Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Bought an old Roland RD-700 by impulse, feeling stupid!

I think Jay may bring more clarity but here's my memory:

- The original 700 had stretched piano samples with 3 layers, sampled Rhodes.
- SX brought better piano sound with 88-note sampling, 4-layers and two piano sample sets (1. Supposedly a Steinway - a great sound which I think was better compared to other digital pianos at the time, however some people complained it couldn't cut through the band well. IMO it had a typical Roland overprocessed nature but nevertheless I had some great fun moments with it; 2. A darker Japanese, most probably a Yamaha which I didn't like a lot). The first time I tested it I had a really WOW reaction to the main piano sample quality and I ordered it to replace my FP5 which I hated. BTW, I think original RD700 and FP5 shared the same piano sound.
- GX brought additional third piano sample set, brighter and more suitable for band situations. Also the Rhodes samples were replaced with SuperNatural fully modeled electric pianos. Some people complained the previous Rhodes samples were better than the modeled ones.
- NX brought SuperNatural piano sounds (first generation: samples + modeling).

I think that using a laptop is feasible to be reliable on stage. I'm seeing it more and more these days. Of course, the problem with Windows is that it will shut down in the middle of things to update. I'm not sure if that can be turned off somehow, or if you just need to plan at what time of day that kind of thing would happen so that you're not turning on the laptop the first thing right before a show and have it launch into updates. Of course, this doesn't happen with a Mac. Just sayin'.

So if these things are planned for and considered ahead of time, I think that it can be reliable enough on stage. Of course, in the performing world, anything can go wrong. So your "backup" plan would be to use the onboard sounds.

What kind of music are you playing? Are you in a band or is it solo piano?

Sometimes we are musicians are very picky about our sounds to the point of obsessing about it, and I think most of the time, the audience doesn't even notice the difference. So any of these possible workarounds are most likely just for your ears.

Yes, you can turn off automatic updates --

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-choose-how-updates-are-installed


I assume previous Windows versions have the same ability.

I like the idea of using the built-in sounds for backup. With a small mixer, it's quick and easy to make the change. Still, not fun in the middle of a song!<g>

Off-topic:

I wanted to find out how to turn off auto-updates for Windows 7.

But the Microsoft website knows I'm running Windows 10 -- so it refuses to let me look at the Windows 7 "Help" pages!

. . . .GRRRRRRR !

The Communists!!

For Windows 7: Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update > Turn automatic updating on or off

BTW, I don't recommend this. Simply disable the network adapters so Windows can't talk to the Internet while using Pianoteq may be a better workaround. You will not forget to re-enable the network, but you will forget to turn updating back on.

For music a Mac is the better choice, no ASIO or any drivers required. Pianoteq just works out of the box, less latency issues also. I use an older Mac from 2010 with Pianoteq 5 and Pianoteq 5 has never crashed and I often have 3 or 4 separate desktops (Spaces) running on the Mac at the same time even while watching Netflix at the same time!

Good point, I strongly doubt anybody would hear the difference between a 60Mb piano sound, and a 60Gb sample ,in a live setting .. especially not my audience (the thirsty type).... How did they survive in the 80-90's ? I recall I got a board in witch the piano sound was only a few M bytes ...2mb?, in an Ensoniq KS32 and I was complimented for the piano-sound. Nowadays not even a mobile-phone would beep for that size.

(I got new info ..... the pianosound was a breathtaking 1Mb sample)

Do you mean that a Mac and how its system is designed , is generally less prone to latency issues ?

Yes...

In WIN 10 there is a service you can disable called 'windows update' In RT CLICK Start/ Computer Management/ SERVICES
It is the only way to stop updates in 10
I am not sure of the ramifications.

Is win10 better for stage , or are there any reason to believe this ?

I think win 7 would be, but I am not experienced. I know WIN 10 insisting on doing updates a lot would make me nervous.

I am solo, kinda piano bar person with the ability to take a drink to much , playing 80's ... My audience are used to my bad habits , they are "trained" so to say.

I'd give it a go in your gig as is - it might work better than you think. If you think something is lacking, then go explore other options.

You dont need to be online to run a software piano . .what would be the point?

no, there is no point. There is wifi on all places I gig, so a little forgetting moment and the mashine get ideas?

Can't see the problem, just use a Mac.

Have you just considered owning the RD700 tank might just not be a good idea. dP's change quickly and there's plenty of good light dP's with great actions that have acceptable sounds built in and running VST's is always an option with every dP.

I use Cantabile as my VST host. It is extremely reliable and was designed for live use, rather than your typical DAW which is designed more around traditional recording workflows.

Windows can't download updates to install if it's not connected to a network. So unless you connect to WiFi so you can read Facebook during your performances you won't have any surprises.

Day of performance, log in to the laptop to do a quick 5 minute check, turn off WiFi and a fresh reboot. You wouldn't go on stage without quickly checking over your instrument and gear, a laptop is no different.

Non issue.

Yes, and much easier to setup and usually more stable. It is at the cost of being able to go in and fiddle with things, but some of us are fine with that