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Roland FA-06 and FA-08


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As an A90 user, one of the things I loved was the ability to take any of the 8 zones in or out with a button push. In song mode, you can set up all 16 pads to work the same.

 

This really caught my attention. It's a feature I would love to have in my next do-everything board.

 

As a long term owner of an RD64, I've become quite used to the action and am very ok with it in a gigging board. Far prefer it over the MOXF or Krome action, if that's the competition.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Thanks BB...read this excellent highlight/review but it is easily lost in the NAMM thread. Good to have it here too.

 

+1000 that the FA06/08 is "a very competitive board in this price range." The FA trade-offs/limitations don't stop this board from being a very cost-effective, expandable and versatile road workhorse that can integrate well in the studio.

 

I thought I'd bring this over from the NAMM thread as it's more relevant here at least until the documentation becomes available.

 

These are the SN instruments I could find on the instrument:

APs, EPs, clavs, B3, FM EPs, one 60s organ and one theater organ.

Acoustic and electric basses

Acoustic guitars (no electrics, distorted, plucked, ethnic)

A small selection of bells and a few mallets

Ensemble strings

Drums

A wide selection of synth tones (basses, leads, pads, box, etc.)

 

Missing SN sounds include:

Solo strings, brass, woodwinds. Ensemble brass and woodwinds. Electric guitars (all varieties)

Accordions, harps, harmonicas, choirs, saxes, flutes

Ethnic sounds

Percussion, e.g. tympani

 

Yes there are PCM equivalents to most all of these, but I was disappointed to find many excellent SN acoustic tones to be missing. But the synth tones are very strong and I do think it's a very competitive board in this price range.

 

Also, it still is unclear as to what exactly can be loaded in the two WAVE EXPANSION SLOTS. Roland describes the two slots as: "The wave expansion slots are rewritable internal waveform memory. You can download data from the Axial sound library site and write it via a USB flash drive into the FA's internal wave memory (slot)." On the Integra they are referred to as EXPANSION VIRTUAL SLOTS and can load SN and SRX sounds.

 

Busch.

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I thought I'd bring this over from the NAMM thread as it's more relevant here at least until the documentation becomes available.

 

These are the SN instruments I could find on the instrument:

APs, EPs, clavs, B3, FM EPs, one 60s organ and one theater organ.

Acoustic and electric basses

Acoustic guitars (no electrics, distorted, plucked, ethnic)

A small selection of bells and a few mallets

Ensemble strings

Drums

A wide selection of synth tones (basses, leads, pads, box, etc.)

 

Missing SN sounds include:

Solo strings, brass, woodwinds. Ensemble brass and woodwinds. Electric guitars (all varieties)

Accordions, harps, harmonicas, choirs, saxes, flutes

Ethnic sounds

Percussion, e.g. tympani

 

Yes there are PCM equivalents to most all of these, but I was disappointed to find many excellent SN acoustic tones to be missing. But the synth tones are very strong and I do think it's a very competitive board in this price range.

 

Also, it still is unclear as to what exactly can be loaded in the two WAVE EXPANSION SLOTS. Roland describes the two slots as: "The wave expansion slots are rewritable internal waveform memory. You can download data from the Axial sound library site and write it via a USB flash drive into the FA's internal wave memory (slot)." On the Integra they are referred to as EXPANSION VIRTUAL SLOTS and can load SN and SRX sounds.

 

Busch.

 

That's too bad. On the Axial site - the only expansions are of supernatural synth tones. Haven't encountered any acoustic SN that can be loaded of a roland website.

 

This makes this statement from the short review by keyboardmag, far from accurate:

Roland today announced the FA series, their first new full-featured synth workstation since 2008's Fantom-G. Available in two sizes, the 61-key FA-06 and 88-key weighted FA-08, it packs all the sounds of the Integra-7 flagship sound module

Obviously not "all" the sounds.

Vermona Perfourmer mkii, Nord Stage 3 76
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That's too bad. On the Axial site - the only expansions are of supernatural synth tones. Haven't encountered any acoustic SN that can be loaded of a roland website.

And that makes sense, because the Axial downloadable SN synth tones are, AFAIK, merely settings that manipulate the tone generating elements that are already in the board. New SN acoustic sounds would generally require downloading new samples. AFAIK, none of the existing Axial-supported boards have the ability to have new resident samples loaded into them. But it sounds like the virtual expansion slots of the FA do store new samples, so at least from that perspective, it may not be impossible that new SN instruments could be made available to it in the future.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I specifically asked about srx 07 and 03. I wonder what this will do to the online (ebay) prices of srx cards. Which IMO are way overpriced. In some cases more double what they were new.

I don't know if it will be a big factor... the "free" SRX cards only work in a $1200+ keyboard (and even then, you can only install 2 at a time, which won't work for everyone). Similarly the SRX cards have essentially already been free with the purchase of a $2000 Integra-7. If people just want one card for a device they already own, these options aren't necessarily attractive.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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This may have been mentioned but in case it wasn't. I just verified with roland that the srx downloads, available next month, will be free

 

 

Seeing as you have someone at Roland responding to your questions it would be great to find out exactly what can be loaded into those two slots. Will you be able to load new SN instruments? That's still an open question I believe.

 

Busch.

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I specifically asked about srx 07 and 03. I wonder what this will do to the online (ebay) prices of srx cards. Which IMO are way overpriced. In some cases more double what they were new.

 

Wish I had known that. I struggled to sell my SRX7 here in Norway. I eventually sold it to a guy who was not happy that I had "used it" (what do you expect when you advertise stuff on a second hand site?) and that the sticker was missing :idk

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Is anything more known about step and/or grid sequencing? I have come to enjoy programming drums in a step grid mode on my MPC and would love to do the same on the FA pads.

 

Regarding MIDI in song mode.... I am not sure if this is known yet, but I would only need it to respond to MIDI clock (start / stop / tempo) in song mode... I can't imagine it wouldn't, but it never hurts to double check.

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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?

 

I think it's just because this wasn't recorded using direct audio out, but rather thru the cam mic. So don't judge the AP by this vid. It sounds quite different on other vids.

Vermona Perfourmer mkii, Nord Stage 3 76
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Here's a link for a 20 minute demo from Sweetwater - the sound quality is great on the video... very clean. And the video concentrates a lot on the sounds themselves - taking you through various patches and types of sounds. It is also accessible on the Sweetwater Sound YouTube channel.

 

 

I also found a link on You Tube for an FA-08 vs. Integra demo from E-MUZYK.pl. It is not in English but very interesting to watch. They also have some video's on their YouTube home page.

 

 

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Yes it has templates for most major DAW programs over usb midi and a standard midi in/out jacks. So its a safe assumption it can be used as a controller.

 

update: on the sweetwater page it also says:

 

Tweak tones, effects, and external MIDI devices in real time via 6 user-assignable Sound Modify knobs

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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Someone said something about this, but I wasn't quite sure:

 

the FA can have up to 16 splits/layers - are we able to put these layers on an external board as well? So if I had the FA-06 and an 88 key controller, could I layer 4 sounds on the FA-06 board while putting 7 on the 88 key'd board at the same time if I wanted to?

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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So far there's not much clear information other than it has 16 MIDI Tracks. And the DAW remote control features allow the FA "to communicate with your computer via USB, letting you use the keyboard and knobs to send MIDI data to your DAW for playing software synths, controlling plug-in effects, and more."

 

That said, I'd wait for the details in the FA Op Manual, Parameter Guide and MIDI Spec.

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Someone said something about this, but I wasn't quite sure:

 

the FA can have up to 16 splits/layers - are we able to put these layers on an external board as well? So if I had the FA-06 and an 88 key controller, could I layer 4 sounds on the FA-06 board while putting 7 on the 88 key'd board at the same time if I wanted to?

 

I'd imagine this should work. You should be able to plug in a MIDI controller and access sounds via midi channels. How many sounds the external controller can access will depend on how many zones it has or how things can orgnised on the FA.

Roland Fantom G6, D-70, JP-8000, Juno-106, JV-1080, Moog Minitaur, Korg Volca Keys, Yamaha DX-7. TG33, Logic Pro, NI plugs, Arturia plugs etc etc
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Song Mode: No midi transmission of program or bank changes to external gear at this time. The rep has asked for it in an OS update, but as of now, you cant do it.

 

SRX expansion releases: Actually, the first 3 expansion boards will be released monthly in this order; SRX-05 Platinum Trax, SRX-07 Ultimate Keys, SRX-09 World Collection. The rest of the SRX expansion boards will follow every month as well.

 

What will go in the expansion slots: From what I (the rep) understand, the SRX expansion board collections will go in these slots, as well as other sound collections that will also be available from www.axial.roland.com .

 

 

 

 

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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Song Mode: No midi transmission of program or bank changes to external gear at this time. The rep has asked for it in an OS update, but as of now, you cant do it.

 

SRX expansion releases: Actually, the first 3 expansion boards will be released monthly in this order; SRX-05 Platinum Trax, SRX-07 Ultimate Keys, SRX-09 World Collection. The rest of the SRX expansion boards will follow every month as well.

 

What will go in the expansion slots: From what I (the rep) understand, the SRX expansion board collections will go in these slots, as well as other sound collections that will also be available from www.axial.roland.com .

 

 

 

 

I think I saw that midi data will transmit though, so if you have another board/module connected whatever is on the track that is selected as external and that channel will pass, which is ok for now.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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I recently used a Korg Kross for a few hours and was amazed at how user friendly is was compared to my long departed Yamaha XS7 and Korg M3. Of course it has a very pared down feature set for a "workstation", but it has most of the capabilities I want and was dead simple and fast to use, esp. the audio recording, which includes overdubbing (!).

 

? My biggest question beyond the feel of the keybed and quality of sounds is how useful/friendly the audio and midi recording are, and the integration of the two. My experience so far has been there's a midi note that triggers the audio, and to hear the audio you've got to start from the beginning of the audio clip (so that that the midi note can trigger it)- neither of those approaches are very user friendly in my book.

 

They talk about non-stop loop recording up to 16 tracks, but I've yet to see a demo yet that demonstrates how that is done. And they talk about 16 discreet tracks of audio and midi- which would be fanfreakin'tastic, but is that just the usb stream to a PC or is that what is recorded to the SD card?

 

The devil can be in the details- I've heard horror stories of the file structure with the Fantom X, and had a horrible time myself with the file structure of the Motif XS (I imagine many of those issues were resolved with the XF: sample editor/librarian and new samples that are in flash memory).

 

Anyway, if anyone has thoughts/experience with this on the FA series please share!

 

Numa Piano X73 /// Kawai ES920 /// Casio CT-X5000 /// Yamaha EW425

Yamaha Melodica and Alto Recorder

QSC K8.2 // JBL Eon One Compact // Soundcore Motion Boom Plus 

Win10 laptop i7 8GB // iPad Pro 9.7" 32GB

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Song Mode: No midi transmission of program or bank changes to external gear at this time. The rep has asked for it in an OS update, but as of now, you cant do it.

An earlier post read like the keyboard didn't transmit MIDI at all in song mode, you had to be in voice mode. If it transmits MIDI in song mode (not Program Changes, but at least Note On/Note Off), at least there could be some workarounds. Since the VR-09 allows you to create registrations that send MIDI Program Change, that could be another benefit of a VR over an FA, though.

 

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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