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#353200 - 10/21/12 03:36 AM Pa600 first impressions
Saswick Offline
Member

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 875
Loc: Garstang, Preston, Lancashire,...
Hi Guys

First impressions, I haven't been so inspired for a while, please bear in mind I have owned the

Korg i30, the Pa800 the Pa2x and the MicroArranger which i still have, for now. I also had a brief

affair with a Yamaha PSR S900 but as you can see i'm a Korg fan at heart.

So far so good:

The board is a very neat with a distinct lack of buttons, mainy of the functions are now carried out

via the touch screen, ahh the touch screen, all 7 inchs of it, responds far better than previous

models a pleasure to use (Thank you Korg) it was the screen which first tempted me to look at the

Pa600 and I certainly was not disapointed.

I downloaded from the Korg Forum the Pa3x international and the Pa3x Musicant they all load and

play well, I was hoping they would and they do, a real real bonus.

The onboard styles are a collection from the Pa2x and a few from the Pa3x but as I said the Pa3x

styles are available. I also loaded a few of the styles from the MicroArranger these also loaded

and played well, the only snag is the lack of STS or OTS names but of course they are editable.

The keybed feels very good to my taste, I thought I might struggle after using the KMA for a while

but once again pleasantly suprised.

The auto fill systems is something new to me and I find it a bonus, switch it on and forget it. It

works just the same as the Tyros ie a fill between variations and a repeat if you re-select the

original variation. No dedicated fill buttons as far as I'm concerned a big improvement.

I haven't had time to test the songbook feature but it seems to work the same as previous models
this was one feature I really missed on the KMA.

The speaker system sounds good to my ears and I was able to use the onboard speakers as

monitors for my vocals (The KMA speakers just were not up to the job) without a trace of

feedback at relatively high volume, studio is only 10' square, my PA which at the moment I have

set up at home is two Behringer B212d active speakers 550W each according to the blurb.

The master EQ and Limiter is a nice feature the screen display look very similar to the WaveMaxx

screen from the Pa3x, both the features have their own set of presets and you can edit or create

your own if you wish.

I have a selection of Harmonizers, Korg Digitech and TC helicon. I am using the TC helicon at the

moment the output from the harmonzer straight into the line in jacks on the Pa600 and then out to

the PA. The overall sound I am very happy with bur we will see how good it is on the first gig.

On the old models the line input was routed directly to the stereo outputs and the master volume

did not effect it, on the Pa600 the volume the EQ and the Limiter all effect the line inputs another

big improvement.

I've run out of steam, back to the board, I will record some demo's audio and Video as soon as I

get time, until then Bye for now

Any questions I'll be happy to help if I can.

Kind Regards

Col


Attachments
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DSC00510.JPG




Edited by Saswick (10/21/12 03:45 AM)

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#353201 - 10/21/12 03:42 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
jdx Offline
Member

Registered: 09/29/04
Posts: 224
Loc: Liverpool U.K.
Hi Col
The one you saw in AC Hamilton boxed ready to go may have been mine (I am expecting it tomorrow)
Could you let me know or post a link to where I can download the internal PA3X styles and any others available.
Thanks Col
John.

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#353202 - 10/21/12 03:51 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
Jose Pereira Offline
Member

Registered: 06/27/02
Posts: 214
Loc: Funchal Portugal
Hi Col, thanks a lot for this "little" review
Is the piano sound the same as in PA2X-PA800 or is it different? better? worse?

What about selection of a sound thru the touch screen? I mean, as it doesnīt have dedicated right hand select buttons (as PA3X) is it possible to call sounds but have them muted and unmute as needed? I mean, for example, call a sound for up2 but donīt activating it inmediatelly.

Is it ease to use the touch screen faders, without using the data wheel?

Thanks in advance for the answers!!
Regards
Jo

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#353203 - 10/21/12 04:03 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
Artaher Offline
Member

Registered: 12/04/01
Posts: 143
Loc: Madrid, Spain
Thanks for your review, PA 600 seems a real winner.

I have Two questions about fills.

PA 600 has four fills, as Pa3X. But PA2X had three fills. So, if Pa600 has a lot of styles from PA2X, as you say, are they with 3 fills as in PA2x? is there one fill more?

If you load styles with 3 fills from older Korg arrangers (PA800, 500...) in the new PA600, how it manages them? does PA600 create automatically a new fill?

Thanks


Edited by Artaher (10/21/12 04:09 AM)

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#353204 - 10/21/12 04:05 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Jose Pereira]
Saswick Offline
Member

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 875
Loc: Garstang, Preston, Lancashire,...
Hi Jo

To my ears the main piano sound good mellow and very playable, I will post a demo ASAP

The sound selection is very easy I normally just use the touch screen anyway and the new screen is very good.

Because the screen is so large muting sounds etc is a doddle.

I've tried the faders and it is better than the older models but I have found, up to now, thet touching the fadet to activate it then making changes using the data wheel is very quick, the dat wheel is so close to the screen. I will expereiment with the touch screen and report back.

Regards

Col

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#353205 - 10/21/12 04:11 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Artaher]
Saswick Offline
Member

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 875
Loc: Garstang, Preston, Lancashire,...
Re the extra fills

The styles from the Pa2x have been modified so they sound better and have 4 fills.

On the styles from the microArranger (2 fills) the second fill is repeated for fill three and four. Therfore you always get a fill of some sort.

If you laod Pa1x styles I suspect they to will act the same way ie fill 4 is the same as fill 3.

Col

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#353206 - 10/21/12 04:43 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
Saswick Offline
Member

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 875
Loc: Garstang, Preston, Lancashire,...
Hi John

The link to my boxnet the OS1.zip contains the Pa3x styles.

https://www.box.com/s/xzcsmxnzwy42g4ulaab7

Col

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#353208 - 10/21/12 06:06 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
mirza Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/15/01
Posts: 1314
Loc: london,ontario.canada
Hi.Good first review.
What about factory styles??Can they be erased like in pa800??
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#353209 - 10/21/12 06:10 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
jdx Offline
Member

Registered: 09/29/04
Posts: 224
Loc: Liverpool U.K.
Hi Col
Many thanks ....
I will load them when I get the PA 600 tomorrow hopefully.
Thanks again....
John.

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#353210 - 10/21/12 06:24 AM Re: Pa600 first impressions [Re: Saswick]
sparky589 Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/12/11
Posts: 1461
Loc: NJ
What's a doddle?? confused2


Edited by sparky589 (10/21/12 06:26 AM)
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