Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Which to choose Yamaha CLP-115 or Roland RP 101

So I can get either of those for roughly 750$.

I am an intermediate piano player used to grand pianos, I was studying classical percussions and playing piano on the side on the conservatory's pianos so I got used to that kind of feel.

Right now I have three options which are a Yamaha CLP-115, Roland RP-101 and Roland HP-101.

Comparing the specs of the HP-101 and RP-101, the RP seemed a clear winner to me with the abolity to record and half damping. Both having PHA II keyboards according to Roland's site

http://www.roland.com/products/en/RP101/

I went to a store and tried a recent Yamaha CLP-5xx of which I really liked the feel. I also tried many Roland but to get a feel I liked I had to go with a DP series (or HP). The RP series were feeling rubbery to my taste and a bit too heavy.

So my question here is : will the older Yamaha CLP and Roland have the same feel than the newer ones of the same series?

Other question : Is there a clear winner between these three?

One more : What about the sound? It seemed less important to me as it will never match a real piano but maybe there is a big difference between the Roland RP and the Yamaha Claviera.

This is a bit of a vague question but hey, I'm a newbie when it comes to digital pianos and I'm ready to learn!

There is also an Adagio KDP 8826 I can get for 400-450 but I've read that the keyboard is rubbish.

John, to be honest, both of those models are pretty old, and also used, so will feel very different to a brand new Clavinova or Roland HP.

I would suggest saving your money for a little longer and purchasing a new instrument that you really like playing, rather than a second-hand piano that you don't.

Cheers,
James
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Unfortunately you've been had by Roland's NOT CONFUSING, and definitely not INTENTIONALLY CONFUSING action naming scheme.

The RP-101 has a PHA-II action, right? Wrong. It has PHA-II alpha. You see the difference? PHA-II is from the full size PHA line, while PHA-II alpha is the lightweight line, which today is known as Ivory Feel G.

The HP-101 has a Compact Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard (CPA-5), which I guess is the same thing in a previous generation, as they were calling it in 2004 (three years before the RP-101).

Today, the RP-series has the Ivory Feel G (the lightweight one), while the HP and DP lines have PHA3/PHA4 (or its low-trim variant not-confusingly called Ivory Feel S). Which is why you liked the latter and not the former.

In conclusion: I don't know about the Yamaha, and you should probably check out the Casio Privia range.

Amen to that. This is definitely a situation where you will get what you paid for. You also might want to check out the Kawai ES7, a great DP with wonderful sounds and action, one that will give you pleasure for years to come. It's economical in that it doesn't have any fancy walnut cabinetry, but it puts its value where it counts: in the first rate action, sounds, and on-board speakers. For what it's worth, I'm trying to convince my sister, who was a music major in college, into buying one of these babies.

All right, thank you all for your advice. As I really want (and need for my mental health) to restart playing piano, I will buy something cheaper for now and something better next year or something like that. Right now I'm looking at a Yamaha YPG-635 for 500 ish or an Adagio KDP 8826 a bit cheaper. I am pretty sure the Yamaha will have a much better keyboard so this is my first option.

I should be able to resell either of those without major loss next year.

Still thinking it's a bad move? I could put in the extra money to get a new 1800$ Roland DP but I'm not willing to right now. By the way, is 1800$ (CAD) a good price for a DP? I comes without speakers but the sound was way better in the bass than the HP series. I can't remember the exact model number...

Following lolatu's advice, I've looked into the casio and there is a Casio Privia PX575R I can get for 400$, seems nice since it's 600$ on Amazon.

I would really like a MIDI connector though. I'm a programmer and would like to be able to tale advantage of MIDI. Can I use the Casio or the Yamaha as a controller and have the sound coming out from my computer? Where can I get good samples? I'm a noob about this. Also, I'm using Linux if that matters.

Thanks again!

Johnride
I had a PX575R that I picked up second hand, and I would say that $400 is a bit overpriced. This is an old, discontinued model. It advertised 32 note polyphony but in the fine print one finds that the main piano voice only had like 14 note polyphony or something.

It does have a USB port, but my memory was that it required special drivers from casio to be detected (not class compliant?) in windows. I doubt that Casio continues to make drivers for it. So networking it to a more modern computer *might* be problematic. I vaguely remember reading that the control software (which let you adjust some parameters on the board) didn't work with windows 7 when it came out (though my memory is hazy on that). I had a mac, so I never tried messing with that software. I doubt whether the board would be detected at all under Linux. I might be mistaken (I never tried it) but Caveat Emptor.

For $100 more, you can get Casio's PX-150 which is their most up to date low end piano. It has a much better action and much better piano sounds than the PX575R.

I'd either go that route, or haggle the price down on the PX575R down significantly. I would say if you could get it for $200 and just want something to noodle around on it's a pretty good deal. Regardless, you should test it first and make sure that it can do what you need it to do before you buy.

Warm Regards.

Cool, thanks for you reply. I might very well end up buying a cheap brand new Casio following your advice.

However, I would like some thoughts on the Yamaha I stated above : Yamaha YPG-635 for 500$. Can I get something better for 500$ like a newer cheap Casio like fizikisto said? What would be its advantages over the Yamaha?

It's quite a steep learning curve all these confusing branding as lolatu stated above. Anyways the most important thing I learned here is to try a lot before choosing, which I'm doing.

Thanks!

Johnride
This is, of course, strictly subjective: I think with the casio you get a much better feeling action, and better overall piano samples. The yamaha has less polyphony, but gives you a lot of other features like a sequencer and many more voices. The casio PX350 gives you the main extra features of the yamaha plus the better sound/feel of the casio, but alas it's more expensive (around $700 now). So it really depends on what you want/need it for, and how much you can spend. Now just because I like the casio feel/sound better than the yamaha, that doesn't mean you would. So if possible, try them out for yourself. you may find that one or the other speaks to you.

Great summary fizikisto. PX350 is the one to go for with this budget, IMO. Obv try before you buy to check you like it.

fizikisto's advice is sound. A PX-350 is ideal.

Best of luck!

Cheers,
James
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