I had a chance to demo the PA1xpro today at a Sam Ash (Only one in the New york area so far .. Forest Hills Store) I Was Disappointed!!! The Grand Piano Sounded more like the I30 than the PA80?? At first I thought the Headphones were bad, then I plugged into a Yamaha 2100 and knew the headphones were fine. I expected to be " Blown Away" but????? I think the folks that loved their I30 and PA80 will be pleased. Those of you that own a Yamaha or Ketron, I think, will not be impressed. But then again this is my oppinion.
The screen has way too much info on it for its size. But I guess you can get use to it. The keyboard is nice and the build quality looks good. Did not get a chance to test the vocal section. I noticed on some styles I played that when you would press the Break Fill you would get a "normal" fill and the Fill 1 would be a break??? The Flugelhorn was excellent!! I did not care for the Sax (alto or tenor) much.
I only had about a half hour with it sooooo this is a "Quick" observation not an indepth review!!! I will be curious to hear what Tyros and SD1 users have to say. (I own an SD1)I almost purchased this one site unseen, something I would not recommend. I may get a chance to go to Korg Hdqtrs here in Long Island (someone I know is connected with them) and get a better demo. I just have to believe I missed something??? Need to give this another shot ... it had sooooo much promise and the Online demoes sounded SO GOOD!!!! To Be Continued ....

One thing I neglected to say ... the Guitar sounds, strums and solo, were Excellent!!!

JC

Thanks for your first impressions. I own a pa80 and a Tyros. I rarely play the pa80, but sometimes when I do, I'm taken by how nice some things sound. Overall, the Tyros is much more pleasing to my ear. I was hoping the paX1pro would come close. Let us know what you think, if you're able to spend more time with it in Long Island.

Tom G.

[This message has been edited by TomTomSF (edited 12-23-2003).]

I will be interested to check this out myself.

From prior experience, though, this is what I feel to be the case. The Korg PA80 online demo in this example, sounded sooooo good I had to have one. The only question I had was, can I sound like that playing live or is this a fancey studio sequence?

The PA60/80 never came close to sounding like the online demo. In my opinion and that of everyone else who heard the two side by side, very subjective of course, the concensus was my PSR2000 sounded much better.Sorry Korg lovers, I know everybody has a different taste and ear. I think Korg is for more modern music, more sythesizer sounds. I prefer standards with the old rich non-synthesizer sound.

As far as Yamaha online factory demos for the PSR2000 and Tyros, I feel that what you hear is about the same in person and in fact can be played live.

The moral of the story of course: try them out hands on preferably with your own speakers, and a 30 - 45 day trial period is the ideal way.

My slant on it.

[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 12-23-2003).]

I don't think anyone will ever make an electronic sound for a sax that will please me.

I hear trumpet sounds that are surprising, trombones, guitars, pianos, strings, etc., etc., but sax sounds suck on everything I've heard so far. I haven't heard the tyros yet, but I bet that won't please me either. Forget the sax on arrangers. They all sound phoney.

All arrangers are amazing in my opinion. Some are better for folks for different reasons. For me it sequencing. Everything else is secondary.

I've come to realize that one should not buy any arranger because of what someone else thinks about it. Opinions are just a starting point.

Everyone needs to figure out what they need and try the different arrangers available and go from there. That's what DonM, Donny, Dave, Scott and others have been saying and it's true.

JC,
As you know I own an SD1 and a while back I put my 'feelings' about the new Korg on this forum http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/007632.html

I'll stay with my good OLD (!!) SD1

Roel

TomSF & Scott Thanks for your response I agree with both of you 100%!! I to listen to the PA80 Demoes and purchased one, based on my satisfaction with my I30. I had it a week and traded up to the SD1 and never looked back.
I have read many positive posts over the past several years with regard to the Yamaha KB's. I think it may time to own one!!!

Roel ... I read your original post and also agree with your assesment.

The one thing I like most about this forum is whether or not people agree with you or not you always learn something!!!

Check out this user's review of the PAX1 Pro...
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=24426;article=13215;title=Ralf%20Schiller%27s%20KORG%20i30%20Discussion%20Forum


I really think everyone has to go in person and see for themselves.. Its nice to hear everyones opinion, but really, once you do it for yourself, there will be no doubt..

Peace,
Musikman

I could not agree more!! I am going back for a second "Look,See and Listen" with the PA1xpro. I played an I30 for a long time and loved it. I am "Open Minded'" when it comes to ALL KB's, I think it is foolish to categorize a KB because of its name?? As much as the Tyros is impressive, I still feel the PA1xpro has more of a future. Yamaha has a tendency to "abandon" some of its models (the 9000pro!). As it turned out the piano I did not like on the PA was the Grand Piano not the Acoustic which is the one they use on the demo.
When I posted my "First Impression" That's all it was. I welcome folks having another oppinion.

I happen to think that the PA80 demos sounded exactly like the board does. I can easily identify each style used in the demo and recreate the voices used to play along wity no problem. That probably is the result of using the board for quite a while and knowing it inside and out.

The PA80 cetainly isn't flawless, but for me it was the best choice of what was out there at the time ( considering only arrangers ). Sounds being subjective as we often note here, for my bread and butter sounds and styles, the PA80 was the among the best in it's class. The Tyros has changed my opinion about the Yamaha soundset and styles though, and I could be comfortable using it as well.

I think I'll probably wait until the PSR3000 comes out and then demo it vs the PA1x speaker version if it's also out at that time. if it rivals the Tyros in sounds and styles, then the PSR3000 really only needs a better feeling keyboard for me to seriouslly consider it, but I'm very curious about the PA1x as well. If it offers a noticeable improvement over the PA80, and I like the 3000's key feel, then the choice becomes more difficult for me.

Actually, I can envision both being in a future lineup for me.