Fantom G.., will be a HIT!
Posted: 23:09, 18 January 2008
WOW, this new Fantom G is going to freakin ROCK! Like it or not I would say that Yamaha's Motif XS, may need to take a bow to Roland here as clearly Roland has moved beyond in an area or two over the Motif XS and even the Korg M3
First things is first...., that new 8.5" screen is exactly the improvement the Fantom series needed. Granted the screen on the X series is nice, but the Fantom (like the XS, and Korg M3) at times can get difficult to see with the amount of info on a screen at one given time. Roland has clearly blown past Yamaha's XS, and Korgs M3 with their new screen.
I don't think it's even fair for any of us to speculate on the sounds as not one of us (common folk-or we the little people) have had the chance to play one yet. I look at it like this. I don't care if you have an X, XS, or M3..., they ALL sound good and have their strong points. Sounds are soooooo freakin subjective that I can't help but laugh my butt off with online wars stating this is better than that in terms of sound quality. I've seen people like the piano on a Casio Privia, and hate the piano on a Fantom X.
Roland def gets credit for the sequencing platform now. It seems they integrated computer style sequencing into this workstation. I say bravo to that. Plus Roland (on top of the game here) even added a USB mouse port on the G line to make things even easier and to simplify navigation. That was a very good move IMO.
Poly..., that's currently up in the air at the moment. 128 poly is where most are now, but with 100+ midi tracks and 24 audio tracks, I can't really see 128 notes holding up there. HOWEVER..., and this depends on how Roland's poly assignment will be for patches, it may not be so bad when you compare it to what the Motif XS does with 128 note poly. Yammie has some 8 element voices, and even they say that some voices will drive your poly straight into the ground in mix mode. Personally I think 8 element voice structure is a bit much, and hopefully Roland has designed the G to handle the 128 note poly with a 100+ midi tracks and 24 audio tracks.
Can't wait to see these things hit the streets. From what I see the price of these will be around where the competition is currently at.
In all I have to say that this new screen, mouse input, sliders, and new (computer style) sequencing will without question have Yamaha and Korgs attention. I'm willing to bet the next Yamaha workstation will have a bigger screen, and they'll change the seq platform.
Roland's timing for release is perfect too. Everyone is already quite used to hearing about the XS, and the M3, and only a select few can just go out and by Korgs big O line. From what I've heard the G has really caused a stir there.
Squeak
First things is first...., that new 8.5" screen is exactly the improvement the Fantom series needed. Granted the screen on the X series is nice, but the Fantom (like the XS, and Korg M3) at times can get difficult to see with the amount of info on a screen at one given time. Roland has clearly blown past Yamaha's XS, and Korgs M3 with their new screen.
I don't think it's even fair for any of us to speculate on the sounds as not one of us (common folk-or we the little people) have had the chance to play one yet. I look at it like this. I don't care if you have an X, XS, or M3..., they ALL sound good and have their strong points. Sounds are soooooo freakin subjective that I can't help but laugh my butt off with online wars stating this is better than that in terms of sound quality. I've seen people like the piano on a Casio Privia, and hate the piano on a Fantom X.
Roland def gets credit for the sequencing platform now. It seems they integrated computer style sequencing into this workstation. I say bravo to that. Plus Roland (on top of the game here) even added a USB mouse port on the G line to make things even easier and to simplify navigation. That was a very good move IMO.
Poly..., that's currently up in the air at the moment. 128 poly is where most are now, but with 100+ midi tracks and 24 audio tracks, I can't really see 128 notes holding up there. HOWEVER..., and this depends on how Roland's poly assignment will be for patches, it may not be so bad when you compare it to what the Motif XS does with 128 note poly. Yammie has some 8 element voices, and even they say that some voices will drive your poly straight into the ground in mix mode. Personally I think 8 element voice structure is a bit much, and hopefully Roland has designed the G to handle the 128 note poly with a 100+ midi tracks and 24 audio tracks.
Can't wait to see these things hit the streets. From what I see the price of these will be around where the competition is currently at.
In all I have to say that this new screen, mouse input, sliders, and new (computer style) sequencing will without question have Yamaha and Korgs attention. I'm willing to bet the next Yamaha workstation will have a bigger screen, and they'll change the seq platform.
Roland's timing for release is perfect too. Everyone is already quite used to hearing about the XS, and the M3, and only a select few can just go out and by Korgs big O line. From what I've heard the G has really caused a stir there.
Squeak