When will ROLAND release their next Workstation ?

yeah, basically we want fantom X to come back :)

Quinnx. wrote:

Strange...
we seem to be pulling in all directions when it comes to sound and usability..

we started with simple OSC synths and wanted more real
then moved to digital and finaly sample based which you cant get more real than that...

But still we want now more artificial sound of yester-years analogue synths..

Cant we just choose one and get on with it..?

haha, i must be old skool cause im still very passionate about authentic sounding piano's and mk1's. :D mk1 i think the scarbee is the best so far, but piano... not sure which one's for me. :) so im still searching for THAT one piano sample (whether it be the D or C7)that i can be very happy with which can respond to full half-pedal control. FG's piano's are not even close. walgrafix's SteinwayD is very good and probably the best out there for 4layer as it has no looping.

i managed to make a decent sounding Mk2 out of the stock FG waves. :p

anyway, back to analog sounding digital instrument discussion! lol

Because I'm likely much older than most of the members here, I've seen most of the changes in synths over the years. ( I used to hang out at the ARP factory!)
My best guess is the world economy was a factor in Roland's choice to create the Jupiter 80.
Still like using the G live even though reboots are a NIGHTMARE! In better times, I think Roland would have further supported the G series but.....
Will say , I've NO plan to run out and get a JP. Sent Roland a letter with my reasoning for such but, don't expect a response.

Tom Martin
OBT Music
www.obtmusic.com


imho, It's just a matter of time, and we will see the next ROLAND Workstation announced !

There is NO WAY, they will not have a new workstation, given the age of the Fantom G, it's time to move forward, that's the way it has been for decades, I'm sure the FG won't be their last Workstation. They are already late in introducing the next Workstation but as the saying goes...

'Better late than never'

Cheers,
Muziksculp

The G really is an untapped beast and does so many things well. If Roland did a refresh of the G, fixed the bugs and programmed a few new banks of sounds, it could last until 2013. They might get me to upgrade to a G2 if they came out with a black one!

The ARX technology was a great idea, but HORRIBLY implemented. I'd like to meet the genius who came up with making boards that cant interface with the internal structures/sounds and charge that much money for what is mainly a proprietary sound rom with a cleverly designed gui. The beauty of the SRX was how you could combine and customize your axe to your liking. Roland should have made the G backwards compatible with SRX and made the ARX an evolution of SRX. SRX was seamlessly integrated. The ARX so clunky, it acts like an external module that you happen to control on the G.

I played the Kronos last week and a Motif and compared them to the G. I really wanted to love the Kronos. The specs are gorgeous. It "does" everything you want a workstation to do, minus driving a large monitor natively. It's clean sounding and the combis really do rock the house. The individual instruments are absolutely abysmal. Pianos are decent, but also thin. I don't think its worth half what they are selling it for.

The motif does have better sounding acoustic instruments but their interface makes my complaints about the G trivial. At this point I will wait for the next generation or keep my G8 and go the soft synth route.

I played the Kronos last week and a Motif and compared them to the G. I really wanted to love the Kronos. The specs are gorgeous. It "does" everything you want a workstation to do, minus driving a large monitor natively. It's clean sounding and the combis really do rock the house. The individual instruments are absolutely abysmal. Pianos are decent, but also thin.

I just finished watching the Genesis Rome DVD, where Tony Banks exclusively used the OASYS to cover all keyboard sounds. Boy, did they sound terrible. The synth solo tones that Tony used on "In the Cage" and "Cinema Show" were thin, lifeless & plastic. The organ sounds were laughable. I got the same impression from the Kronos. Except its EP's, the Kronos instruments are weak. Its acoustic sounds are a joke.

I bet that Roland will release a new workstation based on SN in 2013.

The G really is an untapped beast and does so many things well.

I agree completely!!

Its really so specialised that it can be way above most peoples heads when they lay there hands on it.
It potential is massive!
Okay roland make you learn this thing before it can be appreciated and patience does not seem to the be in abundance with G users and give up before they have started..
But hey! im not one of them and it will last me beyond 2013

I have to say in the couple of months I've had the G6 it has surpassed my expectations quite a bit. It sounds great, and I've been very pleasantly surprised how easy it is to program new sounds from scratch and how good the results are. Also the sampler sounds really good when you load your own samples into it. The Live Set mode with the seamless change works very well. Very easy to setup what you need. Of course there are a few niggles here and there, but for my needs its working well. I'm really enjoying working with hardware again after using a Mac and a MIDI controller live for a few years. It's also a much better MIDI controller as well. It's a good machine. Looking forward to gigs with it.

@ Quinnx, I think most G owners frustrations come from simple bugs and features that *should* have been fixed before it came to market and the lack of support from Roland who seem to like to release great products and provide less than attentive customer support. It seemed like Roland put their fingers in their ear when it came to addressing the issues with G functionality. The Fantom X got a 2.0 and it was a good solid product without that upgrade. Owning a G is kind of like driving a mercedes and having a service department from Kia. I remember getting the same lackluster support on the VS-880 I bought back in the 90's. That was my last Roland HD-R. Soundwise, there isn't a better sounding workstation out there overall.

Sold my Fantom G7 yesterday dang near perfect condition
arx-01 drums
arx-02 electric piano
1gb ram stick...

Buyer paid $2425 + $80 shipping.

Is that not kinda surprising. I was a bit surprised, but then again... The Fantom is a beast.

Yes.. I have contemplated selling my G many times in favor of going all PC DAW.
But i feel the G is Best partnered with a PC DAW than without..

Even with bugs and all..
Its got so much to offer in that department that I feel.. anyone that is trying to do everything just on the Fantom is missing out on alot of potential the G has to offer from this partnership.

Unless your an instant expert! at using the fantom.. the G is something you have to warm upto slowly.
When all is said and done.. the G still is a solid piece of gear even with the lack of further roland support.

Quinnx. wrote:

Yes.. I have contemplated selling my G many times in favor of going all PC DAW.
But i feel the G is Best partnered with a PC DAW than without..

Even with bugs and all..
Its got so much to offer in that department that I feel.. anyone that is trying to do everything just on the Fantom is missing out on alot of potential the G has to offer from this partnership.

Unless your an instant expert! at using the fantom.. the G is something you have to warm upto slowly.
When all is said and done.. the G still is a solid piece of gear even with the lack of further roland support.

in all due respect Q.... name a modern day workstation that doesn't have FAR more potential when coupled with a DAW or when not attempted to be used as a one stop shop?

The G is really no different in the category that any of the other options... (IMHO), in my extensive use (for what I used it for), the Fantom G's bad side never really showed its face. There were a few times that I wished things were different, but overall I was VERY HAPPY with it. and VERY SAD to know that it's going to be gone soon...

My favorite things about it where that the Expansion (drums and Electric piano) had their own polyphony, their own mixer parts... (especially the drum card... and it's PERSONAL mixer!!! That was very very nice. But the thing I'll miss the MOST is the EXTRA 16 external parts that you get.

I now know that alot of the other workstations had this capability, but not with 16 EXTRA parts (on top of the 16 that you already got inside the g)... that's alot of music/sound/polyphony...

Great opportunity. A great privilege to have owned a Roland Fantom G... who knows... maybe if a G6 comes my way, I'll go ahead and grab it up.

Oh yea the thing that ultimately made me go ahead and pull the trigger...??? was this:

I was rearranging my home studio the other night and misplaced the USB drive with all my data since Feb 2010... EVERYTHING was gone. EVERYTHING....

I couldn't even stand to look at the G anymore knowing that I was starting ALL OVER...

It came across to me as a sign,... and now It's a new day!!!!

Korg Kronos 88, Yamaha Motif XF 7, Roland XV 5080, Korg M3m (yamaha motif rack xs (for now..., will be GONE too soon) and my trusty computer system. Things are simplifying for me and I think I'm gonna love it.

Just making music for a change.

I really hate to see the Fantom G go, but like I said earlier.... IT'S A NEW DAY!!!!

@Apex - Dude, you REALLY need to learn to backup!

I thought that I had backed up...I thought there was a copy of the USB jump drive on my laptop....there's not! !!

It actually makes sense that Roland WOULD do a new workstation - in time. Throughout this thread I have been reading about innovation. Yet look at Yamaha: their market position is such that they have been repackaging the SAME workstation since the original Motif. What has been so terribly innovative about Motif? Flash RAM on the XF? Of the big three plus one (Kurzweil) Yamaha really has no need to innovate. Korg has created a great workstation. Admittedly Kronos IS a repackaged OASYS with two new engines but mortals couldn't afford OASYS. Now we can. I do agree that some of the acoustic sounds are a joke - the acoustic guitars out of the box really are not that good. But Kronos offers insane possibilities for creating sounds that XF can never do and for a programmer that is a very good thing.

Kurzweil is working on a new workstation and I am betting it will be a monster provided they update the sample ROM, make a larger screen and a better UI. V.A.S.T. is an incredibly powerful synthesis engine and the sequencer is really quite a breeze to use.

Roland made an excellent workstation with the Fantom X. What saddens me is what Roland COULD have done with the G. I have said this before and I think it bears repeating: if Roland had really put some serious effort into ARX such as releasing some really powerful synth engines, we probably wouldn't have ever SEEN Kronos! Roland had the chance to "change the game" and instead they released a spate of Junos.

But the main reason that Roland would do a new workstation is that many gigging musicians - myself included - absolutely refuse to take laptops to a gig. While I do believe there is a valid argument that the workstation may be dying in terms of studio use, I strongly believe that for road use, a workstation tank is going to appeal to musicians on the road. In that respect I do not see Roland abandoning the workstation market.

What has impressed me however is what you G owners HAVE done with the instrument despite its flaws. You folks have created workarounds that have minimized the limitations/irritations of this instrument. As far as I am concerned, Roland OWES you folks a new workstation.

I was especially intrigued at how Quinnx's opinion of the G changed over time. Yeah Quinnx, you have a fan here! As I recall he was one of the first - if not THE first - to be very vocal about the problems with G at release and indeed there were quite a few issues. He persevered and many of you did as well and I am hearing great music from G owners.

I think that the JP-80 is a good sign that Roland is getting back on track. Many Kronos owners are adding the JP-80 and the combination seems outstanding. I am one of those Kronos people who will be adding a JP-80 this winter. In a sense Roland is almost there already with a new workstation in that adding in a sequencer - the X sequencer a bit tarted up, sampling capability, and open up the architecture for new expansions but NOT in the ARX paradigm. Imagine a Roland workstation with a Kronos paradigm as a starting point:

In addition to the above necessities that define a workstation Roland could do their own legacy synth engines such as Super JX, V-Synth, JD-800, XV-5080, SH-101 ... what a monster machine it would be! Add in a GAIA interface too BTW. ;)

I really think it WILL happen folks, but not this year or next. Roland seems to be doing well with the Jupiter 80. On the Korg forums it is talked about quite favorably and Roland is in a position to gauge what Kronos does and can proceed from what they observe and create something really astounding. I have faith in Roland.

Ahimsa,
Vlad

PS: To Yamaha owners: please understand that I did not mean to come across as dissing the XF. It is a tried and true platform that many of the biggest acts in the industry depend upon. In terms of innovation however Yamaha has not "innovated" and with their market position Yamaha really doesn't NEED to innovate.