OK, my Micro arrived this afternoon, but because of company and other commitments I've only gotten a little over an hour into this thing. Let me say first that this is NO TOY in any way, shape or form. It is playable right out of the box, but if you want your special features you better know your Korg OS or start learning quickly. This is a full-blown arranger, ala PA50 SD. The keys are the main difference and will attract all the questions. I kept trying to tell myself that they would be like accordion keys, but no way. They are true mini-keys; a little stubby but fat enough to play easily. Good feel. As some early reviews from across the ocean have said, the velocity curves are tight and nuances on piano and other touch sensitive sounds are difficult.

Only being slightly familiar with the OS kept me from performing some songs as I would have liked, but the styles were great and they reminded me of my ol'iX300, only better - some were even inspiring. I'm still trying to get balances right and make voice changes within programs. I briefly tried loading and playing along with some of my SMFs, but that's where I hit a wall. Trying to figure out how to load a song was not as easy I expected and it doesn't seem like there is a dedicated channel or two for right hand sounds except CH 1 - I'll need help in this area. Also haven't even touched the two sequencer concept with its balance slider...

That's about it for my first hour. I'd say I made a good decision and will sooner or later take it out for a spin to a NH job. For $499 or less you can't go wrong unless you absolutely can't stand 1) mini keys or 2) any Korg. BTW, DNJ says he's gotten about two hours in so far and has very similar feelings. He's owned a couple Korgs so he's a little more comfortable with the OS. His quote to me was, "Cass, this thing is DEEP..." But he hasn't loaded any SMFs yet. Hopefully he and I will learn this monkey together. If you buy it as a sound module, I'll bet you start using the keyboard sooner and more often than you think. * * * *