Roland F-20

For all beginners and amateur musicians. Semi-professionals who know the piano market will very soon see its limits: they don't want to waste their time setting a tempo or calling a (tunes or styles) preset. Neither do beginners or amateurs, by the way.


Pros:

Ivory Feel-G Keyboard with double escapement : * * * * *
SuperNatural piano sounds : * * * * * (1 more star for the three possible brightness settings)
Design : * * * *
USB connection
USB key slot.
Rhythm/Tone feature : * * * *
You consider its weight and think "hey, that's Roland, that's real quality".
Other styles and sounds quality : * * * *
GM2 : * * * * *
Very sober. Beautiful finish. Really a beautiful product.
Price : * * * * *


Cons:

Key Touch system : * Makes everything more complicated compared with the unreplaceable (alas replaced here) traditional functions. Will we soon need an internet connection just for setting a tempo or selecting a preset? What a pity.
hence, ease of use : * *
- slow and fast knobs : thankfully they're here, but no +/- for the presets...
- No SMALL screen (to see the tempo and the names of presets)
- unbelievable : not even + and - keys for tunes and rhythm presets! Too complicated and space consuming, certainly... You'll have to read the manual (not a first thought among musicians, is it?) and learn by heart the keys, key touch combinations, long key holds and so on to be able to choose presets and rhythms (and to directly set the tempo).

Weight : * * * (due to its construction quality) : logical.


Playing directly with the default piano sound, it's excellent, no problem. The Keyboard is great, Roland's customers are very well taken care of on this point. The soundbank is large enough, with a faultless quality. But for those who use the voices a lot and are looking for a keyboard in this price range, I don't recommend this one which is first a digital piano, as it only offers the most common styles.

For €700 the price is very good in spite of these cons. But, why complicate things unnecessarily when it was so easy to keep them simple - regarding the basic features for instance?
It's really a beautiful piano for the price. Don't hesitate regarding its comfort and quality. In this niche market, its quality makes it worth more than its price.