<html> At 09:19 PM 12/25/2004 -0800, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>As a pianist, though, there is never any doubt about whether they are as satisfying to play as a real piano.  There still is no comparison. Don Mannino RPT </blockquote> Don, List,     When I had retail, I always had trouble selling the digitals. Had good ones, too. At the end of my retail years, there were good actions and relatively good sound generation. Better than some spinets or even consoles, but.......     Boredom and fatigue are definite problems with digitals because of the simple physics of energy. Remember.... energy doesn't just "go away". A real piano, with strings and hammers and sound boards and back checks, returns some of the energy input. When input and output form a feedback loop, response (control and satisfaction) invigorates the user.     It was always fun to watch really good players, especially organists, adapt the repertoire to the voice (stop) that was punched up for them. Sometimes it was just amazing. For those digitals with multi-temperaments, the instrument could actually inspire varying renditions of classical pieces. Totally entertaining. But every one of those excellent players would tucker out after no more than half an hour. Even when there was a "zero" volume, like unspoken escapement, and good damper physical modeling (multi-step, etc.), the control just wasn't there without Herculean effort.    As it's been said, there is a place for these keyboards. Tools, like ETDs, that can be used. The ear, though, is the final judge, and that starts with the ear of the performer. On sound quality alone, some keyboards might pass. When the feed back loop is valued, Don said it..."there is still no comparison".  Yet. Just my 2 ¢, Later, Guy Nichols, RPT</html>