Maybe so Diki, but you seem to be no better than me in that department, based on your public insult of me......this forum is really not worth it any longer.

Be polite zuki. U cut me real deep just now.

Rolandfan,

Please accept my apologies. Sorry that you took it to heart.

For anyone seeking to check out the PA800:

- "The fills and intros stick out like a sore thumb" - not true, they are balanced, amazingly creative and sound fabulous in live play. There are many creative things one can do with the fills, intros, endings, etc that are not possible on other boards. I hear every instrument through my stereo setup - like no other board before has offered.

- "Only a handful of styles sound good" - not true, I've not used ONE 3rd party style to date and the onboard styles can cover any genre your seek. These styles are simply amazing.

- "Shame to be called a keyboard" - ??????????????????????

- Let's not forget the Songbook and harmonizer.

I have no idea why I get so upset when someone bashes the 800. I should be happy that I (and a few others) enjoy this blue marvel (it really is folks) and have a DIFFERENT act than anyone else on circuit. It has landed tons more jobs and the reception is overwhelming. It's not for everyone. It takes work and a creative mind to put forth the results it's capable of. I am different too that I play live arranger style only (I even canceled a recent DJ job - no fun) and am forced to tame this beast on a daily basis. When faced with that situation, you explore new horizons - something I didn't do the first time around.

So, mine is better than yours - I fell into the trap. But I will not sit back and let prospective owners read one sided reviews about such a unique product.

and Diki.......you do the same thing when someone bashes your beloved G70 (you've done it to me) - so chill out.

My 2 cents.

Good dear Rolandfan...

Maybe you have a point, and we vallue your opinion, but could you explain why you dislike the Korg so much instead of just saying that you don't like it....

Yes, Rolandfan, would you please elaborate on your dislikes of the PA-800?

The local dealer will not carry them, so I have yet to try one out.

Ian the Curious

Wouldn't it be funny if Rolandfan had listened to a PA800 that hadn't been updated to the latest OS (which apparently improved things quite a bit)?

Perhaps, zuki, mow you are beginning to understand the other side of the coin...

You felt perfectly justified in slamming the G70, with as little, if not less, time spent on it and as little attention payed to whether you were playing it in it's current state. For which, if you care to look, NO-ONE told you 'You have NO IDEA' what you are talking about'... This might, of course have been thought, but the posts did not say so specifically.

But feel free to insult the members here directly, if you cannot figure out a way to do it more politely

Hi Don,
I have a PA800 and a PSR1500 ( previous model to the PsrS700).
Quite frankly, since buying the PA800, both my PSR1500 & Ketron SD1+ all but sit in the corner unused.

There is no doubt the psr's have an infinately greater range of 3rd party user styles available. I downloaded 100's if not 1,000's of free styles. Spent most of my time auditioning stuff I'd never have a use for.

Managed to also find some Korg 3rd party styles ( mainly from a prior Korg model).

I convert or make up some of my own styles using the Korg's copy functions ie copying tracks from existing or converted styles to create new styles.. The style editing & creation functions are brilliant on the korg, ( especially guitar mode function) but it's quite a learning curve if you want to create styles from scratch.

If you just want to copy internal style tracks, that's a lot easier, but you have to basically like what's available in the first place.

Also make sure that the Korg you're trialling has the latest operating system 1.60 or at least has vers 1.51.
If it's an earlier operating system , you're not hearing it at it's best.


best wishes
Rikki

[QUOTE]Originally posted by don adams:
[B]

[This message has been edited by rikkisbears (edited 06-30-2008).]

Thanks again for the help. I guess it'll be a couple of weeks before i have the s900 to try out as well. I gotta give the music store credit for letting me try out new machines for that long. A couple of weeks ago they let me have a Motif XS to try. I quickly found out why it was called a "work station" Way too much programming for me to change it from a dance\rap\techno machine to classic rock and blues. I also tried a fantom G in the store and found the same thing. With the Motif, I also thought the organs sucked and it only let you use 4 instruments in performance mode(styles) So it looks like arrangers are the only option for musicians 50+ that want to play live.

I tried recording the pa organ today and I must say it sounded better to me in the mixthan my Hammond L100 with Leslie( the fact i donèt have to mic it and pick up mechanical noise making the difference to my ears.

A couple of other questions for Suki or another pa800 owner.

Do the pa800 fills sound louder than the main drum parts to you and can the fills be changed.

Is there away of doing a break where the drums also stop for say a measure

Thanks for any advice Don

Hi,
some the fills can sound a bit louder than what one would like. You can actually overwrite an original style with edits, but not a good idea. Korg actually update the operating systems and resource files
( styles /sounds) once in a while. If you then upgrade the resources, you wipe out your edits. Safer to just save them as a favourites or user style.
Our last big upgrade ( free)
( 1.51os/1.50 resources) gave us Guitar Mode amongst other functions, & some new guitar sounds & they updated 40 styles to include guitar mode tracks.
We're waiting on the next big upgrade at the moment. No idea quite when or what we'll be getting..

Possibly 2 ways of doing it.
In record mode you could alter the velocity of the fill tracks ie lower it by
-10% or whatever. Or you could also try lowering expression ( again in edit mode) for each of the fill tracks. Sounds complicated , it's not.

The only time you can't use the expression option is, if the style part you're editing has fade ins or fade outs. There's a monitor that shows if a track has expression controllers in it.
After you've edited the style you save it to a user or favourites slot.

You could edit the break in whatever way you want.
You're also not stuck with 1 measure fills or breaks.

The styles are fully editible in the Korg itself using note event list editing.

Yamaha's onboard styles you can only edit the drums & percussion using the event list editor. Further note editing needs to be done using software.

You can also edit Korg styles in a pc sequencer if necessary by importing & exporting individual style parts ( ie intro's , variations etc) as type 0 midifiles.

Keep in mind the Korg also has an onboard sampler. The only thing I've done with it thus far is create s a few drum grooves.
ie some brush swish pads.
They're time sliced looping drum wav files that play in sync with styles & can also be used for pads.
I just use them to enhance some of the jazz styles.
I prefer not to load & unload these files, can get a bit messy if one isn't quite sure of what they're doing.
This function & sound editing is not mentioned in the main manual, it's a seperate manual on the disk that comes with the PA800.

best wishes
Rikki






[This message has been edited by rikkisbears (edited 06-30-2008).]

Careful, Rikki...

You may get more than you bargained for by acknowledging ANY fault in the Korg's at all Surely you know by now that you have NO IDEA if you think the Korg's fills are occasionally less than perfect...