I am not a Korg user, but since my G1000 is almost 8 years old, I am looking around at various alternatives. A couple days ago I was at a music store and they had the PA1X on display, so I spent some 20 minutes with it.

While this is far from an all-encompassing test, I do echo Jammman's comments about the problems with navigating the arranger section. The style group selection buttons are not equipped with the LEDs, so unless you look at the screen, you really can not tell which style group you are currently using. Pressing style group button several times cycles through the pages of styles under that group (that is good), but the attrocious "Bank select" button may need to be pressed several times first.

I also found that a number of touch screen "buttons" are way too small for my fingers, particularly part mute buttons.

The arrangement of One Touch buttons is cute but impractical - they should have been physically separated so that one can press them without the risk of touching the wrong one, and without having to look at them first. As they are implemented now, you could not tell them by touch, and have to look to make sure to press in the right spot. I also found that on a number of occasions I had to touch a screen "button" several times before my selection would register. Worse, sometimes the registered selectioni was wrong. This happened even with the large style/sound selection buttons. I once again contend that a touch screen is a BAD thing for a keyboard oriented towards live playing.

I also thought that the instrument was way too large and heavy - the space on the left, where the joystick is could have been made significantly smaller, if Korg did not put the floppy or the stupid CD drive underneath.

IMHO, Ketron SD1 and/or the new Alesis Fusion form factor is much more suitable for the arranger instrument than what Korg/Roland/Yamaha/GEM are using. The weight does matter, and after 30 lbs every additional pound makes a difference, especially since most of us arranger players are not so young anymore.

I am not even going into the polyphony issue or the fact that the sliders are confusing - their position may or may not represent the current part volume settings.

The 76 keys are important to me, but to me the present offerings from Korg and Roland both have some serious shortcomings. I believe that a new Korg should be coming out in a year's time - perhaps they will address the concerns that we are expressing here. In that same timeframe, we should hear the news of a 76 key version of Tyros 2, if it is indeed in the works - I think that may be the instrument for me.

Regards,
Alex