Is there a conspiracy against Roland?

I have wanted a Fantom ever since they first came out. And I beleive the Fantom-S definitely upped the ante. I may be looking at getting one of them.
I am not a Keyboard player, and since I am considering getting a keyboard, I have been through a bunch of forums and noticed the same thing. None if it changed my opinion. I have been demoing Fantoms at various stores for almost a year now, and I like there sound, and I like the feel. i like the thinking that went into it. The way work flows. I like the way the rhythm generators/arpegiators and what not spark ideas as well as the sounds. I like the sequencer, the simple lay out. I visit these boards looking for software glitches, and best prices and things like that. People who complain about the sound, or the looks, or the D beam controller are automatically ignored by me, they don't seem to be very profesional, and tend to appear insecure about something.

FatBoyJimm, I've noticed the same things that you have noticed about all the negativity about Rolands products. It's almost like anything that is made by Roland sucks to alot of people. I'm truly wondering if it's because for a long time Roland has been one of the best out in the market for so long and now people are tired of hearing about Roland and they want to go with the opposing team, or is it they just don't like the sound. I think Roland make some very easy to use gear, and that alone would make alot of people buy their gear. I've always loved the Roland sound and I'm looking foward to getting an Fantom-S just as soon as I get my money right. And with the fact that it samples like it does if I get tired of the sounds I could always go sample more sounds and create new ones so I really don't know why all the hate for the Roland Company, and the Roland Fantom-S.

bwoi

yes , you all r right, i think there is some conspiracy against Roland.

Every Keyboard from differenert manufactrer is different, and each one has its own advantage.


I think Roland was just great in bringing out Xp 80 right in the year 1995,

I mean XP 80 was an excellent gear as far as sequencing is concerned.

It was too ahead of its time, same with FANTOM S, it is just great and too far ahead of its time.

So guys all the best and enjoy ROLAND.

Yeah, I also explored my XP-80 only after four years of tweaking it, and this board is super!

So I agree with Togetit and everybody - every board must be hacked to the limits, then you can talk about it.

Good luck!

Something that I think is odd is that many people make it seem as if they hate Roland so much that they would like for them to go out of business. Like I said in my original post on this topic, sure Roland has upset some customers; that is inevitable, but I really have not heard any points being made why people are upset with Roland other than their sounds suck or it should have more of this and less of that. The Fantom-S is my third Roland purchase and the only problem that could be said with any of them is my battery died on my Juno 106 which was over 15 years old at the time, and this can’t be called a problem, more like expected. New battery and the thing has its memory again! With there only being 4 major company’s in the synth market, and in my opinion really only 3 because I doubt that most of us will ever own a Kurzweil, we the people that are into to this kind of thing need there to be as much competition for our business as we can get so we can get these huge advancements in technology that we have all come to enjoy. Look how far we have come in 30 some odd years. These is done largely and in my opinion solely do to competition. If everything would have stopped with my first keyboard, Ensoniq ESQ1, think how bad life would be. It was a good keyboard but in no way was it what was really needed to make music, even back then. With Yamaha buying a small % of Korg (don’t know if they still own this % or not) which could lead to one company in the future (I don’t doubt that Yamaha could own Korg, Roland or Kurzweil by lunch tomarrow if they though it would be financially viable) and then some peoples apparent desired wish of Roland going away comes true and look what your left with: YamaKorg (or is it Korgaha) and Kurzweil. This would not be good for anybody in the long-term future.

This post is in regards to review number 15 of the Fantom-S88 at HC. Well it has happened again! Someone puts up a positive review on HC about the Fantom S88 and in less than 16 hours someone puts up a negative review. I am going to go out on a limb here and say what I have been biting my tongue about before, but this review appears to be totally false. I have no problem with someone not liking the Fantom-S but I found the following to be incorrect in this review and anyone who really owns or owned this keyboard would know these things. He states right of the bat, “NO software editor supplied to help you get around the 7 and 8 layer hidden menus." "Sampler add-on adds to the complexity and the cost." "Does not add any new features that are not offered elsewhere.” Are you kidding me? This is a review for the Roland Fantom-S88 right? Then he goes on to state, “Does not allow you to mold the instrument to your particular design everything is laid out for you." "Meaning you work with what little Roland offers you to work with." "The other major companies allow you to make the keyboard sound as you like and you can store far more of your own sounds, load more of your own sounds, re-write presets and use the empty space that you attain for your needs." "This keyboard does not offer all those options even with the new sampler feature.” Again, this is a review for the Roland Fantom-S88 right? Then he goes on to say, “While loading up the ram I ran into problems." "It takes only a specific type of ram." "talk to your dealer before buying." "Overheats, and picks up ground noise" "loops.screen is too small for a mixer." "you have to reboot when its glitchy." "I lost samples that were not yet stored.” I found this to be the most ridiculous of all of the other suspicious reviews I have read on HC. It is as if this guy read this topic on the Artemio site and tried to come up with complaints about the Fantom-S other than “sounds suck” and this is the best he could do. Let me admit something that I am not proud of because I thought that I was more headstrong than this. Before I bought my Fantom-S the first 2 negative reviews on the Fantom-S88 appeared on HC, which made me wonder if I was making the right purchase. I went back to my local music store and spent more than 3 hours reexamining the top workstations currently on the market. I am happy to say that after these 3 hours of reexamination that I knew the Fantom-S was the keyboard for me and to this day I am ultra pleased with it and am very happy with my purchase. To those that are trying to sabotage Roland’s new product line you should do at least a little homework before making your false statements. I would also like you to know that in my hunt for the best prices on the Fantom-S and other things that I have desired that I have talked to three different music stores in three different states and all of them have told me that they are having trouble keeping up with the demand for the new Roland product line.

FatBoyJim, thanks for keeping the Fantom-S/S88 vibe alive

I agree with all your statements about the false opinions some strange people have. They do not make a move towards hacking the board even a bit, but they already say it can't do the thing.

It's stupid.

I like the Fantom-S BECAUSE it is so flexible and lets you customize everything and everywhere. The synth/sampler/effects engine is perfect for pro sound design, beleive the owner of XP-80. And the seq/arp/rhythm section is awesome and can be tuned to what you want exactly. What the $%& else do you need?

Finally, S/S88 looks so goddamn futuristique and ispire you to write some really nu trackz!

Well, please stay away from Fantom-S if you prefer. But we will make great-sounding music with it.

Artemio.

?

I've had the Fantom-S 61 for about 2 months and I think it's just as good or better than the Korg or Yamaha offerings. The only thing it needs is 128 notes and better presets. (easy enough to change).

I think the "problem" is that there are to many followers these days rather than inovators. If one guy says it sucks, that his 10 friends will think it sucks, without even giving it a chance. I know guys that can make awsome tracks with a $75 Casio, a couple Coke bottles and a cardboard box..... and Duck tape. If these people think the Fantom-S sucks, they have no business making music.

Very well said Jonathon.

http://mp3.com/noisefuljoy

Hey Jonathon, your …and duct tape had me laughing my ass off. Thanks, I needed that! Noisemaker, it’s nice to see a post from you. We could use more of your Knowledge, insight and professionalism...

Guys, I'm really glad there are some really god folks like you here at the forum!

Good luck!