Luc Henrion wrote:Internal speakers of digital pianos, certainly portable ones, never compare to a good pair of monitors. Period.
I find your statement to be generally true. However, there is another element that I found to be important. After a long quest to find a DP with decent speakers (for reasons I'll explain later), I got a Roland FP-80. To my ears, it has the best built-in speakers, at least amongst the models I have tried. I did a side-by-side comparison of FP-90 (the newest) and FP-80. The 80 had clearly better speakers..(and better sound...but that is another topic). In addition to the usual speakers on the top back, it has two smaller ones on the top sides. I think Roland called this system "acoustic projection". I have tried several near-field monitors (including the excellent Blue Sky), but there is something missing: the vibration transmitted by built-in speakers to the keys. When I play the Pianoteq models (particularly the YC5 with its great bass) through the FP-80 speakers as I play it, the impression is uncanny...you truly feel you are playing an acoustic!.
In other words, even though good external monitors most often have "better" sound, there is something missing from the experience, and I prefer the built-in speakers of my FP-80. Unfortunately, as you said, most digital pianos that feature built-in speakers fail miserably.
Maybe some kind of acoustic coupling of external monitors to the keyboard controller used could get us the best of both approaches?
Last edited by aWc (03-12-2018 20:41)
PT 7.3 with Steinway B and D, U4 upright, YC5, Bechstein DG, Steingraeber, Ant. Petrov, Kremsegg Collection #2, Electric Pianos and Hohner Collection.
http://antoinewcaron.com
