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Author Topic: Roland FA-6 & FA-8  (Read 10574 times)
propellerhead1969
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« on: February 06, 2014, 04:49:52 PM »

In light of recent events(2 of my PC's crapping out),I had to completely re-think my strategy,in terms of what will be the mainstay in my studio.Mac's are too pricey(& susceptible to viruses also)and I've had my fill of Windows-based issues.
That being said,I am very nervous about relying on only one PC to make music & the prospect of making another big investment into a PC is just as precarious as choosing another piece of hardware.


However though,to my most profound surprise,Roland has done a complete 180 and has come up with the perfect solution to my workstation problems!   Let me preface this article by saying that-although I've always had a fondness for Roland's signature sounds & effects,I felt that,in the workstation arena,they've always managed to implement their functionality in such a way where they took their grandiose ideas and applied them into a hardware configuration that was insufficient to support them,in terms of memory and reliability.

As a result of this,I predicted that either one of two things would happen,that either Roland was going to withdraw from furnishing any further workstation keyboards altogether,or that they were going to do a complete overhaul and reinvent the workstation.
To my delight,Roland has done the latter and has actually revolutionized the hardware workstation in a manner I thought I would never see..especially from Roland! The radically new features of the upcoming FA-series is more pragmatic than I would have imagined coming from any company out there & quite honestly,it's about time!

As one would expect,the FA-series has all of the usual refinements...16 track sequencer,large LCD screen,computer integration..etc.,...but what makes the FA-series distinctive,is the enormous amount of sounds,effects,expand-ability,processing speed and overall innovation,& all at a mid-level budget!

To begin outlining the feature set,the FA-series is based upon Roland's flagship Integra-7 module and has over 2,000 onboard sounds...including Roland's Supernatural,V-Drum,Fantom and various other legacy sounds.
The FA-series's internal memory that houses all of these sounds,appears to be SD 2.0 flash memory and subsequently,the external memory cards the FA supports(which by the way,can be upgraded to as much as 32GB's!

The FA-series is replete with exciting new features,but the 3 that really stand out for me,would be that the boot-up time to load all of the content stored on this keyboard,is only 8 seconds!It's important to note,that one should not be deceived by the rapid load time,because actually,there is a tremendous amount of content,when you factor in not only the factory data...but also all of the expansion libraries that will be available,as well as all of the user sample data storage.
Speaking of additional content,not only is there preset synth data available(which can be found at axial.roland.com),but there will also be WAV data to download...such as SRX and Supernatural libraries!
The FA does not have SRX card expansion slots or any other sound cards for that matter,as the FA has 2 internal storage modules.
Since the FA supports as musch as 32GB SD cards,this lends a lot of power to the on-board sampling capabilties-which in a sense,makes the FA a self contained audio recorder.

The single most outstanding feature of the FA-series for me personally,is the FA's amazing array of export capabilties,as not only can you export midi files & stereo WAV files,but also multi-track stems(just like you would in a conventional computer DAW)!!
 
Due to these wonderful export options,I can easily bypass the FA's computer integration mode,if I find that the configuration is too tedious and complicated for me and while we're on this topic,it's important to note that in addition to the existing templates for Sonar,Cubase,Logic & DP...Roland will have future templates for some other popular DAW's as well.

Given the staggering amount of expand-ability,flexibility,ease of use,along with the low cost...this alleviates my debate as to what to add next in my studio...with the one exception being...whether to go for the 61 or 88 key version.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DPgolpHc10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqT0KNR9Pt4

FA-6: $1,199
FA-8: $1,799


-Thom


* FA-06_DR_600.jpg (3173.74 KB, 3097x1414 - viewed 790 times.)
« Last Edit: February 06, 2014, 10:51:47 PM by propellerhead1969 » Logged
folderol
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« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2014, 06:41:00 PM »

Impressive bit of kit there.
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If you have a poem, I have a tune, and we exchange these, we can both have a poem, a tune, and a song.
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Oren
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« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2014, 08:26:04 AM »

I steer away from Roland products, in general, Pilgrim. Too much "show", and not nearly enough "go" - at least in their guitar and bass gear.

In your shoes, I'd learn Linux and continue with controller keyboards and computer-based software.
It ain't easy, but working with the best rarely is... Afro
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propellerhead1969
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« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2014, 03:19:03 PM »

I steer away from Roland products, in general, Pilgrim. Too much "show", and not nearly enough "go" - at least in their guitar and bass gear.

In your shoes, I'd learn Linux and continue with controller keyboards and computer-based software.
It ain't easy, but working with the best rarely is... Afro

I hear you loud a clear friend,which is why I never followed through on a Roland keyboard purchase before.Like I mentioned though,Roland really seems to have done something smart this time around & I can't dismiss it(especially for the price).
I am however,open to the prospect of Linux(especially since Bitwig's new DAW will be available for this platform)...but Linux isn't a high priority for me,since there still is not very many programs that run on Linux.
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Oren
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« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2014, 07:18:50 PM »

When the time is right, here is a list of some of the more popular Linux pro-audio software tools...

https://www.linux.com/learn/docs/694629-professional-audio-production-on-linux
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propellerhead1969
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« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2014, 03:24:02 AM »

When the time is right, here is a list of some of the more popular Linux pro-audio software tools...

https://www.linux.com/learn/docs/694629-professional-audio-production-on-linux

After watching this YouTube video on Linux vs. Windows...well...I just can't stomach the thought of trying to wrestle with the deep technicalities of Linux,as I just know that I don't possess neither the temperament or brains to take all of this on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ZpDpj4nJw
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