3k pros,pa 50 cons
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interaction between seq/smf play and arranger
(ie-in 3k-you can use internal drum styles on SMFs in realtime-meaning your rock smf can have a latin/pop/jazz rhythm instantly)

4 fills and which are very natural(PA has 2 and very erratic/unnatural sounding)
3 intro/3 ending

SM slot and USB to device(can use your 128/512mb sticks and never worry about disk swapping)can also load styles from it

real time 3 part Vocal harmony(with compressor,EQ and reverb)-which can be in saved per style basis

realtime pads-you can record licks,pharses,loops and synchronize with arranger-the function in workstations- like RPS like function of Roland(in Pa50 you can only have individual sounds-kick and snare,sfx etc)(you can assign other funcs like mutes

128 poly(62 in PA) 64 MB of wave ROM(pa has 32mb)

great 3rd party style support

better display,more simu efx

more realistic sax,piano,acoustic guitar sounds(mega voices made up for it)
esp-ac guitar sounds like someone is strumming right near you

2004 technology (3k) and 2001 technology(pa 50-taken from pa80)

rootless chord recognition(scott yee will explain)

styles are more open and non recognizable easily(where in PA some 16 beats-repeats-licks can become obvious)


and now Pa 50's pros and 3k's cons
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cheap looking and toy like hardware for a 1500$ KB in 3k( pa is more well build)

better and louder speakers in PA

better sound editing in PA

better seq functions in PA

better synth and drum sounds(triton board)and loads triton programs


solid state disk OS(means they can upgrade)
20mb(3k has 1.5 or so but USB and SM slot made up for it)

256 preset + 48 user styles(can reconfigure all-like volume,sounds etc)(how ever 3k's music finder is more flexible)

realtime slider(you can assign it to cutoff or efx parameter)

dual seqs(for smf/song playack-you can do DJ like cross fades-)(nice idea done for pa80,but killed by FD compared to SM/usb technology since you can't put a harddisk in PA 50-unlike 80 or 60).style loading is also a problem since you got to do direct from FD (trying to test new styles,etc).

mid east/ethnic sounds and styles(and support)-if you play middle eastern music -3k can't offer much(no Ne' or Uds-PA has it and does sound good)-but if you play more western music - 3k's 3rd party support will make you smile

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so if you are a studio'band musician,do ONLY occational arranger work-choose PA-50

but if you are a arranger gigger,who use alot of styles and who sings-3k

the thing is 3k does what it's suppose to do with flying colors(realtime arranger keyboard)

PA however is in between(not a good arranger,not a good workstation either)(display can't compete with tritons-ie less informative and too many pages to change)

remember you can always add a used workstation(trinity,triton le,roland xp series and fantom S series(which have samping-expect for roland XPs) for less than 900$-which will outperform PA(as a workstation)

3k is the new king for this time in arranger world(for price and functions)also best selling-

remember PA(80) came out with 2k and 2k was still more popular(also better priced)for western music arranger giggers

most of arranger giggers have moved from pa-80/50 to 3k for versatiliy for solo arranger work.they'll also explain why.

it's like-" My ears prefer Korg but my job demands Yamaha".



[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 06-20-2006).]