Roland FP-30, A4 key louder

[Kendall Simpson]

Just purchased the FP-30 and love it. I am a professional pianist. The one thing that bothers me is the key A4 above middle C. The keyboard Touch is set to Medium.
When I play a passage at an equal, mild velocity, this key/note will jump out in volume as though I were striking it harder. It can sound softer if I play softer but the slightest increase will send this single note into a louder sound than all other notes around them that I am playing.

To test it further, I transposed the keyboard 5 steps down and it still jumps on the A4 key (though the pitch is no longer A).

I can live with it but I just thought I would ask if anyone else hears it in their FP-30.

 

[happyrat1]

This is probably a manufacturer's defect. I would return it for an exchange if it's still under the 30 day return warranty. Otherwise it will have to go back to the factory or an authorized repair center to fix the problem.

Gary

 

[tjw]

Interesting..... I would like to know if you observe this if the sound output of the keyboard is played through a different amplifier and speaker set ? Perhaps headphones ?

I'm academically interested and hope this might reveal something correctable for you. It's a "hard problem" to design a keyboard which provides resonance damping at all key frequencies. I'm guessing the A4 "jumps out" because of a resonance in the speakers, cabinetry, and the reflections of sound imposed by the internal keyboard components. Roland engineers are top drawer, but this is a formidable challenge, especially to render equality over a large product line.

This could also be an inherent room resonance, that's why I was interested to know if headphones also showed the unequal loudness.

Someone may indeed have an FP-30 and could provide observations. Best wishes

 

[happyrat1]

Typically on velocity sensitive keyboards a significantly louder or significantly quieter key is a defect in one of the two velocity sensors in each key.

If the board is brand new it's conceivable it's a factory defect.

On older boards this occasionally happens when one of the sensors gums up with crud.

If this is a noticeable and consistent jump in volume for a single key, I stand by my recommendation that the original poster return the board for exchange or repair as the case may be.

Gary

 

[tjw]

@happyrat1 gave me an idea..... if you record the MIDI output, does the MIDI file show higher velocities on A4 ?

 

[Crgl]

Just purchased the FP-30 and love it. I am a professional pianist. The one thing that bothers me is the key A4 above middle C. The keyboard Touch is set to Medium.
When I play a passage at an equal, mild velocity, this key/note will jump out in volume as though I were striking it harder. It can sound softer if I play softer but the slightest increase will send this single note into a louder sound than all other notes around them that I am playing.

To test it further, I transposed the keyboard 5 steps down and it still jumps on the A4 key (though the pitch is no longer A).

I can live with it but I just thought I would ask if anyone else hears it in their FP-30.

Happy FP30 owner here. Some minutes ago I just discovered this same problem but with middle C note. I immediately googled it and registered at this forum to comment. It gets annoyingly louder with little effort compared to the surrounding keys as the OP described. Transposing the note doesnt fix the problem that seems to be in the key itself. I suppose that if I record my playing the midi file would also show a higher velocity for middle C.

 

[Old No7]

1st time posting here...

I've not noticed this on my FP30 -- but you can be sure I'll be watching for it.

Good luck.

Old No7

 

[Bruno1195]

I have the same problem but with key G#5. Sometimes it sound a lot louder than it should. It happens randomly, like 1 of 8 times.
Here's a video with my problem

Bug Roland FP30 1.mp4 and 1 more file

2 files sent via WeTransfer, the simplest way to send your files around the world

wetransfer.com

 

[Guirno]

Hi,
New on the forum.
Did you solved the problem? How?
Does anybody knows how to solve?

I have the sale problem, with the same key, A4 on Roland fp30. I must usted it todas for the first time.

Thanks

 

[Kendall Simpson]

Thanks for everyone's reply. I have just learned to live with it. Roland makes solid gear, I know that for sure. My warranty is long gone. I keep wishing that Roland might be reading this and think about a software/update fix. It is a great keyboard/piano and that is why a slight problem like this stands out.

 

[Kendall Simpson]

Interesting..... I would like to know if you observe this if the sound output of the keyboard is played through a different amplifier and speaker set ? Perhaps headphones ?

I'm academically interested and hope this might reveal something correctable for you. It's a "hard problem" to design a keyboard which provides resonance damping at all key frequencies. I'm guessing the A4 "jumps out" because of a resonance in the speakers, cabinetry, and the reflections of sound imposed by the internal keyboard components. Roland engineers are top drawer, but this is a formidable challenge, especially to render equality over a large product line.

This could also be an inherent room resonance, that's why I was interested to know if headphones also showed the unequal loudness.

Someone may indeed have an FP-30 and could provide observations. Best wishes

Thanks for your input/reply. I have tested this issue with headphones and still the same result. I will admit it is less jarring with headphones. It is subtle but very annoying if you are playing a quite passage that you wish would stay even. Best to you as well!

 

[Paul137]

Just purchased the FP-30 and love it. I am a professional pianist. The one thing that bothers me is the key A4 above middle C. The keyboard Touch is set to Medium.
When I play a passage at an equal, mild velocity, this key/note will jump out in volume as though I were striking it harder. It can sound softer if I play softer but the slightest increase will send this single note into a louder sound than all other notes around them that I am playing.

To test it further, I transposed the keyboard 5 steps down and it still jumps on the A4 key (though the pitch is no longer A).

I can live with it but I just thought I would ask if anyone else hears it in their FP-30.

Hi..same problem with my Roland Rp 701 Digital piano. A3 sounds loud… Does Roland have a problem with. “A “ note …the very beginning of a piano instrument. Though it has single note volume option where I can reduce the velocity…but it applies only on the piano tones not on EPs .. My instrument has hundreds of tones.

 

[happyrat1]

Read what I said. It's a screwdriver job at the very least and could possibly be a design defect which Roland would never admit to in a million years.

 

[happyrat1]

BTW, have you all updated to the latest firmware? It could be a fix.