Stage piano

Unlike many digital pianos, which are designed for semi-permanent installation in a private home and have design elements which make regular transportation difficult (e.g., permanently mounted legs, modesty panel, internal power amplifier and speakers, and a fixed sustain pedal), a stage piano generally has a portable, detachable stand, no internal amp or speakers (an output jack is provided so the instrument can be plugged into a keyboard amplifier), a detachable sustain pedal to be plugged into a jack, and a robust body.

This enables a performer to remove all of the detachable parts and makes the instrument easier to transport to gigs and rehearsals.

The sounds of a high-end stage piano are usually created through sampling or complex digital signal processing-modelling, methods of higher quality compared to what is commonly found on digital keyboards, which use relatively simple synthesis methods to allow for more, different types of sounds, albeit in lower quality.

Along with the sounds of the most common keyboard instruments, most stage pianos also provide a recreation of electro-mechanical pianos like the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200A, or Yamaha CP-70/CP-80 series, which were based on picking up the sound of a metal tine, reed or string hit by a hammer.

Only some particular models of stage pianos, such as the Yamaha P-250 or Casio Privia, have onboard powered speakers already built into the instrument.