I'm in the market to get a new 2nd synth to replace my aging Roland XP30 in my live rig and I'm pretty settled on the Juno GI for $1000. However I have an opportunity to buy a used Roland Fantom XA in great condition for only $450. The idea of saving myself almost $600 on a synth that will likely take a beating at live gigs (I won't be using this at home in my studio) is very appealing.
My only decision to pick the GI over the XA would be if there was significant improvement in the soundset... particularly synth sounds. I play in a modern Top40 cover band and we cover wide range of dance and hip hop music using two keyboard players. I use a Triton in my rig and I need another board to compliment on leads, basses, stabs, stacks, brass, strings and piano. I had a Fantom S for a while I liked the editing and UI I really wasn't pleased overall with the sounds.
I believe the Fantom XA is based on Fantom X sounds (correct?) with the Fantom S OS and I already own an SRX-07 Ultimate Keys card to install. The Juno GI offers no SRX or ARX expansion. Other features I need are simple sample playback (sampling itself is not as important). I use sound FX, risers, white noise samples during my performance. As I understand both boards have this ability?
Will the Juno GI offer that much of an improvement?
Juno GI vs Fantom XA
-
wheresgrant
- Posts: 17
- Joined: 01:34, 27 April 2004
- Location: New York
- Contact:
Re: Juno GI vs Fantom XA
I was able to get my like new Juno-Gi on ebay for $500 by watching the auctions for about a month or two. Got lucky! It's in perfect shape with all the original books, cds, power, etc. Keep an eye on them and you might get lucky too.
My Juno Gi is my 2nd keyboard to compliment my main Korg SV-1 88 stage piano. It does a great job and the patches blend well with what I'm doing. I mainly use it for pads and strings with some vintage and modern synth stuff. The arpegiator and using the drum pattern maker is really easy. The recorder comes in handy for "jotting" down ideas (but I do my main recording work in Logic).
Speaking of Logic, I was able to load the Juno instrument file into Logic and use the Juno as my controller too.
I've never worked with the XA, sorry I can't offer a perspective on it. Good luck!
My Juno Gi is my 2nd keyboard to compliment my main Korg SV-1 88 stage piano. It does a great job and the patches blend well with what I'm doing. I mainly use it for pads and strings with some vintage and modern synth stuff. The arpegiator and using the drum pattern maker is really easy. The recorder comes in handy for "jotting" down ideas (but I do my main recording work in Logic).
Speaking of Logic, I was able to load the Juno instrument file into Logic and use the Juno as my controller too.
I've never worked with the XA, sorry I can't offer a perspective on it. Good luck!