News from Roland: Fantom 06/07/08

[dalpozlead]

Just heard gossip about a new Fantom 06/07/08 (probably to substitute FA series…)

any info?

tks

[marczellm]

Even if they do put out something in the affordable workstation range it will not be called that. Fantom 06 is too similar to both Fantom 6 and FA-06.

[nursers]

Full specs and info on one page: Roland Unveil The FANTOM 06 / 07 /08

[miden]

If they include aftertouch on the 76/61's they will totally kill the market - it would be a real MODX/Nautilus killer.

 

EDIT: nope doesn't look like it - https://www.roland.com/us/promos/fantom-0_series/

 

[nursers]

4 minutes ago, miden said:

If they include aftertouch on the 76/61's they will totally kill the market - it would be a real MODX/Nautilus killer.

That's my thought as well 

[ElmerJFudd]

Wow, very capable board at a very aggressive price point.  Interest tweaked.  Will have to make it over to the shop when they hit.  I’m hoping the build and action are better than the FA-06.  

[nursers]

4 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Wow, very capable board at a very aggressive price point.  Interest tweaked.  Will have to make it over to the shop when they hit.  I’m hoping the build and action are better than the FA-06.  

 

Yep that's my only concern. I'm ok if the keybed is equivalent to a MODX type rig even though I know it cops a lot of criticism. But if it's even lighter weight / 'plasticky' then I'm out.

[miden]

I'm trialling the Blofeld (keyboard version) at the moment, but this new Roland 61 might be ok...I do prefer the 49 keys, but with all the other "doo dads" might make it appealing - no AT does make it a stretch though, even if it IS cheap!

[AnotherScott]

Very nice. I especially like the ease of importing and keyboard-mapping samples. It might be the best implementation I've seen, even better than Nord.

 

At 27 minutes into the video, he shows the layering of a previously selected Mainstage sound with internal sounds, but I was disappointed that the Mainstage sound is just called external sound, and not by its name.

 

Not surprised there's no aftertouch, unfortunately.

 

Kind of odd to see a board featuring a tonewheel engine having only 8 sliders, but an improvement over the FA that had none.

 

At 13 to 16 lbs for the non-hammer versions, I'm surprised anyone thinks these might not be plasticky. Really? But that's okay with me. People use plasticky boards all the time, there's been no epidemic of plasticky boards falling apart or cracking. FA, Juno DS, Kross, Krome, King Korg, MODX, whatever. If you don't want plasticky, don't buy a plastic board. ;-)

 

The first obvious trade-offs I see vis-a-vis the Fantom include no V-Piano, no LED indicators on the left-side controls (and I'm guessing fixed pots rather than endless encoders?), seamless transition for up to 8 parts instead of 16, no dedicated real-time synth controls (except filter), and yes, the loss of aftertouch and the metal build (and internal power supply).

 

The interface looks really appealing, and the various VA synth emulations (Jupiter 8, etc.) are nice, but it's not enough to tempt me away from the PC4-7, with its aftertouch and (to my ears) better piano/EP and orchestral instruments. Though a combination of a PC4 and Fantom 0 (one hammer action, the other not) could be nice.

[nursers]

Just to be clear, my 'plasticky' concern is about the keybed. I own a MODX and have zero issue with plastic chassis etc, it's lightness is one of the reasons I love it. Fantom 07 keybed that's as good or better than MODX, I'm sold.

[Charleston]

22 minutes ago, miden said:

I'm trialling the Blofeld (keyboard version) at the moment, but this new Roland 61 might be ok...I do prefer the 49 keys, but with all the other "doo dads" might make it appealing - no AT does make it a stretch though, even if it IS cheap!

I just watched the Blofeld video by AudioPilz. If you haven't seen it, or his channel, he does some interesting/humorous takes on synths.

[David Emm]

I learned how to multitrack on my first workstation, so I retain some love for the form. I've enjoyed the debate about where they can go that hasn't already been revisited to proverbial death. After sleeping on it for a while, I'd say "nowhere, really."  

 

You can add touchscreens, touch strips and the connector compliment of our old pal, proverbial death, but the form can only change so much before it defeats its core purpose. You can go for a Hyve touch synth and some Eurorack pieces or a laptop/tracker and whatever outboard boxes amuse you, but *The Workstation* means keys. It may also mean Less Cartage as a meaningful factor, one big thing in a case vs. 17 smaller things in two cases. Only a percussionist can match a keyboardist for a death-cry if a crucial component has gone missing. 

 

I don't know where the cost curve is for newbies now, but these look like respectable starter Fantoms from the time-honored trickle-down process. The person who starts with a $1500 model today will often be the $3K buyer of tomorrow. That's how I proceeded. I'm simply stumped for where else the concept can go. They'll never disappear, just like auto-accompaniment keyboards are always around. Its a target audience.

[gino]

I'm really looking forward to trying one of the these. I love my FA08.

In addition to the tradeoffs already mentioned by AnotherScott, for those that are into sampling, the Multisample memory is only a total of approximately 256 MB Shared with Expansion titles vs 2 GB Shared with Expansion titles in the Fantom. However there was no multisampling in the FA series.

[Stokely]

whoa...this is interesting.  

What a completely confusing choice in names though.  I wish these manufacturers would consider that people actually say the model names in conversation.

"I got a Fantom six!"  "you got a Fantom 6?"  "No, I opted for the Fantom 06!"

I happen to be in a phase where I'm tired of my MODX and it's plastic and wall wart.  I'm sure in a year I'll be back around to complaining about whatever heavy board I get to replace it    Seriously, the Fantom is not something I've considered due to cost so this is something I'll take a look at, if it has the organ upgrade that the parent got.

[ElmerJFudd]

Plasticky boards don’t really have to have actions like the FA-06 or Krome.  But yeah, quality actions have long been a point of delineation.  
 

On the upside, as far as IP goes - competition from software has brought an incredible amount of sounds and features at better price points. The MODX, FANTOM-0, PC47 sound very good!  

[kaptainkeys]

Now this is something I would buy, even though I'd have to save up more to get it.  My only hesitation is the keybed, but that will have to be seen once it is released.

 

For 80s stuff, pairing the new 06 with a MODX 8 would be great, you get lots of great acoustic sounds between the 2, the FM synths of the MODX, the analog stuff from the Fantom-0, and the VTW organs.

[Fleer]

2 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

Though a combination of a PC4 and Fantom 0 (one hammer action, the other not) could be nice.

My thoughts exactly

[Fleer]

But hey, Roland, why can’t you make this look a bit more sexy. Korg can. 

[nursers]

4 minutes ago, Fleer said:

But hey, Roland, why can’t you make this look a bit more sexy. Korg can. 

 

Trouble is, that's always in the eye of the beholder. I like the look of the Fantoms but think the Nautilus is one of the ugliest boards I've ever seen

[zephonic]

Of course they’d announce this a month after I bought a Juno DS76....

 

Anybody wanna buy it? Never gigged, just unpacked it and played it for a few minutes before I had to travel.

 

[jeffincltnc]

I think this is a winner and Roland will sell a lot of these.  I imagine I will be seeing a lot of these in the future on the bar and cover band circuit for sure.

 

As a Fantom 8 (2019 edition) owner, I think the upgrades have been really good and many of them apply to these new products.  While it doesn't have V-Piano, I have just installed the new SuperNatural AP2 and I think it sounds really good.  The organ is pretty darn good, too.  It's not Crumar or Viscount good, but it's certainly going to be competitive with, arguably exceeding, some others in the all-in-one category like Nord, Kurzweil KB3, Korg CX3 and certainly the Montage/MODX organs.  I'll let the users decide that, but certainly plenty of organ for the weekend cover band job.

 

It looks like it does not have the XLR and gate outputs.   I think the action on the Roland FA-07 (which might have been made by Fatar) was pretty decent for a plastic trickle down and if it's as good as that it will be a big improvement over the FA-06 keys.  I don't know what the Fantom-08 will feel like, but if it's similar to the FA-08 or the RD-88 it's certainly playable for weekend band gigs in a package that can be carried around.  For home use, I still think the action on the big Fantom-8 is really great, though.

 

I still don't care for the cheap plastic connections and wall warts of the trickle down products, but I do understand why they exist as a compromise.   The 61+ pound Fantom 8 I have doesn't go out on gigs, but I can see a lot of reasons to like this over a MODX, PC4 and the 88 version is $800 less than a Nautilus.

[stoken6]

Do we know if the Fantom 07 has the "improved" keybed of the FA-07 (compared to the crappy FA-06)?

 

Cheers, Mike

[stoken6]

Looks like the USB Device Port can support a USB controller (at least a Roland one), nice feature. Presumably this is class-compliant so in theory can support other manufacturers, and Roland are just being cautious.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[zephonic]

6 hours ago, zephonic said:

Of course they’d announce this a month after I bought a Juno DS76....

 

Anybody wanna buy it? Never gigged, just unpacked it and played it for a few minutes before I had to travel.

 

 

Sweetwater is cool, they’ll let me exchange the DS76 for the Fantom 07 when I get back. Pre-ordered.

 

[Jinkings]

 

 

Looks like uses a new synth action!!

[nursers]

That was a great run through. So very very tempted...

[nadroj]

Smart, expected move from Roland. 
 

Other than the paltry 256mb for samples and expansions, I can’t see many downsides to this compared to the competition. In fact the tone wheel engine combined with all of the physical controllers makes me think this has it over the MODX/Nautilus. 
 

I always regretted selling my FA06, and have often wished I had it except of the MODX. I remember enjoying the feel of the FA07 a lot, especially compared to the MODX. +points if this has the FATAR of the Fa-07. 
 

For anyone who’s actually played the Fantom recently; how does the new organ model hold up compared to other Swiss Army knife/workstation competitors?

[marczellm]

The first piano sound demoed in the official video is not even SuperNATURAL but the same 2-layer sample as my FP-5 from 2002.

[miden]

1 hour ago, Dr Nursers said:

That was a great run through. So very very tempted...

 

Yes, even without AT - it does seem to be pretty cool!

[xp50player]

1 hour ago, nadroj said:

Smart, expected move from Roland. 
 

Other than the paltry 256mb for samples and expansions, I can’t see many downsides to this compared to the competition. In fact the tone wheel engine combined with all of the physical controllers makes me think this has it over the MODX/Nautilus. 
 

I always regretted selling my FA06, and have often wished I had it except of the MODX. I remember enjoying the feel of the FA07 a lot, especially compared to the MODX. +points if this has the FATAR of the Fa-07. 
 

For anyone who’s actually played the Fantom recently; how does the new organ model hold up compared to other Swiss Army knife/workstation competitors?

I still prefer the CX-3 engine in my Kronos. You also only get 1 instance in the Fantom, only on Zone 2, and seamless sound switching does not work.