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The triple pedal comes attached to a board, (like all the others manufacturers do, as I could see in the stores) and you can easily attach it to the wood stand that you can either buy, or that you can make by yourself (see how over here: https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...Fp30_-_Home_Stand_made_.html#Post2610962)
As I could look under the attached board of the triple pedal, you can take the triple pedal out of the beam and use it aside from the board. I guess you could make it work somehow for a Z-stand also ... I didn't try it yet.

Well, I can't believe it's been so long since I said I'd post my opinion about this piano but now's the time.

A little background first...

I've been playing piano since I was a child and been surrounded by music since conception. Maybe this is why I was able to teach myself how to play the piano. Either way, I have a pretty good ear (relative pitch, not perfect) and so seeing reviews suggesting this piano is "out of tune" bugged me; as did reviews on the keyboard. This is what I found:

I did sense something was not quite right from the beginning (playing it in the store) so I brought in a friend who is classically trained. She noticed nothing unusual regarding the tuning. I also asked for her opinion on the keyboard action. She suggested the FP-50 was closer to a real piano.

I had to agree. The FP-30 is heavier than an acoustic but, I play pretty hard so I thought I'd get used to it quite quickly. It also means the keyboard is more "forgiving" as notes need to be pressed (slightly) harder for a response. Having said that, the "brilliance" setting (as well as different piano sounds, of which there are 3) can trick the mind - and therefore the fingers - into thinking the action is lighter.

I was in two minds for ages, debating the pros and cons of a heavier action. The FP-50 was almost double the cost. It had many more functions that I simply did not need. Also, I much preferred the look of the FP-30's foot pedal board. It feels more sturdy and natural to sit at and play.

I also thought it would be a good thing if my fingers were getting more of a workout when running scales. This is true, as I did find my hands becoming tired a little more quicky than when playing the acoustic (or my old HP-1600).
I figured perhaps with frequent playing, perhaps the action could "loosen up" a bit.

Either way, I'm happy with it.

As for the tuning...

It wasn't until I got it home and played the second chord of the intro to Billy Joel's "Piano Man" (Ddim7) that I understood what people were taling about. It was really obvious. I've played that chord hundreds of times and I could hear the dissonance as I let the chord ring out. Initially troubled by this and wondering if I'd made a big mistake, I kept playing and after around 90 minutes, I fell in love with the FP-30.

Why?

It feels REAL.

A vivid memory came flooding back of a time when as I child; when I would sit at the piano and strike simple chords (thirds being my favourite) and let them ring while my mind soaked up the beautiful sound of the harmony. Suddenly this little digital piano whisked me away into a warm and endearing memory of why I got into the piano in the first place - I was seduced by the heavenly sounds it could make. I realised what was doing this: the FP-30 sounds ORGANIC...and that has made all the difference.

So in conclusion, I love the FP-30 and commend Roland on what it has achieved here, particularly at its current price. Well done and thank-you.

Incidentally, I am usuing the piano primarily for rudaments and midi recording at this stage. I'm yet to take it out on the road so I cannot comment on how it would perform in a band or other live scenario. If that time ever arrives, I'll comment further but, from what I can gather, I'd suggest it will perform brilliantly.

If you're in Melbourne, Australia and wish to know where I purchased it (I got a pretty good deal), feel free to message me. I don't want to mention it as part of this review in case people think it's financially motivated (like that tool on AZ Piano reviews. What a flog!)

I agree Roland got something right about the feel of FP-30. It's not something you notice up front or right away, but I do get lost playing it because it responds in that certain way. I've come to really like this keyboard more and more over time.

It's still an economy digital piano, so it has many compromises in it's sound and design, but well done Roland.

Agreed. I took my FP-30 on a gig last night (vocal/piano duo) and it performed as well as any other digital piano I've owned. The action is obviously not as good as the heavier, more expensive models, but it connects so well to the sound engine that you don't really notice. It sounded great!

I avoided using the EPs as much as possible, (very disappointing sounds, really), but I did make use of acoustic bass a lot. The only problem I had was the tendency of the bass notes to sound overwhelming around C2-E2. That necessitated dialing back the bass on my mixer quite a bit, which affected the piano sound also, of course, rendering it a little thin on the bottom end. I was using EV ZXA1 90s and they cope with the acoustic piano sound very well. Although the EV speakers may play a part in the issue, I have noticed that, just with the built-in speakers, there seems to be a noticeable "hump" in the acoustic bass frequencies.

One thing that threw me: at the end of the night I did what I always do and reached around the back to unplug everything before lifting it off the stand - forgetting that the mixer was plugged into the headphone socket at the front. My mixer went flying off the table and across the floor! I am so not used to having stuff plugged in the front of my keyboards, and am going to have to remember that in future.

I'd be very interested in a lightweight "pro" version with excellent EPs, powerful and non-distorting speakers, accessible effects, MIDI, and proper line-outs. A bit like an upgraded version of the old FP-4. Meantime, you really can't beat the bang-for-the-buck of the FP-30 in terms of a lightweight acoustic piano substitute.

I refresh topic about connection FP30 straight to the other keyboard/synthesizer with standard MIDI plugs.


Guys! Yesterday I connected my Roland FP30 with Kurzweil PC361 through the midi-interface M-Audio.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/uno
I plug this connector USB type A to the USB port A (for pendrive) in FP30 and two 5 pin midi connectors to the MIDI ports in Kurzweil PC361 ...and Kurzweil working well using FP30 keyboard with sustain and sostenuto pedals as well!
In summary - you don't need any computer and DAW to connect two keyboards with two different type of connections (USB to HOST - traditional 5 pin MIDI).
Regards

ordered one of these for my daughter for her birthday - arrives tomorrow

I've listened to so many demos on youtube across the range and still prefer the tone of the Roland FP-30 - yes I can hear a bit of a metallic character that people mention but I think it sounds great - very dynamic

in fact - I think I prefer the sound of it to the FP-90 - again from youtube demos anyway

it arrived and very very impressed - even better than expected

the keybed feels good, is pretty quiet, and very solid (doesn't feel like any wobbly keys)

Piano sounds are - as expected very good

speakers go very loud and sound clear

absolutely nothing I could complain about for the price - very good product

Hi, can anyone give me an insight on the FP-30 vs the F-140?
I thoroughly tested the F-140 and absolutely love it. The FP-30 that was on demo was set too high (shoulder level standing up) to play/test correctly and the support was wobbling a lot.

I come from a Yamaha P-155 (which feels very premium). I love the feel and look of the Roland F-140. It looks sturdy and a nice replacement/upgrade from what I have.
However, the built quality of the FP-30 felt very cheap.

Has anyone tested both keyboard (FP-30 and F-140)?
Is the touch and the playing really the same? I couldn't really test the FP-30 to have a solid opinion of it. And they are 600$ apart where I am.
I mean, if the FP-30 is exactly the same but with less functionalities, I'd be happy to buy it over the F-140.
Thanks!

I just reveived my new FP-30. Immediately I noticed that there is some constant static noise coming from the speakers. Not loud, but you can hear it when not playing, playing with lowish volumes or have low volume moments during playing. It is not heard when using headphones with either plug. The volume of the noise does not change when changing the volume of the piano. It also does not stop when the volume is set to the minimum, where you can't play the piano. The noise comes from both speakers at about same level, and you can hear it staring up when the piano is turned on.

Anyone else experiencing this or are everybodys pianos totally silent when not played?

My FP-30 is silent until I press a key.

I will check mine - but I believe there is a tiny amount of speaker "hiss" but its very very low

I'd say depends on how good your hearing is to whether you can hear it or not

I think I heard similar comments on some of the other new Rolands

I think its low enough to be a non-issue - a lot of decent studio monitors hiss at low volumes too

For comparison, we have an old Roland E-16, from which I can't hear anything. Of course, if I put my ear on the speaker there, the low hissing noise can be heard. On the E-16, the noise is amplified when the volume is increased, which is not the case with the FP-30.

No noise on mine - it's perfectly silent even at full volume.

Has anyone tried to play using Pianoteq or any other VST plugin via USB connection? The latency makes playing real time in Pianoteq absolutely impossible on my computer.
What's the point of putting this damn useless sockets instead of MIDI ?

Not so useless after all. I set the output device in Pianoteq to Windows Audio exclusive mode and reduced the buffer size. This made the latency not ideal but at least acceptable.

Just got my FP-30 a few days ago. I'm very impressed so far. I am primarily interested in the piano sounds and the action, so the lack of other features compared to higher-end models is not a con to me. If I had bought a real upright or grand piano it wouldn't have all of those other features either, and this one I was able to carry up the stairs by myself. So it fits my needs well.

I think this feels better than the upright piano I played on growing up. It definitely sounds better too. It's really a joy to play.

I do have one question. I saw in the manual that you can select from different drum patterns, but I haven't seen how you turn the drum patterns on. It doesn't seem to be with the metronome key, that just seems to turn on the metronome. I figure I'm just missing something. Any help here? Thanks.

Use an ASIO driver; that will make a huge difference to latency vs Windows Audio, which is slow as a snail (albeit slightly less slow in exclusive mode). I use various VSTs via a USB connection, and have no problem with latency.

You can find the answer to your question on page 9 of the manual. It says to hold down the metronome key + one of 8 keys beginning with D#1. The patterns are listed on page 9.

That's where it says how to select a pattern, as I mentioned above, but the question is how do you get the drum pattern to actually play? From that, I would expect it to be select a pattern as above, then hit the metronome to make it play, but pressing the metronome just plays the metronome, not one of the drum patterns. I'll try it again tonight to be sure, but I tried holding down the metronome key and pressing D#1 to select a drum pattern, then pressing the metronome key again to start it, and it was just the metronome (I tried a few of the other patterns as well, no luck). I'm hoping that another owner, or someone who has actually used the drum patterns on this dp can chime in to let me know if I'm just doing it wrong, or if I'm missing something.

I'm not sure why you are having this problem. On my FP-30 I hold the metronome key and press one of the drum pattern selection keys at the same time. When I let the keys up the drum pattern starts playing. That is all there is to it. In other words, selecting the drum pattern also starts playing.

When I press the metronome key again the drum pattern stops. I assume you are pressing the correct drum pattern selection keys beginning in the lowest octave of the piano.