at the same time". Here is the best example I found while researching this concept: a cheap Fisher-Price from a toy store will most likely produce one single note at a time. No matter how many keys you hit at the same time. An acoustic piano will produce as many notes as the keys hit. But the digital piano is limited by the technology built-in. - MIDI connection via USB. MIDI is just a way for electronic instruments to communicate with other digital equipment. As a beginner, I choose to learn and practice piano with Yousician and Synthesia (by the way, Yousician has a free version and Synthesia is paid but they have deals for back to school and probably Black Fridays). These apps detect the notes played via the microphone of your device (your laptop, phone, tablet, etc.). The issue with the microphone option is the background noise. In my case, my wife is also learning to play guitar. This means that we can't play both at the same time in the same room. The trick is to connect your digital piano to your Mac or PC using the MIDI protocol.The USB MIDI port of this product is convenient because you may already have a similar USB cable to plug an old printer or hard drive. - The weight is 25.5 lbs (11.5 kg), which makes it portable and easy to carry. - It can be turned into a home digital piano with the Casio CS-67P Keyboard Stand for PX150, PX160, PX350, PX360, and PX560. I didn't invest in this, though. I firstly tried the Proline PL200 X-Braced Keyboard Stand. But it wasn't sturdy. I ended up using a desk and returning the stand. - Duet mode: "Duet mode allows the keyboard to be split into two equal ranges, so the student and teacher can use the piano simultaneously." (from Casio's specs). I don't use this for now, but this may come in pretty handy. Cons: - I often get lost with all the options. I don't know by heart what are the defaults, or shortcuts. A LED screen would make my things easier. I ended up having the user manual opened in the drawer of my desk to look up the defaults, shortcuts quickly. Notes: - 18 Built-in tones/sounds. I am always using the Grand Piano Classic mode. I will not use all the tones anyway. I would recommend this piano to beginner and probably advanced players. I really love it. However, while it's not always possible, I would advise you to test any keyboard before buying it. If possible, just go to a shop and try it out, even if you plan to buy it from Amazon. Feel free to highlight any mistakes in my explanation. All the points are the reasons why I choose to go for this piano.