"The PA=80 may not have dynamic arranger, but you CAN set the touch sensitivity to trigger the fills".

That sounds interesting Don - it's just remembering, however, when the function is on or off - or you get an "unwanted" fill.

Anyway, since these last few hours, I have been (for the first time) to the Korg PA80 website, and downloaded the entire Demo's. There are some top class rhythms & sounds here - no doubt, and sound better than the demo's that Yamaha 9000/Solton SD1 have to offer. (The Piano on the Tune snow town is really superb). What is that piece by the way??? (Proper name etc). The Pads/strings/Triton sound seem to be all there (didn't hear many electric Piano's mind you - are these good?). The Sounds that I want are there too: Techno & dance on the Demo "PROGRESS". It really is great stuff. 22 * 22 watts is good for home use, as I will have my KN5000 playing away as well (that’s 110 watts in total) What I want to know is: Why is such a great sounding board like the PA80 so much less than the Triton! (And other Boards for that matter). Look at the SD1/Yamaha Pro...there is a $1000+ difference here. (The Yamaha 9000 doesn't sound as good to me - if I may say - and that's taking the price into consideration). True, there are many extra's on the Yamaha like a sampler/Harmonizer/126 note poly etc, and this probably pushes the price up, but by over a $$1000$$??? Mystifies me. The Solton SD1 doesn't seem to be the kind of keyboard that would suit my kind of music I don't think (Synth/Techno/disco etc), and the Piano sounds a bit dodgy IMHO)Everyone to there own!

If I do get a PA80, I wonder which keyboard becomes "master" (as in master keyboard) Great thing as well that it don't weigh a ton.

One more question to all PA80 owners, is it MUCH better than the I30? (or what ever came before it) - Because that was good - and was top ranger when it came out.

Thanks all (I did have a Korg M1 a while back - my "only" Korg)

Andrew

Better than i30 ? in sounds yes a lot, but in features probably not! well there are some features which are extra but still, and you can make the PA-80 master or slave it will work good both way it have very flexible MIDI options, why it is a grand cheaper?? it is really not built very good? i30 was the best when it came out solid metal construction with superb o.s. PA-80 operating system is still incomplete but it is still the best out there especially in sounds but is not built like a $2000 keyboard, well to tell you the truth if I were you and I already had an arranger board (Technics KN5000) I would have gone for the Triton or Motif and use it as a sound source and also as song finalizing tool ? because pricewise PA-80 almost cost the same as Triton and MOtif is even cheaper.

[This message has been edited by Arbaz (edited 08-14-2001).]

Korg cut a lot of corners with the PA80,and that is why I do not own one anymore.
1)The harmonizer is ALWAYS a full choir sound. It's the max notes played. It also does not behave well from the right hand, which is important to me.
2)You cannot change the tone of the manual bass by simply selecting the new sound. You need to press "Manual bass" - then pick a new sound, then turn OFF manual bass, then turn it ON again before you hear the change!Very bad for on the fly changes.
3)Sounds do not sustain through a new patch change. IF I have a piano sound lingering, and switch to an electric piano while my hands are still holding the keys.... the piano cuts off abrubtly.
4)There is no way to change volumes easily by "stepping up" the volume sliders a notch at a time unless you are in a second page. The main menu page won't do it.
There are other shortcuts, but overall it's still worth the money. It's just not worth the same money as the 9kpro. It doesn't do as much and it doesn't perform as seemlessly.
BTW - I'd trust George Kaye's description of the Triton?Pa80 comparison. He tells it like it is. I don't believe they are identical engines either.

I don't see where anyone stated that each Korg PA80 sound has 4 Oscilators. There are 2 on all Korg keyboards per voice. I also agree that the PA80 is one of my top sellers these past few months. I am only stating that the Triton does sound different because the "stock" sounds are different. I do know that I can "tweak" the PA80 sounds to sound closer to the triton sounds, but as many of you would agree, the solo violin, sax's, trumpets and of course the Piano, actually sound better on the PA80.
I do think the sounds and the styles are better on the PA80 than the i30. One of the biggest tests for me, was to discover that the 4 variations for each style actually matched the quality and the intensity of the intros and endings. In the i30 I thought the intros and endings were really exciting, but the variations left me wanting more excitement. The PA80 has this kind of excitment!
George Kaye

The PA80 sounds interesting to me, but how is it getting along on only two fills? I currently own the PSR 740, and was counting on upgrading to the PSR 2000. With that instrument, I get four fills (each fill plays automatically when I press a variation button). Doesn't it sound a bit inferior to be hearing the same two fills throughout a whole song as compared to four fills? I wonder why Korg only provided 2 fills when their competition provide 4 fills. Outside of this, the PA80 looks like an incredible instrument just on specs alone. I haven't had the opportunity to play it.

Beakybird....2 fills or 4 fills, but what about your PSR 740 having styles of only 2 bar loops....surely this is the repetitious part, but you have not commented on this. Korg styles are usually 8 to 16 bar loops plus they have 6 chord variation types playing different riffs, so the style changes depending on the chord played. With styles like these the only 2 fills thing is not important.

Graham UK

I've seen this in Pa-80's V2 manual.and the dealer told me that too.you can have 4 oscillators synthesizer.each oscillator with it's own two LFOs.it also has swing quantize. 8 levels of swing.

Beakybird:

Like Graham points out, the variation of the Korg styles is in the 8 to 12 bar accompaniment !!! To the best of my knowledge you only come across this in Korg and in Roland keyboards.. The two fill ins are indeed a bit on the thin side, but personally I have no problem with that.
I have now owned the PA-80 for a mere 10 days and are very please with it.
I WILL COME OUT WITH A FULL ASSESSMENT OF THE KORG PA-80 IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS' TIME,
for those of you interested.
ViC:
Could you be more specific on the
SWING QUANTIZE function, this should be about the styles I presume? where can I find it ??? Tha.


john.

I think you should trust your ears and decide for yourself because this is getting no where now I am shocked because some of us when they had the PA-80 it was so good and now when they have sold it to get another board PA-80 is all bad and it is not worth the money?? FYI PA-80 does have 4 OSC so its synth engine is more powerful than Triton and it does have the the Triton engine I have them both right now PA-80 have HI synthesis (Hyper integrated synthesis system) as stated by the Korg which is same as Triton now if you don't beleive a company's specification? what can I say then? total number of effects are same but insert effects routing is more powerfull in Triton and yes Triton sounds are way ahead clear and crisp than Yamaha AWM sounds.

john smies,
every thing (information) should be in the manuals taht Korg created in PDF formate...www.korgpa80.com