New aftertouch range

Have so far not tried myself, since I often configure a partial for a OSC Delay mode KEY-OFF-NORMAL after I first saw long ago Fantom 8 aftertouch could probably produce injuries to the extend of not being able to play the keyboard anymore. This is not a joke at all. There is a way you are to sit while playing, one way to place your body on the bench (forward half only), a way your hands should follow your forearms and the angle they made, a way your fingers should bend (as if holding a ball), a way to place your legs, a hight relative to the keyboard white keys top (71.5 centimetres for a Steinway)... everything granting you will play till you die. Then comes this aftertouch...COME ON !!!!
With my setting, which I very much recommend, I get what I want by releasing the keys and waiting for the delay time to trigger what I asked for, no effort at all, no injuries, no risks...no cause for alarm.

Moreover, Roland says on page 16 of the supplementary manual for Ver 2.0, to my amusement, so to speak, that the same 100 value is still the recommended setting...

Aftertouch Sens Value...
Before change: 0–100
After change: 0–127
Sets the aftertouch sensitivity. The larger the value, the more sensitive that the aftertouch is. This should normally be set to 100.

Other very much more interested people, still hoping aftertouch will finally work, are of about the same opinion of mine said before:

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=56833&start=30#p320602

" Aftertouch is sadly still broken with the 8 on 2.00 even with Max sensitivity to the new 127 level it’s either 0 at or 100%. It also still takes far too much pressure to engage to where it’s painful. ", said Per at 05:21, 19 September 2020.

Didnt feel a change on a non weighted fantom

The problem with the Fantom's aftertouch isn't so much the the range or curve, but the onset of AT effect - too much pressure is required to make it in any way useful. I believe this is a hardware problem that cannot just be corrected with a firmwware update.

I am considering taking my F6 apart and having a look at the AT sensor - I had the same problem with my old Fantom X6, which I sorted by stripping down the sensor and adding a thin strip of neoprene which meant the key made contact with the sensor "sooner" than previously. It worked ok, but high velocities would trigger AT occasionally.

Hello there!

In own a F8, and had same problem with AFT after 2.0 update. I contacted Roland via their website after logging in there, and they soon answered, suggesting to make Factory reset after updating (of course after saving data on usb).

So i did, and now it works again! With aftertouch Sens parameter value on 100 it's like before update. Value 127 means Aftertouch totally on or off with nothing inbetween, value 0 means no AFT to be triggered possible. But 100 seems full AFT function.

I would estimate the range between sero AFT pressure and full AFT pressure somewhat like 8 steps, so it seems it's not a controler like others with 128 steps between sero and full. But I only rough estimation of number of "AFT Steps".

I even wouldn't consider the manual / physical power needed to trigger AFT too extremely high (I cannot compare to other synths though), but I find it playable. When I bought F8, it was on Version 1.10 or so, and AFT was extreeeemly hard to trigger with problems described above like pain in the fingers and so on. After updating to V1.6 this was somehow fine like it is now.

Kind regards, JCS

I only received my Fantom-7 a few weeks ago and just updated to 2.00 Sunday afternoon, 20 September 2020. I read the release notes on the update portion of the Roland US site where it said, “improved aftertouch sensitivity.” By Monday, 21 September, this statement no longer appeared and I assume had been deliberately deleted.

I interpret this to mean Roland knows this is a significant issue and decided to remove the claim from the published release notes as I assume they are beginning to receive more and more customer complaints. This is unfortunate because this is the only issue I have with an otherwise excellent product. I fear this may indicate that only an expensive depot-repair may resolve the issue and seems to rule out the possibility of a firmware-only remedy. As most owners have reported, triggering aftertouch on either the Fantom-6, 7, or 8 keybeds requires an inordinate amount of force, which I’m estimating to be about 10-15 pounds of pressure, where I even see the keys begin to flex.

I am planning to mail written correspondence to Roland US and Japan to express my dissatisfaction. As a long-time Roland customer and former owner of a Fantom-X8 and Fantom-G8, I was supremely disappointed to find such a glaring design flaw in a key performance feature in Roland’s most expensive, flagship instrument.

That's very unfortunate that the firmware didn't help, as I find the aftertouch to be pretty much unusable on my Jupiter X. It's especially disappointing considering its action is so much better than my other high end keys, which feature superior aftertouch. Ultimately better action wins the day easily, but it sure would be nice to have both...

I made a little experiment about AFT range with my F8.

I set AFT as controller for pitch at max. Sens of +63 in the Tone settings (in system settings AFT Sens of course at 100 as recommended),then I pressed one key and holded it, very slowely increasing pressure to trigger AFT, counting the clear audible steps of pitching the tone up according to increasing pressure of my finger until maximum was reached with the tone exactly one octave higher. I counted exactly 9 steps altogether.

Compared to e.g. the modulation wheel instead of AFT: then there are countless steps of "pitching the tone up" from baseline to maximum so then it is a very smooth controlling whreras AFT with 9 steps is much less smooth.

So, AFT is a very rough controller compared to all the others. And, the physical pressure might be a bit high (but I cannot compare to what's normal), but for me it's okay and playable.

I posted this before, but since the behaviour of aftertouch ( for those who are able to get any, and I congratulate) seems not to provide much satisfaction, I write it again, as it seems it would be a good way to have a substitute for it and, moreover, to provide the player with all the bells and whistles the tone has, instead of those nine steps I here current aftertouch makes.

I will like to see Delay Mode extended with two more HOLD- KEY-OFF modes.

Currently there are four types: NORMAL, HOLD, KEY-OFF-NORMAL and KEY-OFF-DELAY.

The last two modes, adding a hold time for them to be triggered, could be called HOLD-KEY-OFF-NORMAL and HOLD-KEY-OFF-DECAY.

If the key is released before the time specified in the Partial Delay Time parameter has elapsed for HOLD, the KEY-OFF-NORMAL or KEY-OFF-DELAY will not be triggered.

Doing so, imagine I set a HOLD-KEY-OFF-NORMAL with a HOLD time of 500 and a delay of 750.
I play the key and release after 200....nothing else will be heard, since the HOLD time required, 500, was not accomplished.
If I play the same key, hold it for 600 and release, a sound will be heard after 750, the delay requiered, since HOLD time was matched, and reached 600.

It could even be a nice substitute for aftertouch, since no further pressure will be required, just a HOLD OVER time.