KORG PA-80, the Verdict.

Hi there,

I have postponed writing this short report on the Korg PA-80, which I have owned for about three months now for a couple of reason, the best one being that I wanted to really play around with it before drawing conclusions rather than jumping to.......
Furthermore I have meanwhile developed two complete sets of new PERFORMANCES for this keyboard which can be downloaded from Korg'
official PA-80 site (www.korgpa80,com)
under "new downloads".
Meanwhile I have also recorded a few songs at home with the aid of the korg PA-80, the first of which you can now listen to (or download as an MP3) from the new ArrangerSong
site ,initiated by MR.Bulk !!!!!
Having had a great many keyboards over the last 10 years and having sampled most of today's crop it is my belief that the KORG is up there with the front runners.
The SOUNDS are really good and can be edited bascially from scratch with more parameters than most of us will ever know, let alone be able to handle. Obviously there's no accounting for tastes but if I do have to mention a minor sound (to my mind that is) it would have to be the acoustic piano).
Shortly Korg will introduce operating system
3.0 and rumours have it it will also include sampling. Which reminds me, service, updates, etc. is priceless!!!!!and , to my mind beats all other brands.
The STYLES are also first rate ,most of them running over 4 to 8 measures (!!!) which allows for great variation. The only criticism I have here are the fill ins. There are only two , of which the first one is very,very basic. In this field nothing comes near to the sheer class of the Soltons.
Worth noticing here is also the fact that,should you want to, ALL styles (also the internal ones) can be removed and replaced by the styles of your own choice!!
I cannot comment a lot on the dual sequencer sytem as I do not use it myself, but even here Korg has got a first and for some very practical addition to a topclass act.
Please check out the song I recorded at
arrangerkeyboardists. "Love me tender", which is all PA-80 !!!!

greetings from Holland,

john.

Hello John,

I have aspirations on Purchasing another keyboard - to go along my kn5000, and a PA80 is high on the list (all "Korg" sounding instruments as well for that matter). However, one question i would like to ask regarding the PA80 is this:

How many effects can you have running at the same time? (I think it says 4 DSP's in the specs, not sure) but most importantly, could I use a REVERB sound on the PA80 as a Global effect? - or does it take up one of the DSP effects?. For example, I want FOUR sounds with Chorus, phaser, Flanger, Delay (four DSP's), can I apply reverb to ALL these sounds as well? (like a "Master" reverb)?, or does REVERB count as a DSP?, Meaning I would be limited to the amount of DSP's if I used Reverb on 2 sounds (for example) And if there is a Master reverb, is it adjustable for each sound?

Thanks (sorry for so many questions John

By The Way John, I've listened to many demo's of the PA80, and it make lesser priced keyboards inferior b"Y" comparson






[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited 10-30-2001).]

Nimrod,
the answer to all your "prayers" is YES !!
and the amount of Reverb can be minutely allocated to whichever source you want !!
no problem, so go for it !!

john

Thank you John for your swift reply!.

So as far as I can gather then, 4 DSP's can be used - and reverb AS WELL? - cheers John

BTW, I am off to download your "Love me tender" MP3 now...

[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited 11-07-2001).]

Hi,
One of the greatest PA80 players must be
John Smies, there is no doubt.Listen to his
music on the net. I think he is one of the
best PA80 players ever lived.Now Uncle Dave
left us we shall speak to UNCLE JOHN.