REVIEW - Roland F120 & RP301 Digital Pianos - Same pianos with different cabinet - Not impressed with Key Action

UPDATED REVIEW - April 1, 2013 - I semi recommend the Roland RP120 ($1299 internet discount price) or RP301 ($1699 internet discount price) for some basic reasons which I will share with you in this blog review. What I mean by "semi recommend" is that I do not fully recommend these models because of a few basic deficiencies which I discuss below. I do like some higher priced Roland pianos very much (the Roland HP series and others) and have used them personally for years and Roland is a great company. The Roland RP301 ($1699 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 2013. 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 in those models had a somewhat light key movement 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 quiet when going down and striking bottom of the keybed 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  and proper dynamics when using expression in your playing.

There are many cool features in these pianos 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. However, Roland is still using a rather weak internal 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 somewhat weaker audio power and limited speakers, as compared to other brands in this price range (40 watts or more with 4 speakers in some other brands), doesn't allow for a fuller, richer tone in my opinion and instead makes the piano sound (especially on the piano 1 setting), a bit mid rangy and electronic especially when playing the middle octaves of the keyboard. The sound is actually much better through a good pair of headphones. 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 and could be an issue as you progress in your skill level or are already a good player.

I was looking forward to seeing what new type of key action Roland would be using in these new models and Roland chose to use their Ivory Feel-G Keyboard Action found in a couple other Roland models including the FP4F and RD300NX. Roland's goal was obviously 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 as far as being heavier. Roland did improve that part significantly although the key movement is a bit sluggish when playing softly or lightly or flats & sharpers where your fingers are nearer to the top of the keys. The upgraded Roland key actions in the higher priced HP models and FP7F move noticeably better and more smoothly but many of those pianos are $1000 more and up.

Roland also claims to have added an "escapement" feature in the key action which is supposed to give the feeling of playing on grand piano keys as opposed to playing 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 white keytops of these two new Roland pianos have Roland's synthetic ivory on them (the black keys have a satin finish). 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 the Roland G keyboard action is that unfortunately the keytops turn a light dirty color after awhile do to likely absorbing dirt and grime from the fingers and it goes onto keytop material (see above left pic on Roland keytops). I have seen this for myself many times on other Roland G-Keyboards including the RD300NX as well as Roland synthetic ivory keytops in other modelwith older ivory key actions including the Roland RD700NX pro piano their pro piano synth called the Fantom G8, which sells for about $4000 or so. The other major brands including Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio, have their own proprietary synthetic ivory material on their keytops and they don't appear to have this problem even after the keys get a lot of use. 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.

Finally, with regard to key movement noise, Roland has also has a noticeable problem with a few of their models with the ivory-feel G action making a loud thunking/thumping sound when the keys are played harder when trying to achieve louder volume or being played with some force on more aggressive music. The Roland HP302 digital piano at about $2500 had this issue (that model is discontinued) and I have played many of them and they all did the same thing. Unfortunately it is no different on the RP301 and F120. 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 the action was much too light (as I mentioned before) 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 did not get rid of the distracting key thunking noise, and that's too bad. The loud 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 for private practice, the thumping sound from the keys is very disturbing and distracting when pressing the keys harder 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 models, you really don't hear the thumping noise which is good. But that's not the way people play all the time, because you use dynamics and different expression and you will likely run into this situation and there's nothing that can be done about it. I would have expected this issue in an off brand, but not in a Roland, especially in this price range.

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. On the plus side, these models do have good pedal sustain and decay time, useful 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 quite 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 playing noise along with the key tops, the lack of a better 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 especially when wanting to connect to an iPad, etc), then these models 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 RP301 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).

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 $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 which is not what most people want to do.

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 an attractive satin black and satin white (the white looks pretty cool if you like that color - lower left pic) with a useful 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 near or in the center above the keys 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 unfortunately I am not as impressed by either of these two pianos as I'd like to be and cannot fully recommend them at this time. The deficiencies in the areas I mentioned, especially concerning the keyboard action, keys and lack of USB output, make the RP301 overpriced and not very competitive in my opinion as compared to other brands. If you still 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 Roland pianos:). But you should also consider other options in this price range by Yamaha, Casio, and Kawai who make competitive models that may give you more "bang for the buck," and for less money

If you want to be in a lower price range (around $1000 or so) and get a much better piano playing experience in my opinion, then you should check out the 2013 model Casio PX850 digital cabinet piano (left pic - internet discount price $1099). This new model is my pick right now for best playing & sounding piano in a lower price range for 2013 because it has, among other things, twice the audio power of the Roland's, direct high speed USB output to iPad for instant connectivity, and a whopping 256-note polyphony piano sound chip with acoustic and pedal resonance. For a review of the Casio PX850 go here: Casio PX850 Review

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.