🎹 Yamaha P525 vs Roland FP90X Review, Demo, & Comparison 🎹

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Introduction
The Yamaha P-525 just started shipping in the last couple of weeks and is the update to the P-515. Along with the Roland FP-90X, these are the flagship portable all-in-one digital weighted key pianos for these brands.

With that being said, are there any reasons to spend $500 more to get the two-year-old Roland digital piano?


Specifications

Yamaha P-525

The Yamaha P-525 comes with 4 speakers, 2 x 20-watt mains and 2 x 6-watt tweeters for a total of 52 watts. It uses multiple resonance engines to output the CFX and Bösendorfer sample sets and incorporates duplex scale as well as cabinet, damper, and string resonance.

The P-525 provides 256 notes of polyphony and comes with 44 onboard sounds, 18 drum kits, and other sound effects and insert effects. There is a built-in 16-track MIDI recorder as well as a USB audio interface that features 44kHz, 16-bit resolution. There is also an onboard rhythm machine.

The action on the P-525 is the GrandTouch-S action which includes real wooden core white keys, synthetic ebony keys, and a faux texture on both black and white keys. It has a noticeably lighter touch than P-515.

The display and menus are well laid out, and the keyboard has a nice overall look with high gloss edges. The P-525 weighs in at 48 lbs.

Roland FP-90X

The Roland FP-90X uses the Pure Acoustic Modeling engine for its acoustic pianos so there is no limit to the number of notes of polyphony. There are many user-definable parameters, including soundboard type, that allow you to edit almost every feature of the piano sound.

The FP-90X features tactile controls that are not available on the Yamaha. That being said, there is no 16-track sequencer but there is 2-track recording and overdubbing. While there are no onboard accompaniment options, there are more robust options if used with the Roland Piano app.

The action on the FP-90X is the PHA-50 which has a wood and plastic hybrid structure.

Comparison

Both instruments have lots of ways to quickly affect and customize the piano tone. This can be done by editing the core tonality as well as using the EQ and reverb.

Roland has prioritized tactile slider controls for many parameters, such as volume between parts as well as EQ shape, while this is all done using menu editing on the Yamaha.

The Roland uses My Stage to provide various preset configurations of the acoustic pianos and comes with 11 acoustic piano options versus 12 in the Yamaha.

Roland has focused on pro-level effects and a discrete volume control for the microphone audio input.

Both actions have triple sensors with escapement and both instruments have registrations for easily accessible presets. This lets the user save the customizations to avoid having to redo them.

Piano Sound

Yamaha P-525

The CFX sample set is more dynamic than the Bösendorfer which has a more constrained volume. There is a lot of colour in the CFX which has quite a few sample layers in use providing a close yet detailed sound stage.

There is a slightly “boomy” bass, but never any unwanted cabinet resonance; just more of a balance issue which can be edited using EQ.

Roland FP-90X

The Roland has a broader presentation. It feels wider and wraps around the performer a bit more, feeling more immersive than the Yamaha. The sound is modelled on real acoustic pianos and does not use samples.

Comparison

The Roland FP-90X has a more dynamic range. If used on a sound stage, a larger dynamic range can be problematic; however, it is generally a good thing for classical or other solo playing.

Stu’s Thoughts

So what justifies the 25% higher price for the Roland?

If you really enjoy editing your acoustic piano sounds and like the different levels of detail and expression, then Roland is the better option.

The Roland’s microphone feature provides a level of fidelity and control over vocal effects that puts it close to what a basic VST vocal microphone setup would be. It’s at a professional level. This is a good option if you’re a serious singer and want to use this as an input device to send audio to a computer, avoiding the cost of a USB audio interface.

The FP-90X has a warmer character. Whether it’s the speaker configuration or processing, the FP-90X gives you slightly more wrapped feel, whereas Yamaha is very detailed, narrower, and immediately in front of you.

Roland has more tactile, immediate, intuitive control, which is particularly beneficial in a live setting.