Bill is right Donny. Sustain plus multi-layered voices and also three right hand voices simultaneously on the newer Korg arrangers. Combine that with a left hand voice which in many cases is multi-layered and then on top of that multi-pads, styles and also midi files, all playing simultaneously, will eat up polyphony real fast.

I've exceeded the polyphony on my Fantom G7 on occasion and it's not an arranger. Arrangers are multi-faceted instruments that are polyphony intensive. For instance, just playing in auto-accompaniment mode can drain polyphony rather quickly, especially if you use the sustain pedal. Keyboard manufacturers utilize software algorithms in an attempt to minimize the effects of note drop off. But algorithms only provide minimal relief and in reality when you exceed the polyphony limit notes do get cut off and that can be unnerving in a live performance setting. If notes get cut off you won't hear certain sounds (notes) that you are attempting to play and in which your audience deserves to hear. But they won't if you run out of polyphony and quite frankly it is relatively easy to do on an arranger.

If the Big Three doubled the current polyphony standard to 256 it would create huge excitement within the music community. Keyboard players of all stripes have repeatedly asked the Big Three to double the polyphony to 256 but so far it has gone largely unheeded. There are a few like the Roland Juptier-80 and Casio's PX-5S plus certain Yammie Clavinova's and one or two Kawai's and that's about the extent of it. Only the Clavinova is an arranger and they cost an arm and a leg unfortunately. There are some portable organs that have 'unlimited' polyphony but again they aren't arrangers.

By the way, I noticed the Pa-300 doesn't have stereo outputs and so I wouldn't be able to hook it up to an external sound system which is a deal breaker for me unfortunately. I've been itching to play the Pa-900 and if Guitar Center gets one in I'll be sure to demo it if I can. Sometimes they get something in stock but they won't put it up on display for whatever reason. If things don't pan out here locally I might end up purchasing something online. Stay tuned.

All the best, Mike