I am planning to learn piano and about to order Roland FP7F.
I think key touch/action is the most important for me.

I test different digital piano for 2 months in shops. From Casio to Yamaha to Roland. At first I cannot feel any differences on key touch between Casio or Roland. But lots of people in here suggest Yamaha or Roland would be more realistic. I also decided to buy stage style DP as the space in my apartment is limited.

Then I compare the key touch with real upright piano. I found that high-end Yamaha (GH3/NW) and high-end Roland (PHA III) is closest to real piano. Too bad there is no Kawai DP in Hong Kong where I live.

As Yamaha P155 is expensive in Hong Kong (USD 1900) and only offer GH action. I would go to FP7F which offers the new PHA III action for about the same price (USD 2100).

My question is that I found FP7F action is lighter than Yamaha GH/GH3 and most of acoustic piano. If I would take piano exam in the future, will I develop bad habit on fingers on FP7F that would cause bad performance on exam?

Yamaha NW is very good and has heavier action, but my apartment simply cannot have spaces for the CLP or CVP series pinao.

Bit of a contentious issue, actually. The FP7F is definitely a lighter action, though a good one. Many people say it's within the range of pianos you might play (i.e., some acoustics have yet lighter actions) so it may not be problematic.

Piano teachers historically have recommended that their students practice on pianos that are on the heavier side to develop finger strength and under the assumption that it's easier to adjust to a lighter action than you are used to than it is to adjust to a heavier action. Recently both of these issues have been called into question, and additionally it should be pointed out that heavy actions can take a toll on your fingers and wrists. Basically it depends on your opinion on the matter.

I guess my personal opinion is that digital actions should be near the average or toward the heavy end. It seems like if the FP7F is the same price as the p-155, then the FP7F is a no-brainer, but since I like a heavier action...I really can't say what I would do if I were you. Probably still go with the FP7F. It's just a nicer piano in a lot of ways and the action is...heavy enough.

My experience of the FP7-F is that it doesn't take me more than a few minutes to adjust to my teachers upright piano which has a really heavy action. I have played a few grand pianos in shops and found the transition to be even easier. The closest match I have found so far was a beautiful second hand Bluthner in Chappells of Bond Street. I felt at home immediately.

For what it is worth, I sat my ABRSM Grade 3 last year and found no difficulty adjusting to the upright piano in the examination room and got a Distinction. If you like the FP7-F action then go for it.

Are you having lessons on an acoustic piano? If not, maybe book time in a practice room every so often just to get the feel of an acoustic. The main thing that I have to adjust to is not the keys but the volume. Acoustic pianos always seem to be much louder than I expect.

We recently upgraded to FP7-F for daughter and she spend 2.5 hours approximately on Roland. Never seen a problem when she switch to Yamaha grand piano at her teachers / Steinway at church.

For me, the FP-7F is a much better DP than the P155. It's not an acoustic, but it's one of the very few DPs that comes close enough (at a sensible price) that you can enjoy a similar experience with it.

I totally agree with the volume issue. It can challenge one's confidence when confronted with the sound of a real grand, after playing exclusively on a DP for any length of time. I'd suggest turning the volume up near full for normal practice, or invest in some fairly high-powered monitors (plus a preamp/mixer to compensate for the FP-7F's default low-gain).

I agree with this. The FP-7F sounds completely different through headphones than its inbuilt speakers. The speakers muffle the mids and highs compared to the bass. External speakers, or using headphones, make the 7F a joy to hear (and play).

I personally found the 7F action to be heavy compared to my Kawai CN33, but I may have been confusing the harsh bottoming out of the action. Again, using headphones or good external speakers will allow you to explore the dynamics better without hard bottoming out, except maybe pp, ppp.

The only times I feel the difference between the "weight" of keyboards is when practicing hanon-type scales. Before getting the MP6 I had a Casio PX, which felt very light, and I could do runs at 10 more bpm that I could on the MP6 or my parents' acoustic upright. I had to slow down the tempo to practice otherwise I felt muscle pain very quickly.

In most situations though, especially for non-professionnals, transitioning between different keyboard weights should be fast enough

Thank you all the comment comment.I also tried the Key Touch setting. I try heavy and super heavy. It did feel heavier but I don't know if it is a good feeling.

I find the super heavy setting is feel "springy". Would you recommend to use the "Heavy" Key touch setting?

I finally ordered the FP7F and it will arrive at mid Nov. Will post a unbox thread here.

Also, I would like to ask anyone uses the fp7F heavy key touch setting to practice?

There is no objective standard for key touch settings. It is totally individually subjective.

There have been posters, advanced pianists, on this Forum who use Light for everything and others who use Heavy for everything. In my experience the heavier the setting the more even the touch but the more restricted the dynamic range -- pp to ff rather than ppp to fff. Depending on whim and repertory, I have used practically all the settings on my FP-7F on one occasion or another; I usually start with Medium +6-+8.

On some EP patches like Vintage EP and Jazz Scat the heavier settings can make all the notes sound alike unless you really pound (sometimes this is exactly what you want) while the lighter touch settings give you a variety of sounds from only slight changes in key pressure.

As for practicing: when I was a kid I had a "clavier" -- a 2-1/2 octave dummy keyboard with a wood frame and a mechanical variable-resistance knob -- for building up finger strength.
I don't know what learners use now, but I know of no DP setting to substitute for that.

When starting some weeks ago I tried the heavier setting, but it's too much of a hassle to me to switch it on every time.
Now I use the normal setting and I'm happy with it. Anyway, the key touch setting only changes the way how the sound is generated electronically, there is no mechanical stuff involved; the key touch still feels the same!

I have also found that a lot depends of the kind of headphones you use (if you do). I first tried cheap, closed ones from Sennheiser, but there was not much to hear in the bass range. Now I use my (open) Koss Porta Pro and it sounds much better!