I finall went with the pa 80. I have a few questions for PA users? Will the video display board display all lcd info or just lyrics? Also which of the 2 video boards should i purchase?
I am anxiously awaiting the new board
Thanks,
Mike
Ps happy turkey day all

Hello must be someone here using this board? or have are we talking about dinosaurs?

Although there were some members using the PA80 most have either left the SZ or sold their PA80 and gotten something else. I think our own "Bluezplayer", ie., 'AJ' still has his PA80 (in fact I know he still does). He may be away during the Holiday weekend. Hang in there; somebody is sure to answer your questions. In the mean time, you may want to check out this web site for different links to PA80 forums and info:
http://www.korgpa.com/extra/links.asp

Best regards,
Mike

Hey! I'm still here once in awhile.

There is a LOT of stuff here: http://www.irishacts.com/

Chuck

mango,
I still have my PA80 and I do not know hte answer to your question. Have never used the 'karaoke' portion (video out) on it.
Will see what I can find out !!

Regards,
Steve

I don't have mine anymore, but as I recall, it routes everything on the screen to the video outs.
DonM

Yeah, I still have mine, too. However, I've never used the Karaoke screen, so I don't know the answer to your question either. I don't remember anyone over at IA even talking about it. I do know that if you are in the US you need NTSC video and if you are in Europe you need PAL, but other than that, I just don't know.

Tom

------------------
Bigger is not always better

Thanks . Why did everyonee ditch thE pa? Just curious i seem to have an uncanny ability to buy equipment everyone deserts. BUT THEN AGAIN !!! Some of the really great equip has been deserted. I still use some of it. I would love to be in touch with some of you who stuck with the PA . I have a feeling the learning curve wont be as steep as say my ensoniq asr-10 which i plan to midi to the PA but then again it may be.
Thanks to all for the videa card info also is the drum card worthwhile?
Keep smilin, it makes em wonder

Happy bday to me..........

I got rid of the PA80 for these reasons:
The fill-ins, break, intros and endings were "primitive" in comparison to other brands.
The vocal harmonizer could be catagorized in the same way. While it sounded good, it had no presets.
DonM

Hi Mike,

I'm not giving up my Pa80, at least not anytime soon.

The two biggest resources I know of for the Pa80 are 1) Irish Acts (mostly in the back files because not much has gone on lately) and 2) the Yahoo Pa80 group. AJ Bluezplayer knows about as much about the Pa80 as anyone I know; a LOT more than I do. SOC9 also knows a lot; he converted a lot of Triton programs (Voices in Yamaha speak) for use on the Pa80 in the User slots. They are all posted over at Irish Acts in the download section. You can load a total of 128 programs into the User area in two banks of 64 each. There is a third bank, but for some reason I don't understand (and don't like) the third bank will ONLY hold drum sets. My opinion is it should hold either drums or other programs and not just drums only. Oh well...

Tom

------------------
Bigger is not always better

mango,
Not eveyone ditched the PA. I know a number of PA80 users deserted the ranks when the Tyros came out about a year ago. Now Korg has release the PA1X - the upgrade to the PA80 - and those with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) will no doubt need one of them when they're available stateside.

I don't think you bought an obselete unit, in fact mine's very much alive and kicking !! While Donm let his go because of what he calls 'primitive' intro's etc. (when compared to other units on market), Korg styles have generally been the best out there. Sure, the Tyros set another style benchmark, but Yammy had over two years to perfect their stlyes before the release of the Tyros - most of which appear to have been based on Korg's anyway (oops, better be careful I don't get flamed here for that remark LOL !)

In short, if you did your homework before you bought the PA80, then you've got what you wanted. It's a great unit. As Tomcat said, ther's a ton of stuff on IA - altho' the forum ain't been terribly active lately.

There ARE other arrangers out there... many folks here dislike (HATE?) the PA80 (and Korg) for a variety of reasons, and many are VERY pro-Yammaha, Ketron or Roland. IMHO, it boils down to whether you are happy with what you have. Much has been discussed here on the relative benefits of each, and to some there are no gray areas - it's black or white! If you like the PA80, stick with it (as I have). If not, check out the other units on the market, and be prepared to drop the better part of an extra $1000 to 'upgrade' while doing so. LOL !!

Regards,
Steve

[This message has been edited by S0C9 (edited 11-29-2003).]

Hi Mango,

Here is a very good site dedicated to the Pa 80 where you can load (free) a lot of styles and you can find others ressources.
It is in French , but it is easy to understand.... http://www.chez.com/fabiopa80korg/index1.htm
Greetings,
JJ

Hi Mike. Been away for a couple of days. I do know a bit about the PA80, but unfortunately this is one area I know nothing about. I have never tried the video outs at all.

A lot of the reasons given here ( particularly Don M's ) are valid ones as to why some of the performing musicians "gave up" on the PA80. I don't like the 2 styles per fill either, and some of the fills aren't a good match to some of the style variations. I have not given up on my PA80 at all however. I don't perform live as often as some of the others here do, and I am one of the likely minority here who likes the OS and interface better than previous Yamaha and other arranger boards. I also dislike the key feel very much on the PSR line, ( but not so much the Tyros ) and I like the key feel of the PA80. While the PA80 has no vocal harmony presets, the harmonizer itself is pretty good and 16 user presets can be stored.

It all depends on what you like in a board Mike, and what you plan to do with it. I still prefer my PA80 as a live play board, but I have to admit that I could just as easily go to the Tyros. As a studio tool though, no other arranger works as well for me. It has editing capabilities that are unmatched in any other arranger, and some of the sounds I can make in it alone make it worth it to me to keep it ( I like using synthy sounds sometimes ). Any style can be replaced at will, so the board can be totally customized to fit your needs ( as mine is for my needs ).

Good Luck with it.

AJ

Thanks ,
I will let you know how it goes hope to get the board home this week looking foward to it . My only other arranger board has been an ra 50(roland ) so i hope to be pleasantly suprised

Sitting hear thinking there is almost always a way around limitations. since the PA has a dual sequencer could that also be used to switch styles ans vatiations am i asking to much ? Probably cant be done on the fly?
Guess i will find out??
mike

No Mike, the sequencers play midi data only, not live styles in real time. I have been able to switch back and forth between styles by modifying an original style an creating a new user style, changing or morphing some of the style parts, some of the data and or music, but this has it's limitations too. One thing I like better about Yamaha arrangers is that if I leave a style part off ( say an organ part or whatever might be on channels 14 15 etc.. , that part stays in the off position when I go to another style. Doesn't work that way with the PAS80. It reverts automatically to turning all style parts back on and no matter what variation you switch from, it automatically goes to variation "a" when changed . Of course you can adjust this by saving a "performance" or by using the write to disk function. In other words, I save style using write to disk function with parts on channel 14 and 16 off, it reverts to that when I switch back to that style from another, and it defaults to whichever variation it was on when I "wrote to disk ". This helps if you know ahead of time if for example you wanted to go in real time from internal style Rock1 to user Rock1 and you wanted to keep 2 or 3 style parts turned off and you wanted user rock1 to start at variation d for example. This applies to internal styles as well. You can adjust them to default to any variation, but they will stay "locked" that way until you wite to disk again and channge it.

Hope I made sense there.. lol

AJ

Mike,
One great thing about the PA80 is the ability to rewrite all the factory styles and replace them with stuff YOU use! If you're not a "polka" guy, for instance ... you can ditch them all, and put in the styles you DO like !
The basic styles are awesome .... it's the fills that are a little nerve racking, but coming from an RA50 .... you're going to think you died and went to heaven !
You can also midi the RA into the Korg for sounds .... it'll open up many style possibilities for you.

Curious, can the fills and variations be replaced also. Is there a midi to style conversion on board? and wait and a few thousand more questions....... maybe i better get this thing home before i ask any more!!

Mike

There is no midi to style conversion on board, but Korg released a freeware software converter that is simple to use and works just fine, provided you have a software sequencer to edit with. It is still available on the Korg PA website.

AJ

Yup ! You can completely customize the entire factory memory to your liking. Cool, huh?

bluesplayer on what site can you obtain this conversion program? please let me KNOW ,THANK YOU,BENNO

http://www.korgpa.com/products/pa80soft.asp

The style to midi tool is at the bottom of the page.

Cheers,

AJ

THANK YOU BLUESPLAYER,I GOT IT, BENNO