New Roland RD-700GX PIANO (pics)

[Bertrand]

 

 

La lecture des MP3 me semble amusante, mais quelqu'un pourrait'il me donner des exemples d'utilisation concrètes de cette fonctionalité.

[Bertrand]

ERIC Says :" Wow, for someone obsessing over these new boardz, I figured you would have known this by now...

 

Bertrand, the RD700GX does indeed have an MPC-500 built into it. In a secret stroke of genius, Roland and Akai have partnered and will be combining additional products. There is a modular design that will allow the user to add such gear with infinite configurations. Kind of like Tinker Toys when you can just keep on building new extensions.

 

Exciting."

 

 

? ? ? ? ? info ou...intox :-)

 

 

[EdMusic]

Owners manual for the RD700gx is now available via Roland.com

 

 

[ewall08530]

also the manual for the RD 300GS is on the site.

 

edwall.biz

[ewall08530]

oops RD 300GX

[burningbusch]

Thanks for the update on the owners manuals.

 

Interesting on the 300GX:

 

Now supports the 100 levels of key touch sensitivity that's available on the RD700SX. Also a new parameter called "Key Touch Mode" MODE1 & MODE 2. "If you choose MODE 2, the volume will change more smoothly in response to your keyboard playing dynamics (velocity)." Looks like much more fine tuning possible with the key touch. The RD300SX only has heavy, light and normal. And remember these are set at the SETUP level, not the SYSTEM level, so you can make specific adjustments to a program and then save it as a setup.

 

The RD300GX now has the same/similar advanced piano parameters as can be found on the RD700SX.

 

The patch list between the RD300GX and RD700SX don't match exactly, but they appear to be close in the key areas. Basically, the 300GX should have most of the sounds that are in the RD700SX, without the modelled organ sounds.

 

If the manuals are online, that's a good sign we should see these in a few months.

 

Busch.

[Song80s]

I enjoyed the new manual. Lotsa new tones and other goodies. Am I the only that gets excited over 3 midi outs ?

 

I read on Roland clan that early April is when we might see the GX

[burningbusch]

I love all these ways of affecting the way the piano responds:

 

DYNAMICS

This lets you change the way that the sound will respond when you play the keyboard strongly.

Dynamics Type: OFF, TYPE 1, TYPE 2, TYPE 3

Level: 1127

 

SOUND LIFT

This lets you change the way that the sound will respond when you play the keyboard softly. For example, this can be adjusted suitably for solo performance, or to prevent your sound from being buried in the rest of the band.

Sound Lift: 0127; Increasing this value will allow fairly loud sounds to be produced even when you play with a light touch, so that your performance will not be obscured by the playing of your band.

 

KEY TOUCH

You can make advanced settings for the touch used for the keys.

SUPER LIGHT, LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY, SUPER HEAVY

 

KEY TOUCH OFFSET

This setting provides even more precise adjustment of the key touch than available with the Key Touch setting alone. This allows you to achieve a more precise setting for the Key Touch by specifying an intermediate value between Key Touch settings.

NOTE: This effectively gives you 100 variation levels for adjusting key touch.

 

VELOCITY KEY FOLLOW SENSITIVITY

This setting changes the touch sensitivity according to the key range being used. As the value is increased, the touch becomes heavier in the upper registers, and lighter in the lower keys.

 

KEY TOUCH MODE

MODE1, MODE 2

If you choose mode 2, the volume (velocity) will change more smoothly in response to your keyboard playing dynamics.

 

----------------------

These settings can be saved with SETUPS. Combining this level of control over touch response with the Ivory Feel keyboard might make for a pretty awesome nice stage piano.

 

Busch.

 

[Song80s]

I am locked in for a new Rd700GX, deposit done

 

I will have an arrival estimate in a day or 2

 

I did hear " April ' which is old news.

 

 

[burningbusch]

Let us know on the est. arrival. I'm sure I'll get one as well.

 

Busch.

[Song80s]

Let us know on the est. arrival. I'm sure I'll get one as well.

 

Busch.

 

will do, hopefully I will hear today. My source is Roland . I will do my best to determine how soft or hard the available date is(in the US)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Song80s]

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=923

 

this is the original demo from NAMM

 

Not new news, but a good review

 

I did a brief tone comparison, SX vs GX.

 

It appears the GX has almost the same tone list as the SX.

 

The GX does add more tones- a new acoustic piano ( 6 more acoustic piano tones); 10 more EP tones ( the Supernat'l),

10 more Clavs ( the GX Clavs), same Organ tones, same Gtr/BAss,

a few more Strings, a few more Brass/Winds, a few more Voice/synths

 

There are 25 more ARPS and 15 more Rhythm patterns

 

Still 100 Setups

[Mark Schmieder]

I guess it's all a matter of perspective -- that list of "just a few" is all that I care about anyway; I don't buy a Digital Piano for its other sounds or else I'd get a Fantom.

 

I checked out the Roland site earlier today as well and am salivating over this model, but it has no aftertouch or release velocity so once again I feel like the vendors just don't want to let us buy a single 88-key board to cover our controller needs.

[burningbusch]

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=923

 

I did a brief tone comparison, SX vs GX.

 

It appears the GX has almost the same tone list as the SX.

 

The GX does add more tones- a new acoustic piano ( 6 more acoustic piano tones); 10 more EP tones ( the Supernat'l),

10 more Clavs ( the GX Clavs), same Organ tones, same Gtr/BAss,

a few more Strings, a few more Brass/Winds, a few more Voice/synths

 

 

Yeah, I'm hoping the new clavs, Supernat'l EPs and the new ac piano are worthwhile improvements, but I'm really buying it for the keyboard action/feel.

 

Busch.

[cnegrad]

Wow, I could live without the aftertouch, but the omission of release velocity really sucks.

[drawback]

I love all these ways of affecting the way the piano responds:

 

DYNAMICS

This lets you change the way that the sound will respond when you play the keyboard strongly.

Dynamics Type: OFF, TYPE 1, TYPE 2, TYPE 3

Level: 1127

 

SOUND LIFT

This lets you change the way that the sound will respond when you play the keyboard softly. For example, this can be adjusted suitably for solo performance, or to prevent your sound from being buried in the rest of the band.

Sound Lift: 0127; Increasing this value will allow fairly loud sounds to be produced even when you play with a light touch, so that your performance will not be obscured by the playing of your band.

 

KEY TOUCH

You can make advanced settings for the touch used for the keys.

SUPER LIGHT, LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY, SUPER HEAVY

 

KEY TOUCH OFFSET

This setting provides even more precise adjustment of the key touch than available with the Key Touch setting alone. This allows you to achieve a more precise setting for the Key Touch by specifying an intermediate value between Key Touch settings.

NOTE: This effectively gives you 100 variation levels for adjusting key touch.

 

VELOCITY KEY FOLLOW SENSITIVITY

This setting changes the touch sensitivity according to the key range being used. As the value is increased, the touch becomes heavier in the upper registers, and lighter in the lower keys.

 

KEY TOUCH MODE

MODE1, MODE 2

If you choose mode 2, the volume (velocity) will change more smoothly in response to your keyboard playing dynamics.

 

----------------------

These settings can be saved with SETUPS. Combining this level of control over touch response with the Ivory Feel keyboard might make for a pretty awesome nice stage piano.

 

Busch.

 

What I keep finding out, with the increasing tweakability of today's keyboards, is I'm usually satisfied with "medium, normal, default" settings. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have the options, but still...

 

 

[kanker.]

What I keep finding out, with the increasing tweakability of today's keyboards, is I'm usually satisfied with "medium, normal, default" settings. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have the options, but still...

I change the touch based on the gig I'm playing. I play most jazz and RnB gigs with my MP8II set to Heavy+ (the heaviest setting), but for blues gigs I'll set it to Normal (the middle setting) because the kind of slop you need for good blues piano just doesn't translate on heavier settings.

[burningbusch]

Wow, I could live without the aftertouch, but the omission of release velocity really sucks.

 

It does support release velocity (manual page 201 MIDI implementation chart).

 

Busch.

[burningbusch]

What I keep finding out, with the increasing tweakability of today's keyboards, is I'm usually satisfied with "medium, normal, default" settings. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have the options, but still...

 

 

I have a dream that some day these things will respond to touch in a manner identical to an acoustic instrument. On most digitals, the dynamic response isn't close to the range of an acoustic. The fact that Roland has included all of these settings is really an acknowledgement of the fact that there's a lot of work that yet needs to be done. Digitals should be kings of the personalization of touch, but you have to give people the chance. Also mating the touch response to the right sample is critical. It's not worth anything if the sample isn't responsive.

 

Busch.

[Song80s]

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=923

 

I did a brief tone comparison, SX vs GX.

 

It appears the GX has almost the same tone list as the SX.

 

The GX does add more tones- a new acoustic piano ( 6 more acoustic piano tones); 10 more EP tones ( the Supernat'l),

10 more Clavs ( the GX Clavs), same Organ tones, same Gtr/BAss,

a few more Strings, a few more Brass/Winds, a few more Voice/synths

 

 

Yeah, I'm hoping the new clavs, Supernat'l EPs and the new ac piano are worthwhile improvements, but I'm really buying it for the keyboard action/feel.

 

Busch.

 

since you had a chance to play the ivory feel keybed, that is a strong reason.

 

I noticed the internal memory of the GX is 4 MB. Vs the SX's 1 MB. The GX has 242 tones vs the SX's 208

 

A 4x difference in memory is substantial. I did the tone comparison in an effort to to see how the additional ( 3 mg) memory might be utilized.

 

It appears the additional wave rom is partly used for the new Hamburg sample and the Supernatural EP

 

 

[orangefunk]

I'm just wondering if this keyboard combined with a GEM RPX module would be the ultimate... I know it sounds crazy, but I think a really good feeling keyboard that you would probably keep for a long time + the GEM (which I would still think is at the top of the heap) is the way to go...

 

I guess it all depends on the RD's rhodes for me... the GEM rhodes isn't really there for me.. even when you add compression and effects its still a bit tinkly...

 

 

[burningbusch]

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=923

 

I did a brief tone comparison, SX vs GX.

 

It appears the GX has almost the same tone list as the SX.

 

The GX does add more tones- a new acoustic piano ( 6 more acoustic piano tones); 10 more EP tones ( the Supernat'l),

10 more Clavs ( the GX Clavs), same Organ tones, same Gtr/BAss,

a few more Strings, a few more Brass/Winds, a few more Voice/synths

 

 

Yeah, I'm hoping the new clavs, Supernat'l EPs and the new ac piano are worthwhile improvements, but I'm really buying it for the keyboard action/feel.

 

Busch.

 

since you had a chance to play the ivory feel keybed, that is a strong reason.

 

I noticed the internal memory of the GX is 4 MB. Vs the SX's 1 MB. The GX has 242 tones vs the SX's 208

 

A 4x difference in memory is substantial. I did the tone comparison in an effort to to see how the additional ( 3 mg) memory might be utilized.

 

It appears the additional wave rom is partly used for the new Hamburg sample and the Supernatural EP

 

 

The RD700GX has 256MB of ROM multisamples. The 4MB internal memory is mainly for storing SETUPs. I'm not sure if you can store SMFs or MIDI files there as well. I assume you would use USB storage for MIDI, WAV, MP3, etc.

 

Busch.

[burningbusch]

I'm just wondering if this keyboard combined with a GEM RPX module would be the ultimate... I know it sounds crazy, but I think a really good feeling keyboard that you would probably keep for a long time + the GEM (which I would still think is at the top of the heap) is the way to go...

 

I guess it all depends on the RD's rhodes for me... the GEM rhodes isn't really there for me.. even when you add compression and effects its still a bit tinkly...

 

 

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.

[cnegrad]

Wow, I could live without the aftertouch, but the omission of release velocity really sucks.

 

It does support release velocity (manual page 201 MIDI implementation chart).

 

Busch.

 

I guess that Mark Schmeider was in error (above). Thanks for clearing that up.

[Mark Schmieder]

I hadn't downloaded the manual yet, but read thoroughly everything on the Roland website and printed it out to cross-compare as well.

 

Why do you suppose they would have specifically omitted the release velocity functionality from the RD specs even though they are included in the Fantom specs?

 

Well, I had to download the GEM Promega 2 and Promega 3 manuals today to verify that they do support aftertouch (the PRP series doesn't). I was curious because there's a refurbished Promega 2 available, but I think it's overpriced all things considered.

 

It seems the manuals are the only trustworthy source of information anymore -- although Yamaha seems to be more thorough and consistent than the others, in making sure all the critical information is actually listed on the product spec page.

[orangefunk]

Only Promega 3 has aftertouch. About acquiring an old Promega.. I'd advise against it... technical support is absolutely dreadful.. my Promega 3 has now been in repair for 20 months... they say they have no spare parts for my machine and I can't see it getting any better considering its now not being produced.

 

I can't even buy a new piano until I get that back and sell it... and I'm wanting to move/work to/in another country too this year so its all problematic..

 

 

[Kayvon]

What I keep finding out, with the increasing tweakability of today's keyboards, is I'm usually satisfied with "medium, normal, default" settings. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have the options, but still...

I change the touch based on the gig I'm playing. I play most jazz and RnB gigs with my MP8II set to Heavy+ (the heaviest setting), but for blues gigs I'll set it to Normal (the middle setting) because the kind of slop you need for good blues piano just doesn't translate on heavier settings.

 

Kevin, you haven't got on with the custom curves yet? You need to be a little sneeky to get the best out of them but that's what I use. I need to set up a second curve to be a little heavier for the onboard pianos though.

[kanker.]

Yeah, I haven't tried them yet. I tried to set one up with my CA-X but I don't think I was successful. Maybe after this weekend I'll give it a whirl, see if i can come up with one really super heavy curve and then one sensible curve.

[kanker.]

Digitals should be kings of the personalization of touch, but you have to give people the chance.

What Kayvon and I are talking about directly above this post is a feature in the MP8II and some other Kawais (I assume) that has the piano analyze your playing style and devises a personalized velocity response curve so that in addition to the 5 presets from heavy to light, there are 2 user settings that you can customize.

[Byrdman]

what's this "SUPER NATURAL" crap?

 

Presumably they want to imply that its good for playing Santana covers. One would have expected them to apply that to the B3 sounds rather than the EPs.

 

I must say, looking at the specs, I want one. I hope they fixed my two peeves with the SX - one was the hard way the keys bottomed out, which always made me feel that if I dug in I would break something, and the other was that it was way too easy to accidentally change a patch with your middle fingers when running octaves. And, yes, I know you can't leave your finger sticking out like that on a real piano and I should use proper technique.

 

Actually, I have had dancers change patches on me (not on an RD700) in cramped conditions so a way to lock out the surface mounted buttons would be real useful on all synths.