Roland FP-2

K

Kaulback

New member
Well I decided today to swing down to the local music shop and see what they sell, try out a few keyboards, see if anything catches my eye. I'm not so much a digital piano man myself but my friend (who plays piano, and is looking on expanding that interest to digital piano) was really impressed by the FP-2. I was even impressed by it...He also tried a Korg SP 300 BK and a Kurzweil SP88X but the keys were a bit heavier than he cared for, and were expensive despite that (NOTE: Cost isn't a big factor to consider in the upcoming question, just pointing out that it didn't help the fact that it already had too heavy of keys). He knows I've been going to this board recently, so I ask on behalf of him:

He is looking for a very good keyboard similiar to the FP-2, but better since he'd prefer to not have to upgrade for a long time (one that can't really be upgraded in the present anyways, because it is one of the best) with 88 hammer action keys, which must be either on the lighter side of weighted or on the heavier side of semi-weighted; that has some good piano, strings, etc. sounds (He will probably get a sound module to go with it in the future so it doesn't need alot of sounds, but enough to sound half-decent during the time he is module-less); and most importantly, he will be using this piano for live performances only, nothing in the studio. What do you recommend? I used the board's search function and read a topic similar to this one, but I didn't get the answer I was looking for regarding the specific needs of my good friend. As for features:
-Preferably 64 polyphony but he could settle for 32
-A SmartMedia Card Slot wouldn't be bad but he can live without one
-Some one-touch presets would be nice
-Layer & Split
-MIDI In/Out
-USB Port, not necessary but would be nice
-2 or more Pedals In/Out

Now I was thinking maybe a nice upgrade from the FP-2 would be, naturally, the FP-5, but maybe not? I dunno, you tell me. Also I've heard some good things about the Roland RD170, how would it compare to the FP-2? The FP-5? What about any other digital piano you may suggest to me?

Any help would be greatly appreciated from my friend, and me also. Thank you for your time.
 
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Well, price doesn't really matter, like I said he told me that he'd much rather save up twice as long and spend twice as much to have a really nice piano, than to spend half as much and need to upgrade later. BUT, that being said, if he changes his mind, it'd be nice to get an answer for a lower price range in addition to the 'price doesnt matter' answer. ;)
 
P120Dude said:
Then I reccomend the Yamaha P120. It's the Best stage piano in my opinion, hands down.

P120Dude
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The 'highest version' of the P series, the P250 isn't better than the 120? Sometimes the 'remake + upgrade' keyboards are in fact worse than the original but is this the case here? :confused:
 
Kaulback said:
The 'highest version' of the P series, the P250 isn't better than the 120? Sometimes the 'remake + upgrade' keyboards are in fact worse than the original but is this the case here? :confused:
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I personally feel that the P120 is superior to the P250, but that is somthing he has to decide for himself. This is an extremely personal area.

P120Dude
 
P120Dude said:
I personally feel that the P120 is superior to the P250, but that is somthing he has to decide for himself.

P120Dude
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Care to elaborate on why (In your opinion) it's better? If I go to my friend and say 'the P120 is better' he'll just basically say 'f*** you' in nicer words, but if I go to him and say 'the P120 is better BECAUSE ________' he'll consider that. Not that I'm going to go by what only one person says, I'll wait until I have some more replies.
 
Kaulback said:
Care to elaborate on why (In your opinion) it's better? If I go to my friend and say 'the P120 is better' he'll just basically say 'f*** you' in nicer words, but if I go to him and say 'the P120 is better BECAUSE ________' he'll consider that. Not that I'm going to go by what only one person says, I'll wait until I have some more replies.
Click to expand...

Sure, I'll state why.

I feel that the P120 has better clarity and smoothness, and I feel that the action connects the sound better. I also feel that the P120's Acoustic Pianos are warm and smooth, while the P250's are a little on the bright side.

That is why I feel that the P120 is superior to the P250.

P120Dude

Tell him to try it out for himself!
 
On the touch control, besides TouSensitity ("hard", "medium", "soft", "fixed"), the P250 also has an option called "TouchReponse". From Yahama's manual page 76, it seems that

Touch Senitivity: is for the same "physical" velocity, the volume changes in "hard"-louded, "medim"-next loudest...

Touch Reponse: is to modify the range of "computed" velocity of the key strokes. It seems that the physical sensor can only detect from 0 to 127 or 8 bits or 2^8 different kind of velocity. However, you can modify that 128 different kind of physical velocity by multiplying with another 8 bit to have 2^16 = 65536 differnent kind of "mapped" velocity. But there is a catch, the actual velocity that can be differentiated by the physical sensor is still 128. I actually compared this feature with P120 and it does't seem to make any difference

P250 is much heavier and not really portable. I think that unless someone needs to do a lot of compostion and editing, P120 is enough.

P250 claims to have one more layer of sound than P120 that is the string resonsonance of the harmony strings. You hit C the other nearby keys in the same major chord will also sound in a good quality grand like Mason Hamlin and Steinway
 
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