After much testing, I’ve settled on PHA-50. There are a few better actions with grand-length keys, but they are much more expensive. Roland FP90x is well within my budget and seems like a solid option for MIDI and some on-board playing.
However, I haven’t had the chance to try Casio’s Natural Grand Hammer found in the GP-310 which is (barely) within my budget. Any experiences?
After much testing, I’ve settled on PHA-50. There are a few better actions with grand-length keys, but they are much more expensive. Roland FP90x is well within my budget and seems like a solid option for MIDI and some on-board playing.
However, I haven’t had the chance to try Casio’s Natural Grand Hammer found in the GP-310 which is (barely) within my budget. Any experiences?
They are very different pianos. The Casio is more of an acoustic piano replacement, best for someone who really wants to focus on playing piano. The Roland 50 is for someone who values all the added tech capabilities. Also, the Roland is portable, for gigging, but the Casio is not.
The Roland 90x is a superb piano that has some elements of the Casio and the 50. Its keyboard isn't solid wood, like the Casio, and it's very heavy so not good for gigging even though technically it is portable (not a console model). It has a lot of tech capabilities but can't do everything the 50 can. But it's a much higher level piano than the 50. The action is better than the 50 but not as good as the Casio.
Of course it depends on individual preference. I'm totally happy with the Roland PHA 4 keyboard (thatsrthe one on the 50) even though I know there are better ones. It's a very good action.
Thanks. The key action is my top priority and I only plan to use the piano at home. The PHA-50 doesn't have grand-length keys, so it's slightly less playable near the felt, but I've seen some high-level classical perfomances on it. Of the pianos with grand-length keys, Casio GP-310 seems like the most affordable, significantly cheaper than those from Kawai, Yamaha, and Roland. (edit: Actually, Roland LX706 is similarly priced. Haven't had the chance to try that one either.)
Lycomedes wrote:After much testing, I’ve settled on PHA-50. There are a few better actions with grand-length keys, but they are much more expensive. Roland FP90x is well within my budget and seems like a solid option for MIDI and some on-board playing.
However, I haven’t had the chance to try Casio’s Natural Grand Hammer found in the GP-310 which is (barely) within my budget. Any experiences?
They are very different pianos. The Casio is more of an acoustic piano replacement, best for someone who really wants to focus on playing piano. The Roland 50 is for someone who values all the added tech capabilities. Also, the Roland is portable, for gigging, but the Casio is not.
The Roland 90x is a superb piano that has some elements of the Casio and the 50. Its keyboard isn't solid wood, like the Casio, and it's very heavy so not good for gigging even though technically it is portable (not a console model). It has a lot of tech capabilities but can't do everything the 50 can. But it's a much higher level piano than the 50. The action is better than the 50 but not as good as the Casio.
Of course it depends on individual preference. I'm totally happy with the Roland PHA 4 keyboard (thatsrthe one on the 50) even though I know there are better ones. It's a very good action.
PHA-50 is not a keyboard model. It's the keyboard action on Roland's FP-90X. It has a longer pivot length than the PHA-4 keyboard action found on Roland's FP-10, FP-30X, and FP-60X. https://www.merriammusic.com/blog/piano...o-actions/
Hi, before I bought an acoustic piano I owned a GP-500. The keys are really excellent. THe GP-xxx has a high resolution midi output. If you want to use the internal speakers, headphones you need a USB isolator (galvanic isolation) at the USB output to the PC.
I have a GP-310 that I bought for its action which is excellent (the onboard sounds leave much to be desired). Like rasaru I had to use a USB isolator in order to play Pianoteq through the onboard speakers without noise (caused by a USB ground loop). Also had to play around a little with velocity curves, but overall really very happy with it.