Roland Fantom-G7

As an experienced user i would say that it is not a huge improvement from the earlier models with some major ommissions, ie extract feature on sequencer.The presets are not bad but i still struggle to understand why there is not more wave ram in these machines.

The feature set is lacking and i think it will depend on future updates as to what this machine will be capable of.

The biggest let down on this machine is quality piano sounds and i hope roland produces good quality arx expansions in the future . Considering the excellent piano sounds roland are capable of this machine is a disgrace come on Roland buck up.

I would imagine as with all roland products it is well made and will be very reliable

Roland support is ok , but really they are struggling with this one as it is an unfinished product and all they could say to me was that the things that are missing will be addressed in future software updates , great will they be i wonder.

I would not buy this again at present depending on what roland do with future software updates. With the huge flexibility offered these days by computers and software i do not feel that rolands hype machine are really making the most of modern technology.

I updated the OS to version 1.10 when I got it home (so I could try out the multisampling feature). It was previously at 1.02. The presets are what killed this machine for me. I was really stoked about the live mode and the number of effects processors, but the sounds themselves are generally "same old Roland." Sure, there are some new things in the wave ROM, but I think (and I'm not alone) that Roland left out some of the best SRX stuff...this was a golden opportunity and it was missed by a mile. The first 70+ patches are variations on acoustic pianos and none of them sound all that convincing. There are also lots of groups of patches that sound virtually the same and are named the same (with the addition of a number at the end to differentiate them). I'm certain Roland's voicing team could have shown off that 256MB of wave ROM more effectively than duplicating voices with small tweaks applied and burning them into read-only patch memory...seems such a waste. There are also no new effects algorithms, it's the same set as what was availble in the Fantom X. Editing patches via the huge color LCD screen is fairly easy and you can use a USB mouse to navigate. During the brief time I owned the G7 (before returning it), I did notice a few inconsistencies in a couple of the editing screens where the mouse wouldn't perform a particular function upon entering the screen unless/until I used one of the arrow keys to move the cursor first.

Polyphony is the same as the Fantom X, 128. The G7's keyboard action had more in common with the older Fantom FA-76 then the X6/X7. Unfortunately, I never liked the FA-76 keyboard and am not a fan of the G7's either. Like I said, built-in effects are the same as on the Fantom X *but* there are a whole bunch more of them now (something like 22). Each batch in sequencing mode can have its own insert effect, which is something I've been hoping for for a long, long, long time. There are expansion capabilities, but the G no longer accepts SRX boards. The new board is called ARX and the machines take two of these. They are supposedly capable of supporting new synth engines of some sort, but as of yet there are only two available: one for drums and one for electric pianos. The new ARX boards that are out are pretty impressive and powerful, but Roland has not introduced any others in the series and that's not likely to happen until NAMM next year. With any luck, we'll see a virtual analog synth or B3 emulation. There is an on-board sequencer with an insane number of tracks (128 midi + 24 audio or something like that). I have a software-based studio, so I couldn't care less about sequencing in a keyboard...not sure why anybody would these days unless you needed backing tracks for playing live or wanted to be able to scratchpad ideas away from your studio (which isn't a bad idea).

Not really any new sonic ground here. Roland have rehashed a bunch of the Fantom, SonicCell and SRX boards (and have left out most of what I liked about the SRX-07). I really wanted to love this synth, but I can't get my head around it sonically. It is bold, bright and punchy as hell, but it really needed a wave ROM refresh and a crack voicing team to bring out the best in it. The onboard effects are the same as the Fantom X series...they work, but that area could have been beefed up significantly as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't. One a positive note, aftertouch is much easier to trigger on this keybed than it is on my Fantom X.

I think it's build well and would last for a long time!

I haven't dealt with Roland concerning the G, but I have called them in the past and spoke with the same person on two different occasions. He was somewhat rude and not very helpful. I did, however, submit an email request recently and got a very nice response.

I wouldn't buy this again unless Roland dropped the price considerably and came out with virtual analog and B3 emulation ARX boards. I have been playing almost 40 years and own several Roland and Korg boards.