My only gripes with Pianoteq atm is that even the Pro version does not allow key-by-key velocity curve adjustment. The Nero received a lot of bad press / online reviews / complaints from users, so you can get them very cheap used. I got mine for $AU400, roughly equiv to  $US300. They had a bad batch and you don't want one of those.

You should try before you buy and take a laptop with Pianoteq on it. That will record all the MIDI data of your playing that you can examine later and spot any flaws in the action (the sensors are the issue). It's a slightly technical exercise and takes a bit of time but it's worth doing.

The Roland is called FP-30 if I'm not mistaken, so it's more in line with the FP-50 and FP-80 pianos.

Thanks! You're absolutely right. FP-30 it is indeed.

My memory often fails me. (That's why I like maths and physics. When you forget stuff it's easy to fill in the gaps using only logic.)

Since my OP I have tried most digital pianos and MIDI controllers on display in shops in Melbourne. I've also read a lot of online reviews/commentary, watched videos --- it's amazing how unreliable they can be sometimes, but worth a look anyway in combination with your own hands-on research. You should assume the same about this post. Do your own research, don't take my word for anything.

As I wrote earlier I ended up buying a Casio PX-160. For the money or less, it's as good as it gets. Feels cheap? Yes, about what you'd expect for the money. Plays well? Yes, a lot more so than you'd expect for the money. The PX-150 is essentially the same keyboard. What first made me sit up and take notice of it was this young gentleman: https://www.youtube.com/user/wobblybob76, who does amazing things with his PX-150 + Pianoteq.

I also recently bought a Studiologic Numa Nero second hand for less money still. (This Nero has none of the glitches that you read about online.) I'm yet to decide which one I prefer. The Nero is much better made (complete with fake "wooden" white keys: Fatar TP/40WOOD action) but the PX is easier to play with faster keys (but after 3 months I'm used to the PX and have not played the Nero enough yet). The Nero does feel closer to playing a grand, but really neither feel anything like an acoustic grand.

The Numa Nero has been superseded by the SL88 Grand with a massive 2- to 3-fold price drop compared with the Nero. So this is another attractive <$US1k piano controller to consider especially for those who like the usually much more expensive Fatar TP40W action.

Kawai and Yamaha at the budget end of things don't deliver. The P45, P95, P115 (with GHS action, a budget version of the GH) are all much worse than my 10+ y.o. P140 (GH action); the Kawai ES100 is worse than my ~15 y.o. budget cabinet upright CN270 (contrary to glowing reviews I've read), which I've since dissected and turned into a stage/portable piano; and neither of those old KBs were all that great. The Yamaha P140 I was initially looking to upgrade from is the best one of this lot; similar to the new P255, which has the same GH action with the addition of ivory/ebony textured keys.

I would have preferred the Roland F-140R to the Casio PX-160 but the Roland was a cabinet-only model and twice the price. Since then Roland came out with the on-paper equivalent FP-30 portable KB. This may be another good budget piano controller option.

So in summary, for those looking to buy a new piano controller on a budget, in early March 2016 I'd recommend Casio PX-160, Roland FP-30, Studiologic SL88 Grand. On a more generous but still sensible budget the Kawai VPC1 + Pianoteq will knock your socks off.

Second hand (used) there are lots more options, too many to list, but the ones that stand out are Kawai ES7 and the top Kawai MP boards (including up to ~10-year-old ones with proper long wooden piano keys). Look for a Casio PX-150 if you only have a few $100.

PS. I've changed my mind on "escapement is a must": it'd be nice to have but even on the best DP's/controllers it's only so-so executed.

Always try before you buy. If you're a beginner, ask/take your piano teacher or someone who plays acoustic pianos.

[edit: F-30 changed to FP-30 on follow-up advice from Fleer, see below.]

Greg.

That was a really good deal!  Congratulations -- may you wear it out practicing, and need a replacement.

.    Charles (in Richmond, BC)

You've seen right into my heart of darkness. As much as I love this Privia, I'm already feeling the siren call of the VPC1 — or a better Casio, for that matter. Would be nice to see their new Celviano Grand Hybrid wooden keyboards in a cheaper "slab" version by the time the racket from my PX850 has become unbearable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBUD7HH...pfreload=1

Syd

. . .  and I immediately ordered a discontinued PX 850 from Costco (same action, much better deal @ $750 CDN) and have been happily bonded with it ever since (~2–3 months). . . .

That was a really good deal!  Congratulations -- may you wear it out practicing, and need a replacement.

.    Charles (in Richmond, BC)

Next, there are 250 "programs", which can be named and configured to your liking, including sending a midi PC when activated, so I have made the presets I need in PTQ, and mapped each to a program on the SL88, so now I can just turn the knob on the keyboard and select the program/sound I want. The drawback is that there are not many knobs/buttons/sliders on the keyboard, so if you have the need for a lot of ad-hoc twisting, then Arturia or similar will be a better option.

For the record, after trying many keyboards at shops around Melbourne (Kawai, Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Casio) I ended up getting a Casio PX-160. In the under $AU1500 ($US1000) price range it has the best action of keyboards I've tried. I paid $AU700 / approx $US500; what you get for that money is pretty amazing.

The PX-160 is better in terms of mimicking a good acoustic piano than my Yamaha P-140 (which is better than the current P-series, except maybe the P-255, which I have not had the chance to try). The sometimes highly recommended Kawai ES-100 does not come close to the PX-160. The nice thing about the PX-160 is that it offers the exact same action as the top PX models for a fraction of the price. So if you just want a MIDI controller piano keyboard it's amazing bang for buck.

The PX-160 has no escapement mechanism, which I would have liked. But the only pianos that do in this price range are Roland Ivory Feel-G, e.g. F-20, but they are clunky/rickety: the keys keep bouncing around after they hit their stops, or RD-64 (less rickety, but 64 keys only and still not that great). The more expensive Ivory Feel-G models are better though (e.g., RD-300).

For better action still on a budget (but ~3x price or more of the PX-160) I found these keys to be more agreeable for acoustic-piano-like touch: Roland RD-300 (good), Kawai ES-8 (better).

I concur. I did a long search this spring and summer for a 61+-key controller or (as it turned out) digital piano as an upgrade for my synth keyboards and, after demoing, buying and returning quite a few contenders, I finally was able to demo a Privia at a local Costco (no other stores carried Casio DPs). It (a PX760, in this case) immediately confirmed all the good reviews of the Privia line's playability (pretty much my only consideration), and I immediately ordered a discontinued PX 850 from Costco (same action, much better deal @ $750 CDN) and have been happilly bonded with it ever since (~2–3 months). I'm not an acoustic pianist, just a digital aspirant, which may be why some of the well-regarded mid-budget GH Yamahas (P155, P255) felt way too heavy to me. The much recommended Kawai ES100 also felt too much like work - too much key inertia for my synth action-spoiled hands. The Kawai KDP90 was substantially more accommodating, and I might have sprung for it, but the price was above my range. Low end Rolands like the F20 and F50 were comparatively easy to play, but tended to have a kind of wobbly key feel. Low end GHS Yamahas (P45, P115), while pleasantly light to the touch, had an uneven dynamic response: the volume tended to pop in response to gradual velocity increases - a dealbreaker for me. Rolands too pricey for me were my favourites of all the DPs I demoed, notably the FP80, DP90 and RD-800. I didn't get to demo the vaunted VPC-1. For feel and playability, I'm not sure I've done much worse with my cheap Privia than the expensive Rolands. One downside to the Privias (and the cheaper Casio DPs - I bought and returned a CDP130: great bang for buck but not as sweet as the Privias) is key noise. Their keys are very prone to "clicketty-clack" noise. Anyone who likes to play at low volume without headphones and who can't tune the noise out could find this a prohibitive problem.

The PX-160 is better in terms of mimicking a good acoustic piano than my Yamaha P-140 (which is better than the current P-series, except maybe the P-255, which I have not had the chance to try). The sometimes highly recommended Kawai ES-100 does not come close to the PX-160. The nice thing about the PX-160 is that it offers the exact same action as the top PX models for a fraction of the price. So if you just want a MIDI controller piano keyboard it's amazing bang for buck.

The PX-160 has no escapement mechanism, which I would have liked. But the only pianos that do in this price range are Roland Ivory Feel-G, e.g. F-20, but they are clunky/rickety: the keys keep bouncing around after they hit their stops, or RD-64 (less rickety, but 64 keys only and still not that great). The more expensive Ivory Feel-G models are better though (e.g., RD-300).

For better action still on a budget (but ~3x price or more of the PX-160) I found these keys to be more agreeable for acoustic-piano-like touch: Roland RD-300 (good), Kawai ES-8 (better).

I have played an ES100 and did not care for it (sorry) if memory serves me well. In the $1.5k-$4k range the best action last I looked (cca. 4 yrs ago) was on some Rolands. They seemed to have gotten the escapement mechanism sussed. But I have nothing conclusive, just a vague impressions and a fading memory, so I'd better go and see what's out there now. Then I might come back to the forums and ask for further guidance.

Cheers.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawai-VPC1-Virt...SwsFpWTNa8