I think the PA5X is still in beta. There’s a lot to like about the feature set, but it seems that the OS is very much a work in progress, quite a bit of the functionality has yet to be added (SMF to style MIA, no multi footswitch yet, all kinds of issues with the two styles at a time, legacy data migration is iffy etc. etc.). How long it takes Korg to squash all the bugs is anyone’s guess, there’s a big OS update promised for later this year, but how many missing features get added back and how many existing features get fixed is unknown atm…

But yes, there’s pretty much universal agreement the new effects and whatever Korg did with the D/A converters has resulted in a big improvement in the openness of the sound. I am still undecided on the loop sync stuff until I’ve heard some real world comparisons to computer loop software. While tempo and pitch manipulation of audio has been a thing on arrangers for a decade or so, my experience on Roland at least exposes that live tempo and pitch manipulation is quite noticeably inferior to computer tools doing the same thing. If I need an audio track transposed or sped up/slowed down, I tend to do it in the computer in advance. We really need a shootout to compare these tools that exposes the artifacts to see who’s got the best algorithms or the best CPU overhead to handle this demanding task.

You have to understand that Sokratis seems quite heavily emotionally invested in the audio loop arranger concept, and if you like EXACTLY what it does and play ONLY what it does well, it’s very effective. No argument there. The problem as always is, if you ALMOST like what it does, you have zero ability to fix it. You can’t change the snare sound in a loop. You can’t change an acoustic guitar loop into an electric one. You can’t edit the rhythm to better fit a particular song, you can’t have the percussionist stop playing the cowbell.

The style is what the style is, and always will be. You will have to adjust to it, not the other way round. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s how an awful lot of players approach the arranger. Turn it on, play some basic chords, happily accept whatever it does. If that’s fine for you, you’re good to go. But, as I have said on other threads, it’s a dead end. Be honest… how many of us have the skills to record our own loops? Played flawlessly, recorded impeccably, matched carefully to all the others? Virtually nobody…

But all of us are capable of going into a style editor and muting the cowbell (if we want to!) or changing a sticks kit to a brushes kit, an electric guitar part to an acoustic one, or change the amp type on a rock guitar part. Easy peazy.

There’s already enough criticism of arrangers that they make us all sound alike, well, audio loop arrangers take that to a whole new level. And the worst aspect of that is, traditional MIDI arrangers are getting closer and closer to audio loops with features like round Robin drums, Guitar modes, and high quality amp simulators for rock guitar parts (put a clean guitar into an amp sim, you have a very convincing rock guitar that breaks up variably depending on the chord, just like real ones do) and all of those things remain completely adjustable, unlike a loop.

I guess it all boils down to what kind of player you are. If you like to switch on the keyboard and play along with whatever the arranger does, loops give you a shortcut to a very impressive sound. But just the one. If you like to get under the hood and tweak something to fit YOU, they have issues.

But to go back to the OP, sorry. The PA5x in its current form is no more the ‘best’ arranger than any other. They are all good at some things, bad at others. There’s a laundry list of Genos features the PA5x doesn’t have (far more effects that can be stacked, Ensemble Mode, that awesome chord sequencer to name a few) and doubtless the new Ketron has stuff apart from the audio loops that the PA5x is missing.

This whole ‘my arranger is the best’ has always boiled down to ‘my arranger is best for ME’ and always will. We get this same BS every release cycle, maybe we’re better served accepting that each of them has flaws, and try to point them out and the possible fix for them.