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I hear a difference in headphones when I switch the menu setting '36. Speaker Auto Mute'.

I can’t confirm or deny that. There is so much leakage in noise from the speakers that I can’t tell. I tried to have the piano play and step around the corner. I’m almost sure there is no difference.

I did find out that the speaker off switch on the back does not work when the auto mute is set to off.

Sorry Purdy, How do you record audio with your FP-90X + iPad through USB exactly? Is there a specific Roland app for that? I watched some videos where they record audio just using the built-in recording system, that's in order to use the internal audio interface of the FP-90X.. I think is the only metod take advantage of the internal audio interface of the DP properly..

The fp-90x has class compliant usb midi and audio.

Any app that records or plays audio, can be used directly.

There is no special app required. It is built into the operating system. It is the same for windows 10 and macOS.

Garage band, or any digital audio workstation software. I think even the internal video camera.

How do you record now on the iPad with the 2i2? Because you can use that same software with the fp-90x.

It is that simple.

It also has Bluetooth audio and midi. Again any app that plays audio can play and any app that supports Bluetooth midi can use and I think even those that don’t can with something like midi wrench.

I got you maybe, you mean that your FP-90X can works as an audio interface connect to a PC.. and so sending the data of your recording into your software.. that's great, but I know that with a dedicate audio interface (like the 2i2) you get a better quality..

Currently, I connect my DP to the 2i2 as input and the 2i2 connected to my iPad or PC through USB.

Yes, the fp-90x can act as an audio interface for a pc or an iPad, or even an iPhone, or android device.

Probably Linux too.

I doubt the quality will be better with a dedicated audio interface because you will be converting digital to analog on the keyboard sending the analog to the 2i2 and then converting it back to digital.

The conversion to and from analog will add noise and you will have less quality than if the keyboard sends you the digital directly and you avoid going analog.

You can connect the fp-90x directly to an iPad or pc with usb and it will be just like your 2i2.

True you won’t see an option 192,000 samples per second at 32 bits but that is overkill for the source data.

But you should try it out and see for yourself.

But the bottom line is you do not need a dedicated audio interface for recording or playing to the fp-90x or any of the new Roland fp-x keyboards.

Because they behave as audio interfaces. I have a motu audio interface which I don’t ever use with the fp-90x

The newish Yamaha keyboards are the same.

That sounds great, Purdy. Hopefully they will put the same feature in the next gen of stage piano… but I wonder if you can just plug through USB your dp to an iPad/Pc and record audio or you have to set the recording from your dp before in onder to send the audio signal to the Daw? Like “press the trigger record through USB“

As soon as you plug in the iPad into the USB port the audio is being sent out, there are no actions you need to take on the keyboard.

You might have to setup your app on the iPad but I have numerous apps that I just plug in and they start working with the keyboard. No action required on either end.

It is exactly like an audio interface.

I can for instance, just plug in neo soul keys or Korg module which are virtual instrument packages and they just start working accepting midi and returning audio over usb to the keyboard.

Blue tooth midi is a bit different. That seems to require a little more effort on the app side.

That's great! I didn't know about the USB audio function, I have always confused that with DP recording to external USB as storage. But for istance don't you need to install any drivers to set the recording setting (like what happen with an audio interface where you can set the sampling rate etc.)? Once you open Garageband or Ableton, you will file in the Preferences like Interfce>Host the Roland... already set? Or as soon you connect your DP to the Pc, will you find Roland Audio Interface set in the audio settings?

Little bit out of scope , but... I own an ES920 and had a FP90 in the past. I do like the internal SK grand piano of the ES920 and the speakers are actually quite good and sound round and have some warmth to them, despite being single speakers (not two way as in the FP90x) and having less wattage power and a single amp. However, for a second location I am torn between yet another ES, or a FP90x and I wonder how you all rate the speaker sound with both the internal Roland piano engine (I could never get a warm full sound on the FP90) and especially with audio plugins as well - meaning routing audio from an iPad or laptop over the internal speakers. I know this works flawless because of the class compliancy. But how does a plug-in like pianoteq or Ivory or whatever sound over the Roland speakers. Is it actually a more full and warmer sound ; or are the speakers themselves a bit harsh and analytic in comparison to the ES for example. Any FP90x owner an answer to that; there is no FP90x to be found here to try for myself unfortunately.

How does your Scarlett 2i2 behave? There is your answer.

I dont think there is a really big change between the fp90x and the fp90 in terms of the speakers.

But I have not played a fp90

Virtual instruments give you more options for equalization and other affects so that might help.

You need to install specific drivers in order to work with the Scarlett 2i2. Then you get a kind of App on your device where you can handle the general recording settings once the Scarlett is connected to your PC. After that, If you are using Garageband for iPad, it just recognize your audio interface but you can't edit any settings with it. If you are using a different DAW from the PC you need to set the audio interface in the software.. So, will be the same with the FP-90X (?)

If like me, you want a flat frequency response from speakers because you find resonances and tonal changes off-putting, then no the FP90X internal speakers are not good. Now, this is true of all internal speakers of all portable DPs, and also true of most console DPs? So are the speakers good given that its a portable? I leave that for others to answer.

FP90X has onboard 3 band eq and you can customize the frequency band of each slider, and for the mid slider you can even set the q (how broad or narrow a range of frequencies it changes). This is great to customize the overall tonal characteristics of the sounds so you can increase warmth, cut harshness, etc. But its not very good for dealing with annoying resonances in the speakers or room. Specifically the mid slider can be set to: 200Hz, 250, 315, 300, 500, 630, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000. 2500, 3150, 4000, 5000, 6300, 8000. I would have found it much more useful if all 3 of the eq sliders let you set the frequency to any specific frequency, rather than those predetermined steps. Right now I have a resonance at D3. So I'd like to set the frequency to 147Hz, set the q high (so the eq adjusts a narrow band of frequency) and use the slider to reduce just that resonance. But the closest I can get is 200Hz and set the q low. But then then eq isn't targeting a narrow band. Instead I play with monitors.

Also, if you are using the modeled / main piano sounds you can go into piano designer and adjust the volume and character of individual notes. This is quite effective at dealing with resonances. A speaker resonance will make the note(s) at that resonance loud and distracting, so you can use the per note volume to deal with that. A resonance will also change the harmonic balance / timbre of notes lower than the resonance, as the resonance will amplify a higher harmonic in the note. However, such effects are (to me) much less prominent than per note loudness. If there is an amplified harmonic that is messing up a particular note you can try the per note character adjustment. I'm not sure if this does a per note eq or a per note harmonic balance adjustment, but it for sure changes the sound of the note. The change it makes sounds very similar to when you go through the 'soundboard' customization in piano designer.

If you are using an external virtual piano, or even if you route your internal sound out to a laptop or ipad, you can use parametric eq there and really dial to address resonances you have and make the internal speakers quite nice. So if you want to play a vst through the internal speakers just use an eq you can setup in either your DAW or in the effect stack in the virtual instrument.

Thanks for all the info. So..knowing all that - do you find the sound in the end through the onboard Roland speakers satisfying ; do they produce a sort of full , warm and transparent piano sound after some tweaking , or do they remain a lit underwhelming in that respect , even with a good VST. With the internal Roland piano , the result is a bit thin and harsh at some times, but that is probably due to the engine and character of the typical Roland Piano sound, so it's hard to predict how another piano engine would sound over the same speakers without having the setup in front of you (which is not possible over here).

If you like ES920, stick with it, especially if you like the Kawai samples? If my main playing situation was internal sounds with internal speakers, I would not be happy with the FP90X.

Yes but you don’t need a driver for the pc. It is built into the operating system.

So I noticed that a few of the FP90X's physical controls send midi. Specifically the two Part Lower / Upper volume sliders send midi, and also the + - buttons. So if you are playing virtual instruments those 4 physical controls could be mapped to controls in the VI or DAW. Eg you could put velocity curve adjustment on the physical slider if it makes it easier to dial in. Or map the sliders to 2 channels in your daw for mixing.

Hi Mark: very interesting information. The sliders send CC type of messages, correct? Which Cc#? And the buttons send incremental CC or Program Change messages?

Ok, please help….

I bought the 90x a few months ago and have barely played it because it sounded rubbish. I kept meaning to go back to it and tweak the settings until I got a piano sound that I am happy with but no matter what I try it never sounds great. I have more fun playing on my two keyboards (Roland GO Keys and Casio CTX-5000) than on the much more expensive 90x.

The main problem is that pretty much everything below middle c sounds muddy as if the piano is under water. With headphones it’s much better so I’m hoping it’s just that the internal speakers are rubbish? Also, I recorded a few things to the usb stick and when I play those back on a computer or iPad etc. they sound fine.

So before I give up and try to sell it can anyone tell me if it sounds better with some decent external speakers?

If so, please give me amazon links to the speakers you use and a link for which cables I need to buy. I don’t want to pay a fortune on speakers so am looking for some reasonably priced ones, preferably without needing a separate amplifier too.

Any tips greatly appreciated.