Roland Fantom G: Will Roland ever make another Synth/Workstation to replace the Fantom Series

[keysrichard]

Will Roland release a keyboard to rival the Korg Kronos and the new Yamaha Montage you know made out of "Aluminum etc." it's been about 8 years since they discontinued the Fantom. The FA-Series isn't the same(it's an Ok board but it's a Mid-Level Plastic product, the new JUNO DS is good as well but it doesn't compete with a Montage or Kronos.

 

[happyrat1]

Let's face facts.

Plastic is cheaper to tool and manufacture. (lower price to the end consumer)

Plastic is much lighter. (players are tired of hauling 70 lb boards around from gig to gig)

Modern plastics (when properly designed) are pretty much nearly as strong as standard steel or aluminum cases. Carbon Fiber plastics are even stronger!! Plus manufacturers don't want boards to survive 30 or 40 years. They want to sell you the latest and greatest every 10 years or so. Electrolytic caps tend to die on the boards after 15 to 20 years anyway.

Welcome to the cheaper, lighter, disposable world of the 21st century. If I were you, I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for the metal dinosaurs to return. Aside from a few boutique manufacturers and oddballs like MOOG and Waldorf, you can pretty much expect your Xmases to be all plastic in the future

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

If I were in a betting mood I'd wager that within the next ten years the replacements for the Korg Kronos and Yamaha Montage will be plastic or carbon fiber chassis machines.

I think Roland is ahead of the curve putting out stuff like the FA-08 which is way lower priced but cutting edge technologically that appeals to a broader, more lucrative audience.

If you are still willing to spend $5Kplus on a board, I'm certain they will happily accommodate you but in the meantime companies like Casio are mopping up the cheapskates with the PX-5S and PX-560m and even Korg and Yamaha pay their light bills with sales of Krome 88's and MOXF8's, not the top of the line flagships.

It's a limited market and low hanging fruit scores the bottom feeders to be the bread and butter of the industry.

I'd love a Bosendorfer Grand in my living room, but realistically speaking, my Kurzweil PC3K8 is both the heaviest and the most expensive keyboard I will ever again consider buying.

Gary

 

[keysrichard]

Let's face facts.

Plastic is cheaper to tool and manufacture. (lower price to the end consumer)

Plastic is much lighter. (players are tired of hauling 70 lb boards around from gig to gig)

Modern plastics (when properly designed) are pretty much nearly as strong as standard steel or aluminum cases. Carbon Fiber plastics are even stronger!! Plus manufacturers don't want boards to survive 30 or 40 years. They want to sell you the latest and greatest every 10 years or so. Electrolytic caps tend to die on the boards after 15 to 20 years anyway.

Welcome to the cheaper, lighter, disposable world of the 21st century. If I were you, I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for the metal dinosaurs to return. Aside from a few boutique manufacturers and oddballs like MOOG and Waldorf, you can pretty much expect your Xmases to be all plastic in the future

Gary

My point is that the big 3 usually give us choices, for instance Korg Has the Flagship KRONOS...but if you have a limited budget you can get a Korg Krome or even cheaper a Korg Kross, Yamaha Has(had) the MOTIF as well as a MOXF even a MX whereas Roland only offers the FA-series which is comparable to the mid level offerings of the other 2 companies I mentioned and yet Korg and Yamaha are still making the Aluminum "Dinosaurs" go figure.

 

[happyrat1]

First of all I don't appreciate your deleting your first response and leaving my second response completely non sequitur.

Secondly, like I said, the Big three will always have some flagship model but expect them to be plastic in the future and it's the bottom tier products that allow the big companies to experiment with low volume top tier sales.

Don't forget, in the keyboard business, a sale of a few thousand units of a particular model amounts to a commercial success and sale of ten thousand or more is the equivalent of a platinum record.

Honestly, are you the type of person who judges the value of an item solely by how much it cost retail?

If so, I have a bridge to sell to you

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Don't pretend to know me.

You asked a question and I gave you an answer and you proceeded to shit all over me because it wasn't what you wanted to hear.

This thread is unfollowed.

Blow me...

 

[happyrat1]

LOL!! you're blowing this simple question waaaaaaay out of proportion your take-away from this is the plastic versus aluminum comment I made, trying to give lessons in manufacturing cost, how manufactures think sales figures , sales forecast, economic forecast are you a Roland Representative or something that we They'll appreciate it.(NOT)don't know about , you are taking this WAAaaaaaaay too seriously dude I'm pretty sure you're a FRUSTRATED keyboard tinkerer that's mad at the world because you didn't make it to the Bigtime it was a simple rhetorical question forgive the rest of us mere mortals for asking a question...make sure you let the big manufactures know that you are out here defending their owner they'll appreciate it (NOT) U mad bro? take deep breaths everything will be alright. I know life's hard for you but it'll get better now go try to play chopsticks on your little keyboard once more...there you go. Peace Lol!! OMG Internet Trolls are out here trolling so sad.

BTW, exactly where can I pick up your latest platinum CD Mr Bigshot?

 

[keysrichard]

 

[Becky]

@keysrichard you are out of line here. I can see all of your deleted posts, and your behaviour is unacceptable - if this continues you will be banned from the forum.

 

[Fred Coulter]

It is easy when communicating electronically to type a bit stronger than you mean. Sometimes you type insulting things without meaning to.

It's also easy to defend yourself when being accused of saying insulting things. After all, you're got the right to defend yourself, right?

What I've worked out in may many years of online interactions is that if someone says you've insulted them, apologize. Don't try to explain yourself. Just apologize. After all, you don't loose anything with an apology

(Much like if someone doesn't laugh at a joke. An explained joke is usually no funnier than a joke that's not understood. Just move one.)

Unless you want to insult the person. Then go for it.

 

[keysrichard]

@keysrichard you are out of line here. I can see all of your deleted posts, and your behaviour is unacceptable - if this continues you will be banned from the forum.

Did you see the other party's condescending response to my original post? I don't appreciate being patronized (e.g. trying to explain to me how the world works, asking me if I'm one of those people that feels the more you pay for something that it makes you high brow or whatever? go back and review the whole conversation(both sides thoroughly BTW did you see his last sexually derogatory comment? well I'm sure you did see it since you can view deleted post right? but My behavior is unacceptable LOL!

 

[Becky]

My behavior is unacceptable LOL!

Correct.

If you chose to read the first response as condescending then that's up to you - as Fred rightly says, things can often come across differently online than how the poster means them.

Forums are all about people having a discussion, expressing their opinions, and learning from each other. Arguments sometime happen when there is a strong difference of opinion, and that is fine as long as it doesn't get personal. However, you decided to criticise @happyrat1 on a personal level which is where I draw the line - and yes, this is unacceptable behaviour for this forum. Please refer to Exhibit A & B below:

I'm pretty sure you're a FRUSTRATED keyboard tinkerer that's mad at the world because you didn't make it to the Bigtime it was a simple rhetorical question forgive the rest of us mere mortals for asking a question...make sure you let the big manufactures know that you are out here defending their owner they'll appreciate it (NOT) U mad bro? take deep breaths everything will be alright. I know life's hard for you but it'll get better now go try to play chopsticks on your little keyboard once more...there you go. Peace Lol!! OMG Internet Trolls are out here trolling so sad.

Oh I thought you were a little girl...because you sound like a lil BITCH! my bad.

If you cannot see that your behaviour is out of line, then it would be best for you to leave.