Hi,

I bought my 307RW on Friday and it was delivered Saturday with assembly/delivery included for £2500 and a Roland bench with lift-up seat pad to put things under, good stuff!

I thought I would share my thoughts on it, as I have years of experience playing DP's. I recently owned a CLP380PE and sold it for the HP-307. I would say I am divided in my opinion of the HP-307 vs CLP380, however personally for me the Roland has the edge due to the piano tones having slightly better sampling used. The bass notes, in particular the D-flat (always a nice key on DP's that one) stands out for me as its wonderfully rich and natural sounding. The overall tonal qualities of the HP-307 are beautifully rich and to my ears are of a higher quality than the CLP-380. The only gripe maybe I have is the poorer speaker system the Roland has compared to the incredible 380 set-up which directs the sound at the player rather than into the whole room.

Touch on the 307 is very good and key repition is marvellous, and faster and more accurate than the 380, I am sure of this! I tried Prokoviev toccata in D minor (well, the start anyway lol) and once you manage the timing of repetition on the 307 it is more easy to execute the rapid notes in succession and it sounding fluid and natural. This is one of the highlights I am most pleased with, Roland has managed to follow up with what they claim with the new PH III keyboard.

I will say the keyboard is probably the loudest thumping action (against the keybed) however I have ever used though, which will always annoy other persons in your house if played for long periods of time.

The Supernatural Piano sound bank used for the piano sounds is amazing and very natural and no abrupt change in tone either, this is very very good! You get simply beautiful tones whilst playing softly and nice metallic twangy louder sound for forte, also excellent. The CLP-380 had an amazing IAFC feature which probably outmatches the Roland effects when activated, but I dont care to be honest, as the Roland sampling is more advanced and realistic.

I am very happy with my decision to switch from the 380 to 307 and I think it was the best move for me to make, I have no regrets after playing the 307 for hours on end today, and I really enjoyed the experience and it made me smile and very happy which makes a change

Thanks guys.

Thank you for the review - congrats on your new DP!

Cheers,
James
x

Wow, congrats and thanks for the great review!
We're waiting for your new videos.

This is the only "feature" holding me back from purchasing an HP-307 myself.

Congratulations on your new piano!

Please let us know when you have posted some new HP307 music to your youtube site.

Great purchase, very jealous. But at least we can enjoy it through your playing. We're waiting :-)

Dont let it put you off that much, they all have this thumping action/sound... I just noticed this one was a little louder than others, but its really not noticeable to you the player once you get into playing.

I forgot to say also about the PH III, its actually my favourite keyboard I have ever played on! The natural escapement is outstanding with that 'click' feeling, which is far more natural and less obvious than in the old days when I owned a HP-7! It gives the player very accurate and natural control of the keystroke - more like on a good upright/grand piano.

Cheers

Mark

Well done Mark, enjoy your new piano. Pop a few tunes up on YouTube soon!

Cheers,

Steve

I've got a short question. Do you notice a hum on the 307 same as on the 305 (http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthrea...tml#Post1426341)? Basically it's a quiet 50hz hum from the transformator. You'll most likely only notice it in a very quiet room but it's always there, independant of the volume setting. Also the speakers hiss (but the hiss is quieter than the hum). The hiss goes away immediately if you plug in headphones, the hum stays. Roland customer support said that this is normal for the 305 and that there is absolutely nothing they can do about it, but I wonder whether the 307 also has this.

No I dont hear anything, I think its important to remember all DP's will have unknown artifacts you may not be happy with, you have to try to think past this. My old CLP-380PE had a werid 'different' sounding note that I was not happy with when played at softer levels. This annoyed me after a while, but its probably just something only my ear could hear and not a real problem. Its best not to think too much about any humming or hissing.

Regards

Mark

No hum from my 307, and no hiss from the speakers. My previous Clavinova was silent too but my GranTouch had an audible (to the player or someone very close by) hiss with lid up.

Mark, how do you find the synthetic ivory compared with Yamaha's version? Personally in terms of just the look of it I prefer Yamaha's...the Roland looks a bit over-the-top. I've never properly played a Yamaha with synthetic ivory so I can't comment on it as a playing surface.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve,

I like both boards, I like the Roland just as much as the 380 one, in fact I would go as far as to say I think the PH III is a superior keyboard overall, because I think you can add more expression with the escapement mechanism and repeated notes are slightly easier to execute on the Roland also, I love the texture of the keys on the PH III, I just love the keyboard to be honest, very happy with the weight also - slighlty lighter thyan the NW GH3 on the 380 in my opinion, also something I prefer.

Of course I could be siding with the Roland simply because its brand new to me, but I am loving it nonetheless.

Regards

Mark

mwf, what do you think of the other SuperNATURAL APs? The DPBSD only tested one of them and I'm very curious as to how the others sound. Do any of them sound particularly like a Yamaha, Steinway, or Bosendorfer to you? Do you have a favorite?

Yes, I'd be interested in Mark's view. Personally, I don't find a huge difference...there are three Grand Pianos, a rock piano and a honky-tonk. All deliver the SN promises...

Grand 1 - As far as conventional DPs are concerned it is difficult to fault; it's smooth, rounded and powerful across the whole keyboard. What they have achieved with the SN is maybe about 85% of the dynamism and playability of the V-Piano combined with a very much more real sounding timbre, most noticeable in the mid-range, which makes it preferable to me over the V-Piano. Grand 2 is mellower and Grand 3 is pretty bright, surprisingly so for a Roland which has this reputation for being mellow. All three are well balanced sounds. Personally, I genuinely believe they are trying to emulate a Steinway but GP3 would probably satisfy Yamaha fans to some extent, not necessarily in terms of tonal character but in terms of its clarity and ability to cut through.

None of the sounds has the dry, very slightly anaemic bass of the previous generation Rolands (the Superior Grand was not too bad in this respect) and neither do they have the tendency to an indistinct muddiness in the mid-range either...it's a big jump forwards in other words.

I would say that the basic tonal character of the three GPs is very similar. If you switch between GP 1, 2 and 3 there is more going on than just differences in EQ but on the other hand I don't feel that it is like switching between different pianos.

Cheers,

Steve

I agree with Steve, I cant find much difference between GP1 and GP2 anyway, the third GP being brighter and not as much to my liking, which is no surprise as its GP3. GP1 and 2 are both excellent GP samples. I only really use GP1 though, and often mix with Rich strings for a nice effect, the rich strings being another highlight for me, far worse on the CLP-380!

I only go for GP1 sound when looking at buying a piano, the CLP-380 in my opinion only had one good voice and thats GP1, GP2 was completely different and brighter, I did not like the sound for most classical pieces.

Mark

I usually leave mine set to GP1 which is what it defaults to when I turn on the piano. I do prefer GP2 over GP1 though but they are both nice and if I think to change it I'll put it GP2. I find its more soothing to the ears after a period of time.

another thing I dont change is the piano designer settings, as I often find they are set to optimal levels/most pleasing levels as default anyway.

Steve, Mark, Art, thanks very much for that feedback!

I'm looking at the "tone list" in the HP-307 manual and under "Piano" these are shown:

No. Name
1 Grand Piano1
2 Piano + Str.
3 Harpsichord
4 Grand Piano2
5 Piano + Pad
6 Grand Piano3
7 MagicalPiano
8 Rock Piano
9 Piano+Choir
10 Honky-tonk
11 Coupled Hps.

I assume 2, 5, 7, and 9 are likely piano layered with other things, that 3 and 11 aren't pianos at all, and 8 and 10 are just mono or detuned or whatever pianos. This leaves 1, 4, and 6 as the basic piano sounds (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I look in the k-RD700GX1 SN piano expansion for the RD-700GX and I see this "tone list":
SN01 Grand Piano
SN02 Clear Grand
SN03 MellowGrand
SN04 BrightGrand
SN05 Grand Piano2
SN06 UprightPiano
SN07 RagtimeGrand
SN08 Comp Piano
SN09 Grand Piano3
SN10 Grand Piano4
SN11 BrightGrand2
SN12 MellowGrand2
SN13 Honky-Tonk
SN14 Comp Piano2
SN15 Grand Mono
SN16 Mellow Mono
SN17 Bright Mono

I assume 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 aren't unique sound sets (i.e. just effects changes to basic sets), but can't really tell what's really different of what's left. For instance, are 2, 3, and 4 just variations on 1?

Can anyone tell me anything about this? How the basic sounds in the SN expansion differ from the basic sounds in the HP-307? In particular, are there more or fewer basic piano sounds in the HP-307 compared to the SN expansion?

Dewster,

There are more pianos in the RD...not just in terms of Roland's list but in reality. I don't claim to have all the answers here and some of my observations are very subjective.

GP1 on the RD is tonally slightly different to my ears than the others and is a more focussed sound. I mean it has a very modest stereo spread on GP1...it is somewhat bright and has some character. In very basic terms GP1 sounds a little bit like a Supernatural'd Expressive Grand from the original (non-SN) RD-700GX sound set. The Expressive grand was I believe unique to the RD-700GX and was the only major piano tone advance over the RD-700SX. I'm not a great fan of the Expressive Grand and the SN GP1 is my least favourite of the SN voices...it is too bright for my taste and makes metallic sounds at what feels like too low a velocity in the upper-mid area. This is a very personal opinion but I would say this is also a characteristic of the other SN voices (on RD-SN and HP-307) but to nothing like the same extent and it is easily attenuated by the use of the touch response curve and touch offset facilities.

Many of the SN voices sound to me like they may have some DNA from the Superior Grand (which was the main voice on RD-700SX, is second on the GX's list and is I believe also the principle voice on the FP-7 and RD-300GX). It is a great voice but marred by looping, a tendency to audible velocity switching, a dryish bass and a certain muddiness in the mid-range. The SN pianos (HP-307 and RD-SN) are very good, useable voices and all (to my ears at least) have zero issues with looping or velocity switches...they also feature a richer and more compelling bass and very little of the somewhat muddy midrange of the pre-SN Roland pianos. But, as I say, there is certainly something of the basic Roland tonal character in the SN voices.

Dewster, your assumptions about the sound sets are pretty accurate (spot-on in the case of the HP-307). I would just mention that it over-simplifies things to say that on the RD-SN that 2,3 & 4 are variations of GP1...there is more going on than that...but don't ask me to fully explain what I mean. Rather oddly, I find GP1 on the RD-SN to be the odd man out in some ways...there is something different about it. I've just played through them all again to refresh my memory and there is a thread running through all the SN voices that is the same and yet the variations in the soundset are not explained purely by the use of EQ and/or effects...it is much more sophisticated than that I think.

Finally, I would say, leaving aside GP1 in the RD-SN, that the remaining three GPs on the RD-SN are very similar to the three GPs on the HP-307 so in effect, you are getting more basic sounds on the RD-SN. And some are surprisingly useable...for instance the Rag Time Grand is a treat...not at all like a cartoon honky-tonk and the bright grands are both cracking piano voices.

Steve

Steve, thanks very much for that very detailed response!!

We're trying not to buy anything expensive right now, but the RD-700GXF siren song is drawing me onto the rocks (and you're not helping ).

I wonder what Roland's next move will be, stage piano-wise? The RD seems on the edge of shuffling off this mortal coil.

No problem. I agree they have managed to find another couple of years' life span for an aging product. Credit to them that, taking everything into account, it is probably still the one to beat. It will be very interesting to see their next move because what will they do with the V-Piano? I would chose the RD-700GXF over the V. If the RD's successor is a general improvement over the 700 then where does that leave the V-Piano? A flagship that is in many ways outclassed by a little brother that is less than half the price.

Dewster, Lawrence sent me this link...the videos (the last three) are really interesting. There is a back-to-back demo of non-SN compared to SN piano using a bit of Debussy and a nice version of Always On My Mind on the last clip. Apologies if you already knew about all this but I found the videos much more informative than any of Roland's glossy nonsense!

http://www.e-muzyk.net.pl/content/view/2369/34/

By the way, the SN voice they are using is GP1...notice the fairly narrow soundstage but quite characterful timbre...the other SN pianos are a little smoother and broader in my opinion.

Cheers,

Steve

Here is an English translation of the website through Google:

English Translation

Fascinating link, thanks Steve! I sent it to Lawrence a couple of days ago - what goes around comes around... They actually show the expansion board hardware, and do some serious tinkering around with the parameters, and discuss the gritty details quite a bit more than any other source I've been able to find.

Here is a Polish => English translation if anyone is interested: Link.

Google Translate can produce some hilarious results:

• A pity, because for "perverts" praising the piano is very important. This level is the smell. The smell of the instrument.
• Key Off Resonance - hum accompanying the strings touch the muffler after releasing the key

I have to agree with this:

• There is no doubt that the extension of SUPERNATURAL Piano Kit offers the most perfect color pretending piano. Among the instruments of other manufacturers find difficult to rival. Yamaha Even with all his experience, the GranTouch GT1, GT2, or the latest GranTouch AvantGrand and CP1 is not as realistic-sounding digital piano with such a wide editing capabilities. The advantage of color SUPERNATURAL Piano is in the process of creation, not only sound samples, but advanced physical modeling algorithms.
  
  Roland has equipped this color is not only the extension Piano Kit for RD700GX, but also digital piano HP302, HP305 and HP307, DP990F DP990RF and pianos and RG-1, RG-5 and RG-7.
  
  So who can threaten pianos SUPERNATURAL? The biggest competition for the extension of Roland RD700GX SUPERNATURAL Piano Kit are not other instruments. The biggest competitor is Virtual PC pianos.

I really do appreciate your descriptions of the piano sounds, they are very helpful. Not sure why Roland doesn't have some MP3 demos of all of them so we could hear the differences first hand. I wish those Polish guys would do a comparison video of all the APs in there.

jmmec, you're too fast for me!