Got word from my sources that the PMA5 is no longer in production. Also, that there will be no better version for the future. What's the scoop? Any insights?

Walked into 3 music stores today and apparently there is no more in stock.

What is the alternative arranger/sequencer/sound-module machine out there?

The alternative for the PMA5 is Yamaha's
QY-70 (which is better IMHO)

info available at yamaha's site

Regards
A.C.E.J.

There is no replacement for the incredible PMA-5!!! The Yamaha unit does not compare. The touch screen interface, the intimate hand held nature of it, and of course the ROLAND SOUNDS!! Most upsetting that no one caught on to this fantastic device. Not to mention that any non-musician could pick it up and become an amateur composer in no time. I'M NOT LETTING GO OF MINE!!!!

There were a lot a problems with the PMA-5 unit. To name a few - there were a lot of intermittent problems with the MIDI IN/OUT connectors and even the line out/headphone jack over time.

They were truly revolutionary and awesome. I would not trade mine either. I write more songs on my PMA than on my workstation - which is a shame.

When I get stuck on a song or am trying to write a new one I grab my AX-1 and my PMA-5 sit on my back porch and play.

Roland recently dropped the proce to $280 to clear their inventory and there are some around.

I agree, the PMA is much easier to use than the QY-70 and has just the right amount of functionality without trying to take the place of a synth as the QY-70 does in some instances.

In my opinion, the PMA-5 is a nice sound module and a great sketch pad tool. But you cannot flat out grab a bunch of notes and start throwing down a nice groove. Yes, you can do some pretty incredible things one note at a time with the unit. Enter chords and I do mean entering is a real chore with the PMA-5. Which is why I prefer, hands down, no contest the Yamaha QY-70. In my estimation the PMA-5 can't touch the features of the QY-70. Don't get me wrong the PMA-5 still has a place in my portable studio. The drawbacks for me with the PMA-5 are as follows. You cannot edit the sounds when you are out of GS mode. With the QY-70 I can edit for days right in the unit with no external software or devices. The QY-70 has 3 effects processors. One of which has 40, count them, 40 effects alone!!! All effects parameters are programmable with sys-ex. You can edit a lot of the parameters right on screen but there additional ones as well. Which by the way the QY-70 Allows you to enter sysex commands right from within the unit. So you could pretty much control parameters in another unit, say, like a PMA-5 perhaps. Let's not forget 16 tracks, plus another 8 with 8 bars available for these 8. So on and so on. To sum up my response, NO CONTEST!!! The QY-70 had some years to create a tool that is very flexible. My hat goes off to Roland for setting a standard with the portable norton like units. I am still very fond of my PMA-5. I should point out, when I first seen the QY-70, I thought it looked very cheesy!!! The only reason I bought the QY-70 was to play chords on the PMA-5. Needless to say I've since eaten those cheesy words and I am now a proud owner of two QY-70's and my PMA-5 keeps the paces with the other two. I don't even compose in my studio any more.

Most users of the PMA-5 and the QY-70 use external controllers so they are not limited to the pen or chicklet key interface.

I personally use two controllers: the Roland AX-1 and the Roland PC200 MKII.

When I put on my AX-1 or sit down behind the PC200 I actually am playing an excellent synth action board in both instances and all I really want to do is sketch out an idea.

The argument that most QY70 users make is that it has all the features of a synth -and that is not what the "5" was created for - it is a MUSIC ASSISTANT.

So, when I want to sketch out a song - I personally need to think of it in sections 2 measures here... 4 measures there... 8 measures in another. I will use the "5" to rough out these sections - in which case... I will rarely use more than 5 tracks: Bass, Drum, Guitar Comping, Piano Comping on the backing tracks. I will then put a lead and back up on the other two tracks. This will allow me to go to my workstation and create my masterpiece.

It is a quick way to get this done with a minimized interface that works well for what it was designed for.

In your situation, it sounds like the PMA-5 is doing an excellent job at acomplishing what you need it to do. And yes, at the time the PMA-5 more than met the need for musicians to have a tool that sounded good and was cool to use. My point is this, the whole point in have a portable unit is portability. This is why it is very important for me to have access to more than one key when I'm out and about. In fact, I find the QY-70 still quite limiting at times with only two octaves. This is why I bought a second one. I hang out at coffee shops composing whole complete pieces using both QY-70's. Then I use my laptop to save all the data. This works quite well for me. If I ever need to do more I can use my studio to go even further. To be honest , the QY-70 HAS MADE MY STUDIO SEEM VERY OUT OF DATE. To sum it up in a phase. I feel that this is very simular to the monophonic and polyphonic synths. Back in the day, monophonic synths did what they were created to do. And they did it very well. Then came the Polyphonic syths more cooler and you could get what you wanted quicker. The monophonic synth didn't change in sound, they sounded as cool as they ever did. In some cases cooler. But progress always pushes envelope. In a year or even a month the QY-70 will seem very out dated. So to answer the original question I feel personally that the QY-70 would be an excellent subsitute for the PMA-5 that is, until next month/year when someththing that fits into a watch will record unlimited midi and audio tracks.



Cyberlion

In your situation, it sounds like the PMA-5 is doing an excellent job at acomplishing what you need it to do. And yes, at the time the PMA-5 more than met the need for musicians to have a tool that sounded good and was cool to use. My point is this, the whole point in have a portable unit is portability. This is why it is very important for me to have access to more than one key when I'm out and about. In fact, I find the QY-70 still quite limiting at times with only two octaves. This is why I bought a second one. I hang out at coffee shops composing whole complete pieces using both QY-70's. Then I use my laptop to save all the data. This works quite well for me. If I ever need to do more I can use my studio to go even further. To be honest , the QY-70 HAS MADE MY STUDIO SEEM VERY OUT OF DATE. To sum it up in a phase. I feel that this is very simular to the monophonic and polyphonic synths. Back in the day, monophonic synths did what they were created to do. And they did it very well. Then came the Polyphonic syths more cooler and you could get what you wanted quicker. The monophonic synth didn't change in sound, they sounded as cool as they ever did. In some cases cooler. But progress always pushes envelope. In a year or even a month the QY-70 will seem very out dated. So to answer the original question I feel personally that the QY-70 would be an excellent subsitute for the PMA-5 that is, until next month/year when someththing that fits into a watch will record unlimited midi and audio tracks.



Cyberlion

I'll be the first to admit that I have been tweaking my headphone plug in the jack just to get both L & R coming out for two years now. Sometimes I have to REALLY tweak it. Some days I have to throw it in the back of my car (where I've done some of my best work! On the 15 freeway...) Anyhow, the midi jack is shaky as well. BUT I can't imagine composing without this jewel. Yes chords are a pain. I will more often now grab an operator board when I can. But I'm a working stiff with a day job, so I've gotten quite proficient with the keypad, whizzing in step notes measures at a time, offsetting attacks and velocities, throwing in incidentals and grace notes...almost sounds REAL! Truthfully, I'm a better PMA-ist than a pianist! I'm not familiar with the QY-70 at all, I would assume from what you say that you can enter whole chords on the little buttons? As my touch screen wears and the jacks slip into oblivion, I'll have to consider repairs vs. new-used PMA (Will they go up in value now??) vs the QY....
by the way,(unrelated) has anyone seen the new Ensoniq FIZMO keyboard?? I lapsed into a trance twisting the knobs on that thing at Guitar center...heading to an Ensoniq BB to see what's up...

Hey cybrlion Ive been looking at picking up
a portable sequencer,but when you say the
QY70 makes your studio seem out of date,does that mean its good for in house sequencing as
well?How many tracks,sounds or gm sounds..etc..any info would be appreciated.
Thanx

The QY70 has 24 tracks. 16 of these are out right free style tracks. You can add as many bars as you want. The other 8 are limited to 8 bars a piece. But if you set the quater note to 32 notes per measure you can take this out to 16 bars. And I do believe house usual goes out 16 bars and the cnages to another bar structure. There are two drum tracks.



The demos are not that good so do not let that be the judge of your decision.



It has 3 effects processors it is in tradition of the XG standard. one of the processors ha 40 effects.



If you want to do live house stuff buy a Phat boy controller box as well. This will allow you to do live filter sweeps on any of the 16 channels in the QY.



Keep in mind that the QY70 can be programed internally. So you could do a program change in the middle of a track open a filter change effects parameters . It's amazing, It would be hard to do all this live but you cound set this up before hand. But with the phat boy controller box you can control filter cutoff, resonance, vibrato rate, vibrato delay, vibrato depth, reverb, chorus, attack, decay, sustain, release, pan, volume, midi channel



everything I mentioned above has its own knob on the Phat boy. You can even enter Sysex info right from the front panel of the QY70.



The 16 tracks will send midi.



It has over 500 sounds

20 drum kits very much in tradition of the Roland style.



All tracks allow you to program the attack, decay, release, cutoff, and resonance right from a page inside the QY70 all self contained.



Let me know if you have any other questions.



Cyberlion...

Dam, all of that from that little box?That sounds sweet.Thanx for the help.Just what I
needed,a new piece of gear to beg,borrow and
steal for!Happy New Year.da House Junkie....

In response - I will steal a post from some guy names Tommy Hillbilly on another forum:


- The question still remains - do you want to use it as a sketch pad or as a
full blown sequencer?

People have debated over features in these two tools for the longest and to
some degree, they are comparing apples and oranges.

The Roland PMA-5 never claimed to be a sequencer. It has always claimed
to be a "Personal Music Assistant" Thus the name PMA. Providing song
backing ideas from many "standard" genres In case you want to add a
melody line on top of a chord progression - or a style mode if you want to
create your own backing. This is what I primarily do.

The QY70 is a full blown sequencer and synthesizer. It is essentially an
"Arranger Keyboard In a Box" They took their QY300 idea and QY700 idea
and miniaturized it to "compete" with Rolands PMA - and it really doesn't.

Yamaha took their QY300 and put it in a keyboard that they call the QS300
- which is my workstation of choice - so I am not knocking the concept in
fact I am saying that it is very awesome. (They layout of the QS300
Workstation is a lot easier to understand than that of the "70" and although
it is my workstation of choice and XG compatible like the QY70 I still chose
the Roland because it helps me personally work through rough spots in
songs that I am writing - a matter of preference)

But don't confuse what the two of them do - they are different creatures -
with different purposes.

Question for cybrlion - You said the demos in the QY70 aren't that good, and I totaly agree. Side by side the PMA5 demo blew it away. I could't figure out how to listen to the individual sounds in the QY70. Are they good? Are they more realistic? The sounds in the demos sounded like their old FM synthesis, and the drums sounded so far from real, they should be ashamed to put them in the demo. I really liked the sounds in the PMA5 but if the QY70 is as good as you say, I might get it instead.

That depends, I have heard some QY70's that sound like real keyboards, and others that sound like toys. The same thing goes for the QY300 and QY700.

I'm not sure if there was a difference in model years or an intrnal toggle switch.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

I guess I'll throw my hat into the ring here. I stumbled across a PMA-5 up for auction on eBay about 10 months ago and won it for half the going street price (at the time). I love it! I do admit the MIDI-IN jack gives me trouble at times, if it's not angled down, notes tend to get lost or stick.

I've seen the debates everywhere on the PMA-5 vs the QY-70 (that's the one, right?) and I like what's been discussed here. Basically, they're different enough to be in different categories. To the PMA-5 credit, it is jam-loaded with tweakable stuff from Sysex that you'd never know existed unless you dug into the manual. But it's got filters, LFOs for automatic sweeps and vibratos, plus the Chours and Reverb are completely manipulatable. The seven choices given in the PMA's interface are simply macros to set the internal settings. The QY scores points for being able to enter Sysex right from the unit. I never opened up the nifty abilities of my PMA until I got it hooked to Cakewalk.

What else can I say? It makes a great sketchpad, as Cinda said. When I'm on the go or don't feel like sitting down at my computer, I can just 'jot' something down on the PMA, play around with it a little and then eventually dump it to Cakewalk and flesh it out more. I wrote half a song on a plane trip to see a friend, then finished up the song lying on her apartment floor. Not bad!

And my AX-1 (also had from eBay) is a wonderful companion to it. All in all, I'm really happy with it, it makes a great GM/GS module for my computer (for those 'older' games that still use MIDI music) and there's just something about pulling out this book-sized thing in public, whipping out the stylus and a set of headphones, and then writing music while other people try to figure out what exactly you're up to.

Feather

OK Feathers!!
Give it up. Man I haven't been to this site in ages. I'm glad to see this thread alive and well. I've completed too many songs to say on my PMA, from soup to nuts. I still write on it at least 30 minutes a day, good or bad. I feel I know it inside out, but you apparently have cracked into this baby in ways I only dream. What do you mean you can tweak the effects and lfo's?
I've got cakewalk and the serial interface..what do I do??? PLease let me know. I am getting a bit fried on the voices and my new Triton is still a few months away....
But here-here on the wonderful advantages of the PMA!! I too enjoy it on flights and waiting in airports and it always turns heads! I've completed small concertos on a 3 day business trip (Every spare moment sitting in a hotel room!!)
anyhow....what's up Feather??