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Roland RD-88


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To me, this board and concept looks like one of those leaps forward. I hate to say 'game changer,' but there are many key design decisions factored in here that other manufacturers have been missing (or have included some, but not all) - and prime reasons I had decided to pursue the controller/software route. I may decide to be a 'hardware guy' again. Let"s see what this weekend brings!

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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I see the three zones are quite limited (two upper, one lower with a single split point). Disappointing in a board costing over £1000. That"s why I"ve always liked Kurzweil as they typically let you set whatever key ranges you want for each zone.

 

Still, a nice light and compact keyboard with decent action. I"m sure it will be popular with some.

Kurzweil PC3x

Technics SX-P50

Korg X3

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I would probably go for a used RD-800 instead, just from a midi standpoint. I guess you won"t be able to have one sound assigned to a different midi channel for an upper board? No midi in anyways and that would be a dealbreaker for me. Everything else I"d really nice though.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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I do sound overly negative ^^^

 

I really like the compact dimensions and decent action. I would love to see a board with those dimensions but with greater functionality. Maybe I"m asking for something that isn"t possible. I do note the Kurzweil PC4 is only 13kg but somewhat bulky.

Kurzweil PC3x

Technics SX-P50

Korg X3

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About this RH4 keybed : is it as good as or better than the Ivory Feel G keyboard in the Juno DS88/FA-08 ?

Escapement, triple sensor ?

A long time ago, in a musical galaxy far, far away...

Eminent-Solina B412, Yamaha DX21, Yamaha V50, Yamaha U1

 

21st century...

Kawai CA58, Kawai ES110

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[video:youtube]

 

Very informative and very compelling.

I"m interested.

Fairly light - plenty of built in sounds, zen core offers adding what you need.

MainStage Integration includes visual feedback on the Rd-88"s display and premapped sound switching with the patch buttons.

Built in audio midi interface mixes sounds from MacBook and RD.

Internal speakers for switch on and practice might be good enough for intimate settings.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I would probably go for a used RD-800 instead

Too heavy.

 

In terms of current boards with speakers, I think the closest competitor is Casio PX-560.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I would probably go for a used RD-800 instead

Too heavy.

 

In terms of current boards with speakers, I think the closest competitor is Casio PX-560.

 

I"ve been using the 560 for duet (with sax, violin, flute, etc.) and solo stuff.

The speakers are actually quite loud.

You might want some lower end by adding a small PA speaker.

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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It's great that Roland have been listening. This product goes a long way to addressing the issues musicians with weighted boards come up against. And in most ways it is successful. Built in speakers comes over as a more consumer feature to have on a home keyboard. I guess they're thinking of the guy in his 20s who gets back from his gig and unpacks his stage piano to practice at home.

Great dimensions though, and much easier to carry and move around. I hope it has the build quality of the RD700, which I still use in the studio and is built like a tank. Swapping out the inbuilt PSU though in favour of a wall wart is a mistake in my opinion. It's an extra thing to remember, and the cables on wall warts I find are never roadworthy, creating a weak link where there doesn't need to be one. Also, it's a small detail, but if you look on the photos, you'll see there is barely enough space around the knobs to make adjustments.

 

Overall, though, I think it will do very well.

 

Yamaha YC73

Korg Kronos2 61

Yamaha CP88

Roland Jupiter 8

Roland JX3P

Roland D50

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I"m not fully clear on the zen core thing. In theory it means you can play any sounds from the likes of the new fantom series on an rd88 right? But the sacrifice is that the rd88 has more limited facility for tweaking?But canyou just download the sounds directly into the rd88 and play or does one have to be connected online or via the cloud? If you can download directly I wonder how much you can load into an rd88 before it"s full up. Seems like a good system if that"s the case.
Yamaha MODX8, Legend Live.
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I"ve been using the 560 for duet (with sax, violin, flute, etc.) and solo stuff.

560 is a great board. Each has some significant features the other does not. Roland has much better MIDI controller functionality, and when it comes to splits/layers, you can put independent insert effects on three parts (vs. only one part being able to have its own effects on the Casio), and it includes VA synth capability (PX-560 lacks even a monophonic synth mode). Casio advantages include more split/layer parts (4, which can even be extended to 24 with hexlayers, whereas Roland is 3), full on-board sound editing (it looks like the only deep editing on the Roland might be to own another zen-core board that has editing), and built-in sequencer. If you want a versatile lightweight weighted 88 with speakers and lots of sounds, I think these are the two to look at. I'll be curious to see comparisons in their sounds and actions.

 

But how would it differ from the similarly priced (and specced) Roland FP-60?

For one thing, it's under 30 lbs instead of over 40.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I"m not fully clear on the zen core thing. In theory it means you can play any sounds from the likes of the new fantom series on an rd88 right?

I think it has to be specifically sounds from the zen-core engine, so not V-piano. Though the part of the press release about "ZEN-Core Expansions" is not entirely clear.

 

If you can download directly I wonder how much you can load into an rd88 before it"s full up.

I'm guessing that the stock sample set (and VA tone generation) is the same inside the boards, so the resources to create the sounds are already there... then I guess the limit would be the number of empty user preset locations.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'll admit, I never thought I'd see the day when Roland released a DP that wasn't 6 inches longer than it needed to be to accommodate a 2-inch-wide joystick that should have been placed above the keys anyway. For that reason alone, this board doesn't automatically land on my "no way I'd even consider it" list like every other RD board for the last 20 years has. Good on them for listening.
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... I felt it was a strong addition to their DP lineup and should be popular. Of course I couldn't tell anything about the speaker volume/quality And their concept of what a DP sounds like still isn't my thing.

 

What about the playability of the action `?

The case isn´t deep and I wonder how they managed it w/ the pivot point.

 

Well, I´d need MIDI-In anyway,- just only for the MIDI program changes, controller offsets and such I organize in a separate hardware-device.

 

No MIDI-In is already a dealbreaker I fear.

 

:)

 

A.C.

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I'll admit, I never thought I'd see the day when Roland released a DP that wasn't 6 inches longer than it needed to be to accommodate a 2-inch-wide joystick that should have been placed above the keys anyway. For that reason alone, this board doesn't automatically land on my "no way I'd even consider it" list like every other RD board for the last 20 years has. Good on them for listening.

 

+1000000

 

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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Yeah what about the action? The CP4 has a fast action . My Roland FP 4 was fast and so were the RD700 actions. But the recent FP and RD2000 actions have not been fast. I think they are making them for rock players to pound on .

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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J+ - I thought the RD-88 action felt pretty light , but still fairly solid. I think if one digs "that" sound, they'll really like the new edition.

 

Btw I played the Kawai ES110 you just changed over to. I see where you and Peter are coming from. The action is really light and it sounded good for sind gle note lines...even with the pitiful headphones (yet again ) at Kawai.

 

I went to GC yesterday to try FP30. Last time I played it, was when I was preparing to purchase Casio PX-S3000. This time I wanted to decide if I made right move purchasing ES110 right before NAMM and the release of new equipment (RD-88,) that tickles my fancy and pocketbook. I felt FP30 to be sluggish and considering the not very convincing Super Natural engine, I'll be content with the ES110. If I was younger and still regularly gigging popular music, I would overlook my negativity and purchase an RD-88.

 

A more perfect RD-88 would be one that has the old FP4 action and a sample-based acoustic piano sound.

 

IMO, there is always a compromise when deciding what board to play music, especially when you do not need a flagship digital. The PX-S3000 on paper seemed perfect for me until its negatives started overwhelming me. I'm excited about the ES110, which I hope I get next week. I never thought too much about Kawai because they were never available in my area and for the most part still are not.

 

Dave, BTW, when I was at trying out piano, I took time to play a SK7 Shigeru Kawai. This is one of most beautiful pianos I've ever played. Would be on short list if I was wealthy. Just exquisite!

AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251

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A more perfect RD-88 would be one that has the old FP4 action and a sample-based acoustic piano sound.

The MIDI functionality at least makes it easy to add/integrate a piano from an iPad or whatever (unlike on the other boards you mention, PX-S3000/FP30/ES110 where it may be more important that you're happy with all its own sounds), but there's nothing you can do about the action. Yeah, the FP4 (and FP2) action was pretty nicely playable, even if not feeling so much like a real piano.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Has anyone commented on the PHA4 action that it has? Interestingly, I bought a P-125 for my mother-in-law at Christmas after trying the P-125 and P-45 at GC. Even though they both have the same action, the P-125 had a much better feel - it seemed much more playable. It was then that I suspected there are different ways to implement the same key action.
CA93, MODX8, YC88, K8.2
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