The innovative Yamaha DGX-630 should be on the top of the list for anyone in the market searching for a digital keyboard. Though it is not as stage ready as some of it's rivals like Korg and Kurzweil, the DGX-630 model offers an extraordinary 88 key weighted graded hammer action, giving it the feel of a grand piano, and could hold it's own on stage. In addition the DGX-630 features sixty four notes of polyphony which allows you to play back 16 different parts, and has more than five hundred quality voices.

Portability: For those of you like me that don't have the space for an acoustic piano, the Yamaha DGX-630 will give you the feel of a grand piano, but is only five feet in length and 22" wide and weighs only 80 lbs. It comes with an attractive wood grain cabinet and stand set for the standard height. This model includes a sustain pedal. A wonderful option available for this keyboard is an upgrade to 3 sustain pedals that offers all the sustains of a piano. For those of you would don't want to keep the kids up or bother the neighbors just plug in the headphones and have at it. You'll swear you are sitting at a grand piano.

Song Play Back and Lesson Capabilities: Have you frequently wondered how neat it would be if the song you performed displayed as sheet music? The DGX-630 is capable of displaying the score to a song whether it arrives from the Internet, the internal mixtures or ones which you record yourself, and when you play back the song the pages scroll automatically. And for you vocalists reading this, the screen also displays chords and lyrics to XF compatible songs. A new dimension has been added for the those just beginning to play. The Yamaha Education Suite lets you to hear a song while you follow the notes in the display. The DGX-630 has thirty built-in songs plus 70 more on the included CD-ROM for you to learn to play using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are divided into left and right hand parts, including seven tiers of lessons and a handy chord dictionary.

6 Track Sequencer: The DXG-630 has a USB to host and a USB to device port located in the back of the unit. It's my humble opinion it would have been smarter to have them in the front for convenience. The USB to host is for recording and playing MIDI files, and downloading data to and from your computer. You can use the USB to device for storage drives such as a thumb drive or USB flash drive. The Yamaha Education Suite will instruct you in the operation of these ports.

The six track sequencer allows you to record one or multiple instrument parts at a time and then assign each part to a separate track. This is like having your own built-in multi-track recorder. The DGX-630 provides you a large range of 29 high quality reverb effects. This includes 24 chorus effects, and 26 harmony effects, as well as 182 DSP types for distorted guitar to rotary speaker tones.

Personal Note: There is even more techy scoop on this merchandise, but I want to give a personal note here. We have newly moved to a smaller home. We had no room for our piano and this broke my heart. I called a good friend of mine who is a well known music producer and I asked for his recommendations on the subject. Well, he began with keyboards by Korg and Nord. Now I am not going onstage or in a recording studio anytime soon. So I told him I was looking for something with the feel of an acoustic piano that was not going to break the bank. I mentioned Casio to him because my son has a Casio keyboard that was fun to tinker around with. He then suggested the Yamaha DGX-630. When I asked him why that particular one he said he had the chance to play one that a friend of his actually gigs with and was pleasantly surprised that the Yamaha DGX-630 could be of such quality for the money.

Where to Shop: Based on his expert opinion (better than a manufacturer's propaganda) I went to a local retailer nearby that had one on display. In a matter of 30 minutes playing this instrument I knew I wouldn't miss my piano. Then I went shopping. I tried bargaining with the manager at the music store, and Googled a number of online music sites I had previously bought from in the past. I have to tell you that the two music chain stores couldn't come close. I did find two online stores that have very competitive prices. Don't hesitate when it comes to investing in this first-rate instrument. You will fall head over heals with it immediately. I know you will have many wonderful years with the Yamaha DGX-630.