Brand new Roland 88 note controller keyboard (about time!)

Hi all,

I demoed the PHAlll Ivory Feel G Keybed today and it felt too spongey and shallow. I also tried the two other Roland PHAlll Keybeds - the top of the range PHAlll that is used in the V-Piano and the other top end stage/digital pianos, and the PHAlll Ivory Feel S Keybed used in the FP-7F. The store also has an upright Roland digital piano which also utilises the latter (PHAlll Ivory Feel S).

Out of these three of Roland's offerings, I found the Ivory Feel S to be the most responsive. The Ivory feel G, as stated, felt much too spongey and shallow. The PHAlll (V-Piano), while feeling more 'woody' than the Ivory Feel S, felt more heavy and sluggish. However, the Ivory Feel S felt more definite and skeletal. It felt lighter than the other two Keybeds, and the feel of the Ivory Feel S on both the stage piano FP-7F and the digital piano with this same Keybed felt identical. Of course they should do being the same Keybed, but many times, the same Keybed in different models will actually feel noticeable different to the discerning pianist/keyboardist. This consistency in the Roland models/Keybeds is reassuring.

It is not the action from the V-Piano or RD700, it is the action of the FP-4F.

Very disappointing...

Looks like a great controller for gigging but I doubt it has Roland's top of the line action, which BTW I feel is the best on the market for feel, reliability and cost.

What a shame. I love the PHA III on my RD700NX but I really don't like the "G" version which is nothing like it. It feels weirdly spongy to me. I've been assuming that the non G versions need some depth (front to back) for their hammer mechanism as both the RD700NX and FP7F are similar dimensions. However, the pictures I can find online show a compact action that looks like it could fit in this new controller. Maybe the pictures are actually the G version.

Try the Korg SP250. Pretty simple, sells for $700, uses their top-of-the-line keyboard. But has no wheels or other MIDI-type knobbies.

Thanks mabry. I live in Houston, so yeah. There are many places to shop. The problem is that I really need two or three keyboards. One that has a great keyboard, and one that has really good controls. I don't mind buying a keyboard and a controller separate. I'd be using this for serious practicing (I have a piano but it's from 1875 and the feel is quite off), recording in my home studio (for playing other orchestral instruments too) and possibly on the gig too if I choose to use PianoTeq or a sample lib with my laptop. I'd prefer to use something like a Nord live, but once these apps run well on an iPad (soon I suppose), then a simple keyboard and an iPad will be fine. I wish all keyboards had a mod wheel or an expression pedal. Those that don't create a problem or me. But, regardless, I need a very good playable keyboard.

Thanks for the tips.

I bought the Roland A-88 controller, and it is just AMAZING with Pianoteq 5.

I've had a baby grand piano for more than 20 years, and after moving to a new place, I had to put the piano in the living room in an open space where it took too much space. Not to mention, that I couldn't play without disturbing a lot of people. So, I decided to sell it and set me up with a Roland A-88 controller, a high quality audio interface, a set of pro headphones, and of course Pianoteq 5 (running on a laptop).

This is the best decision I ever made. No more tuning, voicing, action adjusting, humidity control!

I am amazed at the feel of the touch. It feels like ivory (which I had on my real piano), and the weighted action with double escapement feels like the real thing. You can set 5 levels of sensitivity on the A-88 (from light to hard) and, combined with a proper velocity curve setting (use the Roland RD-700NX which has the same action), I swear I feel like I am playing on my real piano, with an improvement on sound, thanks to Pianoteq's D4 piano, which is a marvel.

The other night, I was improvising on my A-88. At some point, while I paused and closed my eyes for thinking of a different variation, I heard the resonance of the strings still going since I had not raised my hands from the keyboard (normal on a real piano), and continued to play with my eyes closed actually believing I was playing on a real piano. What took me out of that impression was the fact that my pedals were sliding away...

I highly recommend the Roland A-88.

Tip: find some way of sticking the pedals to the floor if you want to be fully immersed in the realism the controller can convey.

I didn't, because I wanted to do more than just piano with it. I am also doing syth music and classical strings composition as well and the A-88 provides a lot of controls for midi implementation with Logix X on the Macintosh.