As a music teacher, my beginner students often ask me, “What are the most important things to look for when buying their 1st digital keyboard if I want to learn piano pieces?”. To which I reply, “There are 5 things you should look for in a beginner digital piano,” and it seems Donner’s latest Oura S100 has nailed the recipe.
Number #1 - Key Action
This piano has a graded hammer key action just like a traditional acoustic piano. This means the keys on the left side of the keyboard are heavier and get progressively lighter towards the treble register on the right side. The black keys have a matte surface making it less slippery and I love the red felt liner at the key pivots.
Number #2 - Sound Quality
Instead of cramming hundreds of low quality tones that take up precious sample memory, Donner focused on giving you 15 high quality bread and butter voices keyboardists use all the time. You get acoustic & electric pianos, acoustic & electric guitars, a jazz organ and a bunch of string instruments. 256 note polyphony ensures you don’t get note dropouts even if you play advanced piano arrangements. Triple pedals, just like those found on traditional acoustic grand pianos, support soft, sostenuto and sustain which advanced jazz & classical pianists need. The 20 watts sound output from a pair of 10 watts speakers easily filled my living room and bedroom.
Number #3 - Connectivity Options
The Oura S100 comes with 2 headphone jacks so you can practice quietly or have your music lesson with a teacher without disturbing those around you. This keyboard allows you to use either a USB cable or wireless Bluetooth to establish a MIDI connection to your favorite music learning apps or music production software. The music-learning app I personally recommend to my own students linked here. To play along with your favorite backing tracks via the keyboard’s onboard speakers, you can either use the wired ¼” audio input or wireless Bluetooth audio streaming. I was surprised that the USB port also transmits and receives audio data directly into your music production software, a feature not usually found in digital pianos at this price. Should you live in a cavernous mansion or intend to perform to a large audience, the ¼” audio output lets you amplify your music via external amplifiers, speakers and mixers.
Number #4 - Price
If you spend too little on your 1st beginner piano keyboard, you’ll pretty much end up with an instrument that has a poor key action & sub-par sound quality which will dampen your music learning. Not only that, cheap keyboards are built with a low price in mind and build quality almost always suffers. When your cheap instrument breaks in a few months, you’ll end up with an expensive decorative ornament. Beginners also outgrow the features & functionality of a cheap instrument within months and will need to trade it in for something better. Conversely, a beginner’s first piano keyboard shouldn’t require you to take a 2nd mortgage on your home and that’s where this $500 digital piano keyboard hits the sweet spot. If you have a bigger budget and prefer a substantially better digital pianos check those I recommend.
Number #5 - Design
90% of digital pianos, especially from established brands, look identical. The keyboards are boring black or white rectangular boxes that don’t complement well with modern home decor. I love the clean lines and understated wood grain on this Scandinavian inspired digital piano. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some may buy this digital piano based purely on its good looks.
What I Wish It Had
While Donner’s $500 digital piano keyboard does tick my 5 checkboxes for a good first beginner instrument, there are 7 features I wished it had.
#1 - Metronome
Beginners would definitely benefit from a metronome to help keep their playing in time even if it’s just a basic one.
#2 - Layer & Split
While there is a preset dual layered piano & strings, there’s no way to layer other sounds for a richer tone or split 2 voices on the left and right side of the keyboard. Links to my recommended keyboards with voice layer & split functionality.
#3 - Selecting Sounds
If you only use the default grand piano tone most of the time, you’ll be fine. But you’ll need to constantly refer to the owner’s manual to select other tones because the instrument names are not printed on the panel and there’s no LCD or LED display to indicate your selected tone or function.
#4 - Headphone Jacks
I love the dual headphone jacks because most keyboards at this price only have one. But I do wish the two outputs are different sizes a ¼” and ⅛” so that any headphones you have on hand will definitely fit.
#5 - Key Pivots
This digital piano has pretty shallow key pivots. Advanced pianists may struggle to play complex musical shapes that require pressing keys nearer to the key pivots. If you don’t mind paying more, check out my recommended keyboards with better key pivots.
#6 - Speakers
While the pair of speakers are loud and clear, they lack dynamic range. Having 4 speakers or a bass reflex cabinet design would give the sound a wider dynamic range. Having a good pair of headphones - link to my recommended pair.
You can find out the full specifications and the best price for this together with my recommended digital pianos, keyboards, and music-learning app right here.
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