New Roland RD-700GX PIANO (pics)

[cnegrad]

No insult intended (just a little harmless tease); then again, I haven't been to Bergen County in a very long time. But I'm in N.Carolina, so feel free to go ahead and make all the redneck jokes you want. Just don't say anything denigrating about women or all hell will brake loose...

[orangefunk]

 

 

Bah. Just heard from the guy at the local music store that Roland only shipped 4 (!) RD-700GX's to Norway in the first batch. And the next batch won't arrive until April 20th. Argh, why tell me it'll arrive at the end of March if it's only four RD's _for_the_entire_country_!!?

 

orangefunk: I live in Bergen, the cultural centre of Norway (seriously). If you don't mind the 200+ annual days of precipitation, it's a great place to live. :-)

 

Great I could be working in Oslo soon... I hope the nujazz scene there is as good as I am told... me the rhodes, et al are gonna be making the journey in the next few months.. hopefully!

[orangefunk]

Bah. Just heard from the guy at the local music store that Roland only shipped 4 (!) RD-700GX's to Norway in the first batch. And the next batch won't arrive until April 20th. Argh, why tell me it'll arrive at the end of March if it's only four RD's _for_the_entire_country_!!?

 

 

Also yep.. I also get the RD700GX in April... I really want the stand too.. but at £179 (the shop say they can do it fro £139) its a hard one to swallow...

[burningbusch]

I'm hearing one might show up for me the end of this week or the beginning of next.

 

Busch.

[Michiel]

Wil the rd-300gx sound excactly the same as the rd-700sx?

 

 

 

[jorgis]

Great news! Managed to find a web shop that actually had one of the few RD's in Norway. They'll probably ship it to me tomorrow, and I'll have it delivered directly to my door this weekend or early next week.

 

Btw, found a nice, lengthy audio demo of some of the patches/rythms of RD-700GX here.

[Michiel]

Can anybody tell how the rd-300gx , rd-700sx and fp-4/fp7 compare soundwise?

 

(they suppose to have the same soundset ..., but do they sound the same?)

 

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

300 and 700 will not sound the same. 700 I'd supposed to sound and feel better, hence the price diff. I think this is documented in previous posts on this thread.

[burningbusch]

Joe, he's talking about the difference between the 300GX and 700SX. I would think they're going to be reasonably close. The 300 does not have the VK organs.

 

300GX

 

PIANO

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 Superior Grd 87 64 1

2 Ultimate Pno 87 64 2

3 Grand RD 87 64 3

4 Pure Grand 87 64 4

5 Mellow Piano 87 64 5

6 Pure Mellow 87 64 6

7 Superior Str 87 64 7

8 Superior Pad 87 64 8

9 Rock Piano 87 64 9

10 Honky-tonk 87 64 10

11 SuperiorMono 87 64 11

12 GrandRD Mono 87 64 12

E. PIANO

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 StageE.Piano 87 65 1

2 Stage Phazer 87 65 2

3 60'sE.Piano1 87 65 3

4 60'sE.Piano2 87 65 4

5 FM E.Piano 87 65 5

6 70's E.Piano 87 65 6

7 EP Belle 87 65 7

8 D-50 E.Piano 87 65 8

9 Vintage EP 1 87 65 9

10 Vintage EP 2 87 65 10

11 S.A.E.P. 87 65 11

12 Funky D 87 65 12

13 Clav 87 65 13

14 Phase Clav 87 65 14

15 WahWah Clav 87 65 15

16 Natural Hps. 87 65 16

17 Celesta 87 65 17

18 Vibrations 87 65 18

19 Marimba 87 65 19

20 Morning Lite 87 65 20

ORGAN

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 Zepix Organ 87 66 1

2 Perc Organ 87 66 2

3 Rock Organ 87 66 3

4 Gospel Spin 87 66 4

5 Mellow Bars 87 66 5

6 FullDraw Org 87 66 6

7 60's Organ 87 66 7

8 Surf's Up! 87 66 8

9 Purple Spin 87 66 9

10 Massive Pipe 87 66 10

11 Mid Pipe Org 87 66 11

12 ParisRomance 87 66 12

STRINGS/PAD

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 Rich Strings 87 67 1

2 Studio Sect. 87 67 2

3 Staccato VS 87 67 3

4 Warm Strings 87 67 4

5 OrchestraPad 87 67 5

6 Orch & Horns 87 67 6

7 ChmbrStrings 87 67 7

8 Pizzicato 87 67 8

9 Machine Str 87 67 9

10 JP Strings 87 67 10

11 SynthStrings 87 67 11

12 Soft Pad 87 67 12

13 Silky Way 87 67 13

14 Nu Epic Pad 87 67 14

15 Strings Pad 87 67 15

16 Side Band X 87 67 16

17 Glass Organ 87 67 17

18 StellarTreck 87 67 18

19 Mash Pad 87 67 19

20 InfinitePhsr 87 67 20

21 Flange Dream 87 67 21

GUITAR/BASS

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 Dyna Nylon 87 68 1

2 Steel Gtr 87 68 2

3 Jz Gtr Hall 87 68 3

4 JC Strat 87 68 4

5 DistGt Mt 87 68 5

6 Blusey OD 87 68 6

7 Punker 87 68 7

8 AcousticBass 87 68 8

9 FingerMaster 87 68 9

10 Pick Bass 87 68 10

11 Slap Bass 87 68 11

12 SX Fretnot 87 68 12

13 Punch MG 87 68 13

14 Garage Bass 87 68 14

15 101 Bass 87 68 15

16 Synth Bass 87 68 16

17 Vox Bass 87 68 17

18 Bass+RideCym 87 68 18

BRASS/WINDS

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 R&R Brass 87 69 1

2 VoyagerBrass 87 69 2

3 StackTp Sect 87 69 3

4 FullSt Brass 87 69 4

5 Wood Symphny 87 69 5

6 Bigband Sax 87 69 6

7 Soprano Sax 87 69 7

8 Alto Sax 87 69 8

9 Tenor Sax 87 69 9

10 Flute 87 69 10

11 Bend SynBrs 87 69 11

12 Saw Brass 87 69 12

13 Jump For KY 87 69 13

14 Afro Horns 87 69 14

VOICE/SYNTH

No. Tone Name MSB LSB PC

1 Aerial Choir 87 70 1

2 Jazz Scat 87 70 2

3 Morning Star 87 70 3

4 Choir Aahs 87 70 4

5 Jazz Doos 87 70 5

6 Female Aahs 87 70 6

7 Gospel Oohs 87 70 7

8 Galactic SX 87 70 8

9 Synth Stack 87 70 9

10 Saw Lead 87 70 10

11 Square Lead 87 70 11

12 SuperSawSlow 87 70 12

13 Jupiter Lead 87 70 13

 

 

RD700SX

 

[PIANO]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

1 Superior Grd 87 64 1

2 X-Ultimate 87 64 2

3 Grand RD 87 64 3

4 Dark Ballad 87 64 4

5 X-Pure Grand 87 64 5

6 Mellow Piano 87 64 6

7 Bright Grand 87 64 7

8 X-PureMellow 87 64 8

9 Superior Str 87 64 9

10 Superior Pd1 87 64 10

11 Superior Pd2 87 64 11

12 Hybrid Grd 1 87 64 12

13 Hybrid Grd 2 87 64 13

14 600 Grand 87 64 14

15 Dynamic Grd 87 64 15

16 Rock Piano 1 87 64 16

17 Rock Piano 2 87 64 17

18 Honky-tonk 87 64 18

19 SuperiorMono 87 64 19

20 GrandRD Mono 87 64 20

[E.PIANO]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

21 SX E.Piano 1 87 65 1

22 Stage Phazer 87 65 2

23 Hit EP 87 65 3

24 60sE.Piano1 87 65 4

25 60sE.Piano2 87 65 5

26 Phaser EP 87 65 6

27 StageCabinet 87 65 7

28 NY E.Piano 87 65 8

29 SX E.Piano 2 87 65 9

30 FM E.Piano 87 65 10

31 60sE.Piano3 87 65 11

32 70s E.Piano 87 65 12

33 Psycho EP 87 65 13

34 EP Belle 87 65 14

35 D-50 E.Piano 87 65 15

36 Pro Stage 87 65 16

37 Vintage EP 1 87 65 17

38 Vintage EP 2 87 65 18

39 S.A.E.P. 87 65 19

40 Hard 60s EP 87 65 20

41 E.Grand 87 65 21

[CLAV/MALLET]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

42 Funky D 87 66 1

43 SX Clavi 87 66 2

44 Clav 1 87 66 3

45 Clav 2 87 66 4

46 Phase Clav 87 66 5

47 WahWah Clav 87 66 6

48 Cutter Clavi 87 66 7

49 D6 Clavi 87 66 8

50 Natural Hps. 87 66 9

51 Harpsi+Str 87 66 10

52 NaturalC.Hps 87 66 11

53 St.Harpsichd 87 66 12

54 Celesta 87 66 13

55 Vibrations 87 66 14

56 Vibraphone 87 66 15

57 Marimba 87 66 16

58 Morning Lite 87 66 17

59 Ballad Bells 87 66 18

60 Chime Bells 87 66 19

61 MusicBox Pad 87 66 20

62 Islands Mlt 87 66 21

[ORGAN]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

63 TW-Organ 1 112 0 1

64 TW-Organ 2 112 0 2

65 TW-Organ 3 112 0 3

66 TW-Organ 4 112 0 4

67 TW-Organ 5 112 0 5

68 TW-Organ 6 112 0 6

69 TW-Organ 7 112 0 7

70 TW-Organ 8 112 0 8

71 TW-Organ 9 112 0 9

72 TW-Organ 10 112 0 10

73 X Perc Organ 87 67 1

74 Rock Organ 87 67 2

75 Zepix Organ 87 67 3

76 Gospel Spin 87 67 4

77 Mellow Bars 87 67 5

78 Perc.Organ 1 87 67 6

79 FullDraw Org 87 67 7

80 Full Stops 87 67 8

81 British B 87 67 9

82 Perc.Organ 2 87 67 10

83 Perc. B 87 67 11

84 60s Organ 87 67 12

85 Surfs Up! 87 67 13

86 R&B Organ 87 67 14

87 Rocker Spin 87 67 15

88 Purple Spin 87 67 16

89 Massive Pipe 87 67 17

90 Mid Pipe Org 87 67 18

91 Theater Org 87 67 19

92 ParisRomance 87 67 20

[sTRINGS]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

93 SX Strings 1 87 68 1

94 Studio Sect. 87 68 2

95 Staccato VS 87 68 3

96 Full Strings 87 68 4

97 SX Strings 2 87 68 5

98 Warm Strings 87 68 6

99 X StrSection 87 68 7

100 2-way Sect. 87 68 8

101 Stringz 101 87 68 9

102 Biggie Bows 87 68 10

103 OrchestraPad 87 68 11

104 Orch & Horns 87 68 12

105 Soft Orch 87 68 13

106 ChmbrStrings 87 68 14

107 Ending Scene 87 68 15

108 Str Quartet 87 68 16

109 Pizzicato 87 68 17

110 Machine Str 87 68 18

111 JP Strings 1 87 68 19

112 JP Strings 2 87 68 20

113 SynthStrings 87 68 21

114 OB Slow Str 87 68 22

[PAD]

No. Tone Name MSBLSB PC

115 Soft Pad 87 69 1

116 Silky Way 87 69 2

117 Lunar Strngs 87 69 3

118 Nu Epic Pad 87 69 4

119 Strings Pad 87 69 5

120 Mashy Scene 87 69 6

121 Side Band X 87 69 7

122 R&B SoftPad 87 69 8

123 Glass Organ 87 69 9

124 Evolution X 87 69 10

125 Whisper Pad 87 69 11

126 Combination 87 69 12

127 HumanKindnes 87 69 13

128 StellarTreck 87 69 14

129 Jupiter-X 87 69 15

130 Mash Pad 87 69 16

131 InfinitePhsr 87 69 17

132 Flange Dream 87 69 18

133 Morph Filter 87 69 19

134 Jupiter 2005 87 69 20

 

Busch.

[Joe Muscara]

oops stupid small iPod touch screen.

 

I would think that the old 700sx sounds would filter down into the new 300gx. That would make the 300gx a nice board. .

[Song80s]

Can anybody tell how the rd-300gx , rd-700sx and fp-4/fp7 compare soundwise?

 

(they suppose to have the same soundset ..., but do they sound the same?)

 

 

 

you really have to buy one this time, promise ?

[orangefunk]

the grand piano (at the very end) has a nice blending sound (maybe some soundboard resonance going on?) to it by the sounds of the mp3... not sure if its upto the quality of the GEM stuff though..

[Aidan]

Really sounds nice, but need to try the keybed before pulling the trigger. But all very positive so far. Look forward to the first review!

[Michiel]

Can anybody tell how the rd-300gx , rd-700sx and fp-4/fp7 compare soundwise?

 

(they suppose to have the same soundset ..., but do they sound the same?)

 

 

 

you really have to buy one this time, promise ?

 

Promised

 

If it sound stthe same or better than my s-90 ... which I love, but like to have something new....

 

 

[Song80s]

[

 

 

 

If it sound stthe same or better than my s-90 ... which I love, but like to have something new....

 

 

I understand Yamaha piano love. I have the XS7.

 

Haven't you given the Rd700sx a a thorough spin, yet ? They have been around for 3 years

[Michiel]

Not really. Have to find time to go and play an hour.

 

 

I'll let you know when I finaly bought something ;-)

[Song80s]

Not really. Have to find time to go and play an hour.

 

 

really ?

 

I am looking at the date of my Rd700sx sales receipt:

February 9, 2005

 

do find the time to play one

 

 

[kirkenshrir]

Bah. Just heard from the guy at the local music store that Roland only shipped 4 (!) RD-700GX's to Norway in the first batch. And the next batch won't arrive until April 20th. Argh, why tell me it'll arrive at the end of March if it's only four RD's _for_the_entire_country_!!?

 

I think it's the same thing everywhere... From what i heard, they basically sent out one piano per store to be used as floor models until late April when they actually start shipping the others...

 

...at least, that's what the saleman told me after accidentally selling me one of 'em :-D

[Aidan]

So, kirkenshrir, have you got your mitts on it yet? If so, we require a review!!

[jorgis]

I just got the shipping info, and mine will arrive in 1-3 business days.

[kirkenshrir]

Yeah, i got it yesterday and i just love it!

 

 

As far as a review goes, I'm probably not be the right guy for the job seeing as my previous keyboard is a 15-year old Roland A-30 w/ SC-33 Sound Canvas module...

 

So the obvious thing to say is that it's much more piano-like than the A-30 but that goes without saying...

 

I've been going through the various menus and such just exploring and i'm glad the've included a "reset to factory settings" feature because you can really mess things up if you're not careful :-)

 

I bought it to use as a piano because of its great keyboard and its piano samples so a lot of it's features i will never use (but they're still fun to play with and i'm glad they're there) I love the new keys, really look and feel great. As far as sounds are concerned, the Expressive Grand is my favorite set right now.

 

I'll keep playing with it (and maybe even playing it!) this weekend but you SX guys are probably ahead of me on this.

[Song80s]

Yeah, i got it yesterday and i just love it!

 

 

So the obvious thing to say is that it's much more piano-like than the A-30 but that goes without saying...

 

I've been going through the various menus and such just exploring and i'm glad the've included a "reset to factory settings" feature because you can really mess things up if you're not careful :-)

 

I bought it to use as a piano because of its great keyboard and its piano samples so a lot of it's features i will never use (but they're still fun to play with and i'm glad they're there) I love the new keys, really look and feel great. As far as sounds are concerned, the Expressive Grand is my favorite set right now.

 

I'll keep playing with it (and maybe even playing it!) this weekend but you SX guys are probably ahead of me on this.

 

wow, thats a very informative report

 

how do you like the color ?

[kirkenshrir]

Yeah, i know... sorry i can't be more helpful, just answering Aidan's question:

 

Yes i got it. Sorry but no review for now.

[Martin Hines]

wow, thats a very informative report

 

We will, of course, expect a lengthy review from you when you get yours, which should include text, audio files and video. Perhaps even a tour of the store from which you purchased the keyboard.

[niacin]

 

I'm still not sure if the SuperNat EPs are modeled or sampled or a combination of the two methods. From the manual it reads:

 

"The SuperNATURAL E. Piano sound generator is Rolands completely new sound generator, which faithfully models the varieties and characteristics of the vintage electric pianos of the 60s through the 80s. It is not limited to typical E. piano modeling, but also provides completely new types of E. piano sound. Unlike the parameters of a conventional synthesizer, this allows you to create a variety of sounds in the way that a specialized engineer or tuner could do. For example, you can easily change the position of the pickups, or exchange components of the sound-generating system."

 

So with the RD700GX you have the internal sampled EPs, the option of adding the SRX-12 card for some excellent sampled Rhodes and possibly modeled EPs with EP specific FXs (e.g. chorus, phaser, EP preamps, EP cabinets) with the SuperNat sounds.

 

Busch.

Are the "supernatural" rhodes just the SRX-12 rhodes with some beefed up cosm effects and amp modelling going on, or is there something more complicated going on?

 

Roland literature states the GX "supernatural" EP's are sourced from the new ARX02 expansion.

 

I think this post topic covers this questions earlier on

 

Not really. Roland's statement that you can "change the position of the pickups, or exchange components of the sound-generating system" says COSM to me. It's their use of the term modelling that I'm questioning. I mean the new ARX board doesn't contain a whole new synthesis method, i.e. modelling, like say Yamaha's PLG boards does it? And if it's just samples plus cosm then how does it differ from what you get when you put the SRX-12 in a Fantom-X and pull up the amp modeller? The clav patches in it are after all just simulations of pick-up settings accomplished by cosm fx. If someone can stuff an SRX-12 into the new RD- or Fantom- G series and do some comparisons we'll find out.

[Mark Schmieder]

Is this new technology, or is it an evolution of older Roland techniques? I only just recently learned that the excellent MKS-20 of the 1980's (which I think came out shortly after they took over a brief ownership of the Fender Rhodes name and knowhow), used some form of physical modeling.

[Song80s]

wow, thats a very informative report

 

We will, of course, expect a lengthy review from you when you get yours, which should include text, audio files and video. Perhaps even a tour of the store from which you purchased the keyboard.

 

Wow, you responded to one of my posts. I am impressed

 

I practice on my keys wearing Speedos and a tank top.

 

Would you like a personal video of this as well ?

[burningbusch]

Not really. Roland's statement that you can "change the position of the pickups, or exchange components of the sound-generating system" says COSM to me. It's their use of the term modelling that I'm questioning. I mean the new ARX board doesn't contain a whole new synthesis method, i.e. modelling, like say Yamaha's PLG boards does it? And if it's just samples plus cosm then how does it differ from what you get when you put the SRX-12 in a Fantom-X and pull up the amp modeller? The clav patches in it are after all just simulations of pick-up settings accomplished by cosm fx. If someone can stuff an SRX-12 into the new RD- or Fantom- G series and do some comparisons we'll find out.

 

Obviously we won't know till we get them in our hands. With the clav patches on the SRX-12 inside the Fantom, it's just filter settings to emulate the tab settings of a real clav. Scarbee and Clavia do the same thing.

 

I am curious because of a few things. One is the term SuperNATURAL which Roland modestly decribes as "the worlds greatest performance-expression technology." That to me is more than just tone modification and I don't see how you get it simply by running samples through FXs. I am guessing it could be sampled-based modeling, which I believe is what Digidesign's Velvet is all about, but that's just a guess.

 

IMO, one key element required in order to achieve great performance expression would be absolutely seamless transitions in tone and amplitude from ppp to fff. I know of three ways that can be done:

 

1) Large number of layers and meticulous sampling (Scarbee and other large libraries)

2) Sample extrapolation, where the waveform is extrapolated from waveform A and B (Ivory)

3) Physical Modeling

 

When I lsten to the demos of the SuperNATURAL EPs, I'm not hearing velocity switching, though it's very difficult to determine from MP3s. You really need to play the instrument.

 

If it turns out to be something like what I describing above, coupled with all of the touch response control that's available on the RD700GX plus an excellent action, this COULD be something special. Time will tell. I've mis-read, mis-judged these marketing announcements in the past.

 

Busch.

 

[Byrdman]

Still haven't found one here in Portland to try. One fairly knowledgable store did not expect them for a while yet. Claimed "NAMM" stood for "Not Available till Mid-May". Be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Motif XS.

[niacin]

I am curious because of a few things. One is the term SuperNATURAL which Roland modestly decribes as "the worlds greatest performance-expression technology." That to me is more than just tone modification and I don't see how you get it simply by running samples through FXs. I am guessing it could be sampled-based modeling, which I believe is what Digidesign's Velvet is all about, but that's just a guess.

 

Busch.

 

Describing "SuperNatural" as "the world's greatest performance-expression technology" reminds me that the V-synth-GT has APS, Articulative Phrase Synthesis technology, about which Roland similarly states (with similar modesty): "Its expression and realism is unprecedented". Given that the "SuperNatural" technology is in the ARX-card though and not the synth engine I'm still hedging my bets against modelling (meaning as in the Z1 or EX5/7 or Fusion). Interesting though, given that Yamaha seems to have given up on PM and is pushing the multi-layered sample "sweet voices" stuff they introduced on the Tyros to up the ante on the expression front, that Roland have responded with whatever this turns out to be. However, all the demos I've listened to of APS (e.g. Jordan Rudess on Youtube) sound to me much the same as Yamaha's "sweet" stuff (or indeed Ensoniq's transwave technology - reminded me of a nice sax in the old TS-10 that had breath and gravel according to your playing), which we know is just sample switching, and not at all expressive like Yamaha's older VL stuff.