rickzjamm

Just got am email from Korg this past week on new additions to the library & the IG fell flat IMO (yeah I bought that$$$). I agree about the Korg third party offerings, non transferable & I've been "taken" many times while throwing my cash in the ol' sucker dumpster. That's why the Fantom draws me in, I have an FA-06 and have never bought any library tones for it but Axial offers a bounty of sounds. Are they for everybody? Of course not but they fit my needs.

True, Korg Kronos is alway updating their library (I own a KK7) but... you pay for tho$e & they Ain's cheap while the Roland Axial sounds are free. Either forum for these boards have freebies so it's subjective on what you want. Personally I never have embraced the Korg APs & IMHO RD series have the best pianos and very tweakable to taste especially the V-Piano. Whatever works for you, works for you.

Looks like minimal OS update, really wanted a better organ and "other" sound choices... oh well, returned it.

Hi Greg, I gig several times a month & lugging a lighter flagship board appeals to me, the others didn't rock my world. For home use, church & piano gigs I have the RD-2000. But I agree, the Kronos & Fantom would be a killer combination.

Defintely money is a factor, also weight and making space in my home space. Seems more like a lateral move to me although some could argue that point, but this works fine for my situation.

It'll be replacing my Korg Kronos, and that's a bold move indeed.

Yamaha's dragging their feet in the September release game... hope it's worth the wait.

Pass.

The Police Cars... DB I think I found my favorite copy band!!!

Devnor, I'm wanting the F7 as a gigging board... is the weighted synth action passable to pull off piano playing without too much compromise?

Thanks for the insight Devnor!

Hi aellison62, Actually I'm thinking of replacing my Korg Kronos 73 with the F7 (may never part with my FA-06). Although the KK7 has amazing orchestral / sub sounds & is a great workstation and has served me on many a gig, I've never truly connected with the hammer action, APs / EPs and yes.. deep down I'm a Roland gut from way back. I have an RD-2000 for home practice (too heavy for gigging) and one at church in a piano shell, love the pianos on it better than the Kronos. Would prefer the F8 with the PHA5 action but the weight is definitely a factor & the F7 seems to be calling to me with all the right boxes checked.

Many good informative videos on the Fantom out there but the Bonner's Music You Tube vid is the most practical for a gigging musician I've seen & convinced me to get one... hoping the F7 with the "new synth action" will work well with the APs & EPs. I have the FA-06, the sounds are awesome but the synth action sucks.

Yup, I have a RD-2000 & the PHA5 escapement action was a huge selling point for me but at 49 lbs. its a monster to lug around to gigs so it's a home practice board... even got one for our church. With the V-piano on the F7 if you don't have that hammer action just isn't the same but honestly I think the CP88 come very close to the PHA5.IMHO

Got the CP88 & very impressed with the APs & EPs, paired it with my FA-06 and it's great! Light weight, solid sounds (except the organ on both boards fall flat) that can cover any cover band needs. Hopefully the September OS update will bring game.

AnotherScott echoed my thoughts... the F8's beefy 61 lbs. make it hard to justify gigging with it (seems like it's meant for the studio or burly roadies of a major act) & not sure if the F7 "weighted action" will cut it for APs or would you have to do some serious adapting? It does seem to be an all in one board for gigs & I feel this is the NS3 slayer except for the weight. Still wanting one but justifying the price is a slippery slope for me. Good news is according to Ed Diaz SN are on the way...

Well said Steve.

Nicely done!

Roland hasn't priced their boards like this in a long time, must be more under the hood yet to be revealed,

But it seems that it needs a second tier mate to "complete" it like say, a MODX or a FA-06 for bread & butter. That's why I'm intrigued on the September surprise, hope it's better "other" sounds.

And I'm sure the Axial toolbox will bring some nice organs, brass etc. in the future. Roland's been pretty good about freebie sounds & OS updates.

I was in the process of selling a couple of boards to buy... think I know the answer.

September OS update Yamaha? The dust cloud is the other big dogs on the block moving forward.

Also seeing a lot of Dexibell approach in this (yes, Dexibell is a spawn of Roland alumni).

Has the best of the Forte, Nord (well, the jury's still out on the organs), Yamaha and even some in house borrowing from the FA series... add that to the Roland PHA-5 hammer action! Yeah it's a dream board, I want.