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Roland FA-07


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it was only on the 61 note that this happened. Not a problem on the 88.

 

Correct. I have never had it happen on my 88 note FA in 3 solid years of gigging with it.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Ahh...I see...so I suppose it's anyone's guess as to whether it will be an issue on the 07--assuming it was never fixed on the 06 (can anybody confirm?)

--Sean H.

 

Yamaha MOXF8, Korg TR76, Novation X-Station 61, Casio PX-320

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Ahh...I see...so I suppose it's anyone's guess as to whether it will be an issue on the 07--assuming it was never fixed on the 06 (can anybody confirm?)

and then there's the variable about whether the 07 is indeed going to have a different action from the 06, which could make it a non-issue regardless of whether they addressed it on the 06.

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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Can you guys tell from the videos if they've swapped out the 06 action for something better? I agree, the action on the 06 and VR-09 are poo.

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

here's the rest of the walk through videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/RolandChannel/search?query=FA-07&spfreload=10

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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It's a semi-weighted keyboard, as distinct from the 61-note version. Think they've been fairly clear here:

 

https://www.roland.com/global/products/fa_series/specifications/#fa07

 

I would be very surprised if it was the same as the 06

OTOH, from

 

https://www.rolandcorp.com.au/blog/roland-fa-06-synthesizer-all-in-one-workstation

 

"FA-06 featuring a semi-weighted 61-key synth action keyboard"

 

and Sweetwater calls the action "semi-weighted" 3x

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FA06

 

though Sweetwater has gotten stuff wrong before...

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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Why wouldn't they introduce this? After all, I purchased a Jupiter-50 less than two months ago.

Well, at least the boards are still pretty different, in their sound sets and their ergonomics/interfaces. But if it was mostly the "reasonably priced, lightweight board with 76 decent feeling keys" that pushed you to that purchase and you just wished there had been a 76-key FA instead... yup. If indeed this has a different action from the 06, which is still a bit ambiguous.

 

I bought the JP-50 as a controller/audio interface for my laptop rig. If the FA-07 has the same action, the lower weight and better DAW integration would make it a more suitable solution for me.

 

But I'm not that mad, as I got my barely used JP-50 (with flight case) for $1000, which is a good price.

Still, the traditional 16-part workstation layout and more powerful MFX make this a far more comprehensive package than the JP-50 is. With aftertouch and a built-in PSU it would have been a perfect replacement for my Fantom X7.

 

 

Sonically, I could address that by going for an 88-key Yamaha on bottom. It's a trade-off... I prefer the lower weight and better action of my current 88, but is it worth taking an extra board for...

 

I think an FA-07 on top with a Yamaha MX-88 on the bottom makes for an incredibly versatile and lightweight combination at just $2500. Amazing.

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FA-06 is 300mm deep.

 

FA-07 is 311mm deep.

 

It's tough to say... really hoping they upgraded the action.

 

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a284/pichosterforme/Comparison.jpg

 

I wonder if they ever considered some mini faders on the left over there for the FA-07 to control the organ or mix layers or assignable or whatever.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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FA-06 is 300mm deep.

 

FA-07 is 311mm deep.

That is cause for optimism, since with everything else (electronics, panel controls, connections, etc.) being identical, there would seem to be no reason to make the chassis any deeper unless a different action required it.

 

I wonder if they ever considered some mini faders on the left over there for the FA-07 to control the organ or mix layers or assignable or whatever.

Yeah, I mentioned earlier that the addition of something like the VR-09 style drawbars (which could be multifunction, as they are on the VR-09) and aftertouch would have made this just about perfect. Even at, say, $200-$300 higher price. (And if the existing control panel were shifted over, there would be enough contiguous space for drawbars or some other slider design that wouldn't necessarily have to be particularly "mini"... though I'd take that, too.)

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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There's semi-weighted diving board, and there's semi-weighted waterfall. I'd prefer the latter, but having demoed a Montage 61 the other day, I'd be okay with that quality keyboard on the FA07. I just wish Roland had gone one step further with waterfall.

 

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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Yeah, but I there's no way they'd stick the VR-700 action on this workstation unless the organ were front and center and the drawbars were included as well... and when that happens in this price range, it's going to be a VR-XXX. We can hope.

 

That said, if this FA-07 gets the Jupiter-80 action that would be amazing, the action on my XP-80 was head and shoulders better than the chicklets on the FA-06 and VR-09.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Hell, I'll join in the conspiracy theorizing, or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it is a conspiracy to make life difficult for GAS-afflicted KC forumites! Those crafty Roland designers.

 

Check out the reflections on the black keys of the 06 - they suggest a curved and glossy surface. Much different from the black keys on the 07 in that video posted above. I'm gonna say it's a different action unless Fatar has used different key facings on the same keybed. If that's the case, well, there goes my exposé!

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Hell, I'll join in the conspiracy theorizing, or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it is a conspiracy to make life difficult for GAS-afflicted KC forumites! Those crafty Roland designers.

Yup. I don't really need anything new, but today I wake up and I want an FA-07 and an SE-02.

 

PIcking up on something I said above... even without adding sliders/drawbars... at presumably no increase in cost, it would have been nice to move the FA-07 control panel over so that all the "free space" is consolidated on one side. It's convenient to have contiguous space big enough to hold other stuff like an iPad, or, say, an SE-02.

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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Yeah that's a bitch, unfortunately the design is done. Maybe in their heads, theres plenty of sampled leads on this workstation, no one's going to velcro a Boutique to it. But clearly Roland doesn't think in these unsophisticated down and dirty guitar pedal board rig terms.

 

Can a DB-1 or similar control the organ on the FAs? The Jupiter-50? 80?

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Ahh...I see...so I suppose it's anyone's guess as to whether it will be an issue on the 07--assuming it was never fixed on the 06 (can anybody confirm?)

 

Sean I'm not a super proficient keyboardist, but I'm not sure I'd say the issue was that the black keys trigger louder.

 

Firstly, on the 06, the "surface area" of all the keys is less - the distance from where the black key meets a white key, and where a white key ends is shorter than my other keyboards.

 

This means that it places your hand up higher (closer to the controls) and thus they sit further back on the black keys.

 

Now the black keys are also shorter a bit, but it's not enough so where you might typically be pressing a black key at the tip, you're trying to press it from the middle of the key or even closer to the controls - no leverage!

 

I suppose if we all played with proper classical technique this would be less of an issue - I know most keyboard players don't.

 

Likewise, I have small hands - I can't imagine someone with much longer fingers than me playing it (and I'm like in the smallest percentage for male hands).

 

What I find is my black key fingers are often more than halfway past the mid-point of the key.

 

This means I don't have as much leverage on them. If anything, if I play something like an A Major chord, I'm more likely to not get the C# than anything else.

 

If I play F#-C#-F#, my finger on the C# is at the very very back of the key right where it cuts off to go into the chassis.

 

On my old D5, I've still got a fingertip's worth of distance before it reaches that point.

 

Likewise, if I play F-C-F, my finger on the C is "beside" the C# whereas on the older one it's "in front" of it. This means I'm more likely to "catch an edge" of the C# and pull it down with the C - wrong note.

 

(poor technique doesn't help...)

 

On my old D5, I've still got a fingertip's worth of distance before it reaches that point.

 

Thus I find I'm much more likely to miss keys, and even accidentally strike unintended keys then on my D-5.

 

I actually like the "action" - it's the physical key size that's the problem for me.

 

At first glance, the pictures included in this thread do seem to look like the keys are bigger but I think we're talking millimeters here so it could be hard to tell.

 

Nonetheless, I wouldn't recommend an 06 to anyone if they are used to some other size key (traditional). But for what I do, and the price I could pay, it does the job adequately and makes up for it with so many other features at that price point.

 

If the 07 solves this problem, it would be the go to IMHO.

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Can a DB-1 or similar control the organ on the FAs? The Jupiter-50? 80?

 

I know that the drawbars can be controlled via SysEx messages.

 

Maybe not the most efficient or elegant way but if any other controller supports it, you could program your sliders on it to send SysEx to control the drawbars, and I would assume the rotary speed and brake, etc.

 

 

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Can a DB-1 or similar control the organ on the FAs? The Jupiter-50? 80?

 

yes! I use it with the FA06 - it fits perfectly on the upper left area of the keyboard (just to left of volume control) Totally transforms the keyboard IMHO

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it would have been nice to move the FA-07 control panel over so that all the "free space" is consolidated on one side. It's convenient to have contiguous space big enough to hold other stuff like an iPad, or, say, an SE-02.

The control panel is exactly the same on all three models, and keeping it centered probably saved Roland money as they would have had to make alterations to other parts of the 07. I'm guessing they wanted to keep as many parts common as possible.

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Another cool thing I see is the ability to use the 1-8 buttons under the screen as virtual pads.

 

That way you don't have to reach over with your left hand to trigger something if you're jamming with your right.

 

I just downloaded 2.0 and am about to install it on my 08 and run it thru its paces.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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Can a DB-1 or similar control the organ on the FAs? The Jupiter-50? 80?

Yes, the DB1 works as a drawbar controller for FA-06/FA-08 and Jupiter 80. (Last I heard, it did not work on the Jupiter 50, and no one is sure why not as it looks like it should on paper, perhaps some bug in that model.)

 

Yeah that's a bitch, unfortunately the design is done. Maybe in their heads, theres plenty of sampled leads on this workstation, no one's going to velcro a Boutique to it.

Except Roland knows and actually promotes the benefit of having real analog even if you have cool digital synth functions... that's how they market the JD-XA/Xi! Besides the sound, there's also the control interface advantage. Well, maybe the Boutique will fit on the left, it's hard to tell.

 

It seems like a bit of a missed marketing opportunity, that they simultaneously announce a board with new, enhanced MIDI controller capabilities AND a device that is well designed to attach to such a board, and they don't seem to have made any attempt to connect the two. There's an old marketing adage that the easiest customer to sell to is someone you've sold to before. Roland should make it as easy, obvious, and tempting as possible for an FA purchaser to also buy some other Roland device. The 2.0 addendum even specifically (and exclusively) mentions using these features "to control an external MIDI sound module" and Roland is one of the few companies making modules these days... marketing 101 would imply that the FA layout should practically have a "Boutique Module Goes Here" inlay!

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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The control panel is exactly the same on all three models, and keeping it centered probably saved Roland money as they would have had to make alterations to other parts of the 07. I'm guessing they wanted to keep as many parts common as possible.

I don't see why shifting that exact same control panel over a few inches on the exact same piece of plastic would change the parts required.

 

Another cool thing I see is the ability to use the 1-8 buttons under the screen as virtual pads.

 

That way you don't have to reach over with your left hand to trigger something if you're jamming with your right.

It would be nice if you could set their mode to something different than the mode the "real" pads are set for, so you could have two sets of pad functions available somewhere simultaneously, but it doesn't look like that's the case...?

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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The control panel is exactly the same on all three models, and keeping it centered probably saved Roland money as they would have had to make alterations to other parts of the 07. I'm guessing they wanted to keep as many parts common as possible.

I don't see why shifting that exact same control over a few inches on the exact same piece of plastic would change the parts required.

What you say makes sense. I could speculate some more and say that there might be connections between the control panel and other parts of the synth that use wiring harnesses or ribbon cables Roland wanted to keep common between the three models. Anyway I was just having a little fun, I'm not in the market for any of these models. Regarding Roland in general, I've posted before about the crappy LCD and bad ergonomics on my A800 Pro controller you can't read the last character on the LCD because it's blocked by the bezel around it. And they forgot to put a "panic" function into the firmware like they did with the previous models - it's described in the manual but doesn't exist! You might be surprised what they get wrong, so maybe we should be extra happy about what they get right! I guess when it comes to design, there will always be something for someone to complain about rightly or not.

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FA-07 - 18 lbs. 12 oz.

 

The Juno Stage - 21 lbs 10 oz.

 

Jupiter-80 - 39lbs 1 oz.

 

Jupiter-50 - 24lbs 5 oz.

 

BK-9 - 20lbs 12 oz.

 

A-37 - 16lbs 16 oz.

 

VR-700 - 35lbs 5 oz.

 

Build weight tell us anything about what type of action is in there?

 

 

 

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I wish they'd get rid of the shiny plastic front panel on these instruments. Whenever I see an FA in a store, it's just loaded with gritty fingerprints.

 

I like the boards, though. Assuming it has the same (or better) action, I'd swap out my Jupiter-50 for one of these.

 

Michael

Montage 8, Logic Pro X, Omnisphere, Diva, Zebra 2, etc.

 

 

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Regarding Roland in general, I've posted before about the crappy LCD and bad ergonomics on my A800 Pro controller you can't read the last character on the LCD because it's blocked by the bezel around it.

The Kurzweil Artis7 has a similar problem... not as bad as what you describe, as nothing normally blocks anything in the display if it's your only board. But if the board is raised (i.e. if it's your second tier board), there is a cosmetic "mask" that, at that kind of angle, can interfere with your ability to read the bottom line of the display, which is the line that tells you what the buttons underneath the display will do. I've actually wondered about the possibility of opening it up and seeing if the mask can be removed.

 

You might be surprised what they get wrong, so maybe we should be extra happy about what they get right!

Yeah... Roland has had a habit of making cool things that are almost great, but with odd implementations or frustrating omissions that ultimately keep them out of my rig. The VR09 and Jupiter 50 come to mind as recent boards that I ended up not liking as much as I thought I would, all the more frustrating because in many ways they were "almost" there, and the things that were "wrong" seemed to me to be more a matter of design/interface decisions than necessary cost compromises. That said, I'm optimistic about the FA-07 and the updated FA software.

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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Build weight tell us anything about what type of action is in there?

The 6 lb difference with the similarly sized JP50 makes me think its unlikely to share that action, unless maybe there's some other major difference like amount of plastic vs. metal or something like that. But you know, the FA-07 doesn't have to be any existing action, it could be something we're seeing for the first time.

 

I wish they'd get rid of the shiny plastic front panel on these instruments. Whenever I see an FA in a store, it's just loaded with gritty fingerprints.

According to this thread, your wish may be granted...

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=53730

 

 

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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