SYNTH ZONE
Visit The Bar For Casual Discussion
Page 1 of 2 1 2 >
Topic Options
#164983 - 10/17/03 10:37 PM Korg PA1X Information
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
I got a phone call today from Korg USA's district sales manager here in California. It seems that one or more of the components needed in the PA1X are not available right now and so Korg is now saying that delivery will not happen until at least some time in November. I'll keep you all posted.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

Top
#164984 - 10/17/03 10:50 PM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Scott Langholff Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 06/09/02
Posts: 3163
Loc: Pensacola, Florida, USA
Does anybody know how much the 76 and 61 note versions are going to weigh?

Top
#164985 - 10/18/03 02:19 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Graham UK Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/20/01
Posts: 1925
Loc: Lincolnshire UK
Scott The Korg Rep told me 76 note version was 40lbs.

Graham UK

Top
#164986 - 10/21/03 11:50 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
brickboo Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 02/04/01
Posts: 2071
Loc: Fruita, Colorado, USA
George,

Do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt if the new Korg will or will not play the Backing Sequences of the i30 without having to convert them into a midi file?
Thanks,
Boo
_________________________
I'm not prejudiced, I hate everybody!! Ha ha! My Sister-In-Law had this tee shirt. She was a riot!!!

Top
#164987 - 10/21/03 12:00 PM Re: Korg PA1X Information
mc Offline
Member

Registered: 07/17/01
Posts: 870
Loc: New York
I downloaded the manual for the New korg from new site (awarenessengine.co.uk) after just glancing through it. I feel that there not much diffrence from pa1x and the pa80. I did notice some new styles and sounds listed that I haven't seen on the pa80. but not much. I did pay close attention to the latin list of styles and the styles listed in the manual are exactly the same as the pa80. They may have possibly modified the styles. but nothing like the Ketron styles (bachata, diff. merengue's and cumbia). I was told that it's a longer pa80 with the real drums card and some new toys, (cd drive vocalizer, etc). I guess we will have to wait and see.
_________________________
Ketron X1 (Oldie but Goodie)

Top
#164988 - 10/21/03 07:46 PM Re: Korg PA1X Information
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
MC,
I spoke with friends at Korg and I've been told that the realism of voices on the PA1X will blow us away. Korg is using a version of the Yamaha "mega"voices which are going to be easier to play live then Yamaha and I know two of the style programmers hired for this job and they say their style making is completely different from the PA80. I've not heard it myself, but I trust these two friends judgment and I can't wait to hear this keyboard.
I also spoke today with the product manager at Korg USA and the keyboards are in production and should arrive next month (november).
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, california
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

Top
#164989 - 10/21/03 08:33 PM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Idatrod Offline
Member

Registered: 07/23/02
Posts: 562
Loc: Oceanside, CA USA
Very interesting George. If they're using Yamaha's version of the Mega Voices they might be infringing upon some patent without realizing it?? Or do you mean "Korg's" 'version' of Yamaha's Mega Voices? To be much easier to play in a live situation is a big plus. Possibly Yamaha's software Engineers could come up with some type of algorithm and provide a 'fix' for the Mega Voices on the Tyros by way of an OS software update so they too can be more easily played in a live context. According to Yamaha they publicly stated that the Mega Voices on the Motif ES were playable. They never said that publicly about the Tyros. To fix that fatal flaw would sure be a tremendous way for Yamaha to show their support to loyal Tyros/Yamaha owners and at the same time stem the tide of current Yamaha Keyboard owners from breaking ranks to purchase a competitors product. Just think, to be able to play the Mega Voices in a Live! situation without ANY hiccups. Now THAT would be something.

Best regards,
Mike

PS: 62 note Polyphony doesn't get me too excited about the Pa1X/Pro regardless of how good it might sound. Especially at that price. But the Mega Voice's being able to be played live, that interests me.

Top
#164990 - 10/21/03 11:03 PM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Bluezplayer Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/10/00
Posts: 2195
Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
The mega voices did not seem to be very playable when I demoed the Tyros.... but... they work very well on the Motif ES once you work with them a little and get used to them.

I don't know about this new PA1x.. guess I'll have to wait to see if one becomes avaialable to demo before I canm make any judgements or try to evaluate it, polyphony and all. One thing I can say is that with my PA80 and 62 notes odf poly, I rarely if ever have noticed any note drop offs. This was not the case with my original Motif or my 2000. It's all in the way it's allocated too I think. It seems to me that when I've made 4 layer or sample voices with the PA80, it still only counts as one unit of polyphony. This was not the case with the Motif. With 4 layered voices I easily ran out of poly many times.. We'll see I guess....

AJ
_________________________
AJ

Top
#164991 - 10/22/03 02:23 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
trtjazz Offline
Member

Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 2683
Mike,
Really the megas can be played live real time fairly easily by adjusting the velocity settings on the Tyros. The problem as I see it in playing them is that the voices have double or triple duty, meaning one velocity it plays, next slide, next mute. So the problem is more about us controlling our velocity in our playing style. With unweighted keys I think that is more difficult, but if you dial in a consistent velocity on the Tyros the megas are readily playable. Of course the downside is that then some of the "effects" i.e. slide may be harder to get out of it.

Also, I'm sure Korg is talking about "their" version of the megas...not actually the same sound engine etc. Basically they're just using some of the steam Yamaha built up with the megas.
Terry

------------------
jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 10-22-2003).]
_________________________
jam on,
Terry
http://www.artisans-world.com/

Top
#164992 - 10/22/03 02:47 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
sbenno Offline
Member

Registered: 10/03/03
Posts: 35
Quote:
Originally posted by Idatrod:
Possibly Yamaha's software Engineers could come up with some type of algorithm and provide a 'fix' for the Mega Voices on the Tyros by way of an OS software update so they too can be more easily played in a live context. According to Yamaha they publicly stated that the Mega Voices on the Motif ES were playable. They never said that publicly about the Tyros. To fix that fatal flaw would sure be a tremendous way for Yamaha to show their support to loyal Tyros/Yamaha owners and at the same time stem the tide of current Yamaha Keyboard owners from breaking ranks to purchase a competitors product. Just think, to be able to play the Mega Voices in a Live! situation without ANY hiccups. Now THAT would be something.



Hi Mike could you elaborate please what you mean with "flaws" ? Is that what trtjazz said (wrong velocity mapping curves etc) or are there other issues I'm missing ?
I'm not a Tyros owner but I'm curious anyway.

Regarding the Mega/Live technology, I was wondering if it can provide better quality (for natural instruments) than let's say Gigastudio which streams the samples from disk and permits a myriad of articulation styles which makes for very realistic instruments. I hardly doubt it because keyboards do not have this large sample capacity. Ok they can compensate with tricks like modulation etc. but the results are often not as realistic as the natural instrument sampled in a large set of playing styles.


cheers,
Benno



[This message has been edited by sbenno (edited 10-22-2003).]

Top
#164993 - 10/22/03 04:54 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Uncle Dave Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 12/01/99
Posts: 12800
Loc: Penn Yan, NY
Terry said it perfectly. I was about to post a similar reply, but he said it all. There is no "flaw" in the Mega voices...they are just more complex than we're used to. If you learn a new style of technique, you can adjust nicely. I have a similar problem with the "sweet" flute ... I tend to hit it too hard and get the second pasrtial of the sound more often, unless I limit the velocity.
_________________________
No longer monitoring this forum. Please visit www.daveboydmusic.com for contact info

Top
#164994 - 10/22/03 07:30 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
I meant to say Korg's version of Mega Voice technology. Sorry for the mix up.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

Top
#164995 - 10/22/03 07:43 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Idatrod Offline
Member

Registered: 07/23/02
Posts: 562
Loc: Oceanside, CA USA
Quote:
Originally posted by sbenno:
Hi Mike could you elaborate please what you mean with "flaws" ? Is that what trtjazz said (wrong velocity mapping curves etc) or are there other issues I'm missing ?
I'm not a Tyros owner but I'm curious anyway.

cheers,
Benno



I should clarify my statement Benno. The flaw is not in the Mega Voice structure, ie., "the .WAV sample" but in the 'ability' for the "Keyboardist" to play the Mega Voices in Real Time, ie., -a Live setting. Mega Voices use Velocity Switching but so do Normal Voices also. Depending on how hard or soft you play the Voices the sound quality and/or level of the Voice will be reproduced accordingly. With the Mega Voices however, each velocity range (the measure of your playing strength) has a completely different sound. The Mega Voices incorporate such things as Harmonics, Slide, Hammer-on notes, Muted, Dead notes, Open (hard), Open (mid), and Open (soft) effects. Yamaha specifically states, and I quote: "The Mega Voices are NOT intended to be played from the Tyros Keyboard. The Mega Voices are primarily designed for use with recorded MIDI sequence data (such as songs and styles)."

So all this boils down to not being able to play "effectively and in a realistic Live Real Time setting; naturally - (no Hiccups) type scenario where the Keyboardist would most likely be very embarrassed and frustrated because if he did so, ie., - (play in a live setting, ie. Gigging) he would most likely encounter these unwanted 'effects' when playing them. Now that is not to say these 'effects', eg., Hammer-on notes, Harmonics, Muted, Dead notes, etc. are not constructive and useful in some settings (even maybe in a Live setting) but to be able to play them Live and the Keyboardist to have 'absolute' control of these effects in a Live setting is very unrealistic and hence the reason Yamaha stated so specifically - that they are NOT intended to be played from the Tyros Keyboard itself. On the other hand Yamaha 'specifically' has stated publicly that you CAN play the Mega Voices on the Motif ES. I have played the Motif ES and even owned one for a short while and I can tell you first hand that playing in a Live situation is 'easier' although in my experience with the Motif ES (though I may have not had the Keyboard setup correctly to play the Mega Voices optimally) the Motif ES's Mega Voices still leave 'something' to be desired if and when you wanted to use them for Gigging, ie., "in a Live setting". Still, to have that better functionality for the Tyros Mega Voices would truly be an enhancement and an improvement over the current Tyros Mega Voice playing ability.

Best regards,
Mike

PS: Benno, the Tyros Mega Voice playing ability can be 'improved' by setting the "Initial Touch" to its 'hardest setting' in the Controller Panel. Also the 'Harmony' function can also affect the Mega Voice playing ability.

What say you Yamaha.

Top
#164996 - 10/22/03 11:35 AM Re: Korg PA1X Information
Graham UK Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/20/01
Posts: 1925
Loc: Lincolnshire UK
I spent many hours listening to the Korg PA1X demonstrated standing at the side of the player John Pacey Korg Rep. At no time during my 7 days Keyboard Festival did I detect any Note drop off due to Polyphony.
The Mega type voices that are talked about are excellent. They are easily playable like any other voice,Trumpet roll off with velocity. Trombone slide with velocity...Brilliant. Great keyboard 76 key feel and response. (I have not yet seen the 61 note version) This is without doubt in my opinion the best arranger on the market at the present time.

Graham UK



[This message has been edited by Graham UK (edited 10-22-2003).]

Top
Page 1 of 2 1 2 >

Moderator:  Admin, Diki, Kerry 



Help keep Synth Zone Online