Comments on: On my Wishlist: Roland RD-300gx

By: steve k.

steve k. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:06:08 +0000

Fewer sounds. I don’t think there is any comparison to the sounds of the RD700gx. Some of the patches might be the same, but many are not. The piano samples in the RD300gx are not the same; they come from the older RD700sx.

The 700gx has a great action; the 300gx action is very soft and mushy to my taste – there is little resistance to push against. (But some people like a light action.)

On the plus side, the 300gx is almost 20 lbs lighter – That’s a big difference.

Good luck….I just went through all this myself.

By: Joel J.

Joel J. — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:27:02 +0000

I loved the RD-700GX at the music store, but they didn’t have an RD-300GX. Other than price, what are the differences between the two?

By: steve k.

steve k. — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:40:52 +0000

Hey guys,

Many thanks to everyone who helped me in my decision making. I went for the FP-4, half expecting to regret it…but I gotta say I am very happy with it. I thought it make not cut thru my (mono) amp on a gig, but it sounded really good. The acoustic piano, the B3 ‘jazz’ patch, and two e.p.’s are all I would probably use, but that’s enough for me. I wish it had the FP-7’s superb action, and I wish it had the audio key, but I’m convinced considering the choices out there, it’s the best for me….and the 33 lbs. advantage is definitely nothing to sneeze at

b.t.w, the sax patched sound really cheesy, imho. but i’ve never heard a sax patch on any keyboard that doesn’t.

cheers to everyone,
steve k.

By: nick

nick — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:26:08 +0000

jeff i can’t thank you enough! it sounds good and not thin at all.
i have to forget about RD700GX because of its infamous ivory key wear problem.
now im choosing between fp4 and rd300gx. depending on the price. i’ll report here. thanks again jeff

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:15:11 +0000

Hey Nick,
I happened to have my keyboard up and on and a portable digital recorder next to it. Here are two of the main sax patches. I assume there are a couple more in the GM soundbank. No mod wheel or pitchbend on the FP4 if you’re concerned about that.

http://www.jeffcaylor.com/saxdemo.mp3

By: nick

nick — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:38:13 +0000

hi guys, its me again. i bought the korg sp250 which is good for pianos. but now i have a need to gig with 88keys with more sounds. i hope to get a single solution rather than buying a module. im convinced about roland’s piano sound quality, however, saxes are important for me too. i couldn’t find any sax demo, i will greatly appreciate it if anyone could post tenor and alto sax mp3 demo of rd300,700, fp4 or fp7

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:41:26 +0000

I, on the other hand, frequently settle for a lot less. I use the built in speakers on the FP4 and whatever the venue has. No amp here.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:16:46 +0000

My amplifier of choice for my RD300GX will always be the Bose PAS. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

By: steve k.

steve k. — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:36:34 +0000

Thanks for the feedback, guys…I appreciate it. Any other happy (or disgruntled owners). Jeff,Peter… what kind of amp do you use?
One of my problems is that I can only try these KB’s out in crowded, noisy music stores through lousy amps…makes it hard to know what the piano can really sound like.

By: Peter previte

Peter previte — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:09:55 +0000

I’ve had my RD300GX now for about 10 months. I LOVE it. The action works really well for both piano and non-piano parts (organ). It’s very flexible in how you can configure setups and is one of the few digital pianos (especially weighing in under 33 lbs) that contains decent Brass and Sax sounds. It IS pretty wide. I wish they had positioned the Mod & Bend wheels above the keys instead of to the side. If I had to make the purchase all over again, I’d buy another RD300GX.