From sbac@alum.berkeley.edu Sat Mar 13 13:58:18 2004
Subject:Re: srx-07

Hi, I also have a Roland RD-700. I absolutely hate the acoustic piano sounds on it, none
of them have enough natural resonance to sound good to me. Also, none of the notes
sustain long enough, it sounds very muffled. I've tweaked with it many times, and the
best thing I've figured out so far is to increase the release time for the piano and for
the Multi Effects knob, I set the option to something called ENHANCER, and I turn the
knob to the max. THis gives it a brighter sound, to combat the muffled sound, but it
still isn't right. I really hate this part of the Roland, because everything else on the
keyboard is so nice...the touch, the keys, the layout. I've been experimenting with a
computer VST plugin from Steinberg called "The Grand" which is a 1.5 GB piano sample I
can play through the midi, and it sounds great to say the least. But that means I have
to carry a laptop with me to my gigs, which I don't have yet.

I've also looked into the SRX cards, but I've never been able to get myself to buy one.
First, I'm trying to save money for a real Hammond, and mentally, I'm very pissed off
about having to buy a $300 card when I bought Roland's top of the line piano just to get
a decent piano sound. I've heard complaints about the SRX-02 card, that some of the keys
were not sampled correctly. This SRX-07 seems to get good reviews. I'll get it if I can
get it for around $100. Otherwise, I'll just hold off until I figure out what I want to
do to get a good piano sound.

I'm really frustrated with Roland for the quality of the acoustic piano sounds on the RD-
700. It just seems wrong that they wouldn't put a good piano sound on their flagship
stage piano model.

Aram

> Interested in opinions on the srx-07 expansion. My interest is
> primarily for a good, sustaining piano sound that will compete with
> guitars. I am presently playing an RD-700, but I don't use the
> internal piano (sounded great in the store, fell flat on the gig).
> For piano, I midi to a p-330 (fifteen year old technology), which is
> OK, but I would rather have the sound on board. Tried the SRX-02,
> but it had the same shortcomings as the internal sounds; primarily,
> a fast decay. Anybody? Also recently purchased a cx-3, and
> upgraded to ver.2. Would be interested in some of your favorite
> settings. Thanks.