So for the purposes of this forum can we refer to hybrids as those digital pianos which have an acoustic action inside them? Realizing that the AvantGrand and Novus pianos don't have an exact acoustic action inside them, they are enough of an acoustic action as to not feel markedly different to a grand or upright piano. We could for the sake of argument include the Casio Celviano as it has many of the components of the grand action but it is not a true grand action. In theory you could swap the hammers out of the AvantGrand or Novus and use it in a grand piano (aside from strike point issues....) which you couldn't do with the Casio.
I believe that the Roland pianos are not Hybrids, because they don't contain any acoustic piano components. They're great pianos and I've always really enjoyed playing them, but they're not true hybrids in that sense. The Kawai CA-series are acoustically hybrids because of the soundboards, but it's a bit confusing to use the name hybrid for an entirely different product. Again, they have really beautiful actions and they sound lovely, and are great for practicing on but they're not hybrids.
My two grand pianos and my upright all have entirely different actions in them. Going from the BlĂŒthner Patent to the double repetition to the upright requires about the same level of adapting in my technique as it does going from any one of them to my P515. In the practice rooms in Glasgow I'd go from a Yamaha C3L with a bright sound and fairly light touch to the teaching room with a very mellow Hamburg Steinway A with a more robust action, and that required a level of adapting in the touch as well. Playing the CFIIIS was very different to playing the Steinway D, which is different to playing a Shigeru Kawai, which is different to a BlĂŒthner Model 1 or a Bösendorfer 280VC, and they're all different to the Imperial.
You can only cut your coat according to your cloth - and I don't know you might have unlimited cloth but my point is that these days, a lot of the trouble that people have with digital pianos is actually emotional. Clavinova, Roland, Kawai, Casio, and all the hybrids are all good pianos for learning notes. It's a little bit harder on them to hear in full resolution what you're trying to do artistically so things like pedaling, articulation, legato, are all going to require some time on an acoustic piano.
Two fabulous pianists I know from Moscow practice on Clavinovas on a regular basis. One of my teachers, who was Goldenweiser's student, prepared for a Wigmore Hall recital in the late 1980s on a Clavinova, it was a CLP-560 or something, not a great piano by today's standards at all. I asked her how that affected her performance and she said it made no difference. She said that the real sound was in her inner ear all the time. Now, I don't like that idea of the real sound being in the inner ear, and only in the inner ear, because obviously you have to react to the instrument and the surroundings, but I also think she was making a good point that it comes from within.
After all that rambling though, I side with those who believe a Hybrid is a piano with a full acoustic action, be it slightly modified or not. I would include the Casio Grand Hybrid in that although it's not quite the same, but I wouldn't include the Kawai CA97 or Roland LX series in that - even though they're great pianos.
