Rikki,

Yes, the PA80 pads are useful as controllers, but there is very little that I find to be musical about them, and for me on the Yamaha gear they can mean the difference between a style sounding somewhat dull vs quite a bit more alive.

It would be interesting to see how the PA800's pads work. I hope someone will give them a good workout and then tell us. Without good multis, for my needs, the PA800 would come in 3rd place for me vs the T2 and G70. Not because it's a bad board.. not at all, it's a nice step up from the PA80, especially the harmonizer, but at the same time, from the time I spent playing it, it does share more than a few similarities with the PA80, especially sound palette and style wise.

Still, I wouldn't give up the T2. There is nothing quite like it hardware that I've played to this point. I can get some pretty convincing guitar sounds by layering an articulation voice with a megavoice, and sometimes adding a third ( not enhanced ) tone to alter the sound a bit. What takes some time and adjustment is to practice working with velocity pressure as I play to get the right sound at the right time, but as I get more used to working this way the sounds get better and more realistic. Other times you can get some very unnatural sounds as well, and sometimes that can even be a good thing. I've been actually toying with the idea of resurrecting my Hotz midi translator ( an old Atari version ) or something like it to see if I could remap some of the keys and make the megavoice functions become even more useful in real time

I suspect that RealStrat will take it to a completely new level for me, but I'll likely only use that at home or in the studio, unless it's so good that I absolutely feel compelled to use it live too.

Regards,

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 09-17-2007).]

Thanks AJ,
I'm just pleased to hear the T2 has worked out really well for you.
Well, if I end up with a PA800 , I'll let you know what I think of the pad system.

Meanwhile I'm tossing up between replacing my psr1500 with a psrs900 or just adding a pa800 (it's back to the good old days, the more the merrier haa haa).

I had a brief look at an e80 a while back, but couldn't justify the price quoted.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bluezplayer:
[B]Rikki,

thanks for the kind words



it's since the launch of the Pa1X (2003) that Korg pads behave like Yamaha ones, so there is need of a good refresh procedure before making conclusions about last models .....



the Pa800 HAS a color screen, for curios there is a screenshot available in the official Korg web-site (www.korgpa.com).

There are a lot of wrong informations considered and also discussed here ...

Just my thought.

Best regards.

I was saying that to myself alot of Misinformation....its a wonderful arranger for sure.....

I'm not out to start any platform wars, here (in fact, this is the first thread we have had for a while that HASN'T degenerated into mudslinging), so perhaps, in this civilized atmosphere (!), Donny, would you mind just giving us a quick rundown on WHY you dropped the Ketron, and why the move to Korg?

You obviously had good reason to do something that would cost you money, and chew up a fair bit of time re-organizing for the Korg. So, no 'bashing', just a quick rundown on why the change was made.... OK?

We're just curious....

Thanks Booby,
I've been reading the part in the manual on PA800 pads, & to me it sounded like they worked similar to the psr pads. Happy to hear it confirmed.

Obviously a major upgrade on the pa80 pads.

best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Booby:
[B]

Just my thought.it's since the launch of the Pa1X (2003) that Korg pads behave like Yamaha ones

Diki....

There are many things the Korg PA800 offers me that many of my previous arrangers didn't, I will name few that I really enjoy & make my life a whole lot easier.

1- The Songbook data base that retains ALL setup information including Transpose, Styles, SMF, MP3's with easy access to them just scroll & click to play from the main list OR the Custom Set LISTS you can set up any way you like in any order Great foe LIVE playing ....integrated with a DUAL Sequence player.

2- Nice loud on-board speakers 22W each for those intimate small gigs eg: cocktail hr, wedding ceremony, small NH, etc ....when you dont need an amp. Otherwise great monitors.

3- Two 2.0 USB ports

4- KILLER TC Helicon Vocal harmonizer & Mic processor...soooooo Nice

5- 61 keys I can live with to have these features.

6- DUAL Sequencers play SMF, MP3's at once w/ slider between songs to segway

7- TEXT Linc with styles

8- Ability to lock Keyboard TRANSPOSE Globally as to not effect Sequencer playback.

9- Only 29lbs

10- Record & Play MP3's with optional MP3 decoder card installed.

11- Accepts up to 2 Terabytes HD

12- FULL COLOR Touch Screen DISPLAY

13- Assignable Sliders & Buttons.

there are more things Im discovering & with time I can get it sounding very favorable to my liking I'm sure. These are a few things I longed for in the SD1+ & Yamaha's Ive owned for my needs.....The SD1+ has Killer sounds & quality but lacked a few things as listed above for my personal navigational concerns.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 09-19-2007).]

a few people have responded to my initial review stating there in fact was a color screen on the pa800.

I'm not sure why the one i tried had a indigo lettering with no color.

could be the os or the way it was tweaked by people in the store. or maybe i'm going color blind

I apolagize for anyone i may have turned off by being inaccurate. The last thing i want to happen is for this great forum think i'm not a reliable poster.

Thanks for all your support, I've been blessed with some great friends i've made here. The knowledge base has been better than any dummies book I'll ever find.



------------------
God Bless,
Mikey

www.mikeymaestro.com
www.balloonanimal.com
www.1000colorcards.com

Out of curiousity, I went ahead & called Discount Music (Orlando, FL) and asked them to check the OS installed. The nice salesman I spoke with (Keith) checked and confirmed that the PA800 on their showroom floor is: 1.01. I'm wondering now if the new 1.51 OS update might have improved the quality of the PA800 'styles' and/or 'instrument voices' to offset Mikey's negative review of them. Anybody know exactly what improvements, enhancements and/or new features OS 1.51 includes.

Scott

Pa800 newest OS 1.51 ver & music resource is like night & day compared to the older one OS 1.01 ver.
I just ordered the DUAL Mp3 encoder card & most likely will ween myself off the need for the Laptop.....on many gigs.....making myself more all in one.
I'm slowly falling in love day by day