Review: Thomann DP-51 – Affordable Digital Piano

The Thomann DP-51 is a classic digital upright piano. Considering its price and performance, it can be classified as an affordable digital piano for beginners. However, its features would let you suspect a much higher price tag. A hammer action keyboard with Ivory feel and a large case with a high-gloss finish for considerably less than $1,000—is that any good?

Like other budget-class digital pianos, Thomann outsources the manufacturing of the DP-51 to Asia. This allows the company to offer extremely attractive prices to customers. You can save even more money if you choose the matte black case. The high-gloss version, which is available in black, is, of course, a real eye-catcher. With a comprehensively equipped chassis, music holder, keyboard cover, triple pedal unit, and powerful speaker system, who wouldn’t want to put such a neat digital piano in their living room?

Thomann DP-51: With Ivory Feel Keyboard

The 88-note weighted hammer action keyboard is quite comfortable to play, thanks in part to the ivory feel surface of the white keys. This brings us to the first bonus feature of the Thomann DP-51. Usually, ivory-feel keyboards on digital pianos of this size are only available in significantly higher price ranges.

While the keyboard’s feel is not the same as that of a $2,000 digital piano, it is still quite good. The keys have a grippy feel, and the hammer action provides good velocity control. At the same time, the keyboard works smoothly, which is ideal for digital piano beginners. Not to mention: The keyboard is equipped with let-off mechanics and a triple sensor system.

Focus on Piano Sound

The Thomann DP-51 has 128-note polyphony, which is appropriate for the stereo-sampled piano sound. This sound is worth paying attention to, as the quality of the remaining 40 sounds is somewhat lower. The acoustic piano sound really stands out in terms of quality.

The Thomann DP-51 produces a brilliant piano sound with clean touch dynamics. Dynamic jumps are rare and hardly disruptive. Given the low price, it’s no surprise that the DP-51 doesn’t quite master modern sound details such as sympathetic resonance or the key-off effect. However, the tonal range sounds balanced and authentic overall, which is more than sufficient for a beginner’s digital piano.

When you play it through headphones, the sound creates a fairly wide image, which reverb effects further support. However, the piano sound of the Thomann DP-51 is also pleasing when played through the built-in speaker system. With 2 x 15 watts, the piano can produce a full, clean sound at moderate volumes.

Playing the DP-51

Digital sound engines offer a wide range of possibilities for playing sounds. The Thomann DP-51 has so many features that you might get overwhelmed. But let’s take it one step at a time.

• DUAL: This function allows you to play two sounds simultaneously, which blend together nicely. It’s great for creating sound combinations with the 40 available sounds, such as piano plus electric piano or church organ plus strings. The additional sounds work quite well here.
• SPLIT: You won’t find this function on the control panel, but it exists! Press the LOWER button, and voilà! The keyboard splits into two sections. Now, you can play two different sounds at the same time, such as a bass guitar on the left and a piano on the right.
• TWINOVA: This is a modified version of the split function. The word “Twin” in the name suggests that the selected sound is split into two equally transposed ranges. This is handy for four-handed playing in piano lessons.
• DUET: The basis here is also a split function. Depending on the chords played on the left, the DUET function generates matching interval tones for the melody played on the right. Very clever! Not only does it sound nice and full, but it also helps beginners develop a musical ear for polyphonic playing.

Sequencer, Recorder, Metronome

The device stores 60 songs for practicing and playing along. Using the sequencer, you can play them back at any tempo. You can also record your own music pieces via the RECORD function for self-control purposes, for example. A metronome function is also available, of course.

Arranger function – Automatic Accompaniment

Practicing the piano with a metronome is boring? No problem! The Thomann DP-51 is a digital piano with an arranger function. The integrated automatic accompaniment is controlled by the chords you play on the keyboard. The DP-51 also works in SPLIT mode here. Play the chords that control the arranger-generated accompaniment in the left area of the keyboard.

In principle, it works like a portable keyboard. Unfortunately, there is no PIANIST function to control the accompaniment and determine chords from the entire keyboard range. That would be a much better fit for a digital piano like the Thomann DP-51.

Conclusion: High Gloss and Ivory Feel for Little Money

All in all, well done! The Thomann DP-51 offers a lot for a budget price. Compared to similar, more expensive digital pianos from well-known brands, a few compromises must be made. However, it meets the important quality criteria for a good digital upright piano. Thanks to its tri-sensor hammer-action keyboard with an ivory-feel surface, it provides a pleasant playing experience and nice piano sound.

If you prioritize keyboard and piano sound and appreciate the classic digital upright piano design, you should take a close look at the Thomann DP-51. For the price, it’s a comprehensively equipped, high-gloss polished case—absolutely top-notch!

Digital Piano for Beginners: Thomann DP-51 Video Review

For this price, you would otherwise get a significantly smaller digital piano. For this reason, we included the Thomann DP-51 in our “Digital Piano for Beginners” test series. However, design is not everything. We were especially interested in whether the DP-51 can hold its own in terms of playing and sound characteristics.

Thomann DP-51 – Overview

Release date: August 2017
Keyboard: 88 weighted hammer action keys with ivory feel surface
Polyphony: 128 voices
Special features: Multiple keyboard modes (layer, split…), arranger function
Manufacturer/Distributor: Thomann