Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Roland advice please

I've been struggling to decide which dp to buy bear in mind my top budget is £1000 , this piano will be my first as I'm a total novice , anyhow after trying a few out I decided on the roland RP 301 , this would be at the top of my budget and would leave no money for books stool headphones , and they would have to come later .
Then I get a phone call from my piano teacher saying one of his student children is to give up and they are selling there RP 101 with stool and lots of learning material also he says its as new and still in showroom condition , they are asking £450 .

Should I go accept , the piano teacher taught on there piano at there house do he recommends it as a good deal .

Any input would be great


Regards Carl

Go and play both models you're considering, and then play some others in the same price range. Check out Casio Privias and Yamaha Clavinovas and see what you like the best. You may want to bring your own set of headphones if you own a decent pair to help you assess on a level playing field. Even if you can't really play pieces yet, by comparing you will get a good idea of what each one feels like and it's in the comparison that you will learn what you prefer at this point in your studies.

Some things to consider:
-Touch - are you able to play comfortably?
-Sound quality - by using headphones you wont' be judging the onboard speakers but the actual piano sound itself. There are adjustments that can be made to this on most digitals these days, so test out the different piano sounds available
-What other options do you want? Portability: look for a stage piano vs. one with a built-in stand. Some come with a stand, headphones, and bench, so be sure to shop around to get the best deal.

And remember that should you continue to study piano, it is very likely this won't be your last piano purchase. Your tastes may change as you progress, and that's OK. All you can do is buy based on what you like now.

I'll take that on board cheers


Carl

RP 101 is not quite the same instrument as RP 301:
http://www.roland.com/products/en/RP301/
http://www.roland.com/products/en/RP101/

No Supernatural Sound, different keyboard mechanism, less poliphony, damper pedal - continuous detection vs. half-pedal recognition (continuous detection is definitely better for study).

I do not say it is bad, it is likely still to be a good entry-level instrument, but it is two generations behind and less advanced than 301.

BTW, in my area digital pianos are sold with stools (included into the price), you can buy Roland headphones at around 20-25 pounds / euro.

Are you sure this is correct--that continuous detection is better than simple half pedal? As far as I know, all digital pianos map the continuous pedal MIDI values into one of the three ranges (up, down, half) before use. Certainly the software pianos do this (even though they receive more-or-less continuous values). If this Roland does not operate this way I believe it would be an exception.

At the very least, the certainty you express in your parenthetical comment is, I think, incorrect. I am definitely not certain about it.

My Clav has eight damper-pedal levels: 0, 24, 40, 56, 72, 88, 104, 127.

The "need" for finer increments has been debated here before, but I really think three is enough for most purposes (off, half, on).

And if there's any argument over that, then surely the eight levels on my Clav are more than adequate?

gv: You said that most software pianos only handle three (off, half, on)? I did not know that.

Pretty sure. I'd welcome correction if I'm wrong. I guess dewster could verify this in like 10 seconds.

I am curious too,
please Dewster check this for us if you have the time