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Hi all, roland F-130R is a digital piano I definitely recommend. The keys are a bit lighter to touch than acoustic pianos, but they are responsive to touch. The only downside is the key noise, which prevents me from practicing late at night. (If any of you guys have a digital piano that doesn't make key noises, let me know). I spent about $1500 on it.
Here are some sound sample I recorded using roland F-130R piano, it's quite fun to experiment with different sounds

https://youtu.be/bE5LM-ofGho?list=PLGAYXHP2L__czXKNGwGC53T6qhW9OqTbw

Wow. THat key noise is quite absurd.

The playing was excellent though.

Actually, the price seems rather absurd too, they go for €999 here...

I believe that the amount of key noise shown in the video is mainly a result of the positioning of the camera.

Nevertheless the playing was wonderful.

Jay

The key noise would not "prevent forum member JaneW from practicing at night", if the key noise would "mainly be the resutlt of the positioning of the camera".

Otherwise she could just move the camera a few feet to the left and the key noise would vanish then?

No, but it is significantly quieter than what is shown in that video. I've done similar recordings using my iPhone in a similar position, and noticed FAR greater key noise is shown in the video than actually exists.

Jay

Was the camera in physical contact with the piano? That would explain the rather odd clicky sounding videos. What is even odder is that none of the OP's videos actually feature the Roland's piano sounds; they're all just the lame other sounds. Not criticising Roland in particular here. Most DPs seem to feature some horrifying attempts at non piano sounds.

It's difficult to judge the key noise in a recording like that without knowing the volume the DP is set to. The key noise is recognisable of that of many DP's with plastic keys. Usually normal piano volume drowns it out, but the video used a voice that is not velocity sensitive (and we don't know the volume). All DP's and piano's have key noise. Some of the higher end Kawai DP's have a reputation as being the most quiet, and the Roland PHA4 is improved in this respect.

Nice playing, Jane!

Even though Bach is not my cup of tea, so-to-speak.

I might add that I have had a Roland V-Piano for a long time and I can say without a doubt it has the loudest keyboard (as for key bed thunking noise) compared to all other digitals I own.

The keys just "bottom out" harder on the V-Piano whereas my Clavinova's (i.e., CLP-585 & CLP-990) have a much softer bottoming out. Even my older Kawai EP3 (stage piano) has a more cushioned feel than the V-Piano and the EP3 is now a discontinued model.

Would like to see Roland improve this feature.

Try a PHA-4 equipped piano pv88!

Definitely improved.

Jay

@Jay,

Note that both the V-Piano and V-Piano GRAND does not have the PHA-4.

Have been waiting on some potential improvements.
(With V-Piano and/or V-Piano Grand.)

Extra note:

I happen to like the action and onboard sounds of my two Clavinova's better than the artificial sounding V-Piano in which the modeling isn't quite right as of yet. I am not yet convinced that the V-Piano's "Vintage I" (i.e., "Steinway") and/or "Vintage II" sounds ("Bosendorfer") are authentic as they are far too synthetic and artificial as for the actual quality of those presets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ewq6NgYpxA

The modeling needs to be drastically improved before those sounds can be labeled as above.

Jay,

Why isn't Roland fitting PHA-4 to the V-Piano now? The flagship product now has a second tier action. The actual actions must be easily interchangeable. I bet you could just bolt a 4 into the V.

It mystifies me why a manufacturer wouldn't strive to keep a current product 'current'.

Cheers

Steve

Steve,

They simply make more money by selling you another "new" product instead of upgrading the "old" one.

I've never known any company to change Hardware as an "upgrade" to a current model. Two hardware variations of the same instrument simply don't exist.

Bolting a PHA-4 in (because of differences in processors and materials) is most likely not possible. Although I haven't personally investigated it.

I was playing a V Grand at a dealers yesterday, and the combination of tones, speakers, and action is still
Pretty tough to beat, even 6 years later.

There may be plans for a future "V", but if there are, I'm not privy to details, nor would I divulge anything even if I was.

It doesn't change the playability of the existing instrument. Which has a fantastic connection between player and sound engine. Whether or not the sounds are to everyone's taste is a very subjective matter. Those I know who own a V-Piano, enjoy it daily even years down the road.

Jay

Regarding the key noise: maybe I could have positioned the camera better, BUT, when listening to myself playing, I can't help but noticing the key noises that come out, which sadly stops me from practicing late at night, like I intended to when I purchased this piano. Yes, the key noises are not that disturbing (they are not noticeable when the volume is turned up), but I think for a lot of people like me, who wants a digital piano so that you can practice quietly, then the key noise is definitely a big disadvantage

Also I want to add that, other than the key noise part, I am really happy with this piano, so for people who are not concerned about this, definitely go for it. The weighted key action is a bit lighter than a real acoustic piano, but they keys are responsive to touch and produce a very natural dynamics, and the different sound effects that came with the piano is fun to explore as well

@JaneW,

Have you tried practicing at night with a pair of headphones?

This cuts off the "sounds" from the speakers.

The key noise is caused by mechanical sticking of the keys by my fingers, so regardless of whether I use headphones or not they are there, and they will disturb other people in my home

Another option might be to return or trade in your Roland for another keyboard?

If originally purchased from a store they should allow you to do so.

And, I would test it at the store to see if it has keys that make less noise than the Roland although I do know that all DP's make key noise to a certain degree.

Some keyboards are better than others in this regard.

I might recommend the Kawai ES100 or ES7, here:

http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/digital/new_landing/portable-digitalLP.html

I own an older Kawai EP3 (preceded the ES100) and it has one of the quieter key beds you will find in a $1K keyboard. The key bed still can make a thumping noise if you strike the keys very hard although it is a rather dull and mostly muted thunk as compared with my Roland V-Piano.

You really have to "test" the keyboard before buying to know for sure as to how quiet it can be.

Sorry I don't have much to add about the F-130R other than I have tried it and it was very expressive. The keys felt lighter to me than what I expected and if I remember correctly there wasn't a double escapement simulation (i could be wrong about this, I can't remember exactly as I tried more than 10 digitals that day). I also don't remember the key noise to be as loud as in the video.

Very interesting point about the V-Piano! I never considered the V-piano when I bought my Avant Grand because none of the local stores in Vancouver had one, but looking at the video you just linked and listening to the Bosendorfer sound, it definitely is quite different from the actual Bosie 290 we own. Of course, it could be the quality of the sound of the video and the settings (for example lid position) but to me the particular sound of the Bosie from the recording is a bit more muted and muffled than my Bosie. Also it is quite synthetic...I can't put my finger on exactly what it is. It's lacking a kind of warmness and mellowness and instead has more of a muted sound and seems hollow and less musical. In my opinion, Bosendorfers have a distinctively clear sound and excellent note separation and transparency that seems to be lacking in this particular V-piano Bosie setting. Also the decay of sound is much much much much quicker on the V-piano compared to my Bosie but I believe that's probably a setting as well.

I do like the timbral changes though, that sounds more realistic than most of the digitals I've ever tried.

Yes but it should be so easy. Motor manufacturers do it all the time; a major component (engine or transmission say) gets changed (upgraded) but everything else stays the same. One example is the 1.0l three cylinder engine in the Ford Focus - effectively replaces a 1.6l four cylinder.

Roland would benefit. They should ditch PHA-III and replace with PHA-4 in everything. Roland gets economies of scale on PHA-4 and the customer benefits from revisions to a good but noisy key action. The V-Piano already has the enhanced resolution key stroke reading that is claimed for the RD-800. Just bolt a PHA-4 in there. I bet PHA-III and PHA-4 are physically identical in terms of dimensions and structure.

Roland's flagship product has been left with an action that by your own admission is significantly out-performed by the newer action. It doesn't make sense not to upgrade it. To say it isn't upgraded just because you can't think of another example of hardware upgrades in the DP world is not a good reason at all!

Is the piano in a room where you can close the doors and play alone? If so, the key sounds probably won't bother anyone, even at night. As an experiment, have someone else play on the piano with the sound off (to simulate headphones) and see what you can hear from various parts of the house. With the door closed I'm betting it won't be much.