Hello, I am considering perhaps within the next year of getting a second DP. I have concluded that I would want something lightweight, I see both of these rolands are 36-38 pounds. Obviously, a little heavier than what I am playing now but still manageable.

For those of you that have played both of the Roland boards, what are your opinions in terms of the action and acoustic piano and rhodes sounds?

How are the speakers on the 4f? I have a pair of Mackie MR5's in case i went with the 300NX.

Off note, I saw that the SV1 had a price drop but wanted to hear some Roland opinions first.

How about Nord? Probably the best quality lightweight boards available.

James
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You would need the Mackie's with the 4F too IMHO. I have played both the 4F and 300NX but don't remember a great difference in the action. Maybe you should compare other features, features that you need?

Given James suggestion I would prefer the Nord I think, but doesn't it cost a bit more, and I would accept the lighter almost non-piano like action but you might not.

Thanks, I am going to research the Nord as well.

James- On a slightly different note, I have always enjoyed trying out the Kawaii ES6 in stores, and was wondering if at some point this model which is excellent will be updated.

I would say the only things I care about are the acoustic piano and rhodes samples. eg. I don't really need the piano to have 300+ sounds as I have the Juno for that

Yes, absolutely!

However, Kawai is primarily know for good quality, realistic keyboard actions, not ultra-portable lightweight boards. The ES is more portable than a CN, certainly, however unlike with the Nord (Eectro), there's no way I could cycle to band practises with it strapped to my back.

Cheers,
James
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Possum, if you're looking for good Rhodes sounds, forget the FP-4F. I believe the 4F and 7F share the same lackluster EPs that, IMO, are a step backwards from the previous generation. Also, the 4F and 7F do not have user-accessible effects. I cannot comment on the RD-300NX except to say it has SN EPs.

Nord NE3HP will give you the best of all worlds - at a price. The Studiologic Numa Piano shares the same Fatar action with the Nord and has good APs and EPs for considerably less money. Both these boards weigh less than 25lbs. Nord has much better customer support. Studiologic's is pretty much non-existent.

FWIW, I used my older FP-4 on a jazz duo gig last night, and it got a lot of compliments. It weighs 33lbs. It doesn't play as nicely as the "F" models, but it's no slouch.

Actions and principle acoustic piano voices are identical. RD may have more variations and options with APs - I don't know. RD has more EPs than FP but they are both pretty poor although some people say they get good results but only with lots and lots of tweaking of the SN EPs on the RD.

I think for a basic little piano you could do a lot worse than FP-4F - the speakers are a bit rubbish but better than nothing. The RD is good too and is a much more pro-looking piece of kit.

But there are other options - perhaps better ones - as others have mentioned.

Good luck,

Steve