New Roland products launched worldwide today - Roland E-newsletter January 2008
- Thread starter bongman
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Cheez
Moderator
Bongman....you are fast! You beat me to it!
More info on the US website with video. http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=918&ParentId=83
Roland did it again! The most important key elements of the G series (to me) will be:
1. ARX - info on how they did this is not detailed enough...yet. What does "Supernatural" mean? But they did say that extensive sampling and modelling is used. So it should be a quantum leap from their SRX series. Demo is not out yet...
2. Large LCD with mouse connectivity. Roland is really trying to bridge the gap between PC sequencing and build-in keyboard sequencing. One of the reasons people use PC/notebook is the ease of sequencing - basically large monitor with mouse. Now with these 2 build in, the gap narrows further. Very clever of Roland.
3. Large DSP (up to 22 simultaneous DSP). That means smooth transition when switching between patches.
4. And of course, for the 88 key - their PHA II keys.
Can't wait for more demos to be out!
More info on the US website with video. http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=918&ParentId=83
Roland did it again! The most important key elements of the G series (to me) will be:
1. ARX - info on how they did this is not detailed enough...yet. What does "Supernatural" mean? But they did say that extensive sampling and modelling is used. So it should be a quantum leap from their SRX series. Demo is not out yet...
2. Large LCD with mouse connectivity. Roland is really trying to bridge the gap between PC sequencing and build-in keyboard sequencing. One of the reasons people use PC/notebook is the ease of sequencing - basically large monitor with mouse. Now with these 2 build in, the gap narrows further. Very clever of Roland.
3. Large DSP (up to 22 simultaneous DSP). That means smooth transition when switching between patches.
4. And of course, for the 88 key - their PHA II keys.
Can't wait for more demos to be out!
Cheez
Moderator
Also announced the RD-700GX. This time - PHA II WITH ESCAPEMENT!!! I don't believe they actually build in escapement into the RD series (previously only available in their higher end KR digital grand series). For those who are new to escapement - in real piano key, after pressing the keys down fully, you can press another slight notch deeper like a catch. This is the escapement feature. Won't find this except in real pianos.
I'm glad that they included the Supernatural Epiano sound in the RD700GX. But what I can't understand is why they didn't make it ARX expandable. They can only take in SRX. This is really disappointing.
I'm glad that they included the Supernatural Epiano sound in the RD700GX. But what I can't understand is why they didn't make it ARX expandable. They can only take in SRX. This is really disappointing.
iansoh
Moderator
The mouse connectivity sounds interesting.
so like the other big two, we don't see anything particularly fascinating from the hardware synth scene.
would like to clear up on the definition of escapement:
we know that the hammers on the piano are attached by a complex series of levers to the back end of the each key. if a piano didn't have escapement, then depressing the key for a prolonged period would cause the hammer to stick to the string and damp it.
escapement was introduced to eliminate this. so whenever a key is depressed, the hammer is actually thrown forward and released just before it hits the string, and subsequently it bounces back to rest away from the string. this picture illustrates this point.
this bounce-back can be felt by the pianist as a very slight resistance when the hammer falls back to rest position.
found this forum of ppl discussing roland's escapement feature: http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=004196;p=0
so like the other big two, we don't see anything particularly fascinating from the hardware synth scene.
would like to clear up on the definition of escapement:
we know that the hammers on the piano are attached by a complex series of levers to the back end of the each key. if a piano didn't have escapement, then depressing the key for a prolonged period would cause the hammer to stick to the string and damp it.
escapement was introduced to eliminate this. so whenever a key is depressed, the hammer is actually thrown forward and released just before it hits the string, and subsequently it bounces back to rest away from the string. this picture illustrates this point.
this bounce-back can be felt by the pianist as a very slight resistance when the hammer falls back to rest position.
found this forum of ppl discussing roland's escapement feature: http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=004196;p=0
bangbangbang2000
New member
who is joel68 ?
Cheez
Moderator
The Fantom has never been a hit with those electronica sounds like Korg. It's those that the ribbon controller will make a real difference. But Roland did try to emerge into the electronic music market with their V-synth. Their vector control an X-Y controller, very much like a ribbon controller with 2 axis. When Roland start running out of ideas, they may merge the Fantom and the V-synth into a one-in-all workstation combing the synthesis engines. Then we'll see the vector controller in their workstations. I don't see that happening soon. There's good sense to separate the 2 - so people will have to buy both if they want them.
Cheez
Moderator
The videos are out. Both on the Roland site and on Harmony Central's NAMM coverage.
For the Fantom Gs, I think Roland has really thought of this one quite well. Now it's beginning to look more like a DAW in a keyboard. Audio files can be recorded directly into the workstation and manipulated like you would on a DAW software. That can be mixed with the midi files etc. And also the number of DSP is startling - 22 simulataneous effects is not a small deal! It's really becoming to look like a NEKO, but runs on it's own engine and not Windows (Windows will have their own bloat and fluffs). Of course, there will be hardware limitations, so we have to check them out to see how much can actually be done on their engine. Furthermore, Roland has announced that they have acquired the majority of the shares of Cakewalk (look at Cakewalk's website and you'll see "Cakewalk by Roland"). Roland products are now bundled with Sonar LE. And you can be sure that the future of their workstations will be more seamless integration with Sonar. From the way they are developing their keyboards (into a DAW-like interface), integration with DAW software will be important. Yamaha hasn't figured out what people are looking for nowadays yet, and so although Steinberg and Yamaha have a partnership, Cubase and Yamaha's products are still very separate entities. So now we have the big players fighting out - Roland + Cakewalk vs Yamaha + Steinberg. Korg....anybody got any ideas? Perhaps they are still stuck in their OASYS mode and hope people will have money to buy them.
The RD700GX is also pretty impressive on the videos. They have included their audio key feature. Smart. That was in their other models, but make sense to include it in their stage pianos. That means the ability to manipulate wav/aiff/mp3 audio files from a USB drive and have them spliced into different sections (main verse, chorus, bridge, intro etc) and trigger each part (with the ability to pre-cue) with the lower end of the keyboard. There's also the ability to do live time-stretching and transposition of the audio files. I thought this is very well thought of. Most of my sequences are done with high quality samples. So to reproduce that, I would have to bring my notebook. Now, I can leave my PC at home and do the sample sequencing there. The final product is stored in my keyboard. So I don't have to bring my notebook anymore. The one keyboard is sufficient. And I have to ability to re-arrange the song on the spot instead of relying just on playback which doesn't let you edit anything live. So if the singer chooses to change the arrangement of the song on the spot (or in a church setting - during when we never know which verse will be repeated and how many times beforehand - everything is live), we can now change the sequences of the song - live. Kind of like having Ableton Live in the keyboard. And 8 DSPs is pretty impressive. Looks like the smaller brother RD300GX has most of the functions except they do not have SRX expansion slots and fewer sounds and no Supernatural epiano sounds.
As usual, Roland has thought of this one pretty well. RD700 to RD700SX wasn't much of an improvement. But RD700SX to RD700GX is definitely one step ahead. Definitely want to try them out.
For the Fantom Gs, I think Roland has really thought of this one quite well. Now it's beginning to look more like a DAW in a keyboard. Audio files can be recorded directly into the workstation and manipulated like you would on a DAW software. That can be mixed with the midi files etc. And also the number of DSP is startling - 22 simulataneous effects is not a small deal! It's really becoming to look like a NEKO, but runs on it's own engine and not Windows (Windows will have their own bloat and fluffs). Of course, there will be hardware limitations, so we have to check them out to see how much can actually be done on their engine. Furthermore, Roland has announced that they have acquired the majority of the shares of Cakewalk (look at Cakewalk's website and you'll see "Cakewalk by Roland"). Roland products are now bundled with Sonar LE. And you can be sure that the future of their workstations will be more seamless integration with Sonar. From the way they are developing their keyboards (into a DAW-like interface), integration with DAW software will be important. Yamaha hasn't figured out what people are looking for nowadays yet, and so although Steinberg and Yamaha have a partnership, Cubase and Yamaha's products are still very separate entities. So now we have the big players fighting out - Roland + Cakewalk vs Yamaha + Steinberg. Korg....anybody got any ideas? Perhaps they are still stuck in their OASYS mode and hope people will have money to buy them.
The RD700GX is also pretty impressive on the videos. They have included their audio key feature. Smart. That was in their other models, but make sense to include it in their stage pianos. That means the ability to manipulate wav/aiff/mp3 audio files from a USB drive and have them spliced into different sections (main verse, chorus, bridge, intro etc) and trigger each part (with the ability to pre-cue) with the lower end of the keyboard. There's also the ability to do live time-stretching and transposition of the audio files. I thought this is very well thought of. Most of my sequences are done with high quality samples. So to reproduce that, I would have to bring my notebook. Now, I can leave my PC at home and do the sample sequencing there. The final product is stored in my keyboard. So I don't have to bring my notebook anymore. The one keyboard is sufficient. And I have to ability to re-arrange the song on the spot instead of relying just on playback which doesn't let you edit anything live. So if the singer chooses to change the arrangement of the song on the spot (or in a church setting - during when we never know which verse will be repeated and how many times beforehand - everything is live), we can now change the sequences of the song - live. Kind of like having Ableton Live in the keyboard. And 8 DSPs is pretty impressive. Looks like the smaller brother RD300GX has most of the functions except they do not have SRX expansion slots and fewer sounds and no Supernatural epiano sounds.
As usual, Roland has thought of this one pretty well. RD700 to RD700SX wasn't much of an improvement. But RD700SX to RD700GX is definitely one step ahead. Definitely want to try them out.
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Cheez
Moderator
With Roland's Fantom G series using a DAW-like interface, we can expect future releases for the interface to start looking more and more like Sonar. This will keep it above the other competitors. And I'm sure import and export will be seamless integration with Sonar.
Korg...really don't know what they are planning. Ableton Live maybe? Not many software DAWs left!!! And Ableton is not a standard DAW interface. Unlikely to come up with their own DAW since that will mean siphoning manpower and research into a totally different area (software) which they have no expertise. And it will be hard to compete. So what's left is for them to continue develop their touch interface, making it look more like what Fantom G can do. But if the pricing is going to be at the range of the OASYS, then they are in trouble.
Korg...really don't know what they are planning. Ableton Live maybe? Not many software DAWs left!!! And Ableton is not a standard DAW interface. Unlikely to come up with their own DAW since that will mean siphoning manpower and research into a totally different area (software) which they have no expertise. And it will be hard to compete. So what's left is for them to continue develop their touch interface, making it look more like what Fantom G can do. But if the pricing is going to be at the range of the OASYS, then they are in trouble.
bangbangbang2000
New member
will the oasys price ever drop below $7000 ?
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