I spoke with the product manager at Korg today and without telling me a single thing about the new model, which I expected, even though we are good friends, the keyboard will be shown at the July USA Summer NAMM show. I am dissapointed I will not be able to attend the show but I am sure we will get reports as soon as it is unvailed. He thinks the product will show up before the end of the year. Don't expect to see the PA80 discontinued because this new model will be an addition to the line and not a replacement.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Hi,

The new pa1-x is going to be like this, this was told to me by a KORG engineer, i also saw the full picture of it :

- big colored display
- 8 sliders(functions as volumeslider or drawbar or Master EQ)
- USB interface
- All new ROM sounds based on the new RX sampling technic.
- 16 MBRAM standard onboard, expandable up to 32 MBRAM(simm modules)
- Support for playing a MP3 track synchronised with the styletrack(the MP3 can be streamed right out of the Harddisk, no need to load it into the RAM memory first)
- Support for loading MP3 sample sounds
- CD writer
- 4 bus STEREO effects onboard(pa80 has 4 bus MONO effects) + ability for resampling sounds, so you have more then 4 effect busses
- 2 expansion slots for expansion boards
- first release will be 76-key pro version with same touch and feel like the triton
- ability for loading 128 sound patches(.pcg files)
- ability for loading 48 USER styles and direct disk loading
- FULL sampler onboard with Variphrase function
- multitasking OS, so you can load sounds while playing
- backwards compatible file format with pa80 etc.

- TC HELICON VOCALIZER ONBOARD!!!

this is all i know for now folks...

Sounds like it will be a nice board, we'll see.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

It sounds like Korg is listening to what musicians want in a keyboard. This latest offering should be very interesting and IMHO say good bye to the arranger keyboards as we know them in the past. Technology is soaring so hop on the train my friends it should be a fun ride into the future! I expect the others to follow too very soon. I'm glad I weened myself off 61 keys to 76 and having no onboard speakers ...[wink..wink]

George any Idea on the street price?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-28-2003).]

Good news indeed! Thank you George for updating us on the PA1-X and for 'sisi002' for filling in some of the cracks for us. I was almost certain it would show up at Summer NAMM and I am glad to hear that it will be for certain. If there is anyone from the SZ that is going to Summer NAMM please don't forget to stop by the Korg booth that has the PA1-X/Pro and fill us in on all the first hand details. I realize that the General Arranger Forum consists mostly of Yamaha Arranger owners but there are many here that have other Brand Arrangers or those that are open to possibly getting a different Brand board, me included. And although it would be great to have a 76 Key Arranger I will most likely hold off from purchasing until the 61 Key version with speakers appears before I make up my mind. Donny made the move to a silent slab and apparently he has no regrets. I doubt it would be that easy for me; practically unthinkable for me to tell you the truth. And if Korg includes an Octave Switch on the 61 Key version that will probably seal the deal for me. Onboard speakers PLUS having external Monitors like I get with my Yamaha MSP5's adds so much more "dimension" to the sound I get when I play, listen to midi's, and in recording my music. I just get a better Mix and feel all around and it makes it that much easier to edit a Mix imo and to achieve a more accurate Mastering. Plus the added benefit of not having to lug external speakers each and every time you want to play somewhere other than your Studio. To each his own though. More power to you guys and gals that don't mind that added burden and potential obstacle.

Also I heard the price is going to be steep! At least for the PA1-XPro. The MSRP price is rumored to be whopping $5,400. I am not sure if that is from a European price perspective as opposed to the American market value price or not. But if that is the price on the American market, then we will all have to dig deep into our pockets to get one. Even after an "actual" price point of lets say a $1,000 off the MSRP your still looking at an awfully large amount of cash. Another reason to get the 61 Key version if at all possible.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by Idatrod (edited 06-28-2003).]

Hi Mike,

Glad your excited. But, I always played with "NO" onboard speaker KB's M1, i3, i30, thru the years until I got a KN5000 which for a while I plugged off the speakers also. Then I tried the speakers "ON" and started to ween myself off "NO" speakers which I liked for a while also.
But now it doesn't matter to me either way.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-28-2003).]

Variphrase ?? Umm like Rolands ? lol

It sounds superstrange that it will have only 8 sliders that also can be used for the drawbars. There are 9 drawbars and there should have been 9 sliders.

tHE PSR9000 TRIED THAT APPROACH WITH 8 DRAWBARS.(damn caps lok)
They linked the 16' and 8' tone to ONE slider, that had a toggle switch. It was a pain, but it did offer independant control.

I'd love to see a few programmable sliders and knobs ( ala the Motif ) so that I could control some midi data in real time. I know .. I know.. this is going to be an arranger, not a workstation..

AJ

I think this was posted before, but there are pictures of the Korg PA1XPro on the web.
http://www.irishacts.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4183

The above are stills from a teaser at www.Korg.de

I think the projected date is October 2003.

Yeah I miss real knobs and sliders on the tyros, the 8000 had thumbwheels beneath the display which was a neat idea, now just boring up and down press buttons!!

S.

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incorporating PSRworld and Tyrosworld

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share your music, get help and advice, make new friends! All platforms invited!!

Hi Simon

I have a PSR-8000 and agree that the thumbwheels are a good idea. They are more compact than sliders and can work as rotary encoders, which makes sense when you have an LCD to show values. I heard that Yamaha dropped them because users did not like them. But I think the problem was not in the thumbwheels, but in the software--there was an awkward latency in the response to thumbwheel motion. I would like to see them return with more responsive software. Actually, thumbwheels have reappeared on the Hartmann Neuron, but that's $5k and not an arranger.

I just heard some news that is fresh off the wire but I am not sure it will end up being true. The supposed truth is that the PA-1X/Pro will have 256 note polyphony. It was rumored a while back that the PA1-X would have 256 but I've heard from other sources that it will be only 128 note Polyphony. We can only hope it will be 256. But if it is true I think that feature in itself will be a major motivating factor in purchasing one. But it's hard to imagine Korg making such a big leap from 64 note Polyphony on their current Flagship Arranger the PA80 to 256 note Polyphony on the PA1-X/Pro. Would they be so bold as to just skip 128 note Polyphony altogether and make Arranger Keyboardists' ecstatic with the thought of being able to purchase a 256 note Polyphony Arranger? My head tells me NO, NO, NO, No Way! They wouldn't be so bold as to do this!! Would they?? But my heart says Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yippee!!! Please, please, let it be true Korg. Yes!

Suprise us!

It truly will be a surprise if the Korg PA1-X/Pro has 256 note Polyphony. But I look at it this way; stranger things have happened, right? I will cross my fingers in the hopes that it WILL be true. We shall know soon enough what's fact and what is fiction. PS: T minus -18 days 16 hours, 43 minutes, as I write this, until Summer NAMM 2003! Then the real truth will be known.

Best regards,
Mike


[This message has been edited by Idatrod (edited 06-30-2003).]

I wouldn't get TOO excited. Often the prototypes they show at NAMM are not complete with specs still apt to change.
Does anyone else get the idea that the companies COULD make a truly wonderful keyboard right now, but they want to piece out each improvement annually so we want to keep upgrading?
DonM

Don,

Thats old hat...they gotta sell left over parts and stock somhow!

My sentiments exactly Don. I think you hit the nail right on the head. And although my hopes are up, you can rest assured I'm not TOO excited. Even if my post sounded like I was. I actually feel it's going to be 128 note Polyphony. That's my gut feeling. Although I would like Korg to prove me wrong on this one.

Best regards,
Mike

I will be at NAMM and will try to get to the Korg booth. Should be loads of fun and I'll post the new Korg arranger specs sometime that week. Also, maybe Roland will surprise us?
Regards,
Zuki

You da Man Zuki! Have a ball and enjoy your time there! I for one will be eagerly awaiting your report.

If there are any others going please let us know! With a little coordinated effort a detailed report of all the Arranger Manufacturers new offerings should be doable during NAMM's short 3 day run.

Best regards,
Mike

That's exactly how I think of it Don. I just about said as much in my latest reply to the thread I started ( I played the 2100 today ). Yamaha is upgrading the Motif with more polyphony and more sample rom. I'd gladly pay something extra to get the added poly ( without having to allocate the poly to the XG sounds that I don't particularly like ) and maybe even the samples into the Motif I have NOW, but as usual that won't likely be an option. So, instead I'll have to go through the hassle of selling the one I have ( or trading it in for a substantial loss ) and customizing and tweaking a brand new board if I want to upgrade.. I'm getting very tired of this merry go-round.

AJ

Boy! I just thought I was in the dark but now I know I'm in the dark about the polyphony.

What's wrong with my thinking here. Someone please explain.

Say you were in a 20 piece band and everyone hit 5 notes at the same exact time. 5X20=100 notes right. I mean somewhere along the line many people will be hitting the same notes right? Just how may instrumens do you have to have play the same notes to make you happy? It seems that some where it would get real cluttered. No?

You are forgetting that most syth tones are made up of more than one voice-up to 4. So each three note chord could be 12 voices. Also, on an arranger there could be up to 8 part backing in the style-that hogs voices, so doing the math it could possibly be 8 X 4 = 32 voices just for the style by itself. Now that is not in use the whole time but it is the most poly possible. Also, I use both left and right voices when I play so with my left hand I am usually fingering chords of 3 or 4 notes 32 + 12 (or 16)= 46 (50) which leaves very little poly-18 voice (14 voice) to work with the right hand part.

Boo,

With a four sample voice I get only 16 notes or actually 15 and a half because the Motif is really only 62 notes poly, not 64. Each sample played uses one unit of polyphony. Sometimes that 4 sample voice might be one part of a "performance" that may include other multisample voices that are used in layered or split mode. The second voice might also be controlled by the arpegiattor. It's very easy to use that "62" notes of poly up when I'm playing with sustain and add on effects. Without realizing all this, you wouldn't think so ( and neither did I ), when you look at it on the surface as 62 notes of polyphony, but as I have learned the hard way, it's very easy to do.

Let me give you another analogy Boo. For the most part when I play the Motif , it's as a solo instrument. There is no arranger function and I rarely play along with the internal sequencer running. So, I'm running out of notes just using it as a solo instrument, with the board doing nothing else. On the other hand, my PA80 is an arranger, also has 64 notes of polyphony, and can have all the backing instruments ( styles ) "playing", while I'm playing in real time with my right hand ( or both hands if I'm in full kb mode ), using the sustain at my pleasure, and yet the way Korg allocates the polyphony, I almost never run out of notes.


AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 07-01-2003).]