The Roland HP1300e is an early 90s digital piano with quality built into it. However, though it was designed in the 1990s, it has a modern design that makes it suitable for use even in this age and time.
Hence, this article reviews Roland HP1300E, with highlights to what makes it unique as well as the pros and cons of its use. A thorough read-through will make you make informed decisions with the selection of this digital piano.
Roland HP1300E Alternatives
The Roland HP1300E is not readily available from the major online retailers. If you are looking for an alternative, check out:
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Specifications
To make operating and maintaining the Roland HP1300e as simple as possible, it was built with simple-to-use components.
Features such as digital piano speaker output, weight (for portability), sounds, and other options are all available as options too. The Roland HP1300e’s full technical specs are listed below.
- The use of a piano stool during setup.
- 88-key configurations in a weighted key signature
- 56 9/16″ x 32 1/16″ x 18″ Measurements of the Piano
- Senses of light, medium, and heavy touch are separated into three categories.
- polyphonic arrangements for 28 notes
- A total of six distinct timbres: piano, electric piano, harpsichord, strings, vibraphone and pipe organ
- Dual pedal option; sostenuto and sustain
- 6-level chorus dig effect
- 6 Reverb settings
- Transpose is also available from -6 to +5 half steps
- 1- track sequencer
- Phone jack
- Line out
- MIDI (IN, OUT)
- Pedal
- +/- 50 Adjustments
- Power Output 15W x 2
- 2 x 16cm speakers
- Weight 47.3kg
Features
Sounds
Nearly all styles of music production are supported to fit your choice. You can select from any of the available sounds. You can begin with basic grand piano and progress from there.
Dual Voice Function
The blend and playback of any two voices can be done at once.
Digital Chorus and Reverb Effect
Chorus and reverb are two digital effects that come pre-installed on your new piano.
Record and Playback Option
With the help of an easy-to-use Recorder, you can easily record and play back the music you create.
Key Touch
It is possible to select one of three Touch’ levels, allowing pianists the opportunity to personalize the keyboard to their desired feel.
Soft pedal
The HP-1300e/HP-135 accurately simulates a gentle response when the damper pedal is used. When the strings close to the notes played on an acoustic piano vibrate as well, the sonorities become substantially richer and wider.
Innovative passive reflection speaker system available only on the HP135
When the HP-135 is positioned close to a wall, the rear “Passive Holes” increase the power of the “Mid-High” frequencies by reflecting the sound through the wall surface. This technology ensures a very broad and natural sound impression.
Tuning Effect
Although pianos do not necessarily have to always tune the piano just based on moving from one place to another. However, the tuning key allows for the creative use of alternate tunings on a given piece of equipment when the need arises.
Master Control
With just one key, you can easily change the piano’s sound simply by changing the overall pitch of the instruments. This will affect the volume of the sound produced by other instruments (whether loud or faint).
MIDI Option
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is also supported by the instrument, which is an interface that supports the exchange of performance data from the piano to the computer.
Design/Portability
The Roland HP1300e is a digital piano that is designed to give you a feeling of a grand piano. Hence its size and structure.
It comes in a modern design that includes a piano stool that saves the extra cost of the arrangement.
While it might not be the best to carry around due to its 47.3kg weight (which is a lot to carry around), it is a great digital piano for stage use. It can be set up at the center stage or as a master piano in studio production.
Pricing and Budget
A pretty good thing to consider first is that the chances of getting a new Roland HP1300e are very slim.
The HP13000e was first produced in 1994 and was last produced in the late 90s. But, for a digital piano as amazing as the HP1300e, you can bet there will be a nice second-hand sale somewhere.
Even though you might want to think of it as a vintage piano, it is still a very good choice for a master piano. You can still get the Roland HP1300e digital piano at a second-hand price of around 400 to 800 dollars which is a considerably good price for its quality of production.
Keyboard
The keyboard is an interesting design with 88 weighted keys that have mechanical Speakers hammers on the HP-135 series.
Sound quality and Speakers
The Roland HP1300e produces sound using an advanced SA process of quality, finely textured, and realistic sounds that makes the sound quality come out well balanced. This is a pooling of the best leading-edge digital technology for sound production. The Hp1300e comes with two 16cm large speakers.
Connectivity
The main connectors available for the use of Roland HP1300e (particularly HP135) are
- Output Jacks (Stereo)
- Input Jacks (Stereo/Mono)
- Pedal Jacks
- MIDI IN Connector
- MIDI OUT Connector
- Headphones Jack
Space Considerations
Unlike some of the other Roland pianos, the Roland HP1300e is a pretty large digital piano. Since it comes with a standard piano stool that might take up a bit of space, it might not be the best selection for use in a tight room.
Since the Roland HP1300e can almost be compared to playing a Grand Piano, it also requires a space almost as large enough for such use.
To use the Roland HP1300, you might need to consider creating enough space for it in the sitting room, studio space, or on the stage.
Pros/Cons
Although the Roland can be considered a good buy (even after many years of production), it still has some demerits to it. Here are some of the major pros and cons of its selection
Pros
- Fast master control for all instruments
- Damper pedal that reduces vibration
- Affordability
- Comes with a piano stool for a feel of a grand piano
Cons
- Has low portability
- Too heavy
- Requires large space to set-up
- Problem with getting a long-lasting one since it’s hard to get a new one
Verdict
This article has done a detailed review of the Roland HP1300e. The Roland HP1300e is a great digital piano that is still capable of delivering quality musical notes even as a master piano. Although getting a new one might be a tough call at this time, but a well-maintained secondhand HP1300e is still a good call.
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In addition, check out our comparison of Roland and Korg to see how they compare.
