Roland HP507 Reviews

“I decided for the HP507 because my friend likes hers”

I decided to buy a roland HP507 which has a lot of features and gadgets that are not so essential(according to Graham Howard’s piano buying guide) for a good digital piano BUT I want a piano with the best keyboard and sound one can find on the market today and as my best friend bought a roland HP507 a year ago or so and who is very happy with it (she is a skilled pianist) and I have some money spend,I decided for this one.

Review by Johannes Thiecke, France

 

“These are customer reviews from actual owners of this piano.
The most recent review is at the top of this page “, Graham Howard, Piano Advisor

Send me an email if you have any questions or need advice: grahamhoward@ukpianos.co.uk
Or call 020 8367 5107

 

“The whole world seems to love it”

The piano has been delivered two day ago,a Roland HP507-PE.I love it,my wife loves it,my granddaughter loves it,even the neighbours love it…for being so silent.Now one small detail :learn to play it.

Review by Jan Thiecke

 

“I haven’t regretted one split second that I bought this instrument”

Why Roland? I’ve been playing music (rock,jazz,…) for about 35 years now and have been working with Roland products quite a lot. In general I’m really satisfied with those products.Other reason is that a good friend of mine bought a Roland digital piano about a year ago so I already had the occasion to try it out.

Now after one month of being the owner of a HP507 a haven’t regretted one split second that I bought this instrument. It looks fantastic,it sounds for almost 99% like a steinway grand,it feels great. Because I start from zero I found myself a private teacher,someone who is working on his master-degree at the royal conservatory of Brussels,to learn me the basics and also to have an introduction into the classical repertoire by somebody who really knows it well.

Sometimes I go to his place and sometimes he comes to my home so he already had the occasion to play on my piano.Actually it is my teacher who was surprised by the quality of sound and feel of the roland(that it feels and sounds for 99 % like a steinway grand).

At his play he has a yamaha “middle class”,relatively not bad but apparently nothing next to mine.And off course he is used to playing on a real steinway grand at the conservatory so I think that his opnion is quite relevant for evaluation a digital piano.

Well,this is it for the moment,I still have to play and practise for a couple of years for really beeing able to evaluate my instrument but in the meantime I have a lot of fun playing it.

Review by K Johannes Thiecke, France

 

“Well worth the money for the enjoyment it has brought the family”

The Roland HP507 digital piano we purchased was one of the best things we’ve ever done and well worth the money for the enjoyment it has brought the family. My son’s playing has gone from strength to strength since having the piano and he has enjoyed experimenting with the vast range of different sounds. He also worked out how to record his playing before his dad did!

My husband loves having a piano in the house at last and commented on how nice the tone is. He also commented on the lovely touch of the keys, the HP507 is not so removed from those of an upright. He prefers the Pianoforte setting as opposed to the Concert Piano setting, which Alex favours, but there’s a sound for every taste. He has been very impressed at how the quality of digital pianos has improved over the years.

I have always cherished a dream of playing the piano and am also learning to play. Thus, I can say hand on heart that this is a piano suitable for anyone of any age and of any ability. Thank you so much for all your advice and we look forward to many happy years of playing.

Review by Lynne Hallett

 

“It was close, but the Roland HP507 had the edge”

I am an occasional piano player in Hong Kong and own a Roland HP307. I am also a school principal since we all have to earn a living!

For our school, I took 4 – 5 of our best student pianists (grade 8 / Diploma level) to play on Yamaha Clavinova 480 and Roland HP507 in different showrooms, with the view of acquiring several of these for them to practice – we have over a dozen pianists studying music in IB Diploma or Hong Kong Diploma (equivalent to A level), and they all need to practice, record as well as compose, so we must have these digital pianos, simply because of the need to have silence in the school(!) which is achieved by plugging in headphones, and also we need the recording MIDI to USB function, as they must generate exam coursework. Its unusual to have so many music students studying it right up to the top of a secondary school; we are by no means a special music school or anything, just a regular good school. (www.css.edu.hk)

Those students who like the Yamaha commented on the (slightly) better sound in the showroom, and those who like the Roland HP507 commented on the (slightly) better sense of touch. I cannot afford to have two of each, because we could run into logistical problems as soon as one piano is out of action, so I have to take a decision to get 4 of the same. The issue is being settled for me simply because Roland can deliver at the start of this school year and there is a 30 day waiting period for the Yamahas. I would still have probably chosen the Rolands, because touch is more critical than sound.

We also looked at replacing an acoustic baby grand, a 6’1″ Kawai C3 in the school hall. It is too small for the hall but it was all we could afford 6 years ago as a new school; the hall is often damp and the piano has to be moved around often (bad for tuning) and worse of all, it doesn’t get played on very often because the hall is very busy with so many other events going on.

I went last night to a premiere showing of the Roland V grand piano and it seemed to have answered all my prayers. Very rich sound, much better than our Kawai, much cheaper than the equivalent Yamaha N3 (probably better sound as well but I could no do a direct comparison) , never needs tuning and always available for students to practice on once they plug in headphones and draw the stage curtains! While the Yamaha digital grand pianos contain sound sampling from Yamaha’s own range of acoustic grand pianos, the Roland claims to provide sound samplings from Steinway grand pianos. I do not have such a refined ear to be able to tell the difference quite honestly, but it does make sense that Roland has teamed up with Steinway since the two brands do not have overlapping products.

We all gave the thumbs down to the hybrid silent pianos – acoustic uprights with a function added to mute the sound and convert to digital. They may be very convenient for parents with awkward neighbours who complain about piano noise, but they seem to take a little something away from the touch/sensation of playing on an acoustic upright piano – probably the depth/travel of the keys, which is slightly shortened for some technical reason. They offer the player nothing much really in our view, and of course cost more than a purely digital piano or a purely acoustic piano.

Once our students get their hands on the Roland HP507s and the Roland V grand piano, I may have more to reflect on. As far as maintenance and care of these machines are concerned, and the more technical aspects of their performance I will refer your publication to the head of music and her students.

Thanks once again,

Review by Siu Ming, Hong Kong

 

>> For Roland HP507 information, specifications and prices, click here