New mainboard Fantom XR

[joelee]

Hi, following on from earlier posts which suggested XRs might have a problem, I phoned Roland UK and they told me to send my XR back to have a new mainboard fitted. It was making a crackling noise when scrolling thru patches.

Has anyone else had to do the same? And how do I stand in terms of warranties etc

Thanxs

[GregC]

hey joe- you should have read that several of us early XR buyers had the mo'board replaced here in the US.

I am very pleased with warranty work- no cost to me. I think warranties vary from country to country. But I would guess you are good for at least 1 year. You should check your Roland UK site for the specifics.

GregC

[joelee]

Thanxs for the quick reply, Greg. Did roland US give you any info as to why the mo'boards needed replacing? Was it a bad design or faulty batch of components?

I am new to this site (my 1st post) but I can see it will become very useful. I play guitars but I got an XR for recording etc. I have 2 expansion cards (SRX7 AND SRX6) the SRX6 I bought for the Celtic type sounds however Roland UK tell me that the extra patches on the CD that come with it are only compatible with XV modules. How can I convert those patches for my XR? Does this new 'translator' I see posted do that?

Cheers Joe

[dboulden]

Apparently the earlier boards (including X6/7/8) had a slower processor... the newer boards have a faster one. My X7 has the same problem. I've spoken to Roland UK and now have a return number and they have kindly agreed to let me tell them when I have a big enough gap between gigs and send it back for repair.

http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/"Some musicians have a physical block, some have a mental block, while others have a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!

[chubbylove]

roland sucks ass. they will cover the main board on a fantom x.why wont they cover my useless shity factory defective pads on my s-88.i paid the big bucks two years ago when everybody said you will be sorry buying that ax cause their customer support stinks .and they were right.

[GregC]

geeesh, chubby, I don't know what to say. I am not familiar with the S88 pads. Maybe bail out, sell it, and cut your losses. I have been buying gear from Roland, Korg and Emu for 8 years . I have sold my used stuff for a lot less than I paid for it but have never been messed around by their customer support.

If a feature did not work to my satisfaction, I wouldn't expect the company to re-engineer the part/feature just for me. I know I have 14-30 days to return anything I buy if I am not happy. Thats my window to bail out.

Hey Joe- I did not ask for details on the mo' board from Roland.
They merely give you some time to explain the problem. It certainly is helpful to know that other folks have the same experience with static bursts when scrolling thru patches.

I was referred to a local service center authorized by Roland. I dropped the XR off, did some paper work. The service center called Roland. Roland shipped the new mo' board. My service center says there are procedures Roland tells them to follow. I understood that the Service Centers have access to some type of web site that supports their service work on gear. Whole process took 2 weeks.

Thats a good question on the additional CD patches for your 2 SRX boards. I am willing to bet they are SR/JV type patches . I am not sure you can convert them ( the translator is for samples) to the XR. Be aware there might be a utility to convert 5080 XV stock patches to Fantom format - that utility may not work for the additional SRX patches.

Why not post your good question on the SRX section of the forum ?
I am willing to bet you will find talented folks here that can nail your question.







GregC

[pianodick]

You might want to check out these new boards that are distributed out of Tennessee, made in China. I think it is Dolgen Corp or something like that. They have great key action and loads of polyphony. I got one for $10.00 from the local Dollar General Store. It might be more to your liking and they have wonderful tech support.

[2TIM316]

Does anyone know what the cutoff serial number would be so that a new purchaser of an X Rack wouldn't get stuck with a defective mobo?

[John01W]

I had the mainboard replacement(very early unit, I pre-ordered mine before release) for my Fantom XR and I can confirm, patch changes are WAY faster, everything is more snappy, there's also a great deal more headroom than the defective board as well. It does seem to have much faster processing power in different regards . And it fixed the noise of course

Overall I'm very pleased with Roland service, thanks.

[chubbylove]

roland updated the pads for the x series instruments.those pads will work fine in the s series roland just wont make the substitution.so there is nothing to redesign.just stand behind your product.and for your info i went beyond the return policy because roland kept saying it was user error.then when i went beyond my return window roland said the pads were a known defect. if they are a known defect why wont roland stand behind it.talk to 3 people at roland get 3 different answers.

[GregC]

hey chubb- I know something about customer service. With Roland or any other company with over 500- 1000 individual products, you can't expect the reps to have instant equal knowledge about function, defects , etc on every model.

I am polite and calm on the phone with Roland. If the rep is a newb,
I ask him/her to check around. This approach works.

Plus , you now have this great forum. Knowledge is Power.

2tim- only Roland has this information in an accurate way and it might vary by country. To give you a general guideline in the US, if the # of the XR is under 1000 and possibly under 2000 , it ' may' have a defective mo'board.



GregC

[joelee]

Hi 2TIM316

My XR is having its mainboard replaced

Serial number ZS114477. Bought about 5 mths ago in the UK

[Flowing]

"You might want to check out these new boards that are distributed out of Tennessee, made in China. I think it is Dolgen Corp or something like that. They have great key action and loads of polyphony. I got one for $10.00 from the local Dollar General Store."

I saw these at my local DG, as well, but I'm waiting for what Dolgen offers at NAMM in January...

[pianodick]

Flowing, I have heard some scuttlebutt that they might even introduce a rack version at NAMM. Keep it on the down low.

[dboulden]

An interesting and "almost related" story... In an interview, Paul McCartney was once asked what was the best music he'd heard recently... he recounted a story of a kid running up to his car and playing him a tune on a tiny kid's keyboard that he produced from his pocket.

I think there's a moral in there somewhere.

http://www.drstudio.demon.co.uk/"Some musicians have a physical block, some have a mental block, while others have a wooden block". Unfortunately, I'm in the 1st category!