More woe for Roland's products. I hope Roland monitors this board like several other Keyboard Manufacturers do. I am sure all this negative stuff about their products has to have some effect on their R&D $'s. If it doesn't, Roland could go down in the annals of history as the little engine that "couldn't". And sooner than we think.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, OOPS! (Time to pull out the stops Roland). Show us all and make us proud of your products again!
For your eyes only and hopefully a Key Roland Exec
"Roland Fantom S88"
Summary
Manufacturer URL
www.rolandus.com Ease of Use 3 (2 responses)
Features 5.5 (2 responses)
Expressiveness/Sounds 2.5 (2 responses)
Reliability 7 (2 responses)
Customer Support 1 (2 responses)
Overall Rating 1.5 (2 responses)
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Price Paid: US $2150
Ease of Use: 2
The version is 1. The preset sounds are disappointing to me. I think some of the sounds are good, but many of them lack the crispness and usability of other sounds I have heard recently. Someone told me the SRX sounds are better. So I have to spend more money to get the best sounds if I want them. Why? I just spent over 2 grand I should have the best sounds included! I edited a few sounds to try and make them better. The process itself is about what I expected.
Features: 6
64 note polyphony is ok, but why not 128? Some of the sounds do in fact die due to polyphony issues. That's poor programming in my book. Expansion is a huge plus and Roland has done a great job with it. I'm still waiting for a decent piano sound from them. I have accepted the fact that Yamaha makes the best piano sounds and with any Roland product, I will have to use a piano sample. It has the drum pads on top which is different and the large view screen. One minor issue I had was having to wait for almost a minute for it to go though its start cycle before it was ready to play. It has all the midi bells and whistles and a sampler to boot. Its nice to have everything together but the sampler does have some issues. I've noticed some problems with the finished samples I've done. I was able to use my friends stand alone sampler to sample the same stuff and it was so much easier to use.
Expressiveness/Sounds: 3
As stated earlier the sounds overall are disappointing. The instrument sounds leave alot to be desired. Even the SRX cards don't cut it here. The piano sound is weak and sounds like it was rushed. The woodwind sounds are ok but still would not cut it on a recording or live performance. The strings and pads are better and but still could be so much better. The SRX card for the strings is pretty good, but you gotta pay extra for something that should already be part of this keyboard. The drums are horrible and they can't be any worse, so I assume the SRX card for drums has to be better.
Reliability: 7
Most Roland stuff is prettty solid
Customer Support: N/A
unknown, never dealt with them.
Overall Rating: 1
After reading the specs I thought my dreams were answered. An all in one workstation. I preordered it about 2 months ago and couldn't wait for it to arrive. I am so pissed at myself for not waiting and trying it out before I bought it. I really thought this was a can't miss for Roland and I was wrong. I've been playing for about 20 years now. I've owned and used lots of gear in that time. Some good and some bad but never something on this level! I guess I understand now why so many people have recently switched from Roland over to other manufacturers keyboards. I really wanted to like this and was bragging to all my friends about how this is the next best thing. Knowing what I know now, I should have gotten the Yamaha Motif or S90 and built from there. I would have had a better sound bank and could have added a Korg Triton Rack down the road for the maximum in useable sounds. I just can't believe the Fantom S 88 sounds aren't better than stuff thats been out for over a year. Buying this was the biggest mistake of a musical purchase I have ever made in my life.
Submitted by T.J. at 04/30/2003 13:54
Price Paid: US $2099.00
Ease of Use: 4
The presets are average but not on par with other things out there. Yamaha's accoustical set is better and Korg strings and pads are better. Overall I prefer Yamaha, Korg and Kurweil's sound sets to this. Editing is the same as any other synth. A small learning curve to figure it out is required. If your familiar with Roland stuff, that will help. Manual is ok not any better or worse than anyone elses. It takes way too long to boot up as well.
Features: 5
It has 64 note polphony and I have had issues with a few sounds losing voices already. The action is ok but again not on par with other synths out there (ie Yamaha S90). The efffects are good and the expansion capabilities of Roland makes this a big plus, but the SRX cards are hit and miss. Some are good and some are dated. It has GM capabilities and a sequencer and sampler. Sequencer is ok and does what its supposed to. The sampler is a waste. Its very limiting and you'd be better off with a stand alone sampler if you plan to sample alot.
Expressiveness/Sounds: 2
This is where my dissapointment really hits. I expected so much with all the hype. The accoustical sounds are useable but the piano sound is muddy and unrealistic. The eps sound dated and like rehashed JV sounds. The pads and strings are ok but nothing special. The leads and basses are ok and the drums flat out stink. The hammer graded action feels wooden almost and not respresentative of a true feel. Hence it reacts to my playing poorly. I play lots of hip pop, top 40, classical and some jazz. I have had this for a few weeks now and I thought it would grow on me. Instead the more I use it, the less I like it. My band members didn't particularly care for the sounds on it and want me to get my old gear back and so do I.
Reliability: N/A
Its new and unfair to judge at at this point.
Customer Support: 1
Had a Roland XP 80 years ago. The tech support has been and continues to be horrible!
Overall Rating: 2
I've had this for about 3 weeks now. I decided to wait and give it a chance before I passed judgment. In all honesty I may have rated it better had I done this review earlier. I parted with a Yamaha S90 and Korg Triton Rack to get this based on the hype, specs and advice of what others had who played it said. I preordered it and couldn't wait for it to arrive. After going through the sounds initially, I was missing my S90's and Tritons sound banks big time. The more I played it, the more I regretted my purchase. The sampler is a waste of space as I had issues with it and Roland tech support didn't have a clue about the machine at all. They kept telling me I was doing everything right, yet my samples sounded inaccurate. This is supposed to be the new flagship workstation for Roland and instead its a dud. I know some people may like it but I know alot won't like it as well. I think the Roland XV 88 is a better value and more usable than this. If this was stolen I would be happy, file with my insurance company and get my S90 and triton rack again. The sounds on the Fantom S88 just aren't as good as other things out there already. Before you get sucked into the hype, listen for yourself and compare it to other things before you buy it.
Submitted by Rick Stone at 04/28/2003 15:07
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