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Roland RP-301 Digital Piano Review

Posted by in Roland Reviews on June 02, 2013 . 0 Comments.

Roland RP-301 Review

Roland produce a large range of home furniture style digital piano models and have always been at the forefront of digital piano technology. Their current entry level traditionally styled home model is the RP-301, which is available in either dark rosewood or matt black finish.

First Impressions

Housed in a small and compact traditional digital piano cabinet, the RP-301 is compact and about as small as it gets for a furniture style instrument, being only 17 inches deep. The RP-301 utilizes Roland’s acclaimed SuperNATURAL piano sound engine, which is designed to reproduce the characteristics of an acoustic piano more closely. Coupled with this technology, Roland have used their “Ivory feel-G Keyboard featuring Progressive Hammer action with escapement” This means that the weighting of the keys becomes slightly lighter as you move up the keyboard. A feature that is incorporated on many digital pianos. The keys also have a matt surface, which gives a much better playing feel and avoids fingers slipping.

The internal speaker system is 2 x12 watts through two 3 x 4.7 inch speakers, which provides a reasonable level of volume for home use.

Review

The layout of the RP-301 is very neat and uncluttered with the controls situated in the center of the panel facing the player. There are 2 buttons for selecting the sounds, one is labeled Grand and the other Ensemble. The Grand button has 4 tones which are selected using + and - buttons located to the right of a small LED display. The first sound is Grand Piano 1, and I would describe this a full Grand Piano sound which is ideal for a variety of music. The actual piano sound is up to Roland’s usual high standard, but is slightly let down by the internal speaker system, which is lacking in bass. Played through a good set of headphones, it sounds great because it is the same sound as on the more expensive Roland pianos, but the internal speaker system definitely lacks punch. The 3 other piano sounds are mellow, bright and honky-tonk, and are all very usable. One nice feature is that Roland have included a brilliance control which enables the overall sound to be made more mellow or brighter, something that is not always included on pianos in this price range. String resonance, key off resonance and damper resonance is also in-built to the piano tones but cannot be adjusted or switched off. The resonance effects certainly make the sound more realistic, but it is a shame that the effect is preset and not adjustable.

The Ensemble button accesses a further 26 tones, the first four of which are ensemble sounds (two sounds together). The first 3 are piano layered with strings, choir and bells and the fourth is piano sound with an acoustic bass/ride cymbal sound assigned to the lower octaves of the keyboard, ideal for jazz playing.

I should point out that it is not possible to layer any other sounds or split the keyboard on the RP-301, which is a shame as many manufacturers enable any two sounds to be combined on instruments at a similar price.

The remaining 22 sounds include 2 electric pianos, 2 harpsichord sounds, a selection of jazz and church organ sounds, choirs, strings, guitars, accordion and a few others. The sounds are generally good, but would certainly benefit in some cases with the addition of some effects to make the sound fuller, and the fact that it is not possible to layer any of these additional sounds rather limits their use.

As well as the brilliance control the RP-301 also has an adjustable reverb effect and the ability to adjust the touch sensitivity level of the instrument. There are 5 levels of sensitivity and the option to switch it off completely.

One nice feature of most Roland digital pianos including the RP-301 is the ability to set the reverb, touch sensitivity and brilliance to suit your ear and then store it as a default setting. Each time the piano is switched on, the effects will be recalled.

Other functions

The RP-301 also includes a library of nearly 200 in-built piano songs, mostly classical pieces and exercises which can be separated into right and left hand parts for practice should you wish. Speed is adjustable using the tempo control, with the tempo indicated on the small LED display.

It is also possible to record your own performance digitally and store it in an internal memory so that it remains even if the piano is turned off. The recording is fairly basic and is just on one track, but useful for monitoring progress or for your teacher to record a piece for practice. A metronome function is included which also has the facility to alter the time signature (beat). The RP-301 also incorporates Roland’s twin piano feature which enables the keyboard to be split into 2 “mini pianos” with middle C located in the center of each section. This is ideal for enabling two beginner students to use the same piano. It is also possible to set the instrument so that the left piano plays from the left speaker and the right piano from the right speaker, making it easier to hear what each student is playing. As with most digital pianos a transpose function is also included, enabling the pitch of the instrument to be raised or lowered in semitone steps. Ideal if you are accompanying and the music needs to be played in a different key.

Inputs/Outputs

The RP-301 incorporates standard ¼ inch jacks for stereo output to an amplifier and a stereo mini jack input for amplifying MP3 or Cd players through the piano’s internal speaker system. Midi In and Out is also included but will require a Midi to USB interface to connect to a computer. It does seem strange and a bit of an oversight that Roland has not included USB on the instrument. Headphone sockets are located under the front left hand end of the piano.

Conclusion

The RP-301 is a good piano and would be great choice as a starter instrument or even for a more advanced player. The cabinet is very compact and looks very neat. The instrument has top quality piano sounds which are better than those on many other products at a similar price and there is a good choice of other tones, but it’s a bit let down by the speaker system. There is enough volume but not enough bass. Having said all that, I do like the quality of the Roland SuperNATURAL piano sounds and would recommend it on the strength of these sounds alone.

Pros
 

  • Neat traditionally styled cabinet with cover

 

  • High quality acoustic piano sounds

 

  • Variety of extra sounds

 

  • Basic LED display for tempo/song etc.

 

  • Input for MP3/iPod etc.

 

  • Good quality keyboard action at this price level

 

 

Cons

 

  • No key-split or tone layering facility

 

  • Small speakers with lack of bass

 

  • No USB facility for song storage

 

  • No USB for connection to PC

 

 

 

Last update: February 28, 2014

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