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Roland FA-07


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I guess the Artis 7 would need to be, it is a LOT more expensive!

Only a little more expensive in the U.S.... $1695 for the Kurz, $1499 for the Roland.

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 guess the Artis 7 would need to be, it is a LOT more expensive!

Only a little more expensive in the U.S.... $1695 for the Kurz, $1499 for the Roland.

 

Wow...great pricing! Out here the Artis goes for aout $2700, the Roland $1795

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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TBH, I am even considering going back to the A-70 and the laptop. The keyboards today are all okay, but each one you look at or consider always seems to have some thing you need to compromise on (unless you want to spend upwards of $5k :D ) and even then, they don't have everything one would want ;)

 

 

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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(Quote) Almost! The problem with this (for this purpose) is that, when you select a new RH part, it gets layered along with (rather than replacing) the previous RH part. So for example, if pad 2 = piano, and pad 3 = organ, and you are playing bass and piano (initiated by pressing pad #2), and you want to switch your RH sound to organ, you can't simply hit pad 3 to get to the organ, you also have to hit pad 2 again to turn off the piano.

 

BUT there is a way to effectively accomplish the goal. The key is to use the new "Keyboard Switch Group" feature of the 2.0 software upgrade. As you said, make sure sound #1 is the bass sound up to a certain key, restrict the other 15 sounds to play above that key. Then (using the same example assignments I mentioned above) you could turn on sounds 1 (bass) and 2 (piano) and save that assignment to button 2, and turn on sounds 1 (bass) and 3 (organ) and save that assignment to button 3, and then indeed, you can use button 2 to start playing bass+piano, and then press 3 to seamlessly switch to bass+organ. (And if you actually want a combination of more than one RH sound, you can create single buttons for that as well.) (end quote).

Thanks for catching this Another Scott, its great that Roland listened to feedback and made these very useful improvements in the 2.0 update !

Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

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Is it possible in a Keyboard switch group to assign to have a mixture of pads playing samples and others playing presets?

 

No, but you can assign functions to the "virtual pads" which is what the buttons under the display turn into when enabled for that. So you could put samples there.

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

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Is it possible in a Keyboard switch group to assign to have a mixture of pads playing samples and others playing presets?

 

No, but you can assign functions to the "virtual pads" which is what the buttons under the display turn into when enabled for that. So you could put samples there.

But you can't do both, can you? As far as I saw, when the buttons are used as virtual pads, their functions exactly duplicate whatever function was assigned to the real pads. That is, you could not choose one pad function for the real pads and a different pad function for the virtual pads, they have to be the same. Did I miss something?

 

Going back to something I said earlier, I said that "there is no display you can call up that will tell you at a glance which sounds you have currently assigned to the 15 pads" but there is Part View, which at least can show you what you have assigned to 8 of them. (Though you can't use that screen with the virtual pad feature, you'd have to use the real pads for actual sound selection if you wanted to keep that display visible.)

 

Thanks for catching this Another Scott, its great that Roland listened to feedback and made these very useful improvements in the 2.0 update !

Yeah, between the Keyboard Switch Group functionality, the ability to have the pads' function saved with the Studio Set instead of being global, and the Master Keyboard MIDI functionality, they made it a much better board! And as it happens, I have a "casual" rehearsal today where a super lightweight do-it-all 7x is just the ticket. But as I mentioned, for my particular purposes, everything it does can be done as well or better by the Artis7, except for the weight (okay, and the sub out). For a more lightweight 7x, I also have a Nord Electro 5D-73 which is, in most ways, far less flexible than the Artis or the FA, but also has some operational and sonic advantages of its own, and is only 1.5 lbs heavier than the Roland instead of 9 lbs heavier like the Kurz. Basically useless for LH bass (or anything that requires more than two sounds at once, one of which must be some kind of piano or organ), but if it does what you need, it does it well. That's probably what I'll use for today's rehearsal. (It's also more expensive than either the FA or the Artis7.)

 

 

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 just checked the documentation, you're right- it's whatever you have the pads assigned to for the virtual pads.

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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So if,for argument's sake, I had samples from 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' and wanted to set up a studio set for that, could I not import those to some of the pads and have patches on the others?

 

Is it only possible to play one or the other of samples or patches from the pads?! This would seem fundamentally flawed.

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Bit OT compared to the last few posts, but the thing that draws me in somehow is this Sub Out - perfect for playing left hand basslines thru a dedicated bass amp!

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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So if,for argument's sake, I had samples from 'Owner of a Lonely Heart' and wanted to set up a studio set for that, could I not import those to some of the pads and have patches on the others?

 

Is it only possible to play one or the other of samples or patches from the pads?! This would seem fundamentally flawed.

That does seem to be the case. Though with the new 2.0 update, it's no longer a global setting. You could have one Studio Set setup with samples (like when for whan you want to do Owner), and have other Studio Sets where the pads select patches. I'm pretty sure that wasn't do-able before.

 

When you're using the pads for samples, you still have a way of selecting patches, using the Favorites function. However, Patch Remain functionality is much more limited that way.

 

the thing that draws me in somehow is this Sub Out - perfect for playing left hand basslines thru a dedicated bass amp!

Yup, that was a biggie for me, great feature. That and the travel weight were the places where it had an edge over the Artis7, but the Artis had too much on the other side of the scale, for my particular needs. The only way to do the dedicated bass amp thing on the Kuz would be using hard pan to use the stereo output as dual mono. Sub Out is much better. You could have stereo main sounds, and then still using the panning trick, you could have the sub out sending your bass to a bass amp, and your organ to a Ventilator! My consolation there is that the gigs I do where I'm playing LH bass are also not ones where I care about having the very best organ sound. Plus I may have my another organ source with me on the gig anyway.

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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RE the action: Played one today. Much, much nicer than my FA-06. I play a Jupiter 50 a lot and I preferred the FA-07 action. It is very, very similar, but the FA felt more "weighted" to me, though it may just have been in my head.

 

FA-07 keybed made many of the sounds I use on my 06 come alive. Or, you know, the grass is just always greener...

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RE the action: Played one today. Much, much nicer than my FA-06. I play a Jupiter 50 a lot and I preferred the FA-07 action. It is very, very similar, but the FA felt more "weighted" to me, though it may just have been in my head.

 

FA-07 keybed made many of the sounds I use on my 06 come alive. Or, you know, the grass is just always greener...

 

Thanks Jordan - that re-awakesn my inteest :)

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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RE the action: Played one today. Much, much nicer than my FA-06. I play a Jupiter 50 a lot and I preferred the FA-07 action. It is very, very similar, but the FA felt more "weighted" to me, though it may just have been in my head.

It just goes again to show how subjective actions are. gg22 preferred the FA-06 to the FA-07, you preferred the FA-07 to the Jupiter 50... Are you not bothered by the lack of responsiveness of the rear of the keys? Maybe you've gotten used to that from your FA-06. That was the biggest difference to me. Also that the Jupiter 50 keys were more resistant to side-to-side wiggle, they just seemed more "solid."

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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RE the action: Played one today. Much, much nicer than my FA-06. I play a Jupiter 50 a lot and I preferred the FA-07 action. It is very, very similar, but the FA felt more "weighted" to me, though it may just have been in my head.

It just goes again to show how subjective actions are. gg22 preferred the FA-06 to the FA-07, you preferred the FA-07 to the Jupiter 50... Are you not bothered by the lack of responsiveness of the rear of the keys? Maybe you've gotten used to that from your FA-06. That was the biggest difference to me. Also that the Jupiter 50 keys were more resistant to side-to-side wiggle, they just seemed more "solid."

 

I didn't notice it; probably, as you said, due to the years I've been playing the FA06. I wouldn't say the FA-07 is perfect, but it felt much more rewarding and fulfilling riffing some piano stuff on it compared to on the FA06. Not that I'd want it as my lone piano board, though...

Hammond SKX

Mainstage 3

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RE the action: Played one today. Much, much nicer than my FA-06. I play a Jupiter 50 a lot and I preferred the FA-07 action. It is very, very similar, but the FA felt more "weighted" to me, though it may just have been in my head.

It just goes again to show how subjective actions are. gg22 preferred the FA-06 to the FA-07, you preferred the FA-07 to the Jupiter 50... Are you not bothered by the lack of responsiveness of the rear of the keys? Maybe you've gotten used to that from your FA-06. That was the biggest difference to me. Also that the Jupiter 50 keys were more resistant to side-to-side wiggle, they just seemed more "solid."

 

Yeah, maybe I just expected FA07 to be much better based on all the reviews, but it wasn't even close to Jupiter 50 (which to me is comparable to Korg M3 and Motifs). I had FA06 and FA07 side by side, I didn't like the lack of responsiveness towards the back of the keys on both, but at least FA06 had the same resistance on white and black keys, whereas black keys on FA07 felt much stiffer then white keys.

True, it's very subjective, so definitely one needs to try themself. Actually looks like myself and AnotherScott are in the minority, as most people like the Fa07 action. It also reminds me the action on Ultranova, probably they use the same Fatar action.

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And it's not that I hate the FA-07 OR FA-06 action, my issue with them is for playing piano sounds. I'd probably find them perfectly usable for most other stuff.

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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  • 4 months later...

I have renewed interest in this keyboard, but one thing is not entirely clear from the user's manual, how do you get it to transmit Program Changes over USB/MIDI?

 

The only part of the OM that refers to it is the sequencer section, but I'm thinking more of changes patches/performances on external instruments or a laptop.

 

Can any owners here chime in? Thanks.

 

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I see that the pads can be configured as a numpad; presumably, that would work to change internal tones or studio sets, but would it transmit program changes as well?

However you call up a studio set, it can contain your MIDI Program Changes. If you're trying to find stuff in the manual, be sure you've checked the info on the 2.0 update, where this functionality was added...

https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/FA-06_07_08_ver20_eng01_W.pdf

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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  • 2 years later...
Bumping this thread up to offer this little tidbit. I did a very fast perusal of the last couple of pages, but didn't see any mention of it.

 

The Roland FA-07 features the Fatar TP/9S, the same action that is found in the Prophet 6/OB-6, NI Komplete Kontrol 25/49/61, etc.

 

I got this from a friend at Roland, so it seems pretty legit. I will reserve the right to claim innocence if it's false, but I feel pretty good about it at the moment.

 

Oh, and it's also 8.4 kg (18.5 lbs for you folks south of the border ;) ), in case that hasn't come up. :D

 

So yeah, the action is WAAAAAAAY better than on the FA06.

 

(sorry if I'm repeating something already posted, as I mentioned, TL;DR :rawk: )

 

 

https://www.keyboardkountry.com/replacement-keys-for-roland-fa-07/

 

Mystery seems to be solved and confirmed :)

Yamaha P-515, Korg SV-2 73, Kurzweil PC4-7

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FA-07 keys are better than the FA-06 because they're a little bigger/longer and the black notes are flatter/wider on top, which is a plus compared to the FA-06. The "weight" is more substantial, but the FA-07 keys have major "push back" on the rear half of the keys. If you're playing loads of black notes in a hurry it can be annoying to say the least. Pretty stiff. Whoever ok'd that must have been an engineer and not a keyboard player. Why didn't they use the Jupiter 50 keybed? It's not my main board. Very handy & versatile though as a 2nd board so I'll definitely hang on to it. I have a Hammond clonewheel so I don't need it for organ. The organs are fine though if you run it sub-out through a vent.

 

Aftertouch was a big omission (for me), but I've got that covered with a D-70 which has a very nice 76 note keybed with AT. I tuck it right under the FA-07 so that only the keys are accessible. Its midi'd to the FA. The D-70 can transmit multiple zones as well, so it's kinda like having a dual manual FA with aftertouch on the lower manual. I can switch zone setups on the D-70 with one button push. There's 5 buttons below the display which gives me instant access to 5 different setups, so that makes it easy considering the display is totally hidden the way I have it setup. If I want to layer in some D-70 sounds, the volume slider is still accessible, or I can use the expression pedal attached to it.

 

I've only recently set this configuration up and it may grow as I have quite a few rack mount units that could be employed as well.

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  • 1 year later...
BUT there is a way to effectively accomplish the goal. The key is to use the new "Keyboard Switch Group" feature of the 2.0 software upgrade. As you said, make sure sound #1 is the bass sound up to a certain key, restrict the other 15 sounds to play above that key. Then (using the same example assignments I mentioned above) you could turn on sounds 1 (bass) and 2 (piano) and save that assignment to button 2, and turn on sounds 1 (bass) and 3 (organ) and save that assignment to button 3, and then indeed, you can use button 2 to start playing bass+piano, and then press 3 to seamlessly switch to bass+organ. (And if you actually want a combination of more than one RH sound, you can create single buttons for that as well.)

 

I had FA06, then FA07, finally sold also 07 because nearly stopped using its many features, also the build quality with those shiny panels and quite delicate overlays on them just seemed not reliable enough to keep it for many years. Sometimes I regret, because of quite good keybed and that cool KBD SW GROUP function, but the sound set was not so impressive, particularly after some time of using. I read later that JUNO-DS has newer PCM sound set, but seems to not have that KBD SWITCH GROUP function, am I correct? Maybe I should had got Jupiter-50, but it is SuperNatural only. Frankly speaking, after some experience with FA, I am not praising SuperNatural engines that much. They sound quite fine on its own, but the editing possibilities are significantly inferior comparing to the traditional PCM sounds. Also the choice of SuperNatural sounds in FA is really synth focused. Many similar leads and pads, no acoustic e.g. SN brass section. But I often was finding better sounding patches in old PCMS bank than its SN recreation (e.g. D-50 Stack - "fantasia", or some acoustic guitars) Maybe Jupiters have (had?) better choice of SN sounds (particularly acoustic) and it would change my mind about SN.

 

I wonder if there is any other board that allows to do that function KBD SW GROUP within single performance/studio set/combi. I don't mean switching performances seamlessly, which is kind of workaround, but switching the combinations of active parts within a performance. OK, the new Fantom surely has this or will have, but any others? Montage/MODX?

 

I am looking forward what Roland will release next as FA/JUNO-DS replacement, and I expect it will feature new Zen-Core sound engine, which seems to me like gathering all existing engines together (so also basic 4-partial PCM included) and making the patches compatible across the product range, which is really fine, and kind of what Nord makes.

Yamaha P-515, Korg SV-2 73, Kurzweil PC4-7

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FA SuperNATURAL Synth is VA synth, with full editing. FA SuperNATURAL Acoustic is a small range of tones that employ modeling, and because they employ modeling, there are not all the typical user editable parameters.

 

Juno DS can do the same "smooth switching bass plus your choice of 15 other sounds" thing I described using the KBD SW GROUP function of the FA, using a different method. Bonus: It's not limited to 15.

 

I would not call switching performances seamlessly as a workaround for not having KBD SW GROUP. I see KBD SW GROUP as a workaround for not having full seamless switching.

 

Yes, Montage/MODX can do this kind of thing, both through seamless switching, and also through Scenes, which are arguably a bit closer to KBD SW GROUP in approach.

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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