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There are several reasons why piano and keyboard players choose digital pianos over their acoustic counterparts.

Let's talk about some of the main reasons.

1. There is no need for tuning.

Acoustic pianos have to be tuned once or twice a year. However, since the sounds of digital pianos are in digital format, they never go out of tune. Forget about paying a tuner all the time and save.

2. They are portable.

A regular upright piano could weigh over 500 lbs. A grand piano weighs a lot more. Compare this to digital pianos that weigh less than 100 lbs. You could easily carry one under your arm from gig to gig. Transportation is easy. The fact that many of them could be disassembled is also a great advantage.

3. They cost much less.

Acoustic pianos are very expensive and out of the price range of most people. You can save yourself a lot of money by buying a digital piano. For less than $2000, you can get one that is top of the line. You will even find those that cost only a few hundred dollars.

4. You don't have to disturb neighbors.

Worried about disturbing the neighbors? There is no need to be worried. Simply plug in a pair of headphones and play silently. With an acoustic piano, it's obvious that you do not have that privilege.

No headphones? Simply use your volume controls. You can play without headphones, strike keys very hard and not produce a disturbing or loud sound.

5. More sounds for less money.

With an acoustic piano, you're basically limited to one piano sound. Digital pianos come with several sounds, giving you so much variety. Sounds range from several piano voices to organs, vibraphones, guitars, harpsichord, strings, bass, and more.

6. They have MIDI capabilities.

Most digital pianos can be connected to a computer through a MIDI interface. MIDI allows you to interact with other electronic music devices. In this technological age, this feature is becoming increasingly necessary, and digital pianos and keyboards are being used to control large MIDI and recording set-ups.

There are several other advantages of having a digital piano such as:

• Built-in rhythym accompaniments
• The ability to record your performance

What are the drawbacks?

Digital piano manufacturers are getting better and better at duplicating the tone of real acoustic pianos. But no matter how well the piano sound is sampled, it will always sound digital. The acoustic sound is far superior to that of a digital piano.

But for the reasons stated above, I'd buy a digital piano any day.