Coming back to Roland Land

[jcthemc]

Guys I have been in Yamaha hell for a full year after getting rid of my Fantom X the interface on the motif XS is absolutely the worst... and Identical to my old sy85 back in the day... I am seriously dying for my Fantom X again and I am thinking of trading my Motif XS for a Fantom G. Unless you guys know something about Rolands next Flagship.

What are the critical issues in the Fantom G? is anything not fixed? is there any issues that I need to know about before I make the jump?

Artemio... I would like to hear your take on this too man... long time no see!

[Septimo]

Don't do it.. It's too late to jump into the G.. I think it would be a waste of if not money, time definitely.. Move forward..

By the way, the interface is not the worst.. It's just that you got used to doing things and seeing things they way Roland designed it... Someone like me, that came from the opposite, still thinks that Roland's interface doesn't make sense in comparison.. And I've had the FantomX for going on 7 years now... It's all a matter of what you get introduced to first or most...

[Igglethorpe]

Hey jcthemc! Long time no see! It looks like we are crossing paths. I got rid of my Fantom G for a Motif XF and couldn't be happier. I love the workflow and the FW16E is turning out to be the best thing since sliced bread.

I still cruise in here once in awhile looking for information on my SH-201 or anything new "Roland workstation." Fantom G is a great instrument but turned out to be not for me in the long run. I agree with Septimo. Sit it out some until Roland makes their next move against the Kronos.

Welcome back!

[jcthemc]

hey guys.. Septimo, I have waited for tap tempo for over a year now... still nothing! I would not have bought the stupid synth if I knew there was no tap temp...everything I do uses tempo synced delays and knobs just don't work for playing live with a mix of musicians.

one of the other big features is a simple transpose for all the voices in a performance... no such thing... and they act like it is impossible to do...

Igglethorpe, Really? that is so bizarre! I swear sometimes I could literally smash this thing I hate it so much.. simple little changes take like 3 or 5! steps! I only play live so I figured the 4 arpeggiators would just be awesome for that... but once I realized I couldn't lock in on the band with tap tempo it became absolutely worthless to me.

I thought about waiting it out to see if Roland pulls a "kronos" but sheesh I dunno.. I am so tired of waiting for the friggin update!.. and motifator nothing like Roland clan... no patch exchange... dunno... I just don't see me ever loving a yammy product at all.. I was actually happy with a fantom X and still would be honestly. it never let me down...

I dunno I might wait to see what happens... I miss my Roland like you wouldn't believe though!

[Flumpster]

Pity your in the US or you could have bought my beautiful G8 which I love dearly and would never get rid of normally but I have to sell to pay for the hamsters funeral bill.

[Igglethorpe]

That is some hamster, Flumpster!

Tap tempo is coming to the XS. I don't think it will be much longer for you to wait on that. It appears you may be having other workflow issues other than this, however.

I don't play live myself, so may not work the same way as you do. I mainly lay tracks in Cubase with Omnisphere and the XF.

It sounds like you could simply use a Fantom X. Any luck finding them used? I bet you could get one for a song...

[jcthemc]

I have thought that I would just go back to a Fantom X since I could get one pretty cheaply

dunno I am keeping my eyes open... a fantom x and the vsynth was a great combination back when I had them...

[PauloF]

Welcome back jcthemc

a fantom x and the vsynth was a great combination back when I had them...

They still are !!

I do have a fantom Xa and a V-Synth XT. Killer combination

[G-Man]

I think that the best solution would be to go somewhere and try out the Fantom G (unless you've done that already). The Live Mode is great and the interface is very user-friendly, maybe even more than the one of the Fantom X. I've played the XS too (just trying it briefly) and is awful to get around indeed, especially if you had a Roland synth before. If you only play Live then the Fantom G should be great.

[mojkarma]

hey guys.. Septimo, I have waited for tap tempo for over a year now... still nothing! I would not have bought the stupid synth if I knew there was no tap temp...everything I do uses tempo synced delays and knobs just don't work for playing live with a mix of musicians.

That's funny!
It's exactly one of the arguments I mentioned on a discussion here regarding Motif XF vs. Fantom G and Septimo made a big laugh about that because "almost nobody uses a workstation live".
Well, how am I to know...

[Septimo]

And I'm right... Even if it's thousands of people, it's still 'almost nobody' for these to continue if producers won't buy them anymore.. But if you feel differently about it, I can accept that too..

[Artemiy]

If you're playing live, I think Fantom-G would be a good choice.

The advantages over the Fantom-X would be:

- More transparent and punchy sound
- Way more effects, 16 for individual parts and 4 global
- Seamless live set switching
- Faster data load times
- Bigger screen, easier to set things up
- Has USB MIDI + USB audio and makes up a great computer interface

The disadvantages are:

- If you go into advanced song production, the sequencer is harder to use than the Fantom-X
- Project is a nice concept but sharing any data between them, except for patches, is a real hassle and not worth bothering
- Sample manipulation functions missing from the X, have to do assigning them to patches/kits/multisamples manually
- The grand piano sound is so-so, although there are user-sampled ones here which seem to get great reviews
- Arpeggiator is programmable but only as a phrase, won't track multiple keys

The bottom line, if you don't touch the sequencer, the G is a mightily fine board, better than the X.

Price-wise, think about a used X with a couple SRX boards maybe.

[Quinnx.]

Tap tempo..
Hmm..
cant you just add this by connecting a computer or laptop?
and sending clock source to you board?
just a thought//

an again.. for transposing use the laptop..

I know nothing of the motif
but like you say if you going back to the fantom and also want to not jump the gun before roland respond to the kronos.. then a cheap X is a good option since its what you came from..
The G is more of a permanent investment when it comes to price point and you need to be sure your going to be happy with committing to it and not be chewing your socks off if roland respond with a new piece of gear..
at least with the x its more affordable..
have said all this..
if i never had the X and never created songs or had any srx cards..
I would not trade down the G for it.

[mojkarma]

@Quinnx
He's playing live.
I often trigger some tempo related samples live and my drummer is not using a metronome. Tap tempo is the magic word here.

[G-Man]

"I swear sometimes I could literally smash this thing I hate it so much.."
"Stupid synth"..
LOL! )