Uncle Dave,
I couldn't agree more. The last OS release before 2.0 was soooooo disappointing that I nearly brought the board back within a couple of days, but less than a week after I bought it, OS2 came out and offered some improvement. With the original OS versions, it was not even possible to alter a note in a style. OS3 has brought sampling, but not in the true sense. It allows the triggering of single wave files in a non linear mode. It is great for drum / percussion pieces but not for adding instrument voices that can be played acros the scale. I think the Modern Dance / Techno oriented players will find it very useful though.
It also now allows import of Triton (.pcg) programs, and they sound wonderful on the PA80 overall. Great for acquiring some new user voices ( particularly synth ) without having to do all the laborious work of editing patches.
It now has step sequencing for songs and patterns with full event editing at 384 ppq. Not great resloution but not that bad. The sequencer itself is very easy to use in the edit mode though once you get to the right screen.
The multipads can now control functions other than inserting sounds or short sequences. They can be set up to control 35 different typical pedal functions, style up, style down, track mutes, etc.
There are quite a few other minor changes that don't seem to make much difference to me at this point, and really don't make the board any easier or more difficult to operate in real time.
Now ( finally, after months ) that I understand the OS pretty well, I'm very happy overall, but the one thing I still don't like is the 2 fills per style. I, like many others was disappointed because that hasn't changed. Korg did pull a fast one there I think..lol. The new features they talked about surely fooled me into thinking I was going to get 4 fills in the new OS. I don't think all of the fills are that bad, but the biggest drawback in my opinion is that on some styles, the 2 fills generally seem to only match 2 of the variations out of 4.
I guess if I were just comparing arranger features, and not thinking in terms of sounds and editing capabilities, I think the 2000 stacks up well and maybe in a few areas even better than the PA80 though. The 740, 2000, and 9000 were much easier for me to figure out and easier to navigate certain features in real time, although I do miss havings slider on the 2000 like the ones on the PA80 that can control the volumes of arragement and program ( main / layer) voices seperately. ( I assigned the extra slider to program / performance volume control )
I'm guessing here Dave, that for your uses, you made a wise choice by exchanging the PA80 for a 9000. This is not the best board for anyone who needs to use it solo in a live setting within a few days or maybe even weeks after they buy it. ( maybe ever? ) Navigating the OS is uncomfortable to a large extent for me in that respect. For me though, I do so much electric blues and guitar oriented jazz stuff, mainly at the home studio these days. I wish my guitar playing skills were up to the task for some some of the stuff I want to do, but they just aren't always good enough. I haven't played any other boards at all outside of the Triton / PA series that allow me to mimic and emulate guitars the way I like to. Tossing sounds aside for a minute, part of that also comes from the key feel and having a joystick too..I guess it might seem like a minor thing to some, but the joystick is a much better feel for me than a pitch wheel and I can do mod effects and bend notes all in one motion. I almost feel like I'm bending a guitar string when I use it. The PA 80 key feel / action also works well for me. I would not be as happy with this board or the key feel if I wanted to use or play piano sounds a lot, but for emulating many other lead instruments, I can't use real piano action to save my life.
AJ
[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 12-07-2001).]
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AJ
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