When will ROLAND release their next Workstation ?

[videorov]

Yes Korea and China are on the move in the large format printing world. I go to tradeshow for large printing
machines that print banners, billboards etc and in the last few years I see alot more Korean and China companies at the shows sell their large printers now. Its going to be the same way in the music world and
Roland,Korg, Yamaha better pay attention. I have already seen a D-45 Martin copy on Youtube that sounds
really great that someone bought.
Like they all say its a world market now we live in and get ready to see all types of products for the music
world from Korea and China. They are already building for some of the major Guitar companies and
the keyboards are next. It might be a good thing to get these other companies off their BUTTs.

[muziksculp]

Kia and Hyundai cars were looked down at a few years ago, now... They are competing neck to neck with Honda, and Toyota, and most likely are better built, look cooler, cost less, and most likely are outselling Japanese models. Same can easily happen to Korg, Roland, Yamaha, ...etc.

Actually, I would be happy if this happens in the very near future ! Looks like it might be the only way Japanese Electronic Music Instrument manufacturers will wake up and smell the tea !

[Chrisk-K]

China and Korea !

Seems like Japan has been the major player, but things might change for Roland, Yamaha, Korg, ...etc. if they don't move their behinds faster, and move us into 2012, and beyond as far as their technology goes.

Watch out for China and Korea, they are not sleeping, or slowing down their industrial tech-base.

Korea is way ahead of China in electronics. China still makes junk.

[MC808ter]

The Japanese manufacturers are what killed off popularity for the masters like Bob Moog and ARP miminalist companies etc,they turned niche instruments into manufacturing do it all blackboxes in the thousands,mass produced,low cost,flooding the market,that will come full circle eventually with all these cheaper imports.

Again its mostly about the consumers choice,they want cheap toys,loads of choice and most of the time that comes with no regard for the actual real design or the science behind the creators.

However,all these cheaper imports normally means the markets flooded with loads of total and utter tripe,making mediocre musicians thinking they are the next big thing,much like the way in which the Music industry has headed for many years

I like the prospect of plenty of choice,however when it comes to choosing an instrument,I like to have the best for what it can offer me,and that isn't always the cheapest option,not everyone votes with their wallet,It always been for me,you get what you pay for,been far more economical to buy the best and last at least a decade,than several cheaper throwaway items just because the budget meant thats the only way to make music or access half decent synths,if that was the case I'd have opted for a computer with a bunch of VSTs

[videorov]

Where does everyone think the Apple stuff is built, CHINA and everyone loves it. Quality is there and the
price isn't bad and new things come out all the time to keep up with the times.
It will be the same for music instruments for the future that have electronics involved.
Just have to wait and see where the future takes us. I thought Kurzweil was going to do something but
looks like not anytime soon.

[Leh173]

MC808ter.

I agree about the cheap stuff flooding the market. Before I bought the Fantom G I was all software using a macbook pro running Mainstage and MIDI controller for gigs and the cheapness and poor designs and build quality of these well marketed all singing all dancing MIDI controllers really killed it for me. Mainstage was great but the rest of the experience sucked! The Fantom G is beautiful instrument. It's industrial design is almost like art. The Jupiter -80 is the same. Go into a shop and check out the G and Jupiter and then other keyboards and these things are well in front build quality front.

[videorov]

I agree on all the software stuff that some people think is a replace all and that will never happen.
The Fantom G just needs to be tweaked up a bit and they will have the market once again.

[Leh173]

The funny part is that the G is such a nice keyboard and is a decent MIDI controller so it actually makes using Mainstage a lot more pleasurable. So USB cable to computer and I'm done. So if I feel like gigging with some of the better sounds from Logic Pro and my softsynths I can very easily add them to the G for live. At home the G is my main controller and I use sounds from both it, my other hardware and my software.

[videorov]

I think Roland will still be in the game and will come out with a new one.

[parker.bobby]

This thread is still going? :).. are we not happy with the G? Let's face it, the G has it's shortcomings. So did the x, and so will the 'Fantom Z'. The big difference is that we know the shortcomings of the G & have figured out ways around them. None of us know what pitfalls await us in the next workstation. I'm sure marketing is not going to point out the flaws in any of the initial overviews of the product either. The guys on Roland's marketing team are among the most talented of Roland employees. :)

[videorov]

Pc is not the answer. Hardware keyboard is what people want. Real keyboard. It will come I see it in the future for Roland. I had a dream last night and it looks fantastic.

[keysme]

Summer NAMM 2012 disappointed yet again with no new workstation from Roland and company. I see the Jupiter-80 got a 2.0 version software update which is nice but the improvements are miniscule at best in my opinion.

Roland calls the Jupiter-80 its "Flagship Synth" yet they also call the V-Synth GT 2.0 its Flagship Synth. Roland's new business strategy could be the elimination of professional workstation products perhaps. Synth could be the new word for "keyboard" in Roland's vocabulary. The Jupiter-80 could be Roland's new interpretation of a workstation, even though the Jupiter-80 lacks three professional features that true workstations include. It doesn't include a Sampler or a Sequencer or Expansion capability, which "limits" its productivity and its usefulness as a viable keyboard option for professional musicians or anyone else for that matter in my opinion. Has anyone seen the Jupiter-80 being used in the media on TV or at concerts? I haven't, but I could have missed the occasion(s) where it was spotted. The Jupiter-80 sounds great but 'form i.e. (sound) over function' obviously has its limits. What I believe most keyboardists want is both superior sounds plus a boat load of professional features that gives people the best of both worlds. As it stands now, the Jupiter-80, in my opinion, is a "watered down" keyboard that sounds really good but obviously "lacks" important professional features that professional musicians usually demand it have.

So here we are four years later and Roland has yet to release a successor to the Fantom G. My G7 is still going strong thanks to Roland's build quality on the G. It's solidly constructed but obviously its getting "long in the tooth" i.e. becoming obsolete as far as cutting edge features which are being included in Korg's new Kronos and now the newest Kronos X with a larger SSD and other nice improvements.

Perhaps Roland doesn't care. Perhaps they've chosen to delegate workstations to Korg and Yamaha and their new business strategy is a "take it or leave it" proposition. In other words, if you want a true workstation you're going to have to "jump ship" and swim over to Korg and/or Yamaha for your future workstation needs. That appears to be what Roland is saying - in secret of course. ;)

I could be wrong. I've been saying winter NAMM '13 could be the time when a Fantom G successor shows up. But if one doesn't show up at winter NAMM '13 then it could very well be adios, au revoir... see you later alligator. If there's no new workstation release from Roland by winter NAMM '13 - six months down the road - it could be very telling and would further cement the idea that Roland has given up on making true workstations and are basically saying to the keyboardist community world over... get used to it buddy.

Roland: We've gone a different direction and if you don't like it... well, you've certainly got other options waiting on the island of 'hope and opportunity' in the arms of Yamaha and Korg... after you "jump ship" and swim to greener pastures because obviously we don't care, but obviously, Korg and Yamaha still do. Sorry for being somewhat cynical. But like I said, if Roland doesn't produce something by winter NAMM '13 then they may have given up on producing workstations altogether. Which would really be a shame obviously.

Workstations are still a viable market in my humble opinion. An "all-in-one" solution is really the best of both worlds. Roland could be saying: "you can't have your cake and eat it too" perhaps. Which is kind of snobbish if you ask me. Thank the Lord that Yamaha and Korg don't mind if their customers have the best of both worlds. At least as of July 14, 2012 anyway. ;) Workstations could eventually be on the way out but currently there is still a huge market for them if you ask me. Roland apparently disagrees with that sentiment but I'll wait until winter NAMM '13 before coming to any final conclusion.

If it's yet another "no-show" at winter NAMM '13 then I think Roland has concluded that true workstations that include professional features for professional musicians (and hobbyists) aren't in their future anymore. Pity if that's the case. Again, thank God for Yamaha, Korg and Kurzweil. Who are obviously waiting in the wings and more than happy to receive literally thousands of new customers that Roland didn't deem necessary to retain as customers for themselves. Which begs the question... who's running the ship at Roland Japan? Perhaps it's time to bring in some fresh faces with customer friendly policies that won't exclude certain segments of the keyboard community? Sorry. Again, I'll try and be patient and hopefully winter NAMM '13 will bring us a few surprises. Patience is wearing a little thin I must admit though. Deep breaths, deep breaths, DDDEEEEPPPPP breaths. :D lol

BTW, sorry for the extremely long post. Just think of the exercise your eyes are getting though. :) Have a great weekend everybody!

[Quinnx.]

Roland have simply lost their way since the G and alienated their loyal customer Base in the process.
There is no going back or forward for them any longer..

I think in the future we are going to see measly offerings from now on..

Every year that passes is now just another nail in the proverbial coffin for roland.

[Leh173]

Who knows what is going happen next... though I have a feeling they haven't given up just yet... but yeah the lack of development on G is a real shame. All it needs is a few tweaks...

[en76]

i guess that tweak is left to us to fill in. yep, am tweaking alright over how to be patient and hateful lol. JP-80 is your supernatural ARX replacement on steriod for FG. mmmm maybe not who cares ....FG still working and giving the basic joy so a 1.55 update is more than welcome to my "joyness" collection if there is such thing. update on FG will be nice at this point.