Roland RP301 Reviews

“I hope it will be a good investment for all the family”

Hi Mr Howard,
I just got my new Roland RP-301!

After reading your guide I knew exactly what to look for when testing a piano at the music shop.
Unfortunately in Israel there are only Yamaha and Roland digital pianos at this price range (1500-2000$)
So finally I narrowed my options to this model and the Yamaha ydp-161.

The RP-301 sounds excellent, though it’s speakers are not as powerful as the Yamaha.
I find the touch a little weird – the keys are bouncy, and not heavy enough,
but they are much more sensitive than the stiff YDP-161 keys.

I’m very satisfied with my RP301, it’s an excellent choice from mid-level pianos.
I think it even sounds and feel better than many second hand acoustic pianos I’ve tried within this price range.

Review by Amit, Israel

 

“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

 

“For me, the piano is a drug”

Hola

I bought a Roland RP301R from Pianos Clemente, Valencia, Spain

The main reason you chose it was Sound and Touch (hardest than Kawai CN33)
I’m very Happy with the piano. I bought it locally and I bought it with arrange cause I thought my daughter will go many times to the piano if She can play (toy) as well as play (music) with it.

Both are starting to play piano. For me is a drug. I use to sit at piano as time as I can.

We are vey enthusiasmed with the piano.

When you are looking for information about to buy a piano is important to reach to UK pianos because, although you can not view some marks in Spain, you can play most of them in locals shops.
Is not easy to speak of the quality of the sound o the hard the touch is, but you can take the comparative reference and contrast ones and others to take your decision.

Thank you for your help.

Review by Key Un saludo, Valencia, Spain

 

“It is clear for me it is far away the best digital piano”

Hi Graham

Yesterday I managed to get my piano. As we discussed few times what could be the right brand and type or me, finally I choose Roland’s RP 301 piano. Luckily there is a official Roland dealer few miles from my house so I could test almost the full range from RP to LX-15. The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive digital piano is huge, Other hand I could notice the sound quality and real piano like keys on RP-301 meets my expectation and it is more than enough for years for me. So I jumped in and I bought it on a reasonable 1160 €. Additionally I bought a nice Beethoven piano pad.

All the day yesterday I was testing the RP-301 with (it was a gift) a MIDI-USB connector and with synthesia PC software. The built in songs sound great, I really enjoyed them, and I also has started my piano experience.

What I like in the new piano?

– The great feeling of the keyboard, the loudness in an approx. 25sm living room was perfectly enough.
– The easy way to get it to operate (20-30 min was enough to build up the stand and plug the cables)
– The colour perfectly fits to my furniture
– The midi-USB connection was ready to use with a simple driver update in my win7 system.

What I do not like so much ?

– Nothing to mention yet. It is clear for me it is far away the best digital piano, but I feel it worth its money.

Review by Peter Luzsanyi

 

“The final decision came down to the position of the controls being central”

Hi Graham

I had decided to go for a ‘furniture’ style piano as opposed to a portable ‘stage’ piano and set myself a budget of£1000.  Using web site reviews and YouTube as my main source of research, I narrowed my search down to the Yamaha YDP161 and the Roland RP301.  I eventually settled on the Roland.  There was very little to choose between them as both makes were in the top 2 or 3 in reviews for all aspects of the instrument.  In reality, the final decision probably came down to the position of the controls on the Roland being central as opposed to being on the side.  A bit arbitrary, but there was little else between them that I could find.  Roland also have a very good reputation in the general music industry.

The assembly process was very straight forward and it now takes pride of place in my music room.

I am no expert, but the sound from the Roland and the action of the keys both feel realistic.  It feels the way the old piano at home felt, as far as I can remember.  There are about 30 different sounds but I stick with the default piano sound as this is what I wanted it for.  I am very much a beginner and starting from scratch, so it will be some time before the piano is really used in anger.

My only regret with the process is that I wasn’t patient enough to go in to an actual piano store and try out different models.  The local store only stocked Yamaha so I would have had to travel further afield to get a selection of pianos to compare.  The local store may have swayed me towards the Yamaha or 100% cemented my decision on the Roland.  This would be my only advice to potential purchasers.  If you can get in to a piano store and listen to, and play, different pianos, then do.  You don’t have to buy from the shop, but you will be better informed with your purchase.  I appreciate this isn’t always possible.

So the challenge of choosing, buying and installing the piano is over.  The next challenge is finding a teacher I can get on with.  I went through several guitar teachers until I found the right guy and I suspect that piano teachers will be the same. This is where I will use the local store as they have already said they have lots of teachers they can recommend, especially as my musical taste veers towards jazz rather than classical.

I hope this can be used in some way to assist others in the process I have just been through.

Review by David Smeaton, Guildford

 

“This is an excellent piano for it’s price range”

I got my Roland RP-301 about 2 month ago, but decided to play it for a while before writing a review.
How did I decide to go with this model?
When buying, I had a budget of around 1000 GBP so it narrowed my options down to Yamaha YDP-161 and Roland RP-301 (this are the most common digital piano models in my country)
I found the touch and sound to be more realistic in the RP-301, and bought it right away (after a through reading of Graham Howard’s manual)

So far I’m very satisfied with my choice, This is an excellent piano for it’s price range (even when comparing to new/2nd hand acoustic pianos in my town). It has a very nice warm, soft sound, especially in middle keys, and the touch sensitivity is great for expressional playing.

2 notable point outs from 2 month of playing :
1) speaker sounds: there are only 2 12W built in speakers, so the sound do not spread evenly, and when playing loud it become somewhat blurry and not clean. But it’s all gone when plugging in a decent set of headphones (I use Sennheiser HD-558).
2) physical structure: the piano weigh about 40Kg, but it’s stand is quite light, So when playing faster pieces the piano trembles a little. In addition, the piano panel (with all buttons) is relatively close to the keyboards. So also, when playing faster pieces I occasionally press the metronome button and it messes up my play.

So overall, I think it’s an excellent value for money, at it’s price range! warmly recommended.

Review by Amit Somech,Tel-Aviv, Israel

 

“Well built, sounds good”

After reading the reviews I settled on the Roland RP-301 from a local dealer here in Canada. The sound was amazing compared to the old Casio keyboard we had at home.

It is well built, sounds good and looks great with the rest of the home decor. My kids now have a renewed interest in practicing and the sounds that filter through the home when they are playing changes the overall ambiance. The information from your site helped my decision process immensely.

Review by Rajkumar Nagarajan

 

“My husband is delighted with it”

I purchased a Roland RP301 in rosewood.
The piano was a gift to my husband on his birthday.
The delivery was prompt and as far as I know he is delighted with it.

Review by Phylis Gravell, Haverfordwest

 

>> For Roland RP301 information, specifications and prices, click here