Cheap digital piano, controller and MIDI interface - all in one

If you’re looking for a cheap digital piano, you could do a lot worse than the M-Audio ProKeys Sono 61. If you’re not a particularly skilled keyboard player - or you want to develop your skills - the Sono 61 will give you a very professional result. Better still, it’s just £199. You won’t find many other digital pianos from major manufacturers at that price.

It could also be a handy bit of kit if you’re developing a home recording setup and you need a cheap keyboard and MIDI controller. Let’s have a look at its advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

• The big advantage of the Sono 61 is price - for your £199 you get a very playable instrument. I’ve spent 20 minutes jamming around with one, and it’s satisfying to play. It’s not a pro-level instrument, but I could certainly have some fun with it.
• You can use it as a standalone digital piano. The advantage of buying from a major manufacturer such as M-Audio is that you can rely on them to invest in decent onboard software - and, indeed, the Sono 61 has a first-class piano sound, making it useful for gigging.
• It has a built-in audio interface, so you can plug it straight into your PC or Mac (it’s compatible with both) via a USB port without having to spend £70+ on an external sound card.
• Better still, if you’re developing a home studio you can use the Sono 61 as your main audio interface as well as your digital piano and MIDI controller. It has a full set of mic and line-in inputs.
• Because of its low price and piano-like qualities, it’s a good one for kids who are just starting out.

Disadvantages

• The Sono 61 only has 61 keys, unlike most standard digital pianos and acoustic pianos. If you’re mainly going to be using the keyboard for MIDI and home practice, you’ll have no problems. It should be fine for most gigging purposes, too, and kids in the first few years of piano lessons will have no problems. However, if you’re a skilled classical or jazz pianist, you might find it a bit cramped. That said, for an extra £60 you can get the full-size Sono 88.
• The semi-weighted keys don’t provide the kind of real piano-like performance an experienced player might prefer. If you’re a learner or a part-time player, they should be fine - but experts might want to pay a bit more for the more realistic feel that more expensive digital pianos offer.
• Some people don’t like using weighted keyboards for MIDI input - it can be tricky to get a really realistic attack if you’re using software strings in your DAW, for example.
• Like many digital pianos in its class, it ships without a sustain pedal or a stand. The M-Audio SP-1 should be a perfectly good pedal for most people’s needs, and a Yamaha DGX 630 shouldn’t be too expensive.

All in all the M-Audio Sono 61 is a good choice if you’re looking for a cheap digital piano for your home studio or to develop your keyboard skills. What really swings it as great value is the quality of the piano sound and the built-in digital audio interface, which allows you to set up the beginnings of a home studio for just £200.

If you’re after a slightly chunkier, traditional-looking digital piano (with its own wooden stand and sustain pedal, and a more realistic piano feeling), check out the Yamaha DGX 630. It’s also USB out, though it doesn’t have the interface capabilities of the Sono 61. It also makes a pretty handy MIDI controller, though if you’re using a Mac you need to check this post to get hold of the right drivers.

Click here to buy the M-Audio Sono 61 cheap digital piano from Dolphin Music.

Tagged as: home recording, piano