Hi all,

I am new here so I hope I am posting in the right place.

I just want to know what digital piano has the best built in speakers. What i need is good volume. I play with a piano trio (violin, cello, piano) at weddings and we require at times a good dp with built in speakers. I do have a Roland rd300sx stage piano but i have to drag my massive Kc-350 amp along each gig.

So yeah, I heard about the Fp-7F? will its built in speakers be sufficient for a medium sized church wedding service for example? Another thing to note is the violinist uses a concert violin, so need some real good sound out of my DP.

Thanks

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Your question isn't easy. My first reaction would be to ask the places where you are playing to provide an acoustic piano. I fear an amplified digital piano will never fully harmonize in such a trio.

Having said that I suppose even if amplified you won't be satisfied with built in speakers. The best portable solution might be one or two full-range speakers (not a keyboard amp).

I've played wedding jobs where, in this case, a Yamaha Clavinova, was used without additional amplification. Since everyone was quiet, it did a fine job. Had I been in a room where everyone was talking and eating it probably wouldn't have been as good.

There are many opinions here as to what you should consider buying but I would put my money on additional amplification. Whatever you buy, buy something more powerful than you will need. You'll probably never have to upgrade in the future.

I think digital piano work well in small rooms, perhaps as big as a living room. But not in a large hall. You can't fill a big room with a pair of 6" speakers crammed inside a keyboard.

I agree with the posts above. Your best solution IMO is a high quality lightweight PA. (Two Bose L1 Compacts, or even just one, or QSC 8s or 10s, and a not too heavy gigging board (like Nord or Studiologic) are possibilities.)

However, I have also used, with good results, my FP-7F with only the internal speakers -- you must increase Master Gain to +6 or +9 db. The upward firing speakers, duly EQ'd for the volume you choose, sound good from the player position and also seem to be satisfactory for a small, quiet audience.

Is it possible for you to rent an FP-7F for your next wedding? Really, that's the only way you're going to find out if it will work for you. The speakers themselves are not bad, with a reasonably good frequency range, but you might need to EQ to taste.

Alternatives to the FP-7F (which is quite a bit heavier then your RD300SX) would be the Kawai ES6 (soon to be ES7, perhaps), the Kawai EP3, and even the old Korg SP-250. Yamaha's P155 and CP300 are also contenders, but the CP is a beast and the P155 may be too quiet (likewise the Privias).

I believe the FP-7F features a more realistic keyboard action and piano sound than the RD-300SX, however the volume of the onboard speakers will probably be less than the KC-350.

I've used a KC-350 (along with a KC-150 and KC-500) at practises and gigs connected to my Electro 3. It's good quality amp, reasonably powerful and loud, however I believe it lacks the fidelity of proper monitor/PA speakers.

There are some very good, lightweight PA speakers available, however I doubt they are any more portable than the KC-350 you already have.

Cheers,
James
x

The Yamaha Avant Grand N3



No they won't, and not only that there is no portable DP that will have speakers like that. Your current setup is about the best you can do but you can perhaps lighten the load by swapping out the KC-350 for a powered speaker.

I don't altogether agree with the Doc on this. I did a gig last night for a dinner party (less than 50 people) with a pair of Roland CM-30 cubes. The only reason I wasn't using the piano's built-in speakers was because I needed to amplify the vocalist, and the FP-4's speakers are crap. I had the volume on the piano below 50% and the volume on the CM-30's at 50%. If I'd been using the FP-7F, I might have just used the piano's internal speakers for my amplification as I prefer the built-ins as a means of hearing myself.

If you are playing with non-amplified string instruments, the FP-7F's internal amp/speaker should be sufficient for smaller crowds, although, as pointed out, you might need to increase the gain.

Ok,

thanks guys for the advice. I will always prefer an acoustic at the wedding, but it is never always available. And if they are at the venue most of these acoustics are not serviced reguraly and sounds way out of tune.

The Fp-7F sounds good. Is it suitable for say classical chamber music (we usually play this for weddings). Does the sound blend well with violin and cello? And through a KC-350 amp will it sound good. (I believe the kc-350 is mono as its only one speaker)

Thanks again.

Roland Guy, everyone here has their own opinion and it really comes down to what you like. I'm sure any decent keyboard will sound fine to the audience, the question is, does it sound good to you and if the marriage of the action and the sound suits you.

If you buy additional sound reinforcement, don't go cheap. It will mean more trips back and forth to the car, but you'll soon learn that you can ask more simply because you're supplying the sound system ... and you have the added benefit of sounding great as well.

The general rule of thumb is this, don't buy anything without first trying it.

I'll go a step further and state this - be sure you know in advance what the return\exchange policy is with the store where you bought the equipment. You might love the set up in the store only to learn that you don't like it at home or on the job.

Dave gives good advice. I'd add that you should also ask your fellow musicians whether they like the setup you are trying. Ideally the dealer would allow for a test under realistic conditions, for the whole trio... either via a return policy, or you could rent the equipment for a gig before actually buying it.

Roland Guy, I don't play chamber music, but IMO, the FP-7F or RD-700NX are the best stage DPs for "serious" music due to the combination of, and connection between, action and sound. I've said elsewhere that, for example, the Kawai DPs have a brighter, clearer tone, but there is nothing I've played that has the integration of the SN Rolands.

Very few DPs sound as good in mono, and personally I would avoid the KC series for piano amplification. As others have said, if the internal speakers are insufficient, go for a high quality, lightweight PA system.