Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Korg Lp-350 vs Roland F-110 (tread updated)

updated tread to clarify some points:

Korg Lp-350 vs Roland F-110

Hello,
I would like opinions on the Korg Lp-350 and the Roland F-110.

I am a beginner player, who has access to an acoustic upright piano in my building music room. Unfortunatly, the room is often book and I cannot practice as much as I would like.

I am looking for a digital piano in the console format that has a dust cover. I prefer pianos that visually have a modern look and have a smaller footprint. Since the digital piano will be located in the living room, I want it to be visually pleasing, it needs to be a console piano (matching stand). I am thinking that a dust cover is very important, but I might be wrong on that point. I like the design that when the dust cover is closed, the piano looks like a high table.

I would like opinions on both the Korg Lp-350 and Roland F-110 since they seem to fit my requirements. I would like opinions on the action and the piano sounds

As for my budget, the Roland 1500$ pricetag is pretty much pushing my budget to its limit. I don't think I want to spend more than that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
The

The,

Are you referring to the Roland F-110 or the RP-101?

I expect the former, however it may be a good idea to clarify this point or edit your post to avoid confusion.

Cheers,
James
x

I meant the F-110.
I updated the original post.
I'd like to have opinions on the action of and the piano sound.
Any help would be very appreciated.
Thanks!

How do you like your new tires?

Anyone?

When I was looking I considered the Roland for the same reasons as you. In the end I played it in a store and did not like the high end - very weak. That was the main reason I did not proceed. I also thought that despite its functional design, meaning the triple use of the lid, it was quite ugly especially compared to others that bear a resemblance to a piano when closed up, and I had to please 'the boss' in my house on aesthetics.

Have you considered the Casio Privia PX-830 or one of their Celviano models. These would be less than the F-110 you are considering. They would be around the price of the Korg LP-350. I know you did not mention Casio. Is this a brand you would rather not consider? If so, the Korg should be decent. I've never played the LP-350. I have only played the SP-250 which I think is very good, although, I hate the look of it.

I thought about the Casio Px-830 and px-730, while I haven't played them (no-one carries them in town) I did try the px-130. I thought the action was fine, but i thought it was lacking in the piano sound department (I preferred the tone of the Yamaha p-95, but the keys were too light for my taste).

I figured that the korg lg-350 would be closer to a 1000$ piano than the privia which is to me a 500$ piano (px-130) with a wooden stand and bigger speakers and more options. the px-730 would be a compromise.

I'm just trying to find the best piano action & sound for my budget. it's no easy task.

Did you listen to the PX130 with good headphones, or through an amp? If not I would recommend another listen.

The main features +'s for the F-110 is the remarkable speakers (though the specs read like average wattage) and the Roland sounds (which is really more personal preference than feature). To me, the speakers sound as good or better than anything I've played in that price range until you get to the lowest 10-12 notes.

On that model, the piano tone sounds brighter to me than on other Roland models. Casio's Celviano models were briefly mentioned and their actions compare favorably for me to the Roland PHA alpha II. I think the alpha II is noticeably lighter but perhaps just a little more solid in terms of side play.

Among the Celviano models, the sound/speakers when listening to the piano sounds are very close between the AP-420 & AP-620 in the players seat. The larger AP-620 speakers are a bit more noticeable when further away. The added feature of the AP-620 are probably unimportant to you since they weren't included on your first two choices. What other tones do you need?

I'd add the Casio AP-420 to your short list for value. IMO, the down firing speakers from the AP-420 are nicer than the PX-830's forward firing speakers. The PX-830 has a nice style + many bells/whistles.

I'm no help about the Korg. I played that Korg model too briefly to form any useful opinions.

You're in a similar position as I was when shopping for a console DP last Christmas.

I had read this forum before going to a shop so I would have some understanding before testing the different models myself. Yamaha's GHS was too light for my taste. GHE, tested on a YPD-160, felt strangely sluggish or slow to play and the weight of the keys was still too light. Maybe it was just a display model issue, since at least Yamaha's newer GH keys have gained a lot of popularity on the forums. GH3 felt quite nice, but the Clavinovas that had them were above my budget.

From Roland I played an FP-4 with PHA II Alpha and an FP-7 with PHA II key action. The FP-4 was quite light too. I liked its action a bit more than low-end Yamahas, so the F-110 with the same action stayed in consideration, but felt like a compromise. The key action of the FP-7 was wonderful with good headphones, but it was the noisiest keyboard when played without sound with huge thumping noise on every key press. The Roland HP's with PHA II were also above my budged, so this testing was only for reference.

Unfortunately the new Casios did not arrive in my area by the end of 2009. I set my final hopes of buying a DP at that time to a Korg store. Luckily I liked the key action of the LP-350 immediately. The key weight felt just right for me, but that is a matter of taste. It's probably a bit on the heavier side similar to the Roland PHA II, but with lesser keypress noise. Thus, to me Korg's RH3 compares well to Yamaha's GH3 for much lesser price.

I chose to buy the Korg LP-350 mainly for the above-mentioned reasons. However, it does have downsides too. Some of the keys have uneven gaps similar to Casio keyboards. In my case this has not caused any trouble, because no two keys touch each other and there's no extra noise from "clicking" keys or anything like that. The speakerbox is fine.

Even though the LP-350 is a 2009 model, it's unfortunately technically the same as SP-250 from 2006. The piano sound is pretty good in lower and higher notes, but mid-range can become dull soon. For a while I liked to layer bank 1 sound 1 and bank 2 sound 2 for a more interesting piano sound, but this summer I got a laptop system set up with Pianoteq (which also requires some adjusting for satisfying results) and external stereo speakers. Thus, I'm now happy with my system - great touch and great sounds.

If you're going to rely on the DP's original piano sound, the LP-350 might not be any more satisfactory than the others you've tried. The new Casios have more samples per note (different velocities) so their sound might be better by now, except some say the change of samples can be noticed too suddenly.

Hi,
I did test the yamaha and casio with headphones, and I prefered the yamaha sound over the casio, while I thought the touch of the casio was better.

Unfortunatly, the store who carries the korg 350 is far from the store that carries the casio, which makes the comparison tricky.

On an other tread, if the korg will get an update I might wait for it. But the question is when. I don't want to wait a year for the update, but if it's coming out in a few months, I may just as well wait.

I wasn't able to find a casio px-830 to try. i can only compare the specs with the korg. sometiems the spec sheet doesn<t give justice.

Since the piano will be in my living room, I want to run it without a computer or additional speakers. I want a minimalist way. I want to also play without having to use headphones for sound. That<s why the build in speakers are important for me.

Have a good day!