Digital Piano Showdown: Roland FP-30 vs Yamaha P-125

The Roland FP-30 and the Yamaha P-125 are both great pianos that provide everyone from beginner pianists to professional artists with a great selection of sounds and playability. But which one is right for you?

In this blog, we’re going to talk about the differences between the Roland FP-30 and the Yamaha P125 digital pianos which are both very portable and aimed at players of all levels but are quite different upon closer inspection.

You can see a handy table at the bottom of the page to show you some of the key differences between the Roland FP-30 and the Yamaha P125 but first, we need to discuss some of the main highlights that you need to know about.

If you’ve always wanted a piano at home, but feel like you don’t have enough space (or budget) to get one, then fear not as the Roland FP-30 Digital Piano is a great option that won’t take up too much room and doesn’t cost the earth!

Even better – you can even gig with it too, thanks to the lightweight 14kg weight!

The Roland FP-30 utilises the coveted SuperNATURAL Piano engine that provides an extremely realistic sound, which when coupled with the feel and response of the newly developed keyboard makes you feel like you’re playing an acoustic piano.

The FP-30 features the touch, escapement and ivory feel keys that are found on Roland’s high-end home pianos and the gradually weighted individually (PHA4) keyboard offers an extremely realistic response that beginners and seasoned players alike will appreciate.

This level of articulation and feel is imperative in the development of finger strength and good playing habits and is often not seen in pianos in this price range.

Straight out of the box you also have 6 Piano Tones, 7 Electric Piano Tones and 22 Other Tones to choose from, which ensure you have a world of tonality and versatility at your fingertips.

To encourage a positive learning experience the Roland FP-30 is packed with 30 songs that you can play along with.

The lightweight construction and dual/split modes that allow the piano to be split into two sides allows teachers to play along with their students, making the learning experience easier, more productive and more enjoyable.

As learning a new instrument can be a little daunting at first, and even polishing up on your skills can be difficult at times, Roland have developed the Piano Partner 2 app for iOS and Android mobile devices to take the difficulty out of the learning curve AND make it fun!

The app connects to your Roland FP-30 via Bluetooth and features a selection of different learning “games” and backing rhythms that help you build your skills through engaging music exercises.

In addition, the app also includes a variety of piano and non-piano sounds that open up a world of tonality as well as a world of extremely useful sheet music where you can turn pages via the pedals - genius!

The Yamaha P-125 Digital Piano is another extremely affordable digital piano that is ideal for gigging, practice and home use.

At around £650 it’s still quite affordable and easier access into the world of piano should it be something you want to take up or get back into.

The sound, feel and action within the Yamaha P-125 may not be quite as professionally geared as the FP-30, but It still offers a great level of playability. You have plastic feel keys which are gradually weighted in blocks (GHS) so it will offer a great playing experience.

The 2-way speaker system has been designed to project the audio in both an upwards and downwards direction to create the perfect sweet spot that you’ll really enjoy listening to.

Should you want to play silently or practice without disturbing others, the headphones switch allows you to turn the speakers off and practice without anyone else hearing you.

There are also 24 quality sounds built-in using Yamaha’s Pure CF Sound engine for incredible tone and the 192 polyphony provides great expression without any notes dropping out.

Within the Yamaha P-125, you also have 21 demo songs and 50 piano songs built in that you can play along with and hone your skills.

These demos cover a wide range of genres including everything from rock, to jazz to ballads and even Christmas songs – so you’re covered when you want to open up your musical ventures to a range of different tones.

The Yamaha P-125 is compatible with the iOS smart pianist app for added control over your sounds and allows you to read sheet music and capture any of your performances.

In addition, you can also edit the sounds and parameters of the P-125 via the intuitive layout of the app, making it a great option for performers – changes can be made on the fly!

The Yamaha P-125 has also been designed to save as much space as possible. With a width of 1326mm Height of 166mm, Depth of 295mm and weight of 11.8kg it is particularly lightweight digital piano that can be easily moved around or taken to gigs.

Updated: 2020-07-01