I can understand why the reviewer scored the Korg so low.

Simply put, the Tyros4 has incredibly expressive sounds, and each iteration of the Tyros has arrived with more of them.

Notice I didn't say they were "better" than the Korg's.

That's because what I like to hear coming out of my speakers, is different than what someone else wants, and what I like to hear is Yamaha's characteristic overall sound.

The reviewer's disappointment in the Korg wasn't based on it not sounding as good as Yamaha...it was because the instrument did not show much improvement over the previous series...he said, "Playing the Korg takes me back to PA80. There seems to be little all change since then."

I'm not familiar with earlier Korg's so I can't agree or disagree, but I do concur 100% with his statement that "styles are the heart of any arranger keyboard".

He says, regarding the Korg, "The overall style sounds unbalanced and too clunky"

If the heart of the instrument is "unbalanced and clunky", no amount of cool features and chord sequencers will fix that...maybe a lot of reprogramming on the part of the user, but this sounds suspiciously like the issues with the PA-800/2Xpro whereby the styles didn't transition very well.

As I said in my earlier posts, I would love for the Korg to be terrific...it would have to be to compete with the Tyros4...Yamaha did their homework and improved the parts of the arranger that are most important to the intended buyer; styles and sounds. They were markedly improved from the previous models. Maybe non-Yamaha users wouldn't notice the bigger improvements, but Yamaha users did, and consequently, they wanted to buy. Not being a Korg user, I may not notice the changes as mush as a Korgian would...but the latter better darn well notice them, or they ain't gonna buy!

Did Korg do improve their sounds and styles?

So far, it doesn't appear that way, at least to the reviewer, who says he is familiar with the earlier instruments.

Maybe, another reviewer will feel differently than the one at JazzHooves?

It's still only early in the PA3Xpro's launch, so maybe Korg needs to do an OS update?

Roland had a similar issue with the G-70, but finally managed to correct it with updates, although it did have a negative effect on sales. The Roland G-70 sounds are now dated (it does have one great piano), as are the styles, but it still sells well second hand mainly because of the 76-note keybed. E-80's and E-50's aren't anywhere near as popular.

As for the PA3Xpro?

Time will tell...

Ian