An affordable digital piano that looks nicer than many expensive models? Ben Rogerson takes a closer look
CONTACT WHO: Donner WEB: idonner.eu KEY FEATURES SOUND LIBRARY: 1 standard piano tone. Polyphony: 128 notes. DIMENSIONS: 268 x 355 x 745mm WEIGHT: 21.3kg
The Donner DDP-80 does not look like other home digital pianos. With its brown wooden (alright, MDF) casing and midcentury styling, it most closely resembles the classic Clavinet D6.
You’ll also note the absence of visible controls. In fact, the only things you can press or turn are the power button and volume on the rear panel. These are joined by 1/4-inch audio and headphone outs, a sustain pedal input, a MIDI USB port, and a socket for the power supply. A further connector – used to plug in the supplied three-pedal unit – is below.
The DDP-80 bucks digital piano convention again by only featuring a single, non-editable grand piano preset. Powered by the ‘DREAM’ sound engine, this features samples from a “French grand piano”, captured at multiple velocities with the aim of giving you plenty of scope for expression and dynamics.
This is played on an 88-note keyboard with a progressive hammer action, so the low-end keys feel a little heavier, as you’d find on a real grand. There are two downward-firing built-in speakers that are powered by a 2 x20W amplifier.
That design then – in our view, it’s a breath of fresh air in what is, aesthetically, a fairly conservative market, but we’re aware it won’t be to everyone’s taste. Oh and the pedal set Putting the volume control round the back feels like a compromise too far is very obviously plastic and looks like it doesn’t quite belong.
We’d call the DDP-80’s sound acceptable rather than stellar. It’s bright, but with a slightly synthetic tone that you don’t get on top-end digital pianos. The keyboard is playable, if a little clunky and loud at times – if you’ve got the volume low, the sound of the keys is distracting.
Speaking of which, while we like the DDP-80’s clean lines, putting the volume control r
