Roland’s RP102 has been a staple of the home digital piano market since its release in late 2017. The least expensive home digital piano with 88 weighted key touch from Roland, the RP102 has been a popular alternative to other best-sellers like the Yamaha YDP-144 and Kawai KDP75.
With the recent announcement of an update to the RP102 in the form of the new Roland RP107 SKU, we knew we needed to do a video and write a quick blog post about it, sharing everything we know at this point.
RP107 have not shipped to North America at this point, but we expect them to start hitting store shelves soon.
Why was the Roland RP102 Popular?
As we mentioned in the intro, the RP102 has been Roland's most basic 88-key weighted action digital piano. By the home piano, we mean that the RP102 has an integrated stand and built-in triple pedal system with damper, soft and sostenuto pedals.Roland PHA-4 Action
The RP102 has a fairly basic 12-watt speaker system to keep the cost down, but otherwise, it has some really strong points going for it, making it an especially attractive option for the price. For one, it has the PHA-4 Standard Keyboard action, which in our opinion, is the top action available in this price range.Bluetooth MIDI & Roland Apps for iOS & Android
Despite a fairly bare-bones on-board feature set, when used in conjunction with Roland's apps, the full General MIDI II sound bank was unlocked, giving the user access to hundreds of sounds including synthesizers, electric pianos, guitars and a host of drum rhythms.And as an early adopter of Bluetooth MIDI, connecting to a smart device to access the apps was easy.
Roland SuperNATURAL Piano Engine
The RP102 also boasts a very nice sound generator with Roland’s SuperNATURAL Piano Sound. While the speaker system isn’t robust enough to maximize the sound engine when playing acoustically, it sounds fantastic when playing with headphones with a lush grand piano sound, due in part to the built-in Headphones 3D Ambience effect.What’s Improved on the Roland RP107?
New BMC Sound Chip
The first key improvement featured on the new RP107 is the inclusion of Roland’s BMC sound chip. This advanced new chip is also being featured throughout the new FP series instruments, as well as the upcoming Roland F107.Not only does this chip offer increased complexity on acoustic piano tones and all sounds frankly, but it also doubles the polyphony from 128 notes to 256. So, we can safely expect the RP107 to sound better than the RP102.
Bluetooth Audio
While the connector jacks have remained the same with the RP107, Bluetooth Audio has been added which is a very exciting addition given the price point that the RP107 will be available at.Bluetooth Audio allows you to stream music directly from a device and playback the music through the RP107’s built-in speaker system, whether for playing along with or simply listening to.
16-Watt Speakers
Roland has given the speaker system on the RP107 a modest bump in power output, from 12 watts to 16 watts in total coming from the amp.Combined with the BMC, this extra bit of power is sure to have a larger-than-normal effect on the overall quality of the sound.
Roland Piano App
Roland’s Piano Every Day app had many great features, but the user interface was clunky and met with many complaints. Fortunately, Roland took the criticism to heart and addressed the issues thoroughly, resulting in the new Roland Piano App.When using the RP107 in conjunction with the Roland Piano App, you can remote control all of the features of the RP107 from the convenience of your smart device thanks to Bluetooth connectivity with a beautiful new interface. Everything from the metronome, touch sensitivity, twin piano, master tuning, and everything else, while also greatly expanding the functionality by adding additional sounds, sheet music via the Roland Cloud and rhythms.
Closing Thoughts
While the RP102 was a highly relevant instrument during its run, there’s no question that the RP107 is a welcome arrival, and serves as a meaningful advancement with some very notable improvements, particularly with regard to sound. Roland’s warranty coverage is always great so that’s a confidence booster as well.If you’re looking for a very capable yet affordable home digital piano with slick cabinet styling that also happens to come with everything you need in the box, including a piano bench, music rest and power supply, the Roland RP107 is set to be a compelling option that should be on your wishlist waiting for checkout, picking up where the RP102 left off.
The post Roland RP107 | Digital Piano Announcement | Replacement for Roland RP102 first appeared on Merriam Pianos
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