smithac345 iternabe I wonder if dynamics are harder to perceive on a digital than an acoustic piano?
Maybe not harder, but different. With digital, one sets the absolute upper limit of the dynamics. For example, if I play a triad at maximum MIDI value of 127, and set the volume knob so that the sound is at 85dB, then that means no matter how hard I pound the keys, the piano sound won't be louder than that. To create more dynamics, I will have to play my quiet part quieter.
I don't have much experience with acoustic piano, but I get the impression that it could be the opposite - that there is much less of an "upper limit" at the ff and fff end?
Another important part of perceiving dynamics is tone/timbre. Of my two DPs, the built-in sound of Roland FP-30X is quite lacking in timbre variation with dynamics. The Kawai MP11SE's SK-EX sampled sound is better. The VSTi that I run on my Mac, Pianoteq and VI Labs Modern D, are much much better at rendering the subtle timbre change with varying dynamics.