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Thank you SpanishBuddha.



Ouch! Touché! But that doesn't explain the fact that I didn't feel discomfort with those runs before or found them less awkward on the ES7.

Ouch for me too. Even if it's true. Playing without tension needs practice in just that. I do have a teacher too these days.

But, I would argue, as a non-teacher and from plenty of life experience, that the older adult beginner needs an instrument that is gentle on the hands during the early years of learning, or else it becomes impossible. Children and younger people have more pliable joints, tendons, ligaments, and probably no conditions such as arthritis or rheumatism.

Believe it or not, I now have one too (starting last Saturday, so we'll have to see if it lasts:)) One w/ great credentials and a background in Taupman, which is recommended here as the best method for tendonitis and other repetitive stress related injuries.

Are there any FP-50 users here?
What is your opinion? How happy are you with your instrument? It seems to be a great 'little brother'.

I would welcome some more opinions and info on the FP-50, too. I'm beyond wanting to haul something the size and weight of the FP-80 to gigs, and so the 50 looks like an ideal compromise - apart from the stodgy action.

Just a quick update:

So it is not possible (and won't be) to separate the harmony effect from the audio-in while mic-in is plugged in, according to Roland. This has to do with the new acoustic projection speaker system. The audio bus is used to split the frequencies to the different speakers on the FP-80. It has something to do with the fact that the harmony effect and reverb are split to all 4 speakers for a spacious sound. Audio transpose also does not work when both inputs are used.

The following requests have been sent to the Roland product manager:
Rotary Effect switchable with pedals.
Save Piano Designer settings in Registry.
Save Key Touch in Memory.
Pedal Noise over MIDI. (No Pedal Noise when playing from sequencer.)
Pedal Noise is audible when Local OFF.
Audio over USB.

Dear reader, please don't get me wrong. The FP-80 is a wonderful instrument. The sounds and feeling are grand. The bugs described above are very intricate and the 'normal' user will never even notice these. I happen to use this instrument to its extremes and this is more of a wish list for the next update, if it should ever happen.

Cheerio,
Cmin

Voxpops - I own an FP4-F and have come to get used to the action, although I could always see how some regarded it as 'sluggish'.

However I played an FP-50 instore (and have been back to try it a few more times) and must say the keybed seems improved to me. This despite the fact that the only apparent difference is the addition of escapement. It really seems to change things to me - perhaps more than it should given the subtle nature of the feature!

So much so I am now considering selling the FP4-F to upgrade. The other non-AP sounds seem more varied and plentiful too.

As a sidebar I also A/B'd it with an FP-80 and found myself actually preferring the 50 to the 80's lighter, faster feel.

As a caveat I would add I've found a lot of individual variation with the Ivory G feel keyboards I've played (including other FP4-F's), so I don't know if it was just the demo model I played of the 50 that so appealed!

Thanks, sh1, that's useful feedback. Let us know if you go for the 50.

Wait, doesn't the FP-80 have the same PHA3 action that the FP7F has? If so, I can't imagine you would want lighter or faster. PHA3 is on the light side and definitely on the fast side when compared with acoustics.

The Ivory-feel G action, contrary to some misconceptions, is neither lighter nor faster than PHAIII.

Whenever I sensed a G action, it never felt high quality like a PHA-III as mounted to a HP-505. It even felt different from instrument to instrument it was mounted to, an it always felt wobbly. Nothing I could get warm with, not even as a raw beginner. My HP-505, having what Roland markets as PHA-III, feels very light and also mature, solid and reliable, attributes I couldn´t give the G action.
You may want to argue, that the keys physically are identical ones, and that it's only about the electronics in the more expensive Rolands to give more reliable feedback to the player, and therefore there would arise a difference in the feel. Who cares? G action does not feel as good as PHA-III and that's in my opinion the important thing. You now might want to argue that this feedback thing is only valid if playing the G or PHA-III with the build-in Roland SN piano sound. Of course, as long as the instrument is marketed as a Roland digital piano and not as a MIDI controller keyboard!
If somebody´s purchase decision is not limited by the price only, I then would always recommended to not go for G action and better seriously check if PHA-III, or the one on the Yamaha 440 or the one on a Kawai CA-65 are the better candidates for you.

Marco, it's not just to do with sound, the Ivory-feel G is constructed differently from PHAIII. It has a shallower depth (front to back), and therefore there is less distance from the visible back of keys to the pivot point, meaning that it becomes noticeably harder to play the further back your fingers are.

Yeah, I don't consider myself a Roland expert but just this week I spent some time in a Roland shop going back and forth between the FP7F (PHAIII) and RD300NX (Ivory-G). There's definitely a difference in the action that is noticeable with and without the sounds connected. I liked PHAIII more, although it does have a certain lack of stuff going on while the key is in motion. Not a big fan of the Ivory-G from what I've felt. Not horrible, but not impressive either.

Yes, they are entirely different. The FP7F is a lighter, quicker action. The FP4F is sluggish. Also, it is difficult to do a thumbnail gliss on the 4F. If the 4F felt like the 7F, I'd have bought one. Couldn't deal with the travel weight of the 7F, though.

I have a stupid question and it could be my computer setup but I never had an issue with my Yamaha P155. So I just want to make some recordings from my FP80 to my laptop. I previously used Audacity without any issues, using the line out on the keyboard to mic in on my laptop and just record the sound and adjust the sound levels to suit.

On my FP80 it doesn't seem to work, I end up with a very distorted sound and no sustain between notes, it's as if there is a low filter on. So what is the secret I am missing? Whats the best way to easily make a recording? I'm not looking for studio quality, just better than using a camera to record the audio.

Thanks for any tips,

Chris

Record to USB flah drive as audio .wav file will surely be the best way.

Perfect I'll give it a shot, I knew there was a much easier way.

Thanks

Hello everyone,

I'm going to buy a new digital piano.
I have visited two shops in London in last two weeks.
Fortunately there were all pianos I was interested in at that store.
First I tried Roland FP-50. It was pretty nice. Big improvement after Roland FP-4 that I owned few years ago. Sounds are good, piano edition is very nice and it really works (especially I love Damper Resonance feature). I will write few words about keyboard at the end (Ivory Feel-G).

Next one was FP-80. The same sounds, easier edition of features thanks to better display, much better speakers, but nothing special at all. I was testing those pianos generally with my headphones and some speakers in store.

I was always dreaming about RD700NX and I have to tell you that this one is amazing.
Piano sounds are much better than in FP50/80. Especially I love BrilliantGrand.
I was almost sure to choose FP-50, but when I have tried RD700NX... there is only one choice. It's much more money than I was going to spend, but it is really worth.
But I'm not going to write about RD700NX, it's not that topic.

Few words about key action, because that is important.
First I liked Ivory Feel-G on FP-50. I was playing on it over one hour. But when I tried Ivory Feel-S then I was almost unable to come back to FP-50.
Difference is very big. PHAIII is much faster, more comfortable, it just feels better.
Feel-G is just slow, a bit heavier.

I hope it will be useful.
Of course you have to always try by yourself, because everyone likes different things. Sounds are the matter of taste, key-action somehow too.

I visited another shop, opposite to the first one. I was testing there Nord Piano 2 and Kurzweil PC3K8 (salesman asked me to test them, I wasn't even planning to try those ones).
Nord Piano 2 was complete dissapointment. Keyaction was like in FP-4 or worse, piano sounds were terrible if you take price into consideration. I was trying all piano sounds, all settings were default, I tried to improve something but it was even worse. I don't know why does it cost so much money. Electric piano sounds were very good by the way.

I know that PC3K8 is different kind of equipment, but it was very good experience to try that one. Sounds in my humble opinion were better then in Nord Piano 2, but not as good as pianos on Rolands.
I'm not any Roland-maniac I spent many hours playing at those pianos and Rolands are the best for piano playing. And RD700NX.... ahh

The only disadvantage of RD700NX and FP-80 is weight. But I don't intend to travel with RD700NX, maybe 2-3 times per year.
I hope I will be able to purchase till the end of June

Hi I'm new to mics. Does anyone know the best type of mic mostly for instruments but also for voice that can be used with the fp 80?

A day passed with my FP-80. Just a story:

I've spent hours in a shop trying to compare dozens of keys in action. All of them - Kawai, Korg, Yamaha, Roland, Casio (Yes, these days Casio keys are absolutely comparable, do you believe it or not). After some blind and deaf tests (I mean I've tried them first without turning on) I definitely decided the winner - it was the PHA-III keybed on Roland HP-507 piano. But, there was no FP-80 in the music store, so I couldn't try it. As far as I needed a stage piano, I've been just reading reviews (thanks to all the people on this forum especially) and listening all the demos ever.

The other hours I have spent trying to reveal the big Roland's secret - what on earth is the difference between PHA-III in the upper RD model and Ivory Feel-S introduced in the FP-80/FP-7F?
There have been two opinions found here and on some other resources -
1. They are almost the Same apart from the 'S' which stands for Single or Solid plastic piece used for the keys production.
2. The -S is the cheaper Step back from the full version of PHA-III.
But I haven't found any reasons or explanations for the latter allegation. Official eulogistic descriptions look similar but with some dim tints.

The high knobs and lots of buttons all over of the RD desk wouldn't give me an ability to put my Kronos directly on the FP-80 body while on stage (with some additional back holders support). It is just much more convenient to handle both keyboards closer to each other- it looks like a double-level organ then so can be played simultaneously. Moreover, I'd like to have some backing comps for my home jazz exercises, and the programmable chords progression is a really nice feature BTW.
So,, considering all above I bought the FP-80 and forgot about the more expensive RD-700NX, which is the the only sincere stage piano, though...

...And some impressions:.

After touching the keys I immediately said - YES, the -S version IS different! It is not bad at all however and it IS as fast as the PHA-III, which is the main advantage of the PHA-III I think. But, due to the material on bottom or any other reason the feeling is different, it's better to accept it peacefully. The Roland's secret is still covered up deep inside.

Another PROS:
* The sound is good - didn't expect this! SuperNatural can be really more expressive in nuances than a sampled piano&EP sound. There are lots of settings and presets resonances of various sounds.
Think I will now be using both, the sampled piano from my Kronos and Roland SN, mixed in someway, depending on the music of course.
* Easy in interface. Get the same setup position where you left the last time. It is possible to save the current configuration and store up to 25 different configurations of custom sets. You can create your own grand.
* The triple pedal (bought separately) operates as a real one. Sostenuto function allows you to pinch certain notes. Damper works as gauge - can be smoothly stop the sound, making the half damping. The very old notes with low torque stop, the new music with strong momentum weakened - the behavior like a real work of physical strings.
* Metal body. This is of course a minus for the sound, but a plus for reliability. And considering that the built phones will never give you a normal sound, just connect it to any good external system, so the plus is much more important than the minus.

CONS found so far:
* Too bright LEDs. In a dark home room , they will make you blind. When you enter the settings, they are persistently flashing. This is the most annoying, because it is convenient to play even in the Setup position. It would be nice to have an option to disable these tedious LEDs but to have brighter titles for them. Maybe I'll become used to them later on just remembering their in place...
* Built-in sound system is certainly not capable of delivering decent sound, due to size limitations. Two additional speakers on the sides of the keyboard do not change the picture much better. I would say it should not have to show off and wasting time on the development and promotion of that Acoustic Projection (so proud, fingers fan - 4 speakers, what's new in them?), and it would be better instead made a volume option slider or on/off button for them.

Bottom line: Take a pair of good monitors and... No regret so far.