Jupiter-X AND Fantom 7

[John Marino]

Hi guys

I got em both.. Bought the Jupiter X last year and the Fantom 7 two days ago. Found a new unit in Zurich, so lucky me.. BUT:

I've seen that I can Import the best Models from the X to the Fantom for free, so my question is - What Im gona miss, if I sell the Jupiter X? Is it only age and temperature thats missing in the Fantom or is there more?

Personaly I dont like to tweak sounds on the small display of the X because I cant get an ergonomic position with a display on the side and yeah its very small.. and the sound banks are a mess IMO. There are no sub categories and I have to scroll and scroll.. An other thing - the most presets on the X are really bad. You have to tweak them to get something thats maybe interesting.

Give me some pros and cons if you might so I can decide if I should sell the X or not.

Thanks.

JM

[Chumley]

I have to agree the presets are a bit bland, and tbh I'm a bit disappointed with the filters and effects - everything seems a bit middle of the road to me. I'm finding it quite hard to get good useable sounds from the X compared with my other synths (Bass Station 2, Nord Lead 4, Access Virus A, TB-03).

You can access sounds by categories though - press model bank then one of the numbered buttons. There are around 50 categories in total. You can also assign a sound to a different category, but afaik you can't define custom categories - I'd quite like a category called "favourite basses" for example.

Now that there are 512 user tone slots available, I'm in the process of saving my favourite presets there for later editing, so in future I'll just use those rather than the factory sounds. Otherwise, I scroll through a couple of hundred presets and then think "where was that rez pad I liked".

Whether it's worth keeping when you've got a Fantom I wouldn't like to say.

[anotherscott2022]

I think the only things the Jupiter-X has that the Fantom does not are the RD piano model bank, the new "Jupiter X" model introduced with the 3.0 update, and the more synth-focussed operational ergonomics which, as it happens, you don't particularly like anyway. There may also be differences with the new arp enhancements... I don't use arps, I can't speak to that.

[John Marino]

Thanks for your Inputs guys. The Fantom is really good. Easy to use and it sounds fantastic. I installed the Jupiter 8, Juno and so on expansions and Im on the 3.01 software now with the super natural presets. Just amazing.

I think that Jupiter X has to go.. I will not miss the RD Pianos..

JM

[00goldinfingr]

Aside from the workstation and screen, are there any other features you enjoy in the Fantom 6 over the Jupiter X? Currently trying to decide between the two. I don’t really need the workstation portion because I have an MPC Live II. It seems like you can pretty much get the same sound generators go Zen core, correct? What os Supernatural? Also, what is Vpiano? I heard a lot of the orchestral and acoustic stuff is not available on the Jupiter X. Do you know exactly what that stuff would be? Trying to determine if I’d need it.

[Gribs]

Aside from the workstation and screen, are there any other features you enjoy in the Fantom 6 over the Jupiter X? Currently trying to decide between the two. I don’t really need the workstation portion because I have an MPC Live II. It seems like you can pretty much get the same sound generators go Zen core, correct? What os Supernatural? Also, what is Vpiano? I heard a lot of the orchestral and acoustic stuff is not available on the Jupiter X. Do you know exactly what that stuff would be? Trying to determine if I’d need it.

“Supernatural” are the piano sounds from the RD series of stage pianos. From what I remember, there were acoustic pianos and also some pretty good electric pianos in the RD that I had for a while (gave it to my oldest when he went to college in 2016 and he still uses it). Roland also had a ‘V-piano” that was a higher-end digital piano; I think the piano sounds in that were generated by modeling and not sampling.

Edit: I checked the sound list for the Jupiter-X and it has only the RD acoustic pianos, not the EPs. The EPs are included with the Fantom-6. It is possible to see all the things included by using the Roland Cloud app, too. The Supernatural pianos are not even listed as a thing you can buy for the Jupiter-X. There are some EP presets/tones that you can buy for the Jupiter-X in EZX Stage Piano 1 and 2 packs. Those are also included with the Fantom-6 (pack download is free - not sure if they are pre-installed).

I am mulling over a similar decision. I chatted on FB recently with a guy who went from the Jupiter-X to a Fantom-6 to a Juno-X. I have some strange driving forces like studio space and audio desk keyboard tray clearance that are pushing me in the Fantom or Jupiter-Xm direction. The former would go on the tray and the latter on the desktop when in use and in a shelf when not. It is annoying that both the Jupiter-X and Juno-X are too tall to fit the Output Platform desk keyboard tray. There is a hack to get some extra clearance, but it moves the tray down too far to a position where it would bash into my knees.

[Gribs]

I am not sure if you care, but I just clicked the "complete purchase" button on a Jupiter-Xm. I am going to use it as a module with my nice Keylab-88. I like the feel of the Keylab-88 and the AT on it is quite responsive with the model expansions for Zenology that I get with my Roland Cloud subscription.

I am going to use the money saved for something extra.