Impressed with the Fantom.

[da-man]

As a relatively new owner (6 weeks) of a Fantom x8 I thought it would be good to start a thread about what people like about the Fantoms. Please don't post any negatives I can find negatives with anything and yes I have a few with the Fantom but again I'm yet to find the perfect bit of gear.

1. THE ACTION IS KING
I love the action of the x8 and the Ultimate Grand piano patch makes me believe I'm playing a real piano. (I still have the real thing but have not played it once (except for 2 boring minutes) since owning the x8. I have layered 2 pianos JD-800 and Punch Piano to cut through the guitars in a live setting. But I love the feel of the Ultimate piano patch with the weighted keys. Roland I have to give you credit for making an 88key workstation with such incredible action!!!!

2. THE CREATIVITY IT INSPIRES
I haven't felt this creative or had the sparkle in my eye since recording in England backing tracks for some videos.(15 years ago.) Just having so many options can endlessly distract me from the task at hand!

3. SKIP BACK SAMPLING
I love this feature to nail down in concrete some of my music ramblings late at night.

4. LAYERING
When I first looked at doing layers I thought this was much harder than my last keyboard. Now I love the possibilities. It is awesome!

5. BIG SCREEN
I've just turned 40 this year and I love the size of the screen and the fact that I know in the next 25 years I should still be able to read the screen.(not sure about the manuals)

Okay that is a few to get you started. Please post the features you like about the Fantoms.

[Krokodilen]

I totally agree da-man ... but I miss that "Make a perfect song" button

Do have the X6 .. NOW

[da-man]

Is that the button that produces the song to studio quality or will it compose it and play it too? Now that might save us all a lot of time and then we could watch TV again.

[bassman]

Naaah! Composing is more than half the fun!

Personally, I like the fact that the Fantom has keys. Great and useful feature.
)

I agree with you that the screen/interface is very nice. One of the things that helped in my purchasing decision. I also liked the way Patches were categorized.

Bassman

[plasmis]

Even though there has been a lot of criticism, I personally just love the FX-series piano. Even though I only have the X6, it really has made me want to get a full 88-key hammer action controller for the piano sound. I was stupid enough to stop my piano lessons 13 years ago, I feel like I've rediscovered my interest for the piano with the Fantom-X.

Another thing that I have to mention is the mix in possibility of the Fantom's audio inputs. It's something that the Motif can't do, and it is actually quite a handy feature, as I discovered when jamming with a guitarist friend of mine.

____________________________________
There is no such thing as a stupid question.

[thunderkyss]

I love the synth action of the FantomS........Not everyone wants/needs 88 piano action. playing Organ's, moog basses, sax, synth leads...........That keyboard is awesome.

And then I got an X8............the Keybed really brings the pianos, accoustic & Electric to life. And the pads are better than the FantomS.........I still own both, I'm not selling either, but the pads are better on the X, for playing drum parts, to trigger samples, it doesn't matter.

I really like the audio Tracks on the FantomX.........I'm a guitar player.......now I can keep my midi backing, and my guitar work in the same place...................without needing a computer.

Skip back sampling..........frigg'n genious. RPS.......Can it get easier than this??

288megs of Sample ram on the S............544megs on the X........un-frigg'n-real.

Did I mention the sounds?? For me, I'd have been happy with either the Motif, Motif ES, FantomS&X as far as sound goes.......they both sound so real, so full, so rich...........But I'd be missing all those other things had I chosen the Mo.

FantomX8
FantomS
AW4416
Now all I need is talent.
Anyone selling any talent??
member # 55
registered 21 May 2003

tundrkys98@yahoo.com Yahoo messenger: tundrkys98

[da-man]

thunderkyss,

I play guitar too but haven't had a chance to record one live yet. Are you able to use any of the inbuilt effects with guitar or do you just use an external effects rack or pedal? I probably will use my external effects box but I'm just curious.

So far I've used an acoustic guitar from the xv sound bank and it sounds like the real thing on one of my midis. Probably a lot cleaner than I could play it on guitar. The only downside is that it is quicker to record the guitar than to try and reproduce it on the keys.

[thunderkyss]

If you want to sample just the guitar, without the rest of your track, you have to use the solo mode, which takes away the internal effects, unless I'm doing something wrong.

But I've got everything hooked up, where I don't have to tear it apart, so it's easier for me to use my external units(Chameleon 2000)

All my stuff goes into my AW4416. I use it as a digital mixer/patch bay. I've got two of the OMNI outs going to the Fantom's sampling inputs, so I can route whatever(Guitar, Bass, CD player, Computer, Microphone,) to the input of the Fantom in half a second.

FantomX8
FantomS
AW4416
Now all I need is talent.
Anyone selling any talent??
member # 55
registered 21 May 2003

tundrkys98@yahoo.com Yahoo messenger: tundrkys98

[da-man]

I always say problems are possibilities and the problems I've inititially had with the Fantom like most of you is the lack of MFX for midi work.

For me that has meant bringing some of the midi tracks back into audio with all their mfx, chorus and reverb for each track in addition to more mixing and panning possibilities. That has improved the sound even more especially when resampling everything using the mastering effect of compression.

So let me add another positive.
6. THE ABILITY TO RECORD AUDIO AND MASTER COMPRESS!
Yes it means even later nights and earlier mornings for me but hey I really like the sound you can get out of this machine.

PLUS for me I can record all my old midis straight out of my other keyboard into Audio(keeping the sound intact) into fantom and then add more audio tracks to them to sweeten them.

I'm not sure when I'll get to watch TV again.

[Kaptain Keyboard]

Hi folks

I have had the FantomX8 for about 2 weeks now and it reminds me of old Beatles records - some of you young persons will not relate to this - The first time you play it you think "Hmmm, I don't know about this...". Then you play it again and you think "Hmmm, this is pretty good". After a few plays it's "Hey Jude" revisited - Pure Joy.

I hope some of the doubters read this............

[fodendeyo]

Hey hook up a mic thru the effects (in real time) and it is great fun! Same for you guitarists.


F

[Saint James]

I'm a new user too, X8 starting today. I too can't complain as nothing is perfect but this has MUCH to fill in the gaps. Being a Triton Rack user with Cubse, this thing rocks being all in one. Chopping vocal aiff's to the drum pad is addicting !!!! It's funny that it's so easy to figure that it's confusing me already, being so easy, hehe. It's just so easy to navigate compared to a Triton that I'm still in awe and wish I got it sooner. I did trade in a fully weighted keyboard to get this one. The piano sounds are undescribeable, like my lessons when I was young on a Steinway and Sons grand. The keys on the X8 aren't too heavy like a grand is but the sound sure is. I think the feel of the keys is perfect. You can play classical piano and still make dance music with fast changes that is harder with the heavy weighted ones. I'm going up to play for real now on it. My roommate is going to be upset that I can't watch the new movie, I'm gonna be up till 4 am now like a kid before Christmas day. Overall though, the navigation alone is killer, you won't get anything this easy to do with Triton's, Motif's or much else.

[craigo]

I started with the X8 around march.

And still love the action, a week ago i purchased a DP 10 for sustain, and all those piano pieces I have been learning make sense andmany compositions of my own have come to a newlevel.

With 500mb+ in sample RAMM I couldn't be happier. I have just been cpying some Video game sound effects intothe area and have begun manipulating the sounds which is where -

SKIP BACK SAMPLING-

comes in handy, I assign the sound to a pad, run it trough effects till I hear something fantastic, hit the SBS button cut the sample and theres a new sound effect.
Using this method for creatingdrum kits is also very cool indeed.

CREATIVITY

I've not written more music this year than ever before.

LAYERS

Are a true favorite of mine. Works a treat in our band, layers and different sound parts over the 88 keys, up to 16 voice and SFX samples on the Pads, it's rock.

BIG SCREEN

Beautiful

AUDIO EXPANSION

A great help

SEQUENCER

I love the sequencer the ease at which I managed to create alteringtime signature within a piece of music gets me warm every time, (did I say that or think it) I've been puttin a piece together which goes from - 15/8 into 3/4 into 7/8 into 12/8 back to 15/8. Oh yeah.

I can't say enough positive thingsabout the Fantom, I will stillbelearning this board in years to come.

Fantomized, a better world for everyone.

Cragglerock X8 - Audio Exp...

[da-man]

Craigo I couldn't agree with you more about the layers in a live setting. One of my layers has 6 different instruments spread out in different places on the board. It is too cool.

There has been a lot of complaint about the piano sound cutting through. But the ultimate patch works a dream for solo piano. When cutting through the guitars I just mix 2 pianos together. A really shrill bright one like the rd 700 ( I think) and a rounder smoother sounding piano to fill it out. Doesn't compete with a buzz saw but it cuts through enough.

The more I play this keyboard the more I like it.

[craigo]

Speaking on the piano;

There is a section of one of the songs I play with the band which revolves around the piano, the start of the song is one performance setting, the piano is another.
For this section I have layers 4 pianos, 2 of these are layerd across about 60 keys and two of the pianos reach to about 20. So the bass notes are using four piano patches and the meledy is using two.

I have no complaints about the pianos.

I might also add, our band is playing on New Years Eve at a Hotel who have decided to have a Pimps and Prostitutes theme. We have decided to learn a number of covers to add to our repitoir. One being 'Girls of Porn' by 'Mr bungle'.

This has lead me to experiment with horn patches which rise (or fall) and, well, I have no complaints with the ease of which I have managed to progrma the rising of a particular sound.

Bye for now.

I have does scotch tonight.

Rock on Fantomized and scotch.

Cragglerock X8 - Audio Exp...