Fantom news from Roland

D575 · Post by **D575** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 10:21 am

Broadwave wrote:
D575 wrote:https://www.gearnews.com/rolands-fantom ... added-acb/

https://youtu.be/mVCTwc_m-3s?si=dRkTZ4k-B511EsY1

https://youtu.be/9jrc_x9UFtk?si=sDe9cHVeZ8ZELZDS
A bit of a shame for those of us who have already bought the n/Zyme for £145, and now have to pay £201 for the EX upgrade that includes the n/Zyme!

It doesn't seem quite right somehow.

Yes I can understand that, maybe it is a sign of the times and Yamaha might also follow this trend with the new Montage M series? Time will tell of course.

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 10:34 am

Fantom EX - can't wait to get into it.... Santa is wrapping it for me as we speak...

D575 · Post by **D575** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 1:02 pm

karmathanever wrote:Fantom EX - can't wait to get into it.... Santa is wrapping it for me as we speak...

Good news, I have eyed Fantom before i purchased Montage M, but if my Jupiter-80 ever fails, I think this would be a good replacement now, if not even better in many ways ?

And i could probably at that point also sell my Integra 7 as Fantom would be more than adequate...

Humm, Food for thought

Broadwave · Post by **Broadwave** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 1:16 pm

Well, I can confirm that the Jupiter 8 ACB plug-in is 8 voices, although I've not tested it against Zen Core, SN-A, VPiano etc to see if the voice count changes - I suspect it won't as I believe it occupies it's own DSP.

I've listened to the ACB JP-8 against the Zen Model JP-8, and honestly, I really can't tell that much difference. I'm more impressed with the German Grand and JD800 additions.

bpoodoo · Post by **bpoodoo** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 7:39 pm

I'm not sure what to think about this.

Available for purchase in Roland Cloud Manager $199 USD.

Software updates to workstations are usually expected to free. Didn't the customer already pay enough up-front for the price of the keyboard?

That said, I recognize this update is actually an upgrade that adds lots of new content and features to a workstation keyboard designed to allow such extensibility.

So, maybe it's worth it. Perhaps Roland wouldn't have even undertaken the effort to make the upgrade if they didn't expect to recoup their development costs for it.

Koekepan · Post by **Koekepan** » Thu Nov 09, 2023 8:09 pm

Roland's pushing of their cloud system has been one of the biggest turn-offs I've had. It's been years since I bought anything from them, and I don't see that changing.

And I know that I'm not alone in this.

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Fri Nov 10, 2023 4:10 am

Koekepan wrote:Roland's pushing of their cloud system has been one of the biggest turn-offs I've had. It's been years since I bought anything from them, and I don't see that changing.

I don't have a problem with Roland's cloud service at all - in the end it is no different to Korg shop purchases in terms of licensing, ownership and selling up/buying used etc....
...in fact, it is a great way to keep up to date with offerings and updates for the products you already own.

What is your problem with it? (just curious - maybe it is something I haven't considered)

Koekepan · Post by **Koekepan** » Fri Nov 10, 2023 4:52 am

Problem a)

I live in a rural area with iffy internet and limited bandwidth. Cloud anything is a problem.

Problem b)

I don't do subscriptions for tools. Either I buy them outright, or I find a substitute (and it's not as if there aren't abundant substitutes).

Problem c)

I want final purchases, not things that can disappear when a computer has a bad hair day, or the person running the computer has a bad hair day, or the company providing it all has a bad hair day (example: books vanishing from Amazon's Kindle).

I realise full well that nothing is forever, and synths need maintenance just like anything else, but if I tuck a KORG Kross into a bag along with a bunch of batteries and headphones and hike up a mountain, I can compose a symphony regardless of what KORG feels about it or whether any computers are running or whether I paid them some kind of bribe just to keep using it.

I don't care if everyone else uses the Roland Cloud and has nonstop bliss like a bunch of junkies getting their fix; it's not for me, and won't be. It's not a model that I appreciate.

D575 · Post by **D575** » Fri Nov 10, 2023 5:31 am

Broadwave wrote:
D575 wrote:https://www.gearnews.com/rolands-fantom ... added-acb/

https://youtu.be/mVCTwc_m-3s?si=dRkTZ4k-B511EsY1

https://youtu.be/9jrc_x9UFtk?si=sDe9cHVeZ8ZELZDS
A bit of a shame for those of us who have already bought the n/Zyme for £145, and now have to pay £201 for the EX upgrade that includes the n/Zyme!

It doesn't seem quite right somehow.

https://youtube.com/shorts/s1i3-N2DNPI? ... wKYSc9xY8T

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Fri Nov 10, 2023 10:55 am

Customer service!!!

Broadwave · Post by **Broadwave** » Mon Nov 13, 2023 12:14 pm

karmathanever wrote:Customer service!!!

I contacted Roland via the Cloud App about having paid a total of £337.97 for both the previous n/zyme and latest EX upgrades, and they have kindly refunded £121.56.

So the EX upgrade has only cost me £80, which I'm very happy with and only took two days to sort out.

So, if you don't receive an email regarding this situation, contact Roland directly.

D575 · Post by **D575** » Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:36 am

https://www.gearnews.com/roland-galaxia ... -them-all/

https://www.roland.com/uk/products/rc_galaxias/