The Roland RD88 Stage Piano is the latest entry in Roland’s long-standing RD series of professional stage pianos. Lighter and more affordable, the RD88 has been designed as a slightly simplified alternative to the flagship RD2000, while still offering the authentic sounds, touch, features, playability, and durability that the long line of acclaimed RD pianos is famous for.
In this article, we’ll be doing a deep dive under the hood of this instrument and focusing on the features that make this thing tick, and why for the price, this is arguably the best stage piano on the market. Roland’s rich heritage is on full display here.
Roland RD88 Digital Stage Piano – General Overview
Digital Piano Sound – Sound Engine & Speakers
We’ll start by digging into the sound on the RD-88. Right off the bat, the RD88 is a little different than most stage pianos for one obvious reason – it’s got an onboard speaker system. With two 6-watt speakers (full-range tweeters), you’ve got adequate power for solo playing.
While it might be hyperbole to call these speakers room-filling, this is still a nice little bonus that typically isn’t included with most stage pianos.
Moving on to the sound itself, the RD88 combines different worlds here when it comes to the 3 distinct sound engines, starting with the ZEN-Core Sound Generator responsible for all of the onboard synth patches, with a curated selection of a whopping 3,000 patches pre-loaded. This same engine is found in all of Roland’s flagship synthesizers.
There is a huge sample library of electronic sounds and quite remarkable when considering the price point. The piano tone and electric piano tone are brought to you by Roland’s tried and true SuperNATURAL engine. The highly regarded new SuperNATURAL piano engine can be found in many of Roland’s digital pianos, so its presence here is very welcome.
There are three zones with external control on the RD88 that can be configured with internal sound pre-sets, or you can integrate and control soft synths from Apple MainStage.
As far as navigating the specific sounds, the intuitive controls are well laid out and easy to use, so you can locate your favorite sounds quickly.
While there isn’t a crazy level of detail here, for the person likely to be using the RD88 for some basic studio DAW control work or as a nice live instrument that basically delivers you close to RD-2000 functionality at a substantially lower cost and substantially less weight, the RD88 should be sufficient.
For those kinds of users, there’s a quick master volume knob, master EQ adjusts (and zone eq, a master compressor, input reverb, and input eq which are all easy to manipulate and access. The transpose function is easily accessible as well as system-wide controls and settings for reverb, chorus, delay, and tone color.
Digital Piano Action
Roland has equipped the RD-88 with their PHA-4 Standard hammer-action keyboard. This is a keyboard action that is found on their entire FP series, as well as most of their home digital pianos that retail for under $2,000.
I’m a big fan of the action, and interestingly, the PHA-4 is actually preferred amongst a portion of professional keyboardists even over the PHA-50 which is a more advanced action that has wood components and an upgraded sensor. Some folks simply prefer the feel of the PHA-4.
The PHA-4 is tried, tested, and true. It’s got great ivory feel touch keyboard texture on the top of the white keys and a matte finish on the black keys. It’s equipped with a triple sensor for really accurate MIDI output (there’s a MIDI master keyboard function too), as well as escapement.
There’s a little bit more lateral motion than you might be used to, which I find to be a little more realistic as compared to an acoustic piano action. In general, I’d say this action strikes a nice balance between those who are classical players as well as contemporary players. In terms of how it’s weighted, I’d say it’s right down the middle.
Overall, this is a very well-known action, so you’re not taking any chances in going with the RD88 from an action perspective. It’s probably one of the most popular and most successful actions that is out there in the digital piano world right now.
Features/Connectivity
There are several really convenient things that stand out about this instrument. For starters, the RD88 has two line input jacks – a 1/4 mic input jack as well as a stereo 1/8-inch headphone input. The volume control is right out front so that’s going to be really easy to control if you’re accompanying yourself with the microphone.
From there, we’ve got two assignable wheels including a pitch bender which is always useful. There are four assignable control knobs that you can use to hook this up to a DAW and essentially use it as synth instrument where you can assign whatever parameters and variables you want. It is equipped with a song player, quite a few onboard rhythm patterns as well as a metronome, which might be a given but it’s always worth a mention.
The speakers can be turned on and off, and if you’re in a really crazy playing situation, there’s also a “Panel-Lock” feature to make sure you don’t inadvertently hit a button by accident in the middle of a performance (which has happened to me by the way, not fun!)
There’s a wide range of pedal switch accommodations here too. The DP2 comes standard with the instrument, which serves as a basic foot switch. If you’re going to be using this instrument as a piano a lot of the time, we’d recommend upgrading to the DP10 damper pedal, which is capable of half-pedaling. There’s also a second input for an assignable pedal.
Finally, you’ve got MIDI out, USB ports (USB MIDI, USB flash drive), 1/4″ stereo output jacks (L/R MONO), and DC in jack power supply (DC 12 V) so you pretty much have everything you need for a variety of settings. The RD-88 has a couple of matching Roland carrying cases that you can get with this and you can match it with several amplifiers if you need.
Conclusions
If what you’re looking for is an 88-key stage piano with a huge variety of tones and a nice blend of action quality, sturdy controls, and compact design for easy transport and cramped rehearsal spaces, this is just a brilliantly conceived product. To me, it cuts right down the middle of all of those areas of priority and strikes the right balance.
If this had been available at the time I was shopping for my RD2000 I might not have an RD2000 right now.
If the onboard sound is not a priority and you’re going to be playing professionally and in most cases, you think you can be able to get to a PA, hard to argue that this isn’t the best choice for under $2,000 in the stage piano category. It’s priced very close to the FP-60 but offers some extra versatility.
If you’re already planning on checking out some other Rolands, Yamahas, or Korgs, make sure you get the RD88 on your wishlist to check out too.