Modartt user forum - Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-08-27T15:08:37Z

Interestingly, I just went through all of this on Saturday when I found both the Juno DS88 and the FA-08 at a store near here. First of all, I found these to be the absolute best keybeds in the store, and I tried at least 20+ keyboards of all different stripes and price points. Both the FA-88 and Juno felt identical to me, and I fell in love with both of them. I finally chose the FA-08, which I take delivery on this Thursday. I really did a very thorough comparison of the two, and they were side by side. They felt identical, no question about it. They also felt very similar to the RD-2000, which is considerably more expensive - similar enough not to pay an extra six or seven hundred dollars for, although I do love the layout of the 2000 and the controller aspects.

I was definitely on a QUEST for the best midi controller weighted keyboard I could find - the only stipulation was that it had mod wheel/pitch bend controls. Everything else was negotiable. I was very, very surprised to find that these Rolands did it for me, so much more than any of the others, and I tried EVERYTHING in a 200 mile radius of here. While the FA-08 may not be the most expensive or fashionable controller around, I'm very, very happy to have discovered it, and it's going to be center stage in my studio!

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-07-06T12:49:45Z

peterws wrote:

luckyluca wrote:
luckyluca wrote:

That's what I read on some other place as well , unless I bumped into your post somewhere else too.
interestingly I just received a reply from roland saying that they both have the same keybed, hmmmm.
I've also tried the fp90 which i hated, feels slightly mushier, fp30 feels good albeit possibly a bit cheaper than the fa08 and f140r which feels great.
also Yamaha cp4 feels amazing and all korg 88 keys they had were terrible.
.
My FP50 felt good when I bought it; next to it was the RD300NX which felt lighter and looser. It was used, maybe that was why.
Lately we have the PHA4 standard which feels similar, but better in some ways. The FP60 has it along with others. Feels good . . . now that might make a very good controller with it's much improved bass response.

do you know if the juno ds88 has graded keys?

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-30T18:18:05Z

luckyluca wrote:

luckyluca wrote:
Studiocat wrote:
A Roland representative told me the Juno DS88 keybed is indeed different than the FA08. I preferred the very slightly lighter / faster action of the Juno. I have enjoyed the Juno as a controller so far.

That's what I read on some other place as well , unless I bumped into your post somewhere else too.
interestingly I just received a reply from roland saying that they both have the same keybed, hmmmm.
I've also tried the fp90 which i hated, feels slightly mushier, fp30 feels good albeit possibly a bit cheaper than the fa08 and f140r which feels great.
also Yamaha cp4 feels amazing and all korg 88 keys they had were terrible.
.

My FP50 felt good when I bought it; next to it was the RD300NX which felt lighter and looser. It was used, maybe that was why.
Lately we have the PHA4 standard which feels similar, but better in some ways. The FP60 has it along with others. Feels good . . . now that might make a very good controller with it's much improved bass response.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-23T19:57:17Z

luckyluca wrote:

Studiocat wrote:
luckyluca wrote:
Hi, this is my first post :-)
I wanted to ask, do you know if the junods88 has *exactly* the same keybed as the roland fa08?
I played the junods88 and really loved it, but I'm keen on the added features of the fa08, but as I'm unable to try one I wanted to know if the keybed are exactly the same. I tried the fp25 and the 2 keybeds are similar but not quite the same. In all honestly I favour keybed over added features and might go with the junods88 unless somebody could confirm the above :-)
Many thanks!
A Roland representative told me the Juno DS88 keybed is indeed different than the FA08. I preferred the very slightly lighter / faster action of the Juno. I have enjoyed the Juno as a controller so far.

That's what I read on some other place as well , unless I bumped into your post somewhere else too.
interestingly I just received a reply from roland saying that they both have the same keybed, hmmmm.

tried the keybed of the fa08 at pmt London today.
unfortunately they didn't allow to plug it and turn it on, also they didn't have the juno ds88 avail.
so it's keybed soundless vs what i remember from 4 days ago at another shop.
anyway the seem the same, or in other words i liked the fa08 as much as the juno keybed.

I've also tried the fp90 which i hated, feels slightly mushier, fp30 feels good albeit possibly a bit cheaper than the fa08 and f140r which feels great.
also Yamaha cp4 feels amazing and all korg 88 keys they had were terrible.

I'm thinking junods88 might be the one for me.
i could save the upgrade to the fa08 money and use it towards a daw interface and possibly speakers.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-21T21:26:10Z

They may indeed have the same keybed now. They did not when I purchased my JunoDS88 in December last year. Playing them both, side by side in the store revealed an obvious difference in feel. I contacted Roland around that same time.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-21T19:49:09Z

Studiocat wrote:

luckyluca wrote:
Hi, this is my first post :-)
I wanted to ask, do you know if the junods88 has *exactly* the same keybed as the roland fa08?
I played the junods88 and really loved it, but I'm keen on the added features of the fa08, but as I'm unable to try one I wanted to know if the keybed are exactly the same. I tried the fp25 and the 2 keybeds are similar but not quite the same. In all honestly I favour keybed over added features and might go with the junods88 unless somebody could confirm the above :-)
Many thanks!
A Roland representative told me the Juno DS88 keybed is indeed different than the FA08. I preferred the very slightly lighter / faster action of the Juno. I have enjoyed the Juno as a controller so far.

That's what I read on some other place as well , unless I bumped into your post somewhere else too.

interestingly I just received a reply from roland saying that they both have the same keybed, hmmmm.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-21T11:44:35Z

luckyluca wrote:

Hi, this is my first post :-)
I wanted to ask, do you know if the junods88 has *exactly* the same keybed as the roland fa08?
I played the junods88 and really loved it, but I'm keen on the added features of the fa08, but as I'm unable to try one I wanted to know if the keybed are exactly the same. I tried the fp25 and the 2 keybeds are similar but not quite the same. In all honestly I favour keybed over added features and might go with the junods88 unless somebody could confirm the above :-)
Many thanks!

A Roland representative told me the Juno DS88 keybed is indeed different than the FA08. I preferred the very slightly lighter / faster action of the Juno. I have enjoyed the Juno as a controller so far.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2018-06-21T10:14:11Z

Hi, this is my first post :-)

I wanted to ask, do you know if the junods88 has *exactly* the same keybed as the roland fa08?

I played the junods88 and really loved it, but I'm keen on the added features of the fa08, but as I'm unable to try one I wanted to know if the keybed are exactly the same. I tried the fp25 and the 2 keybeds are similar but not quite the same. In all honestly I favour keybed over added features and might go with the junods88 unless somebody could confirm the above :-)

Many thanks!

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-02-25T18:02:21Z

SteveLy wrote:

I read the OP but only skimmed the replies, so excuse me if I am repeating stuff already said.
My impression is that Roland's Ivory Feel-G action is different between different models. For example, the IFG action on the FP-20 feels inferior to IFG on the RD-300. Maybe it's the keys (probably is), but I don't really know. All I know is the specs don't always tell the full story. You've got to try before you buy.
Anyway, the IFG is now outdated, so unless you're looking to buy used, stay away from it.

You are correct. The IFG actions do vary between Roland models. The Juno DS88 has a nice feel IMHO. According to a Roland rep, the key escapement was modified on the Juno for a "better feel". I have friends who attended NAMM in January and actually preferred the Juno action to the new RD2000.
-Perry-

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-02-25T16:56:05Z

I read the OP but only skimmed the replies, so excuse me if I am repeating stuff already said.

My impression is that Roland's Ivory Feel-G action is different between different models. For example, the IFG action on the FP-20 feels inferior to IFG on the RD-300. Maybe it's the keys (probably is), but I don't really know. All I know is the specs don't always tell the full story. You've got to try before you buy.

Anyway, the IFG is now outdated, so unless you're looking to buy used, stay away from it.

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-02-04T22:05:15Z

Yes I noticed the note off velocity already in the store, so that's nice! Yes you're right, it sounds more and different when sliding off the the key... Hm... I think this is the reason it sometimes can feel a little bit plastic...

The continues half pedal is a very important thing in my point of view and I was surprised that it was ticked off when I bought the DS88... But it wasn't hard to change! I use two Roland DP-10.

I also think that velocity curve and the hardnes of the hammer is linked together... I made a new velocity-curve calibration yesterday, which is totally different from the one before, but I like it, though it was a little bit dark in sound when playing really soft. But then I raised the piano hammer hardness a little bit and that made it...

I haven't bought the Grotrian yet but I found myself enyoj the Blüthner today!!!

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-02-03T21:32:29Z

I notice that if you slide your finger off of the keys on release, they can make some noise. Nothing is loose in the key action, they just rebound a bit differently when you slide your fingers off a key instead of lifting your fingers off of the keys. My Kurzweil PC3x was flat / linear for velocity response with Pianoteq. I am still looking for the perfect velocity curve on the Juno for Pianoteq. You may have noticed the Juno transmits "note off velocity" as well. You can calibrate this in Pianoteq like note on velocity. There is also a setting in the Juno for switching the sustain pedal from "on-off" to continuous for half pedaling. The RPU-3 triple pedal supports this.
-Perry-

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-02-03T19:48:53Z

I really like my Juno DS88! It's a really nice touch on the keys but sometimes, when I hit the keys hard, I can hear a little bit of rattling from the battery-cover...

I noticed that when I calibrate the velocity-curve, the velocity-data comes with 1 decimal like: 2.0 or 126.4 or something in between (yeah higher and lower too... but not much ;-) ). I like that! I must also say that I think Pianoteq actually sounds better from this keyed then previous ones (thats interesting...). Havin sad that I still admit that getting the right velocity curve isn't easy (on any keybed). I kind of think that also depend on my mood, if I for the moment want a softer or a brighter sound...

First I was kind of disappointed of the 2:nd pedal because it didn't handle soft pedal. But then I sett it to aftertouch and control soft pedal within Pianoteq with aftertouch (then I noticed that "Studiocat" did the same thing). This is brilliant because the keyed don't have aftertouch, and this way I can control both soft pedal within Pianoteq and controls aftertouch within synth-sounds of the Juno DS!

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-01-23T09:47:24Z

I found a concern with the Roland Juno DS88. The "medium" velocity curve was fine for Pianoteq but was bad for most of my sample libraries that use velocity to trigger legato. I found that the "light" setting with an offset of +6 in the Juno system setup page is a nice compromise for those libraries. I will just have to set up a new velocity curve in Pianoteq now. Which is a great feature in Pianoteq, BTW.
-Perry-

Re: Roland "Ivory Feel-G with escapement" keybeds : What else differs ?

2017-01-22T07:48:31Z

I sold my Kurzweil PC3x and bought a new Roland Juno DS88. I have had it for a week. I really like the keyboard feel. I have not even listened to any of the onboard sounds yet! I will most likely be using it strictly as a controller keyboard. I got a Roland RPU-3 triple pedal with the deal. Only two of the three outputs can be hooked up to the Juno. I knew this. I am using one pedal for sustain and the other for after touch. The pedals are (thankfully) not the tiny size offered by some other manufacturers. You can select an option for half pedaling in the Juno menu for the sustain pedal. I have not tried that yet. While the keyboard is designed as an entry level instrument, the keyboard action is among the best out there...at least in my opinion. I hope it turns out to be durable.