Roland Fantom 08 - Update?

[Haem]

I wondered if there is any speculation on an upcoming major update to the Fantom 0. I’m considering buying one and as there’s been a big improvement to the big Fantom, is there a possibility the same could happen with the Fantom 0? General comments on FANTOM 0 seem to be that the accoustic pianos are weak so an improvement in this area would be welcome. I own a Roland FA08 and the impression I get is the Fantom 08 has pretty similar sounds to the FA. Ideally, I’d like a new workstation with far fewer sounds but of a much higher quality. I like the architecture of the FA and I gather the Fantom 08 is similar, perhaps more user friendly than Yamaha’s  MODX. Any thoughts would be most welcome. 

[nursers]

Hi - first, welcome!

 

Just a small partial response: user friendly is in the eye of the beholder. I currently own a MODX and a Fantom 07 and I'm currently selling the Fantom because, to me, the Fantom was a pain to integrate in my Mainstage rig and the interface just didn't gel. Others will rightly say the opposite

 

 

[AnotherScott]

59 minutes ago, Haem said:

I own a Roland FA08 and the impression I get is the Fantom 08 has pretty similar sounds to the FA. 

 

In SuperNATURAL Acoustic tones, Fantom-0 has many more than FA, but does not include all the same ones as the FA. (And in ones that may appear to overlap, the SN piano on the FA is actually better, in having string resonances; while the VTW tonewheel organ emulation of the Fantom-0 is better than the SN organ of the FA.)

 

In other acoustic instrument emulations, they both have the XV-5080 sounds, but that's all FA has, while Fantom-0 has many more.

 

FA has SuperNATURAL synth, Fantom-08 has a more capable VA synth engine, but I believe all the FA VA synth sounds are there, and many more.

[ElmerJFudd]

We’re guessing there will be a Fantom-008 offered at $100 less with features disabled in the firmware.  It will cost about $100 to buy them back via a Roland Cloud account.  😃

[Sean M. H.]

2 hours ago, Haem said:

Ideally, I’d like a new workstation with far fewer sounds but of a much higher quality

Hmmmm...honestly, greatly improved pianos is not the type of update that seems likely for a board like the Roland IMO.  There are some boards, like the Nords for instance where the sample content is designed to be loaded in and out as needed...and new sounds/samples are added regularly.  But I don't think the Fantom 0 is that type of board.  Hope I'm wrong though (I have a Fantom 07)

 

Regarding your desire to have less sounds, but of higher quality... I'd say this is kinda the opposite of what the Fantom-0 is honestly.  Having had both the FA and now the Fantom-0...they offer sort of a "best of" some of the older Roland Boards.  There are TONS of sounds, many somewhat redundant (with similar names, maybe just different effects, filter settings, etc).  But I wouldn't call any particular category of sounds on the Fantom-0 as "standout" or "top-tier" really...they are "better" than the FA, but not in a different class IMO.  Obviously YMMV

 

As far as ease of use, like nursers said above, it's certainly subjective...I do think the architecture, layout, and naming conventions of the Fantom-0 are generally more straightforward than my MODX8...but...the Fantom has some quirks too (as the FA did).

 

 

[RABid]

3 hours ago, Haem said:

I wondered if there is any speculation on an upcoming major update to the Fantom 0. I’m considering buying one and as there’s been a big improvement to the big Fantom, is there a possibility the same could happen with the Fantom 0?

I think the Fantom O lacks the memory space and processing power to accommodate a major update.  The virtual piano that came with the big Fantom EX update is great but it depends on the extra processing power of the extra chip in the big Fantom. That chip is why so many of the great new features of the big Fantom are restricted to channel 1 and you can only use one at a time.

[Haem]

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply.