Ngl this sounds potentially like the best piano sound I've ever heard.. Even the most expensive sample libraries like VSL have noise buildup when you get to higher polyphony counts, and fairly limited flexibility based on the rooms they were sampled in etc. As much as I'd love to love Pianoteq it always sounds a bit weeeird and thin 🤷♀ Roland could do us all an absolute solid and make this available as updates for older boards too - imagine all the perfectly great hardware of slightly older models like the RD800 finally paired with actually great piano sounds, with potentially less e-waste as a result too! 💪
I have switched over to Roland keyboards for live playing - jam band/blues/Americana - sounds amazing- has great organic sounds I can use in a live setting
The Yamaha VL-1 had physical modelling pretty much sorted back in the early 90s for wind and bowed instruments. Lots of academics continued working on the problem of modelling pianos. PianoTeq launched their first implementation in 2007, and Roland launched the V-Piano in 2009. They all sound excellent, but actually lot goes into how the piano is “voiced”: ultimately you have to adjust the hammers and tune the individual strings of the simulated piano in the same way a expert would tune a real one.
I love pianoteq but I've been looking for a variety of sounds like strings. Suggestions? Ideal if it supports Linux but I can probably run it through a wine pass through like I have with keyscape
@@shaunreich I use both Pianoteq and various U-he soft synths for nice strings and stuff. All running in Linux natively. Been using that setup for several years, both live and in studio. Check out U-he Zebra for great sounds and layer them to Pianoteq
I really don’t see the $150 on this expanssion. As an RD2000 owner I think Roland should have give us this as a free update like Yamaha and Nord does everytime the came with a new sampler.
I totally agree, especially when you've purchased Roland's flagship stage piano. All other expansions were put on Axiel where you cound download for free. I still run a computer on windows 7, and had a membership to Roland cloud, when I purchased the flagship Fantom 8, but could never get connected, and certainly wouldn't renew. When I purchased the Fantom 8, it was advertised as Roland's flagship workstation, but now they've released the Fantom 0 series, the original Fantom 8 is a synthesizer. To be honest I feel let down by Roland, and would consider Nord in the future. I have 2 Roland stage pianos and the Fantom 8, and when you consider the cost of these flagship stage instruments, every expansion should be free. When Roland released the Fantom 0 series, I felt like I had be cheated out of my money. Roland shows no loyalty to its customers, regards Andy
Considering this is a minor upgrade for quite a price tag, I am extremely reluctant to go for it, either. If I was a laptop guy, I would rather use something like the Ravenscroft 275 ($99 on sale) for gigs, because that's a serious step up. And for home recording purposes, it's a definite waste of money anyways. Btw, for MODX and Montage there's a FREE Boesendorfer patch available. Might not be a modelled piano, but it doesn't sound considerably worse or better than this V-Piano expansion.
@@andrewbailey6382 what the hell are you even trying to say? Fantom 8 and Fantom-08 are both de facto subtractive synthesizers. Fantom-08 is a rehashed FA-08 with gimped sequencing but improved interface because of the increased controls and touchscreen. FA lacks Zen-Core while Fantom-08 is all about Zen-Core. Fantom-08 also lacks a lot of features that the Fantom 8 offers, it is heavily watered down. Let's try posting sober, buddy. If the cost of the V-piano expansion is too high, that's Roland's problem, just don't buy. No one even needs it, RD-2000 rocks on its own.
@@LudvigOlin- Same here! It has given the RD-2000 some new life, I’m loving it! This German Concert V Piano is the piano we’ve been longing for from Roland. Relevant, competitive and inspiring!
First off, this sounds far superior to pianoteq. Pianoteq sounds artificial wooly sounding pianos. Not up to recording standard. If you have a good ear for piano tone then pianoteq doesnt cut it. The RD 2000 german grand sounds a great update. The bummer is they are stinging owners to buy it. Nord offer all their downloadable pianos for FREE! Rolands greed will just put customers off. Imagine you're just buying the RD2000, then have to pay extra (£150+) for a piano update. Remember this keyboard is 7+ years old and will start to show its age on piano sounds, hence this update. But if Roland are going to keep updating and stinging customers to buy them, people will move away from their products. Come on Roland, show a bit of loyalty love for your customers.
I love physically modelled pianos and use Pianoteq. I'm sure this Roland has a similar feel. Like Jack says, you can feel the difference in your fingers. It does seem real and responsive, like an acoustic. I've also got a Kawai console piano with amazing speakers, but the two have never really meshed. Now if there was a wonderful piano with Pianoteq inside, that would be the dream.
@@MaybeAnnatar I am not complainig. It means there's a justification to get both the Fantom and the RD-2000. :) And the Jupiter-X and Juno-X, too. Hey, as long as it's Roland. :)
Your stuff here is just so expansive , really gets the creative juices shifting up from plonk plonk in me olde brain. Really helpful light shone on what one can choose to do. Clearly a huge learnt result has been put back into this machine. Thank you
They show people the v piano ,but they don’t show how to install it or where to go to buy it there’s no videos on how to install it where to get it from
Puh ... modelling has become so great ... love the idea of having a Jazz or Blues group on stage sporting a real "German" piano sound in a small club ... and your company just goes: "where the heck did they hide the Steinway /Schimmel"?
Oh gosh I don’t think so. At least compare really cheap acoustics with this digital. As a piano tuner myself, I’d always go for a Yamaha or Nord if I could afford the latter. :)
@@vipodcasting Understood ... you are "coming from the opposite direction" ... real Pianos are "in your ear" every day ... I'm just a hobbyist in a small flat - no piano - and i can be cheated easier
@@matzer8846 absolutely right. As I said it is horses for courses and I can completely understand why this piano is also popular. I have a great Yamaha keyboard myself. It does so many things that traditional Pianos can’t do and of course is portable. :-) Respect to you.
Man, I just bought it and is absolutely worth it, very close to keyscape indeed. Maybe I'll make a video showing how it sound because I've been looking and there is not many videos around here. Let me know if you are interested in a DEMO of it.
"To Go Where No Stage Piano Has Gone Before". . Que the Music - someone push the Starship Enterprise across the screen on the fishing line wire - Go on it will look. real just like ILM ! : )
Where do you actually get the update from, Andy says you can get it from you, but I looked and cant find it. Did he mean Roland Cloud, only I had a membership, and could never get connected, as the system kept crashing.
Loved this video guys, but really wanted to hear more playing, putting it through its paces!! I love Roland keyboards but have always found the piano sounds a little lacking. The V-Piano Expansion has me almost ready to pull the trigger. Seriously, I like what I hear in this video. Thanks for sharing. So far, this is nearly the only video I've found on the V-Piano Expansion.
Although I love Roland, they have yet to produce a proper piano sound in the last 40 years. I use my Roland for everything except piano… For that I use a Casio Privia.
@@DaraM73 For an Arranger keyboard that actually makes sense. And Roland is doing that as well. Some products have content tailored for different markets. Personally, I can't see why that would be a need for the RD-series. I could fit all those needs with ease at the same time, and I wouldn't want to choose..
I got the Expansion today by download on Roland Cloud Manager. But there is no Installation guide to bring it on the RD-2000. Is it the same way like installing expansion boards with an .bin file? Now its an .exz file. Can anyone help me out?
Made me think how we missed something for years and came back to it - the Kurzweil K250 was probably the first workable 'real' piano sound and although it was based on samples, a lot of how it works was 'modelling' using AI from Ray Kurzweil' other businesses. I was so impressed with the level of attention to detail in this sound... right up until we got to "unlimited polyphony" for a piano sound and some people wil be impressed. LOL ...That's not how a real piano works (88 but possibly changes slightly rather than new note on re-strike when undamped???). - Although I do get the value for layering etc. Amazing sound though and looking forward to where this goes..
How do I get the knobs on this thing to work in Cubase? Midi is good, but learn cc function doesn't work. Even in Assign more. Are knob movements not transmitting cc messages externally?
I am a piano hack, but I have had a Roland Stage Piano, and it takes me back to my childhood playing classical on Grand Pianos. It is a bit pricey, but it is really an heirloom instrument I'll be happy to pass down.
it MIGHT down the line. Of course its gone to the rD first being a dedicated stahge piano - but wouldnt be surprised if it didnt com eto Fantom in a year or so.
@jacob brown fantom DOES have dome supernatural. It has sn pianos, Eps, some strings, harps and some brass. Not as comprehensive as the Jupiter 80, but fantom does have supernatural.
Roland has said it's not going to be available for fantom for the foreseeable future but haven't rules it out down the line. 12 to 18 months is likely if it becomes available at all.
I am going to sound crazy but I would love it if the new models of Roland placed all the MKS-20 sounds in their keyboards considering the actual MKS-20 module is discontinued unless they developed a smaller, more compact module for travel. As much as I like plugins, there’s nothing like have it right in the hardware.
You can never compare apples with apple here. I.e. a traditional piano will always sound better than a modelled one in a digital context. And truthfully, you simply can’t give the end user the ability to tune all notes in the way we piano tuners do with traditional pianos. My position here is confirmed by the fact that non of the notes here have 3 strings per note to tune in the mid and treble sections; 2 strings per note in the upper and mid bass and single notes in the lower base. Piano tuners train for at least three years to learn the uniquenesses of individual acoustic pianos and it is true to say that we learn what is going to work best for each piano we see. Conversely, these instruments are fantastic for their versatility, portability and over all features but, it is a bit misleading to market these pianos as being anything akin to a traditional piano. They are just different beasts is all. :) x
@@jacobbrown1690 Yeah, of course it is. You shouldn’t have a Steinway if you can’t tell the difference between the two. I was at least fair. Never mind. :)
Actually, the V-Piano engine does in fact have triple-string tuning across the whole range. I have the original V-Piano and it's fantastic, even today. The software in the RD-2000 is an incremental upgrade on this, with basically the same editing parameters as the original. It gives you control of not only tuning per note, but tuning per string per note, as well as string thickness, the hardness of the hammer felt and a myriad of other things. I for one welcome giving the 'end user' as much control as possible.
@@jordanm2984 So you like digging menus much longer than on a big screen. Good for you. Roland please make bigger screens, and I buy Jordan a roll of tape to hide the screen 🤭
Not only bigger, but also better quality. The screen on the RD-2000 is low contrast and very dependent on the angle you look at it. Never understood why they use such cheap screens on a flagship product.
@@chexcollects I lost my home, studio business, fiancee and all my possessions. And my career stopped. I was living on the streets. Came home and suffered depression and anxiety.
It's a joke. I don't buy Roland products anymore after having to buy Pianoteq after getting the rd-2000 and dealing with those bad sounds on a $3k keyboard.
13:30 I'm within half an hours drive from Guidford... atm in Ickenham, but will be moving to around the High Wycombe area. Anyway - thanks for this great in depth review.
Guess they're not allowed to say Steinway... *I know there are a myriad of german manufacturers, but the truth is that they're pretty much unknown if you speak to a non pianist.
@@dynoroad I think Bechstein and Bluthner are pretty well known. I don't think this video is targeting anyone who wouldn't have heard of at least those two as well. Also, if talking non-musicians in the USA, many seem to think Steinways only come from New York these days if they have a guess at all.
@@rs232killer Still, whenever a manufacturer references "German concert grand" they mean Steinway, unless they specify a certain area in Germany, Leipzig, Berlin, etc. This Roland expansion is a Hamburg Steinway, there's not question about that.
Serious question: What's the point of "unlimited polyphony", and not being limited to 256 notes, when there are only 88 keys? I mean, on a piano, when I retrigger the same note it's playing on the same string, right? You can't play the same note twice at the same time. Is this just stupid marketing mumbo jumbo? Not to say anything against these instruments. I have both the RD-2000 and the Fantom, and they're great.
"You can't play the same note twice at the same time" you can actually do that if you sustain the notes with the damper pedal. Every subsequent key press will send its own data to the sound engine which will eat up processing power i.e. polyphony. I do think however that 256 notes of polyphony should be enough for the vast majority of applications.
@@dynoroad But when I sustain a note, and retrigger it, the hammer goes down on the same string? So it's not two notes playing now at the same time. The previous tone, even if sustained, gets replaced by the new one the instant the hammer strucks the string. Or maybe I misunderstand the physics here. Does the previous note still play on the same string?
@@valuemastery On an acoustic, if the string isn't damped, each hammer strike will keep adding energy into the vibrating string. "The previous tone, even if sustained, gets replaced by the new one the instant the hammer strucks the string" this is just not true.
I had an RD2000 which has brilliant piano sounds. Sadly, the additional sounds are not so good. Finally switched it for a Nautilus 88, pianos not as good (Italian piano is great) but everything else is an improvement.
You must have a different instrument than mine. The sounds are awesome, especially when you combine and layer. I play in a Cover band and a Smooth Jazz band
Nautilus kills RD-2000 at piano sounds wtf, son RD-2000 is so lo-fi and plasticky next to the best pianos on the Nautilus/Kronos/Grandstage. Which is a bit odd when the RD is a dedicated stage piano and the Korgs are all workstations, then Grandstage is a standalone piano dedicated to the hi-fi pianos of the Kronos.
