Feature:
I am truly in awe when I play with this board - still. The exapandability is a great feature, the sound engine itself is great, the ease of recording audio with midi is great; the LCD is very impressive looking and even better in terms of it's practical use. I don't know how I ever got along without such a big beautiful display! Tons of sounds and ease of recording make this a great composing machine. I do sound for film and this baby works great for my workflow. From sampling for foley to voice overs and simple pads, this thing is really great. The display is just awesome to look at. They did a great job with the layout and colors and use of pictures. THere is a lot to it so it takes some getting used to but like any good machine once you have yer mind around it the basics will quickly become second nature. If you've spent any time with some if the recent (last ten years) music workstations you will quickly grasp the concepts and features of this machine, but will likely spend a long time learning and exploring the nuances. To me, thats a good thing!

Quality:
Roland stuff is generally very good. I still have the first Roland product (SH09 synth / keyboard) I bought, circa 1978 and it works fine. I have other Roland products - never had a problem with any of them. This unit seems to be well made and has a very solid feel about it. The brushed alum face is sweet - its technical and modern yet not austentatious. Who uses that word anyway. But seriously, the way the display is integrated into the face is nice and seems like it will be durable. Time will tell, but I'm not a bit concerned about the durability of this unit.

Value:
It is right in the ballpark with the competing workstations, i.e. triton, motif, etc. I love this thing. I don't see how anyone wouldn't like this thing. It's a great machine. It reflects the years and years of experience that Roland has - thats probably the best thing about this machine - it's the best of everything! Geez, now I really sound like Roland sales guy. I promise I'm not. I just love this machine that much, and if my input can help someone thinking about buying this machine, maybe allay their fears 'cause lets face it, this board aint exactly cheeap, then it's all good. I don't mind telling everyone how much I like this thing!

Desirability:
I wanted it enough to buy it! I don't lay down 2500 for just any product - it has to be good. But then I don't think twice about the price...it is what it is and, IMHO, they deserve to get whatever they can for this machine. Go Roland!

Sound:
The sound is very good. It may be a little on the predictable / Roland-esque side of the scale, but in all, it is recording-worthy, in my humble opinion. Since the ROM is all samples anyway it can sound like anything you need it to sound like. The factory presets are very good and easily and infinitely tweakable. The DSP is sweet - both the global 'verb and chorus, and the individual processes are great too. It is very deep.

Ease of Use:
The factory sounds are fine - suitable for at least some basic uses for sure. THe infinite tweakability is nice though, and if you like to mess with the factory patches to make them "your own" this board will satisfy. There are tons of user-defined storage locations. The display makes it easy to see a lot of info at once. The navigation via softkeys is easy to learn although this board is deep with tons of features. It will take a while to memorize the whole thing. For as powerful as it is, I'd have to say it is very easy to use. There are three basic modes, "Studio", "Live", and "Single". All of them are easy to use but Single is the easiest, most straight-forward or basic way of working with the machine. In Single mode you simply select from one of the 1664 preloaded patches and rock on! In Studio mode you can work with the 24 track mixer in "DAW style". Very cool. In Live mode you get eight patches that can be layered and / or split. Basically any patch can be assigned to any keyboard range. The Dynaic Pad area is cool too - it's another way to access patches parameter (i.e. "Part Mute"), or to invoke rhythm patterns, amoung many other things. ONe final note: as I'm writing this I have yet to open the owners manual! I was able to figure out all this other stuff without reading anything about it. I'd say that makes this thing about as easy as it could be, particularly for the depth and breadth of features and functionality it has. Dang, I ought to be a sales guys for them!

Support:
Nope

Overall:
I think I will be happy with this board for at least a few years...probably 10!

Feature:
well its got some expansion cards that dont seem to include anything like the v-synth expansions but there alright i guess. the thing that got me was with my x6 i go into a catagory and i have such a big selection of sounds , but when i go into the same catagory on my fantom g i dont have nearly as much to choose from, this is so weird, thats why i think if they included more rom for user patches i might be able to remedy this. they still have there wannabe thermin on here wich has ocilators so why couldnt they just put a synth on it.

Quality:
roland makes sold os's and keyboards. and the thing looks sexy as hell.

Value:
i mean this is expensive but its a roland state of the art workstation, but for the same about you can get a mpc5000 and that has a vs synth on it.

Desirability:
i own it

Sound:
the multi fx for each channel are great, but the isnt the same for the reverb so don't expect that in multi mode. the sounds are good theres more wave rom but i think the user memory for patches still lacks space. i keep hopping that there going to let me edit audio like you can in v-producer software wich isnt possible but you do get kinda close.

Ease of Use:
roland products are so easy to use, the only thing on this that isnt is its step editor and the mircoscope editor from what i can tell havent been changed from the x6, i would like more of a grid editor like the tr-909 but they dont seem to want to add that :(

Support:
i used to get in fights with the techs at roland lol last time i called them they helped me and so it kinda depends on who you talk to.

Overall:
I like the fantom but i think it still needs work when it comes to about of sounds, im a synth guy but im also a workstation guy, so i guess i dont see why they don't put an actual synth on this instead of making retarded supernatural cards lol.

Feature:
I just learned how to record. from what I can see the possibilities are pretty much endless with this beast of a workstation.

Quality:
They built it like it was going to Iraq. I can't stop looking at this board.

Value:
Pretty darn expensive my friends.

Desirability:
Man. Where do I begin?

Sound:
Unbelieveable. Just my opinion. Its my first workstation and I haven't heard any of its competitors nor do I care to.

Ease of Use:
I am not all that familiar with any workstation. So far I am coming along pretty well without the manual.

Support:
So far I have no use for support. I gave them a 10 anyways.

Overall:
I would say its the best.

Feature:
Features are beautiful & amazing. There's just about every effect you can think of on here. The sequencer this beast is simular to logic &/or protools. Very nyce & well thought out.

Quality:
The quality is very sexxxy. It would hold up very well for on the road use. Very duarable & well built. I love the way Roland builds all their products.

Value:
The value is ok. It's worth it, but people want deals. If you have no music epuipment. Such as, If you dont have a sequencer, sound library, or a computer. This would well be worth just purchasing this workstation.

Desirability:
I would want this if i didn't already have my iMAC or all my midi & software sounds.

Sound:
The sounds are AMAZING! This workstation would fit anyones musical style. The sound live vs recording would be the same & would put on a hell of show. The effects & settings are perfect. I would & do recommend this workstation to anyone

Ease of Use:
Ease of use is perfect. It's pretty straight foward to know how to use.

Support:
As for support. I never use them too much. But when I do they are very clear & helpful with any & every question you have

Overall:
I was very satisfied when i messed with this. Excellent build, amazing sounds, ease of use is perfect, the sequencer is just plain beautiful. I recommend it & i dont even own one. Thats pretty good because it's hard for me to recommend anything because i am so hard on products that come out.

Feature:
Features are kind of meaningless if the sound quality isn't spectacular. Nevertheless, this is a cool looking keyboard. The screen isn't touch sensitive though, although it looks fantastic.

Quality:
Roland does a great job with quality control so I'm sure this keyboard will stand the test of time (from a reliability standpoint) just like their other boards.

Value:
I don't think this keyboard is worth the selling price. In a year when Roland introduces a new replacement model (I'm guessing, they usually do), you'll feel silly owning this one. I just don't see anything compelling enough to justify this purchase.

Desirability:
Okay, I still kind of want this keyboard, despite some pathetic sounds, but I'll try to resist purchasing.

Sound:
The sound quality isn't much better than previous keyboards. 256MB for all sounds is still miniscule compared to computer-based VSL samples. I can't believe ROM chips are that expensive that Roland or any other keyboard manufacturer can't put several gigs worth of ultra high quality samples in their keyboards. The flashy, colorful, sexy screen doesn't mean squat if the sounds are sub-par. I played with this keyboard for an hour in Tokyo and I was left wanting more. The pianos aren't usable in my opinion. The strings are slightly better and so is the brass, but still pale in comparison to computer based samples. Acoustic guitar is okay but similar to other keyboards. Electric guitar is actually very good, but not a sound I would use much. Drums sound excellent as well, but most keyboards sound pretty good with those samples. There are definitely some fun sounds though and I enjoyed playing with it, but don't expect to fool many into thinking these sounds aren't coming from a keyboard.

Ease of Use:
This is a feature packed keyboard so it does take some time to figure it all out and I certainly didn't master it in an hour, but I don't have any serious problems with Roland's interface.

Support:
I've never needed support from Roland with any product I've ever owned from them.

Overall:
I don't think this keyboard would satisfy me for long, even though it is a fun keyboard to play. Keyboard manufacturers need to change their focus to producing awesome sounds, instead of flashy screens and sexy looking boards. 256MB simply isn't enough to produce incredible sounds for an entire keyboard. I would love to squander cash on a new keyboard, but this just doesn't make sense (not that that would stop me from buying).