Roland is renowned for producing top-of-the-line instruments, and the RD 800, the flagship of the Roland stage pianos, is one of the best they have ever made. The RD 800 has everything that makes a digital piano great, including a realistic key action and excellent piano sound, as well as all the hundreds of powerful features that make up an excellent stage piano. In this Roland Rd 800 review, we will take a look at the details of this Roland stage piano and discuss why it is such a popular choice for serious performers.
The SuperNATURAL sound engine is the best Roland has ever designed and is capable of producing rich and textured sounds that are unrivaled by most of the top digital pianos. The keyboard of the RD 800 is equally realistic, with a fully weighted key action and ebony and ivory feel keys. Beyond this, the RD 800 has all of the powerful features that can really rock a performance, including a total of 1100 different sounds to choose from.
The Roland RD 800 is a highly expensive instrument, and though Roland has equipped it with some unrivaled technology, there are other stage pianos such as the Nord Stage 2 that give it some serious competition. This piano does have the quality to justify its price, but it is still high enough that the piano may only be an option for serious musicians.
Our Ratings
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Sound Quality
Roland’s SuperNATURAL sound engine is outstandingly powerful, with enough memory to capture all of the details and nuances of the recorded samples and reproduce them with perfect accuracy. The Roland 800 comes equipped with this sound engine as well as a staggering 1100 different voices, most all of them sounding crisp, clear, and powerful.
Of these voices, several are sampled from Roland’s renowned grand pianos using the latest recording technology. All of this amounts to a digital piano that has the sound of an acoustic grand ten times its price.
Key Action and Realism
Roland has equipped the RD 800 with the best keyboard the company has ever designed in the PHA-4 Concert Keyboard. This fully-weighted, 88-key keyboard has the perfect amount of resistance without any of the clicking noises you sometimes get with cheaper pianos.
The PHA-4 is also able to detect exactly how hard the key was pressed in order to deliver the perfect note ever time. Ebony and ivory feel keys means that you won’t have to worry about playing keys that feel like plastic. From top to bottom, playing the RD 800 feels like you are behind the keys of one of the top concert grand pianos.
Other Features and Specifications
The RD 800 is a powerful instrument for musicians who want the maximum amount of options. All of the various dials, sliders, and buttons on the RD 800 that allow you to make on the fly adjustments are laid out in such a way as to be easy to access. The RD 800’s 1100 total voices means that you will never be lacking for a new sound.
The RD 800 weighs just under 48 pounds, making it plenty light enough to transport anywhere with ease in spite of the fully-weighted keyboard. Appreciating all of the settings and adjustments that the controls of the RD 800 let you make really requires you to spend some time behind the instrument yourself, but suffice it to say that the Roland RD 800 is a remarkably functional stage piano.
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Final Thoughts
There are some excellent options for stage performers, and the RD 800 is certainly one of them. It feels just like an acoustic grand, has a powerful and innovative sound engine, and a staggering amount of voices, settings, features, and modes. If you are a serious musician with a thirst for a powerful instrument then you cannot go wrong with getting this Roland stage piano.