Nice demo. Makes me wish I had the 588 instead of the 500!

Of course, that guy's got the chops, too...it helps.

Tim

Who wants to lug that beast around to gigs?

Maybe someone that CAN play the piano?

Maybe someone that WANTS to play the piano?

Maybe someone that thinks the above is more important than how much it weighs?

Not many would desire to load this puppy up for every gig but non-gigging musicians or for those who gig with other equipment, it's an inexpensive stay at home hybrid that fills a niche like few, if any other instruments in its class or price point. Kudos to Korg for their innovative leadership in this area. (Now if they just make the next version a little prettier...like hide those hiddeous car stereo speaker grilles.)

Do arranger players get out much?

A pretty decent percentage of keyboard players I go and hear lug a stage piano around to gigs. Privia's, Yamaha's, RD700's, Kurzweil's, whatever. Somehow, magically, they bear the burden. Mind you, these guys are usually decent piano players (or live band players). But it still begs the question...

How come most of them ARE, and most of us NOT willing to lug around something that weight?

That pretty much sums it up.

BTW Diki,

You're in Florida, right? If you are anywhere near Captiva between October 31 through November 7, my band will be playing at the 'Tween Waters Resort. We are back there again on New Years Eve through January 16, 2010.

It would be nice to meet in person. I'll even buy you a refreshing beverage.

Dave

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Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band
The Modulators

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 09-03-2009).]

besides the hugeness & monster weight...
I agree with Tim, those hokey looking speakers were poorly designed & non pro looking at best.There is no need for any KB today to be that big and heavy....unless Korg changes their PA OS system I will never use one again. For all those who enjoy it good luck to you and your music. I'll stick with Yamaha products.

Well I agree that the speakers would look better if they were recessed so they were flat with the front panel but my feeling is, so what. The sound very good, even at a relatively high volume. The bass ports make a huge difference as well. I don't really care so much how an instrument looks, it is far more important to me how it sounds and performs. And the Pa588 sounds and performs great. Not saying that others choices of Yamaha, Roland or whatever don't sound good. But for what I want, a great feeling 88 note weighted action with excellent arranger capabilities as well as a fine sequencer, in-depth sound editing, etc. the Pa588 is the ticket.

Sure I would rather the unit weight 40 or so pounds but then the structural integrity would certainly suffer, metal is much stronger than plastic. And while there are a number of 88 note weighted action keyboards in some very lightweight instruments these days, they don't have the feel of a real weighted action. The keys of the Pa588 are full size as opposed to some of those lighter weight 88 note weighted actions as well. I had an instrument with those shorter keys for a while and it was very irritating to play.

As for the method of operation and user interface, it is very easy and fast to get around on. Obviously each manufacturer has their own idea of how an instrument should function and once a player is familiar with one brand it is hard to forget those ideas and learn new ones. If you are happy with what you have, great. But if you ever want to branch out and try something new, I have been thoroughly impressed with Pa series.

Best Regards,

Dave

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Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band
The Modulators

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 09-03-2009).]

Specs:
http://www.korg.co.uk/products/professional_arranger/pa588/pa_pa588_specification.asp

51 lbs is quite heavy. That's almost double the weight of the PSR-S910.

I think all of these arranger companies should learn from Casio. The lowest end Privia has 88 keys and weighs just over 20 lbs. and has weighted keys. I doubt that it's the best hammer action out there, but it's portable and has speakers, albeit pretty crappy ones. Be careful though, the very lowest model doesn't even have a midi output.

I myself, love the weighted keys for piano, but not for anything else. I especially prefer the light keys for organ.

Beakybird