REVIEW - Adagio MGDP8820 Baby Grand Digital Piano - Not Recommended

REVIEW - I DO NOT recommend the Adagio MGDP8820 Baby Grand Piano.

Many of the digital grands look good on the outside, but it's what's inside that really counts. This includes actual cabinet construction, the type of finish applied to the exterior, how the key action moves and feels, the dynamics and response of the piano sound, and the overall sounds and other digital features of the instrument.

Adagio MGDP8820

There are basically two price categories of digital Baby Grands; under $3000 and over $3000. Unfortunately at this point, I not have found a new digital grand piano advertised for under $3000 that is worth owning and this would the Adagio MGDP8820 4'1" digital baby grand. The MGDP8820 ($2499 store discount price) is the identical piano to the GDP8820 model found on the Adagio web site, only the MGDP model is sold (as far as I know) only by Costco in the US, but the specifications are identical. The Adagio pianos are distributed by the Kaysound company located in Canada and the pianos are made in China. The Kaysound company does not make pianos and the Adagio name is a made-up name put on these pianos as is true with a few other brands. Adagio pianos in various model names are primarily sold through Costco & Sam's Club as well as a couple of other on-line stores.

The Adagio MGDP8820 is really a baby grand piano shaped version of the Adagio KDP8826 small upright digital piano ($999 at Costco) which I have reviewed in an earlier blog Adagio KDP8826 Review.

Unfortunately at this point, I have not played or heard an Adagio piano that I liked. In fact, these pianos have such poor key actions and poor piano response dynamics & expression that I advise people to stay away from them if they want a satisfying piano playing and/or learning experience.  I have seen some "positive customer reviews" on a few Adagio models and it perplexes me that people really think they are having a satisfying piano playing experience with this brand. But I guess the old saying must be true..."what you don't don't won't hurt you." Well at least maybe you won't know what the deficiencies really are if you haven't had much experience with real acoustic pianos.

Although the cabinets on these pianos may be very attractive to look at (and they are), and some of the digital/electronic functions may seem cool, the inside electronics & key action of the piano is definitely not something I recommend at any price. There are 2 acoustic piano sounds on this model which are called Grand piano & Bright piano. When playing on a regular piano as well as any name brand digital piano in this price range, the piano sound is supposed to change not only in volume (louder/softer) as you press the key harder or easier, but the tone itself is supposed to change in character with changes in brightness and mellowness as well as various overtones and nuances in the sound. Those are just a few details that make a piano sound good and is referred to as "dynamic range."The Adagio has just one piano sound no matter how hard or soft you press the key. It does change volume from soft to loud, but it has no changes in tonality or dynamic range. In other words, the piano sound (either Grand or Bright piano) is the same all the time on any style of music using any dynamics. This is not a good thing and not the way acoustic pianos behave.

There are five levels of touch sensitivity that you can change and set, but this feature has to do with different levels of volume response as you play the keys, and not with dynamic range or changes in tone. Touch sensitivity levels are there in case you normally play the keys too hard or too soft and you want to have a different level of volume for your particular touch. This feature is very common in digital pianos. Also, the piano sound itself on this piano is quite choppy as you play a song using single notes and chords (multiple notes) and has more of a staccato (shorter) sound as opposed to smooth and legato (longer), even when using the sustain damper pedal. The pedal sustain does allow for half-pedaling "gradual sustain," but this does little to alleviate the somewhat choppy sound that normally occurs when playing a song, especially when trying to play lightly or softly. The mark of a good piano is how the dynamics and sound responds when playing delicately and/or quietly, not just loud or harder. The Adagio does not pass the test at all in that way, and my test is fairly easy to pass.

The piano key movement on the Adagio pianos are definitely weighted more like a regular acoustic piano, so that is good and most people think this alone is what makes for a good playing experience. However, the key action movement is quite noisy and clunky, especially in the upper part of the keyboard. This is particularly distracting when playing the piano at low volumes or using headphones. The key movement noise when the keys hit bottom or come back up can easily be heard throughout the room or house and is very annoying. It's like there isn't enough felt cushion under the keys to dampen the sound of the keys going up and down. When you play the piano at louder volumes this situation isn't as noticeable, but you shouldn't have to do that just to cover up that annoying key noise which most other good digital pianos don't have. Perhaps my ears are more sensitive than others, but I doubt it. If you have little experience with good digital or acoustic pianos, you may not notice this at first on the Adagio, but after awhile, you probably will.

This Adagio piano can be fun to play using the drum patterns and chord backgrounds but most people buying these pianos do not use those features very often. The piano is able to layer and split instrument sounds together which is good, and this is more more than some other pianos can do in this price range. However when it comes to trying to replicate an acoustic piano playing experience, you can do much better on other lower priced small digital grand or upright pianos such as Yamaha or Samick. Although the lower price of the Adagio can be "music to one's ears," the playing of the piano may have some sour notes (in my opinion) so keep that in mind when making your decision. If you are looking for a "showpiece" in your home, the Adagio definitely qualifies for that. But hopefully you are getting the piano to play music on and to have a satisfying acoustic piano playing and listening experience and in my opinion, that should be the main reason to buy any piano like this.

Go to the following links to read about other digital baby grands that I recommend:
Yamaha CLP465GP Review
Samick SG110, SG310, SG450 

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Casio AP420 & AP220 Digital Pianos in Satin Black - Limited Edition Models Just Announced

REVIEW - CASIO AP420 & AP220 Satin Black - VERY NICE FOR THE PRICE - Casio America has just introduced a limited production satin black version of their lower priced brown AP420 ($1099 internet discount price - left pic) & AP220 ($799 internet discount price - lower left pic) Celviano pianos. Casio is still producing an attractive medium brown color AP420 & 220 which have sold in the tens of thousands, but many people have asked for a satin black color in these lower priced models and now they're available for a limited time at the same prices according to Casio. 

AP220 black

If you don't think you need a lot of "bells and whistles" but just want a very good sounding piano with a good upright piano key touch for authentic feel, then either of these two models could be the perfect choice. And in my opinion, Casio has some distinct advantages as far as the  features on the AP420 & AP220 pianos over other competitive brands like Yamaha and others. As an example the AP420 has the new synthetic ivory feel keytops which you don't get on any other furniture cabinet piano until the $2000 price range. This type of key makes for a better finger surface for better playing and control for many people. Also, the AP420 has a SD card input so you can play and record your music directly into the card for storage to be played back later. You can also download piano MIDI song files from your computer to the card for "play-along practice."

On both pianos you can connect to a computer from the USB 2.0 core MIDI port for instant plug & play with interactive computer software and even connecting to the latest Apple iPad apps (left pics)...very cool and I can tell you more if you contact me. The only other cabinet piano I'd recommend in the lower price range that really isn't much more money than the AP420 is the Casio Celviano AP620. For the small increase difference in price, it's definitely worth considering because it has 10 times the features of the AP420.
 
Take a look at my Casio AP620 review here: Casio AP620 Review

I have previously reviewed the Casio AP420 Celviano piano along with the Yamaha YDP141 and Yamaha YDP161 which you can read on my blog. I do believe the AP420 & AP220 in the satin black color are real winners and either one would be a good solid piano for the price, especially if you want good key action movement & smooth dynamics and touch response. I've played these piano extensively I don't think you can go wrong, especially at such an affordable price, in my opinion. Here are some features of the Casio AP220 & AP420:

- real upright piano style hammer weighted graduated weighted action
- new "ivory feel" keytops for a better playing experience (AP420 only) 
- 40 watts of audio power with four built-in speakers (16 watts total & 2 speakers in the AP220)
- USB to computer connection with auto recognition (plug in and play)
- SD card storage card slot to save recordings (AP420 only)
- 16 very nice instrument tones incl various pianos
- headphone jacks
- audio in & out jacks (AP420 only)
- layer & split sound capability
- built in 3 foot pedal control with half damper recognition
- sliding key cover
- front stabilizer legs (AP420 only)
- matching height adjustable padded bench included (AP420 only - lighter weight standard height bench with AP220)
- built-in educational features

If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864

REVIEW - Yamaha YDP181, YDPV240, & DGX640 Digital Pianos - Yamaha's 3 Best Digital Pianos Under $2000

UPDATED REVIEW - May 15, 2012: In my opinion, the 3 most popular Yamaha digital pianos under $2000 are the YDP181, YDPV240, and DGX640. For many years I have played Yamaha digital pianos and they are generally well built, reliable, and have cutting edge technology. The Yamaha company started in Japan in 1887 founded by Mr. Yamaha, and built their first Japanese piano in the year 1900. They were a piano company FIRST long before they had motorcycles, wave runners, ATV's, snowmobiles, tennis rackets, golf clubs, speakers, stereo's, etc, etc.

Yamaha has a well known and respected name in the industry and it is well deserved.They have newer & higher quality (lower price range) digital pianos for 2012. The 3 biggest additions in my opinion (although there are more incl YDP161 & YDP141 which I've reviewed in other blogs here) are the Arius YDP-V240 ensemble versatile cabinet piano (top pic), the Arius YDP181 cabinet piano (above left pic), and the DGX640 (pic below left) portable piano.

The YDP-V240 (top left pic) is internet priced at $1899, the YDP181 (middle left pic) is selling for $1799, and the DGX640 is selling for $799 (incl stand). The DGX640 is improved over the previous model by having a better piano tone (especially important) and nicer cabinet & color options. However, it still uses the basic lighter weight GHS key action as does the YDPV240. I have played this key action many times on various lower priced Yamaha digital pianos and although the action feels good overall and moves just fine with reasonable dynamic response and expression, it is a bit noisy with some rattles & shakes (plastic sounding) occasionally, and is not as quiet of a feel as the Yamaha GH action found in the YDP161 & 181. However in my opinion, the GH key action is too stiff & unnatural when the keys are played more lightly/softly in the upper octaves, so I don't really enjoy playing the keys on the 181 or 161 due to that situation.

The YDP161 and 181 are virtually the same piano except the 181 has dedicated panel buttons & LED display which is a very nice upgrade over the 161 as well as having a USB flashdrive input to store and playback recordings. Both models are very basic in technology with just 14 instrument sounds, sound layering, basic reverb effects, and a 40 watt/2 speaker sound system. I am not that impressed with the speaker system on these two pianos because they produce a slightly muffled and mid-rangy sound and they don't have the clearer high frequencies that I like to hear. I expect that kind of deficiency once you get down towards the $1000 price range and under, but not when you are closer to the $2000 price range. Even the inexpenisve DGX640 sounds more clear than the YDP161/181.  The DGX640 and it's bigger brother the YDPV240 are nearly identical pianos except for cabinet, speaker/audio system, and a few digital features so I think the DGX640 is the better overall bargain as it is over $1000 less!

The YDPV240 and DGX640 have all "the bells and whistles" on them that are motivational to piano students, recreational players, and fun to practice with. The Casio piano company also has these kinds of fun digital pianos called the Privia portable series and Celviano furniture cabinet digital piano series which, in my opinion, have surpassed these Yamaha's in "bang for the buck," especially in key touch movement and overall features. I haven't been able to say that in years gone by, but I can say it now because I believe Casio has gotten more serious about their pianos by hiring top notch musicians and engineers to help them design more advanced models for less money. The Casio pianos now out-perform (my opinion) these Yamaha models in many ways (including their appearance) and for considerably less money.

Take for instance the new Yamaha YDPV240  vs the new Casio AP620 ($1399 pictured on the left). The AP620 has twice as many speakers, more audio power (60 watts & 4 speakers vs 40 watts & 2 speakers), 10 more individual recording tracks (total 16 with micro editing), upgraded satin "ivory feel keys" (like the expensive Yamaha Clavinova's), twice the panel memory, more versatile SD memory storage, and a much more piano-like taller cabinet with front stabilization legs all in an attractive black satin grain finish. Personally I wish Yamaha had designed a better looking cabinet for the V240, but they stayed with the basic standard look like the rest of their lower priced pianos.

The Casio AP620 has 128 notes of polyphony (for smoother piano play) unlike the Yamaha V240 which has just 64 note polyphony (same as in the DGX640). And yet Yamaha does have the full 128 note polyphony on their new YDP161 & 181 models. Polyphony is important as more polyphony memory (and dynamic control) normally allows for a fuller, more resonate piano sound with better smoothness and the ability to also use more sounds and rhythms at one time with better success.  

The Yamaha YDPV240/DGX640  does some very cool stuff but the Casio is using a new 3-senor keytouch system with a special hammer style mechanism to give a smoother acoustic upright piano response with a more natural key movement in my opinion. So when it comes to piano polyphony, piano tone, and key action, the YDPV240 could have been better but it is a lot of fun and does some cool tricks. If Yamaha had a much lower price on the V240 closer to that of the Casio AP620, then no doubt it be a much better value.

Some aspects of the Yamaha's are better than the Casio's, but even so, they are the less important features than people typically use or need. I do like the larger, easy to see back-lit screen on the Yamaha YDP-V240, the music minus one play-along features, the "wait til you play" function, on-board music notation in the screen (although it's small and not very easy to read), and lots of "easy-play" functions and automatic chords. Also, the V240 has more sounds than the Casio which is cool, but how many instrument sounds can you possibly use (the Casio already has 250)?

But no matter what, in most cases the "piano playing experience" is personal and subjective as it should be, so you can have a great time with all of these models depending on what you want. However, the Yamaha V240 is internet priced at $600 more than the Casio AP620, which is quite a bit so that price difference alone makes the Casio a big competitor and in many ways, a much better buy. 

Yamaha YDP181

You will likely have an enjoyable playing experience no matter which Yamaha or Casio piano you purchase because ultimately, as I said earlier, piano tone, touch, and features are personal and subjective. But right now I believe the Casio AP620 is the clear winner in the furniture cabinet model, especially for $600 less than the YDPV240 and $400 less than the basic YDP181 (left pic). You can find my review on the Casio AP620 by going to the link below.

Casio AP620 Review 

For more info on digital pianos and how to get one of these models for LESS than any advertised US price on the internet, please contact me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864 

REVIEW - Tradtional & Ensemble Digital Pianos...What's the Difference? - Roland KR115M, HPi7F, RP301R, RM700 - Yamaha YDPV240, CVP501, CVP503, CVP505, CVP509, CVP409GP, CGP1000 - Kawai CN43, CP119, CP139, CP179, CP209 - Casio AP620 - Samick SDP45, SG450 - Omega LX503, LX505, LX802

REVIEW - Ensemble and Traditional Digital Pianos...what's the difference? 88-key digital pianos in furniture style cabinets come in two basic technology forms which are called traditional and ensemble. A traditional digital piano is one that has technology which can (on the better brands) reproduce the touch and tone of an acoustic upright or grand piano along with a handful of other instruments that you can play on the piano keyboard. In reality, NO digital piano currently made can actually reproduce the entire spectrum of acoustic piano sound and key action (especially acoustic grand piano), but many of the newer digital cabinet pianos come so close that only a seasoned pianist or pro could tell the difference and even at that point, the difference would be minimal in many cases. So traditional digital pianos are for people who want to play piano the "traditional way" meaning using both hands playing either bass clef & treble clef, or using left hand chords and melody line (aka: fake music style) which many pro players use from jazz to rock, pop to Latin, and country to oldies.

Ensemble digital pianos (above left pic and left pic) have everything traditional digital pianos have but take technology a step further by giving the player not only a lot more melody instruments to choose from, but also also providing the ability to play music with what are known as  "backing track styles." Other names for this type of technology are as follows: arranger, interactive, music styles, auto accompaniment, ensemble, interactive music styles, backing tracks, multi-track arrangements, and so on. Most people realize that listening to live musicians playing music together in bands or orchestras is great entertainment! Whether it be Benny Goodman or Glenn Miller in their Big Bands from the 40's, Elvis or Frank Sinatra with their bands from the 50's, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, or Simon & Garfunkel in the 60's, Stevie Wonder, Santana, Chicago, and Elton John and their bands in the 70's, Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston in the 80's, and up to current music today including Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, and Kelly Clarkson with their bands, all of this music is rhythmic, moving, and include various instruments being played at the same time by different people.  There are also famous recognizable film scores including music from Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman, Jurassic Park and a host of others, many of them written and conducted by John Williams of the Boston Pops. That music is far more complex with many more instruments being played at the same time by many more people in arrangements that are obviously impossible to duplicate by just one person on one instrument.

Samick SG450 ensemble B Grand

Ensemble digital pianos have the ability to reproduce the sound similar to live musicians playing together in a band or orchestra like the ones I mentioned (backing you up - hence the term backing tracks) by allowing that style of music to play along with you in backing tracks automatically on the digital piano, depending on what chord you (the player) are playing on your left hand. It is all about the style you choose and the chord you play as to what the backing track arrangement will do and how it will sound. It is a very interactive playing experience and one that takes some getting used to. However, once you do, then you can sound like you have the entire band or orchestra playing along with your music while having "real time" control over what they'll be playing and what you'll be hearing. Music style categories on an ensemble digital piano can include Jazz, Latin, Rock, Big Band, Oldies, Country, Western, March, Honky-Tonk, Soft Rock, Classical, Blues, Motown, Folk, Broadway, and just about anything else you can think of. You can also find music styles accompaniments of the world including Asian, South American, German, African, Russian, Jamaican, and others.  It is super fun and I have played interactive auto accompaniment digital pianos & keyboards for many years and enjoy the experience very much. It allows you to experience and play music in ways that are not possible on traditional format digital pianos. BUT, it's a way way of playing that you need to develop and because it's rhythmic and you set the tempo for how fast or slow you want the backup band or orchestra to go, you have to stay up with it...it will not wait for you! Some people who have poor timing and rhythm skills may find using this technology a bit frustrating because of that reason. However, it can also be a good way to learn various types of music and improve your timing by interacting with this technology. It just depends on what you want and what your musical goals are.

Interactive ensemble digital pianos usually cost more money than digital pianos without that technology, especially when shopping within the same brand. There are currently around 40 different ensemble digital pianos on the market spread out amongst various brands. Some piano brand and model examples for furniture cabinet style ensemble digital pianos are as follows: Roland HPi6F, HPi7F, RP301R, RM700, KR115M, KR117M - Yamaha YDPV240, CVP501, CVP503, CVP505, CVP509, CVP409GP, CGP1000 - Kawai CN43, CP119, CP139, CP179, CP209 - Casio AP620 - Korg PA588 (portable, does not come in a traditional cabinet but worth mentioning) - Samick SDP45, SG450 - Kohler KD165 - Omega LX503, LX505, LX802.

As you can see, the top digital piano manufacturers produce many models of the ensemble type digital pianos and consider them to be an important part of what they offer to the general public. They even produce some of them in mini and small baby grand style cabinets and they look very attractive & stylish that way too! There are other brands that I do not recommend who also offer ensemble type digital pianos but those brands are very low in quality and and won't mention them here. However the ones that I have mentioned are all great fun, all higher quality, look great, sound great, and add lots of entertainment value to the piano playing experience.

As I mentioned earlier, ensemble digital pianos have everything that regular traditional digital pianos do but include the extra added technology which in most (but not all) cases, will cost more money but it can also be worthwhile upgrade. The lowest priced ensemble digital piano of higher quality including acoustic upright type piano touch and key action movement, piano tone with very good dynamic control for proper expression along with the added benefit of General MIDI song accompaniments and the ensemble features is the Casio AP620 at $1399 (internet discount price - above left pic). All of other ensemble digital pianos mentioned here are at least $2000 at discount price so the Casio is a bargain compared to those prices and still delivers very good quality including a good looking cabinet with height adjustable bench (height adjustable is rare and considered an upgrade). Check out my review on that model here on my blog. If I had to recommend the best ensemble digital pianos in the lower price range, I would include the Casio AP620 & the Samick SDP45F in a upright console cabinet style, and the Samick SG450 in the baby grand style (available in polished ebony and polished white). For the best ensemble pianos in the upper price range, depending on the features that are most important to you, it would be a tie between the Kawai CP179 & Yamaha CVP509 and those pianos are well over $8000.

Another option (although a limited one) is the Kohler  (part of Samick piano company with US headquarters in Nashville, TN) digital grand ensemble piano model KD165 (left pic). At one time not long ago, Kohler produced an incredible (in my opinion) ensemble digital piano in an authentic 5' long acoustic baby grand piano cabinet that not only had all the ensemble piano "bells & whistles" including backing tracks, built-in mic karaoke singing with auto-harmony, a wonderful grand piano touch and tone, and built-in 360 watt 5-way sound system, but the piano also had a actual player piano system built into it that played live music with moving keys! Those systems alone cost about $4000 to get installed on regular acoustic grand pianos. The KD165 piano also was very expensive at the time, selling for about $12,000. However I recently discovered that the Kohler/Samick piano company has a few of these digital ensemble baby grand pianos remaining at their factory (someone recently told me about it) and they're being sold for well under $6000 while they last, which in my opinion compared to what's out there today, is a steal! The only caveat is it is only available in a brown mahogany high polished finish which is absolutely beautiful (I have seen it). I just thought I would mention it because it's an unusually rare opportunity although there is only a small supply, and I don't hear about that kind of thing very often.

The realism in the band and/or orchestra accompaniment backing tracks in most of these pianos is pretty awesome and it sounds like at times you've got the "real thing" right in your living/family room. And I suppose buying one of those pianos is still cheaper than renting and feeding all those people that you would otherwise have to hire to come over to your home to play live music along with you!:) Whether you purchase a more traditional technology digital piano or an ensemble arranger digital piano from one of the many good brands, you will enjoy your new piano and be able to use it in new ways that will increase your ability to make good music.

If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet or store discounts (including the Kohler digital grand), please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

Here are 2 videos below of ensemble digital pianos in action. 

DIGITAL PIANOS UNDER $2000 - Yamaha YDP181,Yamaha YDPC71, Roland RP301, Samick SDP31F, Kawai CE220, Casio AP420 - "Traditional Piano Style" with no automatic chord systems

REVIEW - THE BEST TRADITIONAL FURNITURE CABINET DIGITAL PIANOS UNDER $2000. There are many new digital pianos that are being offered by the top piano manufacturers and sometimes it can be very confusing as to what the best digital piano is for a particular price range. So I have written this blog article to help out people looking for regular "piano style" non automatic (without 1 finger and fingered chord systems) digital pianos under $2000.

I consider the top digital piano manufacturers for the US  market at this point to include Casio, Kawai, Yamaha, Roland, and Samick. Korg used to be a very good digital piano brand with full size furniture style cabinets, but they are out of that business now. Kurzweil has made furniture style digital pianos for many years but lately are not competitive in the under $2000 price range, although that could change in the future. Almost all other brands of digital pianos (with a couple of exceptions) that may be available in some piano stores, on-line web sites, or consumer store web sites like Costco, are what I consider to be "off brands" and pianos I would not recommend such as Suzuki, Williams, Adams, Adagio, and a few others. I can  only say..."stay away from them regardless of how inexpensive the price  may be." I have written reviews on many of these brands and models so if you want more info on them, take a look at some of my other blog reviews.

In this blog article I will be referring only to furniture "cabinet style" models (no portable piano/keyboard type) that do not  have automatic accompaniment chords or easy play features, and only those that have an internet or regular store discount price for under $2000, which is where most consumers want to be when looking for a new digital piano.

Roland digital pianos are generally fine instruments, but unfortunately Roland only makes one furniture cabinet model for under $2000 (they really should offer more) and it's called the RP301 ($1699 internet price). It has a very nice reproduction of an acoustic piano sound with 128-notes of polyphony, and it's key action is nicely weighted but unfortunately the noise that it makes when the keys are played is quite loud and distracting when the keys go down and touch bottom, especially when playing in a harder more dynamic manner. Most of the other Roland cabinet model pianos (they're all well over $2000) have a key action touch that is much more realistic than the RP301 and also quieter. I do like the piano tone overall although it's a bit thin and tinney in the middle to higher octaves. The RP301 piano has buttons across the front panel so it's easy to operate and has 30 realistic instrument and percussion tones which is good, but it's stereo amplifier speaker system puts out a total of only 24 watts which is relatively small for a piano like this. The RP301 does not have a USB output connector (just old style MIDI connectors), which in this day and age it should at that price, especially because it's a new 2012 model. So overall, I think this RP301 piano is somewhat overpriced for what its offering. However, Roland also has a RP301R available in satin brown rosewood and satin black (approx $1999 piano store discount price - above left pic) which is vastly upgraded in technology over the basic 301, and in my opinion the 301R should be the only model offered of the two and should be a bit less money. I have a detailed blog review of these two Roland models here on my blogsite if you want to read more.

Samick SDP31F Polished Ebony

The Samick Piano Company is a very well known & respected South Korean piano & musical instrument manufacturer which has been making acoustic grand and upright pianos for over 50 years. Their line of acoustic piano products include the Samick brand as well as Kohler & Campbell, Seiler, Pramberger, Knabe, and others. Samick is also one of the largest guitar building companies in the world and has made thousands of guitars for famous companies including Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, and others and also builds the Greg Bennett and Silvertone line of acoustic & electric guitars. I have personally played on and owned Samick acoustic pianos in the past as well as currently owning Samick made Greg Bennett acoustic guitars, so I am very familiar with their instruments and they are quite good. Two main reasons why I believe these pianos are so good is because Samick has entered into a business relationship for 2012 and beyond with the Fatar key action and the Orla digital sound electronics company, both of which are located in Italy. These two well known European companies have been designing high quality digital piano components for many years and are very respected in Europe and around the world. Samick is now using these two company's pro quality (I have played them and they are really good) graduated hammer piano key actions with a quiet action movement and full dynamic response along with convincing stereo digital piano & instrument sounds and had them built a new model called the SDP31F offered in a high gloss polished ebony.

I believe the resulting outcome is that Samick has the best furniture cabinet digital piano they have ever offered under $2000 (at store discount price) and are now very competitive with the more well known names in digital pianos in this review. And these instruments are at very reasonable prices (in my opinion) for many people looking for a beautiful (with lid closed - above left pic) and well built furniture cabinet along with very satisfying piano performance, sound, and digital features such as full general MIDI 16-track song and lesson playback with individual track mute for practicing piano lessons better. It offers an LCD display screen and other options that really make it a compelling choice against the more well known digital piano brands. And for just slightly more money you can get the full featured Samick model called the SDP45F which offers considerably more digital educational and fun features along with an upgraded cabinet control panel. The only real downside to these pianos is that they have just 64-not polyphony. It would have been better with 128 notes which Yamaha & Casio has, but 64 would be sufficient if you are a beginner through intermediate player. If your skill level is higher than that then 64-note polyphony memory would not allow for more advanced music to be played smoothly. Take a look at my blog for a more detailed review of the upgraded Samick SDP45.

Yamaha offers 4 traditional furniture cabinet digital pianos under $2000 (which is nice a nice amount) The Yamaha Arius YDP181 piano (left pic) is the top of the line traditional piano under $2000 for Yamaha and sells at an internet discount price for $1799. This is a very popular piano and is carried in many music stores and on-line internet dealers throughout the country and the piano key action is a bit more realistic than the Roland RP301 in my opinion. Yamaha says in their YDP181 specification text the following statement: "Perfect for beginning students and experienced players alike, the ARIUS YDP series provides true piano sound and feel." 

OK...so what IS "true piano sound and feel?" Yamaha does not say but you need to know that piano sound and feel differs slightly from one acoustic wood piano to the next. That's because acoustic pianos are organic, made mostly of wood parts so that's why many acoustic piano shoppers will try out two or three of the same model acoustic piano in a store as each one can be slightly different in feel or tone. As I said, the feel and tone is different, especially from one brand to the next, so "true piano tone" is relative, but the YDP181 does have a very good piano tone although a bit muffled and mid-rangy because of the speaker system design (the sound is MUCH better through a good pair of headphones. The YDP181 offers 14 instruments on a nicely laid out control panel with easy access buttons, and the acoustic piano tone is fairly realistic, especially through good headphones as I mentioned (with 128 notes of polyphony). It also has a layering feature but no split or duet play, and the piano does not have a USB output (once again, in this this price range it should). It does have a USB flashdrive input so basic MIDI song recordings can be saved and stored to flashdrive (it does not do General MIDI), which is cool. It has a  2-track recorder for separate right and left hand recording and playback. As far as looks, it might be slightly better looking than the Roland, but not much. It still needs a better privacy panel and for it's price, it's pretty basic in features.Yamaha also makes a basic version of the YDP181 (but in an upgraded polished ebony cabinet finish called the YDPC71 (above left pic). This is essentially the same piano but with a minimal control panel (with no digital display screen) on the left side of the piano and has no USB flashdrive input or output, but it is quite attractive with the polished ebony finish. It just doesn't do much. The YDPC71 sells for $1799 on-line, but in comparison to the Samick SDP31F in polished ebony at just slightly more money, the Samick is overall a much better buy in looks, design, digital features, and key action in my opinion.

The Kawai company produces two digital furniture cabinet pianos under $2000 with the the CE220 piano in satin black finish only ($1899 discount price) being the most popular along with having more features, and it has a special key action not found on any other digital piano under $2000. The keys themselves are actually made out of real wood (direct from Kawai acoustic upright pianos) and are created to emulate an acoustic piano. Having wood keys is a big deal for some people and other brands also have wood keys, but not until you spend more than $3000. The piano tone is, in my opinion, arguably the best of all the traditional furniture cabinet digital pianos under $2000 and it has a whopping 192 notes of polyphony, which is plenty for most playing situations, especially for more advanced players. The features that Kawai offers on this piano are pretty impressive as well. All of the control buttons are across the front of the piano (where they should be) and they're easy to see and use. The CE220 is capable of layering and splitting two tones and it also has some other cools things like octave shift when layering two sounds together which none of the others can do. The CE220 has duet 4-hand play which means two people can play the piano at the same time by splitting the piano keyboard into 2 equal keyboards playing in the same octaves which is very cool. It has 20 very realistic instrument tones (20 is OK and better than Yamaha), has 1000 very nice drum rhythm patterns for rhythm & timing practice  (neither Yamaha or Roland has that), a layer relative volume balance slider control (the only piano to have that), and a 2-track recorder for separate right and left hand recording and playback. The CE200 also has a USB output to connect to computer for interfacing with music software and a USB flashdrive input for storing recorded songs as well as loading in basic MIDI piano song files (it does not do GENERAL MIDI). And as far as looks, I think Kawai is the best in the bunch and looks more substantial and more like a piano (but not quite). I would definitely recommend this piano as the clear winner for its low price for what it offers. And most people know that Kawai builds professional concert grand pianos, so Kawai does know what they're doing. The Kawai CE220 is not produced in large quantities and is only available in the US and Canada...and from what I understand it is not easily found in most piano or music stores, but it's definitely worth looking for and trying out if you can:)

I included the Casio Celviano AP420 ($1099 discount price) because it offers a lot of "bang for the buck" for a very low price. In my opinion, the keyboard touch, response, and movement is quite good (especially for the low price) and the keytops have the new synthetic ivory material for the better finger movement and control. The piano has a pretty realistic sound with 128 notes of polyphony, and Casio has even put in 2-track recorder for left & right hand recording and playback. There are 16 instrument tones (not much but plenty at this price) on this model along with duet four hand play, layering, splitting, transpose, and some other cool things. The control buttons are on the left side and many of the features have to be selected with a function & key, so it's not as user friendly as the Yamaha, Roland, Samick, or Kawai. But for the very low selling price, I can accept that. Casio has included some advanced tech features like a USB CoreMIDI connector to computer (very nice for plug & play connection to iPad) and an SD memory card input for saving and playing Standard MIDI piano song recordings. The Casio AP420 audio speaker system is surprisingly powerful at this price with 40 watts of total stereo power. And it's got great looks with a cabinet that includes a full privacy panel and front stabilization legs (not available on the other pianos in this low price range). It also includes a more expensive height adjustable bench which the others don't. So for $1099, this piano is a very impressive package and great "bang for the buck.".

My first choice in this digital piano comparison would probably be the Kawai CE220 in the higher price range. With the wood key action, more realistic acoustic piano touch, and very resonate acoustic piano tone along with it's other cool features, this one is worth the money. My next 2nd choice would be the Samick SDP31F in the polished ebony furniture style cabinet (the polished ebony finished is not available on the Kawai). I like this because not only is it a nice piano, but it can play General MIDI songs (which can be loaded into the piano through a USB flashdrive) from popular lesson books (from Faber, Alfred, and other lesson curriculum) so the student can practice his or her lessons  more efficiently. This is a VERY cool and helpful feature. My 3rd choice would be the Casio AP420 because it offers a lot for such a little price (and these days low price is very important to a lot of people).

There are also a couple of cabinet (furniture style) digital pianos under $2000 that include fun automatic chord accompaniments and additional piano educational features. These pianos are referred to as "arranger" or ensemble digital pianos. Yamaha makes one called the YDPV240 ($1999) and Casio has one called the AP620 ($1399).

Go to the following link to read more about the Yamaha YDP V240:

http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2010/01/yamaha-introduces-new-arius-dgx-digital.html

Go to the following link to learn more about the Casio Celviano AP620:

http://azpianonews.blogspot.com/2010/01/all-new-casio-celviano-ap620-piano-is.html

If you want more info on these pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864

Digital Pianos - REVIEWS & NEWS - GO HERE!

The BEST Digital Piano REVIEWS are HERE! My name is Tim Praskins and I am an Independent Piano, Keyboard & Guitar Teacher, Musician, and Expert piano consultant to the PUBLIC. I talk about piano stuff you may find interesting, including piano lessons, music technology, new & used pianos, & do in-depth REVIEWS of many Digital Pianos. Although I am based out of Arizona (where the Grand Canyon is), I'LL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE (only email inquiries from outside US).
 
Please click on the links or use the search bar on the right side of this blog to look for more digital piano reviews, because there are lots of them. Just put in the brand and/or model number of the digital piano you're searching for, and if you don't see it, I continue to add new reviews all the time. Or...you can contact me directly.
 
Also, please don't purchase a piano without contacting me first! I can help you get digital pianos for LESS MONEY than internet pricing, special sales, or local piano stores (US only) and you can be sure you'll get the right one.

You may email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864 (only email inquiries from outside US)

**Please note that all my reviews are independent of any others on the internet and are done with great research, time, energy, and personal experience with each instrument. There are some individuals on-line who claim to be digital piano reviewers but know little about digital pianos and simply want to get paid a commission by linking you to a web site (like Amazon) that sells digital pianos. I do not endorse or support those people, blogs, websites, or twitter accounts that would try to take advantage of you! I write my blog primarily for the love of music and to help you and/or your family make the correct piano buying decision. And if you are looking to purchase a good piano for your yourself, your spouse, or your children, then you are giving a gift that will keep on giving. Also, when you own a good digital piano that can help you learn and play better through its built-in digital technology, you will likely enjoy the piano experience even more...and it's really all about experiencing the joy of music in a personal way. Playing & listening to music can move the "inner soul" in ways that are amazing and I encourage everyone to play the piano because it's something you'll never regret!

If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts or store prices, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

REVIEW - Roland RP301 & RP301R Digital Pianos - Same basic pianos but with major upgrades on RP301R!

I do not recommend the Roland RP301 ($1699 internet discount price) or RP301R - R stands for Rhythm - (approx $1999 store discount price) for some very basic reasons which I will share with you in this blog review. However, between the two models, the Roland RP301R is a huge upgrade over the basic RP301 in terms of technology and educational features, and if it were not for the somewhat disappointing key action noise, keytops, and piano sound, in my opinion, the RP301R would be a very nice piano for its price! The basic RP301 can be found and purchased on-line at many internet stores, but the upgraded RP301R can only be found in the US at regular piano stores, and prices for that model are not advertised on-line.

There are many cool features on both models including "twin piano" which electronically divides the 88-key piano keyboard into two identical 44-key keyboards so you can play duets with two players simultaneously, & 30 very nice individual and layered instrument sounds on the RP301 (above left pic) and 54 impressive instrument sounds on the RP301R (left pic - control panel). Both pianos are offered in attractive satin brown rosewood and black color furniture style cabinets with sliding key covers and come with a matching bench. However, Roland is still using a rather weak speaker system with just 24 watts of total power and two small 4.7" x 3" speakers which is the same as in the previous models. The weak audio power and limited speakers, as compared to other brands in this price range (40 watts or more and 4 speakers in some other brands), doesn't allow for a full, rich tone in my opinion and instead makes the piano sound a bit mid rangy, thin, and electronic, especially when playing the middle octaves of the keyboard. The sound is actually much better through a good pair of headphones, although Roland's SuperNATURAL piano sound is not so "supernatural" in the middle octaves of the keyboard where you normally play and sounds unnatural to me. The lower bassier piano sounds are very nice full, and resonate, but as you get up to the middle and upper octaves, that's where the piano starts sounding somewhat electronic. A first time player or someone who doesn't know what pianos are supposed to sound like may not notice this unnatural part of the piano sound when playing in middle and upper octaves, and so it may not be an issue for some people, but it is for me. The dynamics and expression response on these pianos is very good and much better than many other digital pianos, and that a big plus.

I was looking forward to seeing what new type of key action Roland would be using in these new models and they elected to use their newer Ivory Feel-G Keyboard Action found in a couple other Roland models including the FP4F and RD300NX. Roland's obvious goal was to improve the key action and piano sound from the previous models, and in some ways they did a good job and in other ways they went backwards in my opinion.The new key action is supposed to be heavier and closer to that of a real acoustic piano, and it is. Roland did improve that part although the key movement is a bit sluggish in my opinion when playing softly or lightly. The upgraded Roland key actions in the higher priced models move noticeably better.

Roland also claims to have added an "escapement" feature in the key action which they have in their better key actions. This key action mechanism duplicates more closely the touch of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano. Unfortunately, this "escapement" feature is virtually non existent in the G-Keyboard as opposed to the escapement feature in the Roland PHA series of key actions found in the majority of Roland pianos. To put it bluntly, the escapement feature has escaped in the RP301 & F120! You just cannot feel it, no matter how hard or softly you press the keys. Roland might as well as have not mentioned this on their specs because it just doesn't work based on my playing experience with them. This is not the case with the better Roland key actions as you can definitely feel this feature on those pianos and it's quite good.

The keytops of these two new Roland pianos have Roland's newer synthetic ivory on them. All the good digital piano brands are using synthetic ivory on their better digital pianos these days and Roland is no exception. The only negative issue with the synthetic ivory on the Ivory Feel-G keyboard action (and on some of the better PHA key actions) is that unfortunately the keytops turn a light dirty color after awhile because the porous synthetic material that Roland uses seem to absorb dirt and grime from the fingers and it goes into the keytop material (see above left pic on the keytops). I have seen this for myself on other Roland G-Keyboards as well as on other Roland synthetic ivory keytops in other models including the Roland RD700NX pro piano, RD300NX, as well as the top of the line pro piano synth called the Fantom G8 which sells for about $4000. The other major brands including Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio have their own synthetic ivory material on their keytops, but they don't appear to have that problem because I have never seen it, even after the keys get a lot of use. In fact there have been some complaints I have read on the internet from people talking about this issue on Roland ivory feel pianos, and I would agree. It's a visual thing as well as what's under your fingers when playing the keys. I suppose if you got your hands and fingers absolutely clean before playing these pianos, there may not be an issue with the keytops although I don't know if that would help.

Anyway, it seems that Roland may have solved the problem on their newest ivory feel keyboards in their new HP500 home digital piano cabinet series because the keytops look noticeably different as well as the ivory material looks way more attractive and authentic as well. But in the case of the Ivory Feel-Gkeyboard being used in the RP301 and RP301R, unless Roland has changed the keytop material (which I have no indication they have) then this "dirty key" keytop problem may still occur over time depending on who plays it and how it's played. It is true that all keytops can show fingerprints and a bit of dirt from time to time, but that can easily be wiped off. But this situation is different as it almost looks like the keytops get stained... they're just get ugly looking. I have not tried to wipe off these keys so I don't know how that would effect the outcome, but it shouldn't be that way at all.

Roland RP301R

Finally with regard to the key actions, Roland has also had a noticeable problem with a few of their models making a loud thunking/thumping sound when the keys are played with some force on more aggressive music or if you just have a heavy hand in playing the keys, so to speak. The Roland HP302 digital piano at about $2500 had this issue (that model was recently discontinued) and I have played many of them and they all did the same thing. Unfortunately it is no different on these new models. The recently discontinued RP201 did not have this issue based on my experience with it and the keys were very quiet no matter how hard you pressed the keys, but unfortunately the action was much too light for people wanting a more authentic acoustic piano touch. So in an effort to improve the weight and resistance of they keys, it would appear that Roland gave these 2 new pianos the same problem as exists in the HP302, and perhaps other models. The loud thunking noise when playing the keys sounds like there isn't enough felt under the keys to prevent the keys from knocking on the keybed underneath the keys. I don't know what causes it exactly, but when you play at lower volumes or use headphones, the thunking sound from the keys is very disturbing and distracting  and I have had owners of Roland pianos with this issue tell me this before. However, if you play the keys lightly or softly on these two new models, you really don't hear the thunking noise at all which is good. But that's not the way people play all the time because it's necessary to use dynamics and different expression and therefore you will eventually run into this situation, especially if you're somewhat more advanced in your playing skill level or you just like playing the keys a bit harder (like I do).

Piano key actions and the way they move, look, and feel are very important and people need to consider that before they make a digital piano purchase decision. Although all digital piano key actions on all brands produce some background noise when being played, there are some digital pianos that have obvious distracting noise that are just not acceptable to me, and the RP301 & RP301R are two of those pianos. However, both of these new models do have nice front panel dedicated control buttons, a handy sliding key cover on the RP301 only, 128 notes of note polyphony memory which is very good, an adjustable electronic metronome for timing, an overall nice acoustic piano sound (Roland calls it SuperNATURAL sound) but not as good as it should be through its minimal speaker system in my opinion, an 1/8" mini jack audio input to run an iPod/MP3 player through to pay along with (very cool), a song recorder, special effects, 5 levels of touch sensitivity control, built-in music holder clips in the music rack (above left pic), and half-damper gradual pedal sustain for more authentic pedal expression (which is very good).

The RP301R (R stands for Rhythm) has a bunch of very cool upgrades over the regular RP301 such as 60 interactive style accompaniments (backing tracks) divided into 11 music categories so that you can "play with the band." This feature allows you to play regular pop, jazz, classical, country, big band, and other styles of music on the piano and then a background group of instruments (including a drummer) will follow your playing and recognize your chords and notes (chord recognition technology) and play appropriate backgrounds just like a band or orchestra would do. It doesn't wait for you like the teaching system on some Yamaha digital pianos but instead fills in some great multi instrumental music behind you piano playing. This is a super fun feature for people just wanting to have fun or wanting to improvise with various music accompaniment styles. The quality of these background arrangements are very good which is a Roland specialty, and I like them very much. There are other pianos that have automatic style arrangements in this price range including Yamaha & Casio, however, this feature on the Roland is even more intuitive and natural sounding. Unfortunately, based on my experience, this function is normally not utilized by piano students or their piano teachers unless the students are older (teens and adults) and the teacher is able and willing to teach this chord method of play. However, this is something you could learn to use on your own but you need to have good rhythm and timing for it to sound good. It really is a fun way to make music in ways that you would not otherwise do, but it's also a feature you and/or your family may not use much.

Other super nice upgrades on the RP301R is a 3-track recorder for multitrack recording and learning along with being able to save your recorded songs direct to a USB flash drive (left pic), a keyboard adjustable split function for playing style accompaniments or splitting the keyboard for two different sounds, the ability to layer two sounds together for the two different tone buttons, a very attractive and easy to read LCD display screen that gives out more usable info, a USB flashdrive input for playing General MIDI songs or even audio WAV file songs for play along and learning with your favorite tune. Not all this IS definitely worth having and a great learning and practice tool for students and players alike. You can slightly speed up or slow down the audio WAV file song while learning to play it. You can even transpose the General MIDI song playback into a different key than the piano itself for easier playback in the key you may be more comfortable with. See my blog article for more info on General MIDI here: General MIDI songs and why you need it!
The RP301R also has a direct USB to computer output (above left pic) for connection to a laptop or iPad for even more fun with your piano!

If it were not for the keyboard action and keys being the way they are or the tinnier/thinner sounding piano tone in the middle to upper octaves, this piano would have been "perfect" in my book, especially because I have always liked Roland digital pianos (overall) and recommend many of their models to people who want a very nice digital piano playing experience. If you like either of these pianos and the deficiencies I have mentioned here do not bother you, then you should buy the piano because at the end of the day...it's your money and your decision and there are many things to like about these pianos:). Roland is really a great company and I just wish they did not have these noticeable problems on these new piano models and the Ivory Feel G-keyboard. You should also consider other options in this price range by Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai who build competitive models that may even give you more "bang for the buck" as far as a satisfying piano playing experience.

If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts or store prices, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

REVIEW - Roland F120 & RP301 Digital Pianos - Same pianos with different cabinet - NOT Recommended

REVIEW - I do not recommend these two new 2012 Roland digital pianos for a couple of reasons including a noisy, thumping key action when the keys strike bottom as you press a bit harder on the keys, which has been the case on at least one other Roland model that I have played. Although these new pianos look to be pretty nice for the price and have some good features, they also need some important improvements in my opinion. The Roland RP301 ($1699 normal internet discount price - left pic in black) & F120 ($1299 normal internet discount price - lower left pic in black) are the identical pianos in every way except for cabinet design, control panel/button placement, and weight, and are the lowest priced Roland cabinet pianos in their extensive line-up for 2012. Prior to these new models being released, Roland had the RP201 & F110 cabinet pianos in a similar price range which were good sellers overall but the key action on those models had a somewhat light touch and really did not feel like an acoustic piano in my opinion. However, on the positive side, the key action movement on the prior models was very quiet going down and striking bottom no matter how hard you pressed down on the keys, and that aspect was a big plus when it came to playing them. Proper key action movement and response including quietness of the movement when playing the keys, is the most important part of digital pianos as far as I am concerned. Next in importance comes the piano sound along with being able to get good, smooth response when playing and authentic dynamics when using expression in your playing.

Although there are many cool features including "twin piano" which electronically divides the 88-key piano keyboard into two identical 44-key keyboards so you can play duets with two players simultaneously, & 30 very nice individual and layered instrument sounds to choose from on the new models, Roland is still using a rather weak speaker system with just 24 watts of total power and two small 4.7" x 3" speakers which is the same as in the previous models. The weaker audio power and limited speakers, as compared to other brands in this price range (40 watts or more and 4 speakers in some other brands), doesn't allow for a full, rich tone and instead makes the piano sound a bit mid rangy, thin, and electronic in my opinion, especially when playing the middle octaves of the keyboard. The sound is actually much better through a good pair of headphones although Roland's SuperNATURAL piano sound is not so "supernatural" in the middle octaves of the keyboard where you normally play and sounds unnatural to me. The lower bassier piano sounds are very nice full, and resonate but as you get up to the middle and upper octaves, that's where the piano starts sounding somewhat electronic. A first time player or someone who doesn't know what pianos are supposed to sound like may not notice this unnatural part of the piano sound when playing in middle and upper octaves, and so it may not be an issue for some people, but it is for me.

I was looking forward to seeing what new type of key action Roland would be using in these new models and they elected to use their newer Ivory Feel-G Keyboard Action found in a couple other Roland models including the FP4F and RD300NX. Roland's obvious goal was to improve the key action and piano sound from the previous models, and in some ways they did a good job and in other ways they went backwards in my opinion.The new key action is supposed to be heavier and closer to that of a real acoustic piano, and it is. Roland did improve that part significantly although the key movement is a bit sluggish in my opinion when playing softly or lightly. The upgraded Roland key actions in the higher priced models move noticeably better and smoother.

Roland also claims to have added an "escapement" feature in the key action which they have in their better key actions. This key action mechanism duplicates more closely the touch of a grand piano as opposed to an upright piano. Unfortunately, this "escapement" feature is virtually non existent in the G-Keyboard as opposed to the escapement feature in the Roland PHA series of key actions found in the majority of Roland pianos. To put it bluntly, the escapement feature has escaped in the RP301 & F120! You just cannot feel it, no matter how hard or softly you press the keys. Roland might as well as have not mentioned this on their specs because it just doesn't work based on my playing experience with them. This is not the case with the better Roland key actions as you can definitely feel this feature on those pianos and it's quite good.

The keytops of these two new Roland pianos have Roland's newer synthetic ivory on them. All the good digital piano brands are using synthetic ivory on their better digital pianos these days and Roland is no exception. The only negative issue with the synthetic ivory keytops on these G keyboard action (and on some of the better PHA key actions) is that unfortunately the keytops turn a light dirty color after awhile because the porous synthetic material that Roland uses seem to absorb dirt and grime from the fingers and it goes into the keytop material (see above left pic on the keytops). I have seen this for myself many times on other Roland G-Keyboards as well as on other Roland synthetic ivory keytops in other models including the Roland RD700NX pro piano as well as the top of the line pro piano synth called the Fantom G8 which sells for about $4000. The other major brands including Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio that have their own synthetic ivory material on their keytops don't appear to have that problem because I have never seen it, even after the keys get a lot of use. In fact there have been some complaints I have read on the internet from people talking about this issue on Roland ivory feel pianos, and I would agree. It's a visual thing as well as what's under your fingers when playing the keys. I suppose if you got your hands and fingers absolutely clean before playing these pianos, there may not be an issue with the keytops although I don't know if that would help.

Anyway, it seems that Roland may have solved the problem on their newest ivory feel keyboards in their new HP500 home digital piano cabinet series because the keytops look noticeably different as well as the ivory material looks way more attractive and authentic as well. But in the case of the Ivory Feel-Gkeyboard being used in the F120 and RP301, unless Roland has changed the keytop material (which I have no indication they have) then this "dirty key" keytop problem may still occur over time depending on who plays it and how it's played. It is true that all keytops can show fingerprints and a bit of dirt from time to time, but that can easily be wiped off. This situation is different as it almost looks like the keytops get stained... they just get ugly looking. I have not tried to wipe off these keys so I don't know how that would effect the outcome, but it shouldn't be that way at all.
 
Finally with regard to the key actions, Roland has also had a noticeable problem with a few of their models making a loud thunking sound when the keys are played with some force on more aggressive music or if you just have a heavy hand in playing the keys, so to speak. The Roland HP302 digital piano at about $2500 had this issue (that model was recently discontinued) and I have played many of them and they all did the same thing. Unfortunately it is no different on these new models. The recently discontinued RP201 and F110 did not have this issue and they were very quiet no matter how hard you pressed the keys, but unfortunately the action was much too light for people wanting a more authentic acoustic piano touch. So in an effort to improve the weight and resistance of they keys, it would appear that Roland gave these 2 new pianos the same problem as exists in the HP302, and perhaps other models. The loud thunking noise when playing the keys sounds like there isn't enough felt under the keys to prevent the keys from knocking on the keybed underneath the keys. I don't know what causes it exactly, but when you play at lower volumes or use headphones, the thunking sound from the keys is very disturbing and distracting from the playing and I have had owners of Roland pianos with this issue tell me this before. However, if you play the keys lightly or softly on these two new models, you really don't hear the thumping noise at all which is good. But that's not the way people play all the time, because you use dynamics and different expression and you will eventually run into this situation, especially if you somewhat more advanced in your playing skill level or you just like playing the keys a bit harder (like I do:).

Piano key actions and the way they move, look, and feel are very important and people need to consider that before they make a digital piano purchase decision. Although all digital piano key actions on all brands produce some background noise when being played, there are some digital pianos that have obvious distracting noise that are just not acceptable to me, and the RP301 & F120 are two of those pianos. However, these new models do have nice front panel dedicated control buttons, a nice, but limited LED display information window, a handy sliding key cover on the RP301 and folding cover on the F120, 128 notes of note polyphony memory which is very good, an adjustable electronic metronome for timing, an overall nice acoustic piano sound (Roland calls it SuperNATURAL sound) but not as good as it should be through its minimal speaker system in my opinion, an 1/8" mini jack audio input to run an iPod/MP3 player through to pay along with (very cool), a song recorder, special reverb effects, 5 levels of touch sensitivity control, built-in music holder clips in the music rack (above left pic), and half-damper sustain pedal for more authentic pedal expression (which is good).

If it weren't for the disappointing key action and key tops, the lack of a good speaker system, and the fact that these pianos only have MIDI connectors but do not have USB output to computer (a must in my book these days), then these pianos would be very nice to own. Roland also builds an upgraded version of the RP301 called the RP301R and it has all the upgrades the regular 301 should have had except it unfortunately has the same key action and sound system and is approx $1999 discount price sold at piano stores only (not sold online). In my opinion, if Roland really wanted to be more competitive with other brands in the $1700 price range (RP301), they should have come out with the RP301R and made it available to everyone at internet stores (instead of just piano stores) around the same price as the RP301 and not offered the basic RP301 at all.

As far as the built in audio/speaker system on these two models go, I will say that a person could connect these pianos to an external sound system because Roland does include 1/4" output jacks on the piano which you don't find on Yamaha digital pianos in this price range. So there is a way to enhance the sound and make it better, but it would require you have a nearby stereo speaker system or invest in a pair of higher quality speaker monitors that would cost about $250 - $300 for the pair and then have a place to put the speakers which would mean investing in speaker stands and cables to connect them to the piano.

The RP301 comes in two attractive colors including brown rosewood (left pic) & black on nice looking furniture style cabinets. The F120 comes in a more compact contemporary cabinet in a very attractive satin black and satin white (the white looks pretty cool if you like that color - lower left pic) with a very interesting and cool looking key cover that folds down flat over the entire piano top and also acts as the music rack backing when opened up. The F120 control panel buttons are all the way to the left as you're sitting in front of the piano, and if you happen to be right handed as most people are, this is somewhat inconvenient (it would be for me) when it comes to using the buttons while playing (there are other digital pianos in this price range with control buttons on the left side as well). However, the RP301 control buttons are in the center which is a much better placement. Both pianos are no doubt reliable because Roland makes good quality electronics and I have owned and played many Roland digital pianos and keyboards over the years, and overall, enjoy playing them and have had few problems with them. But I am sad to say that I probably would not recommend these 2 new models at this time because of the deficiencies in the areas that I mentioned, especially concerning the keyboard action and keys. If you like either of these pianos and the deficiencies I have mentioned here do not bother you, then you should buy the piano because at the end of the day...it's your money and your decision and there are many things to like about these pianos:). But you should also consider other options in this price range by Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai who make competitive models that may even give you more "bang for the buck."

If you want more piano info and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts or store prices, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.