I remember in 2004 seeing the Fantom X for the first time and thinking it was from the future. Many years later, It still looks like it's from the future. Timeless design.
This was a really good video about the Fantom X. I have an X6 but it's been in storage and I haven't been able to use it for quite a while but I just wanted to reconnect via RU-vid for ole' time's sake. This video hit the spot. Done with great humor and great info. Thanks for 7 minutes 44 seconds of fun and information!
When I first got into making music seriously, I asked my mentor which keyboard should I get. His response was, "You can't go wrong with Roland". This was around 2000 so I got the XP-60 but I got the Fantom when it came out and eventually got the Triton and the Motif. In those days we collected gear like some of the younger guys collect VSTs nowadays lol.
@@elfenixmusico I miss those days. I haven't used either in few years I think it depends on the genre of music. Roland has always had better, more realistic "organic" sounds (pianos, strings, basses, etc.) while the Motif is better for electronic music. Both are awsome, though. I hope this helps.
I actually moved away from workstation keyboards and hardware sequencing all together after my MPC5000 power supply failed which is a well known issue with the 5000 that's a piece of junk. I moved back to software sequencing in the DAW. I gotten rid of my MPC and MOTIF ES keyboard and switched over to rack mount synths. I own just about every single sound model used through the 90s and early 2000s Hip Hop and R&B as I have the Yamaha MOTIF-Rack ES, Roland Fantom -XR, Roland Integra-7 essentially a modern XV-5080, E-MU Proteus 2000 and the E-MU Mo' Phatt sound module. I also have the Korg Triton and Trion Extreme plugins. That's pretty much every sound of that era. I'm pretty much Hybrid that uses both modern virtual instruments that I use along with my Legacy hardware collection. I got keyscape too which is super dope.
I never understood what keyboard workstations were for back in the day. Your videos on the Triton, Fantom, etc. makes it all make sense. All of your videos on the old gear, who used them, and why are great. Appreciate the knowledge, professor.
Yeah I remember this one. The Fantom X was one of my favorite pieces of great. I held on to that one for a decade. You could add a CF card to it to expand the memory via a PCMCIA card adapter in the slot on the back of the unit. You could expand the sounds with SRX cards. That grand piano was amazing tho, and you could control the sound by virtually opening the grand piano casket lid, it was dope. The FX section was dope, Everything, was good then roland released the Fantom G!
MAN, YOU WAS RIGHT ON THE MONEY when you said the two keyboards it was competing with! As soon as you said “It had some steep competition” I was like “Yep, the Triton and the Motif” and THEN you said “THE TRITON AND MOTIF” lol. I’m over here going crazy cause you remember it just as much as I do lol.
I mean those are kind of the 3 till this day Korg Kronos 2, Yamaha Montage and the Roland New Fantom. They’re the big 3 but I got a Nord Stage 3 tho lol
There's probably no board that changed the soundscape like the Korg Triton, but the Yamaha Motif and this very Roland Fantom-X (and later the Fantom G) were worthy contenders.
All three boards can literally do the exact same thing, they all have the same capabilities, so when it comes to choosing flagship boards from all the companies, it's really all about the company that you like the most
My keyboard workstation of choice back in the day. I still use the sounds on it every now and then, but I mainly just use it as an expensive midi keyboard now for my setup. Timbaland used the Fantom too. The main melody for "wonder woman" by Trey Songs is off that workstation. It is called "what what?" in the synth fx patch.
Once I bought this series board I couldn’t find another like it. I’ve owned soooo many workstations over the years. This is my board hands down. I had the X8 first, then the X6. Then the X6 again until I found my place with the X7. As someone who does a lot of composing the X7 was what I needed!!
@Dyreck Productions yo bro once again a dope video. Much props. The Roland Fantom was waaaaaay ahead of it's time. It's basically it's a JV and a sp404 with sounds. The only thing it should of had was a touch screen. My man had one with a MPC 4000 and that was a killer combo. To this day the Fantom X6 is still pretty expensive used
@@DyReckProductions 👊🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 The amount of hits made on that joint is crazy . That keyboard changed the sound of modern day gospel and the sample engine brought the funk back to Eric Sermon sound .
Whoever this guy native shades is, you’re killing it man. I hope you make more and more videos about keyboards and other music gear. I’m amazed at how knowledgeable you are with these. I like your channel so much that I instantly subscribed after watching the very first video I watched. 😂
Great vid. i knew it was iconic but i didnt know it was this Big lol. I just got a free X6 yesterday. its in great condition and still has the part even in todays world
@@DyReckProductions I know lol. I have flag ships actually (Triton Pro X and Motif 6) and knew it was a good one. The church I play for uses it and they broke one return spring on the hi c and they gave it to me and are looking at the mx61
The fantom was a beast , I had one problem when I recorded a mute I couldn't unmute it and a few other things but it was a beast for that time, but I'm all mpc in 2021.
Yea this one was dope... a little bit after the Triton and before the Motif or around the same time. waiting on the Motif video by the way....thats the one I had so im waiting! That Alvin Simon and Theodore of chipmunk fame used it -- made it extra saucy 😂😂😂
Yup same hear as I have the MOTIF-Rack ES, Fantom-XR, E-Mu Proteus 2000, E-Mu Mo Phatt and the Roland Integra-7. I also got the Korg Triton and Triton Extreme software instrument too. That's basically every sound used on all of 90s/00s Hip Hop and R&B. I kept it all as my legacy collection that I use along with my modern soft synths esp NI Komplete, Keyscape. in Studio One.
I bought the S version back in 2004 just before the X came out and still use it till this day and it still sounds awesome. I just recently added the Integra which gives me all of the SRX boards, 3 different synth engines, and a XV5080 in one box. These compliment each other nicely. I played the NEW Fantom in a Guitar Center a while back. While it looks nice and sounds good, it is definitely deep and very expensive. It's a shame the effects algorithms from the old Fantom generation didn't carry over to the new one. I really love the chorus and phaser effects on my old Fantom S with the Rhodes after I custom tweaked it. That Rhodes is killer!!!!!!!! ‐---------------- UPDATE (2/23/2023): I've played the new Fantom a lot more since I originally wrote this post. I now own a Fantom-06 and no longer own the Fantom S. I was wrong about what I stated earlier in this post concerning the old effects not carrying over to the new Fantom. The truth is, the new Fantom still has many of the older effects algorithms from the older Fantom series (S/X/G) plus a lot of newer ones, too! When I commented earlier about them, I apparently didn't spend enough time in the store with the new Fantom to realize that. Sorry. With all of that said, my Fantom-06 and Integra-7 don't have all of the stock factory sounds from the older Fantom S and X, including the Rhodes (those particular Rhodes samples). As a result, I still miss my Fantom S. However, I do plan on getting those sounds back in the form of an older Roland sound module (at some point) that has all of the same Fantom X waveforms and presets in it. It would be nice if Roland made the original Fantom X stock waveforms and preset soundbanks available for download through the Roland Cloud Manager for the current generation Fantom keyboards. I would definitely grab that, even if it isn't free and I would have to purchase it.
I love the Integra-7. I had mine for almost a year now. Its a modern XV-5080, JV-2080. Takes you back to the 90s plus all the modern Jupiter 80 super natural sounds you get with it.
@Eman 08 Yeah, that Integra-7 is a real beast! I think it's probably one of the best Roland sound modules ever made and there will probably not be another one like it. Now that I no longer have my Fantom S anymore, I'd like to compliment the Integra and my new Fantom-06 with either a Fantom XR rack or something similar to get those Fantom S/X Rhodes patches back. Maybe Roland could put the stock Fantom X patches in the Integra as well through a software (firmware) update. However, I don't think that's ever going to happen. They should at least make them available for the newer Fantoms though. That might not happen either. If it does, it would be a pleasant surprise.
@@kvmoore1 Yup. I would go with thr Fantom-XR if you are trying to get some of those exclusive fantom X sounds back. I still got my Fantom-XR I had since 2012. I also own the MOTIF Rack-ES, E-MU Proteus 2000 and E-MU MO Phatt. Plus the Korg Triton and Triton Extreme VST plug-ins. That's virtually every sound used from the 90s and early 2000s era on all Hip Hop and R&B records. I actually pulled the Pure Phatt card out of my Mo phatt and moved it over to my Proteus 2000. My Proteus 2000 is nearly maxed out with Roms. It's also got the Extreme Lead-1 card which is the same sounds from the Adacity 2000 a super rare sound module.
@Eman 08 The Fantom XR is right up my alley. However, it has a well-known issue with the LCD screen failing prematurely. If there's a permanent fix for this issue, then I may still consider the Fantom XR. Otherwise, there's also the Roland Sonic Cell which has the Fantom X sound engine in it as well. That would be the alternative. You have many of the modules I used to own. I had a Triton Rack, Motif Rack (the first one, not the ES), and I also had an E-MU MP-7 with both the Pure Phatt and X-ROM chips installed. I sold and traded them all. I do still have my E-MU E4XT Ultra sampler with a ton of presets and soundbanks from most of the Proteus 2000 series modules on an external SCSI hard drive. The thing is, I haven't used it since I've owned it so far and I've had it since 2008. I plan to either put it to use soon, or sell it. I'd like to eventually put it to use and get it featured in my tracks once I get all of my gear set up the way I want it. Those particular sounds are difficult to come by these days. It's ridiculous how much those E-MU roms sell for on ebay these days!!!
Dude... an artist I had the pleasure of getting to know some years back used strictly this and vinyl as his weapons. I always wanted one...thanks for the video homie... I still want one. Lol.
Bro I really enjoy your channel/show/episodes man, youre picking all the dope machines I like/have/had/seen around and your enthousiasm is radient, perfect show for gear heads and people who are just getting interested and in to it; I hope and I think you gonna be big with this, got my little subscription and belll, more to come! Thank you and keep rocking this! Bless
The fantom x was and is still dope. I owned it twice. The only thing I didn't like was the lead synths. They kind of sucked. I used to have this and motif es 7. Loved the motif sounds better. 👌
When i was in high school id come home from school every day and stare at the fantom on the internet dreaming about owning one. The mpc forums in the 2000s imprinted RTFM into my mind
Lets say you went through all the headache in getting record studio license label, the Roland Fantom X is all you need to be that recording studio Period!!!!
I actually owned one of these before. I paid $2300 for it when it first came out. I actually have some music on my page that I made with it back in 2004. If you want to check out the sounds it's the first 7 videos on my channel. Everything was done in the Fantom. When I brought the Fantom I was in way over my head because up to that point I only owned those beginner keyboards. But with it I learned a lot about the process of recording music.
The reason why so many people didn't read the manual was because it was a Roland manual..... And as everyone knows, reading a Roland manual makes you want to see a psychologist for trauma counselling!!!! 😅 Saying that, the Fantom X was a great workstation in the day but I was well and truly in the Korg Triton ecosystem with its much friendlier touch screen user interface.
@@DyReckProductions much as i loved Emu Systems, I never owned any of their products. I was a big Korg and Roland user and the Korg owners manuals were way better than the terrible Roland ones. The same goes for Alesis. Their manuals were very good and written in such a way that you wanted to read them!
the phantom was the most popular board when I worked in the studio in Atlanta and for good reason, seq, synth, stretch, pads, keys, faders, the modulation proximity, 8 in 8 out, I've spent some time on these but never owned one but always kinda wanted one, it was like the grass at the neighbors that was a little greener lol! Ive also seen people that had this board and only knew how to play the presets in performance mode lol
@@DyReckProductions yep, well I meant they had the phantom and pro tools le set up and just didn't realize they keyboard did all that lol! Although most the time the presets sound alot better in the performance or program mode vs the seq. Seq on the mpc is legit tho! That was like my old set up, mpc 1000 and a triton le, same style set up most big name producers that used to record where I worked wld have too but they wld always have the phantom and the mpc 3000 or 5000, whichever one zaytoven uses thats one everybody has cause u can get the custom face plates for that one.
I feel you..The rack is a good option..The keyboard is like 1500 on ebay..You got to keep it quiet on those racks alot of them still go for good prices online lol.
@@DyReckProductions the nearest app I know to the variphrase chop/slice and varipitch is ReSlice. Check it if you like these marvels... someday I will get one of these keyboards or Vsynth XT... someday!
Yup! And if you buy one now without the update then you’re kinda out of luck because they don’t sell the Audio Upgrade kits anymore and Roland said you have to send it to their service center to get that feature.
the pads suck but they always suck for some reason on fantom.. i never understood whats so hard to make good pads.. i prefer touch screen pads than that
I wanted one of these so bad when it came out. It was just a beast of a workstation. Too bad Roland don't make em like that anymore. The new Fantom is nowhere near as good imo.
As a faithful Roland user, when I say you told nothing but the truth.. After this Fantom Roland went downhill big time! I just had to purchase an X7 again and I own a Fantom 06 which sound’s engine is no where as good as the X.
@@ameeromedia5883 I know this is a late response to this post but, you right! Got rid of my FA08 and I am looking for a X8 right now lol. The warmth and overall silky sound is unparalleled, I still haven't found a VST that competes with the sound (using a Ravel Grand UAD VST ATM)
@@kashdro85 Not Late to me but yesssssss! I had to sell my X7 because the guy I bought it from obviously was CLUELESS to how the keybed was very much altered (almost like it had no weights in it all AT.) I'll get another soon though, but nothing beats that sound engine. And these new Rolands are NOT cutting it!
I am an organ player and want to tie two X6s or X7s together as an upper and lower keyboard, add organ style foot pedals and have one volume pedal that controls all. Is this possible? Thanks, Don Bilsky.
Im not an Organ player but this might lead you in the right direction.. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UuvRBvH5sWc.html..I definitely know there would be alot of midi connections involved..And I know for sure you can control all volumes with one foot pedal.
Blackout from Memphis had him an X3 and he made some wild shit on that, hardly sampled just rocked those keys. check out his album Dreamworld if u get the chance
@@DyReckProductions thanks, it does offer a lot of ease of manipulation of the sounds; however, you do have to keep track of all the parameters you adjust if you wish to go back to a sound voice. best
@@DyReckProductions yes, you can save your own preset algorithms - up to 500 I think; some of the operators are physical levels and knobs that are in phases or positions which are alterable (those are the parts to note their positions). sorry if this isn't very clear, i'm still figuring it out. best
