Can Fantom G or SonicCell Do sampling?

[sergiobklyn]

Are they faster loading the samples onto memory than Fantom X?
Thanks,
Sergio

[Artemiy]

SonicCell cannot sample. Fantom-G, of course, can: it will work much faster, but how much exactly is yet to be seen when it starts shipping.

[sergiobklyn]

Thanks for the info.

[sergiobklyn]

I'm confused Artemio. Does the G do multisamples like the X but faster loading time?
Thanks,
Sergio

[geppastro]

no need to be confused: Fantom G will load single samples faster than Fantom X, but multisampling won't be available; i.e. you won't be able to spam single samples on several adiacent keys through pitch transposition

[sergiobklyn]

Thanks for the clarification geppastro.
Isn't that a step backwards? I was willing to replace my XR with a G rack, only if it did faster multisampling.
Serge

[geppastro]

"Isn't that a step backwards?"
yes it is indeed!

I further clarify though that we are talking about MULTIsampling; you will be able to assign a single sample to a tone, but honestly I can't find how that could be useful aside maybe for special effects.
Also, no Fantom G rack has been announced yet

[Parsifal]

I think Roland will keep the Fantom XR as a module alternative going on, since it's obvious they'll continue the SRX support (look at the RD700GX specs, it has 2 SRX slots) BUT they'll discard the X. However, the Soniccell will become obsolete as soon as the G hits the market, at least for gigging musicians. Computer hobbysts may still enjoy it...

[javaj_]

For me- I was able to get my Sonic Cell for half the selling price online (lucky ebay deal) so for me, it is a nice and compact way of having the Roland sounds at my disposal. Plus I can get 256MB of rom samples for the price of the SC new (with 2 SRX cards). I kicked myself for getting rid of my old JV-80 back in the day and my other Roland keyboard is big- so this way- I can bring my Roland sounds for live play- and use whatever keyboard I have at the time (or combine it with VSTi synths).
I can see the unit going disco'd if they come up with a similar G version with an ARX (or 2) slot.
But- lets remember that a lot of the ads Roland has out for the Sonic Cell aim it directly towards guitar players- I don't see how the G would be a beneift to them (unless the ARX slot can also be used for extended guitar effects processing- now that would be cool).

[sambasevam]

You can still do resampling (a hundred times, perhaps) add effects, slice up, create new beats and resample again. For that stuff, single sampling loading time is useful.

However, without multisampling, i don't see a lot of expansion possibilities for the G. I mean, comeon what are they thinking? Reads only wav and aiff in 2008? comeon...

[The Audacity Works]

Yeah, because keyboard workstations should be able to play Ogg Vorbis files...

What?

[Septimo]

I think he meant MP3's not ogg,,,, don't you?....which would be welcome instead of having to convert or sample emailed files back to wav or aiff....

[The Audacity Works]

Maybe, but I can't think of a single hardware sampler (not phrase sampler, which is vastly different) that supports .MP3 files. Anyone else?

A few standalone recorders do...

I was remarking on the expectation that the G should have MP3/Ogg/Whatever support by default. No way in hell. Do you know how difficult it'd be to incorporate MP3 playback into an embedded hardware sample engine? Realtime pitch and tempo manipulation of native MP3 files at different compression ratios across 128 notes of polyphony? Hell naw... It's one thing to inquire about feasibility, it's another thing altogether to expect it and then say "What are they thinking?"

Really? Most of this stuff doesn't require intimate knowledge of hardware MI design. A lot of it's just plain common sense.

And if one falls back on the ol' "computers can do it!"—AGAIN, computer hardware and software builds on the collective R&D efforts of tens of millions of people, trillions of dollars, and billions of man-hours.

[Septimo]

Oh I think it's not as far off as you think...you can see Roland is already thinking about this possibilty on the RD-700GX allowing playback of MP3 files and not only playback but tempo manipulation while keeping the correct pitch....Next year we might see this after they sell off a few prototypes....Don't say what can and can't be done...It can be done...anything can..

[The Audacity Works]

Linear MP3 phrase playback from removable media is worlds apart from RAM-based sampling. The RD-700GX's playback engine isn't a sampler at all—it's basically a flash-based iPod that can quickly trigger one stereo file simultaneously... which isn't difficult to implement at all.

/working with a DSP engineer right now