Congratulations, Dave, on your new acquisition...a fine instrument, to be sure.

Ian

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

There are NO deal-breakers for me yet ! NONE !!!!!!!

The only looming anoyance has been a Kork "quirk" for years ....... the ryhthms and the fill ins are two separate bands/drummers. This HAS to be modifyed someday ... it's simply illogical how a cool, swinging groove can be going along from variation to variation, and then WHAM!!! the ending phrase has different instruments, different volume levels. Bad, bad thing .... but has always been that way, so I'll work around it.

IMPROVEMENTS:

1.
You can now access the SMF list while playing a style and vice versa. You still have to switch modes to PLAY the other type, but there is no down time, and the search-while playing option is finally there (like Yamaha, Roland etc.)
2.
Dedicated EQ for all parts and mikes
3.
FANTASTIC harmonizer that works with MY RIGHT HAND !!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY .... I can play manual bass again and still get the harmonies to trigger. Ahhhhhh....nice.
4.
Weight, size, color - all top notch - love the look and feel.
5.
USB drive options are great. No need for add-on hard drive
6.
Second set of outputs. This has been here since teh PA80, but it sure does expand your options ! I'll route the bass through one and maybe the drums too !
7.
Assignable sliders (2)
Assignable switches (2)
Assignable footswich/pedal
LOADS of customizations here.

** OK, so my first impressions are stellar. I'm off tomorrow and I plan to really disect it all day. I'll let you all know if it falls from grace at all. So far, the ONLY thing that bugs me is the drum fills. I'm looking into thinning out the patterns, and seeing if I can make some adjustments there.

I'm EXCITED ...... more later - maybe tonight, even !

Donny - take that picture off so the post is easy to read, please ! It's Sooooooo wide !

Oh yeah, Fran - it's V1.2 - we're up to 1.5, I think.

Boot up is a little long, but that's no big deal. They let you load custom sounds at startup, like the Ketron does.

Sorry for the typos ... I'm rushing to get back to it !

FIRST disapointment -
If you choose to use the vocal harmoy processor ( who WOULND'T ?? ) you no longer have that second audio input available. I wanted to run my guitar into this too. rats.

If you bypass the TC unit, you can use the 2 inputs separately. The old plug-in card from the PA80 let you use both. Sheeesh...

Well, this is just a small thing. The harmonizer is so much better than the 3k, it's not an issue.

Congrats Dave.
It's a pretty nice instrument. I just set up a couple of custom lists on the 800 for tomorrow's gig , tuned in to the SZ, and was surprised to see a Korg discussion going on. Have fun. I think Donny will eventually get to like it.
Ciao,
Jerry

Dave. Congratulations on your new PA800!

I've had a chance to play the Korg PA800 & one big STANDOUT I particularly appreciated is its user assignable chord recognition area: either LEFT or RIGHT of split point, of which is essential to play LEFT HAND bass lines while triggering chords with the RIGHT HAND, a playing style we traditional acoutic piano are most at home doing. I really miss not being able to do this on my Tyros2. I also enjoyed the PA800's fresh contemporary styles. My primary disappointed was with Korg's typical brittle (to my ears) sounding acoustic pianos.

Scott

I'm still a bit confused as to why the fact that the fills and endings don't smoothly work with the rest of the style isn't a deal-breaker.

To me, this is like saying the interior decor is great, I like the styling, plenty of cup-holders, who cares if it stalls every time you get into second gear?

I've read a few posts where members claim this has been fixed... Are they jiving us? Or is it simply that it is NOT fixed, but at least better than it used to be?

I'll check it out for the second time at Dave's Crib this week after breakfast
As far as getting one ....its gonna really have to work hard SONICALY to win me over vs My beloved KETRON SD1+

But Donny...the PA-800 doesn't have a 76 note keyboard.

Isn't that a necessity for you?

Ian

Ian that's reason #2....plus the keyfeel is no where close to the Sd1+ or G70.