The Roland Connect countdown clock expired...

http://www.rolandconnect.com/product.php?p=fa-08

Look at the large color screen... why not in the BK-9?

Also the next stage piano RD-800

http://www.rolandconnect.com/product.php?p=rd-800

Yes, it's great that Roland has come back with an affordable workstation!
From the description however, there is not really an Integra inside, the choice of acoustic supernatural sounds is reduced, and there is no SRX library on board (to me the best part of the Integra). But (!) there are expansion slots.
So depending on the further details, it still might be very interesting!

The FA-06 is only 12 pounds!!!

You can download the whole integra 7 library for free... including the SRX libraries... and its a free download... its a workstation that you can set up as you would like to..

For that price its an incredible instrument.. and if done right, the fully automated DAW integration could be priceless..

Very cool new boards. Love the color screen on the FA-06 but don't know if I would of liked to pay the extra $$$ to have it on the BK9. I'm getting and IPAD which I can take away from the keyboard and use for multiple purposes. More versatile setup IMHO.

The RD800 sure sounds great and I bet the weighted keyboard feels good to.
Nice and solid board at a bag of popcorn under 48 lbs. LOL
They must of been spying on Kurtzweil. Another piece for the studio / home.

That must definitely be completely wrong. You cannot download the SRX library for free. It involves thousands of waveforms! There are only two slots for additional waveforms in the FA. In the Integra each of the 12 SRX boards requires one slot, the Integra can use 4 boards simultaneously as it has 4 slots. You can download all the sound collections, but not the SRX library with all its waveforms. Don't mix up sounds versus waveforms. Everything offered for the Integra on Axial only consits of reprogrammed sounds using the waveforms that are already inside the Integra! But only new waveforms would really bring you completely new acoustic sounds. (For the FA, you will be able to download sounds including waveforms for the 2 slots, but so far there is no information about the size of these collections - it won't be the complete SRX library fitting into those 2 slots, you can be sure about that.)
Roland themselves emphasize on roland.com that the FA provides a selection of the Integra, but the Integra remains the sound flagship.

The expansion slot might be the same slot that is on the BK-9.

This definitely looks like BK body construction and design... Very light, but probably not as durable as their previous generation WS's.

And no touch screen? How could Roland have got it SO right, then stepped back so far? It seems that cost trumps everything, and these idiots are willing to compromise function to save a few dollars. That's the sort of short term thinking that gave us the BK series.

Price is what is going to determine how well this does. The MotifXF series is king of the roost at the moment, I don't see this supplanting it... Unless it is more in the range of a MOXF series.

Just like the arranger line, it seems Roland are doubling down on abandoning the TOTL, $3000 range WS market.

Motif XF is far from being king of the Roost.... did you never hear of the Korg Kronos?


And for $800 that FA61 is a big deal... the best you probably can get for so few dollars... Obviously Roland left the top segment of Keyboards back in the past... And they are trying as much as possible, reusing the same old technollogy over and over..

But then, it is probably the best workstation you can buy for that low price..

Well, I'm afraid I rarely see a Kronos played on TV, but Motif's are in almost every show. I wasn't talking 'king' based on capabilities, simply widespread use.