The Fantom -s day 3

[bigdmakintrax]

I finally copped this piece a few days ago, and you know the learning curve is gonna be about a week to get some solid tracks, but so far I love this workstation, forget about that keyboard billing, I had a Motif and a Triton and the MPC2k along with the RS7K, the MP7 and a Mophatt, SP12 and SP1200....most of tha cats that have been members for awhile can recall my complete hardware setups in the early days..hahahaha....and then my fall upon hard times and liquidating my gear and working on Fruity loops, Cubase and Logic, I still love those programs, but I just started working with the sequencer and interface, sample editor on the Fantom-S, I was a doubter but now I believe this board makes you forget about the keyboard aspect, the skip back sampler is dope....when you play something and not recording how many times have you been like damn I wish I recorded that....the skip back does just that its like a recorder that always runs and you can go back in time....sort of audio Tivo...but what I found that I think is the powerful feature is the seamingly infinite resampling you can do without any real loss of sound but the big surprise is the mastering features, it has built in compressors etc that look like the vintage gear almost like a plugin but the mastering makes this sound ready for pressing up you just record it straight from the board (via spdif)...so you get 0 noise....I put a 128MB smartmedia card in there hooked the board up USB to my computer...(is that some shidd or what???) then dragged ALL of my Favorite samples to it, because the computer sees the Fantom as a removable hard drive, I made some patterns that remind me of the MPC as far as how tight and punchy I could get the snare and kick......I dunno but Imma get some haters....(I just can't get that out of my software for some reason and my samples sound EXACTLY like they do when I preview them and after mixing, no thinning or loss like when mixing on the computer which depending on the sound card and processors will always happen) overall I give the board about a 9.9 right now that might go up...oh it comes with 32MB of ram out of the box, if you are looking for a solid workstation this might be for you.....I looked at the Motif ES but if you like working with waveforms just like you do on the computer this will help you to make the decision, there is a newer board out now the fantom-X that has even more features but my main thing is the ability to throw away all of my midi cables and all these pieces of gear and work on one piece to do my production, and I think I found the right piece.

 

[DjDelay]

Cool, BigD.

What are the sounds like on it?

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Very Dope sounds, some synth and ravie sounds, Lush I mean Lush pads and atmospheres.. and some very convincing acoustic sounds.... but overall the sounds are based on samples I believe....the BASSES and the HITS are probably the best that I have heard on a board, they said that between the Motif ES and the Fantom the Fantom has superior Basses and Stabs...but the strings and guitars are just a Lil better on the Motif but the expansion card for the Fantom takes care of that difference....these are completely new Roland sounds if you are Familiar with any of the JV or XV sounds you will love this board, I have always like the roland sounds they do have certain warmth or nice sound signature...Imma have a beat up soon hopefully for you to hear......if you are at a handicap like me when it comes to mastering this will take care of that problem, it's almost too easy to get a professional cd quality track out of this board with not a lot of effort.

 

[Formant024]

Word, good conversions. All digital rompler!

 

[incogneeto]

So The Sound Is Good...cause I Got Me A Mpc 2000 But Wanna Just Get A All In One Board.....so Y Did U Pick This Board Over The Motif........and Another Thing.....how Is The Sequencer On The Fantom (is It Easy?).......and How Is The Quantize Button...im Used To The Mpc 2000xl Tap Tempo Repeat Button....anything On The Fantom Like That??????

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Me too I wanted an all in one I am in the process of making my setup a lil more efficient, plus I can move the board anywhere I want and put headphones on and construct (Complete tracks and then go to my pc and protools and record the tracks.
The sequencer on the Fantom as far as functions are very easy the interface looks familiar close to the MPC but at least I would compare the interface like say looking at windows, I had an mpc2k also not the XL...but you can tap tempo or set it manually you can audition or record.....you can set it to input quantize....you can change the strength of and placement of recorded notes..(swing) it corrects your timing however you want it.....but thatz all I can say after 3 days man, but from looking at how you can tweak even your 1 shot samples....I can see almost all of the features of an mpc..plus like hundreds more in addition...I don't know a lot about the MPC4K but I probably think it is more in that class as far as the interface .....my thoughts are they analyzed all of the gear like the mpc or other sequencers, the Triton and the Motif and tried to either improve or add better features......the quantize has a menu, everthing on here looks like an operating system is running on the interface sort of like windows....even though its not touch screen the interface (to me is solid and easy to navigate) Oh yeah the wave editor is very nice, just like working in soundforge or cool edit.......it has auto chop, time stretch and everything...you can't scratch the surface of this thing just sitting in the Store or even in the three days...LOL

 

[incogneeto]

damn big d.....you gave me alot of info man..i dunno...........maybe i mite cop me one instaed of the motif..........but another thing...i see on motif's website that they have a s**tload of add on stuff, and different kits for it.......does roland have similar webpage that you can go to strickly for the fantom, and can you add drum kits and other different synth kits to it??????? holla back

 

[Cold Truth]

good timing big d. incogneeto has bee ncontemplating getting the mo rack...

see, i TOLD you to check out the fantoms! (incogneeto)

actually, the roland does have the same types of sampling/add on features as the motif, although they have a much better (in my eyes, more EFFICIENT and COST EFFECTIVE) method of expansion...

 

[bigdmakintrax]

BTW I don't work for Roland either...LOL Thanks Truth and Incognito but the important thing to me is the visual interface, tha screen....that is lacking on the Motif...I really hated the grid sequencer on the original Motif....the sequencer is nice on the Roland it even has a grid sequencer like Fruity loops or Cubase....there are add on cards too with more kits, but if you got hi quality samples who needs add on boards with this board....it's almost like having an MPC or other High end sampler except (I Think...Better..)

 

[incogneeto]

ok ok ok.....I FINALLY MADE MY F**K,IN MIND UP (AND I MEAN IT THIS TIME)......just got back from the Guitar Center..........H**L S**T is the Roland Fantom X HOTTTTTTTTT..........ur rite Big D-that screen itself makes you wanna buy it (its like when the first cell phones came out in color...u just wanted it...lol).......but seriously....that fantom x is loaded with SICK sound....a sick mixer....and just alot of other SICK S**t.......and yes COLD TRUTH.....U were right.......i shoulda checked it out....and i did.........i'm gettin the piece as soon as i sell my mpc 2000.....i got an offer for 1000 billls.....i'm takin it and coppin the fantom x....it blew my F**KIN MINDDDDDDDD.......................holla.....incog

 

[x-squizet]

that board is off the hook man if i new how to play keybord i would get it so i am going to hold off until i get some lessons so now i am just going to get da roland mv-8000 and reason 2.5 but man i am jealous.
p.s
let me know when you make some beats on it and put them up

 

[Loose Cannon]

BigD,

1.How are the pads on the fantom S? Can you lay down the beat as easy as you could on the mpc?

2.Are you serious when you said you just record the beat from the SPDIF and it should be ready? It really doesnt need mixing after it leaves the fantom?



If you say yes to both of these, i might think about savin up for it.

THANKS
PEACE

 

[bigdmakintrax]

The Fantom S has built in mastering.(a tube section, compressor and eq that are very professional)..yes you really do not need to do anything else...you could but you don't have to.....that was my beef with a lot of other boards I owned like the Korg or yamaha motif...the mastering section is very impressive......the pads are not mpc pads I repeat they are not mpc pads but 2 days ago I figured out how to adjust the sensitivity...they remind me of the stiffness of the mpc2k after they have had some time on em.....but if you have used the SP505 or 303 you might have a clue of the pads they use....I give them an 8 on a scale of 1-10 I think they improved that on the X......to me this board is worth it.....but I have put in many hours so far without feeling 100% about everything the board can do....it requires lots of hands on time to get good....if you aren't someone that really likes to continually think about what you have to do to make a beat besides click your mouse this board is not for you.....but if you want to mix your drums separatly like I know I will......it has 4 outs...so you can rout the drums to a different channel...for the most part I will be recording some tracks without the internal and mix it in protools after i record.

 

[maddogg]

I would like to hear how things are goin with the board d. ahve you made a beat yet?
Peace

 

[bigdmakintrax]

The track I entered in the last beatcomp was done on the Fantom, but I grew tired of how you set up your own patterns the way that they have you do it is not really efficient for fast production, I like to switch parts, that is not the easiest way to do it besides just making straight banged out tracks realtime....I took it back and copped the Triton Extreme....but the board is dope, but not for me and my setup.

 

[maddogg]

So the sequencer is a pain to edit in?hmmm..Well id also like to know about the triton extreme.If you get time to say whats better and stuff.Theres alot of sounds in that triton.Oh I peeped that beat you mad for the comp nice ish..good job on get'n second.
PEace

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Yeah I mean for some the sequencer might work...don't use my word as good or bad but my observation...its a nice board though.....also this is another thing if you looking to bangin in beats with swing I didn't like the job the sequencer does like how the MPC corrects your off timing and puts it on point.....also there is not an easy way to rid yourself of double notes, there is a way to do it in pattern/rhythm section but not on the regular sequencer....you know if you loop the song and record realtime, for instance if you have a hi hat or kick that you accidentally put in you can hear it sort of sound flanged....the same way if you do it on software......I could not find a function to get rid of that in the song mode.....

 

[afriquedeluxe]

hey bigd am considerin a triton extreme, ive tried it in the shop and its real nice. tell me more about it, hows the sequencer, can u draw in notes, like wen programmin drums? cuz im not that good at recordin drums in realtime. and that valve force on it, is it well effective? have u done any beats on it yet? and can u hook it up to a pc thru usb?

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Afrique I can post some beats later on today, I haven't actually used the step editing yet because the realtime edit works pretty good but Imma probably get into it later on......the valve force is just like having a hardware tube amp and it works just like one except its built into the board it gives that punch and full warmth especially it brings all of the frequencies in...I use waves gold soft processors and I see the difference the tube circuit works unbelievably better IMO......I think a lot of people wanted to find out the secret that we search for when using a keyboard to make beats..like how can I get my beats to have all of that punch and full warm sound like on say a DMX or your favorite club banger.....most cats that used the triton originally were wondering that the only way to tap into the full capabilities was to take it to the studio or run it through a real tube thats and real studio engineers secret for punch besides the compressor...I am impressed at the job it does....someone else told be it was another gimmick but I hear the difference especially if you have it off and then record the beat and then record one with the tube on.....

 

[afriquedeluxe]

kool, hey that beat u did with the fantom was really dope! , the fantom seemed to be good. but anyway this triton gives punch just with that valve switch on..kool! i tried it in the shop and the organs and rhodes sounded so nice with it, i havent tried the drums with it yet, but id love to hear some of the beats you did with it. So it must be pretty easy to use, cuz u seem to have got it a few days ago and u already makin beats on it.


ps im still amazed at how most producers do they drums in real time. i jus draw mine in, its so much easier.