Hi All,

The recent thread about PA2x is very interesting, our local KB store have a 3 month old PA2X in mint condition @ £2000.00 which is £500.00 below new, is it better than Audya - you folks know much more about both I have never got close to a PA2x, if the Korg is close to the Audya and much more flexible why the huge price difference.

Regards

Tony

Well, in all fairness, the PA2 is a mature product well into its' second OS, the Audya is still in beta, with many promised and IMO essential features still unimplemented. But only you can decide for yourself if either is the arranger for you...

Pluses for the Audya are the live audio drums (and to a lesser extent, guitars) which have a realism pretty much unmatched. The problem is, of course, that realism comes at the expense of being able to do ANY editing and changing to it whatsoever. Depending on your needs, this may not be a problem.

Pluses for the Korg are, IMO, a level of voice editing that is only matched by TOTL WS's, great style editing flexibility, good live sound and a decent sampler. Plus the new DNC (think SA2) type voice allocation and a pretty good Guitar mode.

But, after all is said and done, the technical advantages of one over the other count little compared to how well they suit your preferences in styles... Every manufacturer is a little different, some make styles that are pretty busy, and leave you little to do but play a melody, some are more stripped down (not in number of parts, but in how busy they are) and leave you more room to play. How you react to those and feel about the issue is pretty much a personal thing, and, to be honest, only playing them and seeing if you feel swamped or left standing alone is really the only way to tell...

Of course, Audya owners will tell you 'buy an Audya' and Korg owners will tell you... well, you know what they'll tell you But sadly, the only way to be SURE is to try them for yourself.

The huge price difference comes from a couple of things. The Audya uses a lot of quite new technology, and was developed by quite a small company (over several years ) by themselves, so the cost of doing that has to be recovered. Plus, at least here in the States (and I expect in other countries, too), Ketron don't allow the dealer much margin to play with, so discounts are slim. Korg, OTOH, have a worldwide organization, and play the game similar to most other companies. If the dealer feels he will sell more at a slimmer margin, they let him. In these troubled economic times, you may be in luck when a dealer decides he would rather let a product go at a slim margin than carry it on his books too long...

But to make a decision between the two is up to you alone, sport...! Listen to all the demos, read all the manuals, try to decide what are your needs and priorities, and you should come to a decision. Then go and play them if you can, and decide afterwards

I will be very blunt on this topic, since i know the PA2X and also tried the Audya...
I will just say it bluntly, as it is now Audya is still AGES behind PA2X, i dont consider
only how they sound, both of them have their own good and bad sounding things
but if you take into consideration Functions, Easy od Use, Sampling, Editing, FX
Audya is still nowhere near, not even in devellopment stages. I know someone might
say this is my opinion but it isnt, it is very SAD and HARD FACTS, the things are just
not there, i am not making up anything, my opinion is a completely different thing then
the facts i stated above...and now, as of now there is no way i would choose an Audya
over a PA arranger...for any kind of work...it just lacks everything, completely.
Not to even mention that you cant create Styles...even when that incorporated the Audya
will still be far behind cuz there is GRAVE mistakes on the synth, they cant REDO the
SOUND EDITING which doesnt even exist, they cant put an FX processor which is garbage.
But this topic will get funny, just watch.



[This message has been edited by Nedim (edited 08-26-2009).]

But let's face it, Nedim, many arranger users simply don't use any of that editing, sampling or style creation stuff... Let's say you were one of those people, and have used both arrangers. If you wanted nothing more than to switch them on and use them for playing music, which one would you chose NOW...?

Take away all that fancy stuff, and the decision gets pretty hard, IMO... In all fairness, those Audya audio demos, if you liked the genre they were in, are pretty damn good. Mind you, so are some of the PA2X's...

Don't you love a tough decision?

Nedim,

I like your frankness, why tell everyone crap when you have been there, you played them both and it appears to be to some degree.

I might buy this PA2X at 2 grand.I could always stack it with the Audya.


Thanks for your comments

I don't think anyone in the market for a keyboard can go wrong with the PA2X

-It sounds great out of the box
-It can be tweaked till infinity
-KORG support is very good.
-Its very reliable with the current software version

Maybe in 2 years Audya could be on the same level or even better... but till that time, PA2X is the only viable choice for a 76 key arranger TOTL workstation

Tony,
Have you checked out the KorgPA site? http://korgpa.com/pa_root/en/news/news.html?en (manuals, demos, bonusware etc.) Listen to the PA800 (same sounds etc as a PA2XPRO) tutorial: http://korgpa.com/pa_root/en/support/tutorials.html

Also, check out the KorgPA forum at: http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=50

Lots to be learned here.

Lee S.

I sell and use both, and as Diki said, "the Audya leaves very little room for margin on the dealer level".

I have gigged with both boards and both of them have some very nice features, each have their downside too.

The Audya has some incredible styles that are very musical, and the drum and bass drive it very well. The overall tone and eq of especially the bottom end really give the rythm a driving force. But there are hiccups in the system, a bit outdated in some of the internal parts for upgrading. Some of the solo sounds are not as impressive as the Korg.

Like Diki said also, it depends on the type of music your playing. In my case I play allot of latin, older italian, and 70's type ballads, which I think the Audya is superior at. But the Korg's funk, new ballad, new pop styles are amazing and blow away the Audya's.

Vocalizers are how you make of it, my voice doesn't really benefit from the Korg's amazing vocalizer and mic processing, basically you can hear too much of my actual voice. I need allot of covering up.

The Audya's vocal section blankets my voice so it actually sounds better since its mostly electronics instead of my voice.

I sell allot more Pa2xpros than I sell Audyas. I have the ability to discount the Pa2xpro and still make some money. They are both great keyboards and they both have their place, its just like anything else, it needs to work for you. Just because the Korg has amazing editing functions doesn't mean the guy who just likes to play out of the box is going to benefit from that.

------------------
www.AudioworksCT.com
203.876.1133

"I have gigged with both boards and both of them have some very nice features, each have their downside too.

The Audya has some incredible styles that are very musical, and the drum and bass drive it very well. The overall tone and eq of especially the bottom end really give the rythm a driving force. But there are hiccups in the system, a bit outdated in some of the internal parts for upgrading. Some of the solo sounds are not as impressive as the Korg.

Like Diki said also, it depends on the type of music your playing. In my case I play allot of latin, older italian, and 70's type ballads, which I think the Audya is superior at. But the Korg's funk, new ballad, new pop styles are amazing and blow away the Audya's.

Vocalizers are how you make of it, my voice doesn't really benefit from the Korg's amazing vocalizer and mic processing, basically you can hear too much of my actual voice. I need allot of covering up.

The Audya's vocal section blankets my voice so it actually sounds better since its mostly electronics instead of my voice."

Frankieve: Thank`s a lot for these comments.
First, I haven`t tried an Audya yet. Heard all youtube demos and anything in the web.
I tried the PA2X for 2 weeks. Owning a Tyros2, I don`t "hear" ANY improvement at all. The drums are ... different? but not necesarily better. Programing is great, customization too. But, I already have that in my Tyros.
Although the Korg`s piano is better than Yamaha, I don`t feel is worthing the change.
Are the Audya pianos (internal or SuperSound?) comparable to Korg`s one? Is it better?
Some of the Tyros voices are outstanding, (the sax, for example) but all the nuances simple dissapear in a live performance, and frankly, is ridiculous to try to emulate a sax player in a live situation, it simple don`t work. And I mean replacing the player. I just prefer to play a synth lead, for example. Is more a "keyboard" appropriate.

And now, an interesting point: The vocalizer.
I don`t sing at all, but ocassionally do some chorus or background vocals. The Tyros vocalizer is... crap... I didn`t check the Korg`s one but I heard is superb. Is the Audya`s one in the the same league? When you say that your voice sounded better with Audya`s one was only doing harmonizing vocals or as solo, or even better, both???

I need desperately a new keyboard, but don`t liked at all the PA2X and I don`t want to loose a lot of money if Audya doesn`t work for me.

Thanks again!
Best Regards
Jose Pereira

PS: Excuse my bad english... but my spanish or portuguese are any better!

What I meant about the Audya vocal processor is that, I don't like my voice, so when I sing or use the harmonizer on the Audya there is allot of effects, reverb and a bit of what I like to call "analogue" type sound to it, it's a little dirty which helps me with my voice.

The korg is I think a more superior type of vocalizer and processor but for a voice like mine it too good. But once again it's my own feelings on this. everyones miles will differ.

The piano sound is not as good as the Korg's but I prefer it over the Korg because of how I use it. If you were to play as a solo piano act with out any background the Korg is the true winner, it's samples and nuances are un matched. But since I do not play solo piano the Audya piano has a very good bright piano that cuts through the mix, which I prefer.

Once again I like vanilla you like chocolate and someone else like anchovies.

They all work, just what works for you.

I can't make up your mind for you, but whatever you pick will be great, since you are picking from the top ones

hope this helps

------------------
www.AudioworksCT.com
203.876.1133