Newer digital pianos with gigabytes worth of round robin samples at different velocity levels, and sympathetic resonance modelling at really, really good. But

Newer digital pianos with gigabytes worth of round robin samples at different velocity levels, and sympathetic resonance modelling at really, really good. But as far as they have come, for being immersed in always evolving sound and full expression I still prefer my early 80s Disklavier Yamaha U3 by a long margin. It’s a Japanese marvel of engineering - great acoustic sound, loads of solenoids inside it for self playing, early midi implementation and still looks brand new. I don’t know many electronic things I can buy today that will still be relevant and enjoyable 40 years from now. It wasn’t super expensive, around £4K, one of my most enjoyable purchases ever. The kids are learning on it now too and I think it will still be playable and retain its value for a long time. While it does take up some space it’s not huge like a grand, but If I moved to a larger house would love get a Yamaha grand. Having said that, for production work I sometimes use sampled pianos - in a busy mix they sound the same and I don’t have to mic up the piano.