Hi all, Yep, this is yet another subjective "Brand X vs Brand Y" thread... Here's the story. I've got a Roland RD-170 stage piano (new) which I'm quite happy with. The price was right, the piano sound is usable (but not superb), and I love the touch. But I want to expand my sound set (generally for live, but also occasional recording) by purchasing a rack unit. I already own a Roland XP-30, so I have plenty of high-quality "stock" Roland sounds. Thus I've been considering what brand of rack unit I might buy. There are really only three major brands which come to mind - Roland, Yamaha and Kurzweil. What I'm really after is the best piano sound. Organs, synths, EPs, Wurlys and the like are good bonus sounds, but the essential criterion is a really great piano sound to work with. Now, the Kurzweil PC2-series triple-strike piano is very nice. Until Roland released the Fantom X series piano (88 notes sampled 4 times each!) I was of the opinion that the PC2R would be the Holy Grail of piano sounds, and rack modules in general. Good other sounds, great reverb let alone other effects, and KB3 as well! But the PC2 series is getting old now, and the Fantom XR is new generation. 128 voices poly is also quite attractive. The thing which is stopping me from purchasing the XR right away is the fact that the piano sample set is nigh on identical to that of my RD-170, according to my own side-by-side comparisons. IMHO, Roland has just put all 88 keys and 4 velocities in the Fantom X from their flagship piano sample stock, whereas the RD-170 has only 20 keys and 2 velocities in ROM. Yamaha also have the Motif, and while I personally dislike the typical Yamaha sampled piano sounds, the PLG150-AP expansion sounds fantastic in demos online. In its favour, I'll comment that the PC2 is indeed a rare piano sound, one which may make my music stand out from the crowd more than the others. Roland and Yamaha are "everywhere"... So, the doozy: what is your current-generation ROMpler piano sound of choice, in a rack unit? Why? Cheers, Matt Hawke
