After all the videos and folks overhere as regards the purchase of the new Yamaha SX-900 I got the itch and started wondering whether I should flog all of my gear just to be able to afford this new gizmo. At present I own a Korg PA1000, a Yamaha PSR-950 and a Ketron SD2 soundmodule. Flogging all of these would yield just about enough money in the pocket to purchase the new Genos baby....And before you ply me with your well intended advice I have already come up with the answer myself. Here is a short trial run recording with my current set up:
Style= Korg PA1000
Piano= Ketron SD2
Sax = Yamaha PSR-950

https://app.box.com/s/1nqzsjop9mwaiabo4up8312n4v7cvslb

regards
JOhn

Don't bother, you already have almost twice the number of keys spread over the 2 keyboards, in addition combining them over Midi will give you way more layers to choose from. (Including key ranges per voice)
In addition you also have support for the 2 most popular style systems in use today, which means you have way more style flexibility than any Genos owner could hope for.
If on the other hand you want to combine everything into 1 instrument (With all the limitations that this presents) then compare the Genos to the PA4x & SD9 before making a decision.
Have fun which ever way you go.

Bill

Dump all your KB's & Guitars too and get a
mint used Genos at a lower price!
start from scratch again it's fun to create
your not playing out so you have a lot of time to play
you deserve a nice Christmas Present for yourself!!

When you think of how old we are,
and how every single day could be your last,
and how much longer we have on this earth,
why wait?
getting the Best is an easy choice..

Life is short my friend enjoy it.

John keep what you have and wait for the next generation Korg pa’s .

Thx for sharing John. Sounded good.

I'd say, whatever makes you happy!

I have (3) keyboards, but pretty much have to stick to the 3X due to the heavy load for working out new material. The other boards don't get much action, although I love to play raw piano on the P-125. It also serves as my go-to when I start on new arrangements. I then put the arranger to it.

Don't rid your guitar!

I would think the pa1000 with the sd2 sounds would be very complete. Would like to hear that with altosoft or blowed sax from sd2 (65 cc00 or 65 cc10?).

Exactly my thoughts.

Very nice work John! Thanks for sharing! I'm with Zuki - it is definitely a personal decision. I sold my PA900 and S970. Tough decisions but I am happy that I did. The added features on the SX900 are useful to me, but your decision should be based on your druthers. Another factor for me was I wasn't using the PA900 and it was just not right for it to sit in a corner anymore.

And... do not get rid of your guitar! It's another extension of you - gotta keep all the extensions we have while we can enjoy them! Just sayin'.

Hi John,
very nice.
Just wondering why you would sell if you’re happy with the setup you have.

Sold my korgs because I kept getting too wrapped up in the technology, and style converting, probably redid the same Yamaha styles for all 3 korgs, because I kept finding better methods for doing it. Total addiction. Haha

My sx doesn’t have the same effect on me, because I don’t need to convert.
Spent time putting my style library together. Finished. Now it’s going to be about actually getting some playing done.

Unless you actually feel you need a change, why do it. What you have sounds great.

Luv my sx, and I don’t regret selling my korgs. Who knows what the next model Korg may be like, might be too good to pass up, time will tell.

... and the "BEST" is all a matter of PERSONAL preference ... It's different for everyone ...

Yup. Most $$$ does not mean BEST. Are all Genos owners driving Rolls Royces, too? lol

2006 Ford Expedition, 221,000 miles and counting.

You da man! Thanks for feeding my Dad's Ford pension!

So you guys are saying … I should order the Roland Fantom7 and Ketron SD90

John, years ago this wisdom came:

You can use all the logic you want, but in the end your emotions makes the final choice. Amen!

John C.

I‘d recommend you to exchange the SD2 with a module from V3 Sounds, e.g. Sonority XXL. The samples are far superior.

I had the V3 Sonority and beg to differ. Yes the piano samples are very good and so are the accordeons and organs but with hindsight I much prefer my SD2 , also in view of how it truly compliments the PA1000.

thank you all for your comments and as you may have gathered from the demo on the outset of this thread I think I have quite a fantastic rig and as you Bill (abacus) pointed out I have the benefit of access to all Korg and Yamaha styles, pads, sounds etc. Inevitably I have to make concessions compared to some of the great sounds and styles of the Genos but all in all I have got a very versatile set up for a price no one would actually believe and which is more than enough to satisfy my arranger needs. And when I mentioned all of my gear ( forgot the guitars but don't worry they are a permanent fixture) I even forgot to mention my most favourite keys, a nearly 20 year old Yamaha P80 stage piano.I only started learning how to play the darn thing four years ago and would consider myself now to be an "advanced beginner " (haha) but like Zuki it feels great to sit behind it and start improvising. My missus loves it to bits and I even recorded a full instrumental album for her just playing the P80 which incidentally harbours the stunning amount of 21Mb ( that is right Mb and no Gb !!!!) of total samples.....
Thank you all the same to Donny and others who would not begrudge me getting a Genos for Xmas, but like I said:
"Ain't gonna happen" !!!!

regards
John

P.S. Sparky, I will make a recording one day soon using the blowsax or/and altosoft from the SD2.....

I agree it will take a bit of time to sell all old stuff off...
but then a nice used clean Genos could be in your future..
Life is too short to dilly dally!

I don't know the PA1000, but I had the SD1000, which is superior to the SD2, and now have the V3 Sonority XL, and besides the sounds you mentioned, especially the brass and woodwinds sounds appear much more sophisticated to me than the SD1000. With the Ketron module, I missed velocity layers for the trumpet, for example, it sounded nice, but always triggered the same sample. V3 Sonority uses 4 layers for solo trumpet and many instruments, and also has round robin technology. But, of course, in the end it's also a matter of taste, and, as you said, the combination with your other instrument.

Thank you Crossover for your comments. Just to be clear on it, the V3 Sonority is not a bad soundmodule and in some ways even superior to the Ketrons. It all depends on your priorities and as I mentioned the V3 certainly has the edge with piano, accordeon and organs. Of course price also comes into it and unless you set very great store by one of those categories mentioned I cannot think of many that will splash out 450 euros for it, behold I had my SD2 for 125 euros (!). The fact that a store in our country offers the V3 module in combination with the Genos makes me laugh though. Why would a GEnos owner spend that kind of money on such a module I wonder. The fact remains that both the V3 and the SD2 and SD1000 do a great job in combination with any Korg PA arranger, much more so than with the yammies because the Korgies allow for easier midi access and storage.
However as you said it all comes down to taste , personal preference and money !!

regards
John

Keep what you get , ther isnt much improvement when you exchange your Korg & Yammie fore a SX900 .
Met wat je nu hebt kan je alles wat muzikaal nodig is.

Impuls

It is sad to view the best of your remaining days, sitting in front of a keyboard.. When there are far better reasons to live out your life.. Maybe the influence you can have on grandkids, teaching the right thing to do, and some dangers they could see before them.
Maybe helping other (life is short) folks.

Still it would be nice to sit in front of a Genos

Here is the one thing folks just don't get.. Why not learn what your Genos or current keyboard can do feature wise.. Learn how to use them... and USE them.

I had already come to that conclusion but thanks anyway !!!
(spreek je wellicht nog op het Nederlandse keyboard forum....)

Fran:
"....Here is the one thing folks just don't get.. Why not learn what your Genos or current keyboard can do feature wise.. Learn how to use them... and USE them ..."

You're preaching from my bible here buddy !! Have been programming on the Korgs for 20 years, and there is many a soul who can testify to that and to the result.
However sometimes a change is attractive and challinging, but in this instance the cost is too high and as others have managed the advantages compared to my current set up are limited. Abacus hit the nail right on the head on the outset of this thread....
Thanks all the same for sharing your thoughts on this..

regards,
John

So John with all that said what KB are you buying for Christmas Music wise..?

I don‘t know why it would be laughable to get a V3 module together with a Genos. This was tested by some magazines, and they found there are sounds in the V3 the Genos doesn‘t deliver. Especially for Alpine folk music, there are dedicated samples of individual soloists like Vito Mucenik and Ivan Presern, whoever is fond of those will have a valuable addition to a Genos. I prefer the V3 trumpets over my Montage trumpets as well.

Hi Donny,
I am doing the sensible thing here and will stick to what I have got.
Enough ideas in my head to record some great stuff with both my arrangers, my piano and my guitars, we will have to wait and see if I can get down to it...
But it pleases me to learn you (and many with you) are so much enjoying their Genoses....still curious to learn the Don Mason verdict on that by the way.....

Crossover,
I cannot speak from personal experience as regards the Genos and no doubt there will be some samples that add to the richness of the yamaha. Relatively speaking they will be expensive, but what the heck if you can afford a Genos you no doubt can throw another dice to get the V3 should you want to....each to his/her own right ??

regards
John

"still curious to learn the Don Mason verdict on that by the way....."
I'm actually liking it better than I expected. The real test will be this weekend on the job. Don't want to say too much yet, because I don't like the taste of eating my own words.

Don go get it....
Those Genos Guitars are
hard to beat. Hope you can record the night

Enjoy

Exactly. Maybe I'm also prone to defending the V3 modules as I exchanged a couple of emails with the creator Klaus Dzida. He's very much into Alpine music, for example he sampled the bariton horn of "Sepp Mattschweiger", as this player is famous for having a very sharp attack even at the lowest notes. Details such as this are what Alpine music lovers take serious...

would love to hear the V3...?

I played around with it here, making a foolish Alpine cover of "Rhythm of the Night" (Corona):

Sounds great!

Very nice work! Love the mix of instruments and percussion!

Alpine sound for sure...really authentic...more more more..

Thanks! The sounds are perfect for Alpine music, no wonder as the creator is from Austria. Some of the sounds are identical to the VST Alpine Music from Best Service.

I guess the current version is the xxl?

Yes, it is. But XXL is a bit misleading, it does have the same waveROM size of 4 GB.
Some sounds are exchanged vs the XL according to Klaus Dzida. It came out shortly after I bought the XL, Klaus offered me an exchange but I didn’t care as only little has been changed.

The symphonic sounds are also on a high level, but there I prefer the MODX all in all. Probably the optimum is a combination of the best of both.
„Fuga“ within the 3rd movement of Beethoven‘s 5th symphony, of which I have the orchestral sheet music at home:
https://youtu.be/nqxXX_WLmV4

Rachel very nice

Thanks, just a few bars, but Beethoven is great...