I only have money enough for ONE keyboard right now. I want to add some .. spontaneity to my stage show and have recently been considering an arranger. With it I will have the option of just using it as a keyboard or use it's arranging capabilities and/or use it to play (and play my guitar and sing along with) MIDI sequences.
Am I right about this??
I'm leaning towards the PA80 it seems to have all the sounds of the triton (though no sampling) and also do other things and for a cheaper price!
I have a simple but important Q about it though. Can I send a separate click out to a drummer (let's say in his headphones)?
I would NOT want this click to go out of the main L/R outputs because they would be going to the main speakers.
So does this unit have more than just a main L/R output?
This little feature seems to be on some of the more "workstation" keyboards out there.
PART 2: I also want to use this arranger in my home studio where I put my sequences together for work and compose for both work and my art. I'll be using CakwalkProAudio 9 and Gigasampler and a few other soft/hardware items.
Can these arrangers do the same work of a workstation in the studio like say a Roland XP-80 or a Yamaha Motif??
If so I can get some versatile performance out of one in both a live or studio environment.

While the PA80 might not be the easiest of the arrangers to use in a live act where you might want to do a song by request
( solo act would be more accurate ), it certainly will work well in that capacity. It helps to have your memory regisrations set up in advance ( Called performances in Korg's world ) The PA80 will include sampling too in the next OS.

The PA80 has 4 audio outputs. Yes you can map different drum parts to different outputs according to the manual. I haven't tried it though. I would think that this would include a metronome click as well, but I'd have to try it to be sure Boss. Andrea Bernardelli is one of the Techs / designers of the boards at korg. He always responds to questions that I've had and also posts regularly on the PA80 forum at yamaha groups as well. Here is his email adress: bernardelli@korg.it
I'm sure he'll answer the question about sending out the drum click accurately for you.

The PA80 isnt quite a Motif or Triton, but as I've said before, I think it has bridged the gap quite a bit between arranger and workstation and offers similar synth editing features and excellent sounds.

AJ

The best arranger/workstation keyboard was the WK8 series or the SK series. The problem is that it does not have NOW the new sounds and styles. If you can wait, General Music will be it introducing new machines. Otherwise, there is the Solton keyboards and others...

Boss,
I just traded a Motif in on a PA 80. For my 2 cents worth......an arranger can do pretty much all of what a workstation can do with the exception of deep editing capabilties and an arppegiator. The arranger on the other hand has the auto accmp. capabilities, that a workstation does not and easier to work with.
You can on a PA 80 send a click or beat out on a seperate track. There are 4 different ways you can send it out L&R out 1 out 2 or out 1&2.
If you liked the PA sounds, then I don't think you'll like the Motif sounds (other than the pianos). In my opinion the workstations (most all of them) are geared to the techno, trance, hip hop market, with both sounds and beats etc. The arrangers are aimed at a mellower sound.
Terry

hey, thanks so much for the pointed info (click out etc...). I'm a guitar player and actually at one time was starting to get almost acceptable at keyboards back when I was making all of my MIDI files. I play a MIDI guitar now for all my organ/piano/sax/etc... licks but I want to make the show better. I'm going to be using this keyboard for all sorts of styles from soft balads to Irish folk, to heavy dance music. (Seems many are in the middle of the road about the PA80 and seem to prefer the GEM, Solton, Technics)
Can anyone add something about the use of an arranger in the studio to control the sequencing via MIDI with modules and .... well... use it as a master controller like a Triton or something?
It seems with all it's sequencing and splits it should be able to handle that. I've been using an old ESQ-1 for that stuff now and it's not really keeping up.
Thanks ...
By the way it seems this (arranger) forum is about the most robust on this site. (the opposite being maybe the Peavey forum)
Cheers Again and thanks!