In-depth review of Roland FP 90 (ALL VOICES PLAYED)

Professional pianist gives in-depth review of the infamous Roland FP-90.
31:40 - SOUND DEMO of every bank and primary sound.
Sound recorded on Rodes Stereo Pro Mic
Video recorded on professional 4K panasonic camcorder
To hear the Roland FP-90 using a direct line in...
• Faded - Alan Walker (L...

[@elaykin]

Excellent review. Learned so much about the functionality of this great instrument thank you very much for taking the time to produce and post this.

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

My pleasure! I'm really glad it was helpful to you.

[@MildredHichez]

Congratulations on the in-depth, awesome video. God bless you!

[@clevelandpianostudio]

Wow, this is the BEST video of a review of a digital piano I've ever seen. You cheered me up. Been feeling bummed out over here across the pond in the States (gloucester mass.). Just blue having to teach all my wonderful piano students through Zoom now until who knows when. I had a Roland RD-700NX and I hated all the buttons, looking so confusing, as I am not intuitive that way, and want to use it for different things, but loved the action, I sold it to a local school a year ago, but now miss that Roland. Have an FP4, blech. Will be selling. Have been looking at the FP-90 reviews, yours is extraordinary, and pretty much seals the deal for me except for the escapement comment, which I appreciate your honesty. You do mention in other videos of yours that you prefer the Kawai ES8 and that you got this one for the bluetooth (which is so awesome! for page turning OMG) so was wondering if you did make a review video of the Kawai, like I think you mention here. I don't gig. It will just be for recording mainly, and practicing so the closest action to piano is the most important. The piano sound you created is amazing. Should I consider Kawai ES8, I've never played one, there are no music shops open to go try out keyboards, so reliant on reviews. Sorry this is long. Again, this video during this tough time for us musicians really lifted up my spirits this afternoon. Thanks. "damper's quite American" lol we do say sustain too. :)

[@JS45678]

My FP-90 arrives in 4 days!!! Thank you for this absolutely brilliant thorough review as well as your personal settings for your favorite piano sound. I’m only a beginner and I kept wondering in the first 30 minutes, “I wonder if this cat can really play??” Then your started playing. 😳 Yep, this cat sure can play! 👏🤠🎹

[@Wellin220365]

Excellent review. my FP90 is arriving on the 09 Dec 2020. You sir are one seriously talented young man and so laid back with it all. again EXCELLENT review. Animal mode is referring to the pop group the "Animals" and the song "House of the rising sun"

[@peope1976]

Amazing review!

[@RonaldCa]

Great review! Thanks 👍

[@Johnnysixpac]

I have the Roland dp-10 for my FP-90 keyboard. It works great except for one issue: when I release the sustain pedal the notes immediately cut off without ringing out. When I slowly release the pedal, same thing, it just get to a certain point and cuts off. Is there anyway to fix this? I’ve messed around with the “continuous” and “switch” setting on the pedal to no avail. Please help

[@charleslascari7191]

Are there function settings that can eliminate the tiring aspects of the keyboard? TY

[@justinsmcleod]

Hey I love my Roland and i appreciate your review. Have you sounds any memory sticks that work? I have tried several and I keep getting errors. Roland doesn't even make them anymore. I would love anyone's advice. Thanks again for the review!

[@TheRealWinsletFan]

The assignable pedals is great I have an expression pedal on my Sostenuto input for controlling dynamics in my Kontakt libraries.

[@harryclark3471]

Thanks for the info on this piano. I have a question. Can you run the internal and external speakers at the same time. I like the vibrations of the internal speakers and i have a KRK 6 and a KRK subwoofer (powered), thanks.

[@mindfixer4you]

Any thoughts on the new FPx updates?

[@bigbadbob143]

I cannot figure out how to save and recall registrations. Any good links to view?

[@marvinkmooneyoz]

how modeled are the sounds? I think V-Piano and the acoustic on the fp90X is purely modeled.

[@thomasdundon4093]

I'm considering the Roland FP-90 so it was very useful to watch your demo, thanks. Toward the end you mentioned a website to visit for product details, but I couldn't quite make out the name (sounded like "givemusic", but I didn't see any website with a similar name). Please leave a link when you have time. I'd also love to hear any thoughts on the new Kawai ES920 if you've had a chance to play one.

[@elizabethlucas8778]

What app are you using for your sheet music???

[@gregcinghina3290]

that stiff keyboard was the first thing i noticed about it bought one yesterday for 50 dollars off a dum ass in bred hillbilly from w virginia but when i got it home and turned it on it lit up but no sound am i not doing something wrong??? \

[@jlfqam]

I use permanent black ink marker to darken the transparent plastic of lit buttons that are too bright. Clean first with alcohol and apply one layer of ink, if not dark enough, let it dry and apply another layer, and so on.

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

Interesting. Why not just use darkening tape? Just wondering 🤔

[@jlfqam]

With a cloth or cotton swap tip soaked in alcohol you can remove permanent ink any time you like.@@AngeloTsocosMusic

[@jlfqam]

permanent ink can be easily removed with a cotton swab tip soaked in alcohol (do not use neither acetone nor rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) to prevent damage to plastic or polymers). It's named as permanent because, once it dries, becomes water proof and resists finger tip sweat.@@AngeloTsocosMusic

[@oliver8666]

fantastic Video,Angelo !!! do you still own it? Thank you Angelo !!!

[@isaaclambert8316]

How do I find the other 300 sounds

[@Maxi-ne9wf]

The button "other" and then with plus and minus I think. I dont have one but ai tried it in a store

[@FauvetteEC]

Thank you very much for this very very detailed and honest review of the FP-90 ! I still don't know which digital piano I'm gonna buy, but this will certainly help. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried the FP-60 ? The sound choices seem to be the same, and the main differences in theory are the keyboard, the speakers and the mic if I got it well. I saw a review from someone preferring FP-60 over FP-90, for instance because the many customization settings on the FP-90 piano sound makes it more difficult to find a good sound. What do you think of it ?

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Hi friend, which key action is faster, more confortable and more reliable between PHA4-S and PHA-50?.

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Thanks mate, but please tell me why you dislike the Roland PHA-50 and the Yamaha NWX?. Please give me more details.

[@timc7543]

Really great review, thanks for doing this. Did you look at the FP-60 at all? Seems like the big deltas between FP-60 and FP-90 are the action (FP-60 and below use the PHA-4 action, FP-90 uses the PHA-50) and then the FP-60 uses sampling and FP-90 uses sound modeling. Thoughts on the durability of the music rest? I'm "downgrading" from a stationary digital piano and the FP music desk just seems flimsy. How long do your keyboards last? My current digital piano (a Roland HP107) is about 15 years old, but I'm an at-home amateur, not a professional lugging it around every day.

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Hi friend, which feels better between Roland FP60/90 and Yamaha P515?.

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Thanks for reply my friend, i´m really surprised that Kawai put a free maintenance key action, but it is a new RHIII? or RHII / RHIII always has been free maintenance key actions?. To my understanding these are folded key actions similar to PHA-50 and NWX, but please clarify this point for me.

[@Engryter]

Hey pal, thanks for the good review. I'm just wondering one thing: you said that this action is fatiguing over time if you play fast pieces or classical music. Even compared with Yamaha and Kawai ones. I've tried in person the RH3, the NWX, the PHA-4 and the PHA-50. To me the RH3 was quite good but a little slow and maybe light. Another thing i found out is that this is the more prone to wear of all of the actions in this price range. The models I saw (es8 and es920 were also lacking in the internal speakers reprodution) The NWX was the fastest and most precise of them all, but at one cost. The initial weight of the keys, i mean the force you have to put on them to break their initial resistance. When the keys are set in motion, then they became a lot softer. I didn't find this very realistic thoug. I recently played on an acoustic Kawai and the brutal initial weight of the NWX (between 85 and 90plus grams) was almost non existant. This initial weight makes the action the fastest one IF you have the right amount of force because the keys return in position in a blink of an eye. The PHA-4 wasn't bad for its price but i found it a bit clumsy and not so fast. The heavyness seemed right. The PHA-50 felt good in a 30min trial. Faster than RH3, slower than NWX but the weight was somewhere in the middle of them. It seemed to me less fatiguing than the Yamaha NWX. And also Stu from Merriam Music, said the this: RHA-50: "pure butter" (he uses the same action in the RD2000 he had since 2017 for gigging) NWX: fatiguing over time. Now your video review, made from a person with your clear knowledge, left me a bit confused. Do you confirm that you find RHA-50 more fatiguing and less pleasant than for instance an NWX? Thank you so much.

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Hi mate, GREAT review and thanks a lot!. Please, what do you think about PHA-4 key action in FP10/30 against Kawai RHIII, Roland PHA-50 and Yamaha NWX?. Which is faster, more confortable and more reliable!.

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Great mate, very clear and helpful, but only tell me why you never didn´t like the Roland key actions?. Thanks!

[@cannedmusic]

Strawberry Flute? Emulating the Mellotron? Does it have any other Mellotron inspired voices?

[@cannedmusic]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic thanks

[@tubezacs]

I recently bought my Roland FP-90 and I noticed that I have the opposite problem of the Casio PX-S3000: 66g to move (not to make sound) the middle C and 72g to move the C#. Indeed it's a bit annoying playing songs with a lot of black keys. Anyone else who noticed this problem?

[@Mattmanutube]

Z_tube ... a known situation with these Casios. Check out PianoForever channel with James Pavel S.

[@tubezacs]

@@Mattmanutube Thank you for the information. Actually I don't have the Casio PX-S3000, I have the Roland FP-90 with black keys heavier than white keys.

[@jasonbrianbronson]

Loved the harpsichord at 36:28

[@victoriousfox]

FP 90 in my country Indonesia doesn't have bluetooth connection? The sellers said it's due to regulation. I don't understand why, what a shame.

[@Lee-qj4hk]

Lucky you. In the UK, everything has Bluetooth. "Your cup of tea would like to connect. Allow Y/N?" *sigh* I believe you can control the FP90 via USB in the same way as via Bluetooth

[@anatol1204]

Nice honest review.Have you tried the vpc 1 action ? In your opinion is better? MP11 is too expensive and the worst it has all these big buttons on it you don t have space for the pc keyboard and the mouse..

[@anatol1204]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic i saw a video that the guy was saying that is a little bit heavy..

[@anatol1204]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic sorry my fault ..i mean the action..!

[@anatol1204]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic I wish I had seen your video earlier..I have ordered a studiologic sl 88 grande.Its on its way..Thanks for the information, do other reviews you are good!

[@johnstaf]

I think it's better than the VPC-1. I know both actions really well BTW.

[@johnstaf]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Yes, I play a lot of very advanced repertoire, including virtuosic works -I was practising Scarbo yesterday, for example. I have a Kawai MP10, which has a very similar action to the VPC-1 (but not quite identical), and I bought the Roland because I wasn't satisfied at all with the Kawai.

[@jonos138]

OOh that got me thinking. I'm not a pro player, I have a casio PX S3000 and find that action tiring. My fingers ache the next day after playing it. So probably a Roland FP90 would be a bad move for me then? What about the Kawai es520 or Kawai mp7se? Whats that action like?

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

The Casio is a particularly light action so the only thing I can think of is maybe you are getting fatigue from not having enough resistance! That is most definitely a thing and affects a lot of people. The Kawai action is a work of art. Heavier than the Casio range but lighter than the Roland’s. A happy medium!

[@jonos138]

@AngeloTsocosMusic Yes, I love the sound of the Kawai, only problem is there are so many reports of problems with their keybed and sensor strips. You only have to Google and you read of disgruntled owners with faulty mp7se's. Kawai have let their good name down because of this. They should have recalled all faulty units.

[@geoffreyinett7724]

I've just bought an immaculate FP90 for a knock down price. It came with a simple 'X' stand but it's way too wobbly and I have no confidence in it. You mention that you use a 50kg Stagg stand which would be ideal, as you say that it's rock steady. My only concern is that I've seen some reviews of it which mention that the adjustable legs are held in place with a friction screw and that it's not that reliable. Could you comment on this please and, perhaps, let me know which Stagg stand you have. Thanks. BTW, this video is very interesting and informative; just what's needed for a new owner.

[@geoffreyinett7724]

Strangely enough, this style of stand doesn't appear on the Stagg website (unless I can't see it for trying - ask my wife...)

[@diallosmiley]

Hi, I really liked your review, wanted to ask if I was to play this around 2 hours a day and pieces around the speed of fantasie impromptu, would my fingers feel stiff and fatigued? (I know it would be different for everyone but any advice would be useful) Thanks a lot

[@diallosmiley]

Angelo Tsocos Hi, thanks for your reply, definitely very helpful. For classical music, do both of these digital pianos (fp 90 and es8) have action realistic enough to develop proper technique? Thanks again

[@yoni23able]

@@diallosmiley There will be no problem playing on this to the highest standard. Here is some Rachmaninov played at a top level. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmiaaJSui6aDga8

[@mjakmaczek95]

Did I miss Guitar Bank or is there no such thing?

[@mjakmaczek95]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic Thanks :) So do you know which Yamaha or Korg model has decent guitar sounds (especially electric guitar)?

[@michellemonet4358]

Is this.the same as tbe Roland F90?

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

no they are wildly different. The one I feature has 384-note polyphony and the F90 only 64. Thank for watching.

[@bernhardwagner2474]

I bought the FP-90 two weeks ago and now I have a good overview what I got. - Thanks - 2020051217

[@victoriousfox]

Hi, can you record your playing and your voice in multi track?

[@9243672946729]

If the problem of swallowing notes when playing too fast only occurs on pianos it is due to the maximum processing speed of the algorithm or processor or it concerns memory overflow. because the piano is generated with an algorithm on the FP90. I hope that this problem has been reported to Roland, because the problem may be solved with a patch. all other voices like e-piano are sample based voices and should not show the problem, is that so?

[@jonos138]

I heard the fp90 is piano sample based, the fp60x and below uses the supernatural engine.

[@KeepingOnTheWatch]

Like the FP-90 my Roland LX-7 has the same action: the PHA-50. This is the second review in as many days where experienced players say they didn't like the action. Ah dunno... I specifically bought mine because I like the action but I don't play any fast music. I'm just a beginner.

[@Asahi380]

PHA-50 is a great choice. I own a FP-30 and its PHA-4S action is beginning to slow my progress down a liitle bit. I was practicing Rachmaninoff Prelude Op23 No5, and FP-30 couldn't handle it very well. The keys are bouncing too slow for such a skillful piece. My opinion is, buy the best one that you can afford so you don't have to regret or change the keyboard frequently every since your skill is improving.

[@FauvetteEC]

@@Asahi380 Hi ! Thank you for your comment ! Did you change for the PHA-50 keyboard and noticed an improvement for playing such a difficult and fast piece as this Rachmaninoff Prelude ?

[@ferdearmas8732]

@@Asahi380 Hi friend, PHA-50 or NWX?, which is better?.

[@yoni23able]

Phil Best here has no problem with the action. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmiaaJSui6aDga8 He’s super skilled arms loves the action. Says it’s Steinway like.

[@KlavierKannNichtMehr]

why not make the video, then edit before you put it out? I am sure you a great pianist, but I turned off after 5 mins because the whole thing was confused and badly filmed.

[@waltherstolzing435]

There is a thread about this video in the pianoworlds forum: "forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2973551/roland-fp-90-key-action-problem.html#Post2973551" Feel free to chip in some insight.

[@tedreynolds3338]

I’d give my right hand to play piano this well.

[@tedreynolds3338]

Angelo Tsocos I’m enjoying your videos. I purchased an FP-90 a few years ago. I thought I’d check out any new reviews and found yours. Very thorough. Thanks for the registration set up tip. I’ll try it.

[@aleeoid3410]

British ian hecox.

[@sophrenia]

Anyone ever told you you're a dead ringer for shaggy?

[@perrins57]

He would have got away with it, if it wasnt for you meddling kids!

[@DaraM73]

Shame yawl didn’t wait for the X version.

[@adamjacksonmedia]

A but more practice, and this guy won't be a half bad piano player.

[@danlee0]

If you play the P90 a long time, you get 'stiff and enoyed' by it, he says. Funny sense of humour.

[@mayiask654]

No, it has no escapement. Just escapement simulation just as in all digital pianos which claim to have escapement. Completely different than the escapement of real acoustic grands' actions. Escapement simulation does not add anything to playability as real escapement does. Escapement simulation is just for the feel/sensation. Also it is not "plastic on the outside" and "wooden middlepiece" how the keys of the PHA-50 are built. Keys are mainly plastic. The wood you can see are only thin wooden layers glued to the sides of the white keys. Don't want to talk the PHA-50 down. It's a very good action Love it on my FP-90X. But reviewers must do their homework and not spread false information.

[@churchofamerica3612]

When anyone refers to escapement with digital pianos, they're talking about the simulated action. Unless you have a digital piano with real hammers, I'd love to see it.

[@Persun_McPersonson]

@@churchofamerica3612 There are digital pianos with real hammers, they're called hybrids.

[@RabbitConfirmed]

I just bought it, and I don‘t like the sound.. it sounds artificial.. even my 200$ yamaha sounds more real in some regards.. I thin I‘ll sell it and go for a similar priced yamaha

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

Oh yeh even the Yamaha DGX-670 sounds better than this. Kawai ES8 is phenomenal too if you set it up correctly and want a realistic piano sound. I sold mine ages ago.

[@RabbitConfirmed]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic It's kind of sad because I actually very much like the design of the fp90. Would you recommend the Yamaha p515 or a CLP 745? I know they are meant for different use, but I'll mainly use it at home. However, the p515 is like almost half the price and seems to be almost as good imo.

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

@@RabbitConfirmed Yes I would recomend the p515 but I would rate the Kawai ES8 as a much better piano for home use. Plus slightly cheaper.

[@AlexAlex-nk6gy]

@@AngeloTsocosMusic What about newest model ES920, sounds better than ES8

[@Persun_McPersonson]

@@AlexAlex-nk6gy Yeah, the ES-920 is meant to replace the ES-8

[@MildredHichez]

Congratulations on the in-depth, awesome video. God bless you!

[@AngeloTsocosMusic]

Thank you 😊