No, I never got a chance to compare the Expressive Grand Steinway sample on the RD-700GX with The Grand X voice on the G-70.

I would guess The Grand X piano sound on the G70 shares the same DNA. Roland engineers spent a lot of effort to capture the dynamics and purity of a Steinway Grand. It sounds pristine with so much expression and character as you go through the velocity levels.

Since this is a sampled piano, there is no smooth transition between the different multi-samples. You have to adjust your playing style so as not to excite the wrong multi-sample at the wrong instant.

Modeled pianos on the other hand have a smooth gradation from your softest touch to the loudest. The drawback is the lack of realism.

As you mentioned there are some exquisite VSTi pianos available today at a reasonable price.
At the budget end of the spectrum there is the Ravenscroft 275 for $199.


https://www.vilabsaudio.com/Ravenscroft-By-VI-Labs


This is a 342MB download. It often goes on sale for $139.
I would recommend this as a starter piano VST. It is easy on your CPU.

On the other end of the spectrum there is the gorgeous Synchron Fazioli F308 Virtual Piano by Vienna Symphonic Library.

The model number 308 refers to the length of the piano in centimeters making it the longest piano in the world at 10’ 2”


https://www.vsl.co.at/products/synchron/fazioli-f308


Sweetwater sells this for $331.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/...tandard-library

If someone is not happy with the modeled pianos on their RD-2000, these two are good alternatives.


Here is the official demo of the VSL Fazioli F308 VST features.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6bYAwz5ZVE


Here is another demo of the VSL Fazioli F308 VST by Simeon Amburgey.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGKjLl5mViE


It is a smarter choice to buy this than the German Concert Grand V-Piano Expansion Kit for the RD-2000 at $149.

I find Pianoteq’s modeled pianos quite convincing, personally, especially if you tweak the per string tuning so it’s not robotically in tune. Even some sampled pianos are just so incredibly well tuned they lose a bit of the ‘life’ that an actual piano gives you. Let’s be honest… after a world class piano technician has tuned a grand piano to be as technically ‘perfect’ as possible, you get maybe 30 minutes of spirited playing on it and then it always drifted out of perfect tune!

And that’s what you tend to hear on pop and jazz recordings. An ALMOST in tune piano!

If you can tweak the per string (not per note) tuning on a modeled piano, it starts to sound WAY more ‘real’. By the way, if sampled pianos are good enough, I’m a big fan of Keyscapes, simply because, for the money, you not only get a great piano, you get almost every other electro-mechanical keyboard as well! Killer Rhodes’s, Clav’s, Wurli’s, toy pianos, harpsichords, organs, you name it. Pricey but then divide the cost by the number of GREAT keyboards you get, and it becomes a real bargain…