Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Forum for Roland FA-06/08
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

With the impending arrival of EXP 11 (hopefully) I was curious what others thought of the other EXP sets?

Do you find there are sounds in each EXP that are either unique or so awesome that you have to have that EXP becuase there's nothing else in the default patches that is either as good or a reasonable substitute for it?

I've downloaded all of them, and I figure I could install any 2 as I need them, and record them as audio in a DAW for projects where I wanted a sound specific to a given EXP set.

But I haven't listened to any beyond EXP 02 (Keyboard collection) and EXP 10 (Orchestral).

I wonder how much, if any, duplication is in some - for example, does the keyboard collection simply take samples (and patches) driectly from the concert piano, piano, and electric piano EXPs. Does the Orchestral one use sounds from the String and Brass EXPs?

I can honestly say that for me, the EXP 02 Keyboard Collection is definitely a positive addition to the stock sounds. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in many ways, they are better, or at least more useful, or maybe "more useful to me" - mostly becuase they cover the bases the factory patches do not (like Hohner electric pianos, or Wurlies, etc. that aren't represented or well-represented in the factory set).

I may start swapping them out just to see what's available but I chose the Keyboard Collection primarily for live playing, and the Orchestral one for composing.

Man, it's too bad we can't add more than 2...
Skijumptoes
Posts: 681
Joined: 11:08, 21 June 2010

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by Skijumptoes »

Haha, i know, i could do with 4 in there really, i really like 1+2 for bread and butter/wide genre of sounds. I think 2 Is the only expansion that comes close to a farfisa, and i love the sound of those - sound would be a reason why i kept EXP-2 installed for most of my FA's time. EXP1 is just fun to have all those classic dance sounds and breaks etc. I love sampling so, the breaks on there are good fun.

But then i love some of the elements in the orchestral expansion (Is that 10?), outside of the obvious, the hits where you can hold a key and then release for the ending are super great fun, if i were a kid i would lose hours to those! :)

However, i popped EXP-3 (World) on when trying out to see how the expansions list in the FA, and i've loved having it on there this weekend, although i'm a bit of a beatles nut so a lot of the eastern/ethnic stuff has a really cool kinda Harrison vibe to it! I think this could be a stayer and i'd be looking at going longterm with EXP2 and EXP3, or maybe EXP10 and EXP3. Gah! Decisions!!!

Exp-3 seems to have tons of content too, looking through the waves, and you can use some of those stranger sounds to help layer on top of more conventional partials.

Need to try the strings expansion next, and then i can make a more informed decision on what's staying. At which point EXP-11 will probably drop out of the sky, and leave me more confused.

You know, it's funny, when they first released the expansions i just went through them all super quick and then just defaulted to EXP1 and EXP2 and it's stayed like that. It's only now that i've far more experience with the FA that i can make an educated choice on which expansions are most suited (Or rather fill any voids) - before that it was just too much going through the stock sounds and Expansions PLUS integra-7 fills from axial.

In hindsight i wish i put nothing additional on my FA and done it step by step... Infact, i'm tempted to wipe it now and do that and see what i miss, cause i have loads of USER slots used up with duplicates for some reason. Whoops!

One more thing, the studio collection (EXP06 ?) i was least impressed with, so curious if anyone likes that and what's special about it - from memory it had a few nice electric bass guitars - but, really i don't need those too much, and i can't remember there be anything else of note on there?
Khatru
Posts: 6
Joined: 02:09, 25 June 2017
Location: Denmark

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by Khatru »

EXP-02 is a stable in slot #1 for me. It is great for rock 'n roll covers, which is what my band do the most.

I am currently playing around with EXP-03 in slot #2 - lots of fun stuff there. I've also tried EXP-06, but I didn't find anything really great in that one.
I had EXP-10 installed in slot #2 for a very long time, but I only ever used a few of the string sounds. Then I tried EXP-08, but I wasn't that impressed with those strings either. So I ended up programming my own string sounds based on the standard XV string samples.
RoFa08
Posts: 27
Joined: 13:02, 9 June 2017

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by RoFa08 »

Now, I use EXP 02 and 10, stable in my slots.
I've tried EXP 06, but I didn't find interesting sounds for me.
I'm waiting for the EXP 11...
Escaperocks
Posts: 27
Joined: 22:30, 23 June 2017

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by Escaperocks »

I use EXP2 and EXP4.

Then, most of my other stuff is tones from the Integra page. Lots of D50
nathbeadle
Posts: 151
Joined: 06:54, 13 November 2008
Location: Canada

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by nathbeadle »

EXP10 & EXP7 seem to spend a lot of time in their "slots", but also have pulled in EXP2 and EXP8 for a few projects as well... mostly 10 and 7 are left in there.
Skijumptoes
Posts: 681
Joined: 11:08, 21 June 2010

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by Skijumptoes »

Interesting you use a lot of EXP-7, what kind of music are you making/performing with that?
nathbeadle
Posts: 151
Joined: 06:54, 13 November 2008
Location: Canada

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by nathbeadle »

Skijumptoes wrote:Interesting you use a lot of EXP-7, what kind of music are you making/performing with that?
Mostly orchestral arrangements for theatre and video game type projects. Have used it twice when filling in for a cover band that had some 90s ska (think Bosstones) in their sets... was helpful to have some nice trumpet and trombone riffs and tones.
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

So I thought while I had some down time I'd go ahead and load a few of these in and see what they had.

I just put in 01 and 03 (I had 02 and 10 installed).

01 Is the Dance Collection

03 is the World Collection

01:

I'm not a fan of EDM music in general. I guess growing up with knowledge of analog synths I think it's kind of funny how a lot of that genre is based on old sounds - often sampled and triggered.

But I have to admit, it is fun playing one key for a "beat" and then playing the rest of the keyboard for something else.

All in all, I'd say a lot of what's in 01 is nothing that much new or different than the FA Factory Sounds - nothing you couldn't get with a few layers, or changing basic parameters of a sound.

So I don't really feel that brings any "must have" sounds to the FA that aren't already well accounted for in the Factory Sounds.

However, where I think 01 Shines is in the Beat and Groove, and Pulsating type patches - some of these could be very useful in modern music production (though for some, the tempo of the pattern can't be changed). I worry about some of these becoming jaded or cliche, and "hey, that's from the Roland sound set" - a little too "obvious". But there's definitely a lot of useful stuff there.

Maybe if I were more into EDM I'd be all over it, but again I feel like the bulk of it (besides anything with a beat or any of the "menu" patches) is already covered in the FA itself. There are definitely some fun things here to play with, and remember that they're there in case you ever need them if it's not something you use regularly.

I will say though, I was doing a project recently and I wanted that typical record scratch (like the sound records make before the music begins - static, pops, etc.) and couldn't find it anywhere in the FA, so I had to go back to my Sound Canvas to get it!

It was in one of the 01 DJ Menus - so it's good to know you can find that stuff if you need it (I wish there were a repository for brief sound samples for these - maybe there is on YT or something...)

03:

I had tons of fun with this one!

I have to say, the "ethnic" instruments as we used to call them have been represented well over the years and do IMHO have a bit "dated" sound now - but again everything old is new so to younger people who didn't grow up in the late 80s and early 90s, these may be new sounds.

My old Sound Canvas came out at a time when the ethnic (which we also called "New Age" and "World" as well) thing was big and it has a lot of these sounds already.

What's nice is in this collection there are more, and they're updated, and IMHO quite useful.

In fact, "world" really kind of means "folk" music though folk probably has too specific a connotation for all the Asian and Indian instruments, but they are the "folk musics" of those countries. Everything is well-represented here.

Again, recently I needed an Accordion and Harmonic. The FA ones are average. This EXP adds quite a few more to choose from.

Also, I found a lot of "pop" style Guitars and Basses that are really better than the Factory Sounds.

Also there were some "menu" patches with multiple sounds on them that could be quite useful.

While there were some really interesting kind of "modern TV soundtrack" (watch Blindspot, or Arrow, or Dark Matter) sounds in the 01 collection (where they're more industrial/EDM inspired) I found a lot in the 03 collection that have that same kind of vibe to them.

Thus this could be a really good collection if you need a lot of diverse sounds, especially World sounds - as these are not well-represented on the FA (but the Ocarina is not really any better than the GM Ocarina!).


So to close this brief review:

01 - Duplicates a lot of what the FA can already do, though there are plenty of fun patches for the casual player and if you're into EDM, there are probably a lot of very useful patches that save you the trouble of having to create them with the FA's default sounds. Also good if you need EDM type sounds quick and dirty for a project where you need to select a patch and go, rather than building something from scratch or heavily modifying the stock sounds.

03 - Expands enormously on the few World sounds already included in the FA and turns it into a much better instrument if you need those kinds of sounds. Though some are "typical" and now "dated" (as the EDM stuff is also now getting to be) there are lots of really good Guitar, Bass, Banjo, Mandolin, Harmonica, Accordion and so on instruments in addition to all the "ethinic" ones (sorry international readers, in the US where we are "we centric" we tend to use that term to decribe both "folk" instruments and anything not from Western European and American (US) tradition. Mexico/Latin/Hispanic, Native American, Island, African, Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian, and Australian instruments are well represented (there's a DIGERIDOO!!!!!). Many of these sounds are also "modernized" (you know, the hipster drum circle fad of late...) and again can represent a shortcut to quick and dirty patches if you need something "pre-built" to give you "that modern TV soundtrack" feel.

For me personally, I'd go with 03 over 01, but objectively, I feel it adds more to what the keyboard lacks from the Factory rather than just kind of duplicating a lot of what's already there.

Stay Tuned - I'll go through these a little at a time.

Steve
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

Here are my thoughts on EXP 04 Piano, and EXP 05 Electric Piano collections.

They add nothing to the party!

I'm just going to review these together as there's not that many sounds. I loaded these up while I was typing the previous message, and it essentially took 9 minutes to go through these sounds.

These two collections basically give you more, different versions of the default sounds to choose from. While they're based on different samples, nothing in it made my ears prick up to the degree that "that's way better than the Factory Sounds".

Now, there might be an Electric Piano that's "better", but I've never played a real Rhodes or Wurlitzer, so I don't know. I've played plenty of Steinways and even the Supernatural Acoustic Piano doesn't sound like a real piano when you're sitting at it.

There are a couple of redeeming qualities about these collections:

1. The Layered Sounds. The Piano with Strings in EXP 04 is way better (IMHO) than the Factory one. So are most of them - it just seems like whoever makes these takes more time to get a "useful layer" as opposed to what Roland seems to do, which is "let's throw one of these in there just to keep the people who want one quiet".

2. The "soft pedal" piano sounds - these could be useful for someone in a studio that didn't have a footpedal or had it dedicated to some other use, or needed to do long passages with soft pedal.

3. The Clavichord bank - there seem to be more Clavichord sounds here than I've ever seen - I mean real ones - Baroque-like as opposed to Stevie Wonder Clav. There are as many here as an expanded Harpsichord menu would have, so if you need some more options for a Clavichord sound for a project, this would be a must have for that reason alone.

Otherwise, it's all just variations on a theme of the stock set. Furthermore, EXP 02 (which I skipped previously becuase I've had that one installed for a very long time) covers a great deal of what this does and does just a good a job at offering "different" if not "better" options. I'd also go so far as to say that the number of sounds in these two EXPs only give you maybe a few more of each - Piano, or EP - as is contained in EXP 02 (which also has tons of other sounds).

My guess is that one reason we can't load more than two of these is that there's a fixed amount of memory space in the FA devoted to these (they all read the same file size on my computer) so these EXP libraries with fewer sounds in them may contain samples that are either at higher bit rates or contain much more data etc. IOW, they put as many sounds on as they have space for, and how much they have space for is based on the quality/size of the PCM waveforms included in the set.

But if these are better samples (which they might be), I can't discern enough difference to warrant using up the slot on just these two EXPs.

Also, you could easily just layer Piano and Strings and get far more control than a factory patch even like the better one in the EXP 04, so while that sound is very nice, it's still not going to be perfect for all uses, so might as well use the stock sounds and layer.

Neither of these are "must haves" IMHO, unless there's something specific you need off of them that isn't duplicated elsewhere, or that just is heads and shoulders above any other option for you.

I've loaded the next two sets in (06 and 07) but it will probably take me a while to go through these, so I probably won't get to it tonight.
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

Actually, that didn't take long!

06 - Studio Collection

I had high hopes for this but honestly it mostly adds 3 or 4 sounds to most basic categories, and nothing that isn't really unique or you can't get from the Factory Sounds. It basically gives you yet again a few more sounds to work with.

The most exciting sound IMHO was a Flute Menu, which gave you a lot of different modern flute sounds (breath noise, key clicks) that had more than anything else.

There are a lot of sounds in this one, but honestly, really largely duplication not only of the Factory Sounds - again more like variations on a theme rather than any exciting new waveforms they're working from.

The one redeeming quality is that it adds to the very poor Saxophone offerings in the FA. There are only like 2 of each range in the Factory Sounds - this adds one of each more, and some effected ones. It doesn't double what's there, but it definitely gives you more to choose from. But, IIRC, there are actually more in the EXP10 collection, so when I go back to that one I'll check.

Other than that, unless there's a specific sound you need this set has, IMHO it's not worth wasting the slot on it.

07 Brass - now THIS was a good set. Of course, it's all Brass - and it's also a small-ish set.

But I feel like the Brass offerings in the Factory Sounds is also rather weak. This really adds a lot more sounds and a lot more useful sounds - it's got an example of TRIPLE-TONGUING!

There are Falls, Doits, and Rips for most single instruments and groups (or sections of single instruments) as well as various muted type offerings.

So this set expands nicely with more feature-laden sounds and IMHO would be totally worth it for anyone who has to cover a lot of horn parts live, or who does a lot of recording with "pop" horn sections (EXP 10 for comparison focuses more on Orchestral Brass).

It's a "must have" for people that need more brass articulations and options. I don't think the "average player" really needs it - you could get buy with the stock sounds (or maybe all the brass in EXP 10) but I would say for scoring, these are going to be more helpful to the pop or jazz arranger than the stock sounds.

Definitely "enhances" what's already in the FA in a helpful way.

"Specific use" EXP, but would definitely be worth investigating if you need some more sounds and the stock ones aren't covering it (and Horn Bands, and Horn Parts in songs are common enough where IMHO any synth should be covering these far better than most do).

Alright, gotta go practice guitar now...
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

Finished practicing Guitar, so I loaded up EXP 08 and EXP 09 (edit, I reversed the numbers a couple of times for some reason so have tried to go through and correct my mistakes, which is why they're out of order).

I have to say, these are both good.

EXP 09 - Piano Collection

It's not so much that there's anything unique here - which has been a criticism of some of the other EXPs, but the sound quality is as good or better than the Factory PCMS, and both of these really expand on what is already present, but giving you more variations that could be useful.

Like the EXP 07 Brass set, if you're a classical pianist or need lots of "authentic" sounding pianos, EXP 09 is worth the load. I feel it's got the best pianos outside of the supernatural sounds. It also has some good layers as well - again you could do this manually, but sometimes it's nice to have a patch to call up.

So EXP 09 is almost exclusively Pianos (I think there was a Harpsichord in it that didn't sound as good as the default harpsichord).

They are good, and slight variations on a theme, but in a useful, augmenting way, especially for those that focus on piano sounds for recording or scoring. For live work, I'm not sure it would really give you anything you really need other than just more options.

EXP 08 - Strings.

I was a little more excited by these, being more of an orchestral guy. Most are, as you'd expect, solo strings and groups, as well as orchestral groups (there are a few other patches under other categories, like a guitar+strings patch under the guitar section).

It's hard to say with strings - after a while, they can all sound synthetic, and synthetic strings, with suspension of disbelief in play, can sometimes sound better or at least more appropriate in some contexts than more authentic-sounding strings.

That said, the SN strings are much better, but these are every bit as good as the rest of the PCM Factory string sounds.

Again, I'd say, like the EXP 07 and EXP 09 sets, the primary attraction here would be the *options* you get of many sounds to try out and find what you need for a particular context. There are a few mod, aftertouch (Yay) and other alteration sounds where you can get different effects - there's a Violin that changes to Pizz with the mod wheel - this would be handy if we didn't already have the SN sound that did that already :-)

So EXP 08 would be really handy for a person who does a lot of ensemble scoring for strings (I'm going to say I wasn't as impressed with the solo strings but at least there was variety).

Again looking back to my old Sound Canvas which had a patch I used in many of our Pink Floyd songs - an Orchestra with Horns - I couldn't find a good sound for that on the FA (and there's not really one as nice as my SC with EXP 10) but this EXP 08 set has a really nice one. It also has a full orchestra one that's very nice (it has a few, and obviously you'd use them in different contexts).

EXP 07 - Brass
EXP 09 - Complete Piano
EXP 08 - Strings

Are all good if you need more of those particular sounds for those instrument-specific projects - especially scoring and recording where you want a lot of options at your finger tips.

EXP 07 may lean a little more to the pop/jazz side, and that's OK, whereas 08 and 09 lean a little more to the classical side (or "classical scoring side").

However, I will say that 08 and 09 do duplicate some of what's already present. It's less of a drawback than the Piano collection and Electric Piano collection, becuase those two didn't really add much to the part IMHO, but these to (08 and 09) do at least give you more variety in what I feel is a practical way (i.e. better samples to begin with).

I've loaded 02 and 10 back in, so I'm going to go back to those, because both could actually make 08 and 09 useless, and maybe cover a lot of what the others do.

Stay Tuned
stevel
Posts: 520
Joined: 07:08, 17 May 2015

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by stevel »

Ok, last but certainly not least, EXP 02 Keyboard, and EXP 10 Orchestral

Ok, these have more sounds than any of the others I think.

They add sounds in almost every category. They also add the most sounds in the most categories of any of the EXPs except maybe 01. But they add tons more, and many useful ones.

They also duplicate a lot of what's already in the other singles - so there's really no need for the Piano, Electric Piano, Brass, or Strings EXPs, so there's really no need for them, PLUS, they add a LOT of things those other "specific" banks don't cover. For example, EXP 02 has not only Pianos, but a huge selection of Organs (many named with certain things in mind - "Lord", "Telstar" "Hush". etc.).

They may duplicate a lot as well, but they make up for it with the "extras".

Honestly, these are no-brainers. They are the "best bang for your slot" EXPs outside of maybe 01 and 03.

EXP 02 - adds more pianos - nothing necessarily outstanding, and maybe not as good as the Classic Piano collection, but definitely as good as the other Piano collection.

But it also adds tons of organs, more (and useful) EPs (like Wurlies, Pianettes, etc.), a ton of Clavs (so as many as that other collection and maybe more practical since most people don't want classical clavichord) a surprisingly HUGE amount of Synthbass (bassically it adds any kind of old keyboard instruments like VCS and Mellotrons, etc.), some so so acoustic guitar but some nice electric guitars (def better than factory) a few of all brass and winds (surprisingly), some vocal stuff (trons and VP, etc.), a LOT of Synth Leads, and a half dozen or so of each of the Synth categories (mostly Oberhiem and Moog descended stuff). It also adds quite a number of "Beat and Groove" patches (maybe giving EXP 01 a run for its money).

EXP 10 - also adds tons of sounds - very useful, and in some cases in places where you wouldn't expect it. While the focus is on orchestral "classical" and scoring type sounds, it really really really fixes a lot of that stuff that's missing from the FA. In fact, I didn't realize until I downloaded some of the other EXPs that left certain categories empty that some of them don't have many sounds in them at all.

Can you believe - the FA DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A SOLO VIOLIN SOUND????

Ok, it does, but it's a GM sound. Now, that's PCM now so the sample is probably better than they used to be, but it's probably still a low partial sound.

EXP 10 adds 11 solo string instruments to the paltry 8 it comes with, 6 of which are GM patches!

It adds enough Brass that it almost makes the Brass EXP not needed (EXP 10 is more classical and lacks *as many of* the falls and mutes (it doesn't have the Doits and the triple tonguing).

It adds a number of Saxes, Winds, and ensembles, and sections, and even though it adds probably as many strings as the Strings EXP, it also has more chamber groups and so on.

Not to mention the "hits" and orchestral percussion - there are many sounds that play one thing when you press the key, then a different sound when you release it - making for some very cool effects.

So at this point, I'd say the EXPs come in as follows:

EXP 01 - Dance Trax - great for EDM enthusiasts and people who need access to a huge variety of sounds (and beats) in that style and don't have the time to build them from the factory sounds. However, a lot of the patches are a little redundant in they're not all that different from the factory sounds - the FA is already sort of "geared toward" that modern EDM sound to begin with. If that's what you bought it for, EXP 01 is a great expansion pack if you just want more of that.

EXP 02 - Keys Collecion - great for everything. Tons of sounds in every category. Focus is of course on "Keyboard" sounds, but that includes any types of keyboard instruments (PIano, EP, Organ, Mellotron, VP-330, VCS, Oberheims, Moogs, Prophets, etc.). Thus there are a lot more sounds than "just piano, ep, and organ).

Also a great set for "old school" and cover band players looking to re-create some vintage sounds as well as the more "keyboard player" kind of artist.

EXP 03 - World Collection - great for people who need World sounds (duh) but unlike EXP 01, this one actually adds to sounds the FA is seriously lacking from the factory. EXP could provide you with your vintage 60s and 70s key/synth instruments, and EXP 03 could pick up with a lot or World music sounds that were going on in the 80s and 90s - bridging the gap between EXP 02's sounds and the factory "modern EDM" sounds.

Also great for people doing recording projects who need a lot of these sounds - though reminiscent of the "World Music Scene" of previous decades, it is definitely modern and hits on a lot of what is going on in "New Age" music (or maybe it's "Ambient" now) that EXP 01 doesn't cover.

EXP 04 - Concert Piano Collection - great for someone who needs it. I felt the pianos in EXP 09 were better, and EXP 02 covers a lot of the ground that EXP 04 covers, so unless you really need a particular patch or you feel something about the sound quality of these instruments is superior, I wouldn't waste the slot.

EXP 05 - Electric Piano Collection - ditto. If you need something specific, great. Otherwise EXP 02 seems to cover just as many bases and more.

EXP 06 - Studio Collection - great for, I don't know - people who need these sounds? I'm not even sure what this collection is supposed to be doing. It's kind of like something that would "fill out" your FA, but it only fills it out a little.

I supposed if you installed EXP 02, these would make nice additional "non-specifc" sounds if you didn't like the Dance Trax and World collections. But other than that, it would really be a wasted slot IMHO.

EXP 07 - Brass - great for scorers/arrangers who need more "pop" styled horn sounds for recording projects or live players who need those same kinds of effects. There are a lot of brass-specific playing effects here that are much better than the Factory Sounds. There are more (and for solo instruments as well) in EXP 10, but EXP 10 is more "classical" again. So if you're working where you need a lot of pop brass kinds of sounds, this EXP could be a winner for you.

EXP 08 - Strings - great for people who need more Strings stuff for scoring projects and the like, however EXP 10 really covers a lot of the same ground and so much more. Only if there were very specific things (or again, one feels the sound quality is superior) that one needed in this EXP, I'd say EXP 10 is much better designed for the purposes most people would use either of these for. Would waste a slot in the same way EXP 04, 05, and 06 do - use it only if you really need it.

EXP 09 - Complete Piano Collection - great for Pianists again, but IMHO better than the EXP 04 Collection, even for "concert" style pianos. More sounds as well. I would place this right below EXP 07 Brass in terms of being specific enough that it might be a better choice than EXP 02. But not quite as distinctive (or IMHO< practical) as EXP 07 is for what it does. Again, if you need a particular sound, or feel the sounds are superior, this is better than EXP 04 for people who do a lot of Piano-based projects where they need tons of good quality piano sounds.

Still, EXP 02 covers this ground and so much more.

EXP 10 - Orchestral - great for people who are doing film-scoring and the like - like EXP 02, just tons and tons of sounds. Strings, Brass, Winds - Choirs (be sure to check out the Gregorian Chant type patches!) as well as Saxes, Harpsichord, Organ and Orchestral Percussion (the Tubular Bells are great, the Celeste is horrible - and that's about the only thing I can find that's bad in most of these!) 0 there are a number of good Xylophones and Marimbas, etc. etc. plus all the orchestra hits (there are brass falls, rips, and so on, but again more classical/orchestral based than the EXP 07 Brass collection).

Where EXP 02 is the "live player's" and "keyboard player's" set of useful sounds that fill out the FA in substantial ways, EXP 10 is the "film-scorer's" and "composer's" set of useful sounds that make a keyboard that's not really designed for it totally useful for it (though the supernatural strings are exceptional).

I'd say the "best" choices are:

EXP 01 - lots of sounds, modern, currently in vogue, adds nicely to what the FA already excels at.

EXP 02 - tons of sounds, "vintage" and still useful, practical for the cover band player or keyboard specialists who like and need more of the "bread and butter" sounds - the FA does this OK, but this set turns the FA into a keyboard that excels at that too.

EXP 03 - lots of sounds, "retro-modern" in a way, also in vogue, but with a a nod to the past (in much the same way EDM uses a lot of analog sounds) but with plenty of other sounds you wouldn't expect to be in this set. Adds variety in a sound-world that the FA otherwise doesn't really cover well at all.

EXP 10 - tons of sounds, though less for the "electronic music" person or "live cover band" person, or even "pianist" for that matter, covers the "film scoring" base nicely - again in a synth that otherwise doesn't cover that base all that well. Turns the FA into a "epic film score" machine, while also adding tones of other sounds for all your "more classical" scoring needs. This and 01 or 03 could be a Film/TV scorer's dream board, with the ability to cover all the styles in modern media production.

Honorable Mention:

EXP 07 Brass - great for people who need these "other" brass techniques that aren't covered well in the Factory Sounds or included in EXP 10 - for both scoring/arranging/recording and live work.

Consolation Prize:

EXP 09 Complete Piano - Good for people who need more Piano sounds, and don't need the specifics of EXP 04 or the variety of EXP 02.

Not Worth Wasting a Slot on unless you need something specific out of it:

EXP 04 Concert Piano Collection (EXP 09 or EXP 02 instead)

EXP 05 Electric Piano Collection (EXP 02 instead)

EXP 06 Studio Collection (EXP 01, 02, or 03 instead)

EXP 08 Strings Collection (EXP 10 covers it)

Since these are not too difficult to load in and out, you can put them all on a USB and load them up as needed. Though you can only have two at a time, it would be reasonable to put, say, 09 ad 10 in if you're working on composing at home, and then install 01 and 02 (or 03) for gigs if that's the kinds of sounds you need.

You could save user modified versions of the tones in your user slots, but if you change the EXPs, I'm not sure what happens to those sounds - they won't play, but maybe once you re-install the EXP they were created from, they'll play again. So you could, in theory, have even more sounds you've crafted by modifying these, but not all at once.

Finally, notice I didn't mention drums. Some of these have drum banks. It takes forever to go through each key, and most kits are largely variations on a theme. I imagine the world set might have some nice ones, and I know the orhchestra set adds yet more orchestral percussion. I bet some don't have any drums at all.

So do that one for yourself!!!

OK, hope this all helps someone in the future.

I'm keeping 02 and 10 in. If any swapping would be done, I'd probably put 03 in there to replace which of the others was less important for the project.


Cheers,
Steve
AnalogHero
Posts: 50
Joined: 09:13, 16 April 2017
Location: Germany

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by AnalogHero »

Wow.

This is an awesome review of the exp collection. Thanks alot for this.

Btw. Ive installed exp-01 and exp-10 and sometimes exp-03. Which is basically what you suggest :)
Need to take a look at exp-02 again.
Skijumptoes
Posts: 681
Joined: 11:08, 21 June 2010

Re: Which EXP packs have you tried or do you use?

Post by Skijumptoes »

Great posts Stevel, i had to get a RAM upgrade and new HDD install on my mac to get it to display on my mac, and now it's used my internet usage up for the month! ;)

I joke of course, but great summary, and i agree with pretty much all what you've said based on my limited experience with them.

The one element i will add is that EXP-1 adds unique Drum Menu patches, which if you're into making your own beats, when used with the sequencer these are fantastic for electronica/dance music as you can load up the bass drum menu into a track, snare menu into a track, hats into another, and so on etc.

You can then mix different sounds from different kits quickly on the fly, plus by using the 'Part view' pitch controls (Coarse/Fine etc.) you can tune each drum element individually, i.e. pitch your snares or hats up. And of course end additional reverb to snares etc.

Must admit, i'm excited about EXP-11 coming, but i cannot see how it's going to improve upon the current selection, unless it's going to be really obvious which instruments and patches they are recreating, i.e. Wavestation-like evolving patches with modulation options would be most welcome. :)

If it's the usual splattering of yet more Juno/Jupiter type patches, then we're already well covered on those, right?

One more thing!

Did you notice when going through the Expansions that some patches have strange symbols at the end of them? Anyone know what they are? I've worked out that '^' means that it plays an additional sound/action when you release the key. But there's also other ones like '/', which maybe relates to the patch being 'split'? Not sure, but curious if you noted these.
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