Best 88 Keys Weighted Keyboard Piano- Buying Guide & Review

What are Weighted Keys?

If you are already curious about weighted keys, then this article is sure to appeal to you. Read the entire article to know more about 88 keys weighted keyboards.

We all know that the acoustic pianos include hammers and strings: as the hammer strikes the strings, a vibration is produced. This vibration causes the sound or, as we mention it – a note.

The hammer is further connected to a key with the help of a lever. This lever has a natural weight or resistance that we can feel while playing an acoustic piano. With digital keyboards and pianos, you don’t need the weighted keys to attain this sort of expression. It’s because the computer inside detects how fast or how hard we press the keys. Therefore you can get all the distinct sounds of an acoustic piano without having to carry the extra weight or manual tuning issues. This is why digital pianos with weighted keys are so popular in the market.

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What to look for when buying an 88 key keyboard?

An 88 key keyboard is a cult favorite but buying an 88 key keyboard is not so easy as it sounds to be. You need to take care of several things before you buy such a keyboard. Here we will provide a few tips so that you don’t make a wrong deal while buying an 88 key keyboard.

1. Make sure that the keys are of standard width

If the keys are of the standard size, you will face no difficulty. It is easy to sit down with any piano or keyboard while playing any tune. Beware of the chip toy-like keyboards. They usually have narrower keys than the conventional piano.

A standard piano key is about 23 mm comprehensive. If your keyboard’s keys are significantly narrower, shift to another one.

2. The keys should reflect a weighted action

In a traditional piano, the key is attached to the lever. This causes the hammer to strike the strings inside the piano. In the case of the digital piano or the keyboard, there’s no hammer or strings attached to the digital instrument.

To imitate the feel of an acoustic piano, the manufacturers generally use some variations of the weighted action. It makes the keys feel more like the keys of a traditional piano. Try to find out a digital piano in which such a weighted action is going on. This will make it easy to move to any organ when you are accustomed to weighted action keys.

3. Don’t be overwhelmed by the add-ons

While shopping for a digital keyboard or piano, you will be overloaded with many bells and whistles in the form of lights and buttons. These extras mostly go unused once you get into tunes. They are alright for a child’s play or during the first few days’ experiences. But, after the initial hangover vanishes, their utility to follows the same route!

Once you get deeper into music, you are more likely to play the keyboard in the acoustic piano mode most of the time.

Therefore, make sure that even the extras come to your benefit. With that objective in mind, you can invest in an inbuilt metronome. It is convenient rather than keeping a separate metronome along with the digital instrument.

4. Better to go with the pedal

While searching for a decent digital piano, you should invest in a pedaled piano. Also, bear in mind that electric pianos and keyboards are less spacious and never run out of tune. They can be used with headphones so that your jamming session doesn’t irritate other ears around you.

5. Weighted Keyboards with pros and cons

By far you have already understood what to look for and what not while buying an 88 key keyboard. You may feel confused amidst so many choices. That’s why we are here to help you with five top-rated weighted keyboards with their respective pros and cons. We believe that this will help you to build a better and well-informed choice before buying an 88 key keyboard.

Best 88 Keys Digital Keyboard Piano Reviews

1. Yamaha P71 88 key weighted action digital piano 

Pros:

• This stylish and slim piano with a depth of fewer than 12 inches requires less space. This makes it ideal for any home. Weighing about 25 lbs, with an inbuilt sound system, this 88 key keyboard is easily portable if you require it to play during an outside performance.
• It has a more substantial touch at the lower end. And, a softer touch in the high end. This ensures a similar touch to that of the hammer’s striking at the strings inside a majestic piano.
• This is ideal for any aspiring pianist, as well as a pro. Practicing on its exclusive GHS action sets the proper finger tactics before setting foot (we mean fingers!) at the acoustic piano.
• The user-friendly P71 piano ensures that a single button can change most of its settings. All you need to do is to hold down the function or grand piano button. Press proper keys to configure the metronome, play demo sources, change voices, and so on.
• AWM (Advanced Wave Memory) used within it creates a more vibrant and deeper sound. It contains ten distinct modes of voice.
• The dual-mode allows you to combine two voices. For instance, piano and strings and thereby to explore new playing experience.

Cons:

• If you keep it right next to the wall, it will occupy little space. But if you want to use the music stand, you may not be able to place it against the wall. In such a case, the instrument may take up more space.
• The headphone jack is in the backside of the keyboard, which may not be accessible f you don’t have a long jack for headphones.

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2.  Alesis Recital 88 Key Beginner Digital piano keyboard with full size semi weighted keys

Pros:

• If you aspire to become a pianist in the upcoming future and want to see yourself performing at an orchestra, then this is your beginners’ tool. In this full-featured digital keyboard, you will find an adjustable touch response. It helps to fine-tune recital to correspond with each of your needs.
• This 88 semi-weighted keyed keyboard allows you to practice and perform with five distinctly curated voices. You can also customize these voices by merging any two voices at once in the Layer Mode which will offer you a full and rich tone.
• The inbuilt voices include electric piano, synth, acoustic piano, bass, and organ.
• The conveniently placed ¼ inch stereo headphone output with a sustain pedal input allows you to connect any recorder, amplifier or mixer to it. This helps to spice up your jamming session.
• You can also connect the instrument to your PC or Macbook with the help of a USB port. The onboard midi output comes in handy during such times.
• The Recital’s powered flex battery is sure to provide a long term practice session.

Cons:

• Though the instrument is user-friendly, but its advanced features may seem to be confusing to some. But once you get accustomed to the high-end technology, you will not face any problem in handling the instrument.
• The fundamental problem that the beginners initially face is that no key is marked. So you need to opt for the trial and error procedure.

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3. Lagrima 88 weighted key digital piano

Pros:

• The piano comes with an 88 key keyboard in a grand piano style with a graded hammer standard. The piano ensures a heavy touch in the low end and mild touch in the high end – providing an original piano like feeling.
• The multi-function button makes the piano look compact and easy to use. The collaboration between touch, metronome, split, transpose, volume control, play, and record is sure to enhance the user experience.
• The inbuilt stereo speakers come with 80 demo songs, dual voices, 64 polyphony, 200 rythems and 960 timbers
•  Also comes with the three distinct pedal systems including soft, sustain and sostenuto pedal
• The USB host connectivity, along with a MIDI and audio transfer, allows you to connect the instrument. This can be done easily with any music making software, PC, Mac, Android device or iOS without the help of any external driver or installation. You can even connect two sets of headphones with this device. Thus you won’t be irritating anyone during your intense metal session.

Cons:

• Since the electronic section is full with a cluster of functions in a little space, the users may feel at a loss initially. The inclusion of a few more distinct buttons is highly recommended.

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4. Les Ailes de la voix

Pros:

• This piano with an 88 key keyboard is an ideal choice for beginners to start their lesson. Yet, the professionals find it fascinating while practicing.
• With three pedalboards, 128 kinds of tones, 480 kinds of GM tones, 200 sorts of rhythms, and 80 demo types songs, this digital piano offers a whole range of items in a single package.
• The excellent hammer action keyboard is sure to provide an acoustic feel.
• Built-in stereo speakers are sure to enhance your music experience.
• LCD screen, along with 64 polyphony, allows the players to dream for a vivid music career.
• With its dual headphone socket, you are never to irritate your neighbors with your jamming session.
•  Its USB compatible nature makes it ideal for the music enthusiast since they seamlessly attach it with other devices while editing scores.
• The multifunctional instrument offers full-on volume control, speed control, rhythm control, chord control, recording function, MIDI control, tone control, and several other manuals controlling features.

Cons:

• It doesn’t look much sturdy, so we won’t advise you to carry it around with rough hands. Gentle handling is befitting for this digital piano.

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5. Alesis Digital Pro Digital Piano, keyboard with 88 hammer action keys

Pros:

• The shower is easy to set up and does not require long time. Therefore it’s convenient to use during camFor a professional music experience, having the right tool is a unique aspect. Alesis Recital Pro, with its 88 full-sized hammer action keys with compatible and manually adjustable touch response that’s perfect for fine-tuning is the instrument that every music lover dreams of.
• It has an inbuilt system of 12 meticulously curated voices, which can be further customized by combining two voices in the layer mode that offers a full, rich tone. You can also use the split mode while practicing to set voice modulation.
• The powerful 20W built-in speakers, along with numerous connectivity options, make it a perfect choice for the beginners as well as the professionals.
• The intense 128 note polyphony creates a fantastic music experience.

Cons:

• Handle with immense care; otherwise it can break easily.

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Choosing tips 88 keys Keyboard for Beginners

Before buying an 88 key keyboard, you need to consider several things. These include your purpose, whether you need it to practice or for outside performance, whether you are a beginner setting hands at keyboards or already an acoustic piano professional exploring new music items, and last but not the least, your budget.

All these combine to determine a single buy. To enhance your buying and consequent user experience while ensuring that you don’t get ditched by a mistaken purchase, we are here to guide you. Especially the beginners need to go through this passage very carefully to avoid any mistake.

It’s not every day that you can afford an expensive keyboard. Therefore invest in such a full-size keyboard that can serve you for a long duration of time without failing your purpose.

1. Polyphonic

It is all about the amount of sound originated on a keyboard at one single time. Keyboards with the high polyphonic capability and enough instrument voice can imitate the orchestra entirely.

2. Velocity or Touch sensitivity

This aspect of a digital keyboard for sensing the speed or force with any key is pressed and thereby creating a sound instantly. The faster the touch sensitivity, the better the keyboard.

3. Velocity or Touch sensitivity

Ensure that your keyboard can be attached to an external device like a personal computer, laptop, android device, Mac, iOS, etc. with the help of a USB port. This will help you in various ways. You can amplify the sound of the keyboard by attaching it to a stereo speaker or amplifier. You can also choose to save your track directly from the piano to your laptop. Also, if you are much into cutting and composing or remaking songs, then you can do that directly. This will consume less time while enhancing your convenience.

4. MIDI compatibility

Musical Instrument Digital Interface or MIDI is a communication protocol that was established in the 1980s to access electronic instruments as well as computers. MIDI messages are without any sound. They instead serve as a blueprint that instructs a software or a hardware instrument to play a specific note at a particular velocity.

For instance, a MIDI passage can be sent to a keyboard, which in turn can play the same passage with any available sound in the instrument. Thereby, MIDI compatibility allows a keyboard to receive and send MIDI messages.

5. MIDI compatibility

A sampler is a device that can record digital audio and also allows it to be changed and replayed in various ways. If you are seeking to incorporate audio clips externally into an innovative music track, you better invest in a keyboard with an inbuilt sampling facility.

6. Input and Output

If you plan to utilize your keyboard as any digital audio workshop, then having an audio ins and outs will immensely help you in that you will be saved from buying a discrete interface. An audio output that can connect to the external mixers, amplifiers, and speakers are a must-have if you intend to play live music on your keyboard.

7. Storage

Most of the digital keyboard piano functionally offers external storage options such as compact flash, smart media card slots, flash drives, secure digital, etc. With the help of USB connectivity, you can also transfer and save your data to any external hard drive, or computer or any USB enabled device. Cloud is also an alternative track storage choice.

Conclusion – Select a suitable digital keyboard

An introduction of the contemporary keyboards has taken music to a different level today. With a world of options available in 88 key keyboards as well, it is a good idea to grab a comprehensive overview and understanding of its working.

The above article talks about the best 88 key keyboards, the pros and cons of buying a particular product and the required information for making the right choice. Keep these few points if you want to intend on a decent 88 key keyboard.

Remembering the purpose and your level of knowledge before buying the keyboard is essential if you are on a budget. However, if you aspire to become a musician, then we suggest you invest in the latest technology-enabled digital piano so that even when you cross the beginners’ level, you can use it during your pro-level music career. What are you still waiting for?