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The Plug ‘n’ Play device gives you a simple way to make high-quality recordings of your digital piano, and the built-in mic can capture your voice, as well

Korg has released PianoRec, a new product that’s designed to make it easy for you to record your digital piano performances to your phone. The Plug ‘n’ play device is designed to simplify the whole process.

Though you might be doing this already – either by using your phone’s built-in mic or via an audio interface of some sort – but PianoRec both simplifies the process and promises better quality than you might be used to.

It works by taking a direct audio output from your piano – the default connector is a 3.5mm one, but you also get a 1/4-inch adapter in the box – and placing a USB connector on the other end. This is USB-A, but a USB-C connector adapter comes supplied.

For monitoring purposes, there’s also a built-in set of earphones, complete with microphone that enables you to capture the sound of your voice as you play (the mic has a mute switch if you don’t want it on).

The whole setup promises to be totally plug ‘n’ play, and if you own an iOS device you can also make use of the Korg EZ Rec app. This offers both stereo recording and video capture, but you can also use the device with any other recording app, or for streaming purposes.

The PianoRec costs £59/€73,95. Find out more on the Korg website.

As we approach the fourth quarter of the year, keyboard manufacturers are jostling for position as we head towards the all-important holiday season, when parents of would-be players – and adult newbies, due to that matter – start to ask themselves what the best digital pianos for beginners are at the moment.

In 2024, Casio hopes to be part of the conversation with two new Celviano models – the AP-300 and AP-S200 – both of which are described as ‘entry-level’.

Despite their lower price tags, both are designed to deliver the ‘immersive grand piano experience’ of the more expensive models in the Celviano range – though not to quite the same extent, obviously. So that means high-quality sounds, decent speaker systems and playable keyboards.

The AP-300 is the pricier of the two, and is said to adhere to “the same core principles” as Casio’s high-end Grandphonic Sound System example, as used in the recent AP-750. So, the sound is designed to disperse from the speakers and reflect off the materials within the cabinet. The AP-S200 is based on a similar concept but has an open design and slimmer profile.

The grand piano tones themselves are generated by the Multi-Dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source, and are said to change according to your playing style and as notes sustain.

Similarly, the Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard adapts its touch sensitivity depending on how strongly the keys are played.

The AP-300 (£1,249) and AP-S200 (£999) are available now in black, brown and white color options, and both come with the WU-BT10 Bluetooth adapter for wireless MIDI and audio streaming. Find out more on the Casio website.

Roland’s new premium digital pianos look like uprights, but are designed to sound and play like acoustic grands. The LX-9, LX-6 and LX-5 use a range of technologies to make them feel mighty real.

They look like uprights, but Roland says that its new LX-9, LX-6 and LX-5 digital pianos give you the “sound and playability” of a grand, which could be the ideal combination if space is at a premium but you don’t want to compromise on tone or touch.

These are the latest additions to the long-running LX series and feature the Piano Reality Modelling tech that was debuted in the GP digital grand piano range. This is designed to emulate every part of the acoustic piano tone generation process, the hope being that the end result is as close to the real thing as possible.

The same could be said of the new LX pianos’ 88-note keyboards, which have a hammer action with escapement and a hybrid wood/molded key construction. The LX-9 and LX-6 have the extended key length that you’d get on an acoustic grand, and in the case of the LX-9, you also get haptic feedback that promises to emulate the subtle vibrations that occur when playing said instrument.

In the case of each piano, the keyboard is designed to work with the three-pedal setup that supports all traditional pedalling techniques, while the multi-channel sound systems promise to emulate the sound characteristics of an acoustic piano (string/cabinet resonance, hammer noise and more). You can also choose from a variety of virtual environments, so you can feel like you’re playing in everything from a concert hall to a cosy studio space.

Other handy features include Bluetooth MIDI and audio, a twin mode for teaching and same-range duets, a built-in recorder and a metronome.

Each piano is available in multiple finishes, and if you want to see what it would look like in your room, you can get a ‘virtual installation’ from Roland’s Piano AR tool. Prices range from $3,800 to $7,200, and you can find out more on the Roland website.