UPS just arrived with my first Korg PA1000! Now I hope more are right behind it!

Good news George....first thoughts?

Yes, would love to hear your thoughts, George ...

Tony do I Sense a Pa1000 in your future....?

The keys are semi weighted and although it says they are the same as the 900 they feel better to me. It's cool that there are little lights on the volume, balance and assignable knobs. My one worry is that all the buttons are shiny black plastic buttons and I've got lights of lights above my keyboard rack and there is a lot of glare. I don't know if this will be annoying or not when playing out under lights. The additional sample rom is very noticeable in all the sounds. It's nice and light and looks really good with the pop up screen. Internal speakers sound great. I like that there are 2 usb flash drive ports and a SD card slot hidden in the back. What else do you want to know?

Not really, but I am interested in how it compares to the Pa900 ...

comon T you know you want it sell the KN......use the pa900 for a backup.....just sayin..

Good to hear it's arrived. I am still concerned about the keybed because I could not handle the 900 (just me folks).

How does the acoustic piano sound vs the 3X?

Sure, I would LOVE one ... get me $2000 for the technics and I'll buy the KORG ...

Great news. I have been waiting so long for my PA1000 I almost forgot that I ordered it. NOT. Can't wait, I lost the sight in my right eye and that tilt screen will be a lifesaver to me. I use a head worn shure wh20 mic so I can see better without a mic in my face and no more glare from ceiling lights washing out the screen on my beloved PA900. I love the keyboard on my 900 and hope it's similar on the 1000. I'm an old accordian player then I switched to hammond B3. I have play and owned many brands of arranger keyboards thru the years but my favorite is my PA900.

Just snooping some of the on-line stores now showing this available next Monday.

thought that by now there would have been in minor in depth evaluation of the PA1000 by you George, and looking forward to it.
On the Korg forum I read both encouraging info ( streaming samples from harddisk ?) as well as disappointing news stating that the PA1000 sounded significantly inferior to the PA4X thru impartial PA equipment.
I am sure you would do many a favour here by enlightening us !!!

regards,
John

OH NO!

after all its alot less money....something has to be different..

But probably not through impartial Master Effects like Maxx Audio. I think ALOT of 4X's sound is made by those plugins.

according to someone from the UK, I quote:

"...Hot of the press.

Bad news first
The 1000 are not yet in the EU

Good news
They are on a ship off the Indian coast enroute.
Expected to be with the principle dealers by mid Feb at the latest.
Been at a regular Korg user event tonight at A and C Hamiltons in Preston UK where the rep passed on the info.
_________________
Biggles
PA700
Lancashire, UK."


John

of course right after the NAMM Show...

Like some others, I’m waiting delivery on the Pa 1000. Never owned or played a Korg. A shot in the dark----buying sight unseen. Anxious to see how it stacks up to my S970. As a middle of the line arranger, wonder if it represents Korg catching up to the S970, or possibly surpassing it? If it’s the latter, maybe the successor to the S970 will mean another leap forward for MOTL arrangers.

Still no first evaluation by George, which does not add to my optimism as regards the PA1000.........

regards
John

Mine was shipped today via Fed Ex. Expected delivery next Monday.

John, the reason you haven't seen an in-depth review from me is because the one I got was picked up the next day by a good customer of mine who drove a really long way to see and play it and he talked me into taking it home with him. I will have more in about a week. I can say the on board speakers sound really strong and deep and if you like Korg arrangers you will of course like this one. Sounds are better, styles are newer (some) and the large pop up screen is magnificent. Everything is laid out better than the 900 and both my customer and I think the keyboard feels better even though Korg says they are the same. 1000 feels firmer to us. There's really not much more to add. Same interface, more memory for both rom and ram sounds and styles, nice new feeling plastic buttons, assignable switches in a better place (above the joystick), one more assignable knob and they say a newer version of the TC Helicon Vocal Harmonizer, but I hadn't had a chance to try it.
Oh, one more thing. The customer who bought the keyboard told me that Uncle Dave said you couldn't use a mic and line input at the same time. I'm pretty sure Dave knows that if you change the setting in global then the mic goes through the vocal processor using the left input and the line source goes straight out the right output with your music from an iPad, CD player etc.

George, by any chance did they put in small lights that tell you if a certain pad or assignable switch is on?

Thank you George, looking forward to the reports by Zuki and others who seem to be in immiment arrival of their PA1000.

regards,
John

John,

Looked up Koudekerke(sp?) on google maps. You must be very close to the North Sea?

1,5 kilometers or if you like, just one mile.How come you're asking ?

regards,
JOhn

Yes, it looks like they did.

Just curious I guess. I often look on google maps at places I’m not familiar with.

Tx for the info.

That's all right, for a minute I thought you were planning on coming over and dipping into the North Sea. ( not to be recommended apart from height of summer).
As to googling places I know the feeling, like to do so myself from time to time...
Find out where you guys live in the vastness of the USA, compared to which Holland is a nano country. Mind , with lots of nano expertise and more arranger keyboards per 100.000 inhabitants than any other country in the world....would be my guess.

time to get back on track though overhere and hear about the PA1000 and hopefully Zuki's review......

regards
John

John, my board arrives today! I have a spot all set up and ready to plug in. I'll do some videos too and post

Great to hear, looking forward to your assessment and videos.
Enjoy !!!

regards
John

Good luck cant wait!!!

That's "almost" correct What I said was that you couldn't use the mic effects AND the guitar effects at the same time. Left side FX / right side DRY is the status quo on the 900, as well. WAY back in the days of the PA80, you could use internal guitar FX WITH the vocal processor.

Uncle Dave, any news on the Pa1000 ? ...

As of today, January 18th, Korg is again out of PA1000s. More to arrive in February.

Been fiddling around with the Pa 1000 that arrived yesterday. First departure from Yamaha. But, still keeping the S970. As a sit and play person, can’t say much about the deep innards of the 1000. I pretty much take what the programmers provide, with little editing. As others have noted, the styles on the Korg have a more live sound. I’d agree with that----punchier and more up front. Love the bass and drums. Still may prefer Yamaha’s individual voices. Lots of saturation with reverb and effects on everything. Need to tame that. At turn on, the screen reads “OS Version 1.0.1, September, 2017”. Guess it’s been sitting around somewhere. Would have preferred a few more styles. For both styles and voices, you get about 6 pages to click through----8 per page. However, few are filled to the max. The country styles only fill-up a little over 3 pages, with the remaining pages blank. A little deceiving. The volume balances across voice selections could be a little better. Some are noticeably louder than others on the same page. And, as someone noted, some of the fills within the styles sound a little klutzy. I prefer Yamaha’s intros and endings. Some of those on the 1000 sound like they don’t fit the song. On auto endings, some have a weird number of measures before the final cut-off, making it awkward-sounding. Of course, there’s always the fade in and fade out feature. The 4 preset pads for each style help to fatten the sound. Still have not learned how to control the volume of the pads. The vocal harmony feature sounds great. However, I’m surprised it won’t provide vocal harmony of a style that’s been saved as a completed song and played back in song mode. It’s still midi isn’t it? Maybe I’m missing something. The VH works well in the style mode, as you’re playing and singing in real time. Yamaha’s vocal harmony will track the midi song whenever. The 1000 will be a good addition for creating backing tracks for live performance. I’ll use these tracks most likely with guitar. The build quality of the 1000 is great. Screen is bright and easy to see. Like the overall size and weight. I’m glad I finally got the nerve to try something other than Yamaha.

Interesting. Like the PA4X, Korg seems to bring out an instrument without a lot of fanfare(my opinion)..but they still sell well...far as I can tell.

So with the PA1000, like the PA4X, do you suppose Korg has another big winner here?

Question..J Larry or others.

How does the keybedof the PA1000 compare to the S970?

Tx

Larry,

as regards factory styles not being fully filled, as you may know with all Korg models you can actually also access the factory preset areas both sounds and styles and add or eliminate styles in the factory presets. ( somehwere in Global, factory styles protection: off. You can then load either individual styles or a complete bank of styles into the areas that you cannot reach now.
And if you download the (free) Dopamine set (from a guy in Frane) you will have ample stuff to fill up with. Note that he states that his set obviously has been programmed for PA900 and PA600, but this should not keep you from loading individual styles and/or sounds.:
https://dopamine4korg.wordpress.com/

By the bye, a very brave move from you if you are used to Yamaha And once again you prove my point ( often expressed) that nothing beats the combination of two different brands, be it MOTL or TOTL arrangers.
Looking forward to your further assessment. How is the amplificaiton by the way ?

regards
John

P.S. a glut on reverb settings has always been the problem of most arranger keyboards and certain Korg. Generallly they have set the reverb levels to 50% ( 64 out of 128) which is way too much of course. You will find that with adjusting these significnantly and with properly adjusting the overal EQ in the global mode it will already sound much and much better !!!!

Unboxed mine last night, but only glanced at it. I recently moved, and my world is in disarray right now. I'll report more as I discover new, and exciting things.
First impressions are great - the screen is fantastic, the speakers are at least as powerful (if not more so) than the 900. Almost all functions are comfy, and familiar to a Korgie, and so far ... I'm excited!

Good luck Dave awaiting your review also..

Dave please let us know about the keybed and key feel and response when you can....thanks!

Tom,
Feels a lot like the 900. Solid, responsive ... wish it was a tad tighter (more weighted), like the 4x, but it's very useable for me. Given all it does great, I can live with a slight "wish list" in action. I wouldn't trade the speakers for a stiffer action, though.

You still have two 900's Dave?

Don't forget with the Pa1000 if it's anything like the Pa700 you can use the Pa4x styles have been trying the factory and musikant styles from the pa4x and work great, have yet to try the Pa1000 factory styles which I recently got.

thanks Dave, that's what I expected....it is incredibly full-featured and tempting....

Impressions on the keybed of the Pa 1000 vs the S970-----seems to have slightly firmer feel, tho’ others may differ. The black keys on the 1000 seem to have a more squared-off look and feel. The leading edges of the white keys seem to have sharper corners. I felt it immediately, but quickly adapted. The built-in speakers sound very good. Not sure how much better than the S970. May be a close call. They certainly are more than adequate for rehearsal and working on song ideas, without having to setup an external system. I’m really liking the 1000 more each day. Confirmed Yamaha players, who’d like to expand their arsenal, should give Korg a good look. Never thought I’d say that.

Wondering why there is no more news from Uncle Dave? Too busy Dave or.......How does the PA1000 compare to your PA900 and is it a keeper ?

regards,
John

I just moved, and between my work schedule, my unpacking/redecorating etc... I have had no time to actually experiment with the 1000. I DID play it for about a half hour ... enough to love the screen, the sounds, and the polish they added to the styles. It truly is a scaled down 4x.
Here's my take on the comparisons:
PA4x:
4 outputs (silent slab)
upgraded action
more sliders, physical controllers
solid, metal case
XLR mic in
4 harmony voices
upgraded MAXX EQ
PA1000:
**SPEAKERS** (very good ones)
slightly lighter action (almost identical to 900)
controllers, and sliders are on screen (not physical)
14" mic in
3 harmony voices
Very useable master EQ/Mastering (scaled down)
**extra USB slot (can be used for a light, if desired)

Sounds are very similar (to me)
Styles seem tweaked to be more 4Xish

My plan is to keep the 1000 at home and do my master recordings, and edits on it, and use the 900 on the job.
When things calm down, and my home studio is fully operational (like the death star), I may put more time into the 1000, but the main reason I bought it was for the screen. I sold my older 900, and now my newer 900 is an on-stage backup to the new, pristine studio unit. (PA1000)

In summary - I love it.

You can use the Pa4x factory and musikant styles as well.

thanks for feedback Dave, sounds promising. Alas, I have just heard from my shop that yet again the first delivery date has been postponed to somewhere in February here in Holland.....
I know that patience is a virtue but it can become trying at times ....

regards
John