NO sense sugar-coating it, but I got a fantastic deal on a "slightly" dented kb from our buddy, DanO. He shipped it overnight, and I had it fitted with a hard drive and loaded with a few hundred midi files in time for a 6pm downbeat that same night. (tonight, in fact!)

The new O/S has some major enhancements to the beta version, and although the sampling does not interest me - the navigation alone was worth the upgrade. They also fixed the manual bass selection that was screwy before.

Now, if they can only fix the harmonizer to respond like a tradition one should, and NOT like a vocoder.

I had a surprising night with it. The speakers are a little sensitive, compared to my Farfisa G7 and the Yamaha psr2k, but the sound is very good. It's easy to overdrive them, especialll with strong vocals and solid bass. (no surprise there)

Now, I'm extra curious about the sound system in the PA60. It's billed as lower in power, but who knows? It might just be better!

Hi Uncle Dave
Nice to hear your playing the pa80 again. I just want to let you know that Korg is supposed to release the next new OS revision on about June 6th. I heard this from the other Korg pa80 players.
Tom

Any news about harmonizer updates???????

Nothing that I've heard for sure, but rumors of improvements to it have surfaced.

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 06-01-2002).]

You know, I do miss the "live" sound of the drums on the PA80. The Ketron drums sounds are comparable too. The PSR2000 drums are excellent for some situations--for example the supper club I'm playing this week. Other situations, particularly those that are accustomed to using live drummers, call for the "other" sound.
I think I will either go back to a PA80 for a while, or try to get an SDl. I would really like to play an SD1, to see if I could be comfortable with the OS and button layout. I just won't buy anything else without personal hands-on testing.
Unless of course the price is right.
How about one of those dent sales, DanO?
DonM

Sit tight Don, if my suspicians are correct - I think I'd be better off with a PA60, and then this one may become liquid again!

i owned the pa80 briefly and I didn't like the chord delay ... I would play a chord and it would sometimes be slightly delayed... I looked on forum and found others that also noticed this! It Bugged me ... it's clean on yamaha ... either you notice it or you don't ... when I wrote about it 9 months ago ... others responded that they noticed it too and pointed to other threads others had started about it ... it is hard to explain in words (like a stumble).
almost like a double tap!
Does anyone know if they fixed this problem?

Hopefully the pa60 will address this problem ... because I wouldn't mind a prs9000 and korg pa60 in my Sound Studio!

rgtaa

Korg has always favored an "early" trigger for the chord recognition. It takes a little getting used to, but after a while it becomes second nature. It WILL tend to hic-cup if you hit it too late for the beat.
I have no problem with it.

I often hit the chord a tad late because I'm pushing fill buttons with the left hand. The Yamahas handle it nicely, the PA80 took a small bit of adjustment. But then I didn't hit the fill button much, because the fills are REALLY BAD.
DonM

I guess it's all in how we play too. We all have slightly different timing nuances. That is often one of the defining qualities when we look at someone who is considered a "great" or a master of their instrument.

As far as the timing between Korg and Yamaha arrangers, for me, it's just the opposite. When I've recorded songs to midi files with an arrangement as the base of the song, I've usually found that the timing is off more when I play around with a sequence that started on a Yamaha arranger as opposed to the PA80.

Some of the fills are bad on the PA80, but I also think it's also that 2 fills don't match all 4 variations very well for some styles. I've replaced a fair amount of the factory styles anyway, so the styles aren't an issue at all for me.

The PA80 is far from perfect, but for live play, out of all the boards I've used, it's the one I can live best with. I like the PSR9k, but don't want to carry it back and forth all of the time. I thought the 2000 might be the answer, but aside from that it seemed so fragile that it might break if I even moved it the wrong way, there were too many bugs in the OS for me to rely on it. I know that mine seemed to have more than its' share of bugs, but I constantly see evidence that other users are perplexed as well at times. At least the OS in my PA80 has been rock solid, with no issues whatsoever after a year plus of use.

What else is left out there ? I have never liked the Roland arranger OS. I haven't even seen a Ketron or a Technics, and I wouldn't even consider plunking down 3 grand or so without an extensive period demoing a board.. so ... I'll live with the PA80, and ya know what ? I'm still pretty happy with it, even after a year + . It has a ton of features that I do like, so I'm not changing arrangers again til ( if ever ) someone can make a board that I like a lot better.

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 06-08-2002).]

AJ, I think you would like the Ketron, but, whatever we get, it's essential to try it personally, the way WE play it. I may have to check in Dallas (150 miles) to see what is there.
I've been waiting to have a look at the new Technics, Ketron and GEM offerings.
Personally, I've had zero problems with the OS on the 2000. I'm still ticked off about the Flash Rom deal, and I'm disappointed that they won't address the two harmonizer settings that are wrong.
Don

my first arranger type keyboard was the yamaha djx ... for 179 dollars it was nice...and it can run on batteries!
Then I bought the pa80! I loved it! Then I kept being bothered by the chord problem I described above! I use to play LEFT hand Bass Lines and Right hand chords ... years ago with m1 korg and xp-80 roland boards ... but now with auto accompliment I'm back to fancy chords with my left hand and Solos and fills,ect with my Right hand ...Yamaha so far gets my vote. I did try to "get use to it" with the PA80 but ... it cramped my style... sounds like Uncle Dave plays the way I use to play and maybe it's not a problem for him. Sychopasion right hand playing is a Bummer on Pa80 ...
Do you guys think Korg can fix this? Or is it the operating system ... If they could I wouldn't mind a 3rd keyboard ...in addition to my djx and psr9000!
I loved the light weight and some of the styles and sounds of the pa80 ... when I graduated to the psr9000 and the sampler, and vocalizer and better speakers, and all the support I got from the psr styles and song forum ... I've been very happy. I don't gig anymore ... but use to! So the psr9000 stays mostly at home! But I fully understand some of you guys who complained about the prs9000 and prs9000 pro being too heavy to lug around! I can do it ! But if I had to do it every night ... I'd have to get a metal kitchen table with wheels that Target sells ... got the tip from one of these forums!
If the pa60 could address the chord issue I would buy it as inbetween portable board!

Don,
I'm pretty sure the PA80 will be expendable as soon as the PA60s get here. I took a closer look at my rig last night and realized that I will need to bring the rack bag, NO MATTER WHAT - so there is no point in having the built-in harmonizer, because I won't use it anyway. I won't use the sampler either, so I think as long as the PA60 has the SAME engine and sound good .... it's a go. I'll keep you posted, but I'm pretty sure that's what I'll do. I really want a bare-bones kb that feels ok, sounds ok and as a hard drive. The rest I can deal with until they build the "Uncle Davie" model.

I may well be in the market. I really can't afford an SD1, or any of the higher priced keyboards for a while yet.
Tonight the 2000 shined! I played an exclusive supper club, and as I packed up to leave, I picked up the request slips from the past two nights.
Here's the list:
Rainy Night in Georgia
What A Wonderful World
Brick House (The only one I didn't do.)
When Daddy Let Me Drive
Happy Birthday (7 times!)
Anniversary Song (4 times)
Mustang Sally
Margaritaville
Old Time Rock and Roll-Bob Segar
Unchained Melody
You've Lost That Loving Feeling
I Didn't Know God Made Honky Tonk Angels
New York, New York
Fly Me To The Moon
Wonderful Tonight
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Lyin' Eyes
Elvira
Texas When I Die
Waltz Across Texas
Jole Blon (Cajun song)
Neon Moon
Just The Way You Look Tonight
I'm In the Mood For Love
Stormy Monday

I'm ready for a nap now.
DonM

Wonderful Tonight
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Lyin' Eyes

.... three of my all time favorites.

does anyone know what the price of the
korg pa 60 will be and when will it be in the us for sale? i'm using the korg i series
(i5s,i5m, ix300) on stage. i also write my own
styles using a style writer program. i tried
the pa80 but i heard about the pa 60. i might
consider these as an upgrade since the bugs in these machines are being fixed. the i series have been very dependable in the past
5 years of usage. i even thought of using
a triton rack for sounds triggered by the
i5. thanks for any infoor ideas.

FYI

Confirmed Differences Between Pa80 & 60
21.3.02
Korg have confirmed the main differences between the new Pa60 and Pa80, as follows (applies to the Pa60 compared to the '80):

• No CARD slot available,
• smaller ampli/speaker system
• No Output 1 & 2 connections,
• No Pc to Host connection,
• No Harmony Board VHG1 option,
• No user installable HD & Video interface (only by service department using
a custom Korg Option Kit),
• No After Touch.
• No EC 5 connection,
• No Sampling feature,
• No Digital Drawbars.

Looks like Korg is dumping this PA series off any way they can to unload stock fast and make way for newer models any way they can.

Donny,
You disappoint me with your preceding remark about Korg dumping the existing PA models...
Although I have been very critical of Korg back up and support over the last 12 months fairness dictates that I have rarely been as satisfied with any keyboard as with the PA80.
And as to the PA60,if you have a look at the differences with the PA80 in the list mentioned in this thread I would never ever go for the PA60 !!!
Also have a look at my new thread under:
Korg PA80 or PA60 ?

regards
john

John, sorry for your disappointment, but I call them as I see them. I too was a Korg player for many years and enjoyed performing with them on stage for many years. Now what many companies are doing is putting out a Unit to test the waters... and if it catches on fine, if not we have to go through a few years of recycled units until they sell all their repackaged parts instead of seeing totaly new inovations and models of keyboards. Thanx for letting me vent :>)

I don't know that Korg is doing that at all ( trying to dump stock ). There are no "Tyros" rumors floating about in Korgland, so if Korg is strictly looking to "dump" these boards, it's news to me. Another OS update is in the wings as well. The way I see it, Korg made the same mistake with the PA80 as Yamaha did with the 2000. They released it with an OS that was not up to snuff, and that probably hurt sales. The OS in the 2000 was much more complete in fact, but it had some serious stability issues ( at least mine did and judging by some other threads I'm not alone here ). The main difference though is that Korg updated the OS several times and made the updates available via flash rom. Had Yamaha kept their word about a flash rom capable upgrade to the OS of the 2000, maybe I'd still have mine.

The biggest difference for me though is in the way Yamaha treated my problem ( and the way they seem to treat arranger customers in general ) as opposed to the way I've seen Korg handle two speciific cases. I was " hung out to dry " with the 2000 for many many weeks with no solution ( or even meaningful dialogue )offered by Yamaha. In similar scenarios, two PA80 customers received immediate attention and dialogue with Korg and both had replacement boards within 10 days. If Korg could ever get a few things like the acoustic piano sounds squared away, maybe I could avoid Yamaha altogether. ( can't do it though,.. they got me with the Motif .. ). One thing for sure. though. The "Tyros" or any other arranger they release would have to be so much better than anything else out there before I'd ever consider another Yamaha arranger after my experiences.

If anything, based on what we see at Irish acts, it seems as if the PA80 is gaining in popularity, rather than being at a point where Korg needs to "dump" it.



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 06-10-2002).]

I imagine the PA60 as a sort of "PSR" Korg model. It's just a way of selling the same sounds and styles in a cheaper package. Everyone wants cheaper.
The only disturbing ommisions for me would be the "to host" port and the "user insatallable" hard drive option. If they don't happen, I don't think I'd be as excited to switch. I can live without all the rest .... and actually PREFER to.