Save yourself some money and buy the Casio PX 560. No iPad or apps needed because everything is onboard as it should. Great allrounder with everything you need.

Adding a bösendorfer sound to the typical Yamaha soumds, adds so much ...
They are 2 totally different characters...

Keep in mind tough, that Rolamd has several different brands of piano sampled... and/or modelled.. which makes Rolands piano collection even broader..

I love having steinway, boesendorfer, august/foster, yamaha and fazioli grand piano sounds in the Kronos.. all are great with each their very own character..

Except for style quallity, i still hink the casio styles lag the yamaha and korg ones by atleast a decade... mostly because of the orchestral sounds (except for strings) and guitars and basses and drums...


Piano, organ, dp, strings, synths are top tough..


And while the keyboard action is acceptable... its no match for the pha50 amd NWX...


But then thats just my opinion..
In the end both the Roland and the Yamaha are in another league, but then they also are a priceclass higher..

Indeed Bachus that’s your opinion but I know better because I own one

I'm guessing that if the average musician was blindfolded in a room and only one was played, he/she would be hard-pressed to say which one it was. BUT...in the video below, in the comments section, the majority seemed to favor the Casio PX560. Unfortunately, the Yamaha 515 was not included. To me, the Casio seemed a little 'heavy' (ponderous, thick, too full, don't know quite how to describe it) but definitely not 'bad', just probably not my first choice among those three. But as we always say, it's purely subjective, and all sounded really good (the Casio being 'killer' at it's price point). Of course, key feel can not be demonstrated in a Youtube video, so it IS important to go to the store and play one.

I'm still up in the air and spending lots of time (too much ) checking out Youtube demos and reading comments of all the models mentioned in this class of digital piano. Thanks for your input. Still loving the SEVEN but still trying to adjust to it's keyboard action. Not quite there yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-yO6caa1z0

chas

So many great choices when it comes to 88 keys, but I, too, think the PX560 is among the better choices in many respects. I used to own a Casio PX330. An excellent action (as subjective as it can be, it is a very solid keyboard action) and great piano sounds at only 24 pounds. The Yamaha P515 looks promising, but at 48 pounds, I won't consider it as a gig instrument. The PX560 is 26 pounds. Just recently I purchased a Numa Stage (28 lbs) by StudioLogic. I should have purchased the PX560.

Anyway, any 88 key controller paired with either vArranger or the SD40 would make a great 88 key arranger.

The P515 has wooden keys.. which makes it heavy...
I don’t think either the p515 as well as the fp90 are meant for gigging..
I allways asumed them being aimed at home players and kids starting piano..

If you need to move it a lot, and buy it for the typical keyboard sounds, the px 560 might actually be the best choice.. despite having a less authentic action, and not having the best arranger styles.. it still is a good instrument, just not the best, but does have its adavntages..

However if only weight counts... you could also look at a nord stage, its in the same weight category... and asuming you will use it with an sd40, would also make a very very nice setup..


There is so many options...
thats what makes choosing hard..

I think of DGX as a more of a very entry level keyboard with its fake weighted keys.

So, got on Craigslist clavinova cvp-204 for now, it’s outdated but for now should be ok, but I’m on a look out for newer used Clavinovas, and other 88key arrangers.

I tried varranger few months ago on friends home set up, it seems at very early stages and has long to go to catch up to hardware arrangers.

Worst part is that on many styles after filling end and goes into “normal” part, there’s a few milliseconds pause , like 1/32th note, that makes this varranger software unusable.