Seems that the PA 80 has come up to bat with it's new 3.0 OS upgrade adding sampling plus more features also you can add a H.D. Fat 32 of as many gigs as you please no limit. So my question is what would the specialists here at synthZone have to say regarding the PSR 2000, PA 80, VA 7; since thay are all within a few hundred dollars of each other, what is the best board for what it offers. Is the VA 7 upgradable, am I comparing the PA 80 to the wrong boards? By the way if the Gem Genesis has gotten everyone excited, the Wersi Abacus has been out for a while and is way superior to the Genesis not to mention in my opinion the ultimate arranger keyboard. http://www.wersi.uk.com/abacus.htm Sorry got carried away, back to my original question. I would appreciate your opinions on these boards so I can make my purchase this week and join the Arranger entourage.

[This message has been edited by synthmeister (edited 01-23-2002).]

[This message has been edited by synthmeister (edited 01-26-2002).]

Synthmeister: I think you need to tell us what your 'specific' needs and wants in an arranger are. Are you going to be using it mainly for regular performance gigging, studio work, composition, or? What type (genre) of music do you play most? All the boards you listed are great boards but have strengths/weakness' in different areas. In order to better help guide you in your keyboard selection, please provide us with more information. - Scott

Lack of support? Hmm.. why? I never thought so, because Ketron seems to listen to his users, ask Roel for example.

On to the topic;
I do have a VA-7 myself and I am quite satisfied with it. What I don't like about it is the navigation, but if you have read some reviews then you must have noticed this already. I do like the sounds, drums etc. But these are all general things. So if you could be more specific what you're looking for, like Scott said, maybe we can help again.

Sander
The Netherlands

synthmeister ,
There is all kinds of support for SD1 on this forum ! Aj , myself and other users !
****************
You should buy the PSR2000 . It has a help screen right on board ! it's a good value !
IMO the SD1 is the best sounding arranger ( I work for Ketron ) . dano/ketronguy

I am super happy - crazy about my PSR2000. Download the Yamaha CVP209 styles and the PSR740 styles and the PSR9000 styles, and you have about 500 unique styles. Very easy to use. Great for computer sequencing and live performing. Lightning fast loading of floppy styles making it's lack of hard drive not a big problem.

The PSR2000 is more than a few hundred dollars less than the other two keyboards mentioned. If you get the PA80 with the optional harmonizer (The VA7 doesn't have a harmonizer option) you're going to spend a lot more.

I've often heard that the PA80 has the best voices, but many PA80 owner's have voiced frustrations over other issues. I would do a search at this site with the keyboard names. You will probably see that the PSR2000 owners are the happiest.

Larry

//The reason I am not adding other well qualified boards.. SD1, and others etc.. is because I would never purchase anything that lacks support and resources.\\

here is something I learned resently.85%of the smaller companes support their products very well more than the bigger companes.like the "access" virse Kb and the "claves" nord lead 2/3. also, ketron supports their products very well. for example,Scott asked ketron to improve and add some rootless chords thingy on the SD-1 and they did work on it and added it on their newest OS and Scott doesn't even own an Sd-1 "yet" !.M-audio(sound card company),they always updated their OS (I have delta-66 and it's perfect).their are many of them that I can't think of right now.about Roland. they have the crapest support you could ever think of.they never update or add new functions unless their sales goes down really bad.like the VA-7'S.they have the worst navigation system.Roland had to update to make it user friendly in life preformance. but other than that.you could screem on theri mail or in phone and they wouldn't do any thing.Korg is working hard.they don't put every thing for you but they work hard and I have to Admit they have a great support.Yamaha? well I had hard time once on fixing a PSR keybaord but they are fine.I dealt with almost all of this companes.and really learned that the big companes doesn't really care about you only unless their is more people that are siding with you.other than that,your one of the millions that buyes their products.

Dan01,
From what I've heard the ketron does have great sounds. What I ment was Ketron seems to have very little outside resources, for example how many sites can you find with info on Yamaha, Roland, Korg, many from experienced users, and many support sites from the Manufacturer. I did not mean to offend anyone, to each his own. I just asked for some help on which of the 3 would be my best bet. By the way I mentioned the Wersi Abacus, which is an arranger far superior to any arrangers discussed on this forum, but I wouldn't buy one do to the same reasons mentioned.

Scottyee,

Your absolutely right! I will be using it live, but will utilize it to compose, must have a good sequencer. I do not care if it's easy to operate at first boot, because it will be my first experience with a pro. arranger, which means I am willing to learn it's in & outs; as long as its not a screen to screen jumper to get at common functions. I would like it to have realistic sounds. The type of music is ballets-top 40, european latin, and dance. I appreciate your interest in helping me. By the way great NAMM pics.

Everyone has their own criteria. If low cost and light-weight are important and you do not need aftouch and expandability, the PSR-2000 is a good choice. If Variphrase is appealing, and vocal harmony and easy navigation are not, then the VA7 might be a good choice. If price is less important than expandability and you want vocal harmony, aftertouch (to emulate wind and stirng leads), and the ability to add user and additional factory sounds, the PA-80 is a good choice.

Synth, I have both the PSR 2k and the PA80, I know little about the VA7 but have spent a bit of time playing the previous Roland series boards, The EM 2000 and G1000. Those Roland boards had some very good sounds, ( I've always liked many of the Roland sounds..I must admit ), but like some others I found the OS and ease of use and navigation to be difficult, so maybe not that much has changed with the VA series in that respect. Still, I'd love to give a VA 7 a "test drive"...

In comparison the OS on the PA80 also had a steeper learning curve for me compared to the PSR2000. I would venture to say that for live playing, for me, the 2000 is more intuitive and easier to navigate, especially because some of the menu functions aren't quite as easy to navigate on the PA80, but a lot of that is because I have owned several Yamaha boards prior to the PSR2k and have a better grasp of Yamaha's way of doing things, while the PA80 is the first Korg arranger I have ever owned. After spending some quality time learning the OS of the PA80, and setting up the registration memories ( Performances in korgspeak ), I can now use it live almost as easily as I can the PSR2000.

Styles are excellent and sound very realistic to me on the PA80, but there are a few that are a bit rough in transition from variation to fill. Also a big minus for the PA80 is only 2 fills per styles, but many of the variations themselves are 8 bar loops, with ' mini ' fills within the variations themselves. Styles, along with the add on CVP styles, are improved on the 2000 from previous PSR models, but overall I still like the PA80 styles better.

For sounds, the PSR 2000 overall has some nice ones, but for my tastes, very few that stand out, with some minor editing capability. Pretty much what you hear out of the box is what you get. The PA80 has very good to excellent sounds in almost every category ( except unfortunately the Acoustic piano which I find to be a bit weak ), and pro workstation editing features, including access to the raw internal samples. In fact to me, the PA80 is almost as much a workstation as it is an arranger.

For live playing, practicing, or just hacking around I can use either, though as I said before, I might favor the 2000 slightly in a live setting for its ease of use, but for studio use or composing, I rarely even turn the 2000 on, that's how much better I like the PA80 sounds. The PA80 sounds also get at least equal billing if not more than my many sampled sounds for creating and recording.

The sequencers in both are rather good compared to previous arranger models. The 2000's has much better resolution ( 1920 ppq vs 384 for the PA80 ), but I actually find the PA80's to be easier to use and understand than the 2000s. Having said this, I still find it much easier to do any serious editing in an external sequencer program. Good external programs still offer a lot more flexibility and editing power than the internal sequencers of any board I've ever used. Not to mention that I find it a heck of a lot quicker and easier to access and edit particular notes on a piano roll screen with a mouse as opposed to using what amounts to an event screen on a synthesizer.

As always though Synthmeister, the best recommendation I can make to you is to gather in what you can from users, but most important, if at all possible, spend some quality time with each board that you are considering, because only you can determine what is going to ultimately sound and work right for you.

Cheers,
" Korg " AJ




[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-23-2002).]