I was thinking of the Roland Fantom G as an OASY'S "Complimenter" that i have, But may hold back if there are too many negatives on the Fantom. I thought it was supposed to be a "M3 killer" - and even snapping on the heals of the Oasy's
What do people make of the Sequencer on the Fantom G, compared to the "X-Panded M3?. I'd like an M3, but as a owner of an Oasys' I wondering if there may be too much of a "sound-Clash" as the M3 does, after all, have "best of the oasys' sounds... + with the x-panded set, I hear there are some sounds from the Oasys' EX3 brass sounds/samples?
One of the reasons for me wanting the Roland, was for a completly different sound set, and the fact that it has a two(?) slots for XV/JV expansion cards (I think). Always liked the Roland XV cards - orchestral vocal etc, but never had chance to try one (a Roland JV/XV of any kind). I neary had a Fantopm (original) 5 years ago, but went for the Triton Studio - for it's Sampling/Hard drive - and overall "professionalism over the Roalnd. How time flies
There have been more people buy and return Fantom G's than any other other workstation since the Alesis Fusion. .
Silverdragonsound
Is this an assumption or have you got evidence/proof of this?
AnthonyB
KORG KRONOS 88-Korg D3200-Casio Privia PX-830BP-KAWAI RX-2 Grand Piano
Sequencing: KRONOS/Cubase/Cubasis/iPad air2
There have been more people buy and return Fantom G's than any other other workstation since the Alesis Fusion. .
Silverdragonsound
Is this an assumption or have you got evidence/proof of this?
AnthonyB
I consider it pretty reliable proof but you may not. I know someone who possess this type of information. This person has given me information in the past that has been true and has yet to offer me information that hasn't been correct. He has given information on new keyboards before they are released, he has told me of discontinued items before they are announced as examples. In the past he has given me information regarding sales and other tidbits regarding keyboards. In trying to keep things balanced, I always say to believe things you read on the internet with a certain amount of skeptism as nothing is ever absolute. Maybe not the answer you wanted or hoped for, but I am trying to give the best and honest answer I can give here.
Of course one day there will be a successor to every keyboard currently on the market. The manufacturers will never stop developing new stuff. Korg only just released the M50 so I don't think a successor to the M3 is anywhere close. The next keyboards to be released willl be the OS2 version of the Pa2x and Pa800 (this month), then the Ketron Audya (maybe in a year's time .
I think there is a lot of misinformation about the Fantom G - it is a great workstation - but maybe not as immediate as some would like. a lot of its so called 'issues' are because people dont spend enought time to get to know how it works. I looked at both the Yam XS and M3 and decided that the versitility of the G was what i needed. Its sequencer is way better than the M3 and is easy to understand than the XS. I upgraded from a Fantom X and a Motif ES. but if I did have a secons synth, the M3 would probably be the one.
omnipotentrb wrote:I heard there might be an M4, is that true? I would hate to spend 2g on the M3 to know that later there would be an M4...
People keep mentioning this, it's wishful thinking. several representatives from Korg have inferred that the "M" label is used in their milestone workstations, M1... M2 (Trinity)...M3/M50...M4 would be the next generation of workstations, if they follow this same pattern. They still have tons of OASYS technology to funnel into new products first, though. The M4 will probably make breakfast for you, and sing you to sleep at night. It's too early for a new workstation, they're still doing so well with the M3.
BTW Is the Ketron Audya ever going to be released? i feel like i've been hearing about it for years
I think the aftermath of the world recession is that most manufacturers are far more likely to introduce "dumbed down" products for the masses rather than high end products for the elite. I think the Yamaha Motif, Roland Fantom, Korg M3, Korg Pa2x and Open Labs Neko are the highest end workstation products we will see for the next 2 years.
The Korg M50 and Korg Pa588 are "dumbed down" cost reduced versions of predecessor products. I expect this trend will continue until the world economy fully recovers.
PS According to Douglas Adams, the Magarathean's went into hibernation only to be awakened when the galactic stock exchange index indicated that people could purchase custom-built planets once more. Of course the destruction of Earth and Slartibartfast handling the mice's order for a rebuild was just a special case
omnipotentrb wrote:In your opinion, what is the best keyboard now, speaking of the M3,XS and G? I've decided to be patient and wait before purchasing the M3. I was wondering if it would still be the best decision for me. By the way im a producer and produce mainly R&B,Pop and HipHop.
Mainly R&B, and Hip Hop. Go for the M3, no doubt about it. Better overall punch.
For pop songs, go for the XS, more natural.
I had both. Sold the XS, stayed at M3. Just more fun to play.
Yeah, I throw my hat in the M3 ring too. I still have an XS that I'm planning on selling. For my tastes though, none of the big 3 are the "complete solution". A lot of this comes down to deciding whether to go dedicated all-in-one, like the big three, or jump down the rabbit hole of software, which is limitless but less desirable/reliable for live performance.
But, at least for me, with products like the Muse Receptor, the whole proposition of cobbling together your own system and being able to gig with it seems much more doable and appealing.
I've grown to intensely dislike technology in music when it turns me more into an engineer and doesn't deliver as readily as I'd like on the promise of turning me in to the Renaissance man who can do almost anything. I've thought of the top of the line workstations as the way to get more musical satisfaction and reliability and less technological hassle. I WAS WRONG.
After 2 years of wrestling with the XS to do basic things like manage my files (having the desired samples/programs/combis organized for ready use), I said, screw this, I'm not playing in this camp anymore, this is a freakin' ridiculous amount of work and hassle, Yamaha did not take care of the basics.
The M3 appeals to me by contrast for simple things like being able to re-name and change even the presets and categories for sounds, having pads (which are a lesson in and of themselves in gorgeous chord voicings that most of them have), the touch screen, and I find the sounds much more to my liking- there's a lushness and playability to many of them that inspire me that i didn't experience nearly as much with the XS (contrary to the hype that the XS has better overall sounds: make sure you listen to the Xpanded samples). Add in the Radias board and it's a viable alternative to the XS.
The biggest dissapointments for me with switching to M3 is the lack of a second control pedal input, and a relatively small, unsupported forum/community: the XS forum benefits from a LOT of expert help from Yamaha, and the help with problems is 4 or 5 times what you get on this forum (I'm guessing largely because it's got more members, and more of them seem to be technically inclined).
But overall, it's an investment of time if you're going to use your board for sampling, sequencing, making it live performance ready, etc. Once you go beneath the easy-to-understand surface level, all 3 of these boards require you to invest serious time and patience in learning their system. The software option, as cumbersome and frankenstenian as that feels, is a viable option once you realize that the all-in-one promise of these high end boards is realized only by the few who have geek inclinations and a lot of motivation and time.
The biggest dissapointments for me with switching to M3 is the lack of a second control pedal input
Try the FCB1010 - available new on Ebay for $150 - It provides you with 10 programmable footswitches and 2 programmable continuous controller pedals, and there's PC based software to program it up. It's very sturdy and great for use with M3.
The XS forum benefits from a LOT of expert help from Yamaha, and the help with problems is 4 or 5 times what you get on this forum (I'm guessing largely because it's got more members, and more of them seem to be technically inclined).
As well as this forum there is the M3 section on the Karma Lab forum and Karma Lab wiki site and taking the three sites together I think the level of competence and help at least rivals that on the XS forum. There is frequent help from two Korg people - jerrythek and richf - whose competence easily rivals Yamaha people, plus Stephen Kay the inventor of Karma and co-developer of the M3 whose competence and help way exceeds what you get from Yamaha.
Randelph wrote:But overall, it's an investment of time if you're going to use your board for sampling, sequencing, making it live performance ready, etc. Once you go beneath the easy-to-understand surface level, all 3 of these boards require you to invest serious time and patience in learning their system. The software option, as cumbersome and frankenstenian as that feels, is a viable option once you realize that the all-in-one promise of these high end boards is realized only by the few who have geek inclinations and a lot of motivation and time.
Viable, but still not as appealing to me as the M3, which is a lot easier to take to a perforamance than a computer-based rig.
Keven Spargo, Sound Designer www.ksounds.com
Now available: Organimation - Massive B3 organ upgrade for the M3!
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