Not too many in the outside world of BBS give a hoot about my keyboard ramblings so I say it here:

The PA3X is the most incredible, fantastic and articulate keyboard known to man. It is awe inspiring and captivating and I am in LOVE.

Zuki glad to hear your having a fun time with the PA3x.....
can you at least elaborate a bit on why you feel this way.?

zuki,

Me too - there is so much yet to discover inside this terrific keyboard.

After trying to find a published drum map for this keyboard and having zero luck, I decided to make them for myself - I am not finished yet, but I am beginning to think the reason Korg has been getting low marks for the Pa3X drum kits is because no one knows whats in there.

I have found that in the over 100 drum kits, many of them have 87 different instruments assigned. And - the maps are far from standard on many of the kits.

Bill G

Great to hear your excitement!

Hells Bells Zuki,

Can you play it on it's end and all the oil doesn't run out, is that it. The Pa3x is an old bit of kit Zuki, now in love is 5ft 2 eyes of blue!!! What you on Zuki...now if you have said G70 I would have to think twice about been in love with that big chassis...

Bill he's not taking the top off is he!!!!

If he does, I hope he is careful with that little ball on the end of the spring that pops out before you can catch it. ;-)

Bill G

The korg range of arrangers has allways leaned more towards the workstation side then other arrangers ... If youre looking for the one instrument fits all, its the PA3x.. Its got so many options and possibilities and edditing and expansion features its almost sad that the Pa4x will be here in less then a year..

Soundwise, its still on par with the T5, where it looses some battles but also wins some.. I prefer the korg styles, even above the audya styles and even more above the T5 styles..

If you can lift the weight, the Pa3x 76 is still the top pick..

If my adya gets back from repairs and there is no Pa4x announcement at the Music messe, i will head down this road too..

Hi Zuki, I knew if you persevered you'd connect with the instrument, especially since you liked your previous Korg's so much.

We live in great times regarding arranger keyboards...I'm still on the honeymoon with the Tyros4, if you can believe it?

Maybe, you can share a tune or two if you get the time?

Glad to hear things went well.

Ian

PA4X is another reason I sold my 3X when I got a good price for it. I do miss it a lot, even though I'm coming to grips with the PA900. In fact it actually does a few things better, such as automatically saving Global changes and a dedicated My Settings button.
I'm thinking the PA4X will be radically different. Just a hunch.

The rumors are flying about a new PA4x and we might see it sooner than we think. The PA2x PRO was released in October 2007 and the PA3x around April 2011 so that's approximately 3 1/2 years between the two releases. The PA3X has been on the market almost 3 years and so it is quite possible the PA4x could show up at summer NAMM 2014 or perhaps winter NAMM 2015. Korg needs to stay in the thick of things because Yamaha just released the Tyros5 and so there is likely an urgency on Korg's part to provide a viable competitor to Yamaha's newest flagship arranger keyboard. You snooze you lose as they say. But the PA3x has sold fairly well so Korg might milk it for all it's worth and so in that case we could be looking at Musikmesse 2015 or perhaps summer NAMM 2015 or even winter NAMM 2016. Although if Korg waits too long the Tyros 5 will continue to mount a sizable lead in the high-end arranger market and thereby an increased awareness by consumers that could potentially hurt Korg in the long run. In other words, if Korg doesn't provide something relatively soon they may find themselves eating significant dust as they once again play catch up to Yamaha's latest offering. The only thing that is slowing the Tyros5' rise to ascendency is its extremely high price tag which puts it out of reach of perhaps 90% of the world's population which is truly regrettable.

Here is what would make the PA4x a crowning world champ of high-end arrangers. Make two versions i.e. a 61 key version and a 76 key version and do the world a favor by giving it 256 note polyphony. That in itself would vault Korg to the top of the heap in my opinion. Doing so would take a huge bite out of Tyros5 sales (a $6,000 keyboard with a measly 128 note polyphony) and it would also put Yamaha on notice that they can't slough off and expect to remain number one forever. In other words, 256 polyphony is a real game changer and Yamaha must face the music or risk losing ground to other companies who are willing to take things to the next level. The second thing is don't give the PA4x an astronomical price tag that prevents a majority of the world's population from owning one. The PA3X is a viable competitor to the Tyros5 simply by the mere fact it costs over a thousand dollars less than a Tyros5. And given the fact it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to increase polyphony it is very possible Korg has the potential to put a real dent in Yamaha's armor. If in fact the PA4x is competitively priced and includes 256 note polyphony. Take a look at Casio for instance.

Casio now has "two" keyboards with 256 note polyphony and they are priced very very competitively. In fact if Casio came out with a high-end 256 note arranger that costs less than $2,000... it is fair to say Yamaha and the rest of them would be shaking in their boots at the prospect of losing tons of market share to an up and coming rising star like Casio. And I will be the first in line to purchase such an high-end arranger from Casio or anyone else. Yamaha will no longer be able to 'rake people over the coals' with their astronomically priced arrangers which have a tendency to break the bank. That's why competition is so important! And that's why Apple Inc. is losing ground to Samsung and various other companies because those companies now offer similar products that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Yamaha does have a huge customer following for the Tyros line in particular. But the time is coming, in my opinion, when Yamaha will have to rethink its high-priced, highway robbery strategy, or risk losing its number one status. If Casio ends up being the one that shakes things up then more power to them. Don't get me wrong. I like many of the products from Yamaha and I have personally owned two Yamaha arrangers plus other Yamaha gear. One of them being the original Tyros as most people on this forum already know. But I am also alarmed by the blatant "price gouging" by Yamaha concerning the Tyros line. Yamaha realized that many people kept buying the Tyros successor(s) even though the price kept skyrocketing through the roof. What that means is that Yamaha won't likely change their price gouging strategy unless they're forced into doing so. If nobody challenges Yamaha's unethical business practice (my opinion of course) then Yamaha will keep charging an arm and a leg for the Tyros and keep laughing all the way to the bank. If people don't mind being gouged 'at the pump' then that's one thing. But it's just the idea that a company, such as Yamaha, has the unmitigated gall to put 'profit' above ethical standards and that's what really irks me the most. The Tyros is a computer with keys for the most part. The profit margin on the Tyros5 is in the thousands of dollars and if the truth were known the Tyros5 itself probably costs under $1,500 for each one produced when all is said and done. But if people keep shelling out big bucks then Yamaha will keep charging an arm and a leg and I for one will not play that game.

Now I must admit if Yammie had given the Tyros5 256 note polyphony then I might have "bit the bullet" but only after everything else had met my high standards and it is becoming quite clear to me the Tyros5 has fallen somewhat short. For instance, a few owners have complained about unwanted "noise" coming from the Tyros5 innards. A hum that is most annoying and it affects more than a few of the current batch of Tyros5. After forking over six grand you're presented with a nasty hum that gave at least one owner a literal headache! Hello! Where is the quality control! Why has Yamaha reacted so slow in resolving the issue? From what I understand they still don't know what's causing it?!?!

Okay, I'll settle down. In conclusion, Korg has a chance to break new ground with the PA4x and I hope they do. Casio is waiting in the wings and they too have the potential to really shake things up. And by doing so Casio would likely see a large increase in new customers. People jumping ship after they finally realized they don't have to 'pay through the nose' for a high-end arranger keyboard. At least in theory anyway. Time will tell whether or not Casio comes through with the goods and the same thing goes for Korg and Roland. By the way, the BK-9 is Roland's current flagship arranger but I consider it more in line with the current MOTL arrangers such as the PSR-s950 and/or Korg PA-900. Many of the sounds on the BK-9 aren't up to snuff in my opinion and others have expressed the same reservations. 76 keys is always a plus but sounds are the primary selling point for any keyboard and the BK-9 falls short in some areas I dare say. But the BK-9 is priced competitively (for what it is) and that's a real bonus. Okay, I'm through. Let the flaming arrows commence.

All the best, Mike

Well, I haven't run out of polyphony for years. I guess I don't utilize it to its full extent.
I remember thinking it was a big deal when they went from 8 note to 16 note polyphony on arrangers though!
People have been talking about a new Casio arranger for years. They seem content catering to the entry-level buyers, and they do have great-sounding pianos in them.
The talk on the Korg forums is that the next generation will have all the technology from their leading synth, plus the arranger features.
I don't think there is anything unethical about Yamaha's marketing policy. It's all about profit though, and I am just not going to play the game of paying huge amounts for relatively small upgrades.
As far as a big lead in totl arrangers, if there is one, Korg has it now. Yamaha has their sights almost totally on the home user, with everything to make him sound like a full band, orchestra, choir . . .
There are no wrong choices any more, just play what pleases you, they all sound great.

Some time ago, there was a rumor amongst european Korg dealers that the pa4 x would be presented at music messe.. That rumor somehow is not supported any more..

The pa4x might be build just like the Kronos with standard PC hardware... Making production even cheaper but adding a whole lot of cpu power and memmory..

- real audio styles
- samples streaming from SSD instead of memmory
- new effects engine
- large touchscreen
-latest vocal harmonizer
- open engine allowing you to load different extra sound engines ( ie Kronos sound engines) but they might be expensive
- better computer and ipad integration

Just some rumors that float on the interwebs...

I'd like to see the best vocal harmonizer, a dedicated guitar input (again), and SPEAKERS.

Dave, on the PA900 evidently they have removed the fingering mode where you change chords by pressing three keys, and you can play left hand notes between changes. I know there is the full piano mode, but the PA3X let you do it with the split on.

Never had a need to do that Don, so I never knew it COULD! lol!

Whenever I have the arranger ON - there is NO sound coming from my left hand section. My right hand is too busy for any other stuff going on, so I keep it simple and thinned out. If I play manual bass, of course - the LH is set to that tone.

I only use it on a couple of songs, Last Date for one. But I sometimes like to have a low piano on the left hand that is set to trigger at a certain pressure.

Sorry I'm late to the party on this thread but I have to piggyback off of Don's comment. I made a stink about the missing "three keys" mode on the PA600 board over at Korg Forums. Paolo Trammanoni acknowledged my objections and asked me to elaborate. I did my best, but when the PA900 came out it was set up the same way: no "Fingered 2" nor "Fingered 3" modes. Just a weird Expert mode that's something like Yamaha's AI Fingered, but IMO, not as thoughtfully executed.

You can almost guarantee the Pa4X will follow this pattern. You might be able to fake the board out by adding a 2nd manual and/or BK-7m, but a strong point of the Pa3x was its completeness, obviating the need for extra gear.

Chord recognition and style engine are the defining features, the sine qua non of arrangers. Because of the missing modes, If I ever replace my Pa800 I would get Pa3X, or just downgrade to a Pa50 which are plentiful in the second-hand market. Ironically even the $400 Micro has the missing modes. What is Korg thinking??