Quick impression Korg PA1X Pro

Today I was invited to visit Jaap van Putten's shop and play/feel the new PA1X Pro.
The instrument has a real 'pro' look !
The keyboard feel is 'weigted' and of very good quality. (better than SD1)

The styles sound OK, but the variations sometimes are almost copies of eachother.

The 'user-interface' sometimes is confusing because of the double/triple functions of many buttons. e.g. One button is used for selecting intrument group Piano AND Saxes.... it depends on another 'select' switch (with LED) what is selectable.

The touch-screen sometimes has tiny 'buttons' that are hard to touch because they are close to another button.

Voices :
Violin sounds real, but the stringS do sound a bit too synthy.

Voice sounds are not impressive.

Piano's sound OK

Accordeons/harmonica OK

Brasses ..... sound average

Sampled Organs very good and Church Organs extremely natural and do impress me.
Drawbars sound average and the Leslie effect is poor. (sounds like they implemented the cheapest DSP available)

Styles :
The Jazz, Funky and Rock styles are very good but all others sound average with only 2 intro's, 4 (more or less) variations. It just sounds too computerized ! Not as much musical feel as the SD1 brings in ;-)

Please do realize this is a personal opinion and it depends on the players wishes/taste to decide if this baby fits in ones equipment !

After this visit I could decide this one does not fit for me (and Wietse).

I'll stay loyal to Ketron SD1 as long as no brand is able to create a better sounding machine

Roel

Roel ,

Hey Roel ....we share the same opinions . The action was terrific , better than SD1 , but would you describe the keyboard as a stretched out PA80 with a touch screen and sliders ?


Also ...about the Sd1 ...Sandro accually incorporated a feature I suggested , which was a "unplugged" feature . This allows you to go into arrange view and select any part and than by pressing the master "chord" volumne buttons , the part gets isolated or "unplugged" . Are you aware of this feature and have tried it ?
Once you press a fill , the rest of the style is incorporated .

Dano

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[This message has been edited by DanO1 (edited 11-10-2003).]

Sounds like this baby is for me!!!!

cause that's the type of music I do (synth/techno).

Maybe it's the first arranger for techno?

Kudos to KORG!

[This message has been edited by New Yorker (edited 11-10-2003).]

The KN7000 has a similar feature to the SD-1's "unplugged" feature. It's called the "Solo instrument" feature where a specific instrument is 'isolated' and provides a solo lick, riff, etc. Any Voice can be used for the 'solo' feature not just Guitars though. The Tyros has a similar feature too. It's called a "Multi-Pad". Although using a multi-pad doesn't 'isoloate' from the other instruments in the Style backing arrangement, it just adds to them; albeit doing so can give you an extra or added spice, and or pizzaz! to the arrangement.

Best regards,
Mike

Hello Roel,

What's new in Holland ?
So you play the new Korg ? Just a little qestion : how much time you spent to play on this keyboard ?

Groetjes uit Belgium,
JJ

Dan01 :
I'm not familiar with the PA80.
The sound is VERY "Korg" and there are still M1/01W sounds in it. (At the time I sold my M1, many years ago I hated the soo recognisable piano...... it is still there !)

Thanks for telling about the new únplugged feature. It works great !

New Yorker :
I only wrote the strings sound just is too synthy'. Perhaps this one is your baby ? (I have my doubts)

JJ :
You did not read my message with Belgium precision JJ....
I tried to let the forum readers know I played it for about 45 minutes in a music shop. It's pretty sure that the number of minutes will not increase much. (Hij heeft 'het' gewoon niet !)

The feel-, touch-, easy use, styles and overall sound of the SD1 still suits best for me. (even after 2,5 years with > 3,5 years old technology)

btw. Xmas is coming and perhaps some of you guys have not heard the songs Wietse (the singer) and I recorded on X1 or SD1 a few years ago.
You are kindly invited to visit http://turforkest.iuma.com

Roel

Roel,
The songs are great, and even though I've listened to them before, it was nice to revisit.
We've come a long way since the Technics Canada days!
DonM

Hi Mike ,

Thanks for the insight , but the feature with the SD1 is different than what you have mentioned . I am a Yamaha and a Technics dealer .

Dano

[This message has been edited by DanO1 (edited 11-11-2003).]

Roel,
How come "What a wonderful world" is credited to Fats?
Were you thinking of Louis Armstrong, maybe?
"Sach" ..... may sound a little like "Fats" I guess.

so...... do you love the new kb?

Uncle Dave,

You are sooo right ! I'm sorry for this stupid mistake.
I'll edit this right away.
The new PA ? ...... no I do not love it..... and probably never will ;-)

Roel

Hmmmmm, so it doesn't excite you huh? Wonder when we'll see it here in Philly. Thanx for the update anyway !

[This message has been edited by Uncle Dave (edited 11-11-2003).]

It seems a friend of mine got the very first PA1XPRO in the Netherlands. (the dutch music-stores got one demo-unit each)
He is living about 3 km's from me, so next week I'll visit him in his studio where the Korg and the SD1 both are ready to be 'compared'.

btw. Have a look at www.pa1xpro.de for more information and downloads.

Roel


[This message has been edited by Roel (edited 11-16-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Roel (edited 11-16-2003).]

Last night I visited Jan and we tried to find out how to operate the PA1XPro.

One thing is obvious : Operating it is hard !

The touch-screen is not the right interface because 3 of the 5 times we tried to type/push a 'button' it just did not recognize it. (frustrating !)

As I wrote before, the styles are average and some (!) sounds are very good e.g. harmonica, sampled drawbarsounds, church organs.
The Leslie effect while using the drawbars is poor. (no depth, no doppler effect)

Some parameter need to be set with a numeric pad that pops up at the display. (calculator look) Ather parameters can be in-/decreased with the wheel.

"Performances" are sound-presets and not instrument-presets as we expected them to be. (style, key, sounds etc)

We think the songbook is planned to contain instrument presets. (Technics has Panel Memories, Ketron has Block Registrations) The user can add new ones, but it is very hard to quick find songs in the list. Text filters can be set in Windows alike pop-up screens..... but boy.... it takes many seconds to click, clear, type, confirm, turn the wheel, select etc. !

Polyphony :
It is easy to demonstrate the limitations while holding down the sustain pedal. While using the styles and 'normal'playing there is no problem. Most styles however are not as half as 'filled' as the Ketron styles are.

Bug ?
I don't know what style I was using but one or more organs showed dropouts after using the transpose button at the very first notes after transpose.
The transpose buttons are positioned at the most right position on the panel..... why there ? (Most musicians need these on the LEFT/middle part of the keyboard)

In my opinion the PA1Xpro is perfect for home/studio use, but on stage I have my serious doubts because of the user-interface complexity.

In the Netherlands the PA1XPro costs about 4200 Euros and I think it just is 1000 Euros too high. I will not change from SD1 to PA1Xpro and that is for sure !

Keep in mind all above are personal thoughts.

Roel