Ecaroh wrote:*) A bit of personal gear history: As a long time gigging musician I have had Roland RD-600, RD-700SX and RD-700GX before I went to Nords. After that move I have stucked to Nord Stage line (Stage 2, Stage 3 and now Stage 4) for gigging. At home (besides acoustic Kawai) I have had original Nord Grand and Kawai CS-7 (both gone). As said at the moment I have Roland FP80 at my class room which I like but which is a bit boring in terms of sound. That's why I was curious about new RD-2000ex.
That's a lot of gear! Hope you'll find the instrument you need. Personally I'm "re-evaluating" the Roland xv-2020 module which is capable of going from pop/rock/jazz to mind-blowing, experimental sound design (with 64MB memory), storing up to 128 user patches, layering a bunch of stuff. I don't know. Someone put miniDexed into RD-300 chassis. Maybe you can install an iPad running Pianoteq into your favorite 88-key controller. And if you have wi-fi you can post on the forum from that...how does it sound?
In my little experience with an old Roland FP stage piano from the past two decades I feel that Roland still has "the best" keybed but not "the best" sounds. Now, when it comes to reviewers because you can't try the instrument by yourself in peace at the store or you can't decide, it's so funny! I found out that, for myself, I needed to hear actually experienced musicians who maybe happen to put videos reviewing products but are not sponsored/don't base their life on reviewing gear on the internet. While being professionals they are also able to communicate frankly since not tied to the industry and usually have small (but no less respectful) channels.
I didn't know the gentleman in the video up here but he shared ideas in common with what I heard from another one about the predecessor RD-2000. In general, I have the feeling that the time spent with the instrument by reviewers, at least in this kind of edited videos, is too short in comparison to the time spent by Roland to create such piano monsters but ok. Sometimes you can understand more by listening to an hour of improvised streaming with chat enabled with unknown people on YouTube than listening to 10 "reviews" from 10 different channels with 100k+ subscribers each (or, by enjoying Tiago Mallen's factory sounds / no talking videos, for example).
However I think the problem isn't just that there is too much talking and that with music and gear it's all subjective - no, this is a too easy, reductionist objection. It's almost impossible to explain what the matter is with both digital instruments and normal musicians needs, their performance, how suitable in studio music production, if piercing through the mix in a live band with sounds coming out from PA, or other means, all kinds of levels.
This point of "personal" relationship with the instrument is genuinely addressed by Enzo Messina in his own keyboards reviews, constantly, and without going into technical details of synth engines, but trying to describe in such a way that even non-musicians can understand (and mayyyybe follow his channel then), which is why I like listening to him demoing "new" products each week whether I need to buy anything or not (for the record, he collaborates with Viscount)
His RD-2000 review is also worth listening to if you are interested. I have no idea if I hear "artifacts of artificiality" or if it's inferior to Pianoteq to be honest. It's another digital instrument. Curiously I also found an user's comment that sums it up pretty much, mentioning Pianoteq right in Enzo's review of the Roland RD-2000EX (link above). Here's an automatic translation of the comment
There is no doubt that the RD-2000ex is a wonderful instrument. I literally shudder, not to say disgusted, at Roland's policy of selling hot air at mind-boggling prices. Unfortunately, Nord has set the standard high and, now, to have a stage piano you have to spend no less than €3,500-4,000. I find this simply shameful. The day a stage piano incorporates a physical modeling synthesis engine like Pianoteq, which does not require excessive resources to function, will be the end of all these "golden coffins". I fear, however, that this day will never come, because I imagine the war that would ensue.
But again if I were to say mine, I don't fully agree with the customer being always right motto here. Say, just because a software doesn't require excessive resource to function it doesn't mean that the chip material must be cheap... (pun intended)
Best regards.
