Feature:
What the heck feature doesnt it have?? ever since the day roland came out with the fantom x series keyboards, i was won over by them on so many levels. but yeah the features, who needs a CDR drive built in to it when you have a studio right at your fingertips?? as long as you have a working computer with a cdr drive then its all good to go. from all the realistic sounds to all the sampling modes, arpeggiator, skip back sampling, pad bank, the list just goes on and on

Quality:
the steel construction. thats enough said.

Desirability:
you cant just go past a fantom x!!! just the overall presence of it is just unbelieveable

Sound:
The roland fantom x has the most unbelieveable sound on the whole planet!!!! all the acoustic piano sounds, electric piano sounds, guitar, bass, synth, drum, percussion, vocal sounds theyre all just absolutely perfect

Ease of Use:
if your just getting started into playing keyboards it will take a little bit of time but once you learn all the "nooks and crannies" on the fantom x it is probly the most user friendly flagship professional keyboard out there

Support:
havent needed any support which is a REALLY good thing

Overall:
the fantom x is all you need. with the ability to plug your guitar, bass, and even have the capibility to get drums set up to it. it really is a studio at your fingertips

Feature:
its understandable that when you buy the fantom x6 x7 or x8 (i have the x7) all your getting is the board itself and its power supply but the reason being is because everybodys style is different, everyone has different ways of incorperating the fantom x into their music, soo if you wanna add stuff like the SRX boards, or like a sustain pedal, or rolands pk 5A bass pedalboard, then you might as well save your money. either way, the dynamic pad bank is incredible! it has saved us from purchasing a $6000 electronic drumkit because what i can do is trigger electronic drum sounds and percussion sounds with the pad bank (along with many many other things) and the 128 voice polyphony? cant go wront there! i could go on but i dont want to put this huge story about how the fantom x can do everything....

Quality:
very well built. its definetely better than my previous keyboards i had which were just entry level portable keyboards that are no use to me anymore

Value:
this product will be around for a while. i guarantee it

Sound:
the fantom x7 is simply stunning!! i must admit before the fantom x series keyboards came out i was all about korg. and wanting the best korg workstation out there. truly the fantom x7 blows any triton out of the water. regardless if it has any type of drive or not, in my personal opinion thats what your computer is for.

Ease of Use:
this machine is very user friendly. i especially love the live performance mode which enables me to do "pre production" and set up my fantom so all i have to do is hit one button to step me through the different parameters to get me through an evening.

Support:
support? what?? who needs it??

Overall:
theres really nothing i dont like about the fantom x7 it does everything i need it to do and i guarantee ill hold on to this beast for a looooong time

Feature:
I never got a chance to use skip bak sampling, but I have heard it is uniquely inquisite. Full of features and surprises. I failed at the sequencer section, but the technician at the music store made it look easy. I suppose once you get the hang of navigating through the settings, effects, and parameter functions, it's not so bad after all. The colored LCD display may not be toucher-graphic like the Triton, but navigating through parameter settings, realtime control settings, assignments, and functions to MFX processors is a breeze. Just as it is a breeze to navigate by tough-graphic editing on the Triton Extreme. Another plus for Roland is the nicely organized categories of sound patches you want to select. If you want to select a sound, press menu, I forgot what mode it has to be in though, but once you do that, there will be a list of instrument categories on the display such as percussion, Strings/Bass, Malet, Acoustic Pianos, Electric Pianos, Synths, and more. Each category has a vast selection of different instrument types. Example: under E. Pianos, there are Tines, Whirly Grand, Clav w/wah, Phaser Rhodes, Mark II, Wurlitzer Stage, and many many others. You can even tweek their effects like phase, tremolo with adjustments to rate, depth, resonance, speaker modeling distance and sound ratio, and all that other stuff. The Organs are super-stellar. Try Memories sound patc or 60's Combo Classic Organ with distortion and rich overdrive. Although you cannot really have full assignment ratio of Leslie rotary speed and modeling to the modulation/pitch stick like you do on the Triton Extreme, you can still assign that effect to the D-beam or to your assignable knobs. Look at the LCD display to look at corresponding adjustments and monitor your parameter levels. So far, the Fantom X is user friendly when it comes to functions, features, and parameter settings and editing. It is true that Roland may have skimped out a little on insert effects, but for a novice keyboard player, what more could one need. Then again, the Extreme is just as daring, isn't it? Either way, both keyboards are a perfect choice for novices and professionals.

Quality:
Other than sound quality, the material of the instrument is durable, proffessional, and reliable. I mean... a steel-titanium chassis, how durable and heavy duty can one get here. That's pretty good for a keyboard. Considering if one is going to use it for studio use, or stage performances, this keyboard is built solid state. Some of the buttons and keys are a little cheap, but they still feel smooth. The keys and buttons are probably built for superfluous reasons. Good keyboard I've seen so far.

Value:
I don't know of the Fantom X's value. I don't one one yet, but my guess is that it is very valuable as far as functions and sound.

Sound:
Roland, by far, are one of the most realistic, lush sounding keyboards ever. The electric pianos, acoustic pianos, synths, and organs are SUPER! The sounds on the Fantom X are more smoother. They are not as bright and live-ish/performance-ish sounding like on the Triton Extreme. However, the Triton Extreme has breath-taking sounds as well. If you do not like hassling with tweekability, sound and parameter adjusting/editing, I reccomend the Fantom X. If you do not mind tweeking sounds and editing a lot, the Triton Extreme would be no problem for you. Although Triton Extreme has a superb vacuum-processing Valve Force tube unit located above the joystick region, which gives extra warmth, overdrive, disortion and boost to your sounds and effects; the Fantom X has similar functions. You just have to navigate through effects editing parameters, equalizing functions, and various adjustments of modulations, multi effects, insert effects. Believe me, the distortion, warmth, and snarl is just as good as the Valve Force, however, it may not possess actual/authentic Tube system in it. I prefer most of the electric pianos better on the Fantom X than on the Triton Extreme, but the Triton Extreme has good electric pianos as well. The vintage organs, clavs, and melltrons are very ood as well. I have not yet got a chance to try the FArfisa organ, my favorite of all organs. They were known for their distorted synth/fluty-churhcy sounds and other tones as well. Anyhow, the sounds are very superb on the Fantom X. The Fantom X is not so bad after all when it comes to sounds.

Support:
I don't know if this is true, but I heard that Roland customer support is very friendly, and helpful. If not, prove me wrong here. I'll be more than willing to suffice under such criticism.

Overall:
A good, overall keyboard. It is in my eyes, on par with the Triton Extreme.

Feature:
What feature hasn't it got? It is truly a workstation from start to finish. (except it has no cdr drive)

Quality:
It is buy far the best looking of the big 3. I have had some knobs break off and buttons pushed in but that was from roadies who did not care.

Value:
It is pricy but it is state of the art. I would not buy it if I were not a pro. It has to make me money to spend $2500

Sound:
The sounds are nice and warm. It fills up a mix very nicely. Yama and Korg are too bright for my taste.

Ease of Use:
For doing as much as this puppy does, it is moderately hard to learn but the color lcd makes it much easier. Any piece of gear that is this deep needs good feedback.

Support:
no idea from Roland but the Fantonized web site is one of the best web sites for a keyboard I've ever seen.