Roland FP 30 vs FP 10
Electric or digital piano is the best option to learn and train the skill as well as versatile for various needs both for live and recordings. Roland FP 30 Vs FP 10 are two reliable options from the company that not only affordable but also sound nice so we can use it both as a learning tool and as a stage piano in your gigs. While these brothers are very similar to each other they are not the same so check what they can offer before shopping.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– How to Shop for a Digital Piano
– What are Roland FP 30 and FP 10
– What Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Look like
– How are the Keyboard in Roland FP 30 and FP 10
– How are the Sound Engine in Roland FP 30 and FP 10
– How are the Output in Roland FP 30 and FP 10
– What else Roland FP 30 and FP 10 can offer
– Roland FP 30 Vs FP 10
Shopping for Digital Piano
We are sure at some point almost everybody wants to be able to play an instrument after listening to their favorite songs because it is indeed fun to listen and do. Musical instrument are varying widely and the choice is all yours since there is no better when it comes to taste, everything can be very personal. However, we also agree that piano is having the upper hand on many sides especially as the starter instrument for beginners and small children.
Pianos are available both acoustic and digital or electric piano which is different from keyboard. Digital pianos is very popular and more preferable for many of us because it requires less budget to get compared to the actual real instrument. Its acoustic sound won’t be as rich as the piano we see at concerts but most of the time they are acceptable and some even amazingly pleasing. Additionally, digital piano doesn’t need meticulous treatment or care like tuning that we need to do with acoustic piano.
If you are also playing the instrument, it is probably better to settle with digital piano for those reasons or if you are an aspiring musician, getting a digital piano will means we can carry or stow it easily. Before shopping, it is best to check the best model for your application based on these few factors:
1. Experience level, this is a very important part to pay attention to and like many other products, digital piano also offered in different user level despite not exactly displaying them so. Beginners or students will be better with those that come with learning features based on your lesson and those more experienced players may want to pay attention more on touch response or velocity sensitivity.
2. Since most people who prefer digital piano are buying them so the instrument will not occupy too much space in their house or room, checking their dimension can be useful as well to determine which piano will suit your lifestyle especially if the player often move around or traveling with the instrument.
3. The last important thing to check when getting a piano is the sound itself and since taste can be different, we can’t say which sounds the best but the whole quality should be based on the sampling technology used by the company so it is better to listen to their demo first before deciding. Additionally, polyphony count matter and at least we need to have 64-note to create complex sounds.
About Roland FP 30 and FP 10
Digital pianos are offered by so many companies out there and it can be frustrating to pick one due to the amount of choices moreover one brand usually have a whole set of collections depend on what you are looking for. If you want to shop quickly, we do recommend to choose one brand to select especially those you know to have good quality and loved by many because chances they will also have the model you need and in the budget range you want to spend.
Among those many musical instrument companies in the market, Roland is one of the most popular brand in the game and their long history have proven that the products they offer are not only made up of quality materials but also works for their customers including for digital pianos. For those who are shopping for low to mid-range model, the FP line from the company is a very ideal family to check with its similar wide collection and fairly affordable price range.
This line currently have 4 products but today we are going to compare two of the lowest in the family which is Roland FP 30 and FP 10 that as the name suggest are a close brother yet the latter which seems to be launched earlier is in fact newer than the big brother. We also have compared the former in Yamaha P 125 Vs Roland FP 30 because they are similarly made for more experienced players. On the other hand the little brother is more comparable to Yamaha P45.
Both of these pianos are very ideal for anyone who are looking for the best budget model due to their friendly price but what makes us very interested in FP 10 in particular is because it actually have so much similarities with the higher piano. It sure makes the model seems to be wiser to spend since the budget is lower but we don’t think Roland will make these brothers to be exactly the same with those price gap.
Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Design
The shape and dimension of these pianos are very comparable because they are nearly identical being measured at 51.2/50.5-inch wide, 11.2/10.2-inch deep, and 5.8/5.5-inch tall respectively which makes the FP 10 a slightly smaller piano than its big brother while also lighter by almost 4 lbs. gap. Currently, there is only black version for the newer model but the FP 30 has two fashion in black or white to match with your taste and overall the material felt the same in both pianos.
As you can see on the sample picture above, Roland FP 30 and FP 10 are sporting almost the same control panel but the amount of buttons we can find in the unit will be different for the little brother only have 4 consisting of power, volume, and piano function while the latter have 13 of them. What’s nice is these buttons will light up when activated so with FP 30 we will know which function is currently working.
Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Keyboard
Moving further, let’s see what keyboard action used in these pianos and if you read our previous article, these models are coming with the same hammer action called PHA-4, which is the upgrade of their older technology but still, this system is the lowest Roland have today since Roland FP 30 and FP 10 are featured only with the Standard version as opposed to Premium or Concert version. This technology is using escapement mechanism that will recreate little clicking sensation when keys are pressed about half way down.
Like many other digital pianos, these models are having progressive hammer action and what we love is their Ivory Touch to absorb moisture, especially when the temperature is quite high out there. Additionally, there is touch sensitivity in 5 different settings including the Fixed options which is deactivating its sensitivity and the top setting is caller Super Heavy to provide the widest dynamic range.
Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Sound
As for the sound, similarly Roland FP 30 and FP 10 will be using the famous SuperNATURAL sound engine, the same like majority of other pianos from the company. With this technology, each of the 88 notes of an acoustic piano not only have different pitch but also tonal character that will change depend on how hard we hit the keys. While other pianos are using 3-4 layers samples, they are taking full-length samples of an acoustic piano and use the modeling technology to create smooth transitions.
Being in a different price range also makes these two close brother different in terms of the sound collection they can offer because as you may already know, the FP 30 is coming with up to 35 sounds inside while Roland FP 10 only have 15 sounds. However, the polyphony counts are already enough to create complex sound yet, the former is winning at 128 notes compared to 96 notes.
Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Output
On their output part, just like many other Roland’s pianos, these two are coming with a set of speakers located at the bottom of the unit, different from what Yamaha is fond of. The speaker may have the same design but FP 30 is blasting two 11W speakers while its little brother is subtler with 6W speakers. If your practice hours often in the middle of the night, there is a headphone port as well to plug your favorite pairs. USB A and B also present but FP 30 can transfer file through its USB A.
Roland FP 30 and FP 10 Features
On the additional feature, Roland FP 30 and FP 10 are also coming with useful function like layering mode, duet play, and split mode. The layering mode will let the piano to play two sounds across its full keyboard hence the name is layering while duo mode is actually splitting the piano into two identical ranges with the same middle C and have 44 notes. Split mode is only available in FP 30 and it is splitting the keyboard into two parts, each playing different sounds.
Comparison
These pianos are a very ideal option for anyone who want to spend less than $1000 to get their favorite instrument but overall FP 30 is a more capable piano since it is coming with more sound collection, have bigger speaker to fill a room or performance, have more additional features like split mode and transfer file with its USB A, as well as have more fashion option. However, it is also true that FP 10 is winning in terms of best budget model.
Roland FP 30 vs FP 10
Conclusion
We are sure most readers can already pick to go with which piano because they are quite different and if you are not decided yet, the FP 10 will fit those with less budget and beginner level better while those more experienced players specifically who need stage piano will be more suitable with Roland FP 30.
