Your input on Fantom G

Forum for Fantom-G6/7/8
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

Can you lucky Fantom G owners (or anyone else who knowks) enlighten me on a few subjects:

1- How is aftertouch?
- Is it more expressive than the "afterswitch" on the X?

2 - Keyboard action on the G6/7 (we all know the G8 is top!)
- How does it compare to other/older models

3 - Sounds - From what i have seen on the videos the Leads/synths that were one of my main concerns has been taken care of, the other is the Orchestral sounds.
- How are they in general?
- Are there any noticeable losses from the SRX-06? ( I see very little "Marcato" and orchestral Hits that i use a lot... Fantom X had none usable for me in the standard ROM)

4 - I was looking in the patch list from Roland and saw a few patches that have more than 4 voices, can the Fantom G have 8 Voices now or is it because of stereo waveforms that count as 2?

5 - Sample Load time, Ex: Loading a 20MB Wave

6 - Switching in Favorites from a patch to a Live mode sound - is it fast and seamless?

Those with the G already please give us your feedback on the sounds and general apreciation of the board...

From what i have seen Roland has done a good job and took special care in offering a workstation that's "LIVE READY", i just wished there was a Ribbon controller instead of the useless (for most of the people of course) D-Beam Controller but you can't have it all! ;)
barrail
Posts: 141
Joined: 19:41, 1 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by barrail »

1. & 2. Regarding the keyboard, I can confirm that the G8 is extraordinary.
3. I am not an expert on synth sound but what I can say is that they are varied. Unlike the sounds of piano(many of wich are similar) most of them are really usable.
Soft or powerful, they cover a lot of different style and are all playable.
For the orchestral sounds, strings or horns are really nice ("solo celo" is really great). You'll be disapointed with orchestral hits : 4 or 5 real orchestra others are for dance music.
4. Never more than 4 voices per patch in single or studio mode. Up to 8 patches in live mode.
5. Hard to say : Samples for demo song "be in my world" represent nearly 4Mb. It took less than 3 seconds to load.
6. Sorry don't understand the word "seamless". Switching from a sound to another is always fast and it is all smooth.
I hope I've helped you to get an opinion.
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

Thank's a lot, every opinion helps so keep em coming ;)

For the orchestral hits i hope those few are good or that there are good enough wave forms to make my own, afterall the reference sounds i use now are from Roland equipment (XP-30)

Sample load time seems good but that is the time to load from the rom, is it around the same to load from USB?...
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

More questions, or sugestions for OS update already :D

The functions on the PADs are excellent: We can Change favorites OR mute parts OR turn off effects OR trigger RPS patterns... But it would be really superb if we could define each PAD has we wanted, it would greatly help the workflow and especially in live situations if for example we could have the first 4 PADs to turn on/off sounds, the next to trigger rythm or RPS patterns, one to go to that Screen where we always go, another with our most used samples, and so on...
In conlusion: One more mode with Individal PAD settings

Effects routing - Maybe i'm wrong but from what i understand of my reading of the manual altough there are lot's of MFX units one Patch can only have 1 MFX at a time... It's understandable that Roland does this in patch mode, so when you go to Studio mode a patch will allways keep it's effect... But we could have a way in live mode to route a patch to the 7 MFx units available...
Maybe this is possible already, either directly or by creating "dummy" patches that would not sound and would serve only as MXF for the other patch, i dont know because i dont have a G yet.
barrail
Posts: 141
Joined: 19:41, 1 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by barrail »

On the G you've got a PFX per patch. You can assign it to the 4 tones of a patch and adjust the level of the effect for each tone. Then you have 2 MFX for all the patches. You can adjust the level of the effect per patch or swit it of. Then you have a master Reverb unit and a master Chorus unit. You can do the same as MFX with them.
Last but not least the master section : a kind of big equalising unit (very efficient !!). You have also severals point of return to aplly Effects before or after another.
It seems to me very complete...
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

Ooops, i didn't notice those 2 MFX that can be shared :)
And in that case, yes it's very compete, thank's barrail
SH1000
Posts: 149
Joined: 11:23, 23 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by SH1000 »

4) max. 4 tones per patch.

I know the XV quiet well. It has max. 4 tones per patch. However these are 4 stereo tones!! So one could use max. 8 tones in mono. Left and Right can be assigned to different waves. Reading the manual, I assume the FG can do the same.
barrail
Posts: 141
Joined: 19:41, 1 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by barrail »

You're right ! you can assign 8 differents waveforms per patch in the "patch pro edit" menu.
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

Well yesterday i finally tested a G7.
I wasn't even going to post anything because unfortunely it wasn't as good as i hoped it was...
I took my Headphones, a Senheiser HD570, and that may have been the problem because these headphones need a lot of Power to give a nice Full sound (an headphone amp preferably) and the Fantom even at full volume couldn't deliever so everything sounded very thin, especially in patch mode... (again this is probably the Head-phone's fault not the Fantom)

As for the sounds, nothing really blow me away...
As barrail predicted i was dispointed with the orchestral hits, from those 4 or 5 (actually it's 2 or 3) none is usable for me, bad sounding and they seem to be made of only one sample, forget using more than 2 or 3 notes away from the C4....
Actually many of the patches on the G suffer from lack of range and made me think i really wouldnt need a G7 except for splits.

Harpsichord was another disapointment, with 6 or 7 patches i tought the harpsichord from my XP30 had to be there... nop... there are 6 or 7 thin sounding harpsichords that dont even have the release sound like the one on the orchestral expansion... Who choose the best of SRX??? So many crap like patches and the ones that were really good are left out???...

I can't comment much on the aftertouch because i didnt have time to edit patches and assign it to pitch to make a vibrato like effect but it didn't seem much better than the Fantom X...

I will have to make another audition of the G with different headphones but my inicial impulse of I HAVE TO HAVE IT has calmed a bit after this... There was no WOW factor like when i was trying for the first time my K2661 or even my Motif ES where some patches seem very live and real....
keysme
Posts: 592
Joined: 21:10, 15 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by keysme »

I can't comment much on the aftertouch because i didnt have time to edit patches and assign it to pitch to make a vibrato like effect but it didn't seem much better than the Fantom X...
The aftertouch to me is very well implemented on the FG and doesn't exhibit just the on/off effect that is experienced with the X.
There was no WOW factor like when i was trying for the first time my K2661 or even my Motif ES where some patches seem very live and real....


Strange, are you sure it was a Fantom "G" you were playing? :D lol.. FWIW, you said yourself you thought it may be your headphones and that very well could be the reason you had the reaction you did regarding some of the sounds. If you tested the FG at a local music store you should ask them to hook up the G to a "pair" of decent monitors if they don't already.
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

As for the aftertouch it's possible that it is better, as i said i did not test as i wanted and on the parameters of the patches it was assigned to it was hard to percieve any diference.

It was defenetely a G judging by it's biiiiig and good looking screen :)
My first impulse when i wanted to change a paramter was to touch that big screen... Then i remebered: cursors :)

Actually they had it connected to some monitors, and the guy from the store was playing the Demo Song and it sounded very good and full it is also why i think it was an Headphone problem, the Motif also sounds very thin trough them only the K2661 sounds Ok.

But the problem with the sounds i mentioned is not from the headphones but from the Patches/wave-forms. And i'm even more angry because the reference sounds i have are from Roland, my XP-30, that is still the only synth i use live.

The harpsichord patch i miss is the same used by Jens Johansen from Stratovarius in the song Black Diamond: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQi1b6hRZA , no other synth i know has one like this...

It's also fair to say that some of the EP's sounded wonderfull as did many of the leads and many others in many categories, when i say it does not have the wow factor that the k2661 has (and to a lesser extent the Motif) is because some patches on those seem very organic and you almost forget you are playing a synth...

I will try to make another visit and listen trough the monitors or trough another pair of Headphones to make up my mind...
mclagett
Posts: 43
Joined: 23:25, 19 April 2008
Location: Yardley, PA

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by mclagett »

So I'm not crazy regarding the pianos. That's comforting. I haven;t found a patch that will do for me yet. But I'm off to the store for another try.

Mike
barrail
Posts: 141
Joined: 19:41, 1 March 2008

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by barrail »

At my first try, I Found too many similar piano sound, just different by the effect on it.
After a week listening to and working with the G, several sounds I found not usable appear now more usuable. View the number of piano sounds (and with a little help from effects unit) evryone can find ITS piano sounds I guess.
And the keyboard of the G8 is very helpfull to make your play sounding like a real piano...
MINDKeys
Posts: 78
Joined: 12:18, 18 January 2008
Location: Lisboa, Portugal

Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by MINDKeys »

I didn't loose much time with the pianos because i tought the X piano was there.
The piano on the Fantom X was the only reason i kept it soo long, it was almost the only patch i'd play on it.
The patches i heard from the demos didn't seem worst but i am no Piano expert...
Can someone confirm if the X piano is on the G or not? I can only understand if it isn't by the sheer size of it, 88 multivelocity samples must take a lot of space, but it would be a strange move from Roland that keeps bad sounds from decades ago and not keep the X piano that was used only on the X and it was the main selling point for the X.
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madAhorn
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Re: Your input on Fantom G

Post by madAhorn »

Patch 46 and 48 at least if not others.

They sound good too.
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