There is a brief mention in this thread here http://www.yamahapkowner.com/forum/index.php?topic=26742.msg262570;topicseen#msg262570 posted at 07.40pm today.

Does anybody else have any more details?

Bill

Not details but not next year...more likely this year...as usual.

Lets assume for a moment that there is a Pa3X on the way, then those who do know about it won't be able to comment because of their NDA.

So either way your not really going to get the answer your looking for until KORG say so.

Regards
James

So why did we know about the T4 ahead of time then...same game...

I don't think a PA3XPRO is in the near horizon???
Lee S.

What is just SO unsatisfactory about what you are currently playing that the mere IDEA that a future product is on the (perhaps distant) horizon is enough to make you froth at the mouth like this..?

Who CARES what Korg, Yamaha, Roland, anybody is going to make next year, year after, whatever..? I GUARANTEE you haven't touched 60% of the capabilities of what you currently have.

You know what you REALLY want..? New styles. High quality styles. That's about IT. If new styles of the quality of the ROM ones were being offered for sale, you wouldn't really honestly give a damn about NEXT year's model! But while piracy, and rampant 'swapping' of styles goes on, and style makers can't make a living producing good ones, you HAVE to get a new arranger, JUST to get some new styles!

And that is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard...

Quit giving away styles you have bought... Every single style that is offered for sale is also, somewhere, being offered for free by somebody that bought it. And the only thing doing that guarantees is, there is less and less chance that whoever made that great style you bought is ever going to make another one!

We are shooting ourselves in the foot, trading styles around. There was a MUCH greater choice of third party great styles and manufacturer after-market styles back before the internet made giving these away to our friends SO easy. Now we are reduced to longing for distant new models (at thousands of dollars cost to us) because decent style production has ground to an almost complete stop.

Either we change what we do, or we are forced to buy a new arranger to get new styles, or wait a few months for the new styles in a new arranger to be backwards translated (and the manufacturers try as hard as they possibly can to make sure that new features are incorporated into those new styles so they DON'T translate well!), and they are STILL a pitiful handful, as most arrangers ROM styles are predominantly translations from earlier arranger models.

How many brand new styles (with absolutely NO common Parts with existing styles) come with most arrangers? Precious few, sadly.

Give me an unending supply of new styles, I can make an older arranger last for YEARS past where most would want to upgrade. And I am pretty sure most of you could, too...

Can only speak for myself...I have never give away styles that I haven't done myself. With Korg...there really isn't that goin all that much...and the ones that are out there are usually ones from folks on the forums that they did themselves. I know lots of that goes on with Yamaha.

Actually with the PA2 you can create styles from MIDI's as the tools are there and it works. Also, with drums, you can do the slicing so tempo can change without pitch changing.

Actually new styles...while nice are only 1 reason I would buy a new Kbd. Here's my list:
1) More, faster memory for user sound waves, styles, pgms etc Flash so don't have to wait for loading samples.
2) New superb sounds (DNC, SA2 etc)
3) Better tools onboard for sampling, and making new sounds
4) In the case of Korg...1 issue fixed..combining user files (multiple sets) is something we need.
5) Better build could be a +
6) Bigger screen would be great...10 inch is what I would like to see
7) More fills on the Korg would be nice
8) One can HOPE...that on a new instrument they fix the freeking sounds that have problems!

Lee S.

Totally agree.

Bring back copy protection for styles in my view. I don't really know how, maybe the buyer needs to send some sort of machine code to the style seller prior to purchase, so that they ONLY play on that particular machine.

Give the creators protection (ergo a solid income) and you will get lots. And the need for new hardware would evaporate. Although THAT may not play into the hands of some marketing departments at hardware manufacturers.

Dennis,
I agree too....it takes tons of time and a lot of musical talent to create great styles...they should be protected.
Lee S.

Yes copy protection for styles would be good for the style makers but not necessarily good for the manufacturer.

If style makers made fresh new copy protected styles for a certain arranger, how could a manufacture justify making a new arranger every 2-3 years with incremental upgrades. The new hardware board is what manufacturers use to make their profit because they could charge and arm and a leg.

Trust me if manufacturers thought trading of styles was hurting their business they would have found a way to stop it. But the manufacturers probably have realized that it may be in their best interest to allow trading of styles because a translated style would not sound as good as a style originally made for a specific arranger. And persons would be willing to buy a new arranger even if it is just for the update styles (I.E Yamaha users).

Thats true the money is in the hardware...

I think the total package of a T4's hardware is not even $500 costs to Yamaha. Korg obviously using better parts then Yamaha might be a bit more expensive but still under $1000.