NEW FANTOM-G, PLEASE TALK HERE

8. Actually, I take that back—There are 26 parts in LIVE mode and 34 parts in STUDIO mode. Sixteen external MIDI channels are considered separate parts, complete with independent mixer, MIDI filters, and program/bank changes. OH! And since the Fantom-G includes USB audio as a MIX IN source, you could conceivably have Reason or Cubase or Live act as a separate 16-part multitimbral synth, and mix those parts within the confines of a LIVE SET or STUDIO SET, via USB, without a standalone mixer. Cool!

9. What's the difference between LIVE and STUDIO mode? Check this out (and I reserve the right to be mistaken about this): The Fantom-G seems to implement some sort of dynamic effects allocation. The reason LIVE mode only gives you 8 internal parts (plus the two ARX parts) is that you can seamlessly switch LIVE SETS (formerly LAYER/SPLIT performances) without any glitches, including effects glitches. As I understood it, say you're playing LIVE SET 01. It's using insert FX 1-8. When you switch to LIVE SET 02 (or whatever), the Fantom-G automatically accesses insert FX 9-16. When you switch to LIVE SET 03, you're accessing FX 1-8 again. It appeared that one could create layer/splits in STUDIO mode as well, but then you'd most likely have effects cut off (just like the Fantom X and other workstations). I don't know if you can make a song in LIVE mode, but if you can, I assume if you switch LIVE SETS halfway through a song, the effects switching would be seamless as well. Not completely sure.

10. The action seemed a bit better on the G6 and G7 and the G8's action felt very good. The ivory texture was a bit weird at first. Since few people know what it's like to play on a real ivory keyboard (what with the killing of elephants and all), I'm not sure how much of an advantage this is, but the escapement element of the weighted action is pretty authentic. Liked it.

11. The pads are about the same. Still velocity-sensitive, but they're not as rounded, which I prefer. Plus, the opaque paint would make them less obnoxious-looking on a dark stage.

12. There's a ten-key keypad! Yes! To the left of the 16 pads is a dedicated button labeled "Numeric". Press it, and the pads turn into a numeric keypad for pulling up dedicated patches and such.

13. ARX is not AP Synthesis. If I understand it correctly, it's more of a combination of realtime COSM-esque modeling and manipulation of sound (sample) parameters. For instance, one can graphically change the pickup location of a Rhodes piano or adjust the shell depth of a kick drum. You could even choose the condition of the instrument (from 1 to 5) and how rusty the tines are. :freak: Tweaking is audibly obvious, but I'm not sure if this same technology could be manipulated into, say, different synthesis methods. A virtual analog, FM, or LA synthesis ARX board? Perhaps; no one was talking.

14. USB sends/receives both audio and MIDI. Yes, you can use the Fantom-G as an audio/MIDI interface. Yes, you can run an MFX processor on the input. Yes, you can build LIVE sets and STUDIO sets with a standalone/VST/AU editor. No, the faders don't appear to act as a DAW controller, unless you're currently accessing the external parts.

15. Unfortunately, there's only one MIDI out, and I'm not sure if you can treat the USB MIDI as a separate port (as the sequencer saw INTERNAL, ARX 1, ARX 2, or EXTERNAL parts, I'm assuming not). The 24 audio tracks are (I think) part of the 128, not extra.

16. Yes, the polyphony is 128. Yes, that polyphony is shared with the audio tracks (tho' the ARX boards add polyphony to an undetermined degree—it depends on the card and its active parameters). Roland's answer is "you have 24 audio tracks with which to bounce your entire song down, at which point you have another 127 tracks, 126 voices, and 23 audio tracks left." Whether or not that's the answer we're looking for, it was nevertheless humbling.

17. Would I buy one? Well, I'm not in the market for a workstation, no matter how cool it is, so probably not. But if I were, and I didn't have $8k for the OASYS, the Fantom is without a doubt the one to beat. Chances are I'll wait for the rack version, which will hopefully have more ARX slots.

All right. On to your questions and comments... Most answers are from my observations—specific (albeit not word-for-word) answers from Roland will appear in quotes:

Prices? Availabity US/Europe/Germany?
US list prices are as follows (MAP/street will be less): G6—$2695, G7—$2995, G8—$3295. Basically, the same price as the Korg M3. Each ARX board lists at $449 (not $499, as someone claimed earlier). The Fantom-G ships worldwide in April, the ARX boards in May.

In what ways can the audio tracks be automated? What else can recorded to the sequencer (patch edits, for instance)?
Not sure; the demonstrator didn't know either. He suggested that automation could be recorded onto dedicated MIDI tracks in a similar way to the MV-8x00... seeing as there are 128 of 'em and only 58 possible destinations (thus far).

Anything going on with RPS?
RPS is still there; it's one of the pad modes.

The pads? Are they trigger BUTTONS now? If so, do they have a higher level of functionality than the current pads on the X? What can be assigned to them?
Yes, they're still pads. Yes, they perform other duties as well now, such as the aforementioned numeric keypad. There's also a dedicated PAD MODE button, which lets you quickly assign the velocity pads to:

1. Sample pads
2. Rhythm pads
3. Chord memories
4. Arpeggio (as in switching between 16 favorite arpeggios in real time—finally!)
5. RPSes
6. Rhythm patterns
7. Tone select/switches
8. Track mutes
9. Bookmarks for favorite pages
10. MIDI Tx switches
11. Effect switches
12. Patch MFX switches
13. Part select
14. Part mute
15. User group
16. Favorite SINGLE patches, LIVE SETS, STUDIO SETS, and/or songs (Live Setting Play)

The ubiquitous PAD SETTINGS button now opens a window, which is dependent on the current pad mode. For example, if you're in mode 16 (favorites), pressing PAD SETTINGS opens a window similar to Live Setting Edit on the Fantom X.

The file system... How has it evolved from the Fan-X?
The Fantom-G seems to work on a Project system. 128 User patches, 64 LIVE sets, 64 STUDIO sets, and up to 2000 samples/audio tracks are saved per project, most likely similar to the MV-8x00. You're still loading all samples/audio tracks for songs into RAM, but if you only have one song per project, this little extra management hierarchy can presumably go a long way.

Can you watch movies on the LCD?
Huh? No. You can, however, load BMP files as a background picture and/or screen saver.

Is Fan-G replacing or complementing the Fan-X?
Replacing.

Are the ARX-slots SRX-compatible?
No. Completely different technology.

Any existing SRX-sounds onboard Fan-G?
Yes, a bunch of them, from all twelve boards. No details as of yet.

Will there be a rack-version?
Not this NAMM at least.

Will there be a 37-key version?
No.

How does it handle 128 MIDI tracks? Are there seperate tracks for keys/pads/external or are they freely assignable?
Pretty sure they're freely assignable, though I saw an "Internal, External, ARX 1, ARX 2, or Sample" designation per track. I think. Honestly can't remember.

Hard drive inside or do you record onto the card slot media?
Neither. You're still recording directly to RAM. Bad news? Still only 544MB. Good news? That's 544MB per song (project), not total—plus, RAM tracks allow realtime timestretch. I was told that loading projects from USB keys (USB 2.0) is quite faster than from the FanX's PC card.

Does it have piano roll/graphic edit as well as list edit?
Presumably, but I didn't get a chance to see either. I do remember zooming way out to see a BUNCH of tracks (all 128?) at once though. I also remember seeing waveforms redrawing almost instantly, at a pretty high resolution. It looks closer to something like DP or Logic than a Fantom X. Obviously, the editing is not nearly as powerful as a computer DAW, but it's a huge improvement over the X (and other workstations). I did notice, however, that it's very different from the MV's sequencer. Not better or worse, just different.

How many pre-programmed arps are there? (e.g. compared to Motif's 6600 and Korg's Karma engine)
128, but each arp has 128 variations as well as 10 motifs (seriously—they're called arp motifs), so that's... several thousand? I'm not intimately familiar with the Yamaha's arpeggiator, so I can't comment on how this compares.

How many user-programmable arp slots are there?
128—All are user-programmable.

How many simultaneous arps are available?
Still only one, but it can be recorded to any of the 128 tracks, quantized, and used over and over again.

Can the arp setups be switched in realtime?
Yes, you can assign your favorite arp setups to the 16 velocity pads.

Display resolution? Angle adjustable?
As mentioned earlier, it might as well be an HD plasma. Just gorgeous. Not adjustable, however.

In/Out: Layout? How many MIDI outs?
Only one MIDI out. The one question I had was whether or not a MIDI track could be sent discretely from either a MIDI output channel OR a USB MIDI channel. Roland didn't have an answer for me. Since there are only 16 external parts, I'm assuming not. It'd be really cool to send one track on channel 1 to a Virus Ti and another track on channel 1 to Reason, but I don't think you can do that. Maybe in an update.

As a side note, the RD-700GX has—count 'em—FOUR MIDI outs. Three MIDI ports and the fourth is discrete, via USB. But no sequencer. Why the Fantom-G couldn't get another stupid MIDI port is beyond me.

USB 2? What can it be used for: Is it possible to stream both midi and audio?
Yes, USB 2.0. Both, simultaneously.

Usable as a sound card as well?
Yes, you can record audio (mic/instrument preamp with phantom power) with or without effects. You can also stream the computer's audio back through the Fantom-G (with or without effects), and run the whole mess via balanced outputs to the front-of-house mixer without any DI boxes. Slick.

Sampling still included? Skip back sampling still there?
Yes and yes. Dedicated buttons for each.

Storage media formats? Maximum size?
USB key. Was implied that theoretically, thus far, there is no limit (16-32GB???). Unfortunately, the demonstrator hadn't had a chance to try out a ton of keys, but both a 2GB and 4GB key "worked flawlessly". They also didn't completely shoot down the possibility of USB hard drives, which could potentially mean hundreds of GB. Again, I must stress that this is ALL preliminary information.

Do any of the onboard ROM samples differ from what is available on the Fantom-X along with the appropriate complement of SRX boards? (i.e. is there anything new that one couldn't achieve with a Fantom-X and the appropriate SRX expansion board?
Emphatically, yes. Some patches have been brought over, some patches are new (but utilizing older raw waveforms), many are completely new samples and patches. Was told that any older raw samples have been reintroduced to the new chip/engine from the original, uncompressed data, so they sound notably better now, and that a good majority of content has be brought up-to-date. Roland kept stressing the sound quality over anything else, and from what I could hear on a noisy NAMM floor, it doesn't disappoint. Will definitely need a quiet room and a pair of headphones come April.

Synthesis: what forms of alternative synthesis (other than ROM and sampling) are available e.g. VA? FM? etc.
None, at least thus far, unless you count ARX instrument "modeling" a type of synthesis.

The ability to make combinations with ALL the effects of the single programs (Assuming I read that right) without compromise is KILLER!
Yes, but seamlessly switching with effects only only works in the SINGLE and LIVE modes (1 and 8 parts respectively). The effects will get cut off in STUDIO mode, but you get all 16 parts. Yes, in STUDIO mode, each of the internal 16 parts gets its own insert effect... PLUS two MFX processors, PLUS a reverb, PLUS a delay/chorus, PLUS a multiband mastering processor.

What is with the Silver? Jeez if it weren't for the huge screen (Nice!) who could tell the difference between this and the old one?
Was told that Roland spent 4 years on the thing. It was designed from the ground up and "represents the single biggest leap in workstation technology Roland's ever done". Or something like that.

How many [audio tracks] at one time and can each input be sent to seperate tracks???
One mono or stereo. "It's not a replacement for a proper studio multitrack like the VS-2000." Was never meant to be.

Could I plug in the mic for my vocals and plug in my guitar and have them record to 2 SEPERATE tracks?
No.

No EQ per track?
Didn't see it. I assume the part's insert FX could be an EQ, so yes. Kinda.

Sampling rate has not improved (to me, this is the biggest reason why Fantom-G is "not that different" from an X.)
"Sampling rate isn't even in the top twenty of important factors when determining a synth's sound quality". Or something like that. I would agree.

Polyphony is still at 128
Yes, but if it were 256, you'd be paying at least another grand and everyone would complain. Was told more than once that the ARX boards do not eat into the polyphony of the unit at all and that it's incredibly easy to bounce tracks to free up voices and parts.

Doesn't seem like there's going to be a ton of new sounds (mostly pillaging the SRX boards ... which could work out fine but not as dramatic for expanded Fan-X owners)
The G contains mostly all-new sounds, with a few classics from the Fantom, a good amount from the Sonic Cell, and a bunch from the SRX boards. More samples and patches are still to come.

Does skip back sampling capture MIDI notes as well now?
Not sure. I suspect not.

Future ARX expansions: VA? Etc?
No one would even venture a guess. When I asked if the technology even allowed for VA, they replied "potentially". I got the impression that it was still up in the air.

Does the Fantom now have "effects remain" for totally smooth performance changes?
Yes, and I heard it. The demonstrator would play a LIVE SET (performance), complete with delays, reverbs, and looping rhythms, hold the sustain pedal, switch to a new LIVE SET, and everything was completely seamless. In fact, he could even play the new layer on top of the previous one... until the sustain pedal was released. It was really, really cool. I'm not aware of any other hardware piece that does this.

How has the sampling area changed? Can one freely move about the user interface now while sampling and re-sampling?
Sorry, I couldn't check this.

Can RPS change the pitch of sequences mapped to the keyboard now (making it more similar to an arp)?
No, but that's what arps are for.

What? No touchscreen? That's a lost opportunity.
People know I hate touchscreens, and if the Fantom-G had one, it'd be a grand shame. Certain screens show so much information, it'd be impossible to touch a parameter if you had fat fingers. The sequencer can show a hundred tracks at once. How would you select one by touching it? The mouse works great. WAY, WAY better than any stupid touchscreen.

Therefore could be 12 Stereo Audio Track in the 'G'
No, each audio track can be mono or stereo, since like the Fantom X, it uses the sampling engine. 24 mono or stereo audio tracks.

Why only 2 ARX slots?
Don't know. I can only assume because they're expensive.

Why isn't there 100 GB of ROM?! I mean if Kontakt can do it, why can't Roland?
Sigh... Kontakt doesn't use ROM.

It's evolutionary, not revolutionary!
Oh, shut the hell up. It's a ROMpler workstation, and a damn impressive one at that. I'll most likely snag the rack version if it's released later.

Any other cool differences?
Two assignable buttons above the pitchstick, an extra control pedal input, something called "Magic Control" (???), multiple bender modes where you can, say, bend only the last note played in a chord, and a dedicated transpose button (finally!).

Kday said: "Fantom-G is wacker than I thought it would be.

It's no upgrade from the Fantom X like the Motif XS was for the ES models. I think I'll keep my X because upgrading might eliminate some of my SRX card sounds. I don't think they put every single SRX card sound in the unit.

Who the hell care to pay all that money for a slightly better interface? I sure the heck wouldn't.

Highly disappointed at Roland for the ripoff. Yeah Thanks Roland for nothing."[/i]

Might I interest you in actually paying attention? Or are you a Yamaha plant?

@ The Audacity Works:

Thank you VERY VERY MUCH for these detailed comments!

You really deserve a price for that "article"!

I hail thee and bow low!

@ AudacityWorks:
Thanks, that was *very* informative.

I have two more questions:

1. sampling
I suspect they kept the old sampling technique, as I spotted no news on sampling abilities. Any chance that samples can be loaded faster via USB, or that the internal conversion into Roland format has become smarter? I ask because with their present concept of fixed ROM sounds plus only 2 ARX boards, sampled sounds become a key feature for any wish to use sounds they don't provide...


2. ARX EPiano
Don't know if they had a demo of this and if anyone could test the expressivness, but I would like to know two things about ARX:

a) velocity switching: since they obviously stayed with 4 layers (which simply is not enough for dynamic Rhodes play), it would be essential if they at least were able to make the steps between dynamic ranges more smooth. Anyone talked about that?

b) I am always a bit sceptical about things like being able to "tune the pickup position of the tines". I did that a lot on real Rhodes epianos, and I know that it changes overtone behaviour in a complex way. My suspicion is that they of course don't model that, but just throw in a little bit of EQ/enhancer settings and give it a proud name reminiscent of the real Rhodes world.
Did you get any impression of the expressivness of dynamic Rhodes play?

What I don't like about my current X8 is solved in the G!!

- Slow loading of samples and slow interface when midi+audio is playing back.
- Sluggish audio editing in audio track recording mode
- No audio interface
- No build in Mic pre with XLR and phantom power
- No saving on USB stick/HD's
- Only 8 audio tracks
- Not all patches can use there original FX settings when used in Perf/Song mode.


All this is fixed and besides that I get all this stuff too!!
- A nicer screen with updated OS interface
- 8 sliders
- A mouse connector
- New updated keyboard mechanism with more natural feel
- Glitchless switching of performances
- Some new sounds
- Updated DA convertors
- All the FX I need.
- New pitchbend modes


This instrument is a songwriters dream, I really want one and would pre-order it today if I had the money.

The things that would make it perfect:
- Recording directly on build-in or external HD
- VGA connector
- Recording of at least 4 inputs at once on differend tracks.

Hey! look at this video http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=UAkmE8gsykM
at 4:34....VGA output??

Roland, pleeeeeaaase boost up the polyphony!!!!!

The Audacity Works - WOW!!!! MUCHO THANKS!!!! What an incredible review. Incredibly detailed, organized, and given from the perspective of what a typical user wants to know about.

Well, you answered my questions, and have me much more interested in the "G". So a few of us were wrong in assuming the sound ROM was just a rehash of old Fantom/SRX/XV/JV. Far from it. And even the sounds they did bring over will be accessed via the new audio engine and be less compressed. In other words, the thing sounds way improved over the Fantom. Truthfully, even though I'm a long-time Roland user, including current Fantom-XR on all live gigs, I do notice the Korg and now Yamha Motif XS sounding a good deal "fatter" than the Fantom to my ears. It sounds like Roland has now joined the club in improved sound in its workstation.

Also, great to hear it will be available in April, not mid to late summer as has usually been the case. However I'm not betting on it if the OS and ROM set is not even finished. Nevertheless this sounds like a winner.

One question I didn't see - do the pads do 16 levels and full level like the MPC pads can do?

One question answered fully - it is "incredibly easy" to bounce MIDI tracks to audio. Thus, like I said, the answer to the "limited" polyphony is to bounce those polyphony-intensive parts to audio right away. That's probably a bonus since it takes away the temptation to over-tweak. Of course you could just as easily mute the audio track and re-enable the MIDI track, but you get the point.

barchie - are you sleeping man? The polyphony is 128. It ain't changing. Deal with it.

JazzXR - No, that's not VGA output. It's just a method Roland uses to allow booth attendees to see what's going on on the display. Maybe they mount a camera or something. They've been doing it for years, so it's not exclusive to the Fantom-G. But thanks for turning us on to that video. AFAIK that's the first user-video I've seem from NAMM. The major media outlets like Sonic State and Harmony-Central seem to be surprisingly devoid of videos so far. Anyway, I like this guy F Major's beats, and he goes straight for the Akai booth and the MPC5000. He also shows the Fantom-G from a 3 dimensional perspective. You can see how the rear panel connectors are recessed. Cool. Thanks for the find!

T A W
Thank you so much for your review. Your words just made me wanting more a G

To all interested: Download the full ROLAND NEW PRODUCTS CATALOG in pdf format HERE.
Thank you Roland Australia

I use a Roland Xp30 for practive and live play i dont use the sequencers that much, i had bought a Fantom X7 a while ago but sold it because of the following:
- Could not switch sounds without the sound cutting off like i can do on the XP30 with only one MFX unit wich was unaceptable for live performance
- Not enough orchestral sounds without having to spend more money on the orchestral card (again the XP30 reigns with the JV orchestralI card built-in)
- I could never reproduce the lead sound i use on the xp30 on the Fantom, it always sounded way more digital and clean and i couldn't get a good vibrato with the aftertouch (both leads were based on the same patch - rezodrive).
- Aftertouch, or better afterswitch - It was not even close to the expressiveness of the XP30, altough the feeling of the keys was way better...

I'm happy to see that a few questions have been taken care of on the G, such as the glitchless switching of sounds, and inclusion of NEW sounds and also many SRX sounds wich i hope means more orchestral sounds and hard leads, especially good string, marcato strings, Harpsichord, etc... (Roland is the only manufacturer i know that has a fantastic sounding harpsichord that's perfect for Melodic Metal i hope they include it on the G ROM).

Let's hope the aftertouch is also more expressive and that the unit can sound a little more "analog" an punchier for those crunchy leads and see how the unit sounds overall...

My disapointments so far on the G are:
- No ribbon controler or touch pad or whatever they would come up with, still limited to the joystick and the useless (for me of course) D-Beam...
- No other synth engine avilable as standard
- Size: I'm intersted on the G6 but for a 61 keys it is very big and heavy, bigger than my Motif ES6 wich i think is already too big...
- a touch screen would be nice but it would add to the price so it's not a problem...

For me it is no problem not having many arpegios as i never use them.

Maybe the G will make me leave the XP30 at home, the X and the ES6 could not but the G looks very good for live playing...

_____________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/mindfeeder
http://www.mindfeeder.org/mainfeeder.html

just for the curious...
a little copy/paste... and a closeup of the G front panel, good enough to zoom and see all the buttons and layout.

load the attached file

here...

@ The Audacity Works; AWESOME review, man! Thanks a million for this, MUCH appreciated!

I wonder if you could shed some light on this:
Regarding the effects, Roland say: "Create complex setups with 16 insert effects per patch, plus global reverbs and choruses."
Does this mean the effects are freely assignable to the parts? I mean, could I for instance use 4 insert effects in one patch, 3 in another, and so on? I realise that would mean not all 16 parts in multi setup would have access to their effects, but it would nevertheless open up for some interesting, creative options.

Regarding EQ per track; sometimes (often?) an insert effect has an included EQ of some sorts. This could be used effectively in addition to the Mastering processor.
And another comment on the effects; my experience from Yamaha & Korg are that alot of effects are really something like 3-in-one, for instance distortion w/included delay & eq.

Also interesting to hear that the 128 arps have 128 variations (!) This adds up to ALOT of arpeggiator patterns. Several thousand, in fact. This should silence much of the criticism against the arpeggiator. Bummer, howevere, to hear that it's still only 1 at a time, but for production work this isn't a big deal for me. And great to hear that the pads can save favourite arp setups.

A couple more comments; regarding the d-beam, it seems it not only is assignable to any ol' parameter, as far as I can see from the pictures, it can also trigger samples + it can control synth sounds (as on the Juno G & sp-606+555). This is VERY cool, and I suggest everyone take a closer look at the potential here.

Again, thanks a million to The Audacity Works.
Also thanks for the youtube-link, JazzXR.
And last, but not least; THANK YOU ROLAND for this awesome, killer workstation!