🎹 Yamaha P515 vs Roland FP60X | Digital Piano Comparison, Review & Demo 🎹

When it comes to the upper end of the 88-key, all-in-one portable digital piano class, the flagship models from the big manufacturers consist of the Yamaha P515, Roland FP90X, Kawai ES-920 and more recently, the new Casio PX-S7000.

Since these are the top models available it’s only natural that they get compared to one another, however, the issue here is that the FP-90X and PX-S7000 cost significantly more than the P-515 and ES-920, which casts doubt on whether these four models can be compared from an apples to apples perspective.

In fact, the P515 and ES-920 are actually much closer in price to the Roland FP60X – a model that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle but is undoubtedly a professional quality instrument.

Today we’re going to compare the Yamaha P515 vs Roland FP60X, with the goal of helping shoppers determine if it makes sense to save a little bit of money and go with the 60X instead of one of the more expensive alternatives.

We’ll start by jumping in with a discussion of the action on each instrument as this area represents a key distinction between these two pianos. If you want even more detail, we have individual piano reviews for each of these pianos too.

Yamaha P515 vs Roland FP60X – Piano Action

FP60x Action
FP60x Action

First and foremost, both of these instruments are designed to be portable, performance-based instruments that still deliver a high-quality acoustic piano experience. That said, a quick glance at the specs sheets reveals a very significant difference between these two pianos – the 60X is using a plastic hammer action while the P515 features a wooden action.

The 90X on the other hand uses a wooden action which can automatically lead people to assume it’s a much closer comparison to the 515, but as we said above, the 90X costs almost 50% more than the P-515, whereas the 515 costs only a few hundred dollars more than the 60X and thus occupies the same general price range.

As a result, we’re sort of forced to reckon between the FP60X and the P515 despite this action difference. Having said that, we love the PHA4 action, so let’s move our discussion there.

Roland’s PHA4 Standard Keyboard Action

The PHA4 is known for its nice blend of weight and responsiveness, and it’s regarded by many as one of the top two plastic key actions currently available, along with Kawai’s RHIII action. It can also be found on the Roland FP-30X and FP-10, along with various other Roland instruments beyond the FP series.
In terms of some of the specs, it boasts escapement, triple sensor key detection and ivory-feel textured key tops. This basically means that the PHA4 is essentially built to replicate the experience of playing an acoustic grand piano action, and the triple sensor means this action offers a high level of sensitivity.

Yamaha’s Natural Wood X Action

As we mentioned, the P515’s Natural Wood X (NWX) action features wooden keys (white keys only) so it instantly feels different from the PHA4.

In terms of other specs, they match up fairly evenly as the NWX also has escapement, triple sensor key detection and synthetic ebony and ivory key tops. Compared to other P Series instruments such as the P125 which features the GHS action, the Yamaha P515 digital piano is clearly a massive upgrade in the action department.

Weighting

Something interesting that becomes apparent as soon as you play these actions is that they both tend to be on the heavier side from a weighting standpoint. They both offer adjustable touch sensitivity, but this only goes so far.

Most acoustic piano actions will be regulated to somewhere around 50 grams of weight, with the exception of concert grands which tend to crack the 60-gram range. The PHA4 by contrast weighs in just over 60 grams, whereas the NWX action weighs in over 80 grams, making it easily one of if not the heaviest digital piano action currently available.

If you aren’t used to a heavy action to begin with, odds are you’re going to get quite fatigued fairly quickly on a keyboard such as this, so just be fair warned.

Professional players who are used to floating between digitals and 7’ grands are not really going to feel this as a negative thing and should be able to adjust pretty quickly.

Built-in Speakers

A look at the speaker systems on both pianos warrants a category of its own here in our comparison because odds are that for anyone considering these two pianos, the onboard speaker system is going to be pretty important.

The P-515 has a really great speaker system with 40 total watts of amplifier power. This is distributed via a pair of 15-watt mains and a pair of 5 tweeters, for a 4-speaker configuration. The tone is very well-rounded and ultimately quite balanced, with a sound boost feature that adds extra power.

The FP-60X by contrast uses a dual speaker system, and on paper, it looks like it’s going to pale in comparison to the 515’s speakers since it has 26 watts of rated power output.

In terms of sheer volume, however, we used a decibel reader to measure and found that the 60X was slightly louder with both systems’ volumes maxed. We’ve noted in the past that Roland’s amp power outputs seem consistently underrated compared to other manufacturers, and that holds here.

At mid-volumes, the P-515 is providing a slightly deeper and richer sound courtesy of the tweeters, but it was quite interesting to find out that the 60X actually had more power.

Piano Sound – Engine Comparison

Roland FP60X Digital Piano Sound
Roland FP60X Digital Piano Sound

With a look at the speakers out of the way, let’s look at their respective tone engines and everything they have to offer.

Roland’s SuperNATURAL Piano Sound

The Roland FP-60X digital piano is using the sample-based version of Roland’s proprietary SuperNATURAL Piano Sound engine. To get the modeling version of this action you need to move up to the 90X, but this sample-based version of the engine loaded onto the 60X still provides a very satisfying piano tone.

The default piano tone on this engine is referred to as Concert Grand Piano, and the remaining acoustic piano presets are just different versions of this same core sample. There’s a fairly high level of customization available either via the My Stage feature which offers various EQ presets, or the Piano Designer feature which you can access through the app.

Inside Piano Designer you can edit a multitude of things such as the lid height, string resonance, damper resonance, key off resonance, ambience, single note tuning, single note volume and single note character.

The 60X also incorporates a feature called the Headphones 3D Ambience which improves the experience when playing with headphones.

Yamaha CFX and Bosendorfer Imperial

Over on the P515 and there are actually two separate core piano samples – the CFX Grand (also available with Binaural Sampling) and the other is the Bösendorfer Imperial since the Yamaha corporation actually acquired Bosendorfer a few years ago.

Both of these pianos were meticulously recorded, and both of the core samples are augmented by what Yamaha calls their Virtual Resonance Modeling (VRM) engine.

To get into editing, the P515 is equipped with the Piano Room feature, and this is where you have the same type of editability that we were seeing on the FP-60X. Lid position, brightness, touch, reverb, Master tuning, damper resonance, string aliquot (AKA duplex), body resonance, key off sample, and more.

How Does the Playing Experience Compare?

The thing that’s really striking when you compare the piano sounds here is that the 515’s CFX sample has a consistent quality to it that is often described as crispness, depending on whether you’re listening to it through speakers and volume setting.

The 60X by contrast has more of a mid-range character to the sound, even when you’re playing in the top portion of the keyboard.

On the flip side, the Bösendorfer sample dynamically feels quite contained, almost like you’re sort of fighting a compressor the whole time. The CFX then is much more dynamic, it’s just a question of whether or not you happen to connect with that bit of harshness in the top velocity layer.

Roland doesn’t disclose which grand piano was used for the basis of the SuperNATURAL sample, it’s long been speculated that the sample is based on a New York Steinway Model D. As such, it’s a powerful sound that also happens to be quite dynamic.

Both pianos offer 256 notes of polyphony so there’s no advantage one way or the other there.

Other Sounds

Both pianos have a very large selection of built-in sounds as they are both equipped with what is essentially the full General MIDI 2 sound banks in addition to several dozen core sounds.

Yamaha refers to their GM2 sounds as XG voices, and there are 480 in total here on the 515, with 18 drum kits and 40 high-quality core sounds. The 60X, in turn, has 279 core sounds, 8 drum kits, and 79 high-quality core tones, so despite a higher total sound count on the 515, the 60X actually has about double the core sounds which are where most players will spend the majority of their playing time.

The core sounds on each piano consist of things like electric pianos, organ tones, pads, synths, strings and others along with effects like modulation and a rotary speaker effect. The quality is fairly consistent between both pianos, so the key difference is just the extra quantity and variety on the 60X, though neither one truly approaches the quantity of a true stage piano or workstation/synthesizer.

Functions/Connectivity/Accessories

Now let’s talk about the functions because there are some important differences and similarities between these two, both of which offer a few really big pluses.

A big plus on the 60X is the onboard equalizer which allows you to instantly craft and mold the sound in real-time via handy sliders. Tactile EQs like this are very handy for live gigging. You can also adjust the volume on your split and layer parts, which again just speaks to how useful this piano is for live performance.

On the P515, a big plus is the extensive, built-in auto accompaniment feature. The 60X requires the app for auto accompaniment, so it’s nice to have it built-in on the 515. Another plus for the P515 is that it has a built-in USB audio interface, and this is a potentially nice benefit for anyone looking to work with a DAW as this cuts down on additional gear.

Otherwise, both pianos have staples like a metronome and transpose, as well as things like onboard audio recording and playback.

Connectivity

Roland Connectivity
Roland Connectivity

The connectors are fairly similar between these two but there are some differences. Both pianos have dual headphone outputs, stereo mini line-in, 1/4” line outputs, USB Type A and B, a sustain pedal jack and a port for an optional triple pedal unit.

They differ in that the P515 still offers traditional 5-pin MIDI which is not present on the 60X. At the same time, the 60X has a mic input which is potentially a huge bonus for some.

Both pianos offer Bluetooth Audio, and while the 60X also has Bluetooth MIDI, this is strangely absent on the 60X. This means you’ll need to use a cabled connection to access apps on your smartphone with the 515, and you should definitely check out the Smart Pianist app which beats the piano’s LCD screen for controlling the functions, and there’s a very cool feature that generates a chord chart for songs in your music library.

The 60X by contrast allows you to wirelessly connect to Android and iOS devices thanks to the Bluetooth MIDI. Definitely check out the new Roland Piano App which has replaced the somewhat clunky Piano Every Day app.

Accessories

Both pianos ship with a damper pedal, music rest, owner’s manual and AC adaptor (power supply), as is standard for most all-in-one portable digital pianos.

Both of these portable pianos are of course also available with a matching keyboard stand and triple pedal unit.

Closing Thoughts

So, hypothetically speaking, if you’ve narrowed your search down to these two pianos, which one should be on your wish list? First of all, there’s the obvious subjective stuff that always comes up, i.e., which piano tone do you prefer? If you have a strong preference one way or the other and other considerations are more secondary, this area should be your main concern.

Of course, if you don’t have a strong preference either way with regards to tone and touch, you should shift your focus over the features, onboard sound selection, connectivity etc. and go from there.

Overall, the P515 is probably a little bit closer to an arranger keyboard, while the FP60X is closer to a true stage piano, broadly speaking.

Thanks for reading!

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