Alesis Prestige Review

We rated the Alesis Prestige an 8.5/10. The Prestige is an 88-key digital piano with graded hammer action keys. This model was made with advanced pianists in mind. At just 28 pounds, this instrument is both portable and full-sized. We were especially impressed with the multi-sampled piano sounds.

The biggest pro to this instrument is how many connections it has. We did take off just a few points though because there aren’t that many tones, and the record mode is pretty limited. However, this is still a high-quality instrument that you will get a lot of bang for your buck.

Alesis Prestige Overview

In this Alesis Prestige review, we will be looking at a full-sized, under-$500 piano. But first, let’s look into a bit of history. 

The company Alesis was first founded in 1990. They were originally known for their USB technology. Now, they are known for their electronics and their musical instruments. If you have heard of Alesis before, it is probably in regards to their electronic percussion instruments (Don’t tell them, but I have a Simmons brand set! Anyways…). Today, we are checking out one of Alesis’ pianos, called the Alesis Prestige. 

The Alesis Prestige 88-key digital piano is marketed to beginners through professionals. The company itself actually says that there are plenty of features for ‘Professionals and beginners alike”. But with a price point below $500, could this really be true?! It looks like it is time to head to the features. 

Features

Graded Hammer-Action Keyboard

Aha! This is the biggest feature I always look for in economical pianos that are supposedly designed for both professionals and beginners. Graded Hammer-action means that the keys feel heavier as you go down lower on the keys. It simulates the feeling of playing a grand.  Alesis even self-describes the keybed as ‘luxurious’. But do pro players and reviews agree? 

According to reviewer KeyboardKraze, the keybed is clearly made with advanced players in mind. You can certainly color me impressed! 

Designed for Small Spaces

The Alesis Prestige is compact, so you can fit it in your apartment, or a smaller living room. 

It also only weighs 28 pounds, so it is easy to move too. I can already see the Alesis Prestige making a great gigging piano for intermediate to pro musicians. 

Lesson Mode

Lesson mode is what some companies call dual mode or duet mode. It splits the keyboard up into two sections, which have identical octaves. This makes it an ideal digital piano for both the students’ homes and the teacher’s studio.

Younger students can get confused by the same notes being played in different octaves- This is something I have definitely experienced as an elementary school teacher and piano tutor. I would highly recommend a piano with lesson mode/ duet mode for teachers. 

Apart from lesson mode, this keyboard comes with a lot of materials for hands-on learning, like the following trial subscriptions. 

3 Months of Skoove

Skoove is something we have mentioned in several of our reviews now. Skoove is a program that actually provides users with feedback after playing, which makes it more helpful than a lot of the other paid programs out there. I really like that the Prestige comes with these free trial subscriptions because it allows players to get started even if they can’t afford, it or aren’t ready for lessons yet.

Melodics

With every purchase of this instrument, you get 60 free piano lessons with something called Melodics. You can download Melodics on either your computer or a tablet. Essentially, it is an app that boasts modern sounds and tunes and is designed to make practice more fun.

50-Watt Micro-Array System

This speaker system sounds really quite full given the price point. While it isn’t loud enough to fill a large stage, it will get you by in a large living room, or even a coffee shop gig! Beginners will appreciate the built-in speaker system, as they won’t need to buy external amplification before they can start learning. 

A Variety of Voices

• Organs such as pipe organs 1 and 2 
• Electric Piano
• Regular piano 
• Strings
• Basses such as upright bass and saw bass
• Polysynth 

The voices from this sound bank are multi-sampled, meaning that the sounds were sampled in a way that makes them richer and more three-dimensional. 

Effects 

The Alesis Prestige has 5 different types of FX reverbs in order to fill out your sound. While there are an admittedly small number of effects on the instrument, keep in mind that this is a basic piano and not a workstation of synth. 

Other Features

Other features the Alesis Prestige has included:

• Split mode
• Layer mode
• Headphone output mute

Specifications

• Piano Type: Digital
• Presets: 16 factory
• Audio Recording: 1-track
• Audio Inputs: 1 x 1/8″
• Headphones: 1 x 1/4″ TRS, 1 x 1/8″ TRS
• Audio Outputs: 2 x 1/4″ TRS (L/R)
• USB: 1 x Type B
• MIDI I/O: USB
• Pedal Inputs: 1 x 1/4″ (sustain), 1 x DIN (3-pedal)
• Built-in Speakers: 4 x 2.5″ woofers, 4 x 2.5″ passive radiators, 25W per side
• Power Supply: 12V DC power supply (included)
• Height: 5.88″
• Width: 11.7″
• Depth: 52.08″
• Weight: 28.21 lbs.
• Manufacturer Part Number: PRESTIGEXUS

Tech Specs are taken from Sweetwater.com

Who Is The Alesis Prestige Suitable For?

The Alesis Prestige is suitable for beginners and up. The interface and number of sounds are simple enough for beginners, but the sound samping and keybed quality and excellent enough to even satisfy some of the pros.

This Prestige is suitable for a really wide range of audiences. I believe it is most suited to players who want a piano that is light for traveling, or compact for gigging. It would also make a great digital instrument for a piano lessons studio. 

The Prestige in Action 

You can listen to some of Prestige’s voices in the following Preset Demo video.

You can hear the grand piano, dark piano, organs, strings, and synths as well as other voices. The sounds I was most impressed with were the Wurli EP, the FM piano, and the dark piano sounds. 

Reviews

The Alesis Prestige is rated 5 out of 5 stars on Sweetwater.com. That being said, we only had one review to check out today! (Amazon does not carry the Alesis Prestige, just the Prestige Artist, which we will check out later in this article.)

The customer who made the review said that this was a good deal for the price. The customer liked the piano sound and was really impressed with the sampling as well. 

Alesis Prestige Pros and Cons

Pros

• This keyboard is full-sized and economical, at just under $500 
• It comes with a sustain pedal 
• It is lightweight and compact 
• The voices are multi-sampled, for a better sound sample quality 
• It has 1/4 inch stereo outputs, so you can connect the instrument to an external speaker for a more powerful sound. 
• It has internal speakers 

As we mentioned earlier, the Alesis Prestige is compact, lightweight, economical, and most importantly, high quality. One of the biggest pros here for me is the number of connections it has. A lot of competitors’ keyboards do away with USB ports and some of the ¼-inch inputs and outputs in their cheaper instruments. It is a relief to see that Alesis has the USB to MIDI port in their economical model.

Cons

• This keyboard only comes with 16 voices 
• Similarly, it doesn’t come with a keyboard stand, or other accessories you might want or need to get started 
• Record mode does not have multiple tracks
• Several musicians have commented that, while the instrument does have internal speakers, it is not ‘the loudest beginning piano out there’ 
• If you want a louder sound you may need to purchase an amplifier/ speaker 

This keyboard does what it is meant to do, well. However, I believe that professional musicians may quickly tire of the small yet high-quality sound bank. In addition to this, composers and producers won’t be happy to know that the record mode only has one track: Mainly, it is for checking back on your practice.

The last big con I see in this instrument is that the speakers may not be loud enough for some professionals’ needs, so it is likely that intermediate players and up will need to purchase an extra piece of equipment if they want to use the Alesis Prestige out on the town. 

Quick View 

Alesis Prestige Vs. Alesis Prestige Artist

The only Alesis Prestige that is available on Amazon is the Artist model, for $599. However, on Sweetwater, the original Prestige, as well as the Artist Prestige are both available. So, what’s the difference? 

The Prestige Artist is about $100 more expensive than the Alesis Prestige. The Alesis Prestige Artist can be a MIDI controller, whereas the Prestige cannot. It also has more voices. Basically, the Artist version is an upgraded and updated Alesis Prestige. 

Other Comparable Instruments

Amazon has made a really handy chart, which compared other Alesis instruments to the Alesis Prestige Artist. 

• Alesis Prestige Artist
• Recital Grand | $449.00
• Also Recital Pro | $379.00
• And Recital | $229.99
• Finally Recital 61 | $199.99

The Alesis Recital and the Recital 61 are extremely economical instruments. That being said, they’re only partially weighted and have very few voices. 

Alesis Prestige Artist | Photo Credit: Amazon.com

In my personal opinion, the best instrument on the comparison list is the Prestige Artist. It even tops the original Alesis Prestige. And while the Recital Grand is a good starter instrument, the polyphony is too low for my tastes. The Prestige offers the best bang for your buck, while also getting the highest number of voices, effects, and polyphony from this particular Alesis line. 

The following models from these other brands are also comparable to the Alesis Prestige: 

• Yamaha P45 | $549.99 
• Yamaha P-125 | $699.99
• Casio CDP S-150 | $349.00 
• Korg B2 | $649.99
• Roland FP-10 |  

Yamaha’s P45 is a digital piano with built-in speakers and a graded hammer keyboard. The AWM sound engine it contains is really lovely. It is also compact and has great effects, and 6W amplifiers.

Yamaha’s P-125 will cost you a pretty penny more than the Prestige. However, the price of this one is $999.99 on Amazon right now. The big selling points of this one are: 

• USB connectivity and audio transfer
• Samples from Yamaha’s 9-foot grand
• GHS weighted action
• A compact design 

The Casio CDP S-150 is a digital piano with 12 tones. While it is significantly cheaper than the Prestige, I believe that this comes with a high cost: a low polyphony of only 64 notes. Honestly, I’m not quite sure why people are comparing the Prestige to this one… I would not recommend it. 

The Korg B2 is a just-over-$600 piano bundle. What I really like about this one is that it comes with a full package: The keyboard stand, the bench, and three pedals. It is more of a piano for the home (like a cabinet piano) rather than a portable digital piano. 

Like the Alesis Prestige, the Roland FP-10 is a full-sized hammer-action keyboard designed for entry-level players. 

Conclusion

I hope you have found this Alesis Prestige review to be helpful. In conclusion, this model of piano is a great launch pad for serious pianos who are about to start playing. You get a good number of voices and effects, and a full-sized, fully-weighted keyboard for a low price. If you want a few more features and a piano that will last you longer in your music-playing career, consider upgrading to the Alesis Prestige Artist model. 

Music quote of the week: 

“Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence” 

-Robert Fripp

8.5Expert Score

We rated the Alesis Prestige an 8.5/10. The Prestige is an 88-key digital piano with graded hammer action keys. This model was made with advanced pianists in mind. At just 28 pounds, this instrument is both portable and full-sized. We were especially impressed with the multi-sampled piano sounds. The biggest pro to this instrument are how many connections it has. We did take off just a few points though, because there aren’t that many tones, and the record mode is pretty limited. However, this is still a high-quality instrument that you will get a lot of bang for your buck with.

PROS

• This keyboard is full-sized and economical, at just under $500
• It comes with a sustain pedal
• It is lightweight and compact
• The voices are multi-sampled, for a better sound sample quality
• It has 1/4 inch stereo outputs, so you can connect the instrument to an external speaker for a more powerful sound.
• It has internal speakers

CONS

• This keyboard only comes with 16 voices
• Similarly, it doesn’t come with a keyboard stand, or other accessories you might want or need to get started
• Record mode does not have multiple tracks
• Several musicians have commented that, while the instrument does have internal speakers, it is not ‘the loudest beginning piano out there’
• If you want a louder sound you may need to purchase an amplifier/ speaker