Fantom X or Motif XS

[lyzantheris]

I need to decide between roland's fantom x, or yamaha's new motif xs.

The kind of music I will be primarily focusing on is electronica/dance, so whichever keyboard can offer the most for that purpose (good synth, drums, etc) will probably win me over. Having a great sounding piano is also a must.

I'd like to point out I'm a workstation n00b and I will be learning either of these keyboards from the ground up. 100% fresh.

Oh and one more question. I know that the 88 key models have weighed keys.. is that the only difference.. just the feel? Do the weighted keys offer more precise sound?

[Artemiy]

The kind of music I will be primarily focusing on is electronica/dance, so whichever keyboard can offer the most for that purpose (good synth, drums, etc) will probably win me over. Having a great sounding piano is also a must.

For dance and electronica you should know Roland invented most of the sounds used today (TB-303, TR-808/909, and so on). And they still rule when it comes to such sounds, I am not the only one who'll tell this to you. Moreover Fantom-X will give you a much better final mix.

Piano is subjective, it should be equally great on both models.

Do the weighted keys offer more precise sound?

Yes, more natural velocity resolution. Not that important for synth and bass but great for piano and drums.

[lyzantheris]

Excellent. Thank you : )

[Lord of the Badgers]

I owned an ES8 & I still own the Fantom XR. The ES8's sounds are more "bread & butter" - certainly the presets don't make you go wow on first hearing, and the ES8's piano was frankly rubbish, however... the reason I (still) love the Yamaha is that it's sequencing just kicked ass for me. People say it's hard to understand, this is not true once you work out Yamaha's thinking.

Also having 8 independant inserts FX during recording is still a Yamaha thing of beauty.

Roland for glossy sounds, Yamaha for ballsier stuff.. I ALWAYS went to the motif for bass sounds. And I also found it much easier to program.

(If you're wondering why i don't have an ES8 now.. i had to sell it owing to a debt that was about to bite me badly - I still miss her terribly, and can't afford the new model (in 88 note form) - the blurb on the piano sound is intriguing too)

when i had my FXR and ES8, I found the two completely complimented each other. I had the old Fantom S 61 before this, and i still prefer the Yamaha sequencing over that a million times.

Just personal taste - I'm not into product loyalty wars! But I have to disagree with the "better mix" statement of our man Artemio - sorry!

Regards,
Rob
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http://www.lotb.co.uk

Roland F(***ing) X(cellent) R(ack)
Roland MVS-1 (Vintage Synth Rack)

[Artemiy]

But I have to disagree with the "better mix" statement of our man Artemio - sorry

Well, it is my opinion just as you have yours

[province]

I have to agree with Artemio the Fantom gives a fantastic mix I am doing a whole album (not demo) the real thing just using the Fantom it is great for any kind of music. I have just tested the motif XS a couple of days ago which does sound very nice but not better than the Fantom perhaps different but it has a very bad user interface which turned me off. The text was just too small the colours were just not there and when you turn the dial unlike the Fantom the sound changes very slowly and the dial misses steps or maybe that unit was faulty but it was just out of the box so how could it be faulty? As a happy user of Fantom due to its overall performance I would say take the Fantom it has the brightest sounds both synthetic and acoustic.

[Silver Dragon Sound]

The Motif XS is a brand new workstation. There is just some preliminary information now coming out from its users but that information is largely positive. Almost everyone seems to be raving about the sound quality and how easy it is to use. Many of things your asking for are subjective and the best thing you could do for yourself is to play both and decide for yourself.


That being said, I purchased a Fantom X right before and knowing the Yamaha XS was coming out. The reason for me was the features of the X8 as a workstation. I couldn't and didn't compare sounds and stuff like that since I make my own sounds and rarely use any presets. For me and my needs the Fantom X offered more when I compared them side by side in terms of features. I will say the XS is geared more toward the home user and the keyboard works more as a cross between an arranger and a workstation imo. I did think the sound quality on the Motif XS was superb but I also like the sound quality on the Fantom X as well.

[ROCCOTO]

If you're into creating your own sounds and most likely you are because you are into electronica/dance-- I would go with the fantom x....The preset patches are awesome as well

Yamaha delivers superb sounds as well but the vibe I get from the sounds are more hip hop/r&b orientated

another workstation that's worth check out as well before making a decision is the Korg's M3-----(Sorry Artemio)

guitar center said they should have it by june--

[Doctor C]

I would recommend Fantom. But only because you said you would be learning either of these keyboards from the ground up. Fantom is just easier to learn. Otherwise, it's a matter of taste. I'm sure you realize that tastes of members of this forum are overwhelmingly biased toward Fantom, therefore our responses will be somewhat predictable. Check both workstations out yourself and decide what's best for you and your specific needs. But keep in mind that besides Roland and Yamaha, there are other workstations to consider. Korg, Kurzweil and Alesis have their die hard fans too.

[Matias]

As the piano sounds, from what I listened at that site "Purgatory Creek Digital Piano Shootout", I liked Fantom-X's a lot more than the XS' pianos. And it's NOT because it's a Roland forum: if I liked Yamaha's more, I would say.

Of course the William Coakley's are the very VERY best out there, but that i$ another i$$ue.

______________
Juno-G + SRX-07
Sao Paulo - Brazil

[Bartology]

Fantom-X's internal sequencer with the 8 audiotracks is just awesome. There's nothing better (apart from a PC)
The sound is a matter of taste.

Good luck!

__________________________

Fantom-X7, Motif ES6, S90ES

[Radek]

Fantom X's sequencer is better than the one in MotifXS. It has a pianoroll and step recording which are absent in XS. If you are into an electronic music you might like Fantom's ability to use ring modulator and booster stages for coupling oscillators (XS thought can use 8 element voices can only mix them). At the other hand XS has more filter choices and more effect instances (but frankly the same number as in ES). XS's quad arp might make up for lack some deficiences in its sequencer as well?

The best way is to get Fantom X and then add MotifES rack to it as it seems. Or add later (if it shows) MotifXS rack.

[Lord of the Badgers]

no, the motif's sequencer is better i've known both types pretty darn well too.

yes, motifs are hard to fathom in the shop, but i took time to research & once i had grasped the concept (thanks Motif DVD!) i was able to see why it's better. What appears to be hugely unfriendly interface wise becomes quickly hugely intuitive, but you have to get your head around it first. I don't buy synths without giving it all a fair crack of the whip first.

motif offers many useful features - pattern sequencing is the best i found.. and the remix feature was hugely welcome as well. I had the Fantom S's sequencer down really well, but Yamaha's ideas work much better for me. I can't even remember half the things i found useful, but i always found the Mo's sequencer far more musically inspiring.

Of course the FX has audio tracks, which is a great plus. Depends really it is a matter of taste indeed.

Regards,
Rob
-------------------------------
http://www.lotb.co.uk

Roland F(***ing) X(cellent) R(ack)
Roland MVS-1 (Vintage Synth Rack)

[keith.roche]

They say that, you can sample audio directly into any track you want, so that makes it 16 audio tracks + 16 midi tracks ! And once you have the firewire card, you can stream your song directly to PC in just one shot !
Means that the 16 midi and audio tracks get recorded to 16 separate midi and audio tracks in the PC ! ! !
And another great feature is that, the song created in XS can be saved to a USB flash drive and can be opened in their bundled software ! So you get 2 different sequencers in one box. We can use the one which we prefer.
Only thing that it lacks is a step sequencer and a piano roll editor, which is very much essential for techno stuffs.

[cuborg]

also Motif XS has some fantomX style synth sounds now.
but id doesn't have "yeah", "oh" sounds, but these you can get easily out of your girlfriend when you squeeze her...