If you have owned and played both the PA800 and the PAX1 I would like to know your opinion of the boards. I found a display of the PAX1 for $3000.00 and a NIB PA800 for $2700.00. Is the PAX1 worth the extra $300.00?

Thanks
Hammer

Haven't got either, but I'd say probably...

a) if you want 76 keys, yes (no-brainer!)
b) if you use the harmonizer a LOT, yes (better on the PA1X - more options)
c) if you are into sampling, no (PA800 loads faster and addresses more RAM)
d) if you worry about polyphony, no (far better polyphony on a PA800 - you'll need it for that great Guitar Mode styles, I've heard)
e) if you use a grand piano sound a LOT, no (PA800's is MUCH better)

Your choice...

Hi Hammer,
the PA800 is a much newer model. They've just brought out the PA2x.
I own the PA800 & luv it. Sorry but can't comment on the PA1x , I've never owned one.

best wishes
Rikki
[QUOTE]Originally posted by hammer:
[B]

Hi Hammer,
Welcome to Synthzone Arranger Forum!
To all others, I DID invite him to come here and ask this question, so you'd best be NICE to him or you will bring down my wrath upon your heads.
Hammer, we have several dealers here who may be able to help with pricing on these fine arrangers.
BTW, here's a good chance to plug the upcoming Shreveport Arranger Jam April 12 and 13. We already have more than 20 guys planning to come and it hasn't even been formally announced yet.
I will be posting more details later this week.
DonM

Hammer welcome to SZ, you've got mail.

Sounds like everyone's opinion is that the PA800 may be the better choice based on it is a newer technology - is that right?

If you are a dealer feel free to jump in here - email me prices etc and contact info if that is allowed on this forum.

Hammer

Diki"s comparison says that the Grand Piano Sound on the PA800 is much better but Korg has made this piano free of charge on their website for loading into the PA1X and they have also given you free of charge the extra styles not found in the PA1X but in the PA800.
The keys on the PA1X are semi weighted and therefore feel much different than the light keys of the PA800. Both keyboards take the same time to load a set of new samples the first time you load, but the PA800 auto loads a faster. The PA1X has 8 faders to use to adjust volumes, effects, drawbars, etc., the PA800 only has 2. There are more outputs on the PA1X. The PA1X is heavier but in my opinion has a better build quality.
Now, I have one PA1X still at my store (these have been discontinued) and it has a hard drive installed and an optional grand piano board (different than the pianos in the stock machine and the PA800). Oh, that's another difference. You can have two expansion cards installed in the PA1X and none in the PA800).
My price is a lot less than you have posted above. Please contact me if you are interested in a great price for the PA1X or a new PA800.



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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

Hammer,in case you don't know George, he is A-1, and I approve this message totally!
DonM

Don and George,

Thanks tons - George - look for a call today.
Don - my wife and I have put the arranger jam on our schedule - send me hotel info as soon as you get it. Wife wanted to know if it was at a Casino.

Hammer

George,

One of the features I use a lot on my yamaha is the music score display. Do the Korgs display the score as a midi file is being played?

Hammer

You mentioned the PA1X and not the PA1X pro ( the pro has 76 keys)

The Pa1x has several advantages over the PA800

The sliders are very important in live play which means in real time you can adjust volumes within accompaniments and instrument types on the fly. If you play any form of drawbar organ, again you can adjust the drawbars in real time on the fly. These functions are impossible IN LIVE PLAY on the PA800.

The speakers on the PA1X are simply superb and they alone validate the extra cost compared to the inbuilt speakers on the PA800 which are ok but they simply cannot compare.

Lastly a word about expandability.

I have on my PA1X the xprodata piano expansion card which brings the PA1X piano sounds above (in my view) the new pianos of the PA800 ( which i also have loaded on my PA1X incidentally for free from Korg).In effect i now have over 200 very high quality accoustic and electric pianos from concert grands,bosendofers,and upright pianos to suitcase rhodes, DX7 and the like. All at the touch of one button And i would like to point out that none of the expansion boards affect the onboard sounds of the default factory settings when the expansion board is not selected.

Further there a second expansion slot on my PA1X that i am seriously looking to use. Again its an expansion card from from Xprodata that in effect changes your PA1X at the touch of a button into a whole new keyboard at a cost of less than a 5th of the price to buy a new PA800. This expansion board completely reworks ALL the current styles on the PA1X and provides hundreds of new styles and hundreds of new sounds using brand new samples and drum kits. The new sounds are automatically integrated into the existing styles of the PA1X and are equalised and programmed to get the best sound using the newer samples. It also has an intelligent function that will automatically assign the most appropriate sounds to any midi file that you might use onboard the instrument . The benefit of this is that you are nolonger forced to work with the standard GM sounds that are usually assigned when you play a midi file, with no additional tweaking your midi files sound at their optimum best from the get go.

This is not available for the PA800 currently but i know that there are likely to be some developements in the future from 3rd party developers.

Let me say outright that i have no connection either with korg or with Xprodata. I am simply an enthusiast just like most of the people here on the forum.

If you buy either the PA800 or the PA1x/pro you might want to have a look at this training DVD of which i am one of the authors.
http://www.korgpa.com/pa_root/en/support/arranger_secrets.html

Hammer

You have mail

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[This message has been edited by frankieve (edited 01-30-2008).]

no the Korgs will not display scores



[This message has been edited by frankieve (edited 01-30-2008).]

Well, I took the plunge today and ordered a pre-owwned PA1X with a hard drive and the piano expansion card. It should be here this week. Don't know yet what I will do with my PSR3000 - might just keep it. I will probably have tons of "how to" questions by next week.

Hammer

Hammer good luck with the PA1X

Hammer,
It's all boxed up, loaded up and will leave tomorrow morning. Thanks!


------------------
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

That piano expansion card isn't the piano in the PA800, is it George? I thought that had to be loaded into the sample RAM...

I've got basically the same thing in my Triton, and while it IS much better than the onboard piano, it isn't even in the same league as the PA800/2XPro one (derived from the Oasys, apparently).

Hammer can download the latest korg piano in the Version 3 OS update for free if OS V3 is not already installed.

I downloaded a bunch of files from the Korg site last night - don't know what to do with them yet but one was the latest OS version. Also downloaded the manual and have read about half of it.

Hammer

did you download version 3 musical resources. The new pa800 piano and some excllent funk and RnB styles are there !

Yes, I downloaded most everything for the PA1X.