Roland HP-207 Digital Piano - Should I Get It?

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I'd like to be able to play the piano and the keyboard so I could impress people. I like quite a lot of music (Final Fantasy 7 video game soundtrack, Bryan Adams, Blink 182, Miles Davis, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, "It Don't Matter" by Akon) too so I should enjoy playing.

After doing some research I think the Roland HP-207 looks like the best product to buy. It's a digital piano that's almost as expressive as an acoustic grand piano, it has three pedals and loads of voice sounds (pianos, saxophones, guitars, flutes, violins et cetera). A key advantage with it is being a digital piano I could play it with headphones in my apartment.

But one thing concerns me. I want a bright sounding piano. Because the Roland HP-207 so accurately models a standard acoustic grand piano I fear it may not be able to replicate a bright Japanese kind of piano. The reason I need to be able to play with a bright piano is because I want to learn to play along with a rock or pop band, and you need louder (brighter) notes with less depth and more impact to make yourself heard in the loud mixture of instruments.

So does anyone know if you can alter the settings or choose a voice on the Roland HP-207 to get it to sound like a bright piano? Ideally I would be able to switch between a bright sounding piano voice for rock, pop and video game music to a deep German/Czech Republic piano voice for classical music lessons and recitals.

Thanks

Use a moderated piano sound, not a sound that is too bright. If it can't be heard, the engineer on the mixer is doing a poor job.

Good point, Xelebes. I suppose most of the effort to be heard is the responsibility of the sound engineer.

On another forum a guy told me that the HP-207 has a Rock Piano voice you can choose so I'll be buying it. I'll let you all know what I think when I get it.

Depends on what you're going for. I used to get a catalog called 'The Musician's Friend'; they have a web site out there, too.

Truth be told, there's zillions of keyboards, samplers, and even programs that can emulate a piano. Pianos are particularly hard to 'get right', because they can be so expressive.

If you plan to have it in a room and be done with it, it's probably fine. If you want to join a band (it could happen..., you want it fairly light.

I mostly have Korgs, but my most recent purchase is 15 years old....sigh...