Donner DEP-20 Review: Best Bang for Your Buck?
When shopping for a keyboard, you have two primary considerations: the price of the keyboard and its features. Of course, the price indicates the quality of the features, but there are nuances with each keyboard brand and model. The Donner DEP-20 is a keyboard suited for beginners and intermediates. For a beginner keyboard, the Donner DEP-20 is affordable, and its quality for its price range is quite commendable. However, advanced players might find it difficult to enjoy the Donner DEP-20 experience due to some hitches in the action key, among other small details.
With this understanding, I think it is only fair if we dive deeper into the Donner DEP-20 review and understand the piano feature by feature before you make your purchase decision. Mark you, the Donner DEP-20 has been selling very well on Amazon, and as the cliché goes, numbers don’t lie.
The Donner Brand: Why an Unknown Brand Is Causing Such a Fuss
The Donner DEP-20 is a Chinese brand that was founded in 2012. The Company specializes in making music accessories such as guitars, guitar accessories, and digital pianos.
The Donner brand is hardly a notable name in the market, but the Donner DEP-20 has become their favorite offering and has made the brand get notable grasps on the market recently.
Other more established brands like Yamaha, Casio, and Korg also offer pianos in the same price bracket, although a little expensive. However, the Donner DEP-20 has managed to be outstanding in that bracket offer.
Usually, bringing a product to market at an affordable price means two things: what might be happening for Donner DEP-20? Either there is a serious compromise in quality or the Donner brand does not charge extra for the brand; hence, they can shave their prices.
The truth is that both these strategies make the Donner DEP-20 affordable. Of course, there are some quality compromises, but they are most notable for the advanced players. They also do not charge for the brand. The result is an affordable digital piano for beginners.
Donner DEP-20 is becoming the town’s talk because of some of its unique features. Such as it is a multi-function digital piano with 88 full-sized hammer action keys and adjustable touch response. Fitted with a dual 25W stereo speaker system to ensure the player gets a rich and acoustic sound.
The Donner DEP-20 Features: What the Digital Piano Brings to the Table or Stand, Depending on Where You Place It
Playing piano should be an experience whether you are playing for fun or professionally. Therefore, when looking at the different features contained in a digital piano, they ought to enhance the playing experience of the pianist.
The Donner DEP-20 contains most features you would expect on a basic piano and even others one would not think it has. We shall look in detail at what the Donner DEP-20 has to offer;
The Sound: How Does the Piano Converse With Your Eardrums?
In any piano, sound is critical. The sound of the piano greatly influences the player’s experience while playing. The sound makes or breaks the piano.
The sound of the Donner DEP-20 works, but it is not great. The competitor brands have better-sounding pianos, but you must remember they are more expensive. For the price of the Donner DEP-20, the sound works, but it is not exceptional.
Advanced players note that the sound feels relatively dry and flat, but that might not be a big concern for beginners. The sound lacks depth and has a toy-like sound. The bass sound is especially problematic, but the mid-range keys sound is better.
Nevertheless, the keyboard makes up for all this with its broad range of sounds. While typically, for such a piano, you would get 10 to 20 sounds, the Donner DEP-20 offers 238 tones throwing in some violin, synths, and slap bass.
Students and beginners enjoy the broad range of sounds as it offers them versatility and more playroom as they explore, experiment, and practice their piano.
Built-in Speakers: Do You Need an External Amplified Monitor Speaker?
Even if the sound quality of the Donner DEP-20 is not the best, the built-in speakers are great. Fitted with a dual 25W stereo speaker system to ensure the player gets a rich and acoustic sound.
These speakers make it easy to practice even without external amplified sound. You can also easily jam with friends, family, and band members if you are part of one.
However, great speakers can only play the not-very-good sounds. As much as the speakers are better than those in more expensive pianos, the sound they broadcast is a little problematic, especially at a high volume.
Nevertheless, this is an affordable beginner keyboard. And for what it is worth, we cannot complain much.
Keyboard Feel: Is Playing the Donner DEP-20 Graceful or Stressful?
The Donner DEP-20 boasts 88 full-sized hammer action keys and adjustable touch response, making this feature one of its top-selling points. Many pianos in the Donner DEP-20 price range do not have these magnificent features, often making the Donner DEP-20 stand out for potential buyers.
Despite the Donner DEP-20 having these great hammer action keys, the keyboard has some notable flaws.
First, the keys of the keyboard are a little heavier than normal. For a grand piano, the C on the keyboard pushdown weight is usually set between 50 and 60 grams. Some other pianos push this up to 70 grams. Unfortunately, for the Donner DEP-20, the pushdown weight is up to 80 grams.
The disadvantage of heavy keys is the beginner player might get tired, especially the fingers and the wrists. Furthermore, they might gain the wrong technique when practicing on a nonstandard weighted C keyboard.
Another challenge with the keys of the Donner DEP-20 is their responsiveness. Ideally, the keys of the keyboard should not be cumbersome to push down. Also, they should not be too slow or too fast to come up either. Unfortunately, the keys of the Donner DEP-20 take a little longer to come back up. Therefore, when playing fast, you might feel the keyboard is too draggy.
However, the Donner DEP-20 is meant for beginners. Beginners do not yet have the skills to play fast enough to notice the piano’s drag. Also, despite all those flaws, it is still the best digital piano you will find at its price.
Sustain Pedals: What if You Want to Keep the Note a Little Longer?
Music is a combination of sounds and rests. When playing the piano, the music is accentuated by the sustain pedal. The sustain pedals allow the keys to sound a little longer than average.
On a grand piano, the sustain pedal removes the dampers from the string to allow the string to vibrate a little longer or up until the sustain pedal is released. We do not have strings with a digital piano, but the sustain pedals play a similar role.
The Donner DEP-20 comes with a sustain pedal which is very effective compared to other digital pianos, even at a higher price range. It also offers an option of adding three pedals sustain, which gives you the sustain, sostenuto, and una corda.
Design: How the Donner DEP-20 Is Built
The Donner DEP-20 design is basic, offering a standard digital piano design. The LCD backlit screen is very clear and provides information such as your selected voice, the metronome speed you are on, and other similar features.
Additionally, to the LCD backlight screen, the Donner DEP-20 has an appeasing appearance as its buttons are placed logically.
The piano comes with a score sheet rest where you can read your music as you are playing. In addition, the arrangement of the keys, the settings buttons, and the LCD screen make the design functional.
Moreover, the connecting ports are at the back of the keyboard, except for the headphones port placed at the front. Placing the headphones port at the front is a win for their functional design.
Also, the keyboard’s build is sturdy compared to other keyboards in the same price range. The keyboard is portable, and every aspect of its design makes it easier to carry around.
However, when you compare it with other brands in the same category, such as Yamaha p125, the Donner DEP-20 is a bit thick. Generally, it measures 18.5 cm from top to bottom, meaning a player must sit on a high stool or chair. This can make the experience a bit awkward.
The Connectivity: What Can the Donner DEP-20 Connect To?
DEP-20 boasts great connectivity and has several features that facilitate it. One can find almost all the basic options on the rear panel of the piano. The features include USB to host, in and out audio interface lines, a power line socket with a pedal socket, DC in 16V and a USB socket where one can plug in an MP3 player.
However, a significant drawback of the Donner DEP-20 piano is that it does not have Bluetooth connection capability.
Colors: What if You Want a Pink Keyboard?
For lovers of different tans and colors, the Donner DEP-20 may disappoint you in this aspect. Unfortunately, this piano only comes in one color; black! However, one might compromise on the color and look at the bigger benefits due to the exceptional features.
Demo Songs for Beginners: This Is Where the Fun Is
The Donner DEP-20 is one of the best pianos for amateurs because it invests widely in features that would help beginners.
One such unique incorporation is that it comes with 100 demo songs and 200 accompaniment rhythms. The songs and the rhymes will ensure that a beginner can greatly advance their skills and have great fun on the Donner DEP-20 for long hours.
Additionally, the Donner DEP-20 continues to make beginners’ experience more lively as it has video lessons. The DEP 20 has free piano video lessons from renowned tutors from all over the world.
Record Mode: Listening to How You Play
Imagine a player being able to capture his practice for later analysis and possibly try and refine it. The Donner DEP-20 offers this great feature where one can capture their piano sessions.
Polyphony: How Far Can You Stretch the Keyboard
The Donner DEP-20 polyphony limit is 128. Are you wondering what polyphony is? Well, let’s break it down further for ease of understanding.
Well, polyphony is the ability of digital keyboards to play a couple of notes simultaneously before sustained notes start falling off. This is especially a plus for beginners, as it will take a while before they surpass the upper limit.
Pros and Cons of the Donner DEP-20
As already seen in the review, the Donner DEP-20 has its winning features, and some are not so good. Here are the pros and cons of the Donner DEP-20.
TheDonner DEP-20 is probably the best value for your buck currently in the market. It will give you value for your money as it has many exceptional features that will help players reach their goals.
The action it offers is pretty decent for its price.
Pros
Here are the aspects that make the Donner DEP-20 stand out.
- A functional design that makes it easy to carry it around
- 88 weighted keys, which gives a broad play range
- Power adapter provided
- Built-In metronome
- Dual Sound options
- More than 200 instrument voice tones and rhythms
- Music Sheet Rest
- Decent built-in speakers
- 128 polyphony
- Useful connections
- Excellent price point
Cons
Here are some of the shortcomings about the Donner DEP-20
- Lacks Bluetooth connectivity
- The sound is flat and dry
- Very thick, making it uncomfortable to position yourself to play
- The keys are heavy
- The keys take longer to rise
Does Donner Dep-20 Offer Best Value for Your Money?
The Donner DEP-20 is a great piano for a piano under $700. It is competitively priced at less than $400, making it an excellent option for beginners. The Donner DEP-20 has outdone some established brand names. They have managed to give better value for money. Nevertheless, they have some notable flaws, like the keys’ sound quality, weight, and responsiveness. Most of these flaws, however, are noted when playing at an advanced level. Beginners might not have an idea that these flaws even exist.
The portability of the keyboard is an additional advantage that makes this keyboard suitable even for piano teachers or children’s bands.
How Easy Is It to Carry a Donner Dep-20 Around?
Offering one of the lightest pianos in the market is the Donner DEP-20 piano. The weight honestly ranks it at the top and is used as one of its selling point metrics. It weighs just 11.6 kg, meaning one can move around easily with it. The portable feature is a good tipping point for tutors who offer remote and door-to-door services.
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