Roland Fantom-S 61-Note Sampling Workstation

New Patches and Rhythm Sets built from new 64MB wave ROM. 32MB sample RAM (expandable up to 288MB). 16MB flash RAM.

Overall User Ratings (based on 137 ratings)
  • Overall:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(137) (see rating details)
Submitted January 14, 2004 by a customer from artemio.net

"Truly amazing piece from Roland - very powerful and flexible machine. It sounds simply great and just rocks the house!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Very powerful, flexible, musical and creative tool, both for sound design and music production. Easy to learn, intuitive and expressive. Can do a real lot for you.
Sound
It sounds amazing. The MFX and other effects processors are simply great - especially speaker and guitar amp simulators, phasers, 3D effects and 24-bit reverb. ROM wave set is killer. Mastering processor takes it to the top, really - a pro-quaity mix right out of line outs - "ready-to-go" as they say.
Features
It's very, very powerful. Synthesis engine, sampling, effects, sequencer and controls - everything is simply great. the concept is really creative and never lets you down with anything like "damn, how can I...?". It has some very nice things that you wouldn't find in other stations.
Quality
Gorgeous metallic cover, top-quality knobs and very high-quality printout on the panel. Excellent build - Roland has always been one of the very best here.
Value
It is the center of my studio, thus, it is invaluable.
Manufacturer Support
Roland support is pretty okay, but I never needed one anyway.
The Wow Factor
It is the most creative station out there. It looks so sexy and inspires you to write lots of nice music!
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Submitted January 3, 2004 by a customer from cox.net

"Intergration at its best for <$1500 buck.....damn :)"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
I also own the Motif-es and although it has more polyphony, some excellent waves and a kick ass arp....it always feels like "work" , the roland is just more..."fun". Would be just as much at home in the studio or the garage...definetly designed with the latter in mind.
Sound
some really clean sounds, COSM is incredible for guitar sounds, the flexability of sound editing is unbelievable. You can really bend this baby WAY over.
Features
Excellent again, Combining the best design ideas into one screaming piece of kit. It really is a full production work station. And for <$1500 ! it's a no brainer. GIANT screen.Great OS. Skip back sampling. The keyboard (61) "feels" sturdy and even more responsive than the competitors. Its basically got a drum machine on board, 3 fx processors + dedicated reverb and chorus/delay plus mastering kit. Digital out. The pads have become indespensible,(esp w/ arpeggiator (which is fully programable)) though they require a bit of tweaking. 32 megs of sample ram included with one ram slot for up to 256 additional megs of sample ram. You can even route the line input through the onboard fx proc. 16 megs of flash ram on board. Smart media, usb to computer (virtually unlimited storage). The intergration of sampling/sequencing/editing and intuitiveness of the OS set a new standard. The pitchmod/wangbar is also great. a lot of people gripe about the polyphony but with resampling it is almost a mute point.
Quality
Its early yet but it sure as hell feels like a tank, a good looking funky assed tank.
Value
For this price you would be hard pressed to find ANYTHING like this. Phenomenal value!
Manufacturer Support
No experiance there yet but check out fantom-s info. com
The Wow Factor
DESIGN DESIGN DESIGN...though some of the features are not in the most comfortable position for live play ( they are workable though), it is perfect for hashing out ideas quickly and following them through to mastering. It looks "intersting" and begs to be touched.
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Submitted September 10, 2004

"roland kicks ass"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
awesome board for anyone out there, better than korg and yamaha, trust me
Sound
The sound quality is really awesome. Nice sounds too.
Quality
good quality, but i got it used and it was still awesome
Value
price was exactly in my range and i got it right away

Musical Background:

hobbyist

Musical Style:

everything
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Submitted February 3, 2004 by a customer from aol.com

"Hot Product.. Shhhh.. We don't want everyone getting um.."

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
I believe this board with all it has to offer will be part of my gear for many years to come provided it doesn't get weird mechanically on me. But even so.. If it provides me the ability to do so without constant repair.. when it does die.. I will be on the hunt for a new one asap~!
Sound
I've worked with midi and sampled sound for quite awhile and none of the crap I've heard even touches this board.
Features
The hottest feature is the keyboard itself. The skip back sampling is awesome and you basically are a one man orchestra with this board.
Quality
Top quality.. Tired of the over plastisized equipment.. bump it once and parts fly off.. Not this baby! Klunky is only inconvienient when you don't care about quality.
Value
Hell.. I wish I knew about this way along time ago.. I would have bought two of them. (more than one studio) I paid $1,400 for mine. Every now and then you can catch one for about $1,200
Manufacturer Support
Haven't had the need to bother them about it..
The Wow Factor
All my boys drool over this board.. And mind you.. It's like ahem.. Hands of that's my baby~!

Musical Style:

I love it all from Death Metal to Hip Hop..
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Submitted December 9, 2003

Roland Fantom-S 61-Note Sampling Workstation Customer Review

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Sound
with srx boards... 10-the best!
Features
skip back sampling is realy cool. i hope they will update this product so that i can record directly into sequencer without sampling. When they do it, i'll give 10+
Manufacturer Support
the customer support of roland is the best. Though, i hope they will come with an os update next namm.
The Wow Factor
it looks sooo sexy!!

Musical Style:

alternative, nu metal, r&b, hip-hop, funk jazz
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Submitted September 12, 2003

"S for Sweet"

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
While this board keeps forcing me to produce HITS I will have to marry it.
Sound
This is not just another jv/xp product in a pretty box, it has a new sound set,
Features
Nearly an all in one soloution, I love the pads, I have heard people say U have to really hit them to hear anything, just use the right velocity settings and they are as good as a rubber pad can be.
Quality
I have owned several Roland product and not one has given me any problems, very rugged construction.
Value
Not as expensive as the rest, but just as good.
Manufacturer Support
Most anwsers to questions can be found on Rolands webb site and the exellent site Fantom-s.info
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