The Roland Fantom 6 (Black) is a 61-Note Digital Synthesizer Workstation with a Semi-Weighted Keyboard, channel after-touch, Sequencer, Sampler, Audio Interface and extensive Synthesizer functionality. In the expandable sound memory, Roland has created a best-of from 40 years of its own prestigious history to present an Instrument of great power to ambitious musicians. In addition to several synthesizer technologies that can be used at the same time, one can safely keep in mind that the Fantom’s analogue Multimode Filter is the icing on the cake for many sounds. This sequencer offers Realtime, TR/Step-Sequencing and Clip-Sequencing. One-Shots and Loops can be easily triggered in the Sampler via pads and incorporated into your own creations.
Another highlight in the Fantom are the scene memories, which are organized in 4x Banks of 128x memory locations each. They act as a creative quick memory, and record everything you're working on, be it a handful of patterns, a started song or a sound that is still in the creation phase.
Anyone who has ever worked with Roland instruments will soon notice that the operation has been reimagined, and the result is a faster and more intuitive workflow, thanks to the tidy user interface and menu navigation.
Sounds & Synthesis
The Fantom 6 possesses over 3500x Sounds and more than 90x Drum Kits, as well as the most modern and authentic Piano tones. Strings, Organ, Piano, Guitar, Brass, Choir, Wind Instruments and more; the selection on offer is remarkable.
The typical Roland sound architecture has been retained to the extent that each sound can consist of up to 4x Parts. The Parts in the Fantom correspond to a complete, comprehensive Synthesizer voice with its own oscillator/filter models, envelopes, modulation assignments and, of course, its own volume and panorama settings. Each of the 4x Parts can also use a double LFO, which not only has the usual waveforms (with and without BPM synchronization) but can also create its own waveforms by hand. 16x tracks with up to 8x LFOs per sound means a total of 128x LFOs simultaneously. If you like to create new sounds from scratch, you will find the Fantom a reliable source for modulation ideas of any kind.
Effects
A total of 90x Multi-Effects are waiting to be modified and refined, be it individually or in parallel/serial fashion, for each part of the sounds created. The selection of Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Flanger and Distortion can be used to produce a near infinite variation of sounds. Moreover, the Fantom has enough power to calculate complex effect chains for each of the 16x Tracks without running out of breath. In addition, each part has its own Equalizer. The Master Compressor is located at the Main Output. A special feature is the Analogue Filter, which offers 4x different filter types (LPF, BPF, HPF & PKG) including Drive. The filter can be assigned to individual Tracks, the Main Output, a return from the DAW or the analogue Inputs.
Sequencers & Samplers
The Sequencer has been thoroughly reworked and now offers several parallel recording and composing concepts that perfectly support the "genre-typical" methods. Instead of recording all Tracks in a single pattern "as before", the Fantom offers the possibility to freely combine the 16x Tracks and use them independently. Songs can be arranged classically linear or in the Clip Sequencer (comparable to Ableton Live). The TR/Step Sequencer, which also handles Sub steps and ratcheting, is ideal for programming Rhythms. The perfectly captured Piano or the funky Organ can be recorded in real time, with or without note quantization. The same applies to the 16x Pads, which fire individual sounds from the internal sound generation or your own samples. This is the way the pads work that is known from Akai's MPC series. Behind the Pads is the Sampler; with 8x Polyphony, 4x Banks of 16x Pads each can be assigned. Sounds and Loops can be up to 2GB and time-stretching is also available for Loops. An extensively equipped Arpeggiator and a chord memory function are also part of the Fantom's ingenious recording aids.
DAW Connectivity
The Fantom can be completely integrated into the workflow of a DAW (e.g. Apple Logic Pro, GarageBand, MainStage). Thanks to the USB audio interface, 16x Stereo Tracks can be recorded, edited and processed in parallel with the computer. 3x Stereo Tracks can be addressed from the DAW to the Fantom, be it for editing a Track with the analogue Filter or as Audio Output from the DAW to the Main Mixer. Plug-Ins loaded in the DAW can be easily operated and edited, including the song position pointer and the entire DAW transport field. The DAW and Plug-In controls are also stored in the scenes and are available in a matter of seconds on demand, provided the computer is connected and the DAW is open. Otherwise, this data will not be taken into account when loading.
Several USB ports ensure that, in addition to the connection to a computer and an external storage medium such as a USB Stick, it is also possible to connect other devices. For example, you can connect a second keyboard for double manual play, a breath controller or a fader box.
The main features of the Roland Fantom 6 (Black) include:
Effects:
Sequencer:
Sampler:
Display:
Connections:
The product is absolutely great, but I ordered online because it was instore in the UK. It came from Germany with no Uk lead, which is now trying to get resolved at the third attempt by dv247.