Giulioz RdPiano is a free virtual instrument plugin that faithfully replicates the sound of classic 1980s Roland and Rhodes digital pianos using SA-synthesis technology.
The 1980s saw the rise of both analog synthesizers and the early days of digital synthesis. This era brought iconic instruments like the Yamaha DX-7 and Roland D-50, as well as highly sought-after digital e-pianos such as the Roland MKS-20 and MS-80.
Developed by Italian creator Giulioz, known for his Boss Micro Rack RRV reverb emulation, the RdPiano plugin brings these legendary digital pianos to your DAW.
RdPiano is a free plugin designed to emulate vintage digital pianos like the Roland MKS-20, RD-1000, and Rhodes MK-80. These instruments featured proprietary SAS (Structured Adaptive Synthesis) technology, a re-synthesis method that Roland used to sample sounds at 128 different velocities and analyze waveform variations.
Roland’s analysis was then translated into custom VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) chips, which powered the pianos’ sound generation. In 2025, the MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) team successfully reverse-engineered these chips and integrated them into their software.
Giulioz has applied similar techniques in RdPiano, simulating not only the pianos themselves but also the original CPUs and mainboards used in these models. The developer also examined the silicon structure of the custom chips to achieve the most accurate sound replication possible.
The plugin offers users the option to select between the MKS-20 and MKS-80 sounds via buttons on the interface.
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