Almost as Good as the Real Thing: Playing a Hybrid Digital Piano

Digital pianos with acoustic soundboard, grand piano action, and wooden keys: A hybrid digital piano promises maximum playing comfort by combining a digital sound generation with acoustic piano features. Often, an elaborate casing with high-gloss finishes underscores the elegant character of these high-quality instruments.

Unlike acoustic hybrid instruments such as silent pianos, hybrid digital pianos are fully digital instruments. However, they benefit from certain acoustic piano features that allow them to authentically reproduce the way the piano plays and sounds. For example, the wooden keys of a digital hybrid piano are virtually indistinguishable from those of an acoustic piano. The hammer mechanism is also much more elaborate than that of conventional digital pianos.

Instruments of this design include the digital pianos of the Yamaha AvantGrand series and the Kawai Novus NV-10. Casio developed the Grand Hybrid GP series in cooperation with the German piano manufacturer C. Bechstein. Moreover, you can also find hybrid technology in other classes, such as the Kawai MP-11 stage piano and the Kawai CA home piano series.

Hybrid Digital Piano with Soundboard

Kawai’s CA and CS series digital pianos are additionally equipped with an acoustic soundboard. First introduced in 2007 with the Kawai CA91, this revolutionary improvement introduces transducers that transfer the electronic vibrations to the soundboard. Then, the soundboard at the back of the digital piano works as an extension of the speaker system and amplifies the sound.

Kawai’s transducer-driven soundboard enhances the sound radiation and ensures a rich bass and a full, spacious overall sound. A similar concept is used in acoustic hybrid pianos with transducer technology.

More than Keyboard and Action

In contrast to a conventional digital piano, a hybrid digital piano is much more elaborately constructed and therefore more expensive. The Yamaha AvantGrand or the Kawai Novus NV10, for example, are top-of-the-line models. Accordingly, the keyboards and action are modeled after an acoustic grand piano. And thanks to their sophisticated speaker systems, these hybrid digital pianos also represent the pinnacle of digital piano development in terms of sound reproduction.

The World’s Most Expensive Hybrid Digital Piano

With a price tag of just under 50,000 Euros, this instrument is undoubtedly outstanding: With the Alpha Studio, Austrian manufacturer Alpha Pianos has developed a hybrid digital piano that is unique in its keyboard, action, and sensor system. You might not expect it from the futuristic, stylish design, but inside you will find a traditional piano construction: a complete grand piano keyboard, just as on a Bösendorfer concert grand. The action is no different: it is a Renner action with felt hammers – very similar to a grand piano.