Roland HP2/Kawai CA5/Yamaha CLP130

Hi there,

I am a classical pianist, intermediate to advanced , looking for a digital piano. My previous employer allowed me to practice on their Steinway B, but now I'm on my own piano-wise. I decided on a digital due to cost considerations and also my desire to practice at odd hours with headphones. I am not interested in other bells and whistles, mostly the piano and how realistic it is compared with an acoustic.

I have sampled various digital pianos and have narrowed my choices down to the above.

To me, the Roland HP2 has a very nice sound, but the keyboard touch is too light for my tastes. The Kawai CA5 keyboard touch, with its much-touted wooden keys, seems more authentic, but the sound is less impressive. The Yamaha CLP130 is in between the Kawai and Roland; I'm not too fond of the Yamaha sound, probably because I'm used to the broader, more expressive Steinway sounds.

I was wondering if anyone has tried or owned any of the above pianos and what your thoughts are about their performance, sound and reliability. Thanks very much.

I took an HP2 back because of the light touch and limited sound output, even though I liked the piano voice quality, and got a Yamaha PF500 instead. I am very happy with it. I'm a classical pianist too. I graduated from a low end Yamaha acoustic so probably am used to the Yamaha sound. Its built like a tank but because it is relatively new I can't comment on reliability.
It has a great organ voice and harpsichord too.

Sorry, forgot to say that the PF500 is pretty much a stage piano version of the Yamaha CLP150.

I looked at the same lines recently while shopping for a digital.
I decided to go with Kawai. The Yamahas seem to be more popular among folks here, and the Rolands seemed nice, too. Lots to choose from! I'd say they are all good and it really comes down to personal preference.
Good luck in your search.

if you would consider buying a Yamaha, choose a better CLP150/PF500(128 polyphony) instead of CLP130 which has only 64 polyphony. since you are almost an advanced player, you may have to consider this aspect.

The Roland Piano I have (KR-577) has an onboard demo of the polyphony, and demonstartes the 128 note poly (which it has) to one that has only 64. It does it by a "slow glissando" from bottum to top of keyboard, and bottum notes are still playing when you reach the top. With 64 notes however, the bottum notes cut off way before reaching the top. 64 is "ok" as long as you don't go mad, but does show it has limitations. KORG/Roland are good polyphony managers, not too sure about the Yamahas though (I've heard reports of note cut-off's on the 256 note poly ones).

Antonio