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Sorry, what I meant to say was you cant take those videos as what the piano sounds like, trust me on this.

Noud, the 307 player on youtube has not set up his recording properly, I know this because we both own the same recording device - Edirol mp3 recorder. You can compare the difference to my recordings (which are far more clearer and in stereo), I think he has not set up the output/input correctly, I am trying to find out what he is doing wrong. For a far more accurate sound of the HP 307 as you would hear it if you were playing it live or listening live - simply listen to the demo videos for the instrument by Roland.

You cannot comment on recordings that simply are no where near how the instrument actually sounds live, not through lots of filters etc.

Well, 305 lacks some settings - EQ, open/close lid, hammer noise.. Maybe 305 is initially "tuned" to the best sound?

I'm still hoping that HP307 can be tweaked to get the sound at least as good as on Roland videos..

And I can't visit that store again right now, because it's 500 miles away..

The thing is, I've heard HP307 live and it was sounding quite similar to this videos. Well of course it was more clear and stereo, but I'm talking about the overall tone.

Anyway, Mark, when will we see your review of HP307?

I wonder if the adjectives were reactions to how the music was played in the last video Nothing to do with the instruments.

To Art A, Nguyen and anyone else interested...

The ringing that I hear and that I've been saying is meant to be there can be turned off...go into piano designer and turn duplex scale off (it defaults at 5)...if you still hear the noise then we are hearing different things.

My 307 arrived yesterday and I am very very happy with it. What surprises me a little bit is that there are subtle differences between it and and SN upgrade kit for the RD-700GX. I like them both a lot and to be honest I'm glad they are a bit different.

Best wishes,

Steve

Congrats Steve!

Do you fancy going into a little more detail about the subtle differences between the SuperNatural sounds on the two instruments? Does the RD-700GX upgrade board allow the same degree of adjustment to be made to the piano sound (albeit only the first piano sound on the HP, I believe...)?

Cheers,
James
x

Thanks James...

You are right, when you enter piano designer it always defaults back to Grand Piano 1 BUT, any changes you make are equally applied to the Grand Piano 1, 2 and 3! They are the main voices, I haven't checked out the Rock piano to see if that changes too...who actually plays these "Rock pianos" anyway, they always sound so metallic and trebly!?

The HP is a bit smoother than the RD. The RD GP 1 and has a much narrower stereo spread than the HP (and the other RD voices). There are four main grand piano voices on the RD, three on the HP and I'm not sure any are completely identical between the models. Certainly the Grand Piano1s are completely different. The RD is a bit grittier when you want it to be but is more prone to the "twang sound" in the upper-mids that emerges at too low a velocity in my opinion. The HP doesn't do this nearly so much on Piano 1 or 2 but it does on 3. Disappointingly the EPs are not SN on the HP (just loving the abbreviations here!) so exhibit some quite marked velocity switching.

The HP has the PHA III action (RD has II)...they are both nice and I wouldn't be able to choose between them.

As others have remarked, the HP sounds just fabulous from across the room but when playing is merely good...nothing special. I suspect the Yamaha iAFC might be better purely for the player's perspective...I haven't played one but the Kawai CA-93 with its soundboard would probably also have the edge. But, through headphones or potentially on a recording I think the HP really shines...probably the best console DP out there at the moment.

Cheers,

Steve

Are you saying its only merely good to play on then? I cant believe they designed it so you cant appreciate the full sound whilst playing, after all these years is it still that bad?

Why did you buy it if it is only just good to play on, I dont understand.

I think the sound from the player's perspective on any piano (not just DP) is going to be less satisfying than from the audience perspective. I remember when I tried the HP-307, I also tried playing on a couple of Kawai grands in the store. The sound was clearly different but the grands didn't sound that impressive either. The only time a piano sounded impressive to my hears when I was tinkering a Steinway (not sure which model) in the concert hall. However, I think it sounded great because I could also hear the hall sound. Perhaps when one plays on a DP, one subconsciously expects to hear the kind of sound from a recording. But that's not going to happen because the sound from the player's perspective on a real piano doesn't sound like that.

Mark,

I'm not an expert in these things although I have played many many DPs. I have always found they sound better from the other side of the room, including my Yamaha GranTouch GT2, which left Yamaha's price list last year at over £7000. I was always disappointed with it but NEVER heard anyone play it until a bloke came round and bought my Kawai MP9000 off me...he saw the GT2 and said "Can I have a go?" and he did and played Debussy's "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair". I sat on the sofa just blown away by how different (and better) it sounded to me when I played it

The sound needs that little bit of space to develop properly. I am very impressed with the HP-307 and to my ears it is superior to the GT2 I mentioned above (from both the player and audience perspective). But the player never gets the full benefit of these things...the audience (if there is one) does. Pianos are designed to project sound and I guess to some degree DPs are the same. If you have a hi-fi at home try sitting on top of one of the speakers or listening from two feet in front of it...now compare with sitting 10 feet way. Are you with me? All these kind of products have this characteristic.

Best wishes,

Steve

Yes I understand what you are saying, much appreciated. I have to say though my CLP-380 I had was designed to project the piano sound to the player sat at the instrument and not just blasting it out into the room it is placed in, that was the idea behind the speaker layout/set-up, and I can tell you with experience that it did work well at this.

However I have had other DP's before that did not and it did not bother me at all, so I think it will be fine to be honest.

Regards

Mark

My HP 307 is due tommorow! I found that increasing the brightness just slightly made it sound more realistic to me- anyone else found this? this piano beats CLP380.

Allan

Well an update. I have spent hours at the piano over the past week and more and more I'm thinking its my ears and brains perceptions and nothing wrong with the instrument. The high pitched ringing is always there, its nothing to do with warming up the instrument. Yet its not bothering me like it did at first. With time my brain is learning to ignore that tiny little nuance.

I am going to refrain from posting my exact observations regarding how to demonstrate it because I don't want to point something out that is virtually undetectable and get people aggravated. I still haven't tried headphones only because I don't have any and like I said in another post I am not a headphones guy.

Oh yeah one more interesting thing. The owners manual has a section for trouble shooting. One of the items is in fact : High pitch ringing sound. They want you to try headphones and see if the ringing is still there, if it is, then its normal and thats the sound of the instrument. If its not then they want you to call your dealer/service center because there may be resonances in the cabinet.

I know what a resonance sounds like, I let it auto play a recording and I was crawling around under the piano where the speakers are, its being produced by the speakers, its not a buzz.

Anyways, cheers on a great purchase and some culture back in my life.

Art A, have you seen my previous post to you and Nguyen? Try turning off the duplex scale resonance in the piano designer.

Steve

Yes I forgot to mention that also, I did try turning it off in piano designer and it makes no difference. To give you an idea - what you are hearing with duplex on and off is 10 times more obvious then what it is I'm talking about. For me at least I think its just my brains interpretation of sound. I also can't stand 99% of car radios I have to turn treble all the way down and even then I still tend to hear the drum symbals way too bright.

This Roland is at least tolerable for me where as the Yamaha was just too darn bright sounding.

Oh ok, was worth a try. You have very sensitive hearing!

I agree the Yamaha tends to be brighter...but there's a place for that. In fact I think the proliferation of Yamaha pianos in high-profile recordings and live performances has slightly amended our collective idea of what a piano should sound like...that powerful and bright sound across the entire keyboard is everywhere now.

Steve

You really need to borrow a pair of headphones as part of your debugging! If the sound is not there with the phones, then it's a speaker issue, which can likely be corrected with EQ, or even (if practical) moving the unit out from the wall or a combination. If you call the store, I suspect one of the first things that they'll ask is "does it do it when using headphones".

Also, check your cables. Something may be vibrating. Try repositioning the cables.

Lawrence

Thanks Steve. I have tried this… duplex scale off, all resonances off, but it’s still there. No matter what I do, the ringing is there but I’m starting to get used to it. Whether it’s meant to be there or not, it’s really not something I’m fond of. Hopefully, as my ears get used to it, I’ll be fine.

To summarize, I really like my HP-307. I never own a DP before so I can’t compare this to any others. I can only tell by how it feels under my fingers and sounds to my ears.

I know my words can’t describe. You really have to try it out for yourself.

Mark, I agree with Steve that it sounds incredible when listening to someone else playing than when I play. Last night, we had a family dinner at my home. My oldest niece who is a later intermediate pianist, played a very nice piece she’s been practicing for her cousin wedding, rehearsed it on my HP-307. I couldn’t believe how nice it sounds from our kitchen. My brother, her dad, and I stopped chatting and came to see her played. Let me tell you, the Grand Piano 1 is something to behold.

I’ll leave it at that and probably won’t add more to this thread anymore as I don’t want to discourage anyone from trying.

If you’re looking to buy, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, well more than one if you don’t mind going back to the dealers a few times. I am starting to fall in love with it, despite the ring