Fantom-S

Back in the early 2000s, this workstation broke new ground by blending sampling and synthesis so seamlessly that you could capture audio straight into its synth engine, turning raw ideas into polished performances on the fly.

Its 61-key bed with velocity and channel aftertouch feels responsive for expressive play, paired with 16 velocity-sensitive pads and a D-Beam controller for hands-on tweaks. The core is a 64-voice polyphonic XV engine handling 16 parts, with 64MB wave memory expandable via DIMM up to 288MB for about 54 minutes of mono sampling at 44.1kHz—import WAV/AIFF files over USB or record via stereo inputs with real-time timestretch to match any tempo. Effects shine with three multi-FX (77 types including COSM modeling and slicers), dedicated chorus, reverb, input processing, and a mastering compressor, all controllable from intuitive mixer and layer views on the LCD. V-LINK lets you sync controllers to video for live visuals too.

Players loved its warm Roland tones and performance flow, especially the pads and Skip Back Sampling that never misses a riff—though some wished for stronger factory presets out of the box, it's a vintage gem that rewards tweaking.