echo66

duh I fixed that embarrassing mistake. I bet, these are strange times. Thanks all the best to you as well!

Very nice Mike! I enjoyed this. Also my wife and I saw your band last year in Lucknow ON - really great. Loved your playing. And also I have followed Terence over the years. I remember him as a teenager subbing in at a local gig in the 80's and I loaned him one of my keyboards. He was super nice and very talented! Cheers.

I'm not sure I agree. One example I bought my Triton Studio 88 new in 2002 for $5,299 + tax cad. Still have it. Yamaha Montage 88 last year for the same price. Also my Kronos 2 88 similar price. 18 yrs later same price..

Ditto here.

I've gotten some pretty good hammond sounds on the Montage/Modx8 with some modified ksounds samples. As for Jazz on the modx8, I would think the action would not be suitable. I found it terrible for anything other than playing basic chords on the white keys. Actually bad for that too. ymmv.

Nice design. I passed on the CP88 because of the organs, So I would like a combination of the 2 - YC88! A true Nord replacement.

Battery for 2CX Runs for hours on this battery which is about the size and weight of a 3.5" Hard Drive. If you get a plug adapter and go into normal power in rather than USB, speakers work normally. That's pretty cool.

I think it's a very nice instrument for the price. If it only ran on batteries.... :-(

Good point. Although I bought, and then sold because of they keys. I shared my thoughts on the keys just to be helpful to prospective buyers.

Thanks. Yeah I think I"ll get my $$ back for now and see if I"ll want one in 2020. Despite knowing it is incomplete sound/feature-wise, I also found it very buggy/crashy when it was working. Judging by some posts on other boards, seems like my issue is not isolated. My first thought is 'Shame on you Roland", although really it"s my own fault. The warning signs were there. Nice keyboard/concept, but too early to the market IMO.

Just thought I'd give an update. Received bnib Fantom 8 about 9 days ago. Wouldn't always boot up properly. It is now bricked, won't boot up, white 'Roland' screen of death. Has been buggy since the start even after 1.1 upgrade. I have to send it back today. :-( I wouldn't recommend buying one at this point.

Although I've been trashing the new Fantom, I have ordered a Fantom 8 which I'll have in the next week or so. I'll report back. As for the MODX, I felt the action is bad.

Good point. I'm just talking soundwise. As a Montage/Kronos owner I was disappointed.

makes sense, since the sound banks include the XV-5080 sound set. tough crowd. Ya think the XV owners would like to play their legacy 70's/80's patches on the new Fantom ? For sure, that's a good thing. Although if that's all it's got, why upgrade?

Yeah that's it, seemed like a flashback those patches. Not a bad thing just besides the vpiano it felt like that's all it had going. Nothing new and pricey. !

Played the 8 today - went planning to pull the trigger. I thought the action and the piano very nice. Organs - puzzling how bad they are. I found many sounds seem like from my old JV1080/Fantom S. Nice looking and solid keyboard. Great potential, needs a better soundset IMO. Didn't get it - not for me....Yet.

Kind of a shocker. Not pulling the trigger yet. :-(

IMO the MODX series is akin to getting the cheapest strat copy you could find, installing a fantastic set of pickups electronics etc. It sounds great but plays like a $99 guitar. What's the point?

They are both great artists - big fan of both. Myself more of a Billy fan. Also a lyric fan. Billy does both - and so it goes....

I bought a MODX8 when it first came out. I got it so I could leave the Montage 8 at home for gigs, it's a beast. I would use either/or Montage 8 Kronos 88. I ended up selling the MODX8 because I found the action terrible in comparison to the Montage/Kronos. Compared to the Montage otherwise, the light weight was great to carry, I though it sounded almost as good as the Montage - though the Montage's action is so much more expressive the pianos esp was alot better. And the walwart is a pia to me. So for me I would still have it if it had a better action. Play one first would be my advice.

I gigged with the MODX8 for about 6 months - bought it when it first came out so I could leave the my Montage 8 at home. It's gone now, hated the action. Back to the Montage 8 and/or Kronos 88. The lightweight keyboard wasn't worth the terrible action to me. ymmv

We all have our preferences/opinions but here's mine. Was gigging with the MODX8 for over 2 months, and now I'm back to dragging my Montage 8 to gigs. I'm so over the stiff non-expressive feel of that cheap keybed. IMO it does not feel like a professional instrument and there's very limited expressiveness. The sound itself was good, but it does not sound or feel even close to the Montage. My MODX8 is for sale.

As another comment, I was doing organ swipes last night and at one point almost slide it right off the stand it's so light.

I don't have pics but with the keyboards side by side - the depression of the backs of the keys of MODX8 hardly move away from the felt. The Montage there is a much larger space there. The difference is very obviously a closer pivot point. RH3 on my Kronos goes down much further as well as the RH2 on my Triton Studio. The differences between the Montage 8 and the MODX8 for me. Montage sounds better, feels better, more expressive, aux outs and has better controls - especially the the 8 sliders. And no wall-wart! A luxury instrument imo. The bad - heavy! The MODX is very nice alternative used it on a gig last night - tho at times I have to be careful if I want to get really ambitious with that action. IMO the Montage is worth the $$ for the studio or if you want to carry it.

I have both the MODX8 and a Montage 8. I don't find the heaviness of the actions that much dissimilar. The main difference is the fulcrum on the Montage keys is further back - the backs of the keys go down further. This makes a difference in leverage affecting all the keys moreso the blacks. Fatiguing in comparison. Having said that I am getting used to the MODX and don't love it, but don't hate it either. On a plus, my hands are getting stronger. It's a good sounding light instrument.