Hi there !

I was just wondering if anyone has tried the new Roland V-Piano. Its rrp is only £4999 GBP !!!!

I wonder if you are stuck with Stero on this thing - the Roland website pictures show the outputs as L and R - not even L/Mono and R.

The keyboard sounds a hell-of-a promising but sheesh, what a price - I suppose the price might come way down in a couple of years.

re: outputs

The 'specs' section of Roland's US site shows that the non-XLR outputs are L/Mono and R (as has been true for earlier Roland pianos).

Thanks for the heads-up ... hadn't seen anything about it before your note!

It's not light! 38.2 kg / 84 lbs. 4 oz.

Shipping is not until May, it seems...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dan Cornett,

Hi again !

Ah ! OK ! I looked at Roland's website - at the pictures around the back of the keyboard to see the connections - I thought I couldn't see a L/Mono legend - just L and R legends.

Blimey ! That is a heavy keyboard !!!!
I'm sure my very heavy Yamaha P200 (now retired to make way for my lighter and less bulky Roland FP-7) was about 32kg - and that is not including the case !

I had my wife try the V-Piano at our local music store. We were both very impressed. The expressiveness of this unit was staggering.

I think it might be a good match for the L1 because there are no samples. It is entirely modeled, therefore; you have fully expressive and editable sounds that work equally well in mono or stereo.

Interesting point about no samples.

quote:

Originally posted by Kramster:
Interesting point about no samples.

Yes ... I had noted that this seems to be the first Roland keyboard that competes with technology similar to what the General Music (GEM) keyboards (and organs) have had for a decade or so.

If they do it like the GEM piano than it will be a GREAT piano indeed... I better check it out. I still love the GEM pRP7 through the Bose.

Hi there !

Well, I'm going to demo on monday (as long as I can get away from work at lunchtime).
I'll get a one-on-one session with the V-piano and one of the Roland guys.

I'm hoping to try it through a Bose L1 (ie. in mono - just ONE output from the keyboard). I've asked the local music shop (where the demo is taking place) to have a Bose L1 on-hand to plug into - or at least just a simple mono keyboard amp.

My fear is I'm really going to love it !
It is at least twice as expensive as my other keyboards - so not sure how I could justify the purchase to myself (let alone my wife !!)

Also, it is really heavy - I think about 38kg.
My heaviest keyboard, a circa 10yrs old Yamaha P200 stage piano, is 32kgs and its case is another 10kg. I can bearly lift that off the ground into my car. Don't know if I could handle another 6 kilos ! I'm currently using a lighter more portable keyboard - Roland FP-9 - but it sounds really thin/honky in the middle register.

Will let you guys know how I get on.
Might get drastic enough to have to sell some of my guitars !

Hi again !

Well, I got a go on the V-Piano.
It looks cool but weighs a ton by yourself.
The keys look lovely - ivory colour and texture - not shiny bright-white plastic.
Action felt really nice.

Sounds ? Only really got to hear it in full stereo. I'll have to go back sometime to try it out plugged in Mono.
There is actually 2 sets of L+R stereo outputs - one set for the main sound and another set for the ambient sounds (so you can feed it to different speakers).
I can't say I'd ever use all of that flexibility.

Anyway ! Sound !
High notes sounded great - really crisp.
Low notes pretty good too.
Middle ? Less impressed - however, I din't get a chance to try out all the tweaking that is possible as the Roland guy hadn't yet turned up.
The middle section sounded a bit limp - the sound didn't really jump at you like a real piano does or even some sampled dig pianos.
I think it has great potential - IF - I could edit away all the bits I wasn't keen on.

Will need to go back and try it out again - and in Mono - as that is important for us Bose playin' guys !

Will keep you all posted.

Thanks for the review... I haven't tried one yet. The weight might be an issue.
One of my GEMs is mounted in a piano shell and heard on my YubeTube ,,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...yFcY&feature=channel

and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Ji9c&feature=channel