Bought one of these babies today and all I can say is hot damn! Playing it in the store was nothing like playing it at home because the internal speakers do not do the keyboard justice. The speaker system is near-junk (8w+8w) and serious headphones make a big difference. Yes, the acoustic piano sound is very realistic and it rivals keyboards that cost many times more. I found the piano sound through headphones to be a little bright for my tastes but hook it up to an amp and it would certainly cut through in a band situation. There's two acoustic pianos - one stereo one mono, a very basic Rhodes piano sound that benefits greatly from the chorus+reverb effect, harpsicord (can almost get a Clavinet out of it) and strings... you can layer the strings over piano and adjust volume between layers. Caveat: the functions require combination function & key/note presses... cheap but it works.

But hey, forget the internal sounds... I'm using this as an 88-note controller with my Yamaha 9000 Pro for a two-tier rig, hammer-action controller on bottom and 76-note unweighted keys on top. Sweet. Best $299 I've spent in recent memory.

BTW: the finish is very dark gray and the Radio Shack name is only slightly lighter gray so the name won't be visible on stage, especially the way I'm going to be using it. And it weighs 25 lbs, not 26.

[This message has been edited by Esh (edited 02-27-2006).]