Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards For those with Roland FP-7F - any speaker vibrations?

I got a Roland FP-7F on Saturday, and I am really liking it - but I noticed an issue with it.

At regular volume, I noticed that a couple of notes cause a vibration/rattle out of the right speaker. These notes are D5 (an octave above middle c), F#5, G5, in that area.

Now, I even went back to the store I bought it from - and tested their floor model - and it had the same vibration from these notes! It's only these that vibrate, nothing else, not even the notes around them.

What's wrong here? Are all of the FP-7F the same in this regard? Do the frequencies of these notes cause these vibrations, or is it a common defect in these speakers?

It sounds fine through headphones. I really wonder what it could be. Is it possible to adjust the equalizer so it won't do this?

If anyone has the FP-7F, can you test these notes for me and see if you hear any different vibration?

I don't know specifically about the FP7F but what
you describe is common. It is not a defective spear or anything but just the combination of the speaker and the enclosure shape and materials used resonating. Something might be loose, like a screw not all the way tight but it might jet be the way it is. Have you tried holding the case firmly with one hand in different places?

Oddly enough, if I put a sock over the speaker or something like that, it seems to reduce the vibrating sound a great deal. It's odd that the floor model also had this very same issue, so I'm not sure if its worth it me bringing it back as they may all sound like this.

So you tried the 'sock test' at the store too?
I have visions of seeing a grown man standing over a keyboard with one sock missing.

"May I help you, sir?"
"It's okay, I'm just testing the speakers."


James
x

Ha, no I did not try the sock test at the store - just noticed that the same notes vibrate the speaker the same way.

It's odd that only a few notes do this. What could possibly be the cause? I'd rather see if I can make it better rather than exchange it, it's such a hassle to bring the keyboard back, and have them order another one, wait, etc.

This is strange - I searched the forum, and someone else was complaining about a vibrating speaker on a Yamaha YPD-161. Guess what note did it too? A D5!

Here is a link to that thread:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1775769/1.html

Is it possible that the note frequency of certain notes are causing some sympathetic resonance? Or maybe just a coincidence.

I'm just trying to see if something is actually wrong with the speaker or if it is a normal issue that just happens.

Very possible - probable in fact. Any lack of integrity in the casing of a piano will vibrate if subjected to the right frequency and intensity. You happen to have found the narrow range which sets yours off. I think you could certainly track it down, the only problem is you may have to disassemble it to find it, which may void your warranty. It's very likely that your won't be able to solve this problem without opening it up, so if you are concerned about your warranty you may have to get it serviced by an authorised agent. On the other hand, if you contact Roland directly, they may give you some suggestions on what to try (they'll know about this issue, believe me), they may give you consent to try some things without affecting your warranty. Just make sure you have a written record of all such correspondence. Best of luck.

I don't think it's normal at all for a FP-7F. I played one at a friends house over the holidays. Mostly used headphones and external speakers. But even with the inbuilt speakers there is no vibration ( from the speakers). There is a metallic whine (zzziiiiiiiinnnnnnggggggg) that I find most noticeable on the C5 and C6 octaves with sustain but it's part of the tone and not vibration from the speakers or anywhere else.

I'm not sure I would describe it as vibration, but I experienced some upper register harshness when I first got my FP-7F a year ago which I was able to tame by (1) decreasing the Duplex Scale setting in Piano Designer to 1 or 0 and (2) changing Stretch Tuning from Preset to User and manually adjusting certain individual notes in those octaves per the suggestions of DazedAndÇonfused (thank you, DAC) in an older thread which (sorry) I can't link for you and you'll have to search for yourself, but I believe it's worth it.

Thread is here. Interesting, thanks, will pass on to my mate.

I'm calling Roland today, to see what they say. I'm also going over to another store, and try out one more store model - to see if I can replicate the sound on that too. It's like a buzz, almost like when a piano's strings has something on them, but of course electronic in this case.

The sock over the speaker really helps, but of course I'd like a better solution and to find out if something is broken that may be affecting sound and I'm not noticing it yet.

I called Roland, but they just told me to take it to a service area. I called the place I got it from, and I'm just having them order me a new one. I don't think the speaker should buzz like that, and it's really distracting especially for a nearly $2k keyboard.

I thought only low quality Casio will vibrate. You know what, I tried FP-7F at store. The F#5, G5, G#5 also vibrate with the right speaker. Wooo, that's super disappointing for a $2000 DP.

I didn't find any console DP has the same issue. Yamaha's slab piano also doesn't have.

I'm sorry to hear that and can empathize with you- I know the feeling from other boards and it is frustrating when things are not right.
I had something similar in a few-
Sometimes we get something new, don't want to return it, or try to minimize it,

I am begining to think with any of these stage pianos that studio monitors are the way to go

Ask yourself what is the common denominator?

I think the vibration may be coming from the user.

You just have that vibe man.

I own an FP-7 and out of the box it did the same thing. I couldn't get Roland to honor their warranty since the box was completely destroyed in shipping and couldn't do the return that way, and the local Roland dealer was not willing to honor Roland's warranty because I bought it online through a different store. The store I purchased it from wouldn't accept a return since the box was destroyed in shipping.

So I opened it up and tried to tighten down every screw I saw, tried to nail down (not literally!) exactly what was causing this vibration. Hubby tried holding down various parts while I played the offending note (G above middle C) to see if we could pinpoint what exactly was vibrating. We stuffed some pieces of foam in various places, but it didn't really help. I tried changing the balance a bit and that helped somewhat.

The best solution was to hook it up to a stereo.

Oddly enough, I have not encountered that issue since moving to FL where it's much more humid year-round. I've been using my DP exclusively for teaching and that vibrating has not been an issue.

Hah, I bet it was something in the room! OK, maybe not.

I had a vibration or resonance on one note with my former CN33. I opened it up, screwed things down, added felt in places, but couldn't get rid of it. Moved ornaments, the DP itself, and so on, but in the end just put up with it.

Then, when I sold it I first moved it to another room, and the vibration had gone. OK, the act of moving it, which required some disassembly and reassembly fixed it. So I thought.

In comes the new replacement DP. Same resonance only stronger and on more keys. I eventually tracked it down to a wall clock! The strange thing is, now I know what it is, I live it with it again, rather than removing the clock.

This buzzing occurred in two different buildings, so it's not the room.