Hey Ian,
I am not intending to make it a pissing contest, honestly Im not bashing Yamaha at all, cos I too am a Yamaha fan, I always have been (Still got my Motif XF)

Don’t get me wrong I am not saying there is a major difference in sound quality at all from PA2 to PA3. In fact I think there is NO difference bar a few additional voices added (probably about 20-40 if that) and those so called “ambience drums” which I have not seen demonstrated as yet.

What my point is in all this and the reason why I bought Yamaha into my post was a mere comparison in what people are looking for in a replacement arranger model.

My personal experience when I had my Yammys was that I always wanted more punch and ‘oomf’ which was found in Roland , Korg, ketron etc and therefore any incremental step to bring the Yamaha closer for example: Tyros 2/3/4 and so on is like absolute GOLD. It’s like Yamaha keep dangling the carrot over their customers… the new model is better overall sounding… and then better again, and again.

The vibe from the Korg community is somewhat different...

The urge for an overall sound quality improvement is not as demanding in Korg Land as it is in Yamaha Land from what I have seen and gathered over the years…

Im not saying we don’t need a refresh or a new model – there is ALWAYS room for improvement!

Regarding the sounds heard in that video demo: To me, that concert guitar DNC which was played in the bossa nova clip is excellent!. How can anyone disagree with that? I think you were referring to the acoustic guitar played about a minute earlier which was an older sample Guitar…

The electric guitar at the start sounds disgraceful and I think the reason why is because of the way the demonstrator is playing it. And also it probably doesn’t have any good effects applied to it which is an easy fix…

mate - happy to join you for a pissing contest offline via email

Nick

Nice try, Ian, but way off the mark... I use registrations for EVERYTHING, and see no problem with Roland's implementation of it at all. However, I HAVE read of quite a few here that tend to go 'old school' when it comes to sound and style selection. The point I was trying to make (and you were trying to ignore) is that there are ALWAYS features that few use. Should they ALL be dropped?

After hearing the above demo, and the earlier ones posted, I'm very surprised that anyone would be satisfied with the Korg sounds as they stand.

If this is as far as Korg can take the DNC voices, I must say I am very disappointed...I was expecting much more from Korg.

With SA and SA2 voices, Yamaha is steadily improving what is on their arrangers, even if it appears incrementally to some, but, Nick, what I'm hearing from Korg's demos so far, is below an incremental improvement.

That's why I said I hope that this isn't the best we'll hear from them and they somehow redeem themselves and showcase what this instrument is really supposed to do...so far, sonically, it is isn't even incrementally better than the PA2Xpro.

Ian

I wasn't saying you didn't use them Diki...I expected that you did....I was merely pointing out that the UPG were less than satisfactory (requiring workarounds) for some Roland users.

Those that go "old school" here on the forum? I can't recall very many here doing such a thing...most, if not all, Yamaha users on this forum use registration memories.

I certainly hope that Roland's registration memories aren't dropped like the Chord Sequencer...next thing you know, they'll want to get rid of the keyboard...oh, wait, I think they have...now you have to provide your own...Ha Ha! Of course, that might be a good thing.

From what I understand, registration memories are the most used feature on any arranger...I doubt very much if they'll ever be dropped.

I suspect if the chord sequencer was being used by even a moderate amount of players, Roland's marketing research would have caught that and it just might have been kept on...but, again, I also feel that the increased use of SMF (something Roland heartily promoted and encouraged) helped with it's demise.

In any case, it's water under the bridge now...let's just hope Korg's use of it isn't as brief as Roland's.

Ian

What I don't understand is now the Musicmesse has started Korg still didn't release a good video about the PA3x. Their marketing sucks big time. Look at Yamaha they already have great video's about their new moX. That is how you sell.

Also they still haven't update korgpa.com
I really don't understand.

And did you notice how long she could sing without taking a breath!
This demo was the best we've seen, which isn't saying a whole lot. At least it makes me want to play one to see what it really can do.
DonM

I didn't hear much of a ground breaking sound or style change improvement in sound.... BUT I would still say the big difference in this new model is the features.

No, the LONG list of great features that Roland have dropped tends to suggest LESS market research, not more! In all my years of playing Roland arrangers, and all my friends, too, not ONE of us has ever been contacted by Roland for any Q&A...

I am not sure what issues with the registrations you are referring to, Ian. Possibly some issues from pre OS2. AFAIK, currently, the Registration in a G70 stores everything, I think with the possible exception of Intro status. Compared to the Songbook not storing transposition values (something Donny always alludes to), a minor omission IMO. You may be basing your opinions (and many others may be too) on very old impressions of pre-OS3 tryouts. Roland fixed and changed a LOT with updates, rather than force us to buy a new arranger. Something no doubt many arranger players wish could happen for them...

In effect, I play a G90, despite having bought a G70... The additions were at least as important as any new features added to a Yamaha model change. And I got them for free!

That could be it, Diki...I remember you posting something about the UPG's quite some time ago (I believe it was something to do with not storing transposition)...glad to see any issues have been resolved.

I remember having a client with a CVP-109, a top of the range instrument (about $7 grand), which would not store transposition in the registration memories...what a bummer! And, I believe the PSR-740 wouldn't do it either...of course, they were both released at the same time, so no big surprise. Since then all is well and it's been corrected in subsequent instruments.

Registrations...best feature they have ever added to arrangers...certainly a feature copied from the organ divisions.

Ian

Even version 1 G70 stored transpose....I don't recall any Roland user programs that didn't save transpose.