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Hi Providence,

Please do give a little more detail as to the comparison you made, as I am open to all comments (without being critical of you, of course)...

1) Which store did you get to play the pianos at, and how did you go about comparing them?

2) Did you try all of the different sound attributes with the V-Piano, as well?

3) And, did you listen to them over speakers, or, headphones?

4) What specifically did you like, about the FP-7F?

RE: the FP-7F not being very bright - can it make this sound, which is present on the HP307?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL2lsQD0BwA Listen particularly to time 13s to 20s.
That sounds like a very good, bright, rock piano sound to me. It also sounds very expressive.

Greg.

It sounds very sampled to be honest... especially those strings(horrible string sound).

I like the middle sound, nice and mellow..but for lower part, i would love to have a dark sound. In this demo, it sounds very digital, maybe reasonable, but very characterless...

Yes, I've said the same before too - SN does lack character. However, I'd still be very happy with that particular sound for a rock piano indeed.

Greg.

Cannot judge it over more than I've heard so far. But indeed. The rock piano is okay. For the price, it's a very nice board. I personally like the feel of the piano very much.

I bashed out a bit of Elton on an HP207 using that same sound (I think), and I was suitably impressed.

Greg.

The trouble with playing the V-Piano in showrooms is that you're at the mercy of the speaker set-up that is attached to it, and previous users who will likely have fiddled about with the controls, often messing up the sound. So, if you're not familiar with it and don't know how to reset it and change the sound, you will very likely find the sound wanting. And though the V-Piano only gives piano sounds, it's possible to customize some really artificial and (to my mind) horribly synthetic sounds from it, and that seems to be what some punters used to synthesizers and other DPs like (as I found on my dealer's V-Piano, which was also connected to very harsh-sounding speakers; luckily, I brought my own headphones, and the dealer was able to reset it and show me how to do my own customizing). And the V-Piano's factory presets don't really try to emulate any existing piano.

I suggest going back and trying some of my suggestions for customizations which you can find on my V-Piano thread.

Hi,
1) The store I played the pianos at was called X-Music which holds the Roland Franchise here in Dublin

2) With the V-Piano I initially played through the most of the presets before beginning to change some of the sound attributes my self (Hammer Hardness, Resonance, String type / Length etc)

3) I was listening to the V-Piano through a pair of Sennheiser HD-598 Headphones which I brought myself

4) So what did I like about the FP7-f? I liked the following;

i) The action (Both the V-Piano and the FP7-f scored equally here for me). It's the best action that I have ever played on any digital instrument. I love the feel and weight of the keys.
ii) I was really suprised by the quality of the internal speakers personally, there was plenty of depth and clarity to the sound. It would be perfect for home use (Me-thinks)
iii)Ok let me explain this a little...To my ears, the current batch of modelled piano's (Namely Pianoteq which I have and V-Piano which I don't have) lack a certain depth of tone, a mellow "Wooden" type timbre (I hope people understand what I am trying to explain). When I play for example a Sample library (Garritan Steinway for example - ignoring for now the failings of sampled piano's) the tone is simply inspiring, absolutely beautiful to my ears and I just want to play for hours. The V-Piano simply does not give me this feeling, I hear an inherent synthetic type sound (Which I must say is less apparent in the base register). It lacks that warm, deep wooden type tone that you get from a real piano (Sampled pianos obviously have this as they are basically a recording of a real piano). I am trying to explain the whole "Wooden" type tone but it's hard to describe a sound. The reason I placed the FP7-f above the V-Piano is because I simply preferred the tone of the Grand Piano sample and I also found it very responsive. I just liked the sound of the samples there and I could play it for hours. Sure, it's not going to be able to mimic the effect of triple wrapping the strings with copper of having Silver strings the length of a football stadium but I don't care, I just loved playing it.
iv)If you have a decent enough laptop could you just not use the FP7-f for the action and trigger a modelled piano such as pianoteq (Which if you are into modelled piano's is constantly being developed) and save yourself the extra thousands...

Anyway, this is just my own opion and everyone is different of course...
Have a great day...

I totally agree with what you are saying here. I've just updated another thread with this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0b3M29Urqg&feature=related

Thin, hollow, synthetic mids and upper-mids. A total absence of that woodiness you talk about - and Pianoteq is just the same, cold, eerily sterile, metallic, artificial noise. I think the V-Piano is better than Pianoteq in terms of tone. What the V-Piano does well is in the behaviours...it reacts just like a real piano to player's inputs - very impressive in this respect. It's probably why some musicians make such a satisfying connection with the V - but they must find a away to mentally block out the tones - or they like the tones of course!

Steve

It's even worse at this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzMd_3zh-wQ&feature=related (ringy, but can also be extra from the drums), but definately not like the sound in here...
In general, the v-piano is a bit .. snappy.. i love that myself. That can be taste.

Indeed, it's very clean.. however, i think especially with yamaha, it's also clean in its own way.
Livelyness lacks of sampled piano's.. that's what i feel. And I do not got that with the v-piano.

I like this demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p2eHmX0PQw&feature=related
however, you never know how much is edited of the sound afterwards...

Hi Steve to quote from the other Post....
"The sound of the piano is paramount. If you don't like the sound, all the other good stuff becomes irrelevant"

I agree with you 100%....well said

I think the V-Piano sounds fantastic when Robert Wells is playing it on these two videos;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T84ZLvuLQ24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTQNs1QMpo

I haven't been listening closely to the mids to find the flaws you guys are pointing out, I'll do that later today.

I hear the problem immediately in those two clips too.

Here's what a piano is SUPPOSED to sound like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6SAuHY9HOs&NR=1 (not me)

Greg.

Oh dear Greg.

You have caught the disease that bennevis says "real" "classical" "musicians" can't catch - once you have tuned into the mid range hollowness, you will hear nothing else. The second Robert Wells clip when he starts to play is a very good illustration - what a horrible noise! There is nothing organic or real sounding about that piano! They must surely be working on it at Roland. I would bet they are aware of this criticism and are quite hurt by it. This problem is real. Pianos don't sound like that! They will fix it I'm sure. Then it will be wonderful because all the other ingredients are there. The bass of the V-Piano is astoundingly good for instance.

Cheers,

Steve

Yeah the problem I have with the V-Piano is no matter what presets I've heard, and all the videos I've seen, there's a tinny metallic edge that is all I hear in the sound. It's almost like the V-Piano is completely Mid deficient. I will say, if the V-Piano had the Nord Piano Library installed...I'd faint. Then immediately go buy one.

Me too!

What do I know - I'm only a classical pianist who've played on acoustics (of all shapes, sizes and quality - or lack of it) since I was 10, and only played on DPs since last year..
My experience and opinion barely registers on the Richter scale compared to all you experienced lot, who can suss out any problems within seconds.....

The beauty of sound is everyone hears it differently. When it comes to DPs, fortunately there is no right or wrong, only who prefers what. A lot of people hear a metallic-ness, and lack of mid range quality in it. You and many others who own and love their V-Pianos may not, or if so, it may not bother you. However, everyone nearly unanimously agrees that the overall feel of the V-Piano is nearly unmatched. It's hands down better most everything out there in that department, with the AvantGrand series being the only real competition.

Steve, with all due respect, every second post of yours is virtually the same at the moment. You seem obsessed with this midrange thing on the V-Piano and you aren't letting it go. I doubt there would be anyone left who is unaware of your specific objection to the V-Piano, so how how about you relax on it for a while? It doesn't seem to be serving the purpose of debate anymore because it is riding roughshod over the opinions of some others who do like the V-Piano. I think it shows a certain lack of respect by taking the moral high-ground of saying, "well I owned one and then sold it, so I am uniquely objective on the matter". You are virtually assuring anybody who has one, or wants to buy one that if they have it for any length of time, they they will "learn" to find the same problem you did. You are saying that anybody who doesn't feel the same way as you do about the "mids" simply hasn't "tuned in" to the sound of them yet. Isn't that a bit condescending? You are accusing people of not listening if they disagree with you! I think you should give people the space to make their own determination on this. You are not uniquely objective and you're not the sole arbiter of what is piano-like or unpiano-like.

I say this not as a supporter of the V-Piano but as somebody who has noticed a rising swell of discontent on this forum from people who are impressed with, or own the V-Piano but are having this persistent, repetitive rebuff of their feelings. And no, I don't think saying that the V-Piano has great bass is enough of an offset to what is essentially the same objection posted dozens of times - and sometimes in a sarcastic or demeaning way IMO. People are well aware of your feelings on this, you don't have to push and push constantly to have them known.

Can you give me the time of the video you are referring to? So I can try to hear what you guys are talkin' about...