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Hi guys,

I was about to buy the Kawai ES110 set (with the stand and pedals), but a friend of a friend is selling a 6 year old Roland 504 for a bit less than the Kawai.
What would you choose?

My main concern is that the Roland might break after 1 or 2 years and there is no warranty, as the person does not have the receipt any more.

I have a pair of full range monitor speakers that I can hook up to the Kawai, so the speaker quality is not as much important to me.
I also have various different software I can use with the pianos, such as pianoteq and Garritan CFX, so the sound engine is also not the highest priority, but good to have, as my wife would prefer playing the piano itself than having to setup the software.

For me the keyboard action,sensitivity,dynamics,accuracy is more important. The newer keybed on Es110 would probably have advantage in some areas, but the higher quality keybed in Roland 504 would also have some advantages.


What would you choose?

Is that the HP-504 you're refering to?

There's something nice/satisfying about sitting in front of a cabinet style piano...

...but for resale, seems an entry level portable piano would be easier to shift.

Have you tried the action? Definitely give it a try if you can: sometimes 'premium' doesn't necessarily mean better once you actually get your hands on it.

What about the connectivity - does it tick all of the boxes?

Increasing budget.

Yes, Its Roland HP 504. Haven't tried the action yet. It has PHA4 Premium keybed.
Connectivity wise it is better than the Kawai. It also has line in that the Kawai doesnt. And the usual USB connection for PC.

Definitely try it then. The small details between PHA4 Standard/Concert/Premium is something that I never looked into, but your fingers will tell you anyway.

As far as it going wrong - well, even new DPs can go wrong as you know... but generally, they all seem to last long enough! Goodness... I had lessons on a 15 year old clavinova (two keys did eventually fail, but it was business as usual as far as my teacher was concerned. 🤣 PS It was crap, even before two keys broke).

Roland HP-504 has the same technology as Roland FP-30, but in the cabinet style and likely better speakers.
So it is on par with ES-110 in technological aspects, but better as a piece of furniture. This piece of furniture style will cost you 500-800 more in a new piano. You can buy whichever you like more, but if you look for more advanced sound engine, you will need to shell more for higher models.

Correction - FP-30 has PHA Standard keybed.

I think the PHA4 premium is like PHA4 standard with with also longer pivot and better key coating. So its basically FP30 technology with better key mechanics/feel.

So, most of the advantages of HP-504 are not that big of a selling point for me:

-Don't care that much for the furniture style cabinet. Just want something steady enough. I think the wooden stand of ES110 would be good enough.
-Bigger Speakers is also not much of a selling point. Will get a lot better sound with monitor speakers connected.
-Dont care much for coating of keys
-Technology was impressive when it came out, but it is now part of the lower line models. Even if the sound of the engine is better, I have lots of sample libraries.
-Dont care much about the input. My soundcard has 8 inputs/outputs. I can even make a surround sound speaker setup.

So, the only question really, is if having a larger pivot is reason enough to take my chances on a 6 year old digital piano that may break after a few years. If it was similar to the difference between ES110 and VPC-1, then I would definately consider buying it.