How do you capture the soul of a piano in a digital instrument? It starts with uncompromising stereo samples of the finest piano in the world: beautiful solo pianos, “edgy” stage pianos designed to cut through the mix-even Fender Rhodes. And with 128 voices of polyphony, note drop-out is a thing of the past.

But that’s only half the equation. Because playing a keyboard should feel no different than playing an acoustic piano. That’s where Roland’s new Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard comes in. These progressively weighted keys produce a heavier touch in the lower range and a lighter touch in the upper range for more natural and expressive playing.

More than just a piano, the RD-700 can also serve as a powerful MIDI keyboard loaded with some of Roland’s most sought-after sounds. Lush strings and pads, acoustic and electric bass, synthesizer leads and more. It’s all here in the RD-700. There’s even new organ sounds with harmonic bar editing and rotary effects taken from the legendary VK-Series Combo Organs.

The RD-700’s generous 64MB-equivalent wave memory can also be expanded with up to two of Roland’s high-quality SRX-Series Wave Expansion Boards-the same expansions used in the flagship XV-Series synthesizers. For example, by adding SRX-03 “Studio SRX”, you’ll be ready for just about anything, thanks to its vast collection of pop-oriented sounds.

With 45 different styles, the RD-700’s onboard arpeggiator might be more aptly named a rhythmic “pattern generator”. Just select a style such as guitar strumming, hold down a few notes and let the magic begin. And with 85 onboard rhythm patterns, you can play along with some of the most realistic drums around.

Three independent effects processors add the final polish to the RD-700’s sounds. These include four types of reverb-perfect for adding ambience to piano sounds-plus two kinds of silky-smooth chorus and 65 multi-effects. This impressive list of multi-effects includes everything from RSS three-dimensional effects to delay, EQ, distortion and more.

When performing on stage, keyboard players need to get around their instrument as quickly and easily as possible. So instead of a front panel full of clutter, the RD-700 sports a clean layout based around a large, graphic display and intuitive buttons, sliders and knobs, making it easy to adjust EQ or individual effects and tone levels.

Of course, the RD-700 also makes a great controller keyboard. With it’s MIDI TX button, you can take advantage of Roland’s superb Progressive Hammer Action when playing all your other modules and MIDI gear. Dedicated function buttons make it easy to transpose the keyboard or set up splits and layers.