a new count down is started, maybe is it the right time !?

[Septimo]

...I'm sorry, what is a Fantom G, or ARX? ;-)

[aster]

Why the hell can't Roland bloody announce there will be no future update to the Fantom G... And put us all out of our misery......so we can all move on (obviously not to another roland product)...... I forgot I have already moved on......

[Mystic38]

i dont see why you need roland to announce something we already know... its like calling the wife up one year after she burns your clothes, crashes your car and moved out and saying "was there something up?"..lol

[Rocness]

First, I'd say that it is more than crystal clear that there will be no updates to the FG. It is as it is and that's it.
Second, it's also crystal clear that so soon after the release of the JP80, nobody can really expect a new workstation based on the same technology. The jp80 is at $3500 list price. The same as the competition charges for their 76key workstations. What would Roland has to ask for a SN workstation with 76 keys if the jp80 alone costs that much.
And finally, Roland could really abandon the workstation concept at all and focus on other keyboards. They IMHO never were really successful making workstations. They always tried a new way, a new concept and always failed by making the most simple things wrong. They could really stay focused on (performance) keyboards. It wouldn't be the first time. In the nineties there was the JV line, before that the U20 and D70 and none of them was a workstation.
I think that the jp80 is a terrific keyboard for those who don't need sounds beyond what the keyboard offers out from factory. For the rest, it's a great but expensive second keyboard on the stand.

Agreed , very interesting .

[Quinnx.]

They IMHO never were really successful making workstations

I would call the Fantom a successful workstation with more potential than people can handle.
it is for the most part a misunderstood board.
Leaving aside the supernatural on the jp80, for me the G is miles ahead of the game and at a better price.

[alpha_C]

ARX with Virtual Analog Technology, minimum 4 multitimbral and 64 poly. Roland please...

[mojkarma]

I would call the Fantom a successful workstation with more potential than people can handle.
it is for the most part a misunderstood board.

Successful means in my book how well it was sold and how popular it became. And compared to the Motif/Triton/M3 I don't see the Fantom being really popular and successful.
I don't agree wit the part about being a misunderstood board. How can a keyboard be misunderstood? Most people know what they are buying a keyboard for. If the keyboard has some weakly or cumbersome implemented features (file system as one, but not the only example), it has certainly nothing to do with being misunderstood.

[V-CeeOh]

They call it a synth but it has a full range of acoustic instruments so in reality it's similar to the Fantom G workstation

Since the very first years synthesizers try to replicate acoustic instruments. I don't understand this idea some have that synthesizers were built for just electronic sounds. Sorry, some synth history learning is advised. Yet, even if the Jupiter has no sampler, no sequencer and no expansion options you consider it more similar to a Fantom than an actual synthesizer 'cause it has a full-blown set of.... acoustic sounds???
The Jupiter-80 is a synthesizer. Period. It's not a scaled down workstation because it simply has no workstation functions ... other than the synthesizer ones.
Now, you can think that it is over-priced just because, for the same price, you're being able to buy a "workstation" but judging if it is worth or not the price putting to side what actually is in there, not to mention building quality, it is just for the ones that actually bought it to do.

[Quinnx.]

If the keyboard has some weakly or cumbersome implemented features

Yes there are limitations and they can be frustrating..
you have a choice
bang your head against a wall wishing and waiting for roland to sort it out..(never gonna happen)
or accept this is how it is and work and plan accordingly.
when you buy a board you dont know its limits until you start using it
and some limitations dont appear until you start getting to know your board very well.
when this happens you start to realise you bought something that sometimes defy s logic.
all this then serves to distract us from the real power of the board which is its sound and music creation potential.
In one way accepting for the moment that roland will not give us v2.0 allows us to move forward with the G because by now we now know its road map and can start concentrating on just making music and not hanging on to a new update.
In the end i say.. stop looking at what it does badly and start concentrating on what it does Best!
its more productive and you may even live longer :)

[Luconia]

In the end i say.. stop looking at what it does badly and start concentrating on what it does Best!
its more productive and you may even live longer :)

hence why i love every single Quinnx's post...always positive no matter what.

[jur451c]

I agree that we should be positive about the advantages of a synth like the Fantom G HOWEVER I find it very difficult to look past the complete lack of tea or coffee making facilities within the os architecture......

[luislobo]

My most missed feature is the "Grammar Wombat Plug-in - Musical Version" that auto-corrects your live playing in real-time.
Other features I can live without include the most requested "Toilet ARX" and "Gears of War III ARX".

Maybe Roland is planning to implement these :)

Regards,
LL

PS: I'm still playing with the Fantom-G as my only gear after 5 years :-P

[Grammar Wombat]

PS: I'm still playing with the Fantom-G as my only gear after 5 years :-P

The Fantom-G was released only three years ago. How could you have been playing it for five years?

Luislobo?

Oh no! I am afraid that I have offended my friend.

Please do not walk away, Luislobo. Speak to me!

Luislobo?!?

Luislobo!?!

[V-CeeOh]

[little secret here Grammar: luislobo true name is "Luis Lobo". "Lobo" is "wolf" in Portuguese( I know this beacause "eu falo Português"). I'd be using those 4 little legs and start RUNNING FOR YOUR LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE]

[V-CeeOh]

or I could just "delete" him if you stop doing ...ur.... whatever you do.... everyday...