Roland G-70: mint, like new, loaded CF card, manuals & CDs, music rack, AC adapter cable, FC7 multi-pedal controller, sustain pedal, in original Roland box, Gator GKB-76 wheelie semi-hard case shipped separately. $2000 + $75 shpg.

Yamaha PSR 3000: mint, loaded SM card, sustain pedal, AC adapter cord, brand new Roadrunner 61 padded gigbag, original Yamaha box. $700 + $50 shipping.

Yamaha CBX-K1xg: 37-note mini key XG sound module and MIDI keyboard controller, with speakers, includes manual; runs on icluded batteries or AC adapter. $100 + $15 shipping.

I'd need to do this to get a Korg PA800. I've never seen, heard or played a PA (only an iX300), so I'm stabbing in the dark. Would I be doing the right thing? Looking for intelligent advice.


[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 07-22-2009).]

Just a "gut" reaction to your post, Cassp, but I think you should make a real effort to try a PA-800 first, before you sell the G70 and the 3k.

Now, you probably could easily get another 3k, or even a PSR-S910 if the Korg doesn't work out for you, but you may wish you didn't sell the G70, as it may be pretty difficult to find another as nice as the one you have.

I would really think this through, and really make an effort to play a PA-800.

I'm not dissing the Korg, but I know I wouldn't make such a big decision without a thorough testing.

I think I'm running into that 'you can't serve two masters' dilema. When I sat down at the G70 tonight I couldn't find a style I liked to save my life - well, maybe one or two but not as many as I thought I liked. OTOH, the 3K keyboard drives me crazy.

Yes, I'd love to play an PA800, but I have not been able to find one anywhere near me. I will probably get over this in a day or two, but I need to know if it's a step in the right direction or not.

Well, Cassp...the PSR-S910 will be out in a few months...October or November...that will have 322 styles, MP3 capability, and a very large 3rd party support....and it only weighs 25 Lb or so.

The PA-800 has the 61 keys, so you're not gaining more octaves...but it does sound pretty darn good, from the demos I've heard.

If you don't go for the Korg, you can always sell the 3K and get an S910, and not be out a lot of money...plus, you'll still have the G70.


Just go slow, and don't make any hasty decisions one way or the other...my Uncle Jim used to say, "When in doubt...do without."

Dave the Uncle, Steve and Zuki are all supporters, so you know they'll recommend getting the Korg.

You are making a BIG mistake.............

Cassp,
I see you are located around Detroit?
I'm in NE Indiana and you sure would be welcome to come over here and try my PA2.

I agree with Ian...Please try to play one before you make a big change.
Actually, with the PA, there is so much there, and it's different...you need to spend a good amount of time with it before you will see if you like it or not.

I just finished testing a new set of Pianos for the Korg PA2XPRO as a beta tester and WOW! You need 168 MB of sample ram to load them as each note is sampled at 4 velocities.

It sounds superb.

Why not go over to the Korg arranger forum and check out what's going on. You can also hear the pianos demoed on one f the threads.

Lee S.

[This message has been edited by leeboy (edited 07-22-2009).]

Didn't you just get the 3k? Why did you get that one to begin with?



------------------
Bill in Dayton

$ - maybe I should have waited and bought an S900 or a T2. I'm getting so confused.

BBBB - they don't have any and I don't have a new passport.

Fran - it wouldn't be the first time, or the last. But maybe I'm tiring of the 70...

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 07-22-2009).]

Cass,,,
Listen to your buddies.
Eddie

Cass, I hated the PA800. Big lack of styles, at least for the type of music I do.
It has some great features and mechanics, but the sound and the styles have to be to your liking. They weren't to mine.
Try before you buy.
DonM

I should've have had you sit your butt down Monday and played my T2 for a bit. What did you think of the sound?

------------------
Bill in Dayton

With the morning comes... more confusion. I should have sat down at that T2, Bill. It sounded so good, especially thru your L1 system; and you played it so well... and I even brought my 3K along to play or compare, but we never got to that. I've gotten so much good advice, there's no way I can follow it all, but I do believe I have to get my hands on a PA800 before I decide on one of those.

It would seem silly at this point to abandon my newly acquired 3K without even giving it a chance to disappoint me. It really is a good keyboard, not near as bad as I sometimes feel. But the G70 is becoming another story. I can't continue to wrack my brain over two opposing OSs and style systems. The Roland definitely has a more 'live' sound, but the Yamaha is no slouch. I've got to run thru some songs and see how feel for me.

My wife understands little of this folly and only asks, do you have the money to do this? She also admonishes, you've only played a few jobs and you're already buying new keyboards?... She thinks I'm somwhat crazy.

I'm going to sit down with both boards for the next week or two and try to decide if either or both are worth replacing. With the G70 and case weighing 50lbs+, I can't see me using it out live too often. I really don't need a home keyboard, I still have my Hammond XK1 and a Kurzweil MK5 sitting around collecting dust already. I might just float the G70 out there and test the waters; I certainly won't give it away just to get rid of it.

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 07-23-2009).]

Cass-

Look at my online schedule and see if any of my days off match up well for you to hook up, ok? Maybe the 29th? We'll find a place to meet and spend some time with both boards, ok? For the level that you're working at, the 3k should do a very nice job.

My gut says sell the G7 and the 3k and pick up a t2 or t3...Also, take your wife out to dinner...If she's not happy, no one is, eh?





------------------
Bill in Dayton

Cassp, it all boils down to pleasing yourself.

I have had several people tell me that I should like the Tyros3 more than the S900...but, I don't.

I really don't have to justify my preferences to anyone, but suffice to say, I just connect better with the S900 as an arranger....I like the keybed, I like the built in speakers, and I like the sound.

It is a true "portable" keyboard.

I felt the same way comparing the the 3K and the Tyros1...I liked the 3K much better.

The S900 and 3K aren't perfect, but they are/were perfect for me, and it's me that I have to please...no one else.

The audience can tell when I'm more pleased with an instrument...and ultimately, we both are winners.

If you aren't using a keyboard for more than a few months, it may be time to pass it on to someone else who will.

Hope this helps a little bit.

You know you're going to displease the Roland supporters (especially the ones that hate Yamaha ) if you sell the G70 and start using a Yamaha...personally, I don't care what brand you go with, as long as you are happy with the result...that's the bottom line, and the thing that's most important.

Please yourself, whether it be a Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Audya, or whatever.



[This message has been edited by ianmcnll (edited 07-23-2009).]

Cass, I have a similiar problem.
My two active keyboards on the stands are Rolands top board, the E 80 and Yamaha top board when I bought it, the Tyros 2.
I will soon need to sell one or the other as We are once again going to be traveling full time in the motorhome.
I play one for a week and think wow, I will keep this one.
Then I play the other one for a week and think, No, this is the one I must keep.
This has been going on now for a year.
When I play the E 80 I play all big band music, boogie, Jazz, etc.
When I play the Ty2 I play mostly blues, and country.
I just can't decide on which one to keep or even if I could replace both of them with something else????
Bebop

Join the club, friend. Although I find I'm more comfortable playing just the opposite on my G70 and 3K. See how personal preference is the key. Good luck in your choosing, I think I'm getting closer to a decision. BTW, if you decide to sell the T2 please let me know.

Cass,
I am only about 3 hours from you.
I have a PA2XPRO hooked to great Mackie HR-824 monitors.

The sounds are the same as a PA800 and the OS is the same too.

If you like, you can drive down and check it out sometime. I had a T2, sold it and bought the Korg. Glad I did...but..you must be the one to decide what works for you personally.

Lee S.

Hi Cass,
I'm a big KorgPA800 fan, but I also would also recommend you try one ( or even Lee's PA2X) before you buy.
As Lee said, operating system is the same, styles are the same, a couple of ex pa800 owners say , the sounds ( to them) are slightly better on the PA2X compared to PA800 , but at least you'd get some idea if it suited you or not.

Maybe check out the Korg forums, maybe somebody there could recommend where you may be able to see one that's a bit closer to home.

The PA800 has had to major upgrades since I bought mine over 18 months ago (free).
The first one 1.51 added Guitar Mode recording, ( a single note records a guitar strum. Full strum ,4 string strum,slow strum, up & down, plus individual notes can also be recorded, plus a heap of effect noises like thumps, fret noises etc). Only used for style tracks, it's not a realtime function for melody.
They upgraded a number of styles with Guitar Mode tracks & a number of new guitar voices.
The last one just before Xmas, added the new DNC voices, some new styles.
Also if style editing/creating is of any interest , they upgraded the style import /export as midifile function. Instead of importing/exporting a single style part to a pc sequencer for editing, the whole style can be imported/exported. That's great for people who prefer to use a pc sequencer instead of editing/creating onboard.

The multipad function on the Korg is also great. It has an additional sync function that psr's don't.

And just in case Donny's around, the pads don't play thru the endings anymore. That was one of his gripes.

See if you can try before you sell everything.
best wishes
Rikki

Lee, thanks for your offer. I will definitely keep you in mind.

I think this is all Nigel's fault; those PA500 ads running across the header are irresistible.

I've settled down somewhat and am giving both boards a chance to win their keep. I have them side by side in the music room and continually play styles and songs on both for comparison. I will continue to scour the net, especally Korg forums, to find a Korg near me.

Keep your G70, sell the 3k and buy a much cheaper pa500. It has a lot of functions like the the pa800 at less than half its price, bad keybed though.

...................and no vocal harmonizer, no EC5 pedal jack no built in MP3 recorder ( although on the PA800) it's an option.

Cass I feel your pain, been there and done what you're going thru in 2007. Finally settled in on the Korg and an s900. For my use I got the best of both worlds. Good luck in your quest. Take a trip out East come to Frankieve's store, we'll round up half a dozen more or so of SZ members. TonyMads and I will bring some great Italian food from our little Italy known as "Federal Hill."

here's a thought... maybe it's not the keyboards that are faulty. oooow

Going back to an earlier comment, I've haven't much used my arrangers as such in the past. I always had my trio with me and we mostly played with SMFs; styles were few and far between. Now that I'm going solo, I find I'm not proficient enough in the nuances of actual arranger playing - actually I'm pretty uncomfortable and revert back to SMFs to save my butt.

I had the opportunity to listen to one of Bill Corfield's sets and was impressed with his playing style and control of his T2. I don't think he used any SMFs. The sound was solid and there was little down time between songs. I'm still fumbling thru music finders, registrations and such. I can't decide which chording system to use. I have been using the AI systm on both boards, but Bill swears by full keyboard. Hell, I can't get anything to sound quite like Bill's style. I guess I'll have to drive down there again and get a lesson from him.

BTW, I went out the other day and cold called on six facilities within 7 miles of me. I've booked two additional places and am waiting on a third. My August could actually be somehat busy and give me a chance to put these boards -and myself - thru their paces.

I think that all of us (myself included) are prone to heap the fault on the arranger, and then we go and hear someone else playing what we just put down, and it sounds GREAT...

Most of it IS the player, and their familiarity with their gear. Sometimes sounding exceptional isn't so much a product of having an exceptional keyboard, but in learning what your own gear DOES do well, and doing ONLY that, and learning what it does NOT do well, and NEVER doing that!

That way, you sound like a genius! But trying to shoehorn something that does not have styles to your taste into something that does can often be an exercise in futility. Pick the gear for the way it sounds best on the music you play the most, and then simply let it dictate to you what else it can do, and your audience thinks you are great. Try to make it do something it sucks at, and they (and yourself ) will blame you for it!