My new studio "piano"

Got a good deal on a refurbished Casio CDP100 (no stand)

88-key & hammer-weighted.

I have it connected through a USB MIDI interface to my DAW and I'm using the TruePianos VSTi to generate the audio.

Today was my first chance to have a decent pianist test it out.  This guy's nothing grand, but FAR better than me (he can even read music!).

Here's a bit of what we recorded.  This was actually accompaniment for a vocal audition CD.  I muted the vocal for this sample.  I'm pretty pleased with the sound.

http://www.cheap-tracks.com/mp3/SonicArtistry_StudioPianoDemo.mp3

<edit> - here's another flavor ...
http://www.cheap-tracks.com/mp3/SonicArtistry_StudioPianoDemo2.mp3

Have you tried the PianoTeq non-sampled piano?  Seems to be a remarkable piece of work - you can fiddle with the hammer hardness, attributes of the frame and soundboard, unison of the strings - everything.  I'm tempted...  but first I'll download your TruePiano demo.  I've read elsewhere that those Casio weighted keyboards are remarkably good - any views on that aspect?

I'm no pianist, but I took piano for years as a young kid, had a piano in the house growing up, etc.  I went to Guitar Center to check out the action on a few budget keyboards - CASIO was not on the list.  I just walked around the store diddlling a few chords and notes on a keyboard as I walked by - the Casio was the only keyboard under $500 that made me stop.  I was impressed.

I did more research on the CASIO and while looking found a B Stock (refurbished) unit for $300 with $30 shipping.  I jumped on it.  Nothing else I had seen below $500 came close on action.  It went up to $400 a few days after I ordered ...

The kid that was here yesterday, a High School Senior bound for music school, said the action was "very natural".  The velocity sensitivity also seems very good.  TruePianos allows a lot of control on the response as well.

I was told by my contact at Full Compass that the CDP line has been discontinued by CASIO, and there are signs that he's right.

I saw pianoteq, but the price was too high so I did not look into it much.  I going to live the TruePianos for a while.  I know it's not the best out there, but it fits the budget for now.  Galaxy and Ivory both sound worthy of solo piano recordings (IMHO) and I might move up to one of those some day.  TruePainos supports license transfers, so I could ebay my code if I decide to move up.

There is a remarkable range to choose from (I mean the VSTi part) - at the end of the day you have to choose the one that suits one's individual taste and playing style.  There are some sites where you can hear different VSTi pianos all playing renders of the same midi file, but it seems to me that different pianos would engender different performances - you'd play to the sound of the particular instrument - so trying to 'level the playing field' doesn't make sense to me.  Thanks for the heads-up about that particular keyboard - I can't justify much expense on this really so adequate and good value is what I'm after.