fantom xa

I dont think it is. I just got mine a month ago. I noticed a lot of stores online are no longer carrying them. You can find one on ebay at a real nice price though. Thats what I did.

doubt so, wish they'd still support it though.

Its replaced by Juno-G.

Im just starting to dig through the XA and falling in love with it.

calan,
So,in spite of it's apparent shortcomings,you think overall that the Xa is worth it?

I'm gravitating towards getting one again after about a year of struggling with pros and cons.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may05/articles/rolandfantomxa.htm

Speaking of ebay,check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROLAND-FANTOM-XA-SYNTHESIZER-KEYBOARD_W0QQitemZ250150811751QQihZ015QQcategoryZ38090QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Skyy38,

Most definitely, i've had it bout 7 months now, but only started to seriously use it as a workstation, as i use it mainly as a sound module and a controller.

potential of sound is vast, u've got sampling features, u get multi-samples patches, u get standard roland sounds, you get performance tools ( pad,beam,rps ) straight outa box, u get reliable solid performance ( but it did crash once before ).

I know i will have to leave with no driver for future Vista/Leapord update, I know its superceded by Juno-G, I know it has its limitations ( velocityless pads, no aftertouch, no colour screen ), I know its gonna be hard to find parts for it ( PC card adapter + soon-to-obsolete ram? ) soon, but one thing i know is that, if u put those "worries" apart, u'd enjoy a very straight forward and powerful Roland workstation.

Though I have a JX-305 ( Mc-505 with keyboard ) for 10 years now, i still enjoy playing with it, as it gives you the whole one man,one car theory. ( if applicable , hehe ).

I was in dilemma before deciding, but who cares if its not the best k/b, who cares if its keys are unweighted or has outdated soundbank, who cares bout VERY detailed sampling features? One thing i know, i don't, all i care is, loving the machine and making the best.

Cheers bro, hope i'd clarify your thoughts.

before i got the Xa and tried in store, i'd rate it 8/10 ( mainly coz i like the look of it )
First month of playing, i'd rate it 8/10, coz of little bits of annoyance
Now, i'd give it 10/10, becoz i know its one of the best synths and its limitation and im working with it.
Cheers bro

Why is everyone always talking about the "death" of PC Cards and RAM-is a new form of storage on the horizon,at least,for keyboards? I just don't get it because it doesn't seem possible-or probable.I mean the format wars should only switch so often,right?And when they do,it doesn't mean everything before it just gets wiped out.We still DO have tape cassettes after all.
Calan what kind of music do you write,just curious.

As for the limitations,Non-velo sample pads isn't the end of the world,just as long as you can still do your velo-sense drums from the keybed,right?

And unless after touch could really help me as far as articulations for orchestra are concerned,I wouldn't miss it either.

Basically I'm looking for a life support system for an SRX-06 Expansion Board.I was considering the Fantom X6 before the absurdity of the economics and comparitive lack of on board sounds that I myself could use, kicked in.Yeah I know you can modify with resampling,but,I'm a musician first and a synthesist fourth and I don't need anymore distractions than I already have.Not that I don't appreciate the extra stuff on the Xa but if it's outgoing technology,then I can get a sweet deal either on ebay or my own backyard,and basically do what I need to do with it.

Well bro, I write alot of trip hop stuff, think portishead.

My means of writing is usually sourcing a loop from the computer loaded up, or write my own drums in fantom and do some programming on fantom and export to cubase for furthur vocal recording a touch up.

RAM is reaching its "death" coz i believe its still using the PC133 ram, which is rather old considering the age of its technology. PC cards (adapter) are so hard to find these days because most equipment these days do not even need an adapter for its cards.

Anyhow, decision is still down to you as to how much you would depend on the keyboard. Say, for example, i had 4 synths before, and my fantom is the fifth, thats one of the reason why i didn't depend on it as much its because, say, if i need a synth lead, i wouldn't dig thru fantom as im more comfortable with the other synth.

I then subsequently kept all the other synths in storage and force myself to depend on the fantom, though i do miss some sounds from the other synth, at least im more dependent on ONE than the rest. Point being, fantom is a workstation that requires ALMOST not much of other sound module as its quite capable ( unless u're a analog synth head , but since u're not, it could be the only soundsource u'll ever need ). So take Fantom Xa as a workstation, not a everything's-possible-in-this KEYBOARD. There's bound to be limitation somewhere after use, but so does everything else.

My main setup now would be this fantom along with Cubase 4 ( love the Halion one ) and Halion 3.3 rewired control by Microkontrol, and a presonus soundcard.

Programming all done on fantom exported to Cubase 4 for furthur touch up and recording vox, certain snippets of vox is loaded into Halion or Fantom again for processing, so do tiny fx and snippets of songs.

I didn't want to depend on the Xa for full on production because of the screen size, I could, but its quite tedious to browse through ur 4th minute of song for example.

Hope some light is shed on this matter skyy38. tell me on ur decision

Calan,
Fantom XA sequences about 400,000 notes out of the box,right?No cards needed?

Yeap i believe so. Are u a session keyboardist ? If so, better consider the keybed as being quite light and no after touch. doesn't bother me though. Surprisingly it can respond to aftertouch via external sequencer.

No not a session player-strictly a home studio cat and I have long been used to "loose" feeling keybeds,among other "limitations".I've been able to make do with stuff that most people on the 'boards would just turn their noses up at,especially nowadays.And the only time I get "GAS" is when I eat beans.

BTW according to another ebay auction for an XA,they claim that you can "load your own samples via memory card".If this is true,how is this accomplished?

Many thanks for your continued input!

Ahh, nice, same here. But there are times i'd wish i have aftertouch, its such an advantage at times, at times. Btw, i notice beans these days comes in assorted flavors, weird.

Yes, like i said, you can pretty much do what software could do on the surface, not much more than that. You can stream samples from memory card.

In my first post, i mentioned i load loops up, right ? I usually get a loop library, then load them up the Xa, then audition them on fantom while i stay away from the computer ( distraction...) and do everything else on fantom till i believe its a SONG, then i load them back to the computer ( distraction....) and incorporate it with cubase via SVQ ( or internet surfing ...).

To me, i love the "raw" sounds from keyboard, which is so different from all the technological advanced samples and sounds available on computers now.

Take for example, I have a JX-305 which i use still, and in Project5v2 Cakewalk, they'd a module which has sound set from the JX-305 ( Roland too ), though they sound similiar, but its just slightly different, sounded a lil thin somewhat.

Oh, and lately, the SKIP-BACK-SAMPLING feature ( not available on Juno i think ?? ) is a life savior that i think only LOGIC PRO has it. If you don't know, perhaps taking a look at www.rolandus.com and watch the videos there on both FantomX and Xa, you'd be amaze at what the fantom could do.

bare in mind certain stuff on the X video is not applicable on Xa, such as the audio expansion.

I appreciate you continued reply too buddy, for the love of music. I'm not a tweaker of synth like you too, i'd prefer reaching for boards for sounds.

That's the thing I don't get about memory cards I still don't get-do they come preloaded from somewhere?I'm assuming we're talking about SD,Smartmedia and Compact Flash,correct? I mean,I'm familiar with SRX but those are referred to as "expansion boards".

No,skipback is not on the Juno G and from what I hear lately,on the boards,that thing has more bugs than "...Temple of Doom."

BTW,what is the XA's soundengine based on-the "S" or the "X"?

The Fantom Xa loads one SRX board ( which is a PCMCIA card loaded with whatever sounds it comes with ) slotted internally. There is also another slot right beside the power switch which allows a PCMCIA card adapter which allows u to hook up either CF or SD. i use a 512mb SD.

Skipback works flawless on my system. like any hardware SHOULD.

Xa's sound engine is based upon the S series but loaded with X series waveforms, which is basically a hybrid of S and X's sound, but engine wise is based upon S + extra X waveforms.

Don't mind me asking, what music u do and what synth have u own before and how do u write your stuff ? perhaps i could shed my 2cents on that w.r.t the purchase of fantom ?

As far as music goes,I generally write anything that fits in with my idea of a good time-pop,rock,whatever.

I am a "classical" soundtrack fanatic,meaning I lean towards the "Star Wars" way of doing things,particularly "A New Hope".
John Williams hit the nail on the head when he wrote the music and I consider the soundtrack to be a two disc tutorial on how to orchestrate effectively and on how to handle your textures.

I haven't exactly owned synths-basically I've done the majority of my work on 2 different Casio keyboards:The CT-670 and the WK-1350.I'd still be buying their stuff,if they hadn't decided to start believing in their supposed rep as a "toy keyboard" and manufacturing same.

About a year ago,I came to the realization that I would have to get into something more pro,but Casio saved my skin when I decided to put in a project studio.At Costco and Sams I have paid less than $300 a hit when I needed a new keyboard and that alone saved me a ton of money over pro gear at the time.But then at the time,there wasn't a Fantom anything on the market and any workstation I would have picked up then would now be collecting dust.

I usually write with pen and paper first and then start knocking out orchestrations/arrangements/whatever.The still neat thing about the WK 1350 is that it has a 6 track sequencer to do sketches on and it powers up in a heartbeat.I've always imagined Casio releasing a far more sophisticated version of this 'board with world-beating sounds and pattern sequencing(Alesis got it right with the MMT-8,back in the day.)The Casio just does linear,but I don't do anything longer than 60 seconds at any one time,so,not a problem.
Casio showed they could step up with the big boys when they released the MZ2000 at the turn of the century,a keyboard I plan to get one day,"Just Because".

nice description there.

I have own a variety of synthesizers/keyboards/organs around and nothing struck me as hard when i first tried the fantom. you WILL benefit from the fantom NATURUALLY, because of more sophisticated technology involved ( hence the price you're paying ). It is well worth the investment if you're after musical playing ( yes, sometimes people use 1 finger to play an entire track ).

One thing that may confuse you though, i notice Fantom Xa is "slightly" aimed at dance, i'm saying slightly because of the funtions available and sound generator ( though they'd have PLENTY of acoustic sounding instruments). I believe the Juno-G is quite dance-y as well.

My 2 cents, perhaps try out the Motif range by Yamaha, it will seriously give you a hint as to whether the Fantom is for you or not. Perhaps after trying that out ( long hours ), you could come back with response as to what made u like the motif or dislike, perhaps we could drop some pointers onto that ?

Why motif ? because i find them quite similiar to the Casio range in terms or organisation which you MAY be familiar with. Im not a professional and I'm not here to judge which is the best and which is not, just want you to be certain that the Xa IS your synth.