Bought the RD88 yesterday and was up way too late playing it all night, the feel is so responsive. I've always been a Kurzweil loyalist, but the full weighted keys and the light weight of keyboard to pick up and carry into venues has me royally happy today!
I bought a Juno DS88 about two months ago with the goal of street performing with a completely battery-powered rig. I use the Juno, a Roland Cube Street EX, and a Roland VT-4 vocal transformer. They all work incredibly well with each other. I've been out many times performing already, and I'm having more fun than I've had in years playing. The Juno DS battery power is a game changer - finally a really hefty synth workstation with complete portability. Amazing job, Roland. I'm a super fan!
I've had the Juno DS88 for awhile now and I just get lost in it. It's an amazing instrument and, yes, it's really more than an instrument. It's an entire production studio that's perfect for composing and really expanding your horizons. Great review!
I just got this instrument and had no idea what it could do. More instrument than I knew about. I just play for fun and wanted a cool synthesizer keyboard in addition to my Piano.
I have had the Juno DS88 for about 3 years. I have done 100s of gigs with it. I use a Nord Stage 3 on top - but I still find I use the DS more often. If I need an organ, the Nord is unbeatable. The Nord sounds better on everything - but the DS is definitely good enough and weighted keys are fantastic. I really do use it more than the Nord even though the Nord is better sounding in every way.
I have both ,( I give you my honest review 😊)… and strange enough … my favourite piano in sound and touch is still the JunoDS. Why? Now, first of all I like the touch … those keys feels great. About sound, it takes awhile to get your own sound … (enough possibilities for editing) in a way, the sound works perfectly in the mix. It has also a sturdy, comfortable feel on stage. I can shape using layers to get the sound what I want and most important, the output quality … this is not the newest model from Roland but for me still the best sounding instruments. Don’t forget, you can layer up to 16 different instruments if you wish(16ch). About RD88 , my experience, it doesn’t work for me especially in the electric pianos… the available tones sounding very light and you must using fx to make it interesting in a way. The acoustic pianos: they have a short decay, not bad for rock, pop styles … overall very limited in editing compared with the Juno. Positive: light weight, internal speakers, zen core compatible i f you are interested in using the Roland Cloud. This is of course a very personal opinion but I should say, trying these out in a store …😊
Thanks for this comparison!!! I've been considering getting one of these. Both are great keyboards. The video let's me know "what's under the hood". I'm thinking the rd88 is the keyboard for me.
I've got the Juno DS76 and I love all the sounds, plus you get the bonus ten EXP expansion libraries on a jump drive from Sweetwater. I've already got the Yamaha MX88, which I assume is Yamaha's version of the RD-88. I love the MX88 because it also has layer, split, and drum accompaniment. I think Yamaha has better acoustic sounds than the Roland. Oh, yeah, you can load samples and songs into the Juno DS76 (as it has an audio player). The Juno DS76 and Yamaha MX88 is a great combination! Used to have a NordWave, but it sounded really cheap for the price! I ended up selling the Nord.
@@anatommyandcharvananirvana3348 Sweetwater offers a two-year warranty and free support (Sweetcare). The keys actually feel fine. You can always connect it to a MIDI controller with a feel that is right for you.
I have the same boards but smaller. They really do sound great together. I added a Casio CTX-5000 and a Korg Wavestate they added some nice sounds to the others.😁🎶🎹🎶 Play On
I have an RD88 as the main keyboard and Juno Ds61 on top tier plugged into RD88 in the line in from the 2 jack outputs from the ds61 via an adaptor. Works great and allows me to do pretty much everything. The RD88 piano and EP are in another league compared to the ds61 but it holds its own with other sounds and easy to setup loops and sequences so i can setup great accompaniment on the ds and have a bit of fun. Then i just take the ds61 with me with headphones and batteries for portable fun and setups.... Great combo 👍
I don't understand the comparison, because the RD88 is a stage piano and the DS88 a synthesizer. Conclusion of the Yamaha guy at the end agrees with me ; it is "a synth machine". And another thing i not heard is that the DS88 has two cheaper versions with all features but smaller; DS61 and DS76. That makes it very allround and more affordable then the RD. I love your easy listening talking and very interesting. Maybe have a camera on the keyboard vertical next time, to see how it is set, with the sounds you make. Picture in picture maybe? Love hear more about my remarks
Thanks for a very helpful video. I read something about a VST from Roland that works with Logic (or Mainstage) that allows you to create sounds in Logic and export them for use in the RD88. Did I understand that correctly?
@alamo, I just bought both the Juno-DS88 and the Juno-X. I know I am going to keep the Juno-X. I haven't unboxed the DS88 as I have a 20 year old Yamaha S90ES which has a better keyboard bed and feel but does lack the simplicity of production-ready patch buttons found on the DS88. Also the Yamaha is 15 lbs heavier which does make it a beast to carry around to gigs and rehearsals. I can manage with the Juno-X for rehearsal as it does have the RD88 patch but does the DS88 have the RD88 patch? I have till the end of January to return the DS88. Any advice and comments beyond what I have asked are also welcome.
Hey! Thank you very much for making this video! It was really helpful! I'd like to ask you a question though. When you were demonstrating Juno DS88, on 31:00 minutes, you play a 'Sitar' sound. Do you know if the RD-88 has such a sound? I'm a big fun of how the sitar sounds and I'm considering of buying the RD-88.
I'm really just starting out, but wanting to both "learn the piano" a little better and have the capability to create music with many of the features that the JUNO offers. As the JUNO has no onboard speakers, what would you recommend for starting out? I'm not going to be playing on stage at this point, so it would primarily be just for me at home to hear my work.
I'm getting the RD88 for the sound and feel. All the fancy stuff I can just do on my DAW. Although the JUNO seems good for LIVE shows, I have my old KORG Triton for that.
I got the DS 88… the keys feel great but after 16 days one key started squeaking…. Argh. Guitar Center says they have a 45 day return policy. Do you guys recommend the guitar center extra warranty? Also, the DS 88 is so heavy ( I’m a small lady :) I’m afraid of dropping it. If you or anybody else has a comment about the warranty/ claim process stuff it would be much appreciated 😊 have a good day
What a shame that the RD88 can't be battery powered like the Juno DS. Surely Roland could have done it in the same way that Casio did with their PXS line of compact digital pianos.
While it isn't as convenient, the RD-88 appears to run off a 12V power supply and claims a 1.5 Amp draw (which I assume is max, not constant, but I don't know for sure). If you really wanted to you could kludge up an external 12V battery pack with the right plug. For about $40 you can get one that would run the keyboard for at least 4 hours on a charge and weigh less than 1 pound.
Great point regarding the external battery pack. The Juno DS has the pitch bend and modulation lever on the left of the keyboard making it a longer instrument that won't fit as easily into many smaller cars. I got the RD88 and am very happy with it. It's got all those great Roland sounds with an excellent action and is extremely compact and lightweight. I also have a Korg Kross 2 61 and the two instruments complement each other very nicely.
The hyperbole in this video is out of this universe. The RD-2000 is barely twice the price of the RD88, not 3-4 times. Could you imagine paying $5,200 for the RD-2000? Check out some other reviews if you're on the fence for either of these keyboards.
And after watching this I really have to wonder... These guys obviously don't know either keyboard very well at all... The DS will blow the RD series away in many many ways... And it is just as easy to use. The DS also supports importing samples in multiple ways, without logging into anything Roland. Which means it will do any sound the RD will.... I have owned both of these keyboards, and still own my DS88. The RD88 is a stage piano. The DS88 is a multi timbral 16 track synth, but not quite a workstation.. They never mentioned this once in this video, because neither of them know much about either of them. If all you want is a piano, the RD will do... Just keep in mind that it costs just as much as the DS that will do worlds more and is just as easy to use..... It wouldn't matter if the RD was considerably cheaper. But it RD88 is not cheaper, other than in features....... Yes the DS uses an older sound engine, but it more than makes up for it in features that cost thousands more in other synths... Literally thousands more, keep that in mind.... There is a reason the RD series are so cheap on the used market. And there are always a lot of used ones on the market, for a reason.........
