It's like a great performer or band with a mediocre sound system. They'd still sound great. Give them a better sound system they'd sound like a great performer or band w/a better sound system. that's all.

Take a mediocre band, they'll sound mediocre no matter how great the sound system is. They may as well save their money, nothing is going to make them sound great. But those are exactly the performers that are always concerned about upgrading their equipment.
Great players: not so much.

So the Audya drums sound more live, ok. The arrangements are mediocre, at least the ones on these samples. Would the Korg arrangements sound even better with a more live drum sound? sure. But they sound great with the less live drum sound. The Audya arrangements here sound uninspired. So the
more live drums, the more individuated mic-ing effect: comparatively meaningless.

Any old-timer in the engineering business can tell you this: the better the technology has gotten, the worse the music has gotten.
It's almost a corollary. Sad but true.

------------------
Miami Mo

Wow, I'm surprised at the number of Korg fans and the number of people that think the Audya is just mediocre.

Hey Tony and TWD, I think we are out numbered!

OK, Lets discuss and do comparisons with the Tyros 3, or the G70 or the Fantom G or the PA 800 or the PSR 910 or the Technics KN-7000 or the Oasis or any of the Kurzwiel boards or the Media Station or the Motif or the Triton, or the, or the.

Naaa, Why bother! I'm sure the mixed bag of opinions would yield the same kind of results.

As long as your happy with your keyboard, I guess it JUST DOESN'T MATTER! Who thinks what!

Jim

That's so true...I've been playing pro over 45 years or so, and over the last 20 or more, I have been performing solo using arrangers...mostly Roland and Yamaha...presently Yamaha.

We all have a good idea of what we want to hear coming out of our speakers...some like the polished slightly compressed studio sound like Yamaha and Korg...others like a more "live" sound like Roland and Audya...and, some like both.

There's no "wrong" or "right" choices...just personal preferences and/or having the right tool for the job.

Ian

AMEN!!!!!!!...

I listen those videos even before this post was started.
Even as a fan of Korg PA880-PA2x arrangers, I think that songs and way selected to compare the arrangers does no help any of the keyboards. and is unfair to all of them.
A valid one will be using the a sound system (same for all) in a Live Play scenario.
I think that the same person that post those videos have a set where he compare PA2x and Tyros 3; again of no value for me.
I agree that the solo sounds and styles are the main components of any arranger, but other details like registrations, support, songbooks, dimensions and weight, etc are important components too.

it's true that tastes vary, and that so many factors go into making a decision on what to play. but the differences in the Korg/Audya
samples here (all i've got to go by) are more than whether one prefers more live or more compressed sound..it's the musical quality of the arrangements. and it's true tastes vary on that too-some may prefer the Audya arrangements to the Korg, based not on the live v compressed, but on the arrangement itself. To me, it's all Korg here..but that's not because i prefer a compressed sound to a live sound, but because in these 4 samples the Korg arrangements are musically superior imho.

------------------
Miami Mo

is that really a Salsa on the Korg playing?

i don't know which is worse, this one or the one on my beloved G-70

i'm not refeering so much to sound quality (where AUDYA's is better), but also the actual programming of the style.

any latin musician would laugh hearing that style really,
the Korg's latin is not authentic, and neither is Rolands

and put these 2 on the same PA, and then we'll see which really sounds best

Thing is, it always SEEMS as if few of us really ARE happy with our arrangers! As much as we obsess over the next 'latest, greatest', as much time as we spend arguing the merits of an arranger we don't even HAVE, seems to me we aren't that satisfied

Personally, despite it's age, I STILL haven't found another arranger with all the features I do like about the G70 (Fran's list is pretty much on the mark, although I'm not the greatest fan of the B3 section) that is improved in the sound and style department, too. So I am happy and proud to take it out every day to gigs, recording sessions, weddings, whatever, and have the public and other musicians come up to me and go 'that sounds GREAT! What is it?' and go 'what, THIS old thing? '

Got ten years out of my G1000 (although I agree, I used it more for SMF's than style use except as drums for LH bass) because nothing came out that bettered it until the G70.

Until something comes out with the Audya's great sound (I'm not interested in whether one player or style is better than another, I can pretty much judge them on the SOUND alone) but with all of the Roland's user-friendliness, sorry, still not interested.

I'm happy with what I've got...!

Here is something to get excited about,

The next Roland TOTL arranger will be an open system workstation, with style support.

Imagine all those new possibillities compared to your good old G70

I just listened and I have to say that I think the Audya is not just a little better, but much better.

And I say that as an owner of a Pa2x.

The piano and sax were definitely better; I'm surprised that's even up for debate.

And as an owner of the Pa2x I can tell you that the Bigband comparison is flawed, because they used a demo instead of showing what YOU can do. You can definitely NOT do that on a Pa2x...

I also own a Yamaha Tyros 3 which has its advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately it doesn't measure up to ether the Korg or Audya when it comes to drum and bass sounds ....

Very sad since right now it's my main gigging kb.