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Hey folks. Longtime member but been absent for many years. After doing a lot of research here about 10 years ago I bought a Roland RD700GX and have been very happy with it, especially for the SN piano sound. Now after 10 years I'm getting the itch to upgrade to something noticeably better that will lift my spirits and maybe re-energize me. However I've been absent the forums for a while and haven't kept up to date on new product releases, so essentially back to being a newb.

I am considering a Nord Stage. Although, they are a bit expensive, so I might go with a used Nord Stage 2 or EX. Although I love the GX I was never that thrilled with the organs or EP's and I heard back in the day that Nord was very good at all three (Piano, EP, Organ). I assume that's still the case.

I think RD2000 is the latest Roland model, but I'm afraid it might not be different/improved enough for me, just a tweak of my existing model. But obviously I don't know what I'm talking about seeing as I haven't tried either of these models in person.

Would Nord Stage 2/2EX be a good upgrade path for me? Is the RD-2000 really significantly better (orders of magnitude) than a GX? Are there other products I should check out? Would really love to get something with really good Organs and EP's to go with a great piano sound.

Thanks

If you like your EPs and Organs as much as your pianos then I think the new Korg SV2 is definitely worth considering. It comes in versions with or without speakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDbfysx4WR0

There are very good stage pianos available.
You should definitely test them:

Kawai MP11SE
Kawai MP7SE
Roland RD2000
Roland Fantom 88
Dexibel Vivo S9 Pro
Nord PIano 4
Nord Grand
Nord Stage 3
Kurzweil Forte
Korg Grandstage
Korg SV1, SV2
Korg Kronos
Yamaha CP88
Yamaha Montage
Crumar 7

All these are really good.
For shortlisting by best action, try
MP11SE
MP7SE
Roland RD2000 / Roland Fantom 88
Nord Grand

I think there are some folks that regret upgrading from a previous RD to RD2000; not sure which one but I even think it was RD700 something. You may find more at Facebook RD2000 group (some fairly old posts). These folks liked their previous RDs tones better. The best thing you can do is trying yourself. About it being orders of magnitude better, I doubt it.

I would add RD88 to Doug's list. Also if you like your 700GX, you may perhaps consider keeping it and adding some application running on an iPad for organs and EPs.

Which makes zero sense because the RD-2000 contains the exact same sounds as the older RD models, as well as all the new stuff. The EXACT same sounds and in a blind test I've never seen anyone able to tell the difference between the RD700 tones on the RD700 and the ones on the RD2000

Is there a video of this being tested?
If so, can you provide the link, please?

Kind regards,
James
x

Former RD700NX owner; I also wouldn't get an RD2000 since it is pretty much the same thing, unless you are specifically interested in the v-piano tones or your 700GX is broken. I have a Fantom 8 now which makes all the other patches that you might find on an RD board quite usable and editable (plus synthesizer, sequencer etc), which is all pretty fun when you want a change of pace. Great action (same as RD2000 anyways). Not too familiar with EP/organs though since I rarely use them. Also the Fantom is extremely heavy if you need to move it around often.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Yes I should mention I am looking for a portable unit for live performance. So only interested in units up to about 50lbs. I will see if I can check out a couple of the recommendations here.

Didn't hear to many people jump up and down about Nord like I was expecting. No Nord fans?

I moved from an RD-600 (twenty years of ownership) to an RD-2000. I am not a performing musician.

I learned that the RD-2000 is amazing when it comes to its software... you can do anything.. really... however it is complex. In addition to this kind of power, you get the new modeled sounds and their updated action. Of course, do you need all it has to offer? Regarding the modeled sounds.. I think they are better than the SN sounds but that is taste. You may have a bias towards them like I did due to my years of playing a Roland piano.

However.... the advances when it comes to action and sound were not that great after twenty years.... pretty surprising (disappointing?) to me. That is not to say Roland has not kept pace with others, it is just that you should not expect a big jump in wonderfulness.

Regarding Nord.. I wanted one but could not find any store in Philly or NYC that had one on display! I contacted the Nord rep and he recommended some place outside of DC but to call first. Sheesh. My buddy, a musician in popular cover bands (doing this for thirty years) was a Roland guy and just switched to Nord. He loves it because of its layout.. just what he needs. Sorry, I have no clue what he meant by all of this but I suspect it has to do with convenience over sound or playability. Pros, in my observation, have a different priority list than me banging away in my basement.

My extremely limited experience playing a Nord stage piano - like once! - I remember the sounds to be very dynamic and good sounding... but that is all I can say.

IMO, the Roland RD-2000 has it all assuming you like the sound, hard to believe one would want anything else... but it sure is complex to operate.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

blueston,

In terms of weight and sounds, I suspect there is not such a huge improvement to justify the upgrade to RD2000, unless you 700GX is presenting problems due to age. Maybe the keybed improvements from 700GX's to PHA50 in 2000 could justify it but even that could be debatable as you may like yours better (of course, you should test it yourself). RD2000 does have many sounds, but I doubt any serious player will really use most of them on stage (I may be wrong though).

If you need to upgrade, I would suggest looking at RD88 as well, not the same keybed (PHAIV instead of PHA50), more limited on the control department, I guess (RD2000 has sliders and extra buttons and wheel), but lighter and has some pluses (extra synthesizer engine).

About the Nord, this is not the best forum to ask, most users here are more oriented towards using their digitals at home, favoring touch and sound realism over other attributes that may be more adequate on stage. You may have better answers to your use case at the keyboard corner forum (and others I am not aware of).

I’ll second that RD-88 advice. Even has built-in speakers.