RD-700GX(F) Owners: SRX-06 Experiences?

[dewster]

I'm seriously considering buying an RD-700GX (-F one way or another). I want decent strings, pipe organs, and harpsichords, and the SRX-06 expansion card seems to have all of those. I haven't personally heard either the RD nor the SRX-06, but the SRX-06 gets good reviews over at Harmony Central. I realize the SRX-06 card is pretty ancient (yet still very expensive) which scares me a little.

Anyone install one of these in their RD? If so, are there any overlaps in the two sample sets (RD-700GX & SRX-06)? With the stock RD sounds, is the SRX-06 even necessary?

Any comparison of the RD-700GX stock sounds and the SRX-06 sounds, particularly the strings, pipe organs, and harpsichords, would be much appreciated!

[delirium]

IMO RD700GX string, organs are very good so it would be waste of money for me.

[kenchan]

yah, i too thought the organs sounded pretty good on the RD...

[shadowfax]

Well, here I disagree. I think that the SRX-06 is one of the best SRX cards available despite its age, if you're looking for acoustic/orchestral sounds. You've got an enormous variety and overall the sound quality is very good (although perhaps not the best in each one of the sound categories). Sure, you've got better strings in the SRX-04 and better brass in the SRX-10, but as a all-in-one solution the SRX-06 is superb.

I see the story like this: if you're mainly interested in acoustic pianos, EPs, organs, and perhaps some clav, harpsichord or pipe organ, the RD presets are more than enough (and of a better quality). But if you need other kind of orchestral sounds and/or you are looking for a more variety, then the SRX is the way to go.

[dewster]

Thanks shadowfax! Do you think the SRX-06 is worth the $200 or so street price? You say the sample quality is lower in it than in the RD, in what way? Are looping, stretching, and/or velocity layering more obvious?

$200 for 32 MB of samples! The add-on sample board market must be way more lucrative than the printer ink cartridge market. In both they maneuver you into their monopoly and then proceed unabashedly and often repeatedly to have their way with your wallet.

[kenchan]

dewster- did you check ebay for second hand?

[dewster]

Yes, around $200 is what it's going for used (buy it now price), $250 new. Is it worth that?

[kenchan]

hard to say the worth cause i dont intend to get a SRX06 for my RD... but if it's an asset you want to have for your music, go for it!

[shadowfax]

Hey dewster, in fact, they're not 32Mb, but 64Mb... anyway, yes, the SRX cards are expensive. As long as you can, look at the second hand market. Prices are not much lower than new because contray to keyboards and pianos, expansion cards suffer from virtually no degradation from use.

Regarding the SRX-06, sound quality is good, I'd sayeven very good, but not the best for the simple reason that it's based on the previous SR-JV80 cards, which only have 8Mb of samples. So, you've got literally hundreds of patches in "only" 64Mb, so it cannot be compared with the SRX-04 and SRX-10, which only have around a hundred of patches. But in my experience, the SRX-06 is very good for orchestral ensembles, perhaps not as good for soloist instruments, but certainly better that the stock orcehstral sounds you can find in the RD or even in the Fantom.

[dewster]

"better that the stock orcehstral sounds you can find in the RD or even in the Fantom"

Wow, that sounds like pretty high praise. Thanks shadofax!

[dewster]

shadowfax, I've played around with the GX down at Guitar Center and there aren't many pipe organ patches (it seems like just 2?) - something I really need. What do the pipe organs sound like on the SRX-06? I'm looking for something that is a bit more baroque / chapel organ sounding than what I'm hearing in the stock GX.

[shadowfax]

Actually, most digital pianos and even flagship synths haven't got a great amount of pipe organs; it seems that it's not one of the "highest priority" sounds that people are looking for... Regarding the SRX-06, there aren't either many, around half a dozen or so, which is not very much considering you've got 400+ patches on the board... I like them better than the preset RD-700GX preset pipe organs, though.