The 8 Best Digital Pianos Under $1,000 That Are Incredible
As I’m sure you’re very well aware: digital pianos can be very expensive. Lots of people will tell you that you have to spend loads of money to get your hands on a great digital piano, but those people are wrong. There are plenty of high-quality digital pianos out there that cost less than a thousand dollars.
In this article, we are going to take a look at eight great digital pianos that you can buy without blowing your budget. We’re going to go over the specs of these keyboards and their features before crowning one of these digital pianos the best of the best. And to better help you, please take a look at our interactive guide below:
| Photo | Model |
|---|---|
 | Yamaha YDP-145 |
 | Yamaha YDP-165 |
 | Casio PX-870 |
 | Casio AP-470 |
 | Yamaha YDP-184 |
Casio PX-770
The Casio Privia PX-770 is currently available for $699, so it is well under our $1,000 budget. Still, this Casio 88 key digital piano comes packed with features that will help you to advance in piano-playing skill quickly.
The Casio Privia PX-760 has 19 onboard sounds that were created with Casio’s Multi-Dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source, so they are among the best sounds that you can get in this price range. You can also create splits and layers between the sounds, which means you can get pretty creative with your 19 sounds.
The split function can be used to split the keyboard between two sounds; for example, you can play a piano sound with your right hand and a bass sound with your left hand. The layer function, on the other hand, layers one sound over another; for example, you can layer a piano sound over a string sound.
This digital piano also offers a duet mode, which splits the keyboard into two identical halves. This feature makes it possible for you to play along with your piano teacher, a parent, or a friend.
All acoustic pianos have graded hammer action keyboards. Essentially, what this means is that the keys feel lighter in the piano’s higher register and heavier in its lower register. So, when you’re practicing on a digital piano, it is important to replicate the feeling of playing on an acoustic piano so that your eventual transition to playing on an acoustic piano is easier. Learn more about hammer action keyboards and other types of keyboards here.
The Privia PX-770 is built with Casio’s Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II. This digital piano’s keyboard is also made with simulated ebony and ivory keys so the surface of the keys feels a bit more like the surface of an acoustic piano’s keys.
Some digital pianos have keys that feel very plasticky, especially if you have experience with acoustic pianos. The simulated ebony and ivory keys of the Privia PX-770 add an extra layer of realism to your playing experience while also keeping your hands from slipping when they get sweaty.
The Casio Privia PX-770 offers 128-note polyphony, which is pretty good for its price of $699. Polyphony basically refers to an instrument’s capability to play more than one note at once. (Learn more about polyphony from this article.)
Technically, this Casio model can play 128-notes at once, but polyphony gets used up by stereo sounds and effects. Thus, you might actually be playing three or four notes while only pressing one key, so I recommend staying around 120-note polyphony or higher.
- Check out our Casio PX-770 review here!
And below, please take a look at some of the best selling digital pianos currently on sale online (and see how they compare to the pianos we discuss in this article):
| BEST SELLERS |
|---|
| 1) Yamaha P-515 |
| 2) Casio PX-S3100 |
| 3) Casio PX-870 |
| 4) Roland FP-E50 |
| 5) Roland FP-30X |
Korg B1SP
The Korg B1SP is currently available for $499.99 and is marketed as an entry-level piano, so it is perfect for beginners. Plus, its price is really hard to beat!
This digital piano comes with 8 onboard sounds, so its sound offering is on the low side.This will only be a problem for those who like having a variety of sounds at their disposal; still, the Korg B1SP offers more sounds than you need to learn how to play the piano. Think about it: an acoustic piano only offers one onboard sound!
The Korg B1SP has 120-note polyphony, which is pretty good for this price point.
- Check out our Korg B1SP review here.
Casio PX-160
The Casio PX-160 costs $499.
This digital piano has 18 onboard voices, so it offers considerably more sound variety than the Korg B1SP does and just as many sounds as the Casio Privia PX-760.
The Casio PX-160’s voices include:
- Concert Grand Piano
- Modern Grand Piano
- Classic Grand Piano
- Mellow Grand Piano
- Bright Grand Piano
- Electric Piano 1
- Electric Piano 2
- FM Electric Piano
- 60s Electric Piano
- Harpsichord
- Vibraphone
- Strings 1
- Strings 2
- Pipe Organ
- Jazz Organ
- Electric Organ 1
- Electric Organ 2
- Bass
This Casio digital piano has 128-note polyphony, just slightly more than the Korg B1SP. This amount of polyphony is definitely enough to prevent note dropout as you use any of this digital piano’s eighteen onboard voices and its reverb and chorus effects. I always recommend never dipping below 120-note polyphony (like the Korg B1SP has), so this digital piano’s 128-note polyphony is just slightly above my minimum polyphony standard.
- Check out our Casio PX-160 review here.
Kawai ES110
This Kawai digital piano costs $699 and comes with nineteen onboard sounds, just like the Casio Privia PX-770.
The Kawai ES110 has 192-note polyphony, so it is perfectly capable of handling splitting and layering sounds without risking note dropout. This is a pretty nice jump from the Casio Privia PX-770’s 128-note polyphony. With 192-note polyphony, you can definitely play whatever you want to on this keyboard and still have room to experiment with its reverb settings.
The Kawai ES110 offers three reverb settings: room, small hall, and concert hall. You can play with these settings to make it sound as if you are playing in either of these three types of locations.
- Check out our Kawai ES110 review here.
Yamaha DGX-660
The Yamaha DGX-660 is currently available for $829.99 and comes packed with great features.
This Yamaha digital piano allows you to connect a microphone to it by simply plugging it in to the Yamaha DGX-660 itself. This is especially handy if you plan on taking your piano skills and your singing skills to the stage. The Yamaha DGX-660 also lets you sing along with karaoke files from their MusicSoft website (check out the site here).
Additionally, you can add a layer of professionalism to your vocal performance by applying the DGX-660’s reverb and chorus effects.
The Yamaha DGX-660 lets you connect to your iOS device so that you can use compatible music apps with your digital piano. For example, the Chord Tracker app analyzes the song’s in your iOS device’s library and provides you with the chord symbols you need to play along.
The Chord Tracker app is definitely beneficial to new players, particularly at times when learning how to play the piano gets frustrating. Being able to learn how to play your favorite songs makes the learning process much more fun.
This Yamaha model also comes with 41 types of reverb and 44 types of chorus, 151 onboard sounds, and 192-note polyphony.
- Check out our Yamaha DGX-660 review here.
Casio PX-870
This Casio digital piano is currently available for $999, so it–like the Yamaha Arius YDP-143–comes in right under budget.
The Casio PX-870 comes with nineteen onboard sounds, which is a pretty nice sound offering. This model’s acoustic piano sound is a four-layer stereo sample that includes a recreation of an acoustic piano’s damper resonance. Damper resonance refers to the sound of the strings inside of an acoustic piano vibrating sympathetically with each other when the sustain pedal is used.
Although a digital piano’s acoustic piano sound can be beautiful without the addition of damper resonance, damper resonance adds an additional layer of realism and beauty. Learn more about damper resonance from this forum post.
This digital piano has 256-note polyphony, so you can play to your heart’s content without worrying about note dropout. This is a really great amount of polyphony, especially at this price point. The Casio PX-870’s polyphony ensures that you will be able to grow with this instrument for years to come.
- Check out our Casio PX-870 review here.
Yamaha YDP-S34
This digital piano also comes in at $999.
The Yamaha Arius YDP-S34 has ten onboard sounds, so it is pretty much on par with the Korg B1SP in that regard. This digital piano comes with a stunning sample of Yamaha’s flagship 9’ CFX concert grand piano.
The CFX concert grand has been played on some of the world’s most famous stages, and this piano is considered to be one of the greatest modern pianos. Clearly, there is a lot of value to having the sound of this concert grand piano at your fingertips.
Like the Yamaha Arius YDP-143, this Yamaha digital piano has a Stereophonic Optimizer, which makes the experience of playing with headphones on more enjoyable.
- Check out our Yamaha YDP-S34 review.
Roland FP-30
At $899.99, the Roland FP-30 is definitely a steal.
The FP-30 is built with Roland’s PHA-4 Standard Keyboard, which tries to recreate the feel of playing on an acoustic piano. The PHA-4 Standard Keyboard is built with Ivory Feel keys that are topped with synthetic ivory in order to more closely simulate the feel of an acoustic piano’s keys.
This keyboard also uses Roland’s escapement feature; this feature recreates the slight clicking of an acoustic piano’s keys. On an acoustic piano, the escapement feature is typically only noticed when playing pianissimo passages, so the FP-30’s escapement might not be all that important to the casual player.
The piano voices within this digital piano were developed with Roland’s SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine. As such, the Roland FP-30’s piano voices are rich and realistic. In total, the FP-30 contains 35 onboard sounds: 6 pianos, 7 electric pianos, and 22 other sounds, like organs and strings. This instrument contains more onboard sounds than any of the other digital pianos listed here, so this is definitely a huge plus.
The Roland FP-30 has 128-note polyphony, so it is quite similar to most of the other digital pianos listed in this regard.
- Check out our Roland FP-30 review here.
So Which Digital Piano Is the Best Under $1,000?
I rank these digital pianos as follows:
- Roland FP-30
- Casio Privia PX-770
- Casio PX-870
- Kawai ES110
- Korg B1SP
- Yamaha DGX-660
- Yamaha Arius YDP-S34
- Casio Privia PX-160
The Roland FP-30 is the winner here. With 35 onboard sounds, it offers nearly five times as many sounds as the digital piano with the lowest sound offering here, the Korg B1SP. Also, Roland is known for crafting excellent sounds, so all 35 sounds are sure to please.
The Casio Privia PX-770 is a rather close second. It shaves $200 off of the Roland FP-30’s price while still offering the same amount of polyphony.
Of course, be sure to keep in mind that all of these digital pianos are the best of the best. While the Roland FP-30 is the winner here, each of these instruments is a great digital piano and a great bargain.
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