Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Just bought a Roland 300GX and need some help

Hi everyone,

So, here's my story:

I've been playing piano for a year now, never played a keyboard / stage piano before. I just bought a Roland 300GX. I started playing and it sounds really bad. For a piano like this with all the great reviews i must be doing something wrong, I hope you guys can help me out.

I'm playing on superiour grand piano mode and the high and low notes sound reasonable. Middle C up until G sounds like an organ instead of a piano. I would like to get the most basic true to normal piano mode possible to start off with.

Second issue is that the output sound on my headphones is quite soft while the sounds on the piano is maxed out. I'm looking to buy a professional amplifier and speakers, this of course would give louder sound but will it also improve overal sound quality?

As said, i've been playing piano for a year, if I notice the bad sound quality it's saying something. I'm using a HD sennheiser headphone, so i'm quite sure it's not the headset.

Looking forward to your suggestions and tips.

I hope you guys are able to help me out and give me some pointers.

How much did you spend on your headphones? I got some Sennheiser for about $30 and they were junk (well they're pretty good for listening to music while I mow the lawn). You need to spend around (at least) $100 for headphones. Many have commented how the middle of a Roland is weak. I kinda felt that sensation for a while. It might take you a while to get used to the sound.

I personally don't much care for the Superior Grand sound. Sounds muddy to me. I like PureGrand and Expressive Grand the most. I also like RD Grand (or something like that).

I have a Roland 700GX. I imagine the sounds are the same.

Sprout

We all hear things differently but I find the Superior Grand the best non-supernatural sound on the 700GXF. I find the bass the weakest element...relatively...it is ok but a bit muddy and lacks bite low down. I like the mids and highs...I would have no real complaints. It sounds like the OP is using high-impedance 'phones and I suppose this might be an issue. It might be best to restore all the factory defaults on the piano if it was not brand new out of the box.

There will be numerous examples on YouTube of how it should sound. Try searching for ukpiano...this is the YouTube identity of another PianoWorld member and some of his older videos are made using a Roland FP-4...main voice is the superior grand I believe. Mark also uploads in true stereo and his videos sound great to me...Crossfire, give them a listen and report back.

Cheers,

Steve

Return it and look at the MP5, P-155, CP50 as a few options.

How much did you pay?

Do you plan on live gigs, as I see you want an amp?

What you hear out of a Stage piano will depend greatly upon the headphones or the amplified speakers you use.

I agree with the poster above...if you spend at least $100.00 on brand-name headphones, you will get a decent sound. Spend less and you get a lot less.

I have a 700Gx...not sure the sounds are the same. I know the keybed assembly is not, which is why I did not go for the 300...don't like how it plays, but that is a personal thing. YMMV.

Thank you for all the answers so far:

1. I am currently using a Sennheiser HD210 headphone. Which is not very best?
2. I'll be replacing it with a AKG K242 HD, Would this improve sound quality by alot?
3. I'm using grand piano mode now which sounds a little better then superior piano.
4. I am not going to play live gigs, since i've only been playing for a year now. I'd just like to have close to normal piano sound at home.
5. I'd also like to record on my macbook pro, i've tried to do so on garageband and managed to record, though the quality of sound is nowhere near it should be
6. When i listen to youtube video's with people playing on the Roland 300GX it sounds WAY better, this is the sound I'd love to have.
7. The reason for the amplifier is that i'd like to have good quality piano sound while playing without use of headphones.

I speculate you are going thru what I did when I started on a dp. Nothing seemed to sound like my teacher's acoustic or at least what I thought a "real" piano sounded like. Read all manner of stuff about dp grand piano sounds but never seemed to "hear" what was "supposed" to come out. Everything sounded "tinny" to me.

Started on a Yamaha P90 and after four years upgraded to a Roland RD-700gx last fall. One thing I've learned about sound on any given dp is that it can vary wildly (from very bad to quite good) depending on what is being played thru (speakers or headphones), where and how many speakers are placed in the room in relation to the piano, volume and seemingly my mood (no small thing) on any given day.

I take lessons on my teacher's RD-300sx. He has several and uses one for gigging. It sounds very good when hooked to his two Bose L1 Compact systems. At lessons is it generally connected to two small desktop style speakers that sit on each side of the piano on the floor - not as good but I don't even notice anymore because I'm concentrating on what he is teaching me.

I use Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones and am pleased w/ them. About $95 at Amazon. I don't need to move the volume slider much at all to have sufficient volume.

I'm happier now w/ what I hear, but perhaps still chasing that elusive "perfect sound". You have a good piano. Buy decent headphones and you'll be fine. Sound is a subjective thing. Investigate and carefully try out speaker systems before you buy (the voice of experience).

Good luck. hth