Nice, comprehensive review. I like how you take your time, in this case six months, to draw your conclusions. It was very helpful.

Thanks for taking the time to put these videos up they are very informative and I enjoy your playing. Secondhand price for the FA-06 is incredible at the moment so I'm going to have to get one they are silly cheap. Not owned a Roland for 5-6 years now and can't wait to hear how they have improved. They really lost their way when I decided to leave them so fingers crossed I fall in love with the fa and it leads to bigger things! :)

Very good work Woody, I also was waiting for this one. Though I have an FA-06 it is a good lesson for me.You really are the man we needed to do this and thank you for all your effords, all your work!Regards from Ronny in Kessel, Belgium.

Great presentation, well done!!! I have the FA-06 and the action is a really fast tight synth type, very good.

Amazingly Comprehensive , best review i've seen yet.

Great review Woody.

Fantastic detailed review, Woody. Subbed!

Awesome series. Thank you!

Excellent review!

Hey thsts brilliant to watch keep up the good work my friend. Just what i need. Paul

Same here I have been waiting for this, yet you mostly focused on Fa Vs motive and didn't mentioned much about the PSR. But in general I love the review and thank you so much for sharing the information am yet to make up my mind and get one but will wait for more of your reviews to decide.. Many thanks man keep the good work up

This is the video i've been waiting for!

I am amazed at how the pads and synths on this thing are like the one’s on my trusty old CS1X!! Considering it is a rompler, it has some incredible sounds 😍

The FA-06 is awesome. I have one and the keyboard actin is great. Non-weighted, which is what we want for keys other than piano, as you kind stated. I've had it for 10days so I'm still diving into it, but the keyboard itself is really good.

Now that's what I call a real review. Talking pros and cons of a keyboard with features and functionalities.

I dont like the strings and violins and such on the Motiff. I am blind and i wish Roland and Yamaha could do more in terms of accessibility.

Thanks so much for your excellent review Woody. I have the FA06 teamed up with a Roland JP50 and play in an 80s covers band and have found the synth sounds and flexibility of the FA just perfect. I do like the look of the 08 though as I'm sure the keybed on the 88 note is great. And yes I agree the sampler is just brilliant and perfect for triggering one shot samples, it's also useful in control mode (funtion 3 in the menu) for turning on and off sounds when in multi-mode.

Thank You very much. I expect to buy a FA and this is so usefull ! Concerning the lack of bass of the organ sound, isn't it possible to fix this with the EQ, or tone editing ? I think one of the good point of this FA is the 6 knobs for real time adjust. You should have play with them while playing to show versatility of it... By the way thank You for this rapid review. I think I will buy it. Best regards. Olivier

As always - thank you - Thank You - THANK YOU! SO MUCH WOODY! - Absolutely brilliant review - totally honest right down to saying that the drum patterns were crap! lol - Thanks to you - My megga Cimbo pressy to myself this year will be a lovely shiny Roland FA-07 - Next week - I start the arduous task of starting to get funds together so come December I can buy my dream machine! - Thanks Woody - You my friend are inspiring! - Long may you reign! x x x

I just brought one thanks to your reviews

Very useful. Thanks.

Thank you woody for wonderful insight of the machine , am still in a dilemma in between MODX 7 and FA 07

I own the FA-06 and it has revolutionized my sound tremendously. I'm not a fan of the sequencer though. But it grooves well with my other synths and workstations so it's a definite keeper.

Struggling to find video instructions how to match volume/velocity? between Rhythm sounds & most other voice/tone instruments. Got a good link?: From RexM

Question the issue that the bass did not have a lot of punch to it and drums sounding to hard? Can this be fixed with an update of the OS? great video by the way .

Have you noticed , if you are layering sounds using Dual mode, for example full grand and a soft pad, that eventually the piano sound starts sounding plunky or like if its trying to sound like an arppagio* ? Its so annoying that happens im trying to play a nice smooth melody and the full grand sounds all weird

I got the Fa 06 keyboard the day it came out and It's been amazing to have. Its been a pretty good investment. I'll have to upload a vid of a beat I made with it. It does kind of have a plastic feel but its really durable so I wouldnt let that scare people from buying it.

Playing the sort of music that I wish to emulate, so, for me your FA08 demos are simply the best. Now we have an FA07 what about the keybed for this middle version?

What do you think of the masterkeyboard functions given this is 88 keys and weighed?

Hello Woody, I hope to buy an FA06 workstation (or similar) within the next 12 months or so, do I need to own a PC or a Mac for updates etc... as I only have a Chromebook laptop. The computer side of synths is something I am unfamiliar with.

Hi Woody! Thanks very much for your review series on the FA series! For the past three years or so I've had both the MOXF8 and MOXF6, using the MOXF8 as my master controller keyboard. I pretty much bought the Yamaha without comparing the keybed too much with other 88 key products - the sound and sequencing were the biggest features for me then. It felt pretty good, but after having it for this long and doing some real hardline comparison to a real baby grand, I felt the action was too muddy/squishy and was fatiguing my hands after a while. Over the past month or so I've been trying out every 88 key product across all the major manufacturers, including digital pianos, workstations, and midi controllers. I had one very specific goal this time - I wanted the keybed that I really, truly connected with and that felt most like my baby grand acoustic. After trying probably 20-30 different keyboards, the Roland FA-08, the RD-2000, and the Juno DS 88 all came in way above the others. It wasn't even close for me. Now to be fair, the keyboards I demo'd were floor models - and have probably been beaten and abused by every keyboard player's 4-year-old child banging and such. But I was very thorough. Roland came out on top for me. Of this I have absolutely no doubt. When I tested I went for each unit's big grand piano default sound, although sound quality wasn't really that big a deal, I was only focused on the feel and response of the keys. The only other units that came semi-close were the Yamaha CP4/CP40 stage pianos. Great instruments, but still a bit stiff and slow to respond to rapid fire staccato. So, I placed my order for an FA-08 this weekend. I still have the MOXF6, and I will say as you do that either of those (the FA or the MOXF) are great choices. I love the sounds of my MOXF, and having the MOXF6 around still gives me all that. But when it comes to playability and keybed, I've never been more excited to have a controller that I know I'll be happy with for a very, very long time to come. Cheers to the FA-08!

I keep hearing conflicting reviews of the FA-06/08 in that it is a difficult beast to use when sequencing & that the instruction manual is not very detailed. I think, on the whole, Roland has more "spacey" sounds than the Krome/Moxf6. Would that be a fair assumption?

Hi Woody - thank you so much for your reviews. The FA06/08 have been out for a few years now. Do you think they are still a worthwhile purchase or do you think there are newer keyboards that give better sound and performance?

Forgot to mention. Have you tried an external controller with the Roland FA06/8? Curious whether you can play all the parts in performance mode as you would on the keyboard itself. I have a weighted 88 key controller and I think that would be great if it could control the FA06 as I would have the piano option and synth option available to me!

Could you provide sheet music for the excerpts of themes you used in the video? Some sounded really nice. Thanks.

Quite an interesting demonstration without hearing almost a single sound from the instrument

is there any PC software available to help edit things?

Nice demo! i may buy it,- you said there were no vibrato/Chorus on the organ sounds, but that maybe can be fixed with the internal FX modul, if it has those choises, greetings, Levi in SWeden

Hi Woody, I'm trying to find a video that will show how to program a whole song step by step with the FA-06 buy can't find any. Do you know of any videos or tutorials on YT?

When you talk about the bassiness of the organ sound when doing bass lines, surely you could create a split and layer up a deeper edited organ bass in the bottom end you are using, from other reviews it would seem that is fairly easy to do.

Again another great review.....except Woody, at about 7:57 into your video you were demonstrating some errieee sounds and in the background I saw a spooky shadow move across the wall in the background. Eeeeeek. By the way Woody.....Any chance of doing a review on these Casio PX 5S or 560m Pianos. See what all the fuss is about???

Hi, please make a video of the pads, especially of playing the FA08's own drums and virtual ones, as a superior drummer, etc. via midi, greetings

I am seriously considering getting the FA-06 as a 61 key board that covers most things. I previously owned the vr-09 but it's lack of editing and Fisher Price keybed made me sell it. I tried in the shop to get the vr09 organ and Leslie Sim sound out of the Fa-06 but could only find cheesy sounding organs compared to the vr09 especially on fast rotary. I even couldn't coax a comparable organ on the Fantom 0 which was also in the shop....the vr09 killed them both. Is there an expansion available for the Fa series so they match the vr09?

What brand do you prefer? Roland or korg?

Damn its weird seeing you without a beard! Would you still recommend this synth to an owner of korg kronos 2 and yamaha modx7? Thanks! :)

Hi thanks for all of your very helpful fa videos can I ask if I use an 88 note midi keyboard to control the fa06 will it give me full 88 note range

That is what I call sunburn 😱😊

Here in Argentina I can get a Korg Kronos for the same price as an FA08, but I think i'd still prefer the FA08. Even though the FA08 has less features the Kronos looks ridiculously complex to use.SO much so that it would probably put me off playing it...and it takes longer to boot up than my PC.

Woody , I see that You hooked up a Monitor to your PSR , Can you do the same with the FA ?

What kind of stand is that with the screen?

I'm very surprised you favor electric pianos and pianos on the FA. The expansions for the Moxf are comparable to Nord electric piano sounds!

if i had the money this is this would be the natural ugrade from a JV/XP synth

Is that an external monitor on the Yamaha?

how in depth does this sampler go? Can it chop like an MPC? or would I be better off to control an old sampler through midi?

This does not have physical modeling, as stated, only tonewheel(ish) and virtual analog, in addition to the Supernatural and plain PCM. The organ in this is FA not considered best in class for a workstation. That would be the Kronos, which is technically not in this class, but you compare the FA often to the Yamaha XF, which competed with the Kronos. Even the new Montage(not a workstation) still doesn't beat the Kronos on organs. The keybed of the FA-08 is the Ivory Feel G , also shared with some variation with the RD-300nx, A88 controller, Juno DS-88 and others. It is not their best action, and neither is that of the synth action models. Those not needing the seq might be better off with the Integra-7 module and a nicer controller.

5:00 sounds like just experiencing an LCD that is rid of: undersized subpixels instead of pixels, aliased fonts (subpixel anti-aliasing on already-subpixel displays), and Apple-TN panel pixel inversion. They look like that without those things :) They don't even have to be IPS.

You have a PSR S 970 too?

I love how you break things up by talking and then playing but it is rather odd how you are not playing the sounds you are talking about? Believe me I know how long it takes to do these videos and how much effort goes into them so I hope you see this as constructive criticism. I sure have a lot of improvements to make with my KZfaq videos 😊

Ok, my future keyboard will be this FA08! Goodbye my darling Kurzweil PC3LE8...

Comes with wobble? . Get yourself a stand.

You never even played the Real Piano Sound.

BTW, i know this was 2 years ago now, but do you still use the FA08?