Guitar sound S910 - PA500 , build quality PA500

Hi,

I am deciding between PA500 and PSR S910 (or Motif XS) for best guitar sound and ease of playing.

Please let me know your opinions.

Also, I am a little bit concerned about build quality of PA500, since I read somewhere the keys fall off. Is it true? I want to use the keyboard only in home for classical pieces.

Thanks.

i'd suggest the s910.
it is better for home use
and yes, the korg is built VERY ""junky"... esp the power cord gets very loose.

however, on the flip side, the korg has lots of good sounds. if you can live with the OS.

SHIM

Dear Shim,

I am going to use the keyboard in home, without moving around. I do not need styles at all since I like to play classical pieces, mostly with guitar and piano sounds. Guitar sound quality is most important for me.

Under these conditions, do you still think PA500 is not a good choice? I will order extended warranty too.

Hi Kami,

I own the PA500 and it is a great keyboard but if you won't use the styles and other arranger functions I suggest go for the Motif XS of even better the new Korg Kronos. If you don't have much money then the Korg M50 is also a very good keyboard with good guitar sounds.

I think the s910's guitar sounds are better.
Also, the Yamaha is WAY easier to use (in my opinion).

How about try both out in your local Samash or GC?

FransN,
Indeed styles and drums are not important for me, and because of this, I have looked at videos of different synthetizer on Youtube, specifically, Motif XS and Korg M50. While in general I like synthetizer's sounds more, to my ears, guitar sound on Motif XS is not as good as SA guitar sounds on S910, and M50 guitar sound is not as good as that on PA500. May be I am wrong because I have checked only videos and not real keyboards.

Even S910 and XS are kinda expensive for me, and this is why I think PA500 can be a better option, but if guitar and other acoustic sounds on S910 are much better, I will choose it. But definitely nothing more expensive than S910 or XS that are almost of the same price, so Kronos and PA800 are not affordable for me.


Shim,
Unfortunately nearest GC with S910 is 200 miles away.

I should also add that I am an absolute beginner and this will be my first keyboard and I wanna start practicing guitar and piano pieces on it.

I do appreciate your comments since I will make my final decision based on your helpful comments and will order it online.

In that case I will be honest and you should choose the psr s910 because the PA500 don't have DNC sounds but only RX sounds. So for more realistic guitar sounds you best buy the PSR S910 or a second hand PA800.

So it looks that S910 is the best option for best guitar sound in this price range.

Is the guitar sound quality in live play (not styles) on S910 similar to that on Tyros 2?

For example in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoq2SXDgnbI

Yes. The s910 is like a compact tyros2 with built in speakers.

s910 uses the same sounds as the tyros2.

Honestly when I see these guitar sounds on cheaper PA500, decision becomes hard for me;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNOTFBAUHY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOJykD3JAcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKPByclFwdM&feature=grec_index

Most S910 guitar samples are short ones on Youtube.

In my ears, sound of Korg is deeper and fuller. Is it so?

Yes the guitar sounds on the PA500 are very good and realistic and indeed very deep. The only thing you miss are the DNC sounds. If you can live without that the PA500 is a very good choice and you can fully edit the voices as a real synthesizer. Check out http://www.korgpa.com/pa_root/en/products/pa500.html?en for more demos.

Would you please say more about DNC sounds? Is it something that S910 has?
Also do you mean that PA500 has the ability to modify sounds, like a synthetizer, but S910 does not?

Yes Kami DNC is what Yamaha called SA. The sounds on the PA500 are fully editable and on the S910 not. Not much to change on a Yamaha arranger. That is one of the many reasons I choose a Korg

So may be with editing some sounds on PA500, we can reach something close to SA sounds and use it live. Correct?

No not exactly. If SA or DNC is important to you you better buy a PSR S910 or Korg PA800. I have already seen the PA800 for a very low price because of the arriving of the new PA3X.

Since I can not try these keyboards in person, it is difficult for me to say if I need SA/DNC sounds or not. But when I see youtube videos, guitar sound on PA500 does not sound much different from S910. I am totally confused.

I think because you also like synthesizers the best option for you is the PA500. The sounds are very good and deep on it. Also it save you a lot of money. I own my PA500 for more then a year now and still very happy with it and the edit possibilities are endless.

I agree, this editing ability looks interesting to me, so it is like I also have a synthetizer, which gives more understanding of the keyboards.

I contacted two persons who have guitar sound videos on Youtube and have used both keyboards. First one said Korg sounds are more like listening to live music in front of the band, while Yamaha sounds are like listening to concert or CD music. I think he is right, since it describes my feeling about guitar sound on S910. Beautiful, but not live and deep.

Unfortunately, the second person said he has broken two keys in a year, mostly because of playing guitar pieces. May be an extended warranty solves this problem.

BTW, both said, both PA500 and S910 are amazing.

Broken keys? Is the first time I hear about this. Only problem I know is the joystick of the PA500. Mine got broken after 9 months. Many people have had problems with the joystick.

I searched the web and it looks joystick is really a big problem in PA500. Many have broken it.

If PA500 works as a synthetizer too, then what are advantages of M50 over PA500? They are at the same price, M50 without speaker. So there should be some advantages for M50.

The M50 is a workstation with 250 MB wave rom. The PA500 has 125 MB. The M50 has better keys and 5 insert effects. Also has the M50 a dual polyphonic arpeggiator and you get an editor for the PC. There are more differences and honestly if I didn't use the arranger part of my PA500 I would buy the M50.

Frans

Frans,

By "if i do not want to use arranger part", do you mean styles and drums?

Also I can not find any intertesting video on youtube for guitar sound on M50. Based on specifications of M50 and PA500, can we say sounds on M50 should be the same as those on PA500?

Yes the styles and auto accompaniment. The M50 has more sounds then the PA500 and it would be strange if the guitar sounds on the M50 aren't as good as on the PA500.

I do not need styles. Acoustic sounds are all I need.
Since Yamaha MO6 is in the same price range, I did some search on the net, and others say acoustic sounds on MO6 are better than those on M50, while most in general say M50 is a better workstation.
I looked for videos on youtube, and I did not find interesting guitar sounds on MO6 or M50, and for XS6 which I think should be much better than MO6 and M50, I am not sure if I can say acoustic guitar sounds are better compared to PA500.
So it looks that guitar sounds are not the same on PA500 and M50.

So what are you gonna choose? It's difficult I know

Frans,

You are right. It is difficult, but I think PA500 is the best choice. Not as expensive as XS6 or S910, with ability to modify sounds, 80 polyphones vs 60 on M50 and MO6, and most important for me, guitar sounds that are probably better than others.
I think XS6 is also a good one, but 700$ more, and I should buy speakers too, so I do not think with my needs, it worth it.
Any suggestion?

As I have the PA500 myself I think you will very satisfied with it. It is a great instrument.

OK, I finally ordered PA500, will receive it next week. Thank you all for your comments, special thanks to Frans.

Congrat with your new keyboard. If you have questions next week about the PA500 let me know

Frans

Thanks. I think first of all I should update the OS and resources from Korg website.

I also want to know if the sustain pedal does what the joystick does or not.

According to this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJZc8XI2uxk it looks it can only make a tap sound.

Also, can I connect Guitar stuff, like amplifier and processor (Digitech RP350 which has a pedal) to PA500?

Hi Kami,

You can assign many functions to the sustain pedal. Go to global edit mode and click controllers. Here you can choose how to use the pedal.

I can't give you an answer about the guitar staff. I am not familiar with this.

How do you like the PA500 sofar?

Hi, Frans, I have not received it yet, probably Friday. I am reading the manual and watching the video tutorial for PA800.

1. Since many had problem with joystick, I was thinking that may be the sustain pedal which looks much more durable, can does the same thing. Is it so?

2. I already have guitar amp and processor, but may be connecting those to PA500 cause some damages to electronic boards. Is it possible?

Since there is a 15 days return policy, with full refund, I am still checking other keyboards, specially synthetizerts. Searching through videos on Youtube, I still think PA500 has better (at least deeper) sound than Yamaha S710/910, and Korg M50.

3. Since I have no background in keyboards, it is strange for me that I can not find demos with equal guitar sound quality on M50. Other than having more styles, can I say arrangers like PA500, also have better predefined sounds, compared to synthetizers? or all sounds on PA500 SHOULD be available on M50 with same quality?

Thanks again.

Kami,
There is a pair of stereo input jacks that put the connected device through the internal speakers, so the answer is yes. You hook the output from your RP350 into the Korg and you can monitor both together.

Hi Kami,

You can assign a funtion for example bend up or down to the sustain pedal but working with the stick is much better. If your stick got broken it doesn't cost much to replace it and if you are lucky it get broken while you still have warranty. And maby you won't have any problem with the joystick.

I don't know if you can use the PA500 with a guitar amp. But if you need distortion effect the PA500 have good ones. The distortion guitars on it are awesome.

Personally I don't like Yamaha arrangers. They sound to plastic to me and get bored very quickly.

The M50 use the same sound engine as the PA500 but maby use different samples. I also listen to some demos of the M50 and yes the guitar sounds on the PA500 sound better.

Uncle Dave,

Thanks for the reply. Since I have no experience with keyboards, I am going to ask a question that is probably dumb.

With electric guitar, I connect the guitar to input port in processor and then the output of processor goes to the input of amp. So it is guitar -> processor -> amp.

With keybaord, should I use the same order but keyboard instead of guitar? Can I still use the keyboard speakers or I should use the amp?

Also keyboard has a specific connection for pedal. If I want to use processor pedal as a sustain pedal, should I use the pedal, input or output connection?

Also I think the guitar processor and amp should have some kind of output signal too, that activates the pickups in guitar. Doesn't this kind of feedback signal, damage the keyboard?

Thanks.

Frans,

I agree, Yamaha sounds are not as natural as PA500 in my ears too.

I hope someone with experience with both M50 and PA500 gives us more information, since it looks guitar sounds are not the same on PA500 and M50.

I have ordered extended warranty too (well a cheap one, so I hope it is useful) so I think I can use the pitch bender with ease of mind.

Thanks again.

Maby you can ask someone on the Korg forum at http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ about the M50. They have a special M50 section.

Hi Frans,

I posted my question in Korg forum, no response yet, but I think this link confirms that acoustic guitar is not great on M50. Unfortunately no one has compared with PA500. There are suggestions for S900, but not pa500.
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/v...asc&start=0

**I was under the impression that you did not want to use a guitar amp. The keyboard inputs allow you to amplify an outboard source, but that is your choice. The question is: "Do you want to use your guitar amp, or travel light?"

**I'm not sure I understand this question, but if you are asking if you can use your guitar processor as a sustain pedal for the keyboard, the answer is no. The jack on your keyboard is for a dedicated momentary on/on type footswitch to trigger internal options in the Korg.

** "Electronics 101" says that you NEVER connect an amplified output to an input, so unless your guitar amp has a "line out" you should not connect it to the keyboards inputs. It sounds to me like you would like to use the functions of this guitar amp - that's great, but i see no reason to connect it to the keyboard inputs. The speakers in the Korg are probably not as powerful as the guitar amp, and are easily overloaded if not careful. The best way to utilize those inputs is when you don't have room for another amp and want to monitor keyboard and guitar through the same speakers.
Hope some of this helps.
UD

Uncle Dave,
I will use the keyboard only in my apartment, and since I have read that speakers on PA500 are not great, I was thinking that I can have better sound quality with guitar amp. May be speakers are good enough for home use, and I have also read that guitar amps are not as good as keyboard amps.

Yes, I meant if I can use processor pedal as sustain pedal. So, I can not. It looks the guitar processor can not be of much use with keyboard.

My guitar amp has only input, but I think it is the amp that activates the pickups in guitar, so does this mean the guitar amp has some kind of output signal through the input jack?

So, can I use the guitar amp with keyboard, and if yes, should I use the phones jack on keyboard, or the output one? I think both should be the same.

Thanks.

Hi Kami,
If your guitar amp has only one input then you are basically running two separate systems ... one guitar and amp, and one powered keyboard.
If volume is not an issue - you can still choose to run the guitar pedal into the inputs on the keyboard and send the entire mix into the guitar amp. As a rule, guitar amps don't sound great for keyboard, but there are exceptions to every rule too. Try the processor directly into the kb and see if you like the sound. If it's not what you want, then use the amp, but with only one input, the kb will need to have it's own amp if you want more volume.

The guitar amp input has no control over your guitar's pickups. It merely amplifies the output from the pickups.
Headphone jacks are more powerful than standard outputs, and can cause noise and distortion, so I would use the line outs for the best sound.

Hi Uncle Dave,

I am confused regarding this:
"If volume is not an issue - you can still choose to run the guitar pedal into the inputs on the keyboard and send the entire mix into the guitar amp."

Korg PA500 manual says:
"Use these unbalanced connectors to input another keyboard/synthesizer, a CD or MP3 player, or a mixer’s (non-powered)output. The signal goes directly to the final mix."

Since with guitar, the processor is used to change the input signal that comes from the guitar, what will be the use of connecting processor to keyboard inpt? since I think guitar
processor can not produce any useful signal alone.

Thanks

Kami,
The signal from the guitar processor is unpowered, and a perfect companion to the inputs on the Korg. Even without an outboard amp, you can listen to the guitar with all the effects through the same keyboard speakers. It also allows you to practice with headphones and hear both instruments through the same mix.
Here's the order:
Guitar into processor into kb inputs.
If needed, then plug keyboard OUTPUTS into guitar AMP.