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I was wondering... are there any digital pianos with multiple sound engines? That would be great. When I was searching for digital piano for myself there were 2 main factors- sound and keyboard. And none of the instruments were perfect in that regard. For example I would take Kawai DP with Roland sound, I mean it wouldn't have to be Roland but you get my point? When in acoustic instruments it's impossible, then in digital ones IT IS possible, then why aren't there any digital pianos with 2 or more sound engines? It's not worth the effort?

It's not normal to have a completely different sound engine, but some DPs - especially stage pianos - have different sample sets. Nord pianos have different sample sets of very different character and are designed to be open ended: ie you can download alternative sounds and sample sets. This is mostly useful for professional gigging.

The Roland RD800 apparently has at least 2 SN pianos (rather than variations on the same one) as well as a version of the Virtual Piano. There will also be less remarkable piano samples as well (pop piano, honky tonk piano etc).

But if you want to experiment in this area, linking up to a computer is the obvious way to go. For relatively little extra money (more or less $100 a time) you can get completely new, different, alternative sound engines: Ivory II (industry standard virtual piano), True Keys (competition for Ivory), Galaxy Vintage D (the VST of choice on this forum, probably), Pianoteq (state of the art modelled pianos and other instrument sets).

But it depends what exactly you mean by 'sound engine' in this context.

Well I mean completely different sampled sound, not just variations of one piano. Is there a way to put those "sound engines" from computer into digital instrument? Never heard of such possibility.

As I said above, I think you can do that with Nord - great for gigging. And the Roland RD800, for example, has pianos from different original sources onboard, and of fundamentally different types.

However, the obvious way to explore this easily and cheaply is with a computer - which can be a smartphone, I'd have thought, these days - certainly a pad of some sort would be OK.

But if you did specifically want the Roland sound with a different brand action, this would solve that problem for you. Basically the cost of another DP, but it's packed with fun things.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Integra7

Like others noted, if you're looking for boards with multiple sample sets, those exist. My CP4 has the CFX, CFIII and S6. (By astonishing coincidence these all happen to be Yamaha pianos, though...)

The Nord Stage 2 has multiple sound engines.

1. Synth with waveform compatibility
2. B-3
3. Piano (yamaha, bosendorfer and steinway)

Whats more it has 2 of each

If we're talking about DIFFERENT Supernatural instrument types.

On an RD800, we have Acoustic Grand, Upright and Honky Tonk pianos. (Total of 37 different variations, each with their own characteristics)

Then Tine and Reed AND Clav type SuperNatural Electric Pianos with variations on each.

Then the Virtual tone wheel Organ with 10 variations.

Then the remaining PCM Voices.

Not sure if this is what you're referring to, but they are all distinctly different engines.

Jay

They really are? For example grand piano types sound like moddified samples of the first one. It's the same on Kawai and Yamaha(those I've tested). Maybe I said it wrong. I meant more diffrent sampled isntruments. Like I could have Steinway, Kawai and Yamaha in one digital instrument

Roland has at least two sample sources, I believe - though I don't have proof as such. Also a version of the V-piano which is modelled.

David Farley says about a Yamaha stage piano: my CP4 has the CFX, CFIII and S6.

The Nord, according to emenelton can upload and play yamaha, bosendorfer and steinway pianos.

So there is plenty to be going on with there, even before you get to using VSTi where the scope in terms of what you're asking about is limitless, and not tied to any one brand, piano maker, software system or sound engine type.

....so I think the answer to your question is 'yes' in Spem in alium style polyphony.

Toddy,
Yes, that's one of the main advantages of the Nord's that can access the piano library. They can install samples of several different instruments. In addition to the grand pianos you mentioned, they also have a beautifully sampled fazioli. And some of their pianos have varying sample sets with different characters. I'm not positive but I have the impression that they actually revoiced some of the instruments and resampled them rather than just tweaking the samples digitally. Maybe someone knows that for sure, but in any case it gives you a lot of options. And there are many more uprights sampled, in addition to a variety of electric piano, harpsichord, and clav sample sets. And every several months Nord seems to add something to the list that's available. I think that's a huge part of the Nord's appeal. It's not just the quality of their sample sets, it is also their diversity.

Definitely different sets.

Concert Grand is a different instrument than NX Concert Grand, which is again different from Brilliant Grand and again different from Studio Grand. They're based on different instruments. The variations on each of these types are the modified examples of the original.

Jay

The Yamaha CLP-585 has sample sets for the CFX and Bosendorfer Imperial.

What is really strange about RD800 is that nobody seems to know which of the 37 pianos comes from the V-Piano. When I asked this in a RD800 thread nobody could answer and Jay didn't say a word. I would really be curious if at least you, Jay, can tell us.... Unless, in the end, that was never implemented...

The Concert Grand and it's Variations.

Sorry. probably didn't see it when you asked.

Jay

So the very first if I remember correctly.. (it's been a while since a tried RD800, I may be wrong...) But is this Supernatural?

Yes the first patch that comes up is the new Concert Grand. It's a SuperNatural tone based on the V-Piano Grand.

Jay

At a different price-point, for a different audience:

. . . Look at the Casio XW-P1.

It's got a bunch of separate sound generators, and I think you can layer them.

But you'll have to live with 61 synth-action keys.

. Charles

PS -- based strictly on theory, I expect that software synthesis -- Pianoteq, Lounge Lizard, etc -- is the right way to handle "electronic pianos" -- Rhodes, Wurlitzer, etc.

So, please correct me if I'm wrong, but does this mean that it's not based on a sample obtained from a physical piano, but rather a software generated wave-form based on an "ideal" piano?

Having asked this, this is a curiosity to me but is of secondary importance, since what really matters is how decent does it sound to my ears, something I've yet to be able to test.

Well, every other SuperNatural piano is a confluence of Sampling and Modelling. So I would assume (although I'm not sure) that this is no different. It sounds distinctly different from the RD700NX's Concert grand.

I'm shooting some videos today on using the designer features to tweak the sounds. I'll share the links when they're done.

Jay