New Fantom-Xa Synthesizer from Roland

Roland's Fantom-X series continues to grow, now with the Fantom-Xa, a more affordable way to get your hands on the company's new generation of sampling workstation.

Many of the most popular features from the flagship Fantom-X line have been ported to the Fantom-Xa, including 128-voice polyphony, major memory expansion, high-resolution built-in sequencing, realtime audio time-stretching, COSM modeling effects, mastering processor, Skip Back Sampling, USB port, WAV/AIF compatibility, and an SRX expansion slot. The onboard PC Card slot allows up to a gigabyte of patch and sample data storage.

Under the Fantom-Xa's hood is a powerful synth engines loaded with raw waveforms, semi-modular structures, multiple filter types, and up to eight syncable LFOs per patch, including the expressive programmable Step LFO. The Fantom-Xa's patchs cover the classic keyboard and orchestral instruments plus modern electronic textures and more. The 1,000-plus internal patches are categorized by family (Electric Guitars, Soft Pads, Organs, etc.) so it's easy to find your sound quickly.

Whether you're sequencing MIDI tracks, triggering samples, or even recording audio directly to RAM, the Fantom-Xa makes combining these elements a simple process. Lay down a drum track by combining the internal drum sounds with audio loops, which can automatically sync to tempo via realtime timestretching. Then record some keyboard parts via MIDI and finish your song by tracking a guitar or vocal as audio. The high-resolution sequencer holds up to 400,000 events,and supports Standard MIDI Files.

The Fantom-Xa also includes COSM effects. There are three MFX processors onboard, plus dedicated reverb, chorus, and even a mastering processor with multiband compression. Export your mixes to a PC or Mac via USB for CD burning.

For more information, visit their web site at www.rolandus.com