Digitals: Clavinova or Roland?

[rmbarbosa]

I must buy a new digital, because I cant play in my grand at night. I`m not interested in a digital plenty of functions, because I only play classic piano music. What do you think is better: Roland or Yamaha Clavinova? What of them has a better sound and touch? I would apreciate your advise acordingly your own experience. A lot of thanks.

[scottmcc]

I have a roland, and I find it to sound great and have a very realistic touch.  is it perfect? no.  but for my purposes, it is ideal and I would recommend it heartily.  I have the rp-101 which I think has been discontinued but there are comparable models still readily available.  I have minimal experience with the clavinova but both are readily available in stores so I would suggest you try both and see which works for you.  don't be afraid to bring some headphones too!

[--michael--]

Roland's are better-end of story. Here's an objective analysis--

Clavinova pros:

The touch response and feel is very good

Hapsichord sounds EXCELLENT

very good clavichord

Temperment selection

Cons:

WAY WAY WAY overpriced considering the "instrument" you're getting

The piano voices (of which there aren't many) sound NO BETTER, if not less convincing than a $500 privia

I personally think they look boring/antiquated

Inbuilt speakers are unimpressive sounding

The organ sounds aren't impressive (this is one area the Privia destroys the clavinovas on)

Very few piano sound selections, compared to their competitors ( again, you could save $3-4000 and get a privia)


Roland's have all of the pros and none of the cons. Hope that helps!

[gyzzzmo]

Go for a clavinova if you want a good piano substitute for study.
Roland has a worse sound and most important, way worse touché. And those 2 things have to be as good as possible if you want to be able to practise properly.
Still, sound differs alot between different clavinova models so you have to try them out extensivly. And if you do so, use GOOD headphones because that is how they sound if you use them at home playing at night. And quite frankly, every in-build speaker system sounds crappy unless you want to spend $5000 for it.

I bought myself a clp-950 years ago after alot of testing, a model not being build anymore, but i'm still enjoying it alot.

Gyzzzmo

[Bob]

I didn't like either of them completely, but I remember I thought the Yamaha "grand piano action" felt closer to being real.  Roland felt rubbery and squishy on the keybed.

[thalbergmad]

Having tried both, I personally chose the Clavinova as it just felt right.

Try before you buy is essential.

Thal

[lhorwinkle]

Try before you buy is essential.

That's the best answer.

To the earlier posters ... The speakers in most digital pianos are poor. The ones in a $4000 digital are not much better than on a $500 keyboard. For good sound you really need to consider external sound equipment. Simple and inexpensive, but very effective.

In that regard, Rolands and Yamahas are about the same. I found the Yamaha speakers slightly better than the Rolands. (I compared the CLP230/240/330 with the HP203). But only slightly better. None of them were AT ALL acceptable, so the comparison was moot, for me.

I think the decision comes down to key touch and tone generation.

So, back to thalbergmad's point ... you have to try before you buy. There's no substitute for trying them out for yourself.