Leh173

The manual seems pretty basic on details was hoping for more defined information, unless there is another manual with more detail to be release (parameter guide maybe?) Glad to see the sequencer can do a lot of what the Fantom G one can in terms of ext parts and editing. Hoping the external MIDI control is also there hidden somewhere. Those are two major areas I want to see retained from the Fantom G.

If there is such a page, I don't see it. dB OK, thanks! Maybe it's ended up in this DAW control stuff I sit here typing this as I'm composing a tune on my fantom G6, using its sequencer a scratch pad, JP-8000 midi'd up works like a charm! LOL.

Thanks for that Dave. I figured as much. Seems the Studio Set is pretty much the same as the Fantom G's Studio Mode, which couldn't be switched either, but parts within it could be. The Fantom's Live Mode made the 61 key version workable for pretty much anything, so it's a shame to lose that. BTW I do like the inclusion of a KBD switch on the pads though, that is a good move. We have to create RPS phrases to do that on the Fantom G. It could select parts, but not turn keyboard switches on and off which will be brilliant for quickly layering loads of sounds and bringing things in and out. Can you see anywhere to control external MIDI gear from the Studio Set? On the Fantom G there is a whopping great big page called "External" where external gear control (keyboard parts, ranges, channels, Prog Messages etc) can be set up.

They're right, of course.... My unit didn't come with a manual, and I couldn't find that setting. I called Roland US to ask them about it, and they told me they didn't have the book yet either, but they didn't see how to do it either. Glad to hear it is in there. dB Great stuff. I guess this is all happening very quickly. BTW on the Fantom G series on the sequencer there is a column Out Assign, which can be scrolled through to select the output of the track. That Fantom has the same settings as the FA (with the addition of "phrase"). I wonder if you could try something Dave, and see if the patch remain works when you change studio sets?

Yes the manuals are out just had a quick skim though. http://www.roland.com/support/article/?q=manuals&p=FA-06 The good: on page 63 it says it has these modes for the sequencer (more or less the same as the Fantom G) Value Explanation INT The internal sound engine of the FA is played. EXT An external sound module connected to the MIDI OUT connector is played. BOTH Both the internal sound engine and the external sound module are played. OFF The track does not output data. It also appears the sequencer has range of editing tools, which I didn't expect, which at first glance seems similar to the Fantom G. No mention of RPS though. The bad news (or I couldn't find any mention) is that the External Part screen/functions in the Fantoms Live/Studio mode seems to be completely missing! I hope that is not the case, as it makes controlling external gear alongside the internal sounds a breeze on the Fantom. Not sure if these features have been moved in the DAW control section and renamed... Also there is scant mention of seamless sound change (which the Fantom supports in Live Mode) but it does mention patch remain in the system settings. I would still like to know if an entire studio set can be changed without sound dropouts. I'm guessing no. Details on the Studio sets are pretty thin, like how the outputs work etc. Also seems like ext audio cannot be processed through a usual MFX block (like on the Fantom G). Need to read more and actually play one...

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.

well, we're really at manuals and proper information from Roland time about this! The External MIDI thing is a big question. It's so good in the Fantom G (Studio Sets have a complete 16 zone External MIDI section with saveable MSB/LSB PG changes per part). I would be very disappointed if it hasn't been ported over. I mean why have MIDI ports at all if this is the case? If it only works in Single Mode that will be quite a shame. As for external outs, the 2nd out is a stereo jack but if it's tied to click out and the SP-404 only that would just be plain weird. The FG and many Roland instruments let you send to A/B stereo outs or 1,2,3,4 individual outs. Can't see why they would limit this. With the wave expansion slots, maybe they themselves aren't sure what will be available. They dropped the ball big time with the ARX cards on the fantom G, so lets hope they have a better strategy this time. If they are doing the old SRJV80-04-Vintage Synth card, I would be thrilled, but I would imagine they meant the SRX-07 Vintage Keys one which includes most of that card anyway. What SN wave expansion they might make available is anyones guess... If they are leaving simple features out to meet the brief of a mid-level instrument then they should make the full featured one! The Fantom G is really long in the tooth and seriously needs an update. If they don't want to do that at least give the FA series some of these features! Time will tell.

hey blumunk The Sub37 MIDI'd up sounds like a great idea! haha I am considering two options, FA06 with D-70 which has aftertouch or FA-08 with A-800pro, which also has aftertouch. Not sure how it brings the cost down so much to leave out aftertouch. Always struck me as one of those dogmatic "lower priced keyboards don't have aftertouch" ideas from the manufacturers My JP-8000 does't have it, and I never really missed it, even though I've always had aftertouch capable boards. I was stunned when I MIDI'd the JP up to the Fantom and it started getting aftertouch from the Fantom, sounds I'd played for years started to respond so differently haha anyway, hanging out to play a FA-06/08 so I can decide.

hey tonysounds thanks for that review. very interesting and helpful. I'm considering this as a Fantom G/JV/JP-8k replacement and am excited by the sounds and weight and price Glad to read that it sounds fantastic. It sounds from what you are saying that a lot of the "good" UI stuff from the fantom G has been refined, which is great, as that was what attracted me to the Fantom G over the others (and my preference for the Roland sound, build quality etc). Good that the action is OK. I was in a music store today and the only Roland lower end boards they had were the BK range which actions were OK but a bit toy-ish, but I am very spoiled by the G6 action. I played a 300nx as well which action was fine (and a RD64 seemed similar action) so hopefully the FA08 is good, although Im aiming more for the 06 right now. I wonder what will come out for these wave expansion slots? I'm sooooo glad they are doing the SRX range because I may be able to punt my JV-1080 and cards finally. I hope they also release more SN expansions so the machine can be customised. No MIDI transmission in song mode i.e. for the sequencer so it can't talk to ext midi is a massive step backward from the Fantom G, that will be missed. No individual outputs is also a big step backwards. The Fantom G is very well organised in that regard. I hope this changes, may not be such a big deal if the onboard sounds are really great, but I can't imagine a single good reason to not have the same outs as on the G. DanL, I wonder if you're thinking of external parts? Until I see the FA06/08 I can't say, but I hope the FA-06 has retained the external parts options Fantom G/X, jupiter-80 and pretty much most Roland keyboards in this category . If they have lopped that off = huge mistake. I somehow doubt it though. They may have just limited the sequencer not to play out externally. Perhaps it's too dumbed down from the G. The manuals and more videos from Roland can't come out quickly enough. They seem to have a winner here, and with Fantom more or less end of lifed, they should make the most of this!

Was there one that showed a studio set being changed with no dropout? The ones I saw I couldn't see how they were changing, and it seemed like they were changing the sound in one part with patch remain. The fantom G can do it that way or entire 8 way splits with FX with no dropouts.

Has anyone at NAMM been able to find out from Roland if these machines support the same type of seamless switching or patch remain as it's implemented on the Fantom G? Dave Bryce showed it but it seems that was working per part in a studio set, I want to know if you can switch a whole studio set without dropouts, as the Fantom G's Live Mode does.

Thanks for those videos dB. Good overview. I'm glad you covered the patch remain feature. I'd be interested to know how that works on the FAx series, as on the Fantom G Live Mode can change 8 layers with FX with no dropouts but Studio Mode can't. I'm hoping on the Fax series you can change entire Studio Sets without dropouts, as this is one of the best features on the fantom G series. My general thought so far after watching this and the sonic state video as well, these keyboard seemed to be derived from the previous Fantom generations, with a much better sound engine. How much of the workstation features made it over from the Fantom G/X will be of great interest to current Fantom owners. I look forward to learning more and how these boards compare. Things I'd like to know are: did the RPS feature survive? How much functionality do the pads have? What is the extent of the sampling? Is the VK organ from the Integra on there (so good organ sounds at last)? Are the SRX series sounds on there? What is the MIDI controller section like (love the addition of the direct DAW control, the Fantom G SHOULD have had that)? They seem to be to be replacing the old Juno line, but are much much better. I also can't believe the weight. Very good, though I wonder what the action of the 61 key one will be like. The Fantom G's semi-weighted action is the best IMO, but at under 6 kilos I can't see it being as good. For me the FA-08 is of the most interest. My last comment is in 2010 when I decided to drop MainStage and try hardware again I was disappointed by how far behind the keyboard were from software at the time, and the only things that would do all I wanted were the big workstations. Now things have changed, and if either of these had been out then, it probably would have been a no brainer to buy one.

Wow I haven't played a KK but if people are this dismayed with the keybed it must be awful. Guess I keep on playing my lovely JP-8000, and that was considered a "cheap" build in it's time. How things have fallen. I did play the Krome and MOX and MX and I was stunned how bad the keybeds on the semi weighteds were. I never liked the Juno/A-series controller action that much but they are better than all this stuff. I think Roland really care about keybeds and construction quality. Bit OT but the thing I don't get is why various manufacturers don't support existing products with bug fixes, OS updates and sound libraries. I'd rather buy a high quality product that is well supported and maximised over time by it's maker and keep it for years than buy cheapo stuff. Thankfully the Fantom has enough going on that I can keep adding stuff to it myself but they could have done so much more... Anyway sorry to hear the KK has poor build.

I guess I'm probably just stating the obvious, but these things are cheap for a reason. I think due to economic conditions these companies are trying to bring affordable products to the marketplace, but that means quality is going to suffer as things get built at lower price points and more products made in south east asia. I learned this the hard way when trying to settle on a MIDI controller, and I ended up with the Fantom G6. I accepted the cost/weight issues for reliability and quality of keybed. I don't know what the answer is... it's hard for musicians to pay high prices when times are bad... but none of us want junk that won't last or insults you when you play it (I'm looking at you Akai MPK61, Axiom Pro, etc etc...)

Not for $999 it can't. ;-) Haha well you 'd think if the fantom can do up to 16 parts worth of individual pedal assignments, a $999 instrument could manage just 2....

I find these limitations amazing... the Fantom G can do all this stuff... can the reception of controllers be edited at patch level (if there is such a thing on these) ie disable a piano patches reception to expression controllers... I think on the fantom G I can disable controllers at live set/studio level or at patch level... Reporting this to Roland for a change is worth doing. who know's if they'll listen, but they seemed to for the Jupiter-80...

Good post, Craig, it is about the sound after all! If Roland made a module of this I would by it instantly, would solve two of my issues with the Fantom G, the organ and lack of VA, like they should have put out as ARX cards. Still the pedal assignments thing is silly. Their system for doing this in the Fantom G is excellent. Surely a smaller version of this for the VR09 couldn't have been that hard?

Slight OT but what I love about these forums is the things you find out about like this MIDI solutions footswitch box... there have been several times I wished the Fantom G6 had more pedal inputs, and the fact this box can be programmed to toggle between sys-ex commands is brilliant! Great idea. As for the VR-09, sadly as a player of some Roland gear, I'm not surprised they is a "file under dumb" moment... they should fix this OS up... I don't know what happens but they always come up with great ideas and products and then do something silly like this... just odd...

I doubt they will have one. The GM sets are usually onboard the synth factory. The Fantom G has a GM set as one of it's preset banks. I think most Rolands that fit SRX boards have one as well. My JV-1080 does (though it fits SRJV boards)

unless they've popped it in the wavetable somewhere those sounds probably won't be there. they're not in the Fantom G. I had to load in my own tron samples. The SRX07 for the older Rolands had it. Even the ancient vintage synth card has them but Roland chose not to put em in the G. Thanks guys...

Just watched the video and it sounds very Roland. I think the ROMpler sounds (the pianos/eps/clavs/strings) all sound similar the Fantom G sounds. Though the piano might be better. The synths sounds great to me. Fuller than the ones on the G, and the G's are good. I really want to get confirmation from Roland that this thing has the SN VA in it.It certainly looks and sounds that way.

I'm intereted in this board as an addition to my Fantom G or a replacement for some situations. I think the build quality will be OK, not Fantom level but Roland lower stuff is usually OK. I bet the keybed is Juno Gi style, which won't excite anyone but will be servciable, though I guess we'll have to see when it comes out. I wonder if Roland get frustrated putting out really high end boards with fantastic build quality that no one buys and then getting slammed when they bring out cheaper plastic alternatives. Good build quality costs money. I learnt this when I tried to go all software and MIDI controller. After that little experience I have a lot more respect for gear with decent build quality and made peace with the high cost.

Yeah from what I heard in the videos the EPs and APs sound like (or very similar to) the Fantom ones, which suits me. The MFX are all the usual, which are generally excellent. I'm talking about the organ engine and if it is the supernatural synth engine, would be awesome additions to the G. Organs are the G's weakest area. Funnily enough for my current band, the VR-09 could actually replace the G for most songs!

I can't help thinking that the engines in this little keyboard would be cool in a little module a VR-09R perhaps. Same sounds, low price. Would be a cool addition to the Fantom G as they never bothered expanding the ARX series...

I've just been comparing the iPad editors for the Jupiter series and Integra and the synth editor layout is exactly the same as the one in the VR-09 editor. Looks promising, I really hope it's the same SuperNATURAL synth engine. Really makes this board attractive to me if it is, even if it is only two part multi-timbal (excluding the GM engine)