Compared to my last few keboards.... the PA80 piano is much better. It's more dymamic and playable than:
psr2000, SD1 & XD9.
It's not the same sound as the Triton, so don't judge it by that standard. While it's not my favorite sound .... it IS substatially bettar than most things in it's price class. My favorite so far was the 9000pro or Roland products. I liked the kn7000 piano too, but I hated the kn5000.
It's all a judgement call. I hate a lot of acoustic pianos too! The tone of a piano is way too complex to sum up in one catagory. It's like comparing organ sounds ... there are millions of drawbar settings - it's impossible to "zero in" on THE Hammond sound, for example.
Play it alot, and use the system that you own ... that's the only way to tell if you will like it in a performanmce.

I agree with UD here, but with just a little tweaking I was able to make the PA80 piano sound even a bit better ( for my tastes ) by making two new performances, one of which that mixes the clasical piano sound with the grand piano, the other which mixes both sounds with a touch of the stock ac piano sound as well. I like it better than the ac piano on my PSR2000, and almost as much as the stock piano sound on my Motif ( which is basically the same as the 9k pro piano sound ). When I first played the PA80 AC piano I didn't like it all that much, but the more I used it and later tweaked it, the more it has grown on me.

AJ

Thank you all for responding.
I counted 3 positive and 3 negative responses for the Acoustic Piano Sound on the PA60/80. Thanks Uncle Dave for saying not to judge it by other Korg products. It's an arranger not a synth.
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,
I have to disagree with you on something.. I think this is where the PA-80 stands out is that it's not just an arranger, but it's also a synth as well.. The PA-80 has some pretty extensive voice editing features, much of what you'd find on top end synths.... That's whey I think the price tag on the PA-80 is well worth it because you get a good arranger, great sounds, and the power of synth as well..

Squeak

Squeak_D,
I stand corrected. Have you demoed the Korg PA60/80? What is you opinion on the Acoustic Piano sound?
Starkeeper

I think that the comment about 'modern' music likes and dislikes playing a factor in piano sound preferences can be pretty appropriate. Having listened to and owned different Korg products I was never pleased with their acoustic piano sounds - BUT - I listened more critically to the radio for awhile and heard what I believed to be Korg pianos in those mixes that sounded fine. So - context was certainly a factor. At that point I also realized why my love of Roland piano sounds did not translate into the 'best' piano sounds for different music I was playing. As a stand alone piano Korg doesn't make it for me - but in context!!

Mike

Starkeeper,
I did have a brief chance to play a PA-80 when I was in Erie PA.. I was so ticked off too.. The line for this thing was soooo long, and people were getting really impatient... Everyone only got a few minutes to try it out.. They only had one and after I finished playing it the guy behind me played it for 60 seconds and bought the thing (there were quite a few people upset after that...) The piano on the PA series isn't bad at all.. Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a piano.. It's all a matter of taste I guess... I thought it sounded pretty good, but wasn't as crisp as the Yamaha's, again that doesn't mean it's bad.. The piano sounds like a Korg... However I do think more attention was paid to the synth sounds on the Korg rather than acoustic sounds as they've done with their other synths like the Triton Classic, Studio, Karma, ect... The PA series are great keybaords.. From the limited time I had to play it I did enjoy the synth sounds..

Squeak

Good points Mike. I realize that I do the same thing myself sometimes. If I am doing solo acoustic piano work, or the ac piano is the featured instrument, then I choose the ac piano from Motif, but sometimes I prefer using the PA80 ac piano in a mix.

AJ