There's no beating a real acoustic grand piano when it comes to sound and appearance, but they’re certainly not right for everyone. For starters, a brand-name grand piano is extremely expensive, but it also takes up a considerable amount of space - classical pianos and small apartments don’t mix! If you're an experienced classical musician, you might be against the idea of using a digital piano, but for many, it's actually far more preferable. Even mid-range digital pianos these days can sound remarkably close to the real thing - their sounds come from audio samples of real acoustic pianos. Digital pianos are also great for live and studio recording. Since they usually have audio and MIDI inputs and outputs, they can easily be integrated into studio recording software or DAWs (digital audio workstations) such as Audacity, Ableton and FL Studio.