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Kronos 2 vs Roland Fantom 2019
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V-man
Junior Member


Joined: 18 Aug 2020
Posts: 73
Location: Umeå, Sweden

PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Picking up this thread again. May be it is useful for some one at leas.

I have a S90ES as my main keyboard and finally decided to buy a Kronos 2 61 as my second tier keyboard. Main goal was to have a powerful 2nd tier workstation acting as the absolute center point when it comes to the need of different sounds and also midi control. My plan was to use the S90ES solely as a midi keyboard since I love it's key action.

I evaluated the new Roland Fantom and two things where a dissapointing.

First, since I also own a Integra 7, I was dissapointed that there was so little new sounds on the Fantom. The experience for me was that the absolute majority of the sounds was basically the same as what is available on the Integra 7.

Second, and the most important draw back of the Fantom, which became the absolute show stopper, was the lack of flexibility when it comes to the ability to use the Fantom as the main hub in a 2-tier rig solution. What I was searching for was the ability to use the 2-tier keyboards sounds in splits- and layers in a super flexible way on both the keyboards simultaneously. This I can do with the Kronos but not with the Fantom. On the Fantom you can switch set which keyboard (internal or external) will act as the main keyboard. If you enable this switch (don't remember exactly the name of this setting) to make the S90ES act as the main keyboard for the Fantom you loose the ability to split the Fantoms keyboard it self. The Roland FA series, and older Phantoms suffer the same issue. On the Kronos everything is completely flexible no matter how many keyboards you use to control it.

May be Roland have come up with some upgrade that takes care of this issue by now, but I don't care that much since I now quite happily drive a Kronos. Smile
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Yamaha S90ES, Kronos 2 61, Roland D50, Roland Integra 7, Roland D-05
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spottingjonah



Joined: 06 Aug 2013
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have both - a Kronos 61 and Fantom 7. Here's my current take.

The Fantom has a slightly better build quality (knobs and sliders are better/stronger), but the semi-weighted keybeds are equal in quality from a touch perspective.

I have always preferred the Kronos workflow, but the Fantom does have a nicer interface.

Everyone says sounds are subjective, but I assume that means an A/B comparison of the same basic sound. The truth is Korg seems to have better patch programmers these days. There is just so much variety on the Kronos right out of the box... unique sounds, unique approaches, and examples that usually can be used musically instantly. The EFX section is useful and intuitive, and the reverbs sound very nice with minimal effort.

The Fantom seems like it has so much more firepower than what you experience right out of the box with those bland, old presets they've been recycling for two decades. It just doesn't seem like Roland has had much talent in the patch programming department since Persing left. The Expansion Models are cool, but mostly for nostalgia. The EFX are very limited and seem to take too much effort to get what you want.

They're both great workstations, but they are both very different in workflow. Both sound different, and each has strengths and weaknesses. I prefer the Kronos, especially if I could have only one synth, but the Fantom does add an extra element that is nice to have. I think it really comes down to what you are used to (Roland's way or Korg's way), and if you have an existing bias from previous use.
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xp50player
Senior Member


Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 374
Location: Nashville

PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Roland's Fantom updates have just about caught up to what I use the Kronos for. They added the tonewheel organ engine, running on its own chip with ladder LED drawbar indicators, and sounds fine for what I need. You only get one instance of it, but you can always use one of the PCM organs on another part and there is an extensive PCM expansion full of them . The way the effects are tied to the patch and come into the multi without any fuss is a plus. Just the whole file management thing compared to the Kronos, bringing in patch banks and Combis, worrying about asset types overwriting each other and the references being correct. The Fantom handles all of that automatically and there are more than enough user patch slots, like 2048 just for Zencore + tons for each other engine. The Fantom holds all the available PCM/tone expansions and creates separate additional banks for them, not using any user slots, and it boots in 40 seconds fully loaded. The connectivity is insane compared to the Kronos, not as good as the Montage. You have 16 stereo USB audio, a second MIDI driver for the Fantom's 2nd DIN output. The Kronos doesn't even pass USB MIDI thru to its DINs. XLR outputs, Combo jack inputs. Audio inputs have their own effects chain+ the vocoder.
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RD-800, Kronos 61, Fantom 6, MODX6, 01/Wfd
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