Hi Folks,
I am new to this forum, but have been playing for quite a while. I was very happy to see that Korg announced a new flagship arranger and a 76 key one to boot. But when I am thinking of putting down $4,000 dollars for a 76 key arranger, I'm going to have to do some comparing. And for my money I think I'd be better off with the Yamaha PSR-S910. From what I can see, Steve McNally and the rest of the folks trying to sell this to us are trying to sell us the Vocal Harmony and the external speaker more than they are trying to sell us the styles and sounds in the keyboard. The styles are what matter to us most and from what they are showing us in all these videos, I'm not seeing much. If Korg wants to sell some keyboards they are going to have to do a much better job than they are doing at the moment.
I have owned the original Tyros the PSR-3000, and the Tyros3 all of which in my humble opinion sounded much better than the PA3x. And enough with the Long Train Running Demo - Is that all you have. I have also owned the Korg Karma, the Korg M3-73 and the M3-61 - I now have a Motif XF7 which I am in the process of trying to sell on E-Bay and Craigslist in NYC. I think I am going back to the arranger, but if KORG can't prove to me that it is worth $4,000 I'll just sell more stuff and get the Tyros4 and be done with it. To the folks at Korg - You have access to YouTube - Get on it and check out the Martin Harris Videos on the Tyros 4 and Peter Baartmans videos. These guys know how to sell a keyboard and not waste 20 minutes on the Vocal Harmony, no one really cares that much - All of the major keyboards have some form of Vocal Harmony - we get it - don't try to sell the keyboard with that nonsense. Make me believe that I want a PA3x for the Styles and the Sounds. The people that are trying to sell it now are just not convincing me.

If you're adamant about playing a 76 note arranger keyboard, the Pa3X is certainly a very decent instrument and the way to go,
but if 61 notes works for you, as is the case for me, especially because it's so simple to adjust to the octave transpose button on the fly method for those rare occasions when you really need the extra octave,
then going with Tyros 4 (with outstanding SA1 & SA2 voices, terrific on board VH2, and new punchy live drums & styles) is my personally preferred option.

TEST: before you insist that you actually REQUIRE a 76 note arranger, perform this test:
On your current 76 note arranger, cover up the lowest 8 keys (E0-B0) and highest 8 keys (C#6-B6). Set split point at F#2.
This gives you 1-1/2 octaves for full fingered chord activation in LH, and 3-1/2 octaves for RH melody and soloing, plenty of real estate for auto-arranger mode playing.
If you truly play more than just a few 'solo piano' style songs a night, a 76 note keyboard would perhaps be preferable, but you have to be honest with yourself about how often you really require that, as I've found, with merely a small degree of adaption using the transpose button, I'm able to cover most all my solo piano repertoire on the 61 note Tyros 4. In the end, select and choose the keyboard that works best for 'you'. For me it's the Tyros 4. If you prefer the sound of Korg, they offer both a 61 and 76 note PA3X model.

Enjoy whatever you play. - Scott


- Scott

Welcome to SZ, vin52ny, and thanks for your informative post.

Ian

Thanks Guys, I am not completely adamant about 76 keys, I just like it better. I know it is not absolutely necessary, just a preference for me. But that being said, the most important thing for me as I mentioned is the sound of the keyboard and the styles. And from what I see so far Yamaha's T4 is miles ahead - I found it quite interesting that there is a video on You Tube of Martin Harris killing it with the T4 and if you look off to the right there are 3 of Korgs spokesmen including Rich Formidoni - Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pmaj7KeiM4 You'll see them at about the 45 second marker into the video. You would think those three would have gone back to their bosses at Korg and told them to go back to the drawing board. I just don't understand the business model here - are they not in competition with Yamaha or are they off doing their own thing. It does not make sense to me. Sorry, If I sound like I'm railing against Korg, I'm not I just feel disappointed that they are not seriously competing. It would be nice to see the T4 get some competition, but I guess there is none.

Hi Vin52ny:
First of all, a great BIG welcome to you to Synthzone!
Yep, that video was shot by my good buddy Tapas Das with his portable vidCam simply utilizing its built-in mic, who then asked me to host it on my: YouTube Channel.

Here's the same video, but in HiDef Video (select 720p or 1020p).
Martin Harris is a very spontaneous & approachable hand's on performer so except for the limited in camera mic audio quality,
this video captures how it's like seeing and hearing him perform Tyros 4 live. - Scott

That is a very unfair assumption you have made, I'm sorry to say. All the manufacturers go around and see what the competetion is up to at the NAMM show. I know, having been there this year, I saw reps from every manufacturer on every different stand at one time or another. Yamaha got lucky and filmed these Korg guys watching a performance. This is probably the one chance these guys get to see the competition in action outwith the glare of the general public (since the show is trade only.)

I saw Yamaha reps at both the Korg and Roland booths this year, as I have done every year I have attended the show.

Sorry, that was not an assumption of any sort. Just an observation that the Korg folks were at that presentation by Martin Harris. What I am seeing at many of these forums is that everyone is waiting for the magical video that will change everyones mind about the PA3X. I don't believe we are going to see it. If the case is that it is being marketed to an entirely different market than the US and England then maybe their marketing strategy is spot on. We'll see when it actually hits the streets. I believe the arrival dates have already been pushed back for now.

After listening to what ever demos I can find, some bad, some good. I don't really hear that much of a difference in styles between the PA 2 & 3 vs the Pa80, which I owned for some years. I can hear some styles have better drums kits, which sound punchier but I'm not sold. I guess I'll pass pa3x, just like I did with the pa1x and pa2x.

I listened to the waltz style that was attached, I can't hear the difference, maybe I'm just missing it.

I have the same if I listen to the first Tyros and the last Tyros. Sound all the same to me.