To me, the PA-4X strings and the piano have more depth. Somehow a lot of its sounds sound more direct, down-to-earth and realistic to me, even if the Tyros 5 is very good (except some symphonic sounds). But that's individual taste, makes no sense arguing about it.

The Tyros guys are happy because Tyros does what THEY want. Korgies are happy because Korg does stuff THEY want.
I'm happy there are at least three great choices now.
Personally, I rank Yamaha third, but it would still be a great choice if the others weren't available.

Uh
Good points presented, but in regards to the Tyros 5 owners being mostly " sit and play ", I would have to add that most owners that buy arranger keyboards ( any brand ), buy mostly for the out of the box " sit and play " ability. That goes for Korg arrangers also.

The remaining smaller percentage buy the arranger for the editing features, plus arranging abilities with the end result to get the most authentic sound they can. As far as editing, composing, arranging, and performing, the Tyros 5 still delivers " big time " beyond just the sit and play experience.

The Korg PA3X/PA4X does present some nice deeper editing abilities in some areas, but just as " sit and play " as the next arranger. Style editing is very important and 90% of my styles, multi pads, midi songs, ensemble registrations, OTS settings, custom voices and drum kits are either created new or modified from the " sit and play " default. Deep editing beyond Style Creator, Multipad Creator, or Voice Creator can be made within the Yamaha Expansion Manager or large amount of PC programs available ( mostly free).

In other words, beyond the sit and play experience, you have the choice of the tools the TOTL arranger presents to create your content and musical arrangement from inception to performance and recording. One's needs and opinions can certainly be quite different, but for the most part a lot of arranger users invest in the TOLT arranger because of the editing abilities.

Marcus

As I have said many times everybody is different, however I am coming from the point of regularly listening to live bands, and in this respect the T5 falls short, as for me most of the voices (Including a lot of the fancy voices it has) are just so unrealistic that it is just depressing. The PA4x however, (From what I have heard so far) does sound more like a real band.

On its own the T5 is impressive sounding, however impressive does not mean realistic, and I want realism, along with the ability to do my own thing without the board getting in the way, and this is another phase where the T5 falls flat on its face. (You have to take so much off to get to the base sound (Which is the most important part of any sound) that you soon just want to throw it out the window)

Bill

In my opinion the Tyros styles never sounded live. The styles is so studio mixed, that the live feeling disappears.
I have T5, PA3x, Audya and MidjPro in my studio, and I want to say that the Audya styles are very live, but in the long time running Korg is the winner for me.
I have ordered a PA4x, and next month I have it in my studio.

/fozzie

I have played the Pa3x and to my ears the sound engine in this Pa4x is much much better(atleast 5 times as good if not 10 times ). It`s more realistic yet retains the thick sound that Korg has. I think Korg has a winner in the Pa4x and is now getting closer to the T5(but still some distance to go). IMHO, almost all the sounds and styles in the demos posted on the soundcloud are quite lively and realistic. Good one from Korg !!

I also think the Soundcloud demos are brilliant, it seems a good deal of the much larger waveROM has been dedicated to these sounds. I can 't really understand the statements that there isn't much new compared to PA-3X.

You can please some of the people all of the time.
You can please all of the people some of the time.
But you can't please all of the people all of the time.
I observed a similar stream of critically negative comments about the Tyros 5 when its initial specs came out. I remember it becoming quite a downer on several forums to read reactions to the T5 release which I was anticipating especially as I was looking for 76 keys. It seems each arranger/keyboard release is always accompanied by disappointment. So, here it goes again. It's just like with new car buying. You can wait forever for the ultimate car which never comes, or you make your choice when you really need it and get the best that suits your needs and wants at the time. You can only choose from what's available. We're not running the Korg company. They can listen to us but they know who they want to please most and will, via their own research, determine what's best for their goal market. It's a free market. If we want to change Korg's or Yamaha's product development then we have to get an internal job as their development department and direct it. They're doing their customer market research, looking at feedback on these forums, then digest the info and conclude what's the best trade-off in product cost vs overall economic return. Korg and Yamaha will, in the final analysis, proceed according to Ricky Nelson's most practical philosophy: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."
Hal

No doubt the new Korg PA4X is an awesome arranger with that Korg "live" feel to the sound. This doesn't warrant any other arranger that has factory default DSP effects set a little more higher for the more processed sound to have voices or drum kits sound less real or authentic.

The dry/wet processed sound is totally adjustable for the user and towards what total "feel" you ultimately want. It is totally subjective and the preference of the listener to how they what the music to sound like ( processed verses live ). It wouldn't be fair to simply cut up an arranger because it isn't setup to their overall preferences or style of play or even a more live type sound.

DPS adjustments can easily adjust the overall sound of an arranger or style performance to mimic any acoustic environment, from small room, stage, outdoors, or a full processed sounding CD quality. If any, Yamaha lessened the overall processed sound from the Tyros 4 to Tyros 5, yet not at the default drier level of Korg.

Those comments about Yamaha's SA2 sounding unrealistic is ridiculous. The whole point to the SA2 voices is to accurately mimic the sound and behaviour of the actual instrument with full control of the player. If the processed sound is throwing someone off, then a drier ( live feel) processed sound can be adjusted.

As far as comments that the new PA4X sounding 5 to 10x better than the PA3X is absurd. Any improvements is a bonus, but 1000% better? Does this mean VTS is a thing of the past?

The PA4X is a very impressive arranger and certainly worth the money, if it fits into your needs and budget, but to kick sand into the eyes of other users choices is unwarranted and sometimes over the top.

Marcus

Plus 1

Gary