I'm planning on buying a synthesizer workstation but I just don't know which one to get . I have several in mind so I would appreciate feedback on the following synths . Tell me a little something about each in terms of their ease of use , features and sound quality .

1.Korg Triton LE
2.Yamaha Motif
3.Roland Fantom Xa


There are also the more expensive models the Motif ES , Fantom X and Korg Triton Extreme . What additional features would they have that would warrant the much steeper asking price ? Should I as a beginner even bother with them ?


Finally what kind of player and music would require 76 key or 88 key versions of these synths ?

Any help would be appreciated .

I sell all 3 of your choices. My 0rder of recommendation would be:
1) Fantom XA
2) Triton LE
3) Motif

The Triton Le is the least expensive with the Motif and then the Fantom close behind.

Now, if you were considering the Motif ES, this would be my first choice. What you get in the ES is much better acoustic samples, phrase factory and improved everything else.
However, for the money, the Fantom XA is a powerhouse. It is very good with sounds, sequencer, sampling and have pads for programming drum beats and storing loops. It does not have exactly the same sounds as the more expensive Fantom X and does not have aftertouch, but both this and the Triton LE I think you will find easier to use over the older motif.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

How do the Motif ES and Fantom Xa compare in terms of ease of use ?

The Fantom XA is in my opinion the most powerful arranger of the three. If you plan on doing synth and pad voices more than orchestrial the Roland if more in your ball park. Roland has always had fantastic OS making it a breeze going through the sounds, sequencing ect. Its basically the same thing as the Fantom-X, but it looses in the tiny screen, 9 small buttons (no velocity or after touch on them i think) Everything that the X could loose to save money is what the XA is. Same Fantom sound engine, same Fantom sounds, same effects processor ect. I would strongly reccomend looking at the Fantom-S, same thing as the X, but four shade lcd screen, 64 polyphony, 64mb wav rom. The XA is exspandable to 192 rom with 2 SRX boards (that X allows 4 boards)

The Motif is is very good workstation, I was contemplating between that and the Fantom-S for a while. It all came down to the Motif has a small screen, I wasnt big into orchestrial playing, the OS was what ive heard somewhat difficult to learn but all in all fully functional. 85mb rom is very nice, however I dont think its exspandable. I would highly reccomend savign your money, and sticking with the original Motif, there arent enough changes that is worth the extra grand, especially with the Fantom-X worth the same amount.

I dont have much knowlege about the Triton LE, it looks like a very nice board, however IMO overpriced, id far rather get a used Fantom-S which is even cheaper than a new LE. Like the Roland, Korg does way more pads, synths, ambient ect. However if you have not played a korg before id reccomend playing one just to feel the keys, because just for me the key feel would make me never want to buy a korg, they just feel very weak, and you cant get any emphasys into the sound.

The Triton Extreme looks way cool, im not a fan of the OS but the thing is loaded, and has some very cool features, if you have a CG or something around you its worth the trip to drive there, play them all and decide from that.

All in all I think the best value for what you get would be a Fantom-S, used perhaps, no more than 900 bucks, exact same thing as the X, but less rom, no color screen... and well thats about it. For a thousand bucks less, the coice is obvious.

Phil

[This message has been edited by Pennywizz6 (edited 03-27-2005).]

Hmm well I would occasionally require accustic sounds but my biggest passion is music such as Depeche Mode with Alan Wilder .

The Motif ES and Fantom X are probably too high end for my current needs . I'm not sure about the Korg Triton Extreme . It obviously has way more sounds than the LE but I wonder if those sounds have improved in quality or if they're just more with the same quality .

Often times its just more sounds, not really more higher quality ones. But obviously the more exspensive the board the better the sounds to some degree. Roland has IMO the best accoustic grand, fantastic organs and stringed guitars.

Phil

A couple of things to point out......
the Triton LX is the least expensive of the bunch at just $995.00.
The Fantom XA has the same engine as the Fantom S which is no longer made but the Fantom X6 has a different rom set so if you expect the same piano in the XA as the X6 you won't find it.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

I have noticed that the Motif ES doesn't have even just a tinsy bit of sampling memory included . Also I did not see a Mic input in it's specs , what's up with that ? That added to the fact that the Motif and Motif ES supposedly have the most difficult OS make don't make it very attractive for my needs . Sure they may have the best sounds but it's all about balance .


I guess I'm kind of torn between the Roland Fantom X and the Korg Triton Extreme . How do these two compare ? I know the Roland costs a bit more .



[This message has been edited by Darksounds (edited 03-27-2005).]

[This message has been edited by Darksounds (edited 03-27-2005).]

You can add sampling memory by adding PC100 or PC133 sticks of ram. I didnt know that it ships with none, thats pretty stupid. Not sure about the mic in thing, im sure theres something that works.

The Fantom-X and Extreme are closely matched. But i cant think of anything that the Fantom doesnt have or exceeds that of the Triton. Are you destined for new or would you buy used? Check Ebay if your lucky you can find really nice great condition ones for 4 hundred less.

Phil

I'm currently A Motif-ES owner. I used to own the Fantom-S which has a similar operating system to the Fantom-X and I also had the experience of owning the Triton Classic too. After trying all three of them live and home and even using their internal sequencer each, here is what I found.

**Easy of use when you get them out of the box.

Triton classic.
Fantom-S.
MOTIF-ES.

**BUT here is the key to what I've been looking for, Fastest workstation to work with once you learn how to use it. Here is how it ranks

Motif-ES
Triton classic
Fantom-S

The reason I ranked the Motif-es first was because even though it has a smaller screen than others, all the necessary buttons to use are actually layered infront of you VS haveing those buttons in menus.

It is also a lot faster to sequence on the motif than the others. The other cool thing about the motif compared to the others is that when you sequence using the internal sequencer and sounds, The Motif's sounds don't really need the internal effects in order to sound good. and you have the reverb and the chorus right infront of you in the sequencer for each sound. The triton's sounds and the fantom x/s's sound do need the effects in order to sound good when you using the internal sequencer. and you only have 3 INS effects with the fantom-s/x and 5 with the triton. The Motif-es has 8 ins effects which I don't use really sometimes when sequencing.

Fastest keyboard to use during live situation. here is how it ranks.

Motif-ES
Triton
Fantom-s/x

In a way the motif takes three buttons (steps) to be pressed inorder to select a sound. same for the triton, however the Fantom doesn't operate the same way as the motif and the triton do, So you have to with the fantoms to scroll and go through sounds in order to get the sound you want. The reason I ranked the motif-es first before the supposedly "touch screen=easy" triton was because when you select sounds in the motif, you are actually pressing real buttons so it's hard to miss and you can press it as hard as you can, The triton has it's touch screen for the secound and third step in order to select a sound and sometimes it doesn't click(touch) or you miss it sometimes because touch screens are sometimes not as fast as you are. Touch screens are not (IMHO) as reliable as real buttons.

This is My 2 cents from using all three in those three different citations. I thought you should know.





[This message has been edited by vic83 (edited 03-28-2005).]