I really shoud not have gone back-----now I want one! First of all guys, i am afraid that I am not who you need to evaluate a keyboard. I tend to spend most of my time on the accomp. function and little to no time on the "right hand side", so I can not tell you much about the solo voices. I did really like the electric pianos, great "wurlies" with real growl when you play hard and a proper tremolo. I scanned all the pianos and organs and liked everything that I heard. All were better than the PSR2000 that I briefley owned and all were much much better than on my Korg is40. As to horns and such, well nothing that I played, and nothing that the sales rep. played sounded like the real thing, but to me it never does. I hear Andreas play beautiful horn solos that sound great in the mix ,but alone at a keyboard I just don't hear it.----on ANY keyboard. Now on to what I DID like:
When I tried to buy a PA80 I gave up on the breaks and fills. They just did not work well for me. That has changed. Very easy to move from variation to variation,with and without fills, and not have to be right on the exact second for it to have a smooth transition. It was as easy as a Yamaha----but sounded much better than any Yamaha! The styles and backing parts are outstanding------the very best that I have yyet heard. Styles from the PA80 or the old I-series sound sooooo much better. The sound is alive and clear, the effects are first class, and the drums are just great. I want it I want it I want it!
I do agree with Dave about the touch screen. It is hard to know that you have hit the right spot----there is no feedback like a button gives you. You have to stare at the screen and pay attention to It, instead of all the other things you could be doing. For me, in my home studio, no problem. For a live performer, not so sure. This may be no big deal when the machine becomes second nature to you. I also sometimes wanted the screen to stay where it was but it would close before I was finished with it. Again, this a problem for the novice and not the expert. They were talking shipping in the fall. You will want to see for your self, but if the PA80 had handled like this one then I would own it today. I'll be watching for the price to drop over this next year or so Did I say I want one? I want one!

[This message has been edited by Bill E (edited 07-20-2003).]

On all the keyboards with touch screens you can set a parameter that allows the screen to stay where you last used it until you hit exit or another function. I would sure think the Korg has this as well.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Well, I see you didn't take my advice and played one any way. Actually I am glad you did. Now we know they fixed the Fill-In and Break transition problem. We know now the sounds are outstanding, better than anything Yammie has or the older Korg's have. Bill, I am assuming when you say better than Yamaha you're including the Tyros in your evaluation too.

Oh fudge! Everything on the Pa-1X/Pro seems to be superior than any thing out there on the market in the way of Arrangers except the Polyphony issue. Drats!!! I would have plucked down the money for sure if it had 128 note polyphony or more. As it stands now the Pa-1X/Pro will have to prove to me beyond a shadow of doubt that note drop off is a non-issue and a non-occurence even in the most demanding of circumstances before I would open my wallet and get one.

I don't want to beat a dead horse but 62 note polyphony is very outdated in today's Arranger Market. I can understand a non-Arranger not having more than 62 note polyphony but were talking Arranger here, right? Yes indeed we are. Accompaniment, Styles, Multi-Pads???, Layering R1, R2, R3, Left Hand Voices, massive ocsillators per voice in many instances. Dual Sequencers, Cross Fading, (on the Pa-1X/Pro any way), Multiple Foot switches, Sustain, etc., etc. So I just don't understand Korg's reasoning. Could you please explain yourself Mr. Fumio Mieda? Please??? Or do you no longer work for the MAN... Or maybe the MAN himself Mr. Katoh-san Somebody from Korg, anybody; could you explain to us poor peons why you only included 62 note Polyphony on your new Flagship Arranger? Somebody from Korg has got to be reading these SZ threads. I just know it. I mean we got Paul D from GEM and Steve Deming from Yamaha, somebody from Korg has to be 'listening' in. Would you care to provide some insight instead of just careening over the posts? It would actually increase your sales imo if you start talking to your customers to get a feel for what the man on the street wants and needs and demands in an Arranger Keyboard. You know people are smarter than you think. They would actually appreciate your input. And in the process we could both learn something.

Maybe Korg will be innovative and create a add on Board that will increase the Polyphony much like Yammie did with the 9000Pro.

UPDATE: Yes you can add up to 2 Expansion Boards to the Pa-1X/Pro to increase the sounds. Now they need to make one that will add additional Polyphony.

Okay, okay, I will cease and desist from my tirade. Have a good day everyone. Gotta run..

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by Idatrod (edited 07-21-2003).]

Bill,

Could you tell us how many fills it has? Also, does it accept the flash card like PA80 or is it RAM for sampling? One more thing, is the entire keyboard flash rom based? is it possible to replace ALL the styles and patches like the PA80?

I am tempted to trade my Motif 7 and PA80 for a Motif rack and a PA1Xpro ...

Mike, when I say "better than Yamaha" i am talking about the sounds played by the style tracks. They do not have the canned sound that I STILL hear with all Yamahas, including Tyros. As to solo voices, as I said ,I'm not the one to really know, sorry!
harosha, I feel really dumb right now but I just don't remember. I think that there were two fills plus a break button, but what exited me was that these buttons were actually useable! The break function worked, and it just did not on the PA80. The fills were easy to use. I remember when discussing the PA80 the comments about it sounded like another bannd rushed in to play the fills. Sometimes it just did not work at all. Well, that problem was gone, the fills were very good. So Korg, how about re-doing the PA80/60 and getting it right? I also thought that the keys felt good and solid and the whole package had a classy pro look.
Also, the reason that the screen was so bad the first day was because they had a mic on a boom sticking way out dead center and it kept you back from the whole board, coupled with the fact that it was on the upper rack of a two-tier stand, and you were not in a good position to view the screen. On the second day the mic was gone and while I still think that this color touch screen has less of a field of view than most monochrome ones, it was not as bad as I first thought. Also, the one that I played was the prototype, or as the nervous sales rep said--"The only one in the world!" So Korg may well tweak things before production. I do think that this new keyboard will stir up a lot of posts here for the next year or so!

One more thing---I do not knnow if it was a better headphone amp, or new efects, or what, but everything had a very clear sound, not muddy at all. Bright but not harsh. I thought it sounded much better than the PA80.
Bill

Thanks again Bill for your input. I agree about the canned sound in Yamaha Styles. They're getting better as time goes by but it is still noticable even in the Tyros like you say. If you haven't already heard, Korg has some new demos of the Pa-1XPro. Here is the link: http://www.korgpa.com/support/demo.asp?player=pa1xpro These will give everybody a good idea how the individual voices sound plus how they sound with Style backing. PS: They finally got the Distorted Guitar to sound like a REAL Distorted Guitar. Kudos! to Korg for that significant improvement. The Drums sound absolutely fantastic! Much better than the Tyros imo or even the Ketron SD1. The Horns are very good imo. Acoustic Guitars are great too. And the Organ is really, really, good! Korg is noted for great Organ sounds. But they still haven't got the Accordian just right. It is pretty good but it still lacks that authentic Accordian sound imo. But there may be better Accordian sounds on the Pa-1X/Pro than the one in the demo. And I agree Bill the Styles just have more Pizzaz. More expansive and natural sounding too. It really creates a Live! Band sound. It's just like your in the audience listening to a real Band on a stage.

Now if we can just convince Korg to change its mind to increase the Polyphony before production of the Pa-1X/Pro starts.

Best regards,
Mike

NOTE: The demos should be downloaded because they're longer than the Previews and will give a person a better idea of how the Pa-1XPro really sounds.

Yepp, I hate to admit it, but it sounds like the real thing!

------------------
Roy-Andrè

Well things seem to be looking up in regards to the Pa1X/Pro. The sounds are RAVE! The Style Accompaniment Rhythm is better than ANYTHING out there that I know of. The Drums are the best I've ever heard in an Arranger. And the Polyphony issue may not be all that disparaging. But I have another quibble.

According to the KorgPA web site, the Pa1X/Pro has "3" Intros but only "2" Endings.

The Intros have 3 separate buttons with one of the buttons used for a Count-In intro which is fine and dandy. But the "2" Ending buttons seem to be a little limiting in my estimation. Okay, so you have 2 endings to a song. What if you wanted to end the song with a Fill/Hit? I end many a song that way on my PSR 2000. It appears that you are not able to do that with the Pa1X/Pro. Or am I wrong? Could it be if you hit "both" ending buttons at the same time you do get a Fill/Hit ending? Maybe somebody that played it at NAMM like Dan0 or Bill E. or maybe Zuki would know?? Or maybe some other Korg employee that scours this site could let us know.

Best regards,
Mike

Will it play the Backing Sequences from the i30?
Boo