Please clarify once and for all!: How well does Fantom X rea

[Dance123]

Hi,

I intend to buy a Fantom X but would like to know how well it can read/convert patches from..

1/ Fantom S
2/ Fantom
3/ XV synths
4/ JV synths

Could anybody please give a clear overview of how well the X can reads each previous format. Also, when importing, will a sound from the Fantom S, etc.. sound exactly the same on the X or is it more complicated then that and do sounds from previous models need to be reprogrammed or something.

Also, can the librarian of the X read all the previous models, or is it once again more complicated then that and will sounds never sound exactly the same?!

It's all really confusing to me, I even don't know if the X will read all the S patches perfectly or not, so I really hope somebody can give a complete overview about this. Perhaps this could be included in the FAQ so everybody can know what is compatible with what and what not.

Thanks in advance for the info!!

Cheers, Mike.

[MIDIguru]

The Fantom-X can only read Fantom-S patches.

Someone went through the XV5080 best of and translated them to Fantom-S/X.

No other format will load. The wave ROM is different. The parameters are different.

The Fantom-S patches will sound exactly the same.

Hope this helps...

[Artemiy]

Yes, MIDIguru is right. Fantom-X will read all Fantom-S patches, and there is a XV-5080 bank with 1024 patches reprogrammed for Fantom-S/X series. But no, you can't read any XV/FA-76/XP/JV patches directly. It's very easy to reprogram them by hand - I have recreated a couple dozen patched of mine from XP-80 with my FS.


Artemio.

[Dance123]

1/ Thanks very much for the info!! Regarding FS and FX being fully compatible, do they perhaps have the exact same wave ROM. I thought it was different, with the FS having a 64MB set and the FX having a different new 128MB set.

2/ Also, how come that FS can't read the FX patches or are they fully compatible in both directions?!

3/ Also, isn't it so that the FX comes with a librarian. Can this librarian read all FS sounds perfectly as I believe I read somewhere that the FX librarian has problems with reading older formats, including FS. Is this true or not?

3/b/ Can the FX librarian also somehow import XV and JV patches or not at all?

4/ how come that the FX/FS can't read FA76 patches. Aren't all Fantoms based on the same wave ROM?!

5/ am I correct that the XV-5080 sounds were the same of the older JV-2080?

6/ and finally, how do you reprogram synth patches from JV and FA-76 by hand for the X/S?! Is there a conversion program for that or how does that work?

Sorry for the many questions, but I would appreciate it if somebody could answer them! Thanks very much!!

[shakil]

Dance123... I will give you answers that I know..

1/ FX is backward compatible to FS. The first 64MB of FX ROM is exactly same as the FS ROM. 64MB is appended at the end of FS ROM, so all the sample locations from FS patch will point to the correct sample.

2/ They are not 100% compatible in both directions due to the extra 64MB ROM in FX.

3/ same as above
3/b no

4/ It's different ROM, slightly different synth structure.

5/ not sure. But I think XV-5080 had all of the JV-2080 sounds + a lot of new ROM.

6/ I am not aware of any conversion program.



--------------------
Remember that there are only 3 MFX + 1 Reverb + 1 Chorus in Fantom-S/X and you have to share them across 16 parts (patches) in a song.

live a musical life

[Dance123]

Shakil, thanks very much for answering my questions!

Just to be sure, am I understanding it right that the Fantom X librarian will read all Fantom S patches correctly. I thought I read somewhere about the FX librarian having problems with reading FS patches correctly or isn't that the case. As an example, do FX users have no problem with the FS-reprogrammed XV5080 patches when loading that in the FX or its librarian?!!

Anybody who has an FX can confirm this?!

Cheers, Mike.

[shakil]

Dance123:

The XV-5080 converted patches to FS work flawlessly in FS. You can copy the same patches to FX, and they work perfectly, without needing any edit or fix.

I upgraded from FS to FX and all FS patches work with FX withouth any problems.



--------------------
Remember that there are only 3 MFX + 1 Reverb + 1 Chorus in Fantom-S/X and you have to share them across 16 parts (patches) in a song.

live a musical life

[mucsusn]

Dance123.........check out this link

http://fantom.wilkesworld.co.uk/fx4s.htm

to fully see the difference in wave and patch structure between the FS and FX

[Dance123]

Hi,

I am convinced that the FX has everything the FS had and can probably load patches from the FS without problems (is that correct?!), but it's just that I read somewhere that the FX *librarian program* has certain problems with reading FS data? Is that true? Anybody frequently using the FX librarian software to import FS data can tell more about this? Just want to be sure about this, as I will be using its librarian program for the PC alot.

Edit: I just found some info about the librarian program. Isn't it so that the FS librarian uses the .fsl format and the FX uses the .fxl format. Perhaps the FX librarian has problems reading .fsl format files since it's a different format? I mean, why did Roland release the Roland XV-patch library in 2 versions, one for the FS (.fsl format) and one for the FX (.fxl) format if the FX librarian can perfectly read .fsl files (or can it not)?!! Somebody could please clarify all this cause it's confusing..

Cheers, Mike.

[Artemiy]

Mike, the only difference between .FXL and .FSL files, besides the extension, is that they have "FXL" and "FSL" strings somewhere inside the files. An advanced user may open a .FSL file, change the "FSL" string to "FXL" and the FX librarian will load it. But Roland just released two versions of the XV library so that people won't have to mess with such a thing.

[ruach]

and where can find library of XV ?

[mucsusn]

Look under the Roland link on the fantomized.info home page for the XV-5080 patch port

[ruach]

I don't get to find, copy the link here. .

[dkpcola]

If you use FantomX librarian, you can read XV patches files in Midi format. Then write them to user area and edit them with FantomX editor. Wave forms index are different and MFX index is different. FX has 2 level wave form index while XV only has one level. FX has 78 MFX while XV has 90 MFX(except XV2020).
XP/JV patches can be imported into FantomX librarian also but you need XV machine as intermediate 'translator'. You can sysx dump XP patches to XV, edit them and save them in Midi format, and you can load them to FX librarian.
XV has all waves from JV but many are in stereo format while JV use mono wave forms. It has waves from JD and super JD also. That is why ROM size is different.
Original Fantom is essentially XV5080 with keys, appregiator and display screen.
Format translator is very real reality. Doesn't seem like extreme differences in sysx data. Hope someone can do programming. You need to know sysx format for each system though.
try this. Go to:
http://ltissier.free.fr/synthonline/pat ... xv2004.zip
and try loading Midi file into your FX librarian.
Work fine for me.

[mucsusn]

Sorry ruach, but I'm a parent of 5 kids, and you're going to have to work harder than that.

On the fantomized.info home page, there is a link called "from Roland".

It's the first set of links on that next page.

Come on man, you can do it!