Roland has announced Fantom EX, a big upgrade for its flagship Fantom synth workstation. Sadly, it’s not free, but if you’re prepared to stump up $199 you’ll get some excellent new instruments and a few effect and workflow enhancements.
Fantom EX implements Roland’s Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) tech into the Fantom, and you’ll hear it at work in the Jupiter-8 and SH-101 ACB Expansions, both of which come included. These emulations of classic Roland synths contain the latest ACB advancements, such as the Circuit Mod and Condition features that enable you to get under the hood of your instrument and ‘age’ it to add varying degrees of vintage character.
There are also two new acoustic grand pianos: German Concert V-Piano Expansion 01 is lifted from the RD-2000 stage piano, and SuperNATURAL Acoustic Piano 3 Expansion offers 15 sounds that range from bright and dynamic to dark and moody.
There are new digital sounds, too, both powered by Roland’s ZEN-Core engine. You get an authentic version of the classic JD-800 synth, and the all-new n/zyme Model Expansion is here, too.
On the effects side, there are new Shimmer Reverb and Modulation Reverb algorithms, while Fantom’s DAW control capabilities have been expanded with new profiles for Steinberg Cubase and PreSonus Studio One. The Mastering Comp and Mastering EQ sections get new preset templates and refreshed graphical interfaces, too.
The Fantom EX upgrade is available now via Roland Cloud and is compatible with Fantom 6, 7 and 8. Find out more on the Roland website.
