REVIEW - Roland RP301 & RP301R Digital Pianos - Similar pianos with major upgrades on RP301R

UPDATED REVIEW - April 5, 2013 - I semi recommend the Roland RP301 ($1699 internet discount price) or RP301R - R stands for Rhythm - (approx $1999 store normal 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 Roland pianos very much (specifically their HP series) and have used them personally for years and it's a great company. But in these two specific models there are some things that I just don't care for which I consider to be quite important in digital pianos. Between the two models, the Roland RP301R is a big upgrade over the basic RP301 in terms of technology and educational features. So between the two, the 301R is definitely worth the extra money and if it were not for some issues having to do with the key action 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 satin 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 (as compared with other brands and models of pianos in this price range) with just 24 watts of total power and two small 4.7" speakers which is the same as in the previous RP201 model. The weaker audio power and limited speakers 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 full and resonate, but as you get up to the middle and upper octaves, that's where the piano starts sounding somewhat electronic and thin. 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 that's why I am pointing it out. The dynamics and expression response on these pianos however 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 basic Ivory Feel-G Keyboard Action found in a couple other lower priced 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 heavier. Roland did improve that part although the key movement is a bit sluggish when playing softly or lightly. The upgraded Roland key actions in the higher priced HP models (as well as the the portable FP7) move noticeably better and I recommend those models.

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 including their HP series. 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 Roland pianos have their synthetic ivory on them. All of the good digital piano brands are using synthetic ivory on many of their 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 proprietary synthetic ivory material on their keytops, but they don't appear to have that problem and I have never seen it, 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.

Roland RP301R

Finally with regard to the key actions, Roland has also had a noticeable problem with a few of their models making a very loud thunking/thumping sound when the keys are played with some force or if you just have a heavy hand in playing the keys, so to speak. The Roland (now discontinued) HP302 digital piano at about $2500 had this issue 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 (the prior model to the RP301) 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 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 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 especially play at lower volumes or use headphones for private practice, the thumping sound from the keys is 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 thumping 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 your a student and want to get better at playing or if you're somewhat more advanced in your playing skill level, or you just like playing the keys a bit harder with more dynamic expression (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 and understand the concept of playing that way. 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 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. You can slightly speed up or slow down the audio WAV file song while learning to play it which is useful. 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 educational features and why they work! 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!

Casio PX780

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, the Roland RP301R piano would have been an excellent competitor although it should sell for a lower price in my opinion given the competition out there. The RP301 model without all of the extra features is just too basic and there are other pianos out there for quite a bit less money less money which are much better values. If you like either of the Roland pianos, and the deficiencies I have mentioned here do not bother you, then you should buy it 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 basic problems on these digital piano cabinet models. 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. In fact if you are considering the Roland RP301 or RP301R then I would highly recommend you consider the new Casio PX780 as a much better piano in just about every way and it considerably less money than either Roland piano. Go here to read my review of the new Casio PX780:  Casio PX780 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.