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I am playing piano for 5 years now and I am moving away from my parents' place and the upright piano they have. Help me to choose a Roland digital keyboard. No more than 1500 €.

Is there a big difference between the F130r and the F140r? I think it is a pretty good one and not so expensive. And is the RP401r better? (found one just a hundred euro more expensive)

Then I found a second hand HP506 from 2013. A bit more expensive. Does it have more functions? Does it sounds better? Or feels like a real piano? I also found a new HP504 for the same price.

I am quite lost in the bunch of characteristic for me they all have the same functions. Any advice on these piano.

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As I understand, advice on specific equipment is outside the scope of this forum. However I can perhaps give some general advice on the concerns you may need to have when making your choice, assuming your main purpose is to use the instrument to practice piano technique.

First of all, DON'T make your decision without trying the actual instrument you may be buying. Much like an acoustic piano (or perhaps more), the feel of the keyboard varies considerably by manufacturer and model.

The sound also varies a lot, but it's perhaps less important for practice. It will be extremely difficult, not to say impossible, to further your studies beyond a certain point with a digital piano only anyway. So if the keyboard is suitably responsive, for general technical practising such as scales and drills, sound is not so important, as for subtle performance practice you will need an acoustic piano eventually at some point.

If you have been playing for five years, you have enough sensibility your self to try out several instruments and judge for yourself if the overal feeling and response is to your liking. Try to go to a shop and try different models to see if the price difference is worthy (for you).

Second hand digital pianos also suffer from heavy use, so always try it before commiting.

Regarding features, if your purpose is to study piano, put your money on the best responsive keyboard you can afford, forget about multiple sounds, effects, integrated sequencers and song recorders, etc.

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  • Thanks. Of course I will try it, especially second hand piano. I am aware that the touch is really important. As I want to improve also my hearing I want something that's sound like a real piano. I want a piano that last long, I don't want to change in two years to get a better one. By having a lot of "toys" like effects and multiple sounds I think I will spend even more time to play with and improve my composition skill. Anyway thanks for the advice I will focus on trying a lot of piano to find the good one :)
    – user28482
    May 9, 2016 at 13:53

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