REVIEW – Roland DP90 & DP90S Digital Pianos – RECOMMENDED

Roland V-Grand Piano

UPDATED REVIEW – September 1, 2015 – Roland DP90 & DP90S – Recommended –  The Roland Corporation is a worldwide digital music and audio products company and produces a large variety of home & pro digital piano models. They have beginner, intermediate, advanced, educational, and compact furniture models in many colors and sizes. If you can’t find something you like in the Roland line of digital pianos then you just aren’t looking hard enough in my opinion:). In additional to the home cabinet models, Roland has two newer compact portable digital pianos called the FP50 & FP80 which can be used by professionals on the road or are for families at home, especially if you get an optional furniture stand with them. Although there are other good brands to consider, Roland is certainly a company who produces many highly recommended models.

DP90 Satin Cherry & bench

NEW UPDATE: Roland has discontinued and upgraded the DP90 & DP90S with new improved models for 2015 which are called DP90e & DP90Se. They have all new key actions, piano sound
dynamics, pedaling, and other other features which have been
redesigned to offer even more piano playing realism and I am impressed by the improvements. Go to the following link to read my review of these new models:  Roland DP90e & DP90Se.
I do like the fact that the price of the discontinued DP90 has has dropped down so much which makes it more affordable for many people. With the price being under $2000 for the first time including stand, pedals, & bench, this model is a much better buy, although the new 2015 Roland F130R compact furniture cabinet model is also a good choice and in my opinion the key action is better and it has some very cool fun educational features the DP90 did not have. The Roland discount internet price on the F130R is only $1299, so it’s quite a bit less money than the discontinued DP90. Go to the following link to read my review of the F130R: Roland F130R Review

Kawai ES7 semi-gloss black

However, in this price range for a compact model, you should also consider the newer Kawai ES7 portable compact digital piano (left pic). Kawai makes some outstanding digital pianos and the ES7 is no exception. This model is quite advanced for its price range and I personally like it better for piano key action movement, acoustic piano resonance and tonality, and pedaling. The key action is especially solid and quiet and completely different than the Roland DP90. Plus, the ES7 offers piano playing flexibility in a number of ways the DP90 does not including a more powerful internal speaker system. Although there are many things I like about the discontinued DP90, the newer Kawai ES7 is definitely one to look at in this general price range for a high quality compact digital piano. The internet discount selling price is $1999US on that model although for a lot less money you could consider the new Roland F130R that I mentioned earlier.

Roland HP508

With regard to the two models in this review, the Roland DP90 has recently been discontinued and reduced in its internet discount selling price from $2499US to $1699US internet discount price and comes in two satin finish colors. The DP90S (internet discount price in polished ebony is $3399) is now discontinued and no longer available. It came in two high polish finishes and both models were actually compact furniture cabinet versions of the more traditional Roland cabinet HP piano series. The HP series consisted of the discontinued HP503, HP505, & HP507 (now replaced by the 504, 506, 508) and the differences among these HP furniture cabinet pianos is mostly concerning the key action, internal speaker system, cabinet design & colors, and a few digital features. But otherwise they all have the same piano sound chip (called SuperNATURAL piano), same instrument sounds (347 total instrument sounds), same useful educational features, identical General MIDI and audio recording & playback functions, same connectivity, and the same LCD display screen found in the HP503/505. The MIDI recording will do 2 tracks plus one accompaniment track. Attractive matching benches are also included with these models which is a nice touch. I have done a review on the new HP models here: Roland HP504, HP506, HP508 Review

DP90 satin black

The DP90 & DP90S also has the same speaker system that was in the HP503 (now called HP504) which is 24 watts and 2 speakers and produces a lot of volume for its size. However, the big difference between the DP90 & DP90S is that the DP90S has the HP505/HP507 (now called HP506 & HP508) top of the line Ivory Feel PHAIII key action (now changed to the new & improved PHA4 key action) whereas the DP90 has the lower level Ivory Feel “S” keyboard action found in the HP503 (now changed to the new & improved Premium PHA4 key action). Both key actions do have the “escapement/letoff” mechanism which helps to duplicate the feeling of playing a grand piano when the key is depressed and you feel a sensation of a notch or slight hesitation movement as you would on a good grand piano when playing slowly.

DP90S polished white

So really when you boil it down to the basics, the difference between the Roland DP90 & DP90S is cabinet finish and key action (same on the new DP90e vs DP90Se). The DP90S came in the high polished ebony and polished white whereas the DP90 comes in the natural satin cherry wood and satin black. Although the DP90S colors are attractive, the DP90S polished black or white cost a lot more money to produce (white is $200 more than black which puts it at $3599 internet price).  However, the DP90S is no longer available and is replaced by the DP90Se which is significantly better and gives a more authentic piano playing experience.

DP90 Cherry with top down

The DP pianos are unique in that the other top brands (Yamaha, Kawai, Casio) do not offer this kind of compact furniture cabinet or configuration especially with the slow closing flat key cover that folds down and turns the piano into a table top when closed up…kind of cool:). So if you like this piano and don’t have a problem being in this price range then this may be the perfect piano for you. Kawai & Yamaha (not Casio) do definitely have some nice pianos to offer in this price range but they are in the more traditional cabinets like the Roland HP home series. They can also connect wirelessly to an iPad or computer with an optional WiFi adapter, can take a USB flashdrive to play General MIDI song files, and can import audio wav files including vocal tracks for play-along, so they do have some very cool features.

New DP90Se polished ebony

The bottom line is…Roland produces great musical instruments including
professional digital drums, digital accordions, digital guitar
products, digital pro keyboards, digital pro audio, digital pro pianos,
and digital home pianos. They are a worldwide company and respected
& used by musicians, music teachers, schools, churches, and
families. When it comes to the DP series, my favorite right now is the new DP90Se in
polished ebony. It looks classy, plays great with an organic key feel
and rich stereo piano sound (the sound is actually taken/sampled from a large Steinway acoustic grand piano) that really allows you to have a personal connection with your music and has the features that will keep you entertained and impressed with what comes out of it. It does that for me when I play these pianos and I believe it will do that for you. However on the discontinued DP90/DP90S series, although I do like them, the new models clearly have been upgraded for the piano playing experience in noticeable ways. Which ever one you would choose (including the traditional HP series) you will enjoy the musical results and that’s what really counts. Playing music is all about experiencing beautiful sound and responsive key action and also having a great feeling when you are playing the right piano for you. 

If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.

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