I keep looking at reviews and leaning towards different options, and then I look around at listings and call around and find out that it's not really possible to buy that board right now without either placing a pre-order, compromising on a used one (I'm happy to do B-stock etc. though), or paying a very noticeable premium. So I really need feedback from someone that knows what's actually up and somewhat available right now! The basic use case is: I want to be able to play away from PC, but I'll be learning theory and working on my hand coordination when I'm doing that, not worried too much about how I sound. And I want to be able to plug to a DAW and play VSTs.
The features I want to that end... I'm quite sure I want 88 weighted keys.
I've been thinking I want to get as close to learning the feel of a "proper piano" as I reasonably can, which is the biggest reason I had previously been aiming for the FP-30. However, I plan to use this for personal practice no one will hear... and then for recording things - and I'll often be recording virtual instruments. I've heard the weight could be a detriment to simulating virtual instruments. So the realism of the action is something I'm uncertain about to some degree. But I want to lean realistic.
Longevity of the board is a huge priority. Above all else I don't want to spend money on something I'm likely to have issues with in a year or two. I'll spend more to get something I think will last years.
Good built-in pitch/mod wheel(s) would be a plus I would pay at least $100 more for. From cursory research, that's the minimum I would need to spend to get these as features in an add-on device anyway. And if I want to play wind/orchestral VSTs with any amount of realism, which I will, these seem to be essential and a lot of work to compensate for not having manually.
But I don't particularly care about any other MIDI-focused features, or at least I don't currently know of any I should care about. So literally just a wheel or two for that (or joystick or whatever) are all I'm concerned about there.
The more interesting sound presets, esp. jazzy/gospelly sounds followed by synthy rock sounds and then just general interesting weird stuff, the more I think I'll practice. This can be a cheap novelty, I know, but I just know myself enough to know that being able to mix it up easily will keep me spending more time with it as far as solo practice time goes.
But with that said, I'm not too concerned about the built-in sound quality generally. I won't be playing this live any time soon. When I'm using the stock sounds, it will just be for my own practice. I'll be plugging in to a DAW to record both piano parts and play VSTs, and then the built-in sound/speaker quality/etc. doesn't really matter.
Not at all worried about weight. I plan to be carrying it from place to place so I can practice on trips, but I'm tall and I lift and I'm willing to deal with the hassle of transporting it.
I'd like to spend under $1000 if possible. I have a budget of about 3-4k to spend on music gear that I'll expect and hope to last me some time over the next few months, but I'm also planning to get a Macbook for DAW work, might end up needing a new microphone, etc... so I can stretch the budget but the more affordable I can go and get my main priorities covered the better.
So, like, ~800ish for something that doesn't necessarily sound great to play straight off of, but has some cool jazzy gospel Hammond type sounds etc. to play with, is a bitch to carry around, has no MIDI based features besides the pitch and mod wheels, leans fairly realistic as far as action (whatever that means), and most crucially will hold itself up for as long as I treat it well would be perfect.
Submitted September 20, 2021 at 02:40PM by Eihabu https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/przscj/changing_plans_about_the_roland_fp30_as_my_first/?utm_source=ifttt