Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Korg SP-500 vs Roland FP-5, please help!

Hello,

I just started learning the piano and I'm looking for buying a digital piano. I read some of the discussions here and most of the people suggest that I should buy one based on the sound and touch. I tested a few pianos, like Kawai ES1 & L1, Yamaha P60, P120 Roland FP-3 and Korg SP-300. I can tell the difference of the touch, although I don't know which is better?! But the sounds seem similar to me! What should I do to distinguish between their different sounds? Should I test the low/high notes and not the middle? Or is it just a matter of taste?! Or am I too confused because I just started?

I also need your advice in which model to buy, feature wise. The Korg SP-500 and Roland FP-5 stand out for their features, but I couldn't see any, because the local stores don't have these 2 models. From the specs SP-500 has more features, no speakers and no usb, while the FP-5 has speakers, usb, less features and it's more expensive. Does anyone have any experience with those 2 models? Please share your experience.

Thank you.

I have played the FP-5 in stores and am suitably impressed for the money. In my experience, Roland quality is excellent, and I like the touch

dear coman
i am rajoo from india. recently i bought roland fp-5 which is now one month old with me .honest review for the fp-5 is no doubt it is best digital piano in this range,i tried all like yamaha p-80/120.korg sp-300/500.but roland won out from all above in touch and sound and quality of piano. naturally fp-5 is expensive compare to those but as i stated quality of piano is simply unbeatable in its category.fp-5 is basicaly stage/home piano.it comes with built in speaker which is usable for home practice.i realy suggest u to please look in for fp-5 and u wont make wrong decission.i fully satisfied with its all features which is very good.all the best and be in touch.with warm regards and best luck.
raju from india.

Thank you very much for your replies.
But did anyone actually compare the FP-5 to Korg's SP-500? In terms of tuch and sound? I found lots of comments on Rolan's FP-5 , but not much on Korg's SP-500. If you have worked with SP-500, please let me know what you think of it.

Thank you.

Unfortunately, I haven't had too much experience with Korg, and as you stated, there isn't exactly a whole lot of info available on them. What I can tell you is that in this range, you usually get what you pay for, so even if the Roland is a little more, there's usually good reason. I personally favor getting everything in one package, ie. stand, speakers, etc...., as I'm generally a lazy person and don't like having to go shop for the right speakers, stand, cables, etc... Plus, having to connect and reconnect all the time gets to be a hassle.

The reason why there is so much info available on the Roland model is simple. It's one of the most popular models being made. If they are getting favorable reviews by everybody, I would feel very comfortable getting one.

I just started learning piano about a month ago and decided on an FP-5 as well. I was originally leaning towards a Yamaha P80 or 90, but liked the Roland FP-3. Fortunately once I compared the FP-3 to FP-5 I was willing to go the extra money. Plus Guitar Center sold me their new floor model at $300 off.

From the information I got here I was able to narrow my product selection and thank those that have posted so much great information.

I seem to be stuck in terminal indecision over buying a digital piano at the moment.

I also considered a Korg SP300, but I didn't really like the feel of the keyboard and also I don't think that the sound is as good as the Roland Fp-5 or Yamaha P120, both of which are a bit more expensive. I didn't really look at the SP500, because, from the brochures, it seemed to me that it has a lot of facilities I'd never use. Really I'm just after the piano and maybe the church organ/harpsichord type sounds.

It can be a bit difficult to choose between pianos in a fairly noisy store too. There are some MP3 samples for the Korg and FP-5 which you may (or may not) find helpful at:

Roland FP-5:
http://www.ke-musik.dk/Upload/HtmlArticles/Article1048/FP_5_KE_Musik.mp3

Roland FP-3 (which is similar but without the speakers, so maybe more comparable with the Korg Sp500 anyway):
http://www.roland.it/demo_audioFP3.htm

Korg Sp500:
http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=SP500

I'm at the stage of umming and ahhing between a Yamaha P120 and the Fp-5. Basically I like the keyboard on the Fp-5 most of all but it's more expensive that I originally wanted to spend. The Yamaha is very good value but... dither, dither, dither.

R