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Roland FA-06 and FA-08


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The bass strings of that "acoustic piano" sound in the video are like no piano I've ever played. What the hell are Roland playing at here?

 

At £1299 I don't think this is the flagship - this is their MOXF.

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It's absolutely Roland's take on the MOXF, with the usual cost-cutting. No aftertouch and external PSU. There do seem to be a lot of sockets on the back panel, but the images don't zoom close enough for me to read the labels.

 

Did anyone spot the weight of either? EDIT just seen the other thread 16.5k for the 88 ain't bad.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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now why would they give you a great piano in the FA when the new RD800 piano is all that and a bag of chips?

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At £1299 I don't think this is the flagship - this is their MOXF

 

Agreed! but there really is a lot here for the price. This thing is aimed squarely at the MOXF & Krome. And I think if I were looking right now and this was I available I think this has more to offer than the former. I'm not looking for a replacement for my MOX8 just yet. But it does look a hell of a lot easier to use!

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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Yeah, I think all the manufacturers are finding more ways to create value in the sound engine, while making the interface cheaper. The molded plastic reminds me of the RD64 and A88. Not flagship at all. It's a mid/low end battleground.

 

The whole idea of downloading additional sounds means more customization. I would guess over successive products you could shrink the size (and unfriendliness) of the core onboard library. Jazzers may own a very different synth than rockers will, perhaps.

 

Funnily, I still miss those Roland multi-timbral performances with pads and orchestral sounds. I felt a twinge of gas watching the Sonic State video.

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It's absolutely Roland's take on the MOXF, with the usual cost-cutting. No aftertouch and external PSU. There do seem to be a lot of sockets on the back panel, but the images don't zoom close enough for me to read the labels.

 

Spot-on. The external PSU, lack of sliders (as found on the Fantom-G), and no 76-key version lines the FA's up exactly with the MOX's. With the core sounds from the Integra - included the TW organs, it will be solid, sonic competition for the MOX series, though. Looks to be a very nice instrument - especially at that price point.

 

 

Did anyone spot the weight of either? EDIT just seen the other thread 16.5k for the 88 ain't bad......

 

The weight's a big plus, at 36 lb..

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

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Yeah, I think all the manufacturers are finding more ways to create value in the sound engine, while making the interface cheaper. The molded plastic reminds me of the RD64 and A88. Not flagship at all. It's a mid/low end battleground.

 

The whole idea of downloading additional sounds means more customization. I would guess over successive products you could shrink the size (and unfriendliness) of the core onboard library. Jazzers may own a very different synth than rockers will, perhaps.

 

Funnily, I still miss those Roland multi-timbral performances with pads and orchestral sounds. I felt a twinge of gas watching the Sonic State video.

 

So maybe we have seen the last of workstations as flagship products. For sure the spec of this is somewhat higher than the old G8. How does this compare with the JP80 in terms of the sound engine? I have never really fully understood the difference between that and the Integra.

 

As for aftertouch, if my old cheapo Emu USB controller has it and my old Novation KS4 (which actually was one of the best key beds ever for me) then I think lack of aftertouch is more a product differentiation exercise than pure cost cutting.

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I actually have an FA-06 here at the moment. I'm reviewing it for Keyboard mag. :thu:

 

Just got it yesterday, so I haven't really dug into it yet....but from what I hear, I really like the way it sounds.

 

Still not sure how I feel about the super light weight thing in general yet. I've had several keyboards here for review that fall into that category (Kross, MOXF, VR-09), and my XK-1c is also way light weight. I guess as long as they stand up to the rigors of the road, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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How does this compare with the JP80 in terms of the sound engine? I have never really fully understood the difference between that and the Integra.

Jupiter 80/50 = SuperNatural acoustic and SuperNatural synth.

 

Integra 7 = same as above, plus some new additional SN acoustic tones, plus those (PCM) from the XV-5080 and all 12 SRX cards. Also a high quality PCM GM2 soundset, though I don't know if those sounds are unique or are drawn from the other PCM libraries already resident. (The effects structure of the I7 is different from the Jupiters, so even though it has all the individual SN tones of the Jupiters, you can't necessarily duplicate all the Jupiter sounds as programmed.)

 

It sounds like the FA contains the SN synth tones, the XV-5080 PCM tones, and a subset of the SN acoustic tones.

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damn I just bought a Yamaha. This one looks like a strong contender, with same features, but adding a friendly sampler (not requiring any additional (expensive) flash cards).

 

And I bet the interface is friendlier than Yamaha.

 

 

I wonder if it has anything similar to a Master Mode..

Stage: MOX6, V-machine, and Roland AX7

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How does this compare with the JP80 in terms of the sound engine? I have never really fully understood the difference between that and the Integra.

Jupiter 80/50 = SuperNatural acoustic and SuperNatural synth.

 

Integra 7 = same as above, plus some new additional SN acoustic tones, plus those (PCM) from the XV-5080 and all 12 SRX cards. Also a high quality PCM GM2 soundset, though I don't know if those sounds are unique or are drawn from the other PCM libraries already resident. (The effects structure of the I7 is different from the Jupiters, so even though it has all the individual SN tones of the Jupiters, you can't necessarily duplicate all the Jupiter sounds as programmed.)

 

It sounds like the FA contains the SN synth tones, the XV-5080 PCM tones, and a subset of the SN acoustic tones.

 

Thanks for that! Seems that this new FA series has a whole plethora of features which would be welcome in a high end flagship product.

 

Maybe the sales of such high end products from Roland has diminished in recent years though. I am not sure how many G8s were sold I never saw anyone play those live for sure same story with the Motif XF though I have seen a few Kronos' though not many 88 keys all told.

 

Btw, Aidan, I understood from another forum that the street price was £1,299 pounds which would mean the MSRP would be somewhat higher perhaps that is wrong though £1,299 is a high price for a product.. but maybe this is the sign of the market.

 

 

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Send the bill to dB. After all, he only has a thong to clean, and he probably hand washes it.

Actually, I have a service that takes care of that for me. :idea::thu:

 

dB

 

Hopefully you skip the heavy starch. I learned the hard way with my thong collection..

 

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pricing will be very important. Looks like the FA-08 will be considerably more than the MOXF8.

 

Price I can find ( http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/namm-2014-roland-unveils-fa-08-and-fa-06-workstation-keyboards-591188 ) is 1529 pounds which is about $2900 AUD. You can get a MOXF 8 here for approx $1700 or 900 pounds

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Pricing will be very important. Looks like the FA-08 will be considerably more than the MOXF8.

 

Price I can find ( http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/namm-2014-roland-unveils-fa-08-and-fa-06-workstation-keyboards-591188 ) is 1529 pounds which is about $2900 AUD. You can get a MOXF 8 here for approx $1700 or 900 pounds

US MSRP on the FA-06 is $1199 ($1399 MSRP). FA-08 is $1799 MAP ($2099 MSRP).

 

dB

 

 

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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