Digital vs Acoustic Piano: Which is Right for Me?

Congratulations, you’ve decided to buy a piano! Now you just have to decide whether you want to go digital vs acoustic piano.

Whether you’re looking to get into piano for the very first time or have been playing for some time, a piano purchase is a major decision.

As a pianist, piano teacher and piano enthusiast, I may be a bit biased, but I can tell you there’s never been a better time to buy one and learn how to play.

Whether you’re looking at getting a digital piano vs acoustic piano, the quantity, quality, affordability and diversity available today is greater than ever before.

However, this can also mean it’s a little harder to pick the instrument that best fits your needs.

This guide is intended help make that choice a lot easier so you get a piano that you can fully enjoy for many years!

Digital vs Acoustic Piano: Key Differences

The main difference between acoustic and digital pianos is how they produce sound.

An acoustic piano works through purely mechanical processes. When you press down a key, a hammer strikes strings which vibrate to create a tone. This tone is then amplified through the soundboard, creating rich and resonant sound.

A digital piano functions on electronics. When you press down a key, sensors analyze exactly how the key was played and an appropriate digital tone is amplified through speakers. 

It’s worth noting that digital pianos are built to recreate the sound and feel of an acoustic piano. They’ll always have a full set of 88 weighted and graded full-size keys which give you a similar experience to playing an acoustic piano’s action.

Sound & Tone Differences

Digitals Sound Digital

Although sound quality generally improves as you move up in price range, because of the way a digital piano recreates sound, there will always be somewhat of a “digitized” nature to its tone.

Some people’s ears are more sensitive to this “digitized sound” and if you find yourself among that group, we’d recommend looking at acoustic instruments.

A huge plus though is that digital pianos offer the player much more control over the sound in general. You can easily change volume levels, reverb settings, play silently with headphones, and split the keyboard between multiple instrument tones!

Acoustics Only Sound Like Pianos

An acoustic piano offers the richest sound, with a lively depth that’ll fill up your space in the way only real, acoustic tone can.

As sound is being produced live within the piano, you’re directly connected with the tone’s output. And every single time you play a note, it’ll be the first and only time that exact sound will ever be produced in that exact way.

While it only can sound like a piano, unlike digital pianos that you can set to sound like virtually anything, you won’t get a more fulfilling piano tone from anything else.

Touch & Feel Differences

Digitals Try to Feel Like Acoustics

Digital pianos attempt to recreate the touch of an acoustic piano through key weighting, key-top texturing, simulated let-off and escapement, and realistic pedals.

The realism of a digital piano’s touch greatly increases as you go up in price range, some even offering slightly-modified acoustic piano actions.

For the most part though, while some can get pretty close, most don’t offer exactly the same playing experience as an acoustic piano will.

Acoustics Have the Best Actions

With an acoustic piano’s action, you get full-length wooden keys, felt hammers, strings, and a hundred other little components—all adding up to an unbeatable playing experience.

The control and responsiveness you receive from an acoustic piano — particularly a grand piano — is simply the gold standard.

And as you go up in price range, you’ll find even higher quality actions in newer pianos. At the highest end, concert grand pianos offer a feel that even the best pianists can be blown away by.

Cost & Price Differences

Generally, acoustics will be more expensive than digital pianos but there are extra quality factors to consider at different price ranges. 

Under $1,500: Most Affordable Options

Entry-Level Digital Pianos

There are many solid beginner and intermediate level options available for under $1,500, making a digital piano ideal if this is your budget range.

Within this range, you’ll find digitals such as Kawai’s KDP-120, Roland’s F701, and Casio’s PX-780.

Used Acoustics & Spinets

Generally, there are not too many options for acoustic upright pianos under $1500 from a piano store, except perhaps a few “as-is” trade-ins that haven’t had as much work done on them.

One popular type of piano in this range is the spinet piano. While we think spinet pianos aren’t that bad, many were made to be the cheapest, smallest options on the market from about 1940 to 1980. As a result, there are few models that were built well and few pianos remaining that have held up very well.

$1,500 – $2,999: Improved Student Level

Mid-Tier Digital Pianos

These digital pianos tend to be home consoles (instead of keyboard slabs on stands that are common in the under $999 range).

They will have improved sound quality, more features, and better actions that begin to really come close to matching an acoustic piano’s action. 

Some great options in this range are Kawai’s CN201 and CA401, along with Roland’s DP-603 and FP-90X.

Refurbished Acoustics

In this range, you’ll begin to find quality used upright pianos that offer playing experiences well beyond the quality of digital mid-tier instruments. 

If your focus is performance, and you’re looking to make serious progress as a pianist, acoustics in this range may do you more favors than a similarly-priced digital piano would.

$3,000 – $5,500+: Upper Tier for Beginners

High-End Digital Pianos

This range is considered upper-tier for digital pianos and you’ll find many fantastic options that come even closer to the touch and sound of an acoustic piano with a ton of amazing features, instrument voices, sound customization, and greatly improved (though still discernibly digitized) sound quality.

These upper-tier digitals are suited for serious practice for intermediate and advanced level players. Some great options in this range include Kawai’s CA701, CA901, and Casio’s GP-310 and GP-510.

New Uprights & Refurbished Grands

In this range, you’ll find higher-quality used upright pianos from top brands like Yamaha, Steinway, and Mason & Hamlin — as well as entry-level new upright pianos.

You can also begin to find solid used baby grands in this price range, which offer more depth of tone and the benefits of a grand piano’s action for the player.

These acoustic pianos will play to a very high standard and are still the most ideal option for serious players looking to make serious progress!

Instrument Lifespan and Maintenance

Digital Pianos Need Less Care

Usually bought new and come with a manufacturer’s warranty — typically 3-5 years. The lifespan of these instruments can vary depending on quality with entry-level digitals generally lasting 10–20 years and higher-tier digitals with more solid construction and better materials generally lasting 20–40 years. 

A major benefit of a digital vs acoustic piano is they do not require tuning or regular technician work like voicing, regulation, etc. However, repairs may be required occasionally throughout the lifespan of the digital piano though these repairs are generally less expensive than acoustic repairs, usually spanning from $75–$300 depending on the exact repair work.

Acoustic Pianos Last Longer

Acoustic pianos can last 75–125 years when bought new. You can also find a rebuilder to replace major parts and add on several more decades.

In addition, acoustic pianos do need to be tuned at least once every year and checked up on regularly as well.

You can expect to spend about $120 – $200 on just the tunings each year — in addition to any occasional repairs needed.

Beyond regular maintenance, more care must be taken to protect acoustic pianos from temperature and humidity changes. Most notably, they must be placed into a stable environment to protect the wood from warping over time.

Size and Moving

Digital Pianos = Portable & Easier to Move

Digital pianos tend to come in between 75 – 175 lbs, making them easy to pick up and take around with just two people (even one in the case of slabs).

Another benefit is that many digital pianos can be disassembled for even easier transportation. 

The ease of transporting a digital piano is a major advantage if you’re looking to move both locally or long distance within the foreseeable future. 

Acoustic Pianos = Heavy & Hard to Move

Coming in at 500+ lbs and fitting into a rough 5’ x 2’ dimension, acoustic upright pianos are generally larger and much more tricky to transport than digital pianos. 

They’re also highly delicate machines with over 12,000 fragile parts and thus it is highly recommended to use professionals for any moves.

Having a piano moved by professionals can run a few hundred dollars depending on the distance, steps, curves, and the size of the acoustic piano. For long-distance (interstate) acoustic piano moves, you can expect your piano to spend roughly 5–10 weeks in transit.

Hybrid Pianos: The Best of Both Worlds

Still not sure which you’d prefer between a digital vs acoustic piano? That’s understandable — at the end of the day, there are highly appealing and exclusive features to both!

In fact, many pianists nowadays like to have both an acoustic and a digital piano at home. And additionally, there is one secret third option: hybrid pianos.

Hybrid pianos are instruments that aim to combine the best elements of both acoustic and digital pianos. It’s an extremely attractive idea, which has prompted manufacturers to produce instruments that have varying degrees of digital and acoustic elements.

You can add on a silent system to your acoustic piano to have it play with headphones, add a soundboard to a digital piano to have its tone sound more natural — and tons of stuff in between!

Hybrid Spectrum from Digital to Acoustic (and Beyond)

• Keyboards — the action is just a piece of plastic with a spring in it, sometimes with miniature keys. Small speakers mean it will sound exceptionally digital. Example: Casiotone

• Full-size 88-key digital pianos — the keys have weighted actions with lots of mechanical parts that are designed to reproduce the feel of a real acoustic piano as much as possible. Speakers are large enough to produce pretty realistic sound. Example: Roland RP-107

• Digital pianos with wooden keysticks — Now they have actions that have full-length, spruce keysticks, like in a real acoustic piano, often with a more grand-like mechanism. Sound comes out of higher-quality speakers. Example: Casio Grand Hybrid.

• Digital pianos with full acoustic actions — these are pianos that have a full acoustic action that can be adjusted and regulated like a regular acoustic piano. Example: Kawai Novus Series, Yamaha Avantgrand Series.

• Digitals with spruce soundboards — these typically have wooden keystick actions and the speaker is essentially bolted onto a large spruce soundboard, so part of the sound is created by the wood vibrating, like on a real piano. Example: Kawai CA901.

• Fully Acoustic Piano — nothing digital. A wooden action pushes a felt hammer to strike a metal string to vibrate the wooden soundboard. Example: Kawai K-300 48” Upright.

• Fully “Digital + Acoustic” Hybrid — A fully acoustic piano PLUS an electronic system installed that gives you all the benefits of a good digital piano. You can unplug it from the wall and play it just like any other acoustic piano. Or you can flip a few switches and play with headphones, so the rest of the house doesn’t hear you. Or change the sound to violins and choir sound. Or record yourself. All while playing on a fully acoustic action. It’s really the best of both worlds, with no compromises! Example: Kawai K-300 AURES Hybrid Upright.

Downside to Hybrids: Cost

Please note that as you go further along the spectrum, the price generally increases.

As such, the only real downside to hybrid instruments is that they cost more.

For the high-end hybrids, it’s sometimes even cheaper to get a regular acoustic equivalent and a more basic digital piano separately.

However, having one piano that does it all is very appealing, and they do represent the latest and greatest in piano technology. 

Digital vs Acoustic Piano: Which is Better?

Pros of Digital Pianos

Digital pianos have advanced tremendously in the last 15 years.

Nowadays, depending on quality level, they can offer very realistic, feature-rich playing experiences.

Upper-end digitals have reached a point of realism where even advanced players can make serious progress in their technique and musical interpretations on them!

The convenience of their size, the wide range of helpful features, and the often-attractive price-points are one reason why they are an increasingly popular option.

Pros of Acoustic Pianos

Acoustic pianos are the “Golden Standard” for what are arguably the most important parts of playing piano – the best feel and the best sound.

They are the real deal and will give you a genuine sound that directly connects you as the player to the music.

The unparalleled sense of touch that only a real acoustic piano’s action can provide remains the most ideal option for those looking to make serious progress in their piano technique, expressivity, interpretation, etc. 

Acoustic pianos are long-term investments that can last a lifetime, become a treasured family heirloom, and will fill your space with the authentic, lively energy of acoustic sound that a digital instrument simply cannot match.

What Most People Choose

Many people start with a digital piano. Then over the course of several years, they’ll want to upgrade to a “real” piano, and they’ll add an acoustic piano to their home.

However, there are people that start with an acoustic grand piano, and it’s the piano they play on for their whole lives. If they start gigging or producing, they’ll inevitably get a digital piano that they can carry around. 

There’s no wrong answer or objectively “best” piano to choose. Things like budget, space and goals will ultimately help you decide which is the better option for your home. 

Yes, there are pros and cons to every decision in life. Yes, the best piano for you now may not be the best piano for you in the future. But ultimately, the only bad decision when it comes to choosing a piano is not choosing any piano at all!