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Has anyone played or owned Roland RD 64?


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OK

 

An RD 64 is available near me at a pretty good price

 

I have been interested in the FP 10 but it doesn't seem to be available. I am looking for something lightweight and portable.... and I am intrigued by having less than 88 keys...won't go into that here.

 

So does anyone have one? I know the organ is limited... Mostly I am interested in piano...Rhodes..wurli

 

64 notes with an octave switch is an interesting concept

 

Your thoughts please...

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I had an RD64 briefly.

 

It has the usual Roland controllers' wasted space on the left side (they could almost have just made a 73 model for the width this takes). The action is sluggish. The sounds are dated/imited and there are not enough MIDI controls.

 

The concept is unique and may tick the right boxes for some, but I wouldn't recommend it.

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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I bought one used and later sold it. At 28 lbs and with the extra length for the controls, it's not all that light or compact. I personally can get along with the somewhat sluggish action. 64 keys in my opinion doesn't get you into true piano playing range the way that 73 does. I could have overlooked that if it was light small enough to be an ultra-portable weighted key controller/keyboard.

 

Great concept, failed execution.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I bought one, used it on one gig, and immediately returned it.

 

Way too sluggish action for how I play. YMMV.

 

When it first came out I thought 'wow, this is just what I need for the small gigs where I can carry my accordion in my backpack gig bag, and carry a piano and an an amp with my hands.'

 

Just did not cut it for me, and I knew it right from the first downbeat.

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I played one briefly that I was considering buying used, and I concur with the comments above. The frustrating thing is that I really wanted to like it, the size and format really fit with the concept I was developing for my rig at the time. But I just couldn't hang with the action, and it was actually a bit too short of a keyboard for me to comfortably play piano parts.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Roland really missed an opportunity with the RD64. That control block on the left side completely negates the portability benefits of just 64 keys. The 73 key Yamaha P121 is a cm SHORTER than the RD64. https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2994939/1

 

 

The only excuse I'll grant Roland is that I recall the RD64 was released alongside a companion (unweighted?) board that was an identical length, that made for an aesthetically pleasing two-tier stack. Does anyone remember the model name/number of that companion board?

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Sluggish

Poor dynamic response

Drastic volume difference between the few sounds (You'll be riding the volume control 50% to balance).

Poor Rhodes

Wurly a killer? Ha! Maybe a mood killer.

Clav and organ basically unusable.

FX are preset, not variable enough, and not savable.

MIDI or Internal. WTF? Couldn't use it as a controller along with internal sounds. Maybe they've fixed that?

 

Wanted to love it. One gig and I had to flip it. Casio and Yamaha offer better options that are more portable.

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I played one, didn't get on with the action. It was too sluggish - as if the keys were oil-damped. I played with the velocity sensitivity, which helped a bit, but not enough for me to love it.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

This was my situation also. I REALLY wanted to like this keyboard, as an 64-76 note weighted keyboard would be very welcome for live shows...or in my studio honestly, for as much as I play 88 keys. I didn't like the action, and didn't like the sounds enough to make me think maybe I'd get used to the action.

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I recall the RD64 was released alongside a companion (unweighted?) board that was an identical length, that made for an aesthetically pleasing two-tier stack. Does anyone remember the model name/number of that companion board?
I thought it was the VR09.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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I recall the RD64 was released alongside a companion (unweighted?) board that was an identical length, that made for an aesthetically pleasing two-tier stack. Does anyone remember the model name/number of that companion board?
I thought it was the VR09.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

Yes! They marketed them as a complimentary pair of light, compact, and affordable boards for the gigging musician.

 

 

[video:youtube]

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Costco is apparently selling them for 599 dollars

 

I wonder if they have one to demo

 

The original list price was 499 for the fp 10

 

Supposedly the same sample as fp 30 supernatural...which sounds quite good to me

 

Hence my interest

But I don't want to pay more than 499!

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Costco is apparently selling them for 599 dollars

 

I wonder if they have one to demo

 

The original list price was 499 for the fp 10

 

Supposedly the same sample as fp 30 supernatural...which sounds quite good to me

 

Hence my interest

But I don't want to pay more than 499!

For the extra $100 they appear to be including stand, bench, headphones

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A quick google and I only saw the FP10 for $499 at one place, and they indeed have no stock, but you can pre-order:

 

https://www.georgesmusic.com/roland-fp-10-bk-digital-piano-in-black.html

 

Interesting that sweetwater, GC and zzounds don't even list this model at all right now. Search on fp-10 and the only hit I got was for the stand.

 

My Roland A800 Pro was oos for a very long time - I thought for sure they had discontinued it but then it was back. Now... gone again! I'll guess this is supply chain issues related to the pandemic.

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Costco is apparently selling them for 599 dollars

 

I wonder if they have one to demo

 

The original list price was 499 for the fp 10

 

Supposedly the same sample as fp 30 supernatural...which sounds quite good to me

 

Hence my interest

But I don't want to pay more than 499!

For the extra $100 they appear to be including stand, bench, headphones

 

I saw one on display at Costco when I was in South Carolina earlier this week. Didn't play it though. I haven't touched any keyboards that haven't belonged to myself or other forum members that I have visited since the pandemic became part of our daily lives.

:nopity:
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Still have and love my RD300 GX.....was just hoping for something smaller and lighter.
Do you need DIN MIDI? I like the Yamaha P121 - acceptable action, very light, compact for a 73, pretty good value. But only USB MIDI. Decent AP, generic EPs. It will play MIDI-out-and-Audio-In-over-USB for additional sounds from an iThing, if that's of interest.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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