The Korg PA800 may be the only game in town....
For a under 30 pound arranger keyboard, with speakers, Mic w/effects and harmonizer..

Yes there are a couple other choices, but they lack the added features and quality of the PA800.

The PSR s910, and the SD5.....I believe the PA800 is the better keyboard..even the price will confirm it..

A few months back, I started to consider the PA800..I also tried to like playing the s910...couldn't
stand the keys and some of the bread and butter sounds..
The SD5, other than bass and drums, lacked in other sounds, and the user friendliness.

The Prelude would have been my choice if it only had a mic/effects and harmonizer..

The following is my near 4 weeks with the PA800 report..
Also I graded it in comparison to the G70, with like common features..


The PA800, has a solid sound system , a bit overated in the power rated numbers..

A light feel keybed that actually responds well with velocity..and especially aftertouch..

Most of the sounds are good with a few great sounds..

Drums are fair..

Although .too menu driven, it is capable of most edits..Not very well though in realtime..

OS is still too awkward..

The input design is just plain dumb, because it houses the mic input and does not share well..

The effects are just like the past 20 years design wise..way behind Yamaha and Roland.

I ended Ebay offerings twice, trying to decide what I want to use for one nighters in the band.

After disappointment in the lyric read of the BK7m, I have decided to run with the PA800 for now..


Now for my comparison score card..

PA800 / G70

Styles 10 9

sound groups
piano 8 10
EP 8 10
organ presets 10 10
drawbar organ 8 10
choirs and scats 6 10
strings 10 9
bass 7 10
ac guitar 9 10
E guitar 9 10
synth 9 10
drums 8 10
sax 10 10
brass 10 9
sound effects 8 10

Effects 8 10

Mic input 7 10

Harmonizer (vocal) 6 10

SMF play 7 10

SMF edit 7 10

Songbook/Music assistant
10 10

Style edit 7 10

Sequencer 8 10

Save/Load 6 10

Insert effects 7 10

Master effects section 6 10

key feel 7 10

User friendly 7 10




Outlook........

I think the PA800 will work out fine for me with the band...The Prelude will also be on hand
as a backup..

To assure my backing tracks are of the highest quality, I will record on the G70 and save as
Mp3's...played on the PA800..

The less than stellar harmonizer doesn't matter with our live vocals..




This is my report, and my opinions...The only folks that should question my report, are those that also own both boards

Based on your experience with the PA-800, Fran, would you consider upgrading to a PA2Xpro, or PA3Xpro in the near future?

You are always saying you don't want to be without 76 keys, so it must be very difficult for you with the five octave PA-800.

Ian

Ian, to be honest....NO!!!...At least with the PA2x....since we haven't seen or touched the 3x....that is still a question mark..

This whole thing with the PA800 is about compromise to me....If I feel the need to have a smaller, lighter keyboard with speakers and a mic input, with a MP3 player....for the many one nighter gigs..than the PA800 makes sense..and believe me, there are compromises...76 keys being one.

Since I already have what I consider the best all around 76 keyboard in the stable, there would not be any consideration for a "upgrade" to the PA3x....It would have to be a virtual steal for me to have one, and it would not be my choice..for a go to instrument..

Between the G70 and the MediaStation, I already have, the band tools are covered as well as my solo use ..I also have the A-33 controller that works well with the Prelude or PA800...if the 61 keys need the attention of 76..

What I haven't mentioned ...with the PA800, the sequencer and MP3 dual player is very quirky...I have found, faults with player/seq 1 primarily....I want to test Dave's PA800, but I am sure it is a design fault....I think the data size limit and receiving of initial data packs causes lock ups....yet it seems to handle data a bit different on player/seq 2...I have found the size limitation of accepted SMF's way too small for a top model..
Another problem with the player/seq 1....Apparently data from any seq created on my G70, has too much data and locks up the PA800...100 percent of the time on player 1...yet player 2 handles it..So you have to give up the extra benefits of player 1.....I also have random failure using both players DJ style..with MP3's too..

Using player2 only, it works flawlessly, but the extra screen touches are just a poor design (spoiled by the Prelude player)..

PS: I already approached deals about getting another G70, and put it in storage for the future..


Who knows.....maybe there will be a version2 BK-7m soon and peak my interest in that direction...again

I own a PA800 for more than 2 years. We use the dual MIDI-MP3 player/Seq a lot in the Church services and for all kind of music. Never have an issue, no locking. I have play MP3 files as big as 50 MB. In korgforums.com never have read a complaint about this issue either. It could be that you have a defective unit? Or maybe you create some kind of unique sequence.

Machetero, as I mentioned I will test it on Dave's PA800..

The lock up is with SMF seq on player 1 only ..SMF originated on the G70...maybe a buffer size problem with paks created on the G70?

hey Fran,

just curious as to why you rate the Korg Style edit 7 and the G70 10... would u be so kind to elaborate the differences between the two?

I am looking through the G70 manual and cant seem to see what it can do that the Korg cant?

what does the G70 have in this department that gives it the edge over the competition?

I have spent alot of time so far in the Korg sequencer but have never touched the G70... I find the Korg system very easy to use and its simple and intuitive - it has all the tools needed.

cheers,
Nick

Nick, the "cover" and "make up" tools in live play use...are simply unsurpassed on the G70....and the ease of use on the G70 is superior..there are too many menu driven edits on the Korg..Also the G70 has dedicated buttons for the different types of vocal harmony..the Korg is a nightmare..Roland is a "smart" interface that does the selection for you...more choices , more ease of use..

Also try to make an edit on the fly with Korg, and resave it....Not going to happen..G70 allows you to resave in a few seconds..immediately after...Also selecting and playing SMF's and styles from a storage device...another no contest...

Nick, honestly I am not making this up..I like the PA800, but no where a rival to the G70...but for what the PA800 does and what the G70 can not....(Play audio files/MP3)..it is a needed tool with a purpose for me..

The G70 with the laptop...nothing touches this combo..

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good news..

I eliminated the problem on player 1...if you recall I had a seq playback problem with sequences created on the G70..I surmised the player 1 on the Korg can not digest the data pak with system exclusive data..

I went into the preferences of the global-songplay and selected "fast play"..I believe this blocks system exclusive data..it now plays the G70 sequences ok...My guess ..player 1 was overwhelmed with additional data and it's added features.where player2 is stripped of the added features, and required less read power..

This weekend I will see if I still have the random stoppage of MP3 play while using both players..this happens several times during a performance..maybe a ratio of once every 20 tunes...I have never been able to reproduce this at home....Let's see if the "fast play" fixed this too..

My MP3s and SMFs have never locked up ... ever. Not one glitch. In fact, that's one area that this kb really shines in. Playback is a breeeeeeeze.