Why did you buy an FA 6 ?

[FA7]

Why did you buy an FA 6 ?

[cello]

1) To get the Integra engine with a keyboard
2) To get the SRX sounds
3) To have quickest possible way of capturing ideas via easy to use sequencer

[alphaC]

To have I7 with a keyboard in lower price.
To have Roland's best sounds from XV, SN, SRX.
To have the 2nd keyboard along with my Motif XS :)

[Igglethorpe]

1) Tired of staring at a computer screen during the creative cycle. It's simply a drag. I work on computers all day. Last thing I want to do is spend more time on them.

2) I really needed a keyboard I could play with live without lugging a laptop and VSTs around.

3) Quality and versatility of sounds. I use it for my local Kirtan (call and response Indian worship chanting) group that gets together. When we aren't playing the traditional instruments we like to "rock it out" a little bit. You can't find some of the samples I need on any other keyboard.

Due to the above 3, I have found myself more creative, spontaneous and adventurous in my keyboard musings. I dare say, this keyboard may be the key to me producing my first solo work ever.

[bennyseven]

New OS Generation (my old F6 was developed 10 Years ago).
No sample loading time (was 5 minutes with all my samples).
Light weight.
Modern memory management and storage.
Integra resp. SNA sounds.
Soft SRX.
Audio input and vocoder (can now leave my microkorg at home).

Very happy with it at the moment. Maybe I will have an eye on a new full flash and 2-3 times expensive Roland, if they surprise us at the next musikmesse. Who knows. I dont expect.

[Español]

Why did you buy an FA 6 ?

Buy the FA, try it during the day trial that offers shop where you buy it, you comment us your impressions, answer yourself to us and ask yourself if you're not convinced, then give it back.

[eivind]

Mine is an FA-08.

1. Got it cheap second hand.
2. I needed a decent tweakable synth and keyboard for playing live.
3. Weight. I needed something that will not brake my back when hauling it around (I'm 56 :D)

I love the keys - I've adjusted the velocity curves to fit my hand (the curves and settings for velocity are ment to be used)

[mangepange]

Using computer sequencers and programming with a mouse is uninspiring and it took to long to start when creativity knocked on my door. But the workstations where trying to much for my taste.

Yamaha MOXF and Roland FA was a new and perfect match for me and I choosed the Roland FA because it was easier to instantly work with. And that was the biggest selling point for me.

Other gear I have owned that had inspiring or smart workflow:
Alesis hr-16
Casio fz-1
Roland sc-55 (well, a little bit)

Gear that NOT had the workflow:
Ensoniq Mirage SDK
:-)

[wilkinsi]

I got sick of:
1) Trying to find expensive expansion ROMs for a EMU Proteus 2000 rack.
2) Having to occasionally reboot above synth because spillovers would fail to cease indefinitely.
3) Using a much bulkier Yamaha PSR530 (and hefty external PSU), which I only found useful for a very small number of presets, and its ability to turn touch sensitivity off.

I watched as many video demos of the unit as I could find, and decided I could have realistic drums, choirs and various synth sounds in one keyboard. And being an owner of various Roland/Boss gear, I was right to think it would be easier to use than all the gear it replaced.

[Tom_1970]

I get tired of starting up a computer to record musical ideas I have.
The FA-06 gives me an easy to use sequencer where I can capture my ideas in less time then it takes to startup my pc and software. The flexibility and the edit functions within the sequencer makes it also possible to work ideas out in more detail.

Another reason is the fact that it contains the essence of the Integra and although it doesn't replace my Jupiter 80, it is a very good supplement in my studio. I like the XV/SRX engine/sounds, the sounds the Jupiter lacks.

So in essence it is a very good sounding musical sketchbook for me.

[Fleer]

In fact it's a great companion to a software set-up with its multiple WAV exports.

[Onj]

I have 5 other synths I heavily rely on in my studio. Gigging with the Juno-G (which is one of the 5) was annoying, as it really didn't have the sounds I'd need during a gig, without an 8-minute bootup as it loaded a mere 200 MB of samples from the CF card at 0.0003X. Roland, fail!
I had some beautiful brass, strings and a couple of pianos on the card that, for most of my gigs, were absolutely required. Booting up without those still took longer than the FA takes with samples, but was useless to play. Obviously that got annoying really quickly.
I bought the FA because it has those sounds I'd need for live-play already in it, I love the idea of new and inspiring sounds to play with anyway, and I was looking for a new keyboard. The FA fit the bill quite happily indeed.
It's now my 6th synth and it feels right at home with the others, beefing up existing patches, thickening basses, making banging drumlins and otherwise just making itself incredibly useful in pretty much every way it can. It is a perfect keyboard companion.

[FA7]

i wanted a black box that came loaded with a ton of presets, 61 velocity sensitive keys, pitch and mod wheels

I also wanted a synth i could plug a computer monitor into so i could see what the heck the 'machine state was'

...i was #### outa luck with that last one so i just went for a synth with a tiny almost useless colour screen, Its called the FA 06....but it has a bigger and better colour screen than 99% of the synths out there

oh the ability to play wavs via the pads was kinda useful to me, so thats one less smart phone, tape player, wav player device i have to bring to the gig

100% would of bought the FA 08 (or 07 if it existed) BUT it has the slowest key return of any keyboard ive ever touched, fast trills or arpeggios are physically impossible on the FA 8...FA08 keybed = biggest epicest fail in the history of synthing. I was even willing to attach return springs to the underside lip of the keys, but as there is no lip id have to rip it apart on day one. Looking at the Roland M50 73 or 88, the FA 06 cool as it is may yet end up on ebay. For now an ancient Casio is satisfying my need for 61+ keys

I bought a King Korg and an FA 06 in the same week. The King Korg for actually playing on and the FA 6 for ??? , stuff the king Korg cant do. Cant even remember the last time i switched on the FA 06 but im sure it will come in useful one day....ultimately the phrase "will come in useful one day" is the 'true key' reason i bought the FA 06

[keyofJb]

I love my FA08, and have expected the normal Roland quirkiness, such as the usual terrible owner's manual (which is why we need our forums), and all the strange ways you have to edit and save multiple things in the right order, and its limited expansion ability. It is what it is, while the sounds and playability are great. Reliability is key, if Roland wants to remain seen on stages. so hopefully it holds up.

I got mine for:
- Needed 88 hammer action for piano & Rhodes
- Needed 2nd keys for a 2-tier setup
- Needed a bigger sampler and faster start-up time than my X6
- Needed to almost mirror my X6 in case of failure or loss.
- And needed the additional sounds for all reasons.

= a great fit. I do wonder if/when we'll see an OS update.

[skyy19851]

Cause Roland is a badass!!! Even tho I didnt get acknowledgement for this new design I helped a lot over the past ten years to develop what Roland has produced in the FA Series. I read just now where your limited in splitting in the the studio sets, wrong!!!!! U have ultimate splitting capabilities in there. THINGS I see wrong with this unit so far tho, Lost RPS, lost MIX/EFX in patch mode, lost user access, kinda hard to get to the user banks from the buttons. I kno the favorites but thats just ok. So far thats it, as I just got this yesterday.

1. lighter and easier to use
2. All my synths are in there (XP, XV-5080,Fantom X,Integra)
3. Better use of pads for triggers and programming
4. Mp3 import
5. Soft Expansion free downloads
6. Wireless access
7. larger memory card (X6 was limited and needed to be forced)
8. Quicker sample load time.
9. Things i have yet to design in this new board, given the new settings and pages.

This machine is awesome. Instead of bashing Roland support them, they have been making fine instruments for a very long time, yamaha is good but not that good. I have used Roland since I was a kid and have stayed with them all these years cause they are reliable and strong in keyboard making, dont get it twisted yamaha came out with motif ok so it pretty good but Roland is no slouch!! I have so much knowledge about how their operating system works that I can do it in my sleep, and this is why I wont mutiny against Roland, this is the powerhouse of my performance and entertaining strength.