Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Roland FP 30 or Yamaha P125 for Beginner

Anecdotally most people here in the digital forum prefer the Roland action.
The Yamaha on the other hand has a built in audio interface - this is a killer feature for some allowing you to easily get both midi and audio from a computer or iOS device over a single USB cable.
I’d go with the Yamaha personally for the saving and start saving for the upgrade you will inevitably want if you’re still playing in a years time

I'm curious as to why you are certain that he'll want to upgrade if still playing in a year's time? Even with my precious music degree, I remained very happy playing my old Casiotone CT-680 relic for many, many years. So by my way of thinking, if that cheap little (61-key) portable keyboard was enough to keep me entertained for literally decades, then the shiny new PX-870 I'm waiting to get delivered should definitely keep me smiling for all of eternity! Heck, I'd still be playing that 32-year-old keyboard had I not given it away to my daughter when she left the nest.

The Roland FP30 has only a one-position half-pedal

I'm curious as to why you are certain that he'll want to upgrade if still playing in a year's time? Even with my precious music degree, I remained very happy playing my old Casiotone CT-680 relic for many, many years. So by my way of thinking, if that cheap little (61-key) portable keyboard was enough to keep me entertained for literally decades, then the shiny new PX-870 I'm waiting to get delivered should definitely keep me smiling for all of eternity! Heck, I'd still be playing that 32-year-old keyboard had I not given it away to my daughter when she left the nest.

I believe Morten did not refer to "need," but to "want." As in "I want" A lot of us here on PW suffer from G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), where you buy things you don't need because you just want them. I must admit the same for me. I started with a Roland FP30 in Feb 2018 and then I started coveting something better, and the next thing I knew, I had a Yamaha Avantgrand N1X only 15 months later, when technically, I could probably have survived with the Roland FP30 for a few more years of piano lessons.

G.A.S. is actually a form of ego gratification as one thinks one is learning to play better - "hey, I am sounding better, but I bet if I had a better piano, I'd sound really good!" etc etc.

Lastly, at the completely entry level (which neither the FP30 or P125 are), there are limitations in the hardware. For example, the Yamaha P45 & P71 has only one pedal. So if you need the una corda pedal you are out of luck. The Roland FP30 has only a one-position half-pedal so if you are playing Chopin and want a continuous half-pedal, you are out of luck. Of course, neither of these would be needs in the first year. I'm approaching my 3rd year and haven't really needed either of these things.

Camperbc, yes GAS is very pervasive, not just here on this forum, but in other forums and in the world! Everybody is chasing the next new thing and I’m not immune to it either, although my symptoms have actually been professionally diagnosed so are much more serious than others perhaps. LOL! I just bought an acoustic and it’s not even home yet...and I’m already thinking about upgrading my Casio Privia PX735, AND adding a second instrument (other than piano) to my life. So you’ll see a lot of us “upgraders” here.

I just faced the same thing. Tried both the P125 and the F30. Loved both. I bought the Yamaha P-125. Two reason, first the Yamaha connects to my iPad and it was on sale and came with the bench and the stand (the wooden one - not folding one) for less than just the F-30 and considering I was going to get the P45 my budget didn't really allow for the F30 and a stand. I am very happy with my choice, just connected it to my iPad two days ago and it is so much fun learning with the apps.