Keyboards with Onboard DA Converters

[BbAltered]

Hello. I would like to hear from keyboard players who own a keyboard that has onboard DA converters: what has been your experience with this tech and what are the pitfalls? I currently own a Roland RD 700nx and am thinking about getting an RD-2000 to use with a laptop and virtual instruments.

 

What keyboard do you have? What laptop and OS? Is your system easy to use? Does it work as you expect it to? Is it reliable? What problems have you encountered? Would you recommend your setup to others?

 

Thanks in advance.

[RABid]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Every ROMpler, VA, DP and digital based Clonewheel has DA converters. I would guess that well over 95 percent of keyboards have them. Only pure analogs that do not have a digital effects section is without a DA converter.

[zephonic]

I think OP means he is looking for a keyboard that will double as an audio interface for his laptop. Most Roland and Yamaha keyboards can do that nowadays.

[Delaware Dave]

Kurzweil PC3 has it although I've never tried it

[Motif88]

I"m using an RD-2000 and I"m very happy with the onboard D/A convertor. I used to have a bunch of hardware synths, then went down the workstation path. The RD-2000 keyboard action is better than any other action on any of the workstations I"ve owned. While I"ve simplified the hardware setup, I have more power with soft synths, with enough RAM. The only thing I might consider down the road is a Fantom 8 to have aftertouch. My home office/studio doesn"t have enough room for multiple keyboards anymore.

 

I"m using a 27' iMac and a bunch of software synths with the RD-2000. I just re-subscribed to the new Roland Cloud. All that being said, Omnisphere, Keyscape and Diva are my go to instruments coupled with the RD for acoustic pianos (tweaked).

[RABid]

I think OP means he is looking for a keyboard that will double as an audio interface for his laptop. Most Roland and Yamaha keyboards can do that nowadays.

 

Ahhhh, thank you. The two that I have used are the Roland RD2000 and the Access Virus TI2. Both did fine but I only use them in special cases. I normally use a UA Apollo Twin. I have used older Roland units, like 15 years old, but I had problems with them picking up USB digital noise.

[Al Coda]

Kurzweil PC3 has it although I've never tried it

 

No, it doesn´t.

 

PC3 offers USB MIDI and SPDIF Out (= digital out / no conversion)

SPDIF In is just only for "sync" (wordclock embedded in SPDIF data stream).

 

Otherwise, the PC3´s analog outs are D/A conversion, but cannot be used for any external digital signal at all and even there´s a SPDIF input.

 

A.C.

[BbAltered]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my first post. Yes, I am interested in knowing about set-ups where the keyboard provides the DA conversion for an attached laptop + soft-synths. I am hoping to learn about ease of use and reliability.

 

I"m using an RD-2000 and I"m very happy with the onboard D/A convertor.

 

I"m using a 27' iMac and a bunch of software synths with the RD-2000. I just re-subscribed to the new Roland Cloud. All that being said, Omnisphere, Keyscape and Diva are my go to instruments coupled with the RD for acoustic pianos (tweaked).

 

An RD-2000 + Omnisphere seems like a very powerful combo. So is it correct to say you have experienced few or no problems with your laptop - computer operation?

[Motif88]

No issues... RD-2000 + Omnisphere is a great combo for me.

[psionic11]

Hello. I would like to hear from keyboard players who own a keyboard that has onboard DA converters: what has been your experience with this tech and what are the pitfalls? I currently own a Roland RD 700nx and am thinking about getting an RD-2000 to use with a laptop and virtual instruments.

 

What keyboard do you have? What laptop and OS? Is your system easy to use? Does it work as you expect it to? Is it reliable? What problems have you encountered? Would you recommend your setup to others?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

First off, I would like to thank you for listing those music greats in your signature. I've downloaded or ordered the Bach, Joplin, Parker, and Stevie Wonder books to study for the next few years. I'm still in the early stages of piano playing, with only a half dozen classical, two jazz, and about a dozen modernish pop piano songs. My two latest are Linus and Lucy and All of Me.

 

As for your original questions -- I live and breathe by my Kronos 61 as my main axe. For piano work, I have a Nord Stage 2. I have a studio full of other keyboards, but those are the two I use daily.

 

Every day I also use an iPad Pro 2017 I recently got for around $300. I do not use my PC or laptops like most DAW musicians, although I've dabbled in the various softwares. I have the know-how, but not enough of an over-riding desire to configure audio card settings, install drivers, fiddle with latency and buffer settings, learn various DAW environments, and then spend time in rabbit hole time sinks with all the wondrous possibilities in software. I congratulate those who have successfully managed to make that a part of a rewarding workflow. Someday I'll get there, but when I'm in the mood for music, my creative mind usurps my technical mind. So I'm a slave to OTB for now.

 

Why do I tell you all this? Because the iPad is just plug and play right into the Kronos USB port. No worries about settings, configurations, and all that non-jazz. On the Kronos, I press the Audio button, and then I have stereo volume faders for any synth connected via SPDIF, analog audio line in, or USB. I have my 2 ipads mounted at eye level above my Kronos (clamps hold them to the mic boom stand attachment on the top of my multi-tier keyboard stand). The ipad pro sound goes through the Kronos, which then goes to a Key Largo mixer out to my studio PA. This is my "gig rig", so it's designed for easy breakdown and setup.

 

I can sit or stand at my Kronos / Stage 2, and play or pause audio from the ipad, including any youtube video tutorials that have sheet music scrolling by. I have a basic drum kit app with various custom patterns on it that I use as a fancy metronome to practice with. The ipad soft synths recognize the MIDI from my Kronos or Stage 2, so I can play those apps just as easily as I play sounds from my keyboards' engines. Lately, I've got this fool notion to do 3 renditions of Holst's Jupiter, so I've loaded up a MIDI file into the ipad Cubasis DAW, which then plays flawlessly out to my multi-timbral Kronos (and Integra, attached via SPDIF)... instant orchestra! I've done light editing of the MIDI score from the ipad while lounging in a chair, but I have to confess that I do most of it via MuseScore on my desktop PC, then export that out back to the ipad.

 

Long story short, an ipad may be an easier alternate or secondary solution for you.