Roland Kiyola KF-10 – REVIEW 2023 | Digital Piano | Overpriced?

However, for $4899 you can buy a much better brand new model digital piano in terms of a noticeably more authentic piano playing experience along with many more useful “bells & whistles” on top of that. But if you just cannot live without that Kiyola cabinet then go ahead, buy it…it’s your money. You’ll still get an enjoyable piano playing experience out of it but you could do the same and save a bunch of money by getting the Roland DP-603 or the newer and improved HP-704 at $3749 instead. Or…you could get the newer 2023 Yamaha CLP-745, Kawai CA701, or Casio Grand Hybrid GP-310 digital piano instead for less money and come out ahead, musically speaking.

Roland DP603 polished ebony

At this point I want to briefly talk about the features that are built into the Roland Kiyola KF-10 and what you should know about them. The Kiyola uses the same PHA-50 key action that is built into many other Roland digital piano models incl the DP603, FP90X, HP704, LX705, GP607, and GP609. The keys in this key action are mostly plastic with a thin strip of wood on either side of each white key. The black keys are all plastic. The white key sticks (the entire key) measure a bit less than 9″ long which is fine but in the $4000+ price range you can get new digital pianos in other brands such as Kawai and Casio with keys that measure from about 14″ long to 16″ long and those keys are not only 100% all wood, but they are much more balanced in movement from front to back and side to side. Regular acoustic pianos also have long keys like those digital pianos and even longer in many cases so that you can play music in a more expressive way with much better technique. So the longer the key the better off your playing will generally be.

The “weight” of the key(s) is also important as to how that key will move. When it takes too much finger force to press down the key then that heavier force can cause hand, wrist, and finger fatigue after awhile so you will definitely want a digital piano with a proper weighting to the keys so that it does not require too much force to press it down. On the Kiyola the static down-weight as measured on middle C is approx 63 grams of touch

weight which is actually pretty good. However, the upweight or the force the keys push back up after you have pressed them down is about 48 grams as measured at middle C. 

Normally on a digital piano that up force of the keys needs to be closer to 35 grams so that the keys don’t act like a spring and push too hard up against your fingers as you are pressing down on the keys. In other words,

on the Kiyola and the PHA-50 key action in general, that up weight force is too strong, especially as compared against a good acoustic piano and the force works against you when you are pressing down on the keys. 

I don’t want to say that the higher upweight force is a problem because eventually you can get used to it and it is playable. But…it is still too strong (resistant) and can possibly cause you to have to adjust your playing technique to compensate for it. Overall the key action is solid, moves quietly, and allows for good expression…but it is definitively not up to the standards of other digital pianos in this price range. Roland actually has an upgraded improved key action in their newer LX706 called the “Hybrid Grand” action in which the white keys are approx 2″ longer than those of the PHA-50 key action in the Kiyola and the key weight balance is also better and that. However the LX706 is a bit more money. 

The PHA50 key-tops on the Kiyola are made of synthetic ivory and ebony material and feel good to the touch. The keys also have the “escapement” feature which tries to simulate the feel of a grand piano when the keys are depressed slowly as you get near the bottom of the key travel. However, it is only a simulation and doesn’t really impact a person’s piano playing in a significant way.

As for the piano sound, Roland uses their physical modeling sound technology which tries to simulate the piano sound through “modeling” using mathematical algorithms instead of recorded sampling. This technology is supposed to get you closer to a more realistic piano sound although in reality I feel that this technology is somewhat “hit & miss.” Sometimes when playing a Roland piano with 100% physical modeled piano sound it seems randomly artificial and just not real, especially when playing chords in certain parts of the

keyboard, middle octaves as an example and using sustain pedal. For some people you may notice this happening when playing the piano. For other people you may not notice it at all…it just depends on your ears and piano playing experience. 

Overall the piano sound resonates well and has some depth to it so you may indeed enjoy it. But for me I am just not convinced that Roland has it down yet and it still has a long way to go with 100% physical modeling. A better option in my opinion would be to mix the physical modeling technology with the sampling technology such as what Yamaha, Kawai, and Dexibell are doing in some of their new digital pianos…especially in this $4000 to $5000 price range. That “mixed” technology really does sound great and the sampling technology is a much better way to go in reproducing a real acoustic piano sound as compared to to the physical modeling technology that Roland uses. In other words, I much prefer the piano sound realism in the Kawai, Yamaha, Casio, and Dexibell digital pianos as opposed to Roland.

The pedaling functions on the Kiyola are actually very good, the pedals function properly with excellent damper-sustain time and response along with impressive sostenuto pedal and soft pedal. Not all digital pianos do a good job with those pedals so in that way the Roland Kiyola is impressive. But…when using the sustain pedal on a real acoustic piano and getting a lot of natural sustain, the sustained piano sound is natural in the way the strings resonate and produce organic string vibrations and overtones. Because of the Roland physical modeling sound chip, that pedal sustain time can sometimes accent the artificial flavor of the piano sound and cause it to do things that real pianos just don’t do and it’s noticeable…at least it is to me. 

The Kiyola KF-10 specifications include unlimited polyphony for the piano sounds and 384-note polyphony for the non-piano instrument sounds. Polyphony is the computer chip power to allow all notes to be played and heard without “note dropout.” This means that when you are playing a more complex song with many notes, arpeggios, and chords that combine together, this type

of playing can be memory intensive on the piano sound chip. With Roland that will never be an issue because the sound chip can support any type of piano playing. The performance sound library on this model is limited to just 6 sounds total…4 acoustic piano sounds, a harpsichord, and one electric piano. 

Some people just want a piano to play piano on, so even just 6 instrument sounds may be enough for some students and players out there. But on the other Roland digital pianos that I have mentioned earlier in this review, those models have 307 individual tones including 12 acoustic piano sounds, 2 harpsichords, strings, orchestral sounds, violins, many electric pianos, horns, reeds, woodwinds, guitars, organs of all types, and more. 

So as far as the Kiyola goes, it is stingy when it comes to having extra sounds that you can play although it does play General MIDI song files which is nice and can be useful, but so do the other Roland digital pianos, even down to around their $1000 model. Also, the Kiyola has just 5 basic types of touch sensitivity adjustment as compared to 100 types on the other Roland pianos along with the Kiyola having no recording features at all while the other Roland digital pianos have 2-3 track MIDI recording and 1-track audio wav file recording so that you can practice your songs and/or lessons and play them back and hear how you did…a very useful “tool.”

The Kiyola does have both Bluetooth audio streaming as well as Bluetooth MIDI wireless connectivity which can be useful depending on what you are wanting to do with your external music and devices. The internal speaker system in the Kiyola KF-10 is generally more than adequate with 60 watts of total power

stereo sound going through 2 amplifiers powering 2 larger speakers and 2 smaller speakers for more sound dispersion and clarity. However, on the new improved and upgraded Roland HP704 digital piano at approx $3400 store discount price, the speaker system in that model has 60 watts of power going through 4 amplifiers and 6 speakers which is better than the Kiyola, and that HP704 is also $1500 less! 

There are also other stark differences between the higher priced 8 year old Kiyola KF-10 model and the  lower priced Roland pianos such as the DP-603 having hundreds of built-in entertainment and education songs whereas the Kiyola has just 30 built-in songs. Even the Roland app for iOS and Android is much better on the DP-603 and newer HP-704 vs the Kiyola, although the app is the same between the $3300 DP603 and the Kiyola…but again, the DP603 is $1600 less than the Kiyola. Finally, there is no audio connectivity on the Kiyola…no audio input and no audio outputs to connect to other audio systems or to connect an external (non Bluetooth) device like you can on the other Roland models.

The Kiyola cabinet itself is compact at 55″ wide and 13″ deep and 31″ with the key cover closed up. With the key cover open up so that you can have sheet music support then the height of the piano is 36″ tall. The weight of the piano is 73 lbs and the bench is just 9 lbs so it is very light relative to the other pianos in this price range. In fact the bench is measured at 20.5″ high whereas most piano benches come in at 19″ tall, so there is a small difference there. The piano lid does fold flat with a slight curve in it and also has a metal trim on the lip of the lid which looks very attractive and understated.

Korg G1 Air

However, as an example, the famous Korg digital piano company from Japan produces an attractive compact contemporary digital piano called the G1 Air which comes in  rosewood, matte black, and matte white cabinet color. The G1 Air piano has a bigger piano sound with Steinway, Bosendorfer, and Yamaha grand piano samples along with an 80 watt, 4 speaker, 4 amplifier sound system. This  Korg home digital piano also has with Bluetooth wireless audio connectivity and 2-track recording and it has a surprisingly affordable internet discount price of just $1999 and comes with a 5 year factory warranty. The G1 Air also has a “privacy panel” on it so that you cannot “see through it” like you can on the Roland Kiyola and other compact models and many people prefer it that way. 

However, if you want to “see through” the bottom of the Korg piano like the Kiyola then you don’t have to attach that privacy panel to the G1 Air. So when it comes to getting the most for your money at a much lower price there are other ways to go and still get what you want in terms of a great piano playing experience in an attractive furniture cabinet. Go to the following link to my review about the Korg G1 Air and learn more about it: Korg G1 Air Review

The question for me is…what are you really getting in the Kiyola for the difference in price of better lower price digital pianos with regard to their technology and speaker systems as compared with the Kiyola? It is certainly not the internal digital features and functions because the Kiyola does not come close to the other models in that way. So what is it then? OK…you guessed it…it’s still the cabinet and the bench and the fact they are unique and those cabinets are built in Japan. They are different, they look good in their oak, walnut and satin black finishes, and have excellent construction with their unique contemporary design, and you get to buy one from a famous museum! I am pretty sure
that part (buying from a museum) would not matter much to me in the longrun. 

But if you do like the cabinet then you better like it at least $1600 more than the others because as digital pianos go, for $4899 that is mostly what this (overpriced, in my opinion) piano really has going for it and there are some people out there where money is not the issue and they just want a particular type of cabinet design and construction, and that certainly is fine. However, paying that much money when there are so many great musical alternatives out there (including from Roland) takes a lot of thought. 

You do have a choice of getting a MUCH better, more authentic digital piano in the same price range or a comparable and better digital piano for quite a bit less money from Roland and the other popular brands. It’s all about what you really want to get for your money and what is more important to you. Also, that $4899 for the Kiyola does not include the sales tax added on top PLUS the $150 shipping fee on top of that!

As for resale value for any of these digital pianos…good luck…they all depreciate over time so the Kiyola will not give you an advantage in that way should you ever want to resell it.  Nevertheless, the Roland pianos are very reliable, well built instruments and can usually stand the test of time and that is also true for a few of the other major brands. Before you make any decisions please contact me with questions and I can help you sort it out, and with a lower price.

Update: Check out the brand new 2023 “mid-century” design Casio PX-S7000 digital piano (above) which comes in 3 cabinet colors. It looks great, has that vintage Scandinavian design but yet with all the cool new upgraded technology features people want these days…and it is less than $2700. It is also portable, and the piano only weighs 32 lbs and can easily detach from its stand. Check out my review of this new model at the following link and tell us what you think about it: Casio PX-S7000 review

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.