ROLAND FA-08

The new Roland FA series completely shatters conventional ideas about the workstation - streamlining its performance, making workflows exceptionally faster and maximising its versatility. The FA workstations feature the extensive library of instruments familiar from INTEGRA-7, which can be used in almost any musical style. In addition, there are a ton of studio-quality effects, real-time control or zero-delay sample triggering on sixteen backlit pads. The easy-to-use sequencer records non-stop loops in real time, so you can record songs and ideas as they come in and export them as multi-track data for use in your DAW. The FA Series seamlessly connects you creative world to the outside world, allowing instant connection of a standalone device to your computer's music studio control center. All this using USB audio/MIDI interface, powerful real-time control, DAW transfer control, etc.

- Upgraded workstation tailored for maximum creativity

- Over 2,000 sounds taken from the INTEGRA-7 sound module, including SuperNATURAL synthesizer, acoustic sounds and percussion; add more sounds with internal expansion slots

- The SuperNATURAL synth sound module is fully compatible with the extensive collection of INTEGRA-7 synth sounds, freely available from the Roland Axial online library

- A 16-track sequencer with non-stop loop recording simplifies quick song creation, exporting sequencer tracks to an SDHC card as a complete stereo mix, or as multi-track audio or MIDI data, for use in DAWs

- Built-in sampler is based on the SP-404SX, featuring 16 pads x 4 banks and direct recording/playback from SDHC cards

- Refine your sounds with any of the many studio-quality effects, including 16 independent MFX modules, six COMP+EQ processors for drums, unique TFX (total effects) and global EQ, chorus and reverb

- Control sounds, effects and external MIDI devices in real time with six programmable Sound Modify knobs

- Intuitive, modern interface with large, colour LCD display

- Press a single button to instantly reconfigure the FA-06/FA-07/FA-08/ for use with your DAW via USB

- D-Beam, Rhythm Pattern, Arpeggiator and Chord Memory functions give wings to your creativity

- Guitar/Mic and Line input jacks for playing, sampling and recording audio in your DAW, special reverb input adds spatiality to your sound for playing and recording

- USB ports for audio data expansion, updating and audio/MIDI connection to your computer. MIDI communication with the iPad can be used with Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit

No work, just play

The music "workstation" plays an important role for the keyboard player in a variety of activities from live playing, to song editing, to studio production. However, it can often be complicated and difficult to tap into the full potential, wading through the whole process and impeding the flow of your ideas. By completing the development of the FA series, Roland has radically changed the idea of a music station, giving musicians an inspiring platform that is extremely powerful, versatile, yet intuitive enough. With a modernized interface, additional enhancements and practical features that maximize your creativity, the FA Series gives you the freedom to explore and develop your musical ideas with less effort than ever before.

Play and record with a huge variety of the best Roland sounds

The true value of any music station lies and falls with the quality and variety of its sounds. Featuring over 2,000 sounds from INTEGRA-7, Roland's most advanced sound module, the FA Series delivers true quality material in this area. All the INTEGRA-7 SuperNATURAL Synth and XV-5080 PCM sounds are included, as well as a core collection of ultra-expressive SuperNATURAL Acoustic sounds that include pianos, organs, drums, bass, strings, etc. The sound module in the FA-06/FA-07/FA-08 is fully compatible with the extensive, ever-growing collection of INTEGRA-7 synth sounds, which are free to download from Roland Axial's online library. The built-in FA Series sound set can also be expanded with the special Wave Sound Expansion collection of sounds.

Record an idea and create a song without interruption

We've modified the powerful yet simple, intuitive FA Series 16-track sequencer to record your inspiration as it comes - recording continuously at the touch of a button, so you never lose an idea. You'll build a complete arrangement in a flash thanks to the huge sound palette, and with continuous recording in Loop mode, you can occupy all 16 tracks without having to stop! In addition to real-time recording, step recording is also available, this way you can supervise the complete editing and mixing of tracks as they run and save the song to an SDHC card in stereo audio file format. You can also export tracks as individual WAV audio files and/or MIDI data for further editing in your DAW, making the FA-06/FA-07/FA-08 a powerful "sketchpad" for recording initial ideas, forming the basis for later full-scale production on your computer.

Perfect integration of hardware and DAW

In addition to playing on its own and as a workstation, the FA-06/FA-08 can also be used to easily transfer music production from your computer to the world. Simply press the dedicated DAW Control button to set up the station directly after communicating with your computer via USB*, so you can use the keyboard and knobs to send MIDI data to your DAW, play software synthesizers, control effect plug-ins, and much more. The FA series also includes map controls for common DAWs to speed up and simplify setup for controlling feed functions, and more, in your software. The FA-06/FA-08 can even be used as a USB audio converter to record a variety of sources directly into your DAW, including a microphone, guitar or stereo line device plugged into the rear panel input jacks, and you can record internal station sounds as well as sample playback. Audio output is also supported, allowing you to monitor the DAW output via the stereo output and headphone jacks on the FA-06/FA-07/FA-08.

* USB communication requires, for the FA series, the installation of a USB driver on the computer.

Built-in, immediately usable Performance Sampler

The sampler featured in the Roland FA Series is based on the extremely popular SP-404SX, which is fun, fast, easy to use, and samples/plays back on an SDHC card. Audio samples can be played directly from the 16 pads on the panel, allowing you to expand your playing with loops, backing tracks, one-off passages, vocal phrases, sound effects, etc. Thanks to SDHC flash memory, samples are loaded straight away, without waiting. You can also use the four banks of pads and clipboard function to recreate sample arrangements as needed, for your playing. It's very easy to sample your own workstation or external source sounds via the Mic/Guitar and Line inputs, and you can also play WAV, AIFF, or MP3 samples transferred from your computer. Various editing features allow you to adjust samples as needed, including quick playback position and level adjustments. In addition to triggering sampling, the pads can be used for numerous other functions such as muting parts, entering numeric values on the display, etc.

Enrich your sound with a wide variety of simultaneously running effects

With its selection of professional effects, the FA series offers a range of options for fine-tuning your sound and tracks in your sequencer to studio level. Independent MFX modules are available for all 16 parts of the Studio Set, giving you extraordinary sound-shaping options, both when playing live and when mixing a song. Each MFX module offers a choice of 67 different effect types, with the option to add a vocoder if the MFX is used with Part 1. Six independent COMP+EQ processors are dedicated to individual drum sounds, while global EQ, chorus and reverb are at your fingertips for each part if needed. With the unique TFX (total effects), you can further process the station's overall output with dramatic effects like DJ FX Looper, Isolator, and a host of others. All effects can be adjusted in real-time using the Sound Modify knobs, making it easy to play keys, sample and sequence tracks with dynamic sound textures.

Fast and intuitive real-time control

Enjoy the speed of this new breed of instrument from the moment you turn it on - unlike other workstations that take a minute or more to load, the FA Series is available in seconds. The panel is logically arranged into dedicated sections, the large colour LCD display has a great look, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the high resolution graphics for selecting sounds, sequencer collaboration and various settings. Easy to navigate when browsing through the huge number of sounds by category and with favourites assignment for quick recall. Special buttons give you direct access to frequently used functions such as panning, octave range and many more. With six knobs and an easy-to-program matrix, the Sound Modify section lets you control a wide range of parameters in real time for maximum expression in live playing and studio work.