Roland digital piano?

[Don C.]

My wife just took over as music director in our small church of 100 people and it looks like we will need to replace the old Technic digital piano (I know...junk!) anyway, we are looking to recommend a Roland. We have looked at the HP Series, KR Series and the RD700. We are a very traditional church, trying to become more contemporary. We have a Roland dealer in town, so would like to go that route, it will make maintenance and repairs much easier. And the store has been good to us on other deals.

What is your recommendation? What do you like in the Roland line? Why?

Thanks for your help!!!

[stevegoad]

No doubt that Roland are some of the best keyboards around, and if you are looking for good, clean piano sounds, they are head and shoulders above most others in their price range.

Your keyboard player will love the way the keys are weighted on this one (very natural in its feel). And when you go beyond the piano voice, it is still very clean across the board.

THe RD700 is a great choice, no doubt about it.

[NKunze]

Used a KR series Roland for several years..loved it. It was fun sequencing with the multi-track sequencer..makes it sound like you have an orchestra. We now have a band so I've switched to a a Yamaha Motif.

Check it against the Yamaha P-250

[Travis]

Yamaha MOTIF ES8
this is an awesome keyboard. I love roland but this motif is currently on the platform and our roland is in its travel case in the closet.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/...SERIES,00.html

[KeithM]

This might be one of those everyone has an opinion but there's no particular right answer scenarios. The Roland vs. Yamaha vs. Korg vs. whoever debate will probably go on forever .

The Rolands you mentioned are all good (I agree with Steve that the RD700 is a fine choice). Yamaha is good choice, so is Korg. If you've got a local Roland dealer, that may tip the scale a little toward them. Just make sure that your keyboard player is comfortable with the weight/feel of the keys of whatever you choose.

Of course, IMHO, if money is no object and you don't really care about local customer service, THE best out there is the General Music Pro Mega 3.

[Elec R. Winner]

unless your keyboard player wants to take the keyboard home week after week to study it and its progamability and all its features, I highly advise against anything to do with a synthesizer or music workstation. We have a Triton LE, a Triton Pro-x, and an N1, all from Korg, and while they are great machines, you practically have to be an authorized Korg dealer to figure out how to do anything with them. The Kurtzweil MK5 we have, or something similar, is a lot better suited to most churches, as it's a lot easier to simply pull up a piano patch or a string patch without having to dig through all the menus and submenus. If you are looking for a full-fledged synth, however, Yamaha and Korg come with the most positive remarks, from what I've heard. Kurtzweil is owned by Young Chang, which has filed bankrupcy, there's a big mess with the governement that controls the company, therefore support is lacking. Rolands have always seemed cheaper than Korgs or Yamahas, but if it feels good, sounds good, has a decent warranty, and you have the local dealer hookup, by all means, go with Roland.

[Elec R. Winner]

Those General Music (what an awful name ) keyboards look top notch! Some of their PA gear looks really great, too. I'd never heard of this brand. Does anyone have any prior experience with any of their products?

[wjferguson]

I would heartily recommend the Roland. I used an RD300 for over 10 years, then sold it for $100 to a music teacher friend. Now she's enjoyed it for the past year. I replaced it with a Fantom88 synth, as that had the features I wanted now.

A couple things to consider before making your final decision:

1. Do you need to move it around much? The fully weighted action the RD300 had made it nearly 100 pounds by the time it was in a travel case. I've played a 700, but I don't remember hefting it to see if it is as heavy as my 300 was.
2. The sound. I love the Roland piano sounds, but there are some who think Korg or Yamaha or ... have a 'better' sound.
3. Action. The feel and response of the keys is wonderful on the Roland RD700, but it is a subjective thing. Make sure your musician feels the same way.

Bill

[Maildad1964]

Since we are talking about the Roland rd 700....we got one for our church and we love it. One thing though, the sustain pedal has decided to stop sustaining. I go to the manual and I can see how to assign a funcxtion to the pedal. From chorus effects to arppegio playing....but no instructions on how to make it sustain again. Does anyone have any ideas? My keyboard player is about to wheel out the old upright piano.

[rePete]

If money is an object, don't discount the Casio Privia line! Inexpensive and great action.

The RD700 will be great.

btw, Kurzweil is certainly owned by YC but their newer line of keyboards are tremendous. I've owned a PC3 for a couple years now and it is the most flexible instrument I have ever played. No issues coming from the YC side.

just fyi