Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Help me decide!! Yamaha or Roland??

I am torn between the KR7 and the CVP307. The yamaha seems to have a lot of books and sheet music along with midi files from Musicsoft.com to support their product. Does Roland have anything like that to help you play? The CVP seems a lot more complicated yet has more options? The Roland seems simpler to me but has less support. (I like the touch screen) Am I making sense? Wish I could find a store that sells both, then the saleman wouldn't be so biazed toward one or the other.
Any thoughts out there?

pslawing,

Many MIDI files are available from the Major Print music manufacturers that will work with both pianos.
Roland's equivalent site to Musicsoft.com is: www.rolandkeyboardclub.com
There is support available to Roland customers too. Included in the package with the Roland should be a book with the printed music for 60 of the 170 (I think???) built in songs.

The Yamaha 300 Series Clavinovas are nice instruments with lots of great usable sounds and rhythms, on the other hand so are the Roland KR's.

The KR's are easy to use with the touch screen. The one thing I like about the KR series is being able to personalize your piano sound and save that to memory. So every time you turn the piano on, you don't need to hit a pile of buttons to recapture "that sound".

Only your eyes and ears (and pocketbook) can make this decision but I hope it goes well for you. Any other questions just ask us here on the forums, we're all glad to help!

PPBC

THANK YOU Roland Guy!
I too like the Roland sound and simplicity and user friendly navigation of the Roland. Thanks for the roland song website. The CVP seems a lot more complicated and is unnatural to navigate. I would imagine the learning curve for the yamaha would be greater.
Thanks again
Peggy

If you load a midi file on the KR7 will the score be displayed like the preloaded songs? The songs that are in the Roland aren't the best in my opinion. Can you load more songs? and can you just play the songs like a player piano?
Thanks
Peggy

To answer your question,

Yes any Standard MIDI File will show the music on the screen on KR-7. There are about 170 or so songs on the piano already. But they're not everyone's cuppa tea. There is some memory on the piano to load more songs but that will fill up eventually.

You can press a button in the song screen that will make the songs (either internal or off floppy) playback in a random order.

PPBC

Peggy,

Have you tried the CVP307 yourself? I am surprised that you find it difficult to operate, I find the latest CVP300 series to be very user friendly, and I prefer not to have a touch screen myself although you may differ, of course.

The CVP307 includes all the other features mentioned here so far, including modifying/storing your own sounds, score display of external midi files, and with the advantage of Smartmedia cards rather than floppy disk.

Cobs,
I really believe I haven't had a good salesperson, The one place I went they did not play so they couldn't show me anything really. I downloaded each users manual and the Roland seemed a lot simpler, maybe because it doesn't have as many features. I'm surprised with he cost of the 307 and 309 that the USB is 1.1 instead of 2.0. I am really torn as you can see, The cost really is not an issue, I just want to be happy with it for years to come, I might grow out of the Roland. I do know that the song selection in the internal memory does not fit my taste. Thanks for your posts, and I would welcome any additional insites
Peggy

I wouldn't let the internal song selection decide your choice, the Yamaha internal songs are probably worse than the Roland ones, but this shouldn't be an issue for either brand because you have access, through the internet, to an unlimited collection of midi files to suit your taste.

I suggest you go back to the store and play the models yourself, or failing that, even try out some of the demos. Some of the most impressive features on the CVP for me are the megawave guitar voices. Try listening to the guitar sounds on styles such as '70s TV Theme' (intro 2), 'Flamenco', and another which I think is called 'Acoustic Rock' or something similar. Also try the Live! DynoSteel guitar voice with bending notes when you hit the notes harder.

The clarity of the drums is also something I find rather impressive, try listening to the drums alone on 'Bebop' or other jazz styles.

On the issue of USB 1.1, this format is more than satisfactory for transmitting midi data, which involves very small file sizes.

Hi Peggy,

I've had a KR-7 for 2 years and I'm still amazed by what it offers. I also have a Yamaha Tyros, which is sorta like a portable version of the 309, with 61 keys. (it's not identical in every way.) I've also played the 309 at a store. You can't go wrong with either the KR-7 or the CVP-309. Unfortunately, on the KR-7 you cannot erase any of the lame internal songs in order to make room for prefered ones. But I have downloaded dozens of additional songs into my KR-7, then tweaked the voices and effects for optimum realism. That in itself can be quite entertaining. You do run out of memory after about 30 songs, but that's OK. You can always store unlimited songs and styles on external media. The 309 is the same in this regard.

If you will be playing the piano with headphones often, you'll find the KR-7 sounds fabulous in headphones, too.

The megavoices on the CVP are impressive. The accompaniment styles are quite natural sounding. PERSONALLY, I think that if given the choice today between the 2 boards, I just might go for 309 over the KR-7.

Ultimately, you need to listen and decide for yourself. Happy hunting!

Just an addition, Yamaha also has a VERY extensive library of floppy disks through Hal Leonard which will play on the clavinova. Your local dealer should have a catalog for you. Ask for the "Yamaha Music Soft" catalog.

If price is not important, you should buy the CVP309GP (grand piano model)

Very nice! Good luck in your search!

Tim and Chris,
Thank you so much for your insightful thoughts. I am leaning toward the 307 or 309 even though I think the Roland sounds better(just Piano) I think the Yamaha has better strings and flutes. I'm pretty techo savy and I think I can figure out how to use it.
I am impressed with the music soft library and support system too.
Still Hunting
Peggy

Peggy -

Believe it or not, like others have said, the CVP300 series is very easy to operate. UNfortunately you may have had a poorly trained salesperson the first time around. I am sure he/she may have stumbled around on the controls, and this made it look like it is very hard to use. Trust me, its not! Even if you have a weird question that your local dealer cannot answer, Yamaha has an excellent technical support line, specifically for clavinovas, @ 1-800-pro-yama.

I will have to try the ROland piano sounds to compare them to the Yamaha. Did the salesperson show you how to edit and change the piano voices to create your own preferred piano sound?

Chris,
The sales person really showed me nothing. So you can change the piano voices to suit your taste?

I just checked out the music soft site, It seems very complete. The Digital Notebook looks really cool, especially if you connect the Clavinova to the internet.
Peggy

The CVP307 has a full sound editing suite called 'sound creator', as well as a 5 band equaliser, and compressor. You will be able to adjust every sound to exactly how you want it.

That is a big plus. On the Roland KR7 you cannot edit voices at all...only add effects. The Yammie really is more versatile.

Peggy -

I would call, talk to the manager, and see if there is anyone else at the store who knows the new clavinovas better. I am sure if you explain your situation, they will find a way show the instrument in greater detail. I doubt they want you to buy a Roland from their competition.

And yes, as cobs said, you can use the "sound creator" to edit, then compare the changes, and save as a new voice any of the many hundreds of voices the cvp307 has to offer.

Not strictly true! There is some editing capability for those voices

I have heard that there is some editing on the Rolands as well, just not quite as extensive as what Yamaha offers.

Hey You GUYS ARE GREAT!!
This has been so helpful. I'll be going back to the store this weekend and will have a lot more intelligence with me because of you!
Wish me luck
Peggy

Peggy -

Let us know how it went!