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Hi,

I'm currently looking for a digital piano to replace my current setup which is, a studiologic keyboard, galaxy piano and the monitor speakers used for the computer. I want to upgrade the keyboard and if possible not using the computer all the time.

I've a mixed feeling about the roland hp505, the keybed is great, it sounds good (maybe a bit muffled) but I'm afraid I would spend 2200€ and eventually end-up using it only with the computer.

As for the other piano in this category, I don't like yamaha (too heavy) and it's nearly impossible to find a kawai in my area. I could only try a CN-13.

The look is not important for me but having a console help focus I think.

Any advices?
Thanks

Why do you think you'd end up using it with a computer? And is that a bad thing? I think you will get accustomed to the sound once you have it and will most likely be satisfied with it. Roland HPs are very nice, reliable pianos.

The FP-80 might be of interest. It has much in common with the HP505 but the price is lower:

All about Roland FP-80 & FP-50!!!

If you're planning on using a computer (software piano) anyway, why not order the Kawai VPC ? It is made with exactly that purpose in mind. Excellent keyboard and good touch curves for common SW piano's . Furthermore no frills you'll end up not using anyway it seems , like internal sounds.

Personally I'd rather make a thoughtful choice between hard- or software sound. If hardware has your preference - and why not ; it has a certain charm and advances over software, despite peta-byte size sample libraries - choose a very good instrument that you're sure of it won't bore you or break apart in the coming years. If SW has you're main interest, why spending so much on a hardware DP for those few moments you might use hardware only. HP505 seems overkill in that case. Try indeed the FP-80, ES7, CA-15 (same keybed as VPC) . Everything is a step up from the Studiologic IMHO, only on the new Numa Concert the verdict is still out.

If you like the Roland SN piano sound (the main piano sound, No.1 in the "piano" presets) and do not need any other features, then it is abolutely great! For excatly this I love it.

But if you from time to time love to play around with the other sounds, then better don´t expect to become satisfied with it and search on.
I for instance would like to have some great cathedral church organ sound for playing some Bach from time to time. But first you have to find one which could be useful.
Also, all sounds in the "others" sound bank seem to be half organized only. Neither all e-organ sounds nor all church organ sounds are grouped within the "others" bank in a block. If you finally found another sound and it´s a good one for you, then it is still not pragmatic to get started with it, because you first might want to optimize certain adjustments (reverb, brilliance, key touch) to the new sound. Unfortunately you can not store any individual combinations of settings and now just recall them. You have a global setup of sound parameters and can optimize (although not significantly change) your sound, i.e. adapt the main piano sound to your taste by reverb and brilliance, key touch sensitivity and some resonance settings). If you change to another sound, then you either have to stay with those global settings, although they will not fit to the other sound, or change all glogal settings, again, and again, and again, ..., each time you change sounds.
I am also dissapointed that although there are some really nice (and useful!) flute, brass and string sounds availabe, besides many useless other sounds, other real keyboard sounds besides the principal piano sound are often poor. The "early" bank is not very useful, in my opinion, besides the aha(!)-effect of how early fortepianos sound, you in the end will hardly play them becasue they just don´t reach to the beatiful richness of modern piano sound. The church organ sounds in the "others" bank are so different that you and can not use them aside within a piece, and the indeed useful e-organ sounds are spread over the sound bank so much, that it is just no possible to change between them quickly. Finally, asigning one organ sound to the lower part of the keyboard, and another one to the higher part of the keyboard is again quite some work, and then you still haven´t adjusted the volume balance between the two...

Whenever I play anther DP, I never become satisfied as I am playing my HP-505 piano implementation, and therefore I do not see any option to exchange it for something else.
But as I am much dissapointed with the rest, for what I also paid money for, I have my ears constantly open to find smething which could compete with the SN piano sound AND giving me additionally some useful other features on a digital keyboard instrument, like some which I have had already 20 years ago on my Technics KN 800 entertainment keyboard in superb quality available. Unbelievable that Technics is no more on the market, that´s a real loss for musicians. And unbelievable that none of the big DP manufactures besides the piano sound seem to be capable of implementing to the instrument also some other technology which I thought to have become standard already 20 years ago.

Don't buy the 505. That is already decided, by you.

Decide what you want, console or slab (slab for portability or not), mostly piano sounds, lots of other sounds, adjustable sythm sounds, inbuilt sound or use PC/tablet or both, keyboard action preference (the main brands all have a different feel), budget, then go from there. Easy

I'm trying to get a standalone instrument, mostly for the piano sound. Portability is not really a concern, and if I want other sound I can use the computer, this will always sound better.

I wouldn't go for a lower model, the speakers usually doesn't do justice to the sound and I couldn't really enjoy it without external speakers. I avoid using headphone, unless necessary, since my ears doesn't support it well, and I prefer using speakers anyways.

Maybe I'm overthinking too much and try to get the best of both world which is probably impossible
I guess I'll have to try it again.

The the HP-505 is quite a candidate, its speaker system is quite good if not playing at the very low volumes. Actually, playing it at the volume equal to an acoustic piano, it is very good!
You should always compare at least to one more instrument, in order to get an impression what variety exists on the market. In your situation I would recommend to do compare with a Yamaha CLP-440, then. I say this, because personal taste is so different, that judging only based on our recommendations would just not be what you should do, if going to spend so much money!

I've tried yamaha and no, the keys are too heavy. I've found a dealer where I can test the kawai and other keyboards. It's a bit far but I'll be able to make a proper comparaison.
Someone told me that kawai need regular maintenance, and that the support is less reactive than roland or yamaha. Do they really need more maintenance than roland or yamaha?

I wonder if having experienced software pianos, you`ll be happy going back to the Digital? My digital has a sound like no other, and is irreplaceable for certain stuff. But bring on the software pianos! . . . sometimes you play them, and wonder. Then you play `em back and know!

So, after visiting this new dealer, and testing various alternative (and some acoustic too for the fun ) I'll settle for a floor model for less than 2000€. I think my main fear about a DP is that, unlike software, there will be no update and can quickly become obsolete. Well, I'll see what happens.

Thanks you everyone for your replies.

I don't think DP's get "obsolete" that fast in the usual sense of the word. Well, they do age but much more slowly than you probably think. The sound technology probably gets better every couple years but the key action evolves rather slowly.

All in all, I'm sure the HP-505 would serve you well for many years, but in the end it's your call.

I'm replacing my Roland HP-201 with a Roland Hp-505.

To be honest I don't think that the downsides as described by Marco M will bother me much.
The HP-201 only has 4 buttons!! All sounds and other settings are changed with a button+key combination. On the HP-201 I only had access to all the extra (general midi) sounds through my PC. But I don't care much for them. I also don't expect it to store different settings for every sound, it's not a synthesizer.

Got it today! First impressions are excellent.
I will soon post a recording of the same piece recorded with exactly the same equipment to compare the sound of the HP-201 and HP-505.

Congratulations, and wellcome to the club
Would you have the chance to record with 2 microphones (stereo) as well? While recordings of the line out are more easy available, the recording of the speaker system might be of interest for others to hear as well. Unfortunately I don´t have the possibility to install my mics, mixer and multitrack recorder in our living room to do so, as the new flat is small I have all the stuff packed and stored elsewhere until living again in a country where bigger flats incl. hobby rooms are available again for a reasonable price.

My recommendations to get quickly started:
place the 505 at least 15 cm away from the wall
Key touch = H1
ambience = 3
brilliance = 7
if demanding Key Touch = H2, then brilliance = 10
if having to place it close to the wall, then brilliance = 10
for headphone playing (with my headphones) I lower the brilliance to = -2

I found these resonance settings to be nice ones:
damper = 5
strings = 7
soundboard = 10
cabinet = 10

Have fun!!!!

Thanks for your tips. I'm afraid I don't have enough space to place the HP-505 15 cm from the wall. I also don't have mics to make a recording.

I did record the same piece (using a midi file played by me), with the exact same hardware and software.

I used the (noisy) headphones output on both the HP-201 and HP-505. I used the 'power on' first piano sound with no changes on both the HP-201 and HP-505 (so no brilliance in either case).

The 505 recording is slightly less "muddy" but it all sounds very similar, which is a bit of a disappointment. Should I use the line-out on the back by the way?
To avoid any cables I guess next time I could make a recording using the HP-505's feature to record it in WAV on a USB stick.

HP-201
https://www.box.com/s/bbc05b19773efc80cb06
HP-505
https://www.box.com/s/lweud97it1q0i811su1a

They do sound similar, yes. The HP 201 is pre-SN piano, isn't it? The sound is nice - rounded warm. Using good headphones, you can hear that the SN piano is more detailed & richer in its harmonic content.....but really there is not a great deal of difference with this example.

Using line/aux out should give an ideal level for recording.

Yes the HP-201 is pre-SN. But as you can hear, while the HP-505 has better quality, the "core" piano sound is still very similar.
The HP-505 does sound a lot better when playing over its speakers compared to the HP-201. Also the keyboard is an improvement.

Btw, brilliance on 10 is way too high IMO, close to the wall or not.

Using the record audio to USB feature is still better I guess, because it avoids cables altogether.

Btw, brilliance on 10 is way too high IMO, close to the wall or not.


Oh yes - I'd never have the setting open like that. It shows up the highly metallic sound of the duplex (& other overtones?) too much, giving a less realistic representation, IMO. Usually, the default zero setting is about right, I think.