Roland F140R Home Digital Piano – White

Roland F140R

Action

The Roland F140R Digital Piano features their PHA-4 Ivory action with escapement, which is a pro-level action found in instruments all the way up to (and above) the $2000 price point. In fact, the F140R has exactly the same action and ‘brain’ as the RP501 at more than $500 above, which makes the F140r an exceptional value for people not in need of a full cabinet and want to source their own bench (the RP501r comes with a proper Roland bench, bigger speakers and a full cabinet). It’s also loaded with skill-building features such as an onboard metronome, MIDI recorder, and Roland’s Twin Piano feature, which gives you, essentially, two 44-key pianos! The Roland F-140R Digital Piano is loaded with 11 impeccable grand pianos, plus 305 other great sounds, including electric pianos, strings, organs, guitars, brass, synthesizers, and more.  The 88-key, fully weighted keyboard features escapement and ivory-feel keys that make the keyboard a complete pleasure to play. However, a relatively heavy key helps developing finger strength and makes it easier to transfer to an acoustic piano in the future. It allows you as well to adjust the touch sensitivity of the keyboard within the 0-5 range.

Additionally, the PHA-4 Standard Keyboard with high-resolution sensing is the exact same action that you’ll find in the FP30 and FP60. It has a very well executed ‘faux’ ivory keytop feel and ebony feel on the black keys, a believable escapement simulation, and rugged physical construction that doesn’t give off unreasonable mechanical sounds or ‘clunks’. Roland’s SuperNATURAL Piano sound engine delivers the rich, complex sound of an acoustic grand, providing a truly incredible playing experience.  The keyboard is perfect for piano lessons – with Dual and Split keyboard modes that enable you to divide the keyboard down the middle to make piano lessons more bearable.

Although it doesn’t list it in all literature, the PHA-4 Standard Keyboard is a triple sensor action, meaning that the midi output from the F140R is ‘studio-grade’, making it a great home-production companion as well.

Tone

The Roland F140R Digital Piano is driven by Roland’s widely-acclaimed Supernatural Sound Engine, with ample polyphony and lots of editable parameters in the “Piano Designer” app. The onboard speakers sound roughly similar to an FP30 (or a former FP50 for those that remember that model), with a reasonably round tone that doesn’t feel too hollow, despite not having a thunderous bass. You’ll also experience an authentic, expressive piano tone that’s nothing short of remarkable for such a compact and affordable instrument.

The quality of the patches is extremely good for the most part, with only the occasionally ‘meh’ patch through the e-pianos or organ patches. By and large, there’s at least one extremely high-quality, professional tone in each category to use. The sound is further improved by important organic elements of piano sound such as damper resonance, string resonance, and key-off the simulation.

Other Features

The Bluetooth connectivity is another impressive inclusion for the price range, especially given that the Yamaha equivalents such as the YDP series, don’t offer any Bluetooth connectivity whatsoever. The triple pedal system with constant sensing technology is a nice added touch of authenticity as well, and the light-weight but rugged integrated stand still makes the F140r somewhat portable without sacrificing the look of ‘furniture’. The Roland F140R Digital Piano supports Roland’s proprietary technology for a Headphones 3D Ambience effect that provides a multi-dimensional sound experience practicing, which adjusts the spaciousness of the sound and provides a more immersive piano playing experience when using headphones.

Sophisticated onboard rhythm feature with intelligent accompaniment; 72 different rhythm styles, including 6 pianist styles. Roland engineers painstakingly analyzed the complex characteristics of concert grand pianos, accurately capturing and reproducing the tonal variations based on the velocity of each keystroke. You can also connect your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth technology to turn sheet music pages wirelessly The F-140R comes with a 3-pedal unit, which features all three pedals found in an acoustic piano: Soft, Sustain, and Sostenuto. It has also built-in stereo speakers project rich, full sound, while the Headphones 3D Ambience effect completely immerses you in your performance during private practice.

Conclusions

The Roland F140R Digital Piano offers a feature-packed, compact, and contemporary-looking digital piano that should be totally sufficient for beginners as well as hobbyist players looking for an easy-to-use, good sounding digital piano. The instrument is substantially more engaging to use with a smart-phone or tablet, so definitely spend the time to make sure you understand how to use the Bluetooth connections, and we’d also recommend using the F140 with a high-quality set of headphones to take full advantage of the Supernatural Sound Engine. It’s also loaded with skill-building features such as an onboard metronome, MIDI recorder, and Roland’s Twin Piano feature, which gives you, essentially, two 44-key pianos!

Here at Merriam Music, we have chosen some of the best current Roland models to add to the offerings in our digital piano showroom.