FA 08 EXPANSIONS

[Tonysounds]

So....what has everyone tried and what have you kept?

[EscapeRocks]

Hey Tony,

 

Since they're free, I have all 10 downloaded.

 

For my current gig, I have #2 keys collection, and #9 Complete Piano loaded into the two slots.

 

I then have a bunch of tones loaded from the other libraries available on the Axial site.

 

I mostly have sounds from Super Saw, D50, and Jupiter loaded into my FA-08. So far this gives me a great palette to choose from and tweak since most things I do are 80's based.

 

 

 

 

[Tonysounds]

How is the complete piano collection?

[AnotherScott]

Interesting that the older SRX piano has that much appeal, since piano is one of the FA's relatively few Supernatural sounds (I.e. newer tech than what was in the SRX cards).

[EscapeRocks]

I like to layer various pianos to get my very subjectively perfect piano sound for any particular song

[aellison62]

Tried and downloaded them all. Mostly keep keys and studio collection loaded but I also really like orchestra and complete piano.

[Tonysounds]

Okay, so youre probably wondering why is he all fired up now about expansions?

 

Well, heres the deal. When I first got the FA, RedKey was generous with his time and energy, and helped me sift through all the expansions and soup up the FA (actually, he did the lifting, I just auditioned sounds).

 

There werent as many expansions then (back in May?), and with the move to New Mexico and all that entailed, I really hadnt been spending much time on gear, or the forum. Ive been super frustrated with the inability to find a correctly sized case for the FA, and I dont feel like carrying a Motif8 sized case for something not much bigger than a Nord Stage. So.in a fit of ambivalent curiosity, I put my FA and case up on Reverb. And to my surprise, it moved fast.so fast Id forgotten Id listed it.

 

So, faced with the opportunity to rethink my rig, I queried FA or Integra, and Integra owners (both of them) said Integra! and FA owners cried FA! None of which was much help since for the most part, each side was

Ignorant of the other piece of gear, so there werent many comparisons. But, I kept reworking the equation, and while I dont love the action of the FA (I dont hate it, its just a little sluggish when you want to play real piano type stuff, but on the other hand, compared to most synth actions these days, the FA08 feels like a killer beast) or the hard-to-fit size of it, its still a badass machine, and uber easy to use. So of course, I replaced it.

 

I had backed up everything on my previous unit before shipping it, so when I got my new FA, and loaded it up, some things werent right as the raw data (ExPansions from Axial) was no longer there. I took the night last nite and downloaded ALL of the expansions and auditioned almost every sound.

 

I ended up back where I started, with the Ultimate Keys and World Collection. The Concert Piano exp seemed more useful (and musical) than the other piano expansion. But the factory FA pianos really do sound better than just about every piano sound I tried on both expansions. Same for the EP card. The orchestral stuff is nice, but not useful for me. The World Collection made the cut as I anticipate more interesting results using those as rhythm tracks. Well see.

 

I had already downloaded/backedup/loaded into the new FA all the groovy SuperSaws and Junos and Jupiters. For the most part, THOSE are where the real fun is.

 

As for the case/gig bag, Im waiting on delivery of a Gator XL/Slim padded bag.

 

[ProfD]

So.in a fit of ambivalent curiosity, I put my FA and case up on Reverb. And to my surprise, it moved fast.so fast Id forgotten Id listed it.

 

I dont love the action of the FA...its still a badass machine, and uber easy to use. So of course, I replaced it.

 

As for the case/gig bag, Im waiting on delivery of a Gator XL/Slim padded bag.

Brotha Tony, hopefully you won't go through as many Roland FA08s as Nord Stages.

[Tonysounds]

hehe....no chance of that.