Does anyone know about when the PA588 is released to the US market and a street price?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff, the street price will be $2599.00 and I don't have a release date yet. I was told soon though.



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

Geez oh man that price is steep! Even with the included stand and pedal (we're not talking top quality here on both of those either). For $300 more you can get the Korg M3 which is probably twice the power of the PA-588, and with the Karma you could pull off some very cool things that are similiar to arranger style playing. Seriously the 588 is essentially the 88 key version of the PA-500 (which also has speakers), and the 500 sells for $1499.., holy crap that's a price difference of $1100 just for 88 graded keys!

I think that price is steep..., and I know I'll get some slack for saying that, but man I often feel that arranger players are blind to how the companies are ripping you off on price for pro arrangers. Just as much work goes into the pro workstations that go for less in most cases.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-01-2008).]

thanks George

I'm not sure how easy it is to compare arranger mode and either Karma or MotifXS-like operation.

I may not be that familiar with Karma (played it a few times, but don't own it), but from messing with it, and from messing with the XS, I get a completely different interactive experience with those systems...

The biggest difference I came across, and one that is fundamental to arranger usage, is the concept of variations, fills, Intros and endings. Especially the fills.... On neither of the WS's (or any other WS, to my knowledge) do you get an instant drop-in IN TIME, for use as a fill. Everything is cued up in advance, or triggers immediately, but out of sync.

Now, I don't know about you, but the ability to kick a fill in at ANY time I feel like it is one of the fundamental plusses of an arranger system. Not to mention dedicated fills for most of the possible transitions (not enough for me, but certainly enough to avoid repetition, except for the Korg two-fill system [and break/fill ]). Then, of course, there are the dedicated intros and endings, with up to four of each.

This contrasts completely with things like the M3, XS, Karma, etc., which have a great selection of loops, but a far more contemporary mindset when it comes to control. Modern loop-based musics don't follow the traditional form concepts, and so you rarely find any of their ROM loops to have any kind of traditional structure, and their control system would not allow you to use them like that even if they WERE programmed that way.

For musics that started in loop production - techno, house, trance, D&B, hiphop, rap, etc., etc., they work perfectly (after all, it's what much of it was made on in the first place!), but for the majority of us here that work in more traditional musics, whether jazz, blues, latin, ballroom, country, rock, you name it... Well, they just don't offer the type of control paradigm that firstly, we are used to, and secondly, what works with the music.

How many of you have ever run an arranger where the fills need triggering a bar in advance? Not many, lately, I'd say. Yes, you CAN do it on a Korg this way, but I would be willing to bet virtually no-one DOES

So, I'd be careful in saying that arranger-like things can be done on a WS like M3 or XS or FantomG. Yes, you can get them to follow your basic chords, but forget inversions most of the time, and definitely forget dropping fills in at any time you want, and forget the conventional '4 intros, 4 endings, 4 variations and up to seven fills' that all of us are SO familiar with.

It's a shame, really, as I think that even WS's with Karma and chord following loops could benefit enormously from this control paradigm, if added to the control system it already has...

isnt it more like the PA800?

Thought we were told it's based on the PA500...

Hence the '5'88 rather than '8'88, I'd bet

It is based on the PA500 but it also includes Korg's best sampled piano, stand and pedal. I too thought the price to be a bit high but time will tell. There really isn't any competition from arrangers for this new model. The Yamaha YPG635 doesn't have any of the editing features of the Korg or even a full blown multitrack 16 track sequencer with editing like a computer.


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

Dnj, it's based on the PA-500. I think it's a great move for Korg, but IMO the upgraded piano sample, 88 keys, stand and pedal don't add up to an $1,100 price difference. Perhaps Korg set the price high as there is no competition (currently) for this unit. The Yammie MM8, and YPG series can't even compare to the 588.

Yamaha is essentially doing the same thing. The MM8 has absolutely no new feature updates, Yammie didn't fix the MANY reported problems by users, yet they released a board that in no way was supported by a huge volume of requests. Then they charge $400 more just because it has 88 gh keys (not even Yamaha's top action either-supposed to be YPG keybed).

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-01-2008).]

OK I stand corrected......thanx everyone for the info....live & learn

Did some further checking and you could get the 500 then get a Yammie P-80 for around $500-600 and save the extra $600. Yes, you would have two keyboards, but I like that idea because sometimes (like when I play keyboard for the local community college pep band or am doing local community theatre) I don't need the weight and size of 88 keys. Space can be an issue in those sitations, so just having a 61 key version for quick jobs is kind of nice.


Jeff

Exactly!!!! you could save a crap load of money by getting the PA-500 and using an inexpensive 88 key controller. Besides.., clearly the 588 wasn't made with the giggin musician in mind.

There are some very good 88 key controllers out there that are easy on your wallet too.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 07-02-2008).]