Korg PA4x just got even better

Software version 2 will be out soon..

http://keyszone.boards.net/thread/357/korg-pa4x-got-v2

Nice.

Hoping for more videos.

More Info, video and sound samples

http://www.korg.com/in/products/synthesizers/pa4x/v2.php

Col

Looks like it can be downloaded now!

looks like all the new features that you will soon see & be able to utilize and add to your music on new keyboards coming out as we discusses previously with the addition of DJ DRUM PADS on board, Bravo KORG!...it will soon be the standard...you heard it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGEHuaVd0tY

I use 90% Ballads & Pop...so I'm loving this.

Looks like I can churn out stuff for the younger generation as well.

Can't wait to mess with the remix stuff....The drums sound NOW

This is marketing toward the newer sound....Cutting edge stuff

This looks amazing! Be aware that this update is so big that you will need to save your USER data, styles, songbook, etc., as everything will be erased and updated. You can load it back later.
I'm afraid to do it today as I have a big party to work tomorrow, but I'll get to it Sunday night and have almost a week to get it sorted.
One feature I will love as that the midi-to-style converter will now accept Chord Sequences! This will present almost unlimited Style creation possibilities.
Can't wait to get it installed!
Also, Korg has released 62 new FREE styles designed to work with the new update!

All for FREE Yamaha .....you listening!

Those style are in addition to the new ones included in the OS update, as far as I can tell!

KORG just keeps on giving!!

A lot of the new features, style, sounds seem to be aimed at more modern music, but there are quite a few new features that will satisfy us old farts too.

Where it comes to updates, its in geberal wise to wait a week or two and see if there are any major problems teported...

I think this is the pre Genos patch... they know its comming.. i hope they save user sample streaming for a post Genos patch

Best way to do this?

Tx

Instructions are included with the download. There are two PDF files.

I loaded the new OS late last night it was close to midnight when it was completed. It took about 40 minutes to install and that was after about another 30 minutes to download the huge files and read thru the directions on "how to" install. I haven't had any time to explore every new feature but what a nice upgrade. I already started doing some tweaking i.e. loading back my Songbook, changing style locations of the new styles since some of my own favorite styles got overwritten with the upgrade. Overall it was a very smooth non-problematic upgrade. The key is to carefully follow the directions in the pdf file and SAVE SAVE SAVE your configuration.

Can't wait to do mine! I'm glad you didn't have any problems with it.
They say a lot of the factory styles have been tweaked and improved. Have you noticed that?
I have everything downloaded and have read the manuals.

Don, Been playing this morning for a little. Yes the factory styles have been improved and tweaked.

GREAT!

Steve glad to hear it went smoothly KORG has done it again ....looking forward to hearing about your experiences using the new features too thanx!!

Comment copied from Korg Forum:
"I've noticed a BIG improvement in the conversion of MIDI songs into Styles. It does a very nice job now and really captures the chord progressions much better."

Hmmm I may have to commission my buddy Steve to convert some styles for me ... which reminds me - I have to do domething for HIM !!! ...

TONY call Frank & get a PA4X Now!!!!

I tried converting 2 tunes this morning and have to say it has improved quite a bit.

Donny,

Will do but have a busy weekend and won't get much time with the Pa4x.

As is the case with most updates....they fix bugs...

This Korg update appears to finally correct blatant mis leading features
for years...

One of the main reasons you will not find a Korg in my stable

Korg has always mislead folks that the PA series showed chords in files... it did not unless the chords were embedded..
Roland for nearly 20 years has extracted chords from files.

Finally if true Korg has solved their extraction problem..

Also Roland's extraction is one of the benefits that make the Roland harmonizer.. what I call a smart vocal harmonizer. . No need to set the harmony voicing or channel for transmitting data...

If you guys look closer you will also find that Korg is trying to cover the many flaws in the PA os...and features that are not up to par even with the much lower priced E-A7.

It is always nice that we can update our keyboards,,, when they add new features and styles/sounds..it is twice as nice..
Fixing bugs will always be the number one purpose to update..

Yamaha doesn't have a clue about any of this

Fran thanx for opening our eyes on this...

I guess that is why Roland is the number manufacturer of arranger keyboards.

I always wonder why folks are closed minded when someone suggest a different opinion..

I have done extensive comparisons over the years, and when I mention something it is the truth..

Also I am aware of great players that were not happy with the Korg acoustic piano..too thumpy

I was very much interested in the PA900, but it's failures were too evident....
There is no way I would be without a keyboard that reads (extracts) chords from SMF's..

I could have put up with some inferior features on the PA900...but not the chord extract.

They claimed to have improved the GM playback... didn.t happen..
The median player had problems.. everyone's answer .. blame the file.

The keyfeel, and touch screen were tempting... but it couldn't cut it.

I went ahead and bought the E-A7 sight unseen.... after comparing to the PA4x I know I made the wiser purchase



Guys just investigate what I stated ... find out for yourself... think for yourself...

Why are there so many Korg PA4x and PA900 for sale.... looks like a lot of dumping to me.... Maybe others found what I know...

Ask someone that sold their Korg... why?

Ketron just may be the one to check out ... again

Fran you and I have one thing in common. You have stayed with Roland for a long time. You love the keyboard. I have done the same thing with Technics. I really loved the keyboard. If there was a Kn8000 I would have it.

The Pa4x has put the Kn7000 to sleep – (for me) with whatever flaws it may have I am 110% more than satisfied. Why? Because it allows me to do what I want to do, and much more.

My mind is open so I may get a Roland E A7. Every keyboard has something to offer.

John C.
Ps, I owned a Roland arranger keyboard many years ago. In fact three men in my keyboard group also bought one. We all sold our Roland keyboards because of the OS. It was unfriendly because we were looking for another version of the Technics OS.

can't wait to update, but have to wait till end of July when we have some open space between gigs.

Duane Od

I'm excited for v2 on the Pa4X!

Still don't know why they can't play WAV files. If I create a song from somewhere else... Logic X... Motif... I always have to convert it to a compressed file.

New added features looks very interesting to me... and the Faziolli piano sample.

The Fourth of July will be fun!!

Crap! nothing that I can use,one thing that bugs me is that the PA4x dropped and was selling from 3800 to 2600 new because of some sale? what's up with that?

Completed the upgrade this morning, no problems.

Not sure how much difference it makes I've only had the Pa4x for week, difficult to make a comparison.

Col

PS The midi to style system works very well, dependent on the quality of the midi file.

Col great news, I always like your reviews keep us posted on your PA4x progress

Will do Donny, Col

I just updated my PA4X. It was relatively painless but it took a while.
So far I am very pleased with it. The factory default sound, levels, e.q. are improved. The mic sounds great without changing anything!
I have not yet loaded my Songbook and User styles back. First I want to explore what they have done. I've already noticed that some of the styles are improved and the Keysets (OTS for Yammys) are improved on some.
Not sure how many new styles are there, but I'm pretty sure I've discovered a few I will use.
I have not loaded the free set from Korg that they just released.
I may have to skip golf and/or fishing today just to play with it!
Susan is making Gumbo anyway, so maybe I'll hang out, eat Gumbo and take a dip in the pool! Life is good.

Life is good...

I am with friends high in the Austrian Mountains..
I am enjoying beer schweinehackse and schnapps..

Upgrading the pa4x needs to wait till next week..

re: Vangelis
Where did you see a new PA4x for 2600usd?
thanks, chuck

Any particular flavor schnapps to go with those pigs knuckles Bachus?

Rootbeer shnapps yea

With a scoop of chocolate ice cream of course!!!
But I don't think that would go with beer pigs knuckles ...

Amarelle schnapps... (made from sour cherries).. its quite soft...

Pa4x v2 demo....showing off styles & sounds

btw that B.Jean Pop is a stunning style

Now we can see where arrangers are headed for sure with the addition of the S970 LIVE CONTROL KNOBS features and now the NEW Pa4x V.2 features, little by little new ways to edit & create your playing of music in many new technological ways will soon be the norm,......embrace it now!! because its only going to get better and better and different then what your used to,....great things are certainly on the horizon,......IMO the first company to incorporate "DRUM PADS" into a TOTL arranger will lead the way,
its a great time to be a musician for sure enjoy!!

Thats Casio... mz-x500.. with drumpads...

I think the future is 16 drumpads, 9 sliders, 8 knobs - 8-16+3/4 assignable buttons...
And 8 voices/keyboardset...

I wouldn't consider any Casio at this time as a TOTL arranger altough it does have drum pads ...lets wait and see if Yamaha, KORG, Roland, Ketron incorporate Drum Pads on future TOTL units...

now your talking .....its coming soon...somthing like The Akai APC40 Mk2 will soon be a realty on an arranger for sure..making the possiblities of your music endless..





Play KB, Mix, Sing create...

The 900 I get...But the PA 4X.....really? Not seeing it....

I almost was going to buy that Roland as a filler keyboard, but the reviews are really bad. Plus short keys is a deal breaker for me....Too bad cause reviews not withstanding I would buy one. Small keys...naw

I dont think Fran is looking very objective at this... he is only objective where Roland keyboards are concerned.

I didnt see many used pa4x for sale...

There is a reason i can imagine, yamaha people trying pa4x and moving back to yamaha, not because yamaha is better, but because it suits their sit and play style better... and because for some relearning a totally new keyboard is just to much...

Are you kidding me? Who’s got the time to learn all these operating systems, and drum patterns, and orchestration, and heaven knows what else and, then try and keep up with the non-musical necessities. Heck, I‘m still trying to lean Windows 10, my GPS, my answering machine, how to turn on the windshield wipers on my car and.......Spanish.

Maybe if you’re 20 years old, topped off with testosterone, living with Mom & Dad, have no personal responsibilities, have no day job and made just one machine a priority for six months at a time.......then there’s a chance.

Then there’s the “robot factor“ again. No machine will ever come near to the interpretation of music like a full symphony orchestra does, or someone like Stephane Grapelli does with his violin. And no machine will ever recreate the many musical nuances in a Strauss waltz to make it sound like a Strauss waltz.

But, unfortunately Donny’s right.......this is where music is going. As Mr. Tr*** would tweet: “sad, very sad.”

Here are some pics of the last surviving live musicians in my area. Their next step is probably the Elephant’s Graveyard. I took them at a large car show with the DJ playing between sets. But even the DJ looks like he can’t figure out his own equipment!

Do you think maybe learning a Maschine would give them some enthusiasm.....or.....help them take the final plunge into the Musician Graveyard?

99.9% of arrangers are bought by home hobby players and adding these features in full would scare 99% of them off, however, if released over time they would slot in no problem. (We oldies aren’t going to be around forever)

Any youngster these days would pick these features up as quickly as they do a new app, (Mascine is also available as an app) it’s just some of us old fogies that have a problem.

Like all technology if you let it control you, then it will sound robotic, however, if you have talent then the world is you oyster? (Plus the way AI is progressing these days even the machine (Robotic) sound will soon disappear)

Remember when anything new comes out (Whether it is technology or culture) a lot of the old resist, but most of the young embrace, thus technology and culture moves forward.

For a lot of people the above is frightening (Humans have always been resistant to change) but if we are to survive, then it has to be embraced.

NOTE: not everything has been good (Hence a lot has disappeared without trace) but those that have stayed the distance eventually become the norm.

Bill

Hmm ,

I have the PA4X and installed the new Operating System .
The KAOS is very nice , I am happy with this new feature .

My age is 70 , I like trying new things in music .

Even Symphonie Orchestra's try out new things .

When human beings start perfecting something there is usually nothing left of the original.

I am part of that perfection; as good as my dad’s band was mine had more life, it was more up-to-date. So better is in the eyes of progress in perfection. But my Dad was five times more of a musician.

John C.
PS, Donny is right to open his mind to what is coming. That’s where we are. But I am finding it hard to embrace it.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in....
being ignorant in music creation is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. open your minds and embrace the future..

The new OS has improved the midi-to-style function! It takes only a few seconds to convert and save a style automatically from a midi file, and they seem to come out even better than before. The ones I've tried sound very good with no tweaking, but if you change the drums and/or style sounds from GM to Factory they sound even better. It automatically makes Keysets (OTS), intros, endings and in some cases solos!
The new German Piano and Italian Pianos sound great, even though I didn't have a problem with the old ones.
There's a lot to digest in the update, but so far it's all been good.
Someone found a small bug sequence player. It seems if you have two songs loaded, play the first one, then immediately play the second one, the lyrics display doesn't change to the new lyrics. Korg has acknowledged it and said it will be corrected soon. It doesn't affect me anyway as I have never used both players back to back.
I even fooled around a little with the KAOSS feature. It is really easy to use, and I MIGHT use it for arpeggios occasionally, but probably not much. I can see it would be great for some of the new music though.

Great review Don.....enjoy your new update I know in the trenches new things will be used more and more...."its coming"!!

Well my trenches remain pretty much the same. Most of my audiences want to hear what I already do, and to change it significantly would probably run them off!

Hey Don....if you never would have played "what you already do" the first time you never would have had the opportunity to build your audience.

Yes they like the songs, but I gotta guess they are more forgiving to an established performer who ventures into uncharted waters...

They will flow with the new stuff

Steve, I spend several hours last week trying to find current songs to add to my repertoire. I found exactly two that I thought I could do, and that I wanted to do. Guess I'm gettin' old here!

Don and Steve, prior to my forced retirement last August, I was trying to find new songs to add to my performances as well. Search as I did, failed to produce anything worthwhile. Newer is not always better, especially when it comes to songs. Both Don and I probably know more songs than the vast majority of the folks in our audiences combined, and as much as I enjoy adding new songs to my repertoire, many of the new songs are not recognized by the audiences, consequently, they usually do not respond well to their introduction. Both Don and I are pretty damned old, but we are keenly aware what our audiences will respond to.

Gettin' old ain't fer wimps and sissies!


All the best,

Gary

Don, thank you for all your info about Korg. Whenever you post a new happening I’m off to my Pa4x. So far the Pa4x is the best keyboard I have owned.

John C.

If you already have a load of styles and sounds in user locations linked to songbook etc and then install the update it writes over them right?

Is it possible to keep the current styles and sounds in the same location?

Thanks for any replies.

John.

No, you have to save them before the update, then load them back afterwards. The update puts 52 new styles in USER locations. I found I only would use one or two of them so loaded by Favorites back.
If you have user styles in Factory locations, you have to Unprotect them before saving.

Thats one of the kool features of using a Korg arranger...you can change so many things and make the KB exactly how YOU like it...
I wish Yamaha would allow factory style replacement also....
maybe GENOS or BK10?

Hi ,
Haven't had a chance to to try the updated midifile convertor as yet. If it's improved, that's great, Don.
Have had a bit of fun with the kaoss arpeggiator function, though probably not something I'd use much. Probably more suited to Dance type music, which is a bit modern for me. Haha.
Seems to work well with my tyros ethereal movie style conversion,, I enjoy soundtracks, so may find some use for it there.
Probably need to read up on it, because haven't got a clue what the other settings do.


Meanwhile,
One thing I'm please about, it appears they have fixed a bug that was really annoying me.
All the xg drum kits I use for my psr conversions, were defaulting to Gm kits, which in some cases made the style unplayable with incorrect drum sounds playing.
I'd updated a number of them with a user drum kit, now I have to change them back. Haha
as I prefer not to use a User Kit, at the time though, it was my only choice.

I am sure that of these have been asked before, but after working on the Song Book for many hours I have 120 songs programed: Instrument sounds, pads, and edited styles and categories I would hate to lose them.

As I understand: If I saved everything I can always reload them. And then add the new individual styles in the User Styles section. My big question lies with the Song Book. Will it call the same settings as it did before?? Some of the Song Book entrees call from the style User section.

OK guys make me feel good about this. (please0

Insecure, John C.

For the Songbook to work correctly after the update, you must put the User, Favorite and any you have saved to Factory locations, back to the same places.
After the update, I deleted the new styles it put into the Favorites. Then I reloaded the ones I had there previously. Then I put the new styles in a different location, another Favorite Bank. Not many of them I will use anyway.
I also had to redo some changes that I had saved to Factory styles. That is, changing sounds or Keysets, and saving them to the Factory Styles rather than to Songbook. No big deal.

There's always some homework needed to be done on an update of this magnitude after all it should be no big deal for the experienced arranger user....good luck

Rikki, the midi to style converter IS much improved. Conversions are very smooth and seem to have better intros, endings, fills, and better choice of sounds. On most of them though, I do changes the sounds from GM to Korg Factory sounds in the style parts. I'm finding it quite useful, although in truth I don't use many "Song Styles". That is what they are of course, tailored to a certain song.
It's interesting that a Backing Sequence is created too, so you can opt to use that and be able to use both hands playing the keyboard without changing variations manually.

Will KORG continue to update the Pa4x OS periodically or possibly release a totally NEW Pa5x unit down the road,...

thoughts?

I finally did my upgrade.... no problems at all..

And have been playing with the Kaoss features...
Its a lot of fun..
But now i am trying to figure out how this can be used reliably in a live performance

Hmmmmmm...
So far it doesnt feel right, the arpeggiator seems to steal your righthand sounds,
making right keys useless, using the lefthand chord as the base of the arp..
Its not really an arpeggio as we know them
But then , it could be i am doing something wrong
Definately need more testing with this..


But at first glance, looks like the yamaha liveknobs are a tad more usefull
Only time will tell...

Hi Don,
I don't use a lot of song styles either. The type of midi files I do like , didn't seem to work that well, may have a bit more luck with the new version. Didn't realise it created a backing sequence.

Actually a lot of the old midi files that I thought sounded so great years ago, really don't sound that great anymore . Might put them back in the cupboard. Haha.

Spoilt by the modern day keyboard , haha.

Pa4x V.2 Upgrade done ...
took awhile but no problems at all just follow the instructions..

PS and this new "KAOSS" Feature is so freaking amazing wow!

I've been playing the Pa4x v.2 all day and to my ears comparing it to what I remember from my previous Pa4x a few months ago and after loading all my pa4x backup files and songs,etc, I don't know what they did but it just sounds better soniclally all around if even that's even possible wow!

I also like the Roland EA - 7, but the darn dual screens are just too small (2.5" X 2.5")

I have the EA-7 and have a love/hate relationship with it. The screens are small for my old eyes too.

Probably has to do with the price of the instrument. You cant expect Roland to add expensive features in a budget keyboard.

If you want better quallity for the same money, it could be wiser to buy used gear.

I've spent a few hours now working with the Pa4x v.2.01 and I must say compared to my old Pa3x and Pa900 the workflow improvements on this Pa4x v.2.01 are superb and so easy to get around to make your music sound fantastic.

Just follow instructions carefully Duane. First do 2.0, then do 2.0.1.
It will take about half an hour to do so be patient because it is a really big update.
Be sure to follow the directions in the PDF to SAVE your Songbook and any styles in the USER or FAVORITE banks because everything is overwritten.
You will need to redo vocal settings, overall e.q., Locks, splits, slider assignments, controller assignments, etc. Fortunately it is quick and easy to do.
After you reload the Songbook, go through each entry to see if it is still pointing to the correct style locations. Out of 100 or so, I had about 3 or 4 that I needed to re-save, because they were pointing to Factory Locations to which I had written new styles. (I had saved those styles too!).
There are a few things the new OS does differently, but in all cases better. They renamed the Songbook Edit 1, 2, and 3, but they still have the same function.