Hi guys,
I'm new to these forums, and to digital pianos. We've recently sold our piano of 20 yrs and have decided to replace it with a digital stage piano.

Most of what I do involves recording myself singing and playing popular music. If anyone is interested in what I have done so far, just search for my username in youtube.

Anyway,I was looking at the Roland FP series and wondered what the major differences are between the FP4 and FP7.
In Australia, there is only $500AUD between the two, and the only difference I can tell are the speakers, lcd panel and the touch.

Browsing through these forums, I noticed that a couple of FP7 users have reported 'hammer' noises when playing with headphones. As I'll be using this in an apartment complex, I would like to know how bad this hammering noise is.

Otherwise, the 300GX is around the same price range, so what would you guys recommend between the 300GX or the FP7.

Thanks for all your help =)

I was in the same boat as you... I was having a lot of trouble deciding between the FP4 and the FP7 action. The FP7 has a real 'bottoming out' feel - like you're hitting granite. The FP4 to me actually had a more piano-like action in some ways, but it also has a bit of a spongey feel. I wish they had an action that was somewhere 'in the middle' of those two in a similar price range.

Re the RD-300GX vs FP7, I think a couple of key differences are the FP7 (and the FP4) have inbuilt speakers, and the session partner. The 300GX has a pitch bend. The idea is that RD is meant to be more 'stage' oriented and FP more home use (or stage). But I tend to think either could be used for either purpose really.

In the end I ended up forking out a bit more cash and getting the Roland RD-700GX which has a key action that seems to feel far superior to others (but you pay for it!) - so far I couldn't be happier

One thing I've learnt since buying a DP is no DP is ever the same as a piano, I bought that top of the line Roland DP, and while it's key action is REALLY nice, it's also a world apart from my teachers Yamaha grand piano key action so it really does come down to what feels best. For me, a reasonably heavy weight was important.

Thanks for the reply Manachi,
However, the 700GX is just too far out of reach for me, financially.
I'll have to re-test the FP4 and FP7's actions, and see which I prefer.
But I think I'd rather the FP7. Though I don't want to end up disturbing my neighbours..

I was present at a Roland in-store demonstration a couple of years ago in Glasgow. I was looking for a new digital piano. The in-store Roland rep played the Fp-7 which was new then and I was totally grabbed by the sound, feel and appearance of the piano. It was selling for £1200 plus £100 for the solid mathching base.

I was able to purchase the same piano and stand with FREE delivery from the England over the internet for £888 to my doorstep in Ireland. I love the piano but yes, there are a few things that annoy me.

One is the hammer action. When I play with headphones you can hear the sound the key action - it used to drive my wife nuts, mainly because she could hear no music! On the whole though, it is a beatiful piano and recording is so simple.

I have been using an FP-4 for about a year for my gigs. The salesman let me take an FP-7 for a few gigs to try it out. I liked it, but it was too physically heavy for me to comfortably carry around. I bought the FP4 instead, mostly for that reason originally. I don't imagine that matters for your use. But...

I found after using it that I actually preferred the action of the FP4. The FP7 seemed heavier and sluggish. The main differences are the action, the internal speakers, the drawbar organs and the piano designer function.

If you plan to use the internal speakers, I think you will be disappointed with the FP4. The FP7 speakers are considerably better, but external speakers could be better than either. For me, the internal speakers are a seldom-used frill; good for playing something quick at home without setting up my amp.

I still wish I had the customizable drawbar organ function. While you don't have real-time drawbars, you can preset any combination of drawbars you chose and store it as a sound on the FP7.

I was just starting to fool around with the piano design functions when I decided on the FP4 instead, so I can't tell you much about that.

I'd say that if you don't plan to use external amplification, you'll really want better speakers than the FP4 has. Otherwise, I can heartily recommend it.

Thanks for the reply guys, I just had another look at the FP7 and FP4 and have confirmed the 'bottoming out' feel on the FP7.
However, I feel that it's still more natural to me than the FP4, which is slightly spongier.
I'll let you know what I decide!!
Cheers again to ya'all, been a great help to me =)

I compared the FP-7 side by side to the RD700-GX.. both on the same speakers used for the 700GX. The 700GX sounded noticeably better, and had much better keyboard action.. no bottoming out. Only shortcomings is no simple recorder or metronome for practice. Suggestion.. try the Korg M50 before making your decision. I tried one the other day for about 5 minutes and it really caught my interest to spend more time with it. It's about $1500 compared to $2500 for the 700GX.. no internal speakers, but nice sounds, decent keyboard.. not as good as 700GX but reasonably good.. has a simple recorder as well as more complex sequencer, metronome and a variety of instruments as a typical synth. It's also fairly lite and narrow for easy portability. Here's a link for info.. http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-M5088-Compact-Workstation?sku=710022

Thanks for that jake, I'll look around for the Korg. There aren't many music stores in Sydney, Australia. and even fewer stock Korgs.. lol

I had a Roland FP-4 for a year or so... its great, but the action is a little too light for my liking, its bordering on a standard keyboard weighting almost. But its light enough to gig with, the FP-7 is not and is out of the question if you want to carry it around alot with you. Personally I would go with the Yamaha P-155 if I had to choose, I think Yamaha has the edge over Rolands in general, love the brighter more piano sounding main voices. Roland at that price sounds too digital or more electronic sounding if you like.

You could also consider a Casio Privia PX-330 which has a great piano sound and action and is also very portable. It has 128-note polyphony and a multitude of extra features including auto-accompaniment and built-in drums. I have played lots of Roland and Yamaha digital pianos and have preferred Yamaha over Roland. However this Casio model compares well if not better than the Yamaha and is probably quite a bit cheaper. I had never tried Casio pianos before but was extremely impressed with this one.

Can you please tell me the web address of the store in England?

Thanks
Pedro

Hey mwf, I just had a quick look on your youtube channel. Great music!
I'll check out the P155, which is cheaper than the FP4 and FP7, but I don't like 'bright' piano sounds, I prefer more sombre sounds for ballads and stuff.

Hey guys,

Went back to the music store to try out the piano's again.
Regarding the action on the FP7, it feels heavy at first, like it won't budge. but then after a certain point, it just lets go and u hit the bottom too fast.
It's hard to play really 'softly' or gently on the piano, because it kinda seems like an 'all or nothing' action.

The FP4 was spongier, yes, but it also allowed me to play with much more varying degrees.
All in all, I prefer the action of the FP4.

So the next question is:
FP4 or RD300GX?

Given that I will most likely only play at home (maybe in the future I'll take it around), good active monitors are quite expensive and the keyboard amps make the 300GX sound like crap.

Thanks for all your feedback so far =D

Hey guys,

I've been back to the store a couple more times, and I decided that I don't like the look of the RD-300GX, and I felt more comfortable with the FP4's touch!

So looks like the cheapest model is the one I'm after! lol

Thanks for the help =D