Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards comparing mp-5, fp-4 and fp-7

speedlever The KR6's are wonderful, I bought both the 5's and the 6's. Tried the 5's first, and then the 6's. 6's just blew me away all around. Bass is excellent and much more than I well need. Also the internal sound speaker of FP7 is just for practice only, either on stage or at home. It does a good job for just that. Also judging the FP7, even with the internal speaker, the sound can be made much much better by adjusting the lid setting by opening it more and adjusting the key touch. Day and night diff to the tone. You or anyone else please try those two settings the next time you play the FP7. You well be amazed.

Also regarding the KRK's, besides great monitors for the piano. I use them for everything. I got a small mixer and tie everyting in my living room through them. Dvd movies, Mp3's, Ipod, PC.. And just breath taking, The musicial clearity is overwhelmnig. And the DVD movies.. Can shake the house only turned up half way.

Also I have to say.. As much as I love these PMI samples.. The other night, I loaded one of them and I'm playing Just beautiful bliss. Not till I hit the one octive below middle C, did I relize I was playing the FP7's internal sample. As someone mentioned here before. The one octave below middle C could use just a tad adjustment. Then the FP7 would be perfect.

A tad messy.. Labor of love getting it right..

Yikes..

Any one trying the FP7 in the store.. Changing two simple settings well make a major diff on hearing the internal sample.

First.. Touch response, Biggest improvement of the two.. It is set to medium
1 press Funtion
2 press Transpose
3 hold Display down and press + button at the same time to drop down top the "Key Touch" use just the minus button by itself to change it to light or then super light. You well have to turn the speaker volume button to half as it well be very loud on super light..

Also opening the lid all the way to six, does make a tad better fullness tone.

At Grand Piano 1
Press display and + buttons at the same time
Then just press the + button only up to 6

Also, regarding that octive below middle C that could use a tad adjustment. The FP7 has a very nice graphic display adjustment for the EQ in that area, I haven't played with it yet. But that very well might fix the flatness in that octave range. Has anyone tried that as of yet. Would be nice to start another tread on diff settings others have tried and have liked on the piano as well as the instrument samples.

Crazy, I have had this for a few months now and I'm just now starting to open the manual.. The little display window is a must. The keyboard just does so much..

Yes, we miss this nice display in our HP-203

km,

Thanks for that excellent info and the pics. Very helpful. The choices aren't as crystal clear to me as I'd like... which just means that I can't go wrong with any of the choices before me!

km,

Quick question about the lid settings. Is that just for listening via the built-in speakers or does it affect the sound through headphones and/or external powered speakers too?

Here is a post previously made on FP7 EQ settings:

http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/6/3170.html#000011

Hello eveybody. Again

I think, finally I made a decision - went to the music store once more today. I came to decide between fp-4 and fp-7 - and ended up with mp-5. Interesting turn (at least to me) and I'll try to explain, why.

I took quite some time to play the FP-7. And first, a big thank you to km for his quick suggestion on opening lid and changing touch. It made all the difference. You can easily switch between an open and very bright sounding grand to a more muffled sound. I suddenly got all the clarity I got from the yamaha cp33 and was missing so much. Plus the adjustment of touch could help you getting acomplished with the keys - starting light and then increasing, as your fingers grow their strenght.
In comparison the keys of the FP-4 are really too soft for me. They might be very suiting to someone coming from a keyboard with no weighted keys - easy to play at and very comfortable. Since I still plan on owning a real grand (perhaps some 20 years from no - shortly before age arthritis makes it impossible to play anymore ). And therefore I think I should stay in touch with heavier keys. I was missing some equalizer settings (tried the things that worked on the fp-7, perhaps that was my mistake). What worked instead was the half-way damper. On FP-7 it did not (so something must have been done wrong there - I can't imagine that it's in the smaller model only). Although you could clearly hear the different damping levels between "on" and "off" it is much of an improvement.

And, finally, the MP-5. What can I say? It is love at second sight. To me playing classical music feels much better here than on the fp-7. Somehow the keys are a bit softer than on the fp-7 and to me it feels like a grand that has been leveled, warmed up, whatever you call it. Not new with stiff mechanics, but somehow well oiled and simply nice. I hope you get me. Of course, pop and jazz and ragtime was nice at this thing too. And although this lid-opening thing on the fp-7 is very very nice, I find the Kawai piano sounds great and the variety suits every need. Concert Grand sounds good, I like the studio grand a lot and the jazz grand is fine too.
Big difference to the roland models for me is in the e-piano section. The roland sounds are ok, but there are not that much and a few sound awful. On the Kawai there are many really different sounds and bearing in mind that I play Jazz as well and might need some of those - they're simply much more to my taste.
(A quick sidenote before the (temporary ) conclusion: I played a few notes on the MP-8 too, since there is quite some talk about it 'round here. This thing is not for me. Although the wooden keys feel awfully nice, they are definately too heavy for me - I'd have to fight against them all the time. But for people who like that, the mp-8 definately is the way to go)

My conclusion as of now

Roland FP-4
+ leightweight (15kg), so great if you plan on moving it a lot
+ has the fine piano sounds of the FP-7, 128 voices, half-way damper, technically top-notch
+ if you like weighted keys, but liek them easy to play: go for this one! (actually, between the initial 6 or 7 pianos (not including fp-7 and mp-5) this one was my instant favorite)
+ built in speaker
+ session-partner
- display
- keys may be to sluggish for some people
- e-piano sounds unconvincing (imho!)

Roland FP-7
+ really really great keys - if you want to play classical music you might choose this one over the fp-4 since they seem to give you more control
+ great display
+ lid-settings are ingeniously cool
+ built in speaker
+ session-partner (with the much improved display over fp-4 totally cool feature!)
- at about 25kg on the edge of too heavy to carry around a lot
- e-piano sounds unconvincing (imho!)

(Yamaha CP33)
+ keys give you fine control
+ for those in love with the sparkling yamaha grand sound - choose this one
+ on the light side (18kg)
- with only 64 voices there is not much room for classical stuff with much damper use
- or, in a word, a bit outdated

Kawai MP-5
+ keys feel just right to me and have a pleasent shape
+ graded keys (i could clearly feel that; not so sure if it was there at fp-4/7)
+ widespread variety of kawai grand sounds that suit every need
+ very fine selection of e-piano sounds (big plus compared to roland models)
+ 192 voices - that's incerdibly much more than i got fingers
+ 20kg is a weight you can handle
- no built in speaker
- no session partner

I definately will miss the session partner which is a totally cool feature. If you're into jazz impro, go for roland.
I definately like the MP-5's keys and piano sounds. If you're into classical, I think you might prefer this one.

Only thing left to do - decide whether i should kill my bank accuont or wait for some money to come in
Thanks for reading, comments very appreciated.

99gnome,
thank you for your time sharing with us the great story,
it was really nice reading it.
Congratulations on your nice new keyboard

I own a vintage Fender Rhodes electric piano and I think the FP4 and FP7 electric pianos are pretty authentic sounding. Most folks rate the FP4 action as faster than the FP7 and the RD-700SX, not sluggish at all. I associate sluggishness with my old P250 and P120 actions.

Hey, have been back out today and finally got around to testing the Kawai MP5. It really is a heck of piece of equipment!

I'm seriously impressed.

Sadly I think it might be too expensive for me, I think I'd have to postpone purchase until after Xmas to save - and I don't want to do that! I can really see why you've ended up with one Joe - I thought the action on it is amazing. There is a lovely subtle 'thunk' at the end of the keystrokes which I wasn't really able to feel on the Roland ones... the only problem I did have about it was I couldn't get a jazz organ sound that I really liked out of it. I suspect thats more to do with getting used to tweaking the right knobs and stuff as opposed to anything else though.

I think I still have to choose between fp4 and fp 7 because of money. Basically comes down to the weight issue. How much of a hassle is lugging the extra 10kg around going to be? I'm reliant on public transport so I don't think my back is going to be pleased if I end up with FP-7. Arg. Killer is that I think I prefer the 'heavier' FP-7 action. Might toss a coin !

The final thing is amplification. There is surely no poing in buying a beautiful keyboard if you can't amplify it beautifully. What are peoples solutions to this? Particulaly in the case of the MP5 this adds £X to the price? Does anyone have recommendations as to how they are projecting themselves?

Thanks again guys,
Simon

Simon,

Prices must be quite a bit higher on your side of the pond than in the US. The MP5 (20.5 kg) goes for around $1100 (same as the FP-4) and a bit less than the FP-7 (~$1500).

I never have been able to find an MP5 to test yet.

Where can you find and try the MP5? Kawai's website has no leads...

Hello Folks, I thought I provide you with an update. Wednesday last week the MP-5 arrived and on sunday and today I finally found time to start playing around with it. Since my thumbs hurt from the unusually high amount of playing I try my luck with the computer keyboard.

The Piano came in a nice package and after unwrapping it, the thing itself is neither too big nor too heavy. I bought a softbag with wheels that I can test tomorrow (band rehearsal) for the first time, but I thought 20kg would be way heavier than they really are. (I carry it from living room to sleeping room twice a day and that's no problem).

The damper is of solid build and quite heavy (which I like) - it's a shame that I tend to kick it all the time

Now to the piano itself. As I said before, I had a very long phase (almost a year now) where I played an accoustic once a week only and the Korg M1 more often. So my fingers get tired quick, the thumbs hurt since so unused to weighted keys. The action is still very very fine. In comparison to my upright you can really feel a difference, but I definately wouldn't go as far as saying the DP feels not so good; it simply feels different.
As for the sounds - Concert Grand I and II sound very nice and at the moment I couldn't tell which one I prefer. The studio grand sounds way brighter - a good comparison might be accoustic grand and bright grand you find in General Midi Patches 1 and 2 - and of the jazz piano I'm not sure yet. Then there's a mellow piano which is very damped and soft. Of course, many many more piano sounds I did not play with so much.
The E-Piano section is very complete and you definately find something for every taste, some sounds come in 5, 6 variations so be sure that the sound you're looking for is there. The bunch of organs is so big, that I did not really take my time to really test them. There are sooo many. And nice jazz organs, too. A big surprise to me is the brass/wind section with some great saxes and flutes (and, of course, the famous jump brass, that makes your neighbours jump ). Please bear in mind, that this is my first DP, so I'm not sure how qualified I am to judge, but compared to the Korg M1 and my Soundlbaster with a 60MB (very good) GM Soundfont installed, the MP-5 instruments clearly blast them all to kingdom-come.

Although the knobs, faders and levers initially were way to much for me, I have to say they are fun to use and easy too. Assigning the four available zones, layering them and splitting the keyboard is totally simple. Of course there are a bunch of effects, reverbs, the 4-band equalizer and all that stuff. Don't ask me about that, I think that is nice to have, but nothing I tend to play around with. Although I'd be keen on other user's equalizer settings

In a nutshell: great piece of hardware. Glad I have it and really looking forward to the jazz rehearsal tomorrow morning - I told noone I was goind to replace the good ol' M1
One minor issue: I have one clicking key. It does not feel different, but makes a clicking noise when it jumps back. Unnoticeable when playing loud or with phones, but i'm a bit nitpicky at this. And the really last comment in this post: The damper is capable of half-pedal damping. But it is really difficult to adjust and I am not yet used to it. Plus, a big difference to an accoustic that I am only aware of now: I often raise the damper to get rid of echos and reverb when changing chords and then, just after I play the next chord, I hit the pedal once more. In an accoustic you always catch the string still swinging. Here, if not done very quick, the sound is gone and there is nothing left to damp ... I wonder, if manufactures could change this.

Anyway - thanks for reading, comments welcome.

Heya

As an beginner, aspiring Jazz pianist, can I ask what particular aspects of these Roland DP's is it that make them suitable specifically for Jazz to you?

Cheers,
Manachi

Manachi --------------------

There's a great jazz piano player ("Lot2Learn") on YouTube who has a whole bunch of jazz piano videos and exclusively uses the FP-4 for gigging and the FP-7. You can send him a message and ask your question.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lot2learn?blend=1&ob=4

btcomm -
Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you enjoy the videos. I would hope that people find them beneficial to their learning and more importantly, they help expose people to various styles of music.

Manachi -
To answer the question about DP's - I believe it is a very personal choice - you must really try to play one before buying it. That being said, I actually DIDN'T play an FP-4 before buying it! I played it's heavier sibling the FP-7 and figured if it was even close to the feel of the FP-7, it would work for me. I also received some excellent advice about the FP-4 from the user known as rintincop on this forum which made the decision easier for me despite the fact that I had not played one.

For me, my criteria for a DP is lightweight (under 40 lbs, the lighter the better)decent feeling weighted keyboard, and decent sounds. I went to the local music store and tried the Casio Privia, one of the Yamaha DP's (don't remember which one) and the Roland FP-7 (they didn't have an FP-4). The Roland FP-7 felt and sounded the best of any but the weight put it out of contention so I ended-up with the FP-4. It has served me well and is a great gigging board. If I were getting a DP for home use, weight would not have been an issue and I would have looked at other models. The other nice feature of the FP-4 is the built-in speakers. I am able to use these as a stage monitor in larger venues and am often able to use them as my only amplification on small venue gigs. So while I don't think there is any particular DP that is suited better than any other for "jazz" playing, there are those that are more practical for the gigging jazz pianist.

I hope that helps. Remember it is a personal decision and with the modern DP's today, you can rarely go wrong. Besides, if you don't like it, that's why we have Craigslist and eBay!

- Roger
(aka Lot2learn)

Thanks for your feedback btcomm & lot2learn! Very much appreciated.

It's funny this particular thread exists because after two trips to the big music store here, and after doing a lot of reading, these are the exact 3 keyboards I'm trying to choose out of. I'm indecisive at the best of times so I'm finding this hard to commit to one of them!

I had a play with them today, specifically trying to 'A-B' them, ie play the same sound/riff/chords on one, then the other and repeat. Unfortunately the MP5 was on a different floor, so I couldn't get as good a comparison as between the FP4 & FP7.

The feel of the FP7 is someone unusual. I do like that they're slightly 'heavier', but there's something I find odd. Not sure of the best way to describe it but it feels as though the keys hit the bottom with a very distinct and abrupt 'hit'. Like the key is travelling downwards nicely then all of a sudden you're BAM/bottomed out. (Not much suspension or something?) The FP4 feels a bit smoother. The thing is I've never played PROPERLY on a grand piano at all (ie I've played in stores, but I'm not a good judge) so I'm not sure if this is a close simulation or not, but it almost seemed like the FP4 is 'smoother'/more piano-like? The piano i have at my families hosue is a very old upright, so it could well be that I'm comparing it to that (and that old monstrosity should not be a guide for anything! )

The MP5 does feel REALLY nice IMO, the keys felt great to, and it just LOOKS nice. It's a beautiful looking piece of gear IMO. I'd miss the session/accompaniament thing on this, but then again I have an equipped studio with cubase & everything, so I guess there's nothing I couldn't do there? Also those zone 'level' sliders are nice, the whole interface seems a little 'slicker'. (Do those zone level sliders put out a MIDI msg too? could be useful)

Man... I really can't even say which way I'm leaning at the moment. They're all nice. I like the 'value for money' aspect of the FP4, and although at the moment this instrument will be for home use only, I sort of like the idea of at least having the option of portability, so a 'standalone' keyboard would be nice a) for potential future gigging b) might provide more options to fit in with my current studio which includes 2 keyboard/synthesisers currently on X-Stands.

Anyway this probably doesn't provide that much useful information to the thread, but if anyone has any furhter opinions or experiences or tips about these 3 models, please keep it coming! Any owners of these models care to share their experience? Have they lasted the test of time?

Cheers,
Manachi

Manachi,



Yes, the zone sliders can indeed be set to control/send MIDI messages to external hardware.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
James
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>Yes, the zone sliders can indeed be set to control/send MIDI messages to external >hardware.

AFAIK only MIDI volume messages can be sent using zone sliders.
However there are 4 rotary control knobs as well that can send MIDI control changes...
Greetings,

Bata

Bata, yes, thank you for clarifying this point.

Cheers,
James
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