You can feel the speed of this new breed of instrument the moment you hit the power switch—unlike many workstations that can take a minute or more to boot, the FA-06 is ready to play in seconds. The panel is logically organized into dedicated sections, and the large color LCD presents a gorgeous look with inviting hi-res graphics for selecting tones, working with the sequencer, and adjusting various settings. It’s easy to navigate through the FA-06’s large sound selection by category and assign favorites for fast recall, while dedicated buttons deliver instant access to often-used functions such as transpose, octave range, and many others. With six knobs and a powerful yet easy-to-use assignment matrix, the Sound Modify section lets you control a wide range of parameters in real time for maximum expression while performing live and working in the studio.
Perform and Record with a Massive Selection of Roland’s Very Best Sounds
The true measure of any music workstation lies with the quality and diversity of its sounds. Filled with over 2000 tones directly inherited from the INTEGRA-7, Roland’s flagship pro sound module, the FA series truly delivers in this area and then some. All of the INTEGRA-7’s SuperNATURAL synth and XV-5080 PCM tones are onboard, plus an essential collection of ultra-expressive SuperNATURAL acoustic tones that includes pianos, organs, drums, bass, strings, and more. The FA-06’s sound engine is fully compatible with the large, growing collection of INTEGRA-7 synth tones available as free downloads from Roland’s Axial sound library site, and it’s also possible to expand the onboard sound set with FA-series wave sound expansion collections.
Capture Ideas and Create Songs Without Interruption
Simple yet powerful, the FA-06’s intuitive 16-track sequencer has been designed to let you capture your inspiration as it happens—recording is always just a simple button press away, ensuring that you’ll never lose an idea. In a flash, you can build a full arrangement with the FA-06’s huge array of sounds, and with continuous recording in loop mode, you’re able to fill up all 16 tracks without ever stopping! In addition to real-time capture, step recording is also possible, and you have complete control to edit and mix your tracks as you go and save your song to an SDHC card as a stereo audio file. It’s also possible to export your tracks as individual WAV audio files and/or MIDI data for further development in your DAW, making the FA-06 a powerful sketchpad for capturing initial sparks that will form the basis for your full-scale computer music productions.
Seamless Hardware Integration with Your DAW
In addition to standalone use as a performance instrument and composing workstation, the FA-06 transitions into your computer-based music production world with ease. A simple press of the dedicated DAW Control button instantly sets up the FA-06 to communicate with your computer via USB*, letting you use the keyboard and knobs to send MIDI data to your DAW for playing software synths, controlling plug-in effects, and more. The FA-06 also includes control maps for popular DAWs, providing a quick and easy setup to control transport functions and more in your specific software. You can even use the FA-06 as a USB audio interface to record a variety of different sources directly into your DAW, including a mic, guitar, or stereo line level device connected to the FA-06’s rear-panel input jacks, and you can capture the FA-06’s internal sounds and sampler playback as well. Sound output is also supported, allowing you to monitor the DAW output through the stereo output and headphones jacks on the FA-06.
Instant-Access Performance Sampler Onboard
Based on Roland’s mega-popular SP-404SX, the sampler in the FA series features fun, fast, hands-on operation and sampling/playback via convenient SDHC cards. You can play audio samples directly from the 16 pads on the FA-06 panel, making it easy to expand your performances with loops, backing tracks, one-shots, vocal phrases, sound FX, and more. Thanks to SDHC flash memory, your samples load instantly with no wait time, and you can use the four pad banks and clipboard function to rearrange your samples as needed for any performance. It’s super-easy to sample the FA-06’s own sounds or external sources via the Mic/Guitar and Line inputs, and you can even play WAV, AIFF, or MP3 samples that you’ve transferred from your computer. A variety of editing features allow you to tweak your samples to taste, including quick adjustment of playback position and level. In addition to sample triggering, the pads can be used for numerous functions such as muting parts, entering numeric values in the display, and more.