This was a much much better demo than most of the other ones in my opinion. I could immediately tell the Drums are top notch and much better than the T4's, for example. The last Organ he played was wonderful and the other ones were good too. Although the demonstrator wasn't really proficient in arranger mode and because of it it kind of detracted from the overall presentation if you ask me.
I don't know what a lot of you guys are listening to this presentation on but I'm thinking a lot of you are listening to it on cheapo Laptop speakers or perhaps some rinky dink desktop speakers from Radio Shack, etc. On my system you can hear the "excellent" quality and nuance that the PA3x exhibits. The first Grand Piano did sound very "korgish" but it was overall pretty good. Better than the T4's hands down in my opinion. The AC Grand he played toward the end was even better and had more of a "concert grand" sound to it and it was excellent in my opinion. The Guitars were "stunning" even though in arranger mode the guy was prone to glitches and was cause for distraction for his audience. I also thought the Sax(s) were very good as was the Harmonica as was the Clarinet as was the EP's as was - everything else he played in my humble opinion.
I did notice when he had his fingers pressed on the keys and then with his other hand switched to other sounds using the touchscreen LCD that there was a notorious "cut-off" of the existing (previous) sound which is cause for concern. There should have been technology integrated into the PA3x to allow "seamless" switching such as I have on my Roland Fantom G7. Maybe the PA3x has such technology but the guy didn't have it enabled?? Any Korg affiliated person on this forum is welcome to respond by the way. But if the PA3x indeed does NOT have "seamless" switching it could be a deal breaker for some. Especially at the thought of forking over $4,000 + for a PA3x. My Fantom G7 (76 key) has "seamless" switching technology for about 'half' the cost of a PA3x (76 key). How do you like them apples?
Korg should address this issue on the PA3x too, needless to say.
Anyway, I really thought this latest demo provided a lot better 'glimpse' into the sound capability of the PA3x but hopefully Korg USA will get off their proverbial 'back side' and put up some factory produced demos online for people to listen to and/or videos to watch and then hopefully lay to rest, once and for all, these "sound" quality questions still floating around the internet - and on this forum. Although 1/2 or more of all the
naysayer questions still lingering in people's minds could be because of listening to this and other PA3x demos on either cheapo Laptop or rinky dink desktop speakers perhaps??
Just sayin'..
PS: There are PA3x demos out there that are definitely lackluster but I think the problem mostly lies with the way they were mic'd and/or video'd and/or recorded. In other words, not the PA3x's fault per se, but rather Korg's lackluster 'effort' they put into making sure the demos were of
professional (studio) quality. This latest demo seems to prove that very point in my opinion. Although, in the future Korg might want to consider a different demonstrator with "better" arranger mode playing proficiency perhaps.
All the best,
Mike