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Roland Fantom EX Upgrade!

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Scottyb

Senior Member
It’s out! It’s huge! It’s not free! 😂

It’s like getting a whole new keyboard for 200 bucks! It’s worth it!

Lots of improvements, sounds AND support for a new engine ACB which sounds so good with the Jupiter 8!

JD-800 added and whew did I not realize how many sounds in hit songs came from this board!

The new shimmer reverb is amazing all by it self! Transforms every sound you use it with!

So much more. Hopefully they discount people who had already bought N/Zyme because that comes with it too. But making it part of this upgrade only improves the value of this upgrade! As it’s amazing all by itself.

Also Do yourself and your Fantom a favor and watch Ed’s update video! You’ll need it for Roland’s absolutely backwards update process.

Click to read more...
 
I've been waiting for this - it's been a long rumoured update.

However, I need to wait a bit longer as I previously bought the n/Zyme expansion - and Roland have announced they are emailing all n/Zyme owners with a discount voucher. Which they should totally be doing.

Can't wait to get my hands on it - hopefully before the weekend as I am travelling next week.....
 
That is so awesome to hear! I voiced my feelings on that to Roland directly this morning and obviously have seen many postings with similar feelings. So happy to hear they're doing that!

The update is absolutely amazing! You'll love it!
 
I've always disliked the VPiano engine, but listening to the New German Grand on the Roland website sounds a lot better than I thought it would, comments from anyone upgraded??
 
Scottyb said:
That is so awesome to hear! I voiced my feelings on that to Roland directly this morning and obviously have seen many postings with similar feelings. So happy to hear they're doing that!

The update is absolutely amazing! You'll love it!
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Apparently, if you already have n\/zyme, you will get a discount voucher for $ 100, making the upgrade effectively half price.

The vouchers are being emailed now - still awaiting min however.

Pretty good upgrade for $100......
 
pmountford said:
How's the EX update going? All worthwhile? Any happy users?
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I'm pretty thrilled with it. The additions almost make it feel like a whole new animal - and considering I had already wanted the N/Zyme expansion put it no brainer territory for me.

ACB is also a big one as when you push those (SH/JX/Etc) Zen Core expansions they do NOT respond the same. The ACB does! And does exactly like the actual synth. The Jupiter version sounds so, so good! And can't wait for the SH-101 to pop out (any day now).

I still love Zen Core (like the JD800 that comes with the EX) but I look forward to the ACB expansions for exact replication. Shimmer is quite nice to have as well! And I do quite like the new German Piano (with a bump to the low end!).
 
Scottyb said:
I'm pretty thrilled with it.
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Not what I wanted to hear! 😉

Really liked the time I spent with the F8 in store recently. So good to hear, really, that Roland have continued to update it. Any thoughts on DAW integration? Interested in Cubase in particular.
 
pmountford said:
Not what I wanted to hear! 😉

Really liked the time I spent with the F8 in store recently. So good to hear, really, that Roland have continued to update it. Any thoughts on DAW integration? Interested in Cubase in particular.
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Ha! Sorry about that! :-P

The 8 has the wonderful RD2000 action so I can imagine it's pretty wonderful! I have the 6!

As far as the DAW stuff. I can only speak to the Logic side (but they did add Cubase in that EX update as I'm sure you already know!) but it's absolutely fantastic! I haven't even dug super deep into every way you can use it either. But I can't imagine it being any better. It has worked flawlessly for me and is incredible handy.
 
Best of the best ! Those extensions are insane.
Nzyme is : waouh !!!
But it is the shimmer reverb that transforms the whole setup. A new sound dimension.....can't explain....
An as i loaded all my sampled vsts in ( 2 go).....seems not enough, but actually enough for me !!!!!
This is the ultimate all in one synthesizer. And has become so mature will all those extensions.
Fantom Ex rules !
 
Scottyb said:
The 8 has the wonderful RD2000 action so I can imagine it's pretty wonderful!
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It is actually. My F8 arrived yesterday. Its just soooo playable. Feels like a premium instrument. Nice keybed. Although not found aftertouch working yet?

Just wondering if I should continue learning my way around OS version 3.x or upgrade straight away to EX? (Having used an 08 for 18 months which will be demoted now purely for gigging duties so I have a fair idea of the F8...)
 
pmountford said:
It is actually. My F8 arrived yesterday. Its just soooo playable. Feels like a premium instrument. Nice keybed. Although not found aftertouch working yet?

Just wondering if I should continue learning my way around OS version 3.x or upgrade straight away to EX? (Having used an 08 for 18 months which will be demoted now purely for gigging duties so I have a fair idea of the F8...)
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That’s awesome to hear! I know you’ll enjoy it! Aftertouch is a point of contention in the Fantom world. 😂 The update that came right before the EX one addressed that for me. It’s still not amazing but it is definitely better!

I say upgrade immediately! Or at least upgrade to the latest free update! I guess you already have a lot to play with out of the box on the regular OS, so the upgrade might not feel as important. It’s true I guess you could save it til you’re better familiarized with everything!
 
So I've just started the update process to EX and it just hangs. I've followed ED's video to the letter but now I've got a Fantom that doesn't get any further than the loading screen 'FANTOM EX' with a constantly expanding bar under the title. It just loops around. Can't do anything with this machine now....any thoughts?
 
So I've just had a reply from Roland support who say I need to check the warranty. But surely this is just a software upgrade issue? Can I reinstall the previous OS (vs 3.02) without it bricking the Fantom (although tbh it's not much use atm!)
 
pmountford said:
So I've just started the update process to EX and it just hangs. I've followed ED's video to the letter but now I've got a Fantom that doesn't get any further than the loading screen 'FANTOM EX' with a constantly expanding bar under the title. It just loops around. Can't do anything with this machine now....any thoughts?
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Have you tried a different USB flash drive?
 
pmountford said:
So I've just started the update process to EX and it just hangs. I've followed ED's video to the letter but now I've got a Fantom that doesn't get any further than the loading screen 'FANTOM EX' with a constantly expanding bar under the title. It just loops around. Can't do anything with this machine now....any thoughts?
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If you start it up holding down the tempo button does it get you to the upgrade screen ?

If so, I'd have another go at upgrading it. Do you have another USB stick that is fantom formatted ?

Did you do the part where you move the USB stick to one of the other three USB ports for the second part ?
 
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