We have $350 left to spend on software for our software piano. So what will it be: Bechstein, Blüthner, Bösendorfer, Fazioli, or Steinway (New York or Hamburg)? The great thing about software pianos is that, over time, the answer could be "all of the above." All of these pianos and more are available in our price range, but hold on—before you buy the software, you need to make sure it's something your current computer can handle; if you have to buy a new computer, you'll blow a big hole in your $1,995 budget. Most software packages list their requirements, so it's easy to compare them with your computer's specs: the amount of free space available on your hard drive; the amount of memory, or RAM, your computer has; and the speed and type of its central processing unit (CPU). See your computer documentation for instructions on how to find the specs for your computer.

Assuming the specifications of a two-year-old midrange computer, some of the software packages that will work with it are shown in Table 4. These are just a few of the options; demonstration recordings and screen shots for most of them are available on their websites.

The software piano option will be especially appealing to those for whom the quality and realism of the piano sound are particularly important factors in choosing a digital piano, such as the classically trained, and other connoisseurs of the acoustic piano exploring the world of digital pianos. As you can see from the amount of free hard-disk space required to install these packages, the sample sets average more than 12GB per individual instrument. This is vastly larger than the amount of storage available on the majority of digital pianos, and allows for much greater sample detail and nuance.

So, the seemingly simple question of which digital pianos can be purchased for $1,995 has produced more than a dozen options, spread over three different approaches: console pianos, slab or stage pianos with outboard sound systems, and software pianos. I'm betting your piano—the one that meets your musical needs, suits your preference in visual appearance, and whets your appetite for adventure—is in there somewhere.