Roland FP-90X

A new year, a new start. The good guys from Roland decided to start the year with a selection of new products in the legendary FP series. The additions to the series are not additions per se, but rather three upgraded version of the FP-30, FP-60, and FP-90 models, namely the FP-30X, FP-60X and FP-90X.

And yes, I know what you are thinking… What do the X’s stand for? Well, in this case “X” stands for “upgrade” – or something like that. In this article, we will take a closer look at the new FP-90X and its similarities and differences compared to the old FP-90.

Sound

The new Roland FP-90X features the PureAcoustics Piano Modeling sound engine, which was originally specially designed for the LX lineup. To include this top-of-the-line sound engine in a middle-tier instrument like the FP-90X is pretty generous of Roland, if you ask me. The PureAcoustics engine was designed to be the most accurate digital representation of an acoustic piano on the market, using modeling instead of the conventional sampling method. And while the controversial modeling vs. sampling debate will continue forever, we can without a doubt say that we are in love with the sound of the PureAcoustics engine, judging from what we have heard in the LX series.

Keys

On this front, nothing much has changed since the FP-90 days since the FP-90X too uses the PHA-50 keyboard. The PHA-50 is Rolands second-most advanced action, next to the hybrid grand keyboard action, both of which can be found in the LX series too. Neat!

Other features

Roland added a short but honorable array of features to some of the instruments in the new FP-X lineup.

The “Piano Every Day” app is now a standard feature that is included with all the models in the FP-X series. This app lets the user access additional piano practicing resources such as scores, music playback and the likes, and can even track the time invested in learning to play piano! It is a novel idea by Roland that is a real first in the digital piano industry.

On top of that, FP-X instruments are compatible with the Roland Piano Designer app, which lets you make cool adjustments to the tone of your instrument! With the new My Stage feature in the app, you can choose an individual virtual surrounding for your instrument, which will let your piano sound as if you are in a concert hall, living room, etc.

Looks

Again, nothing much has changed since the last incarnation of the FP series. Not that the FP series look outdated, but it would have been nice if Roland updated the design at least a bit.

Conclusion

While it’s always nice to see product launches by the big players in the industry like Roland, Yamaha and Kawai, we also like to see new features launched. The new FP-X series is quite limited in this regard, and we had expected to see more inovative features included in the updated models.

Nevertheless, it is very nice that Roland is slowly adding some of the high-end features from the LX series to the lower-end models.