Ek 50 is the same pa80/60/50/ microarranger board ( same sound from 2001, triton classic engine).

Minus editing features, midi sockets,, plus battery operated and MP3/wave playback

Sound wise , including drums, it blows any Roland/ Yamaha sub $600 category with ease. Yes it has professional synth engine ( even though it's older generation) , can't compare to budget Roland's or Yamahas.


It has 4 variations, full 4 way joy stick, relatively light weight compact, you can even pay with the band due to decent sound/ splits. Again , not so much with cheap yamahas or Roland's.

I remember Dave didn't like the PA1000 so why the PA600...?

The PA1000 didn't do it for me. Felt weird. Not the same keybed I was expecting. The 700 feels more like the PA900 I was very comfy with, so that's the logical choice. Anything higher priced would be frivolous, with a 4x sitting at home. I was hoping to get away cheap, but that rarely happens. The EK50 is worth every penny of the -$400 cost, but it just fell short on the main needs I had for it. The speakers started to fuzz when I sang through thgem, with a nice bass, drum and Rhodes sound, and the 2-button adjustment just won't fly on stage ... even in a low energy situation. I was trying to take a Mustang to an Indy Race. My bad.

I don't really endorse any of these "budget" arrangers. I guess they're a good thing in the sense that parents will buy them for their kids at Christmas time- forging a future generation of arranger players?

But for the Synthzone / GA user base, I just can't imagine anyone here would find them satisfying. The Casio CT-X3000 is much, much better feature-wise than the EK-50, Roland E-X30, or any PSR-e-anything (less than the PSRs-670 anyway.) Maybe the best battery-powered arranger ever. It doesn't stack up to the MicroArranger feature-wise, but Micro's weren't ever cheap. And I wouldn't advise anyone to learn on tiny keys. What's a shame is Korg could have built the MicroArranger on their Kross Mk.1 platform. Battery power. Full-size keys, pitch and mod wheels above the keybed, and omit those tinny speakers. I mean- who doesn't have a JBL Charge or Ultimate Ears Boom these days?

Getting back to the Casio, the worst things about it are the keybed, and almost total lack of MIDI (which of course prevents controlling it from a high-quality master keyboard.) It sells for a street price of $269.

Even so, I would hold out for a used BK-5 or maybe Pa600. Unbelievable what they sell for sometimes, check out this auction:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Roland-BK-5-Backing-Keyboard-Arranger-Keyboard-61-keys-/183811272817?hash=item2acc017071%3Ag%3AFGkAAOSwYihc2vRk&nma=true&si=OuFP8Qlia3Y%252BKLpeJ45Kj%252BfsMb8%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Once you drive a Cadillac, you'll never want to go back to a Ford!

Been following this discussion (as well as Uncle Dave's viccisitudes with this new Korg keyboard) with some kind of amusement.
Janman is entirely corrrect by stating that the Korg Micro Arranger is sample,sound and style wise completely identical to the firts PA generation ( PA80, PA60,PA50) and even virtually 100% identical to its top arranger at the time the PA1X.
As such the EK50 cannot but disappoint. Getting the Micro Arranger instead of the EK50 as such is better as long as you have got bigger keys available. If not the PA50 or (later version) PA50sd is a great alternative.
I also disagree with UD findings as regards the PA1000 versus the PA700, see thread Uncle Dave.
And last but not least I would like to draw your attention to the new and updated sound module the V3 ( versions for Korg are called the Kommex), see my new thread on that subject:

http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/471934#Post471934

regards,
John

As regards this subject I truly fail to see why so many of you seem to think that the PA700 due to its price tag is much to be preferred to the PA1000. I had the PA700 for a very short while, have had the PA1000 for over a year and the PA1000 is imho superior in every way. ( keybed, sounds, amplificiation , ram memory, you name it).
What has surprised me is the fact that only recently I decided to splash out on the USB stick Musikant extension. Sure, I already had the Musikant styles ( who hasn't ) but I was pleasantly surprised to learn the full extent of the Musikant extension ( samples, songstyles, songbook entries, pads, etc) and now wish I had done so at an earlier stage. Mind I managed to ge the package at half the price ( 100 euros)...which helped I guess.....
Until that purchase I had been using the Ketron SD2 module as a worthwhile add-on to my PA1000. I have now sold this module and am awaiting delivery of the Kommex V3 module in August..
see:
http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthread..._PA4#Post471934

regards,
John

I'm sure it's subjective, but the keybed on the 700 feels better to me than the 1000. At least the ones I played. The 1000 is almost twice the price, and I fail to see the value, but that's why there's chocolate and vanilla. Once you own a Ford, you can never be happy in a Cadillac.

(Spoken from a third generation Ford family, of course!)