I saw that video months ago...Was gonna post a link, but he gave no indication he really had any inside info...Obviously, nothing has happened since that video and it is almost a year later...

Dont new keyboards come out in september?

Korg's TOTL cycle was every four years. i30 in 1999, Pa1x in 2003, Pa2x in 2007, Pa3x in 2011, Pa4x in 2015. So here we are five years on, but still no new board from them. Either they've been hindered by the pandemic, or have tended to focus on lower models, EK-50, new i3 etc., or they've got something a bit special up their sleeve. As always, only time will tell.

I doubt they will do what roland did...focus on cheap keyboards only.. i think the buttons of future models will look like ek50

I DID the oposit/ I sold my PAX4 and bougt the GENOS 'wow a big difference . the Genos to my eares sound much better

STEVE THE PAX4 is a good key , but i feel that every cent that the GENOS cost more worth it. and i had both of theme but decided to sell my PAX4

Korg might not name the next one pa5x but go with a new name... and maybe the pa1000 will become pa1100

I am not going to be one of those people that says the PA4x is perfect and never needs replacing, because I am always up for change and new innovation... but just last week I purchased a 4X, as really, in the current climate, who knows when Korg will be releasing a new model...

I also took the plunge 2 months ago and purchased a PSR SX900...

I still own my arsenal of Roland keyboards and always will - they are something special and do their own thing that there is simply no replacement for - in my opinion..

However, some of you may or may not know I am big on synth, analogue,Trance, techno, EDM music and I prefer an arranger over a synth because I like to actually play live and jam freestyle to styles and flip through registrations and different chord sequences on the fly... which takes far more time to setup on a synth (ive tried them all)

The PSR SX900 is a massive improvement over the previous PSR line - in every way... And I am certain that for modern EDM / trance / synth genre, it compares pretty much exacto to the Genos.. the OS is the same, the sounds from the synth section / pads / synth basses / EDM dance drum kits are the same etc... you can nit pick about sliders, 76 keys, after touch, SA2, revo drums etc all you want...

The OS of the Yamaha is still very lacking in functionality in many ways that send it back to the stone age...

In style creator - why is it that some style parts need to be erased before being able to "edit" them??...

The mixer doesn't allow you to change the octave or tuning of style / song part etc... I can go on but these are very BASIC things that other keyboards have been able to do for years - Roland Make up tools go wayyy above and beyond...

Also - Yamaha does great at introducing new drum kits (usually 5 or so per new TOTL keyboard) at a time but they still leave the old ancient legacy kits the same. for example. the analogue T8 and T9 kits are a joke. they sound so plastic and shallow and muddy... same for the standard kit 1 and 2, the power kit 1 and 2 and so on. the PSR hasn't got the revo drums so I really cant speak for them, but overall the sound clarity is still not there.. whereas in the Korg or Roland - ALL drum kits are good enough and have the same quality across the board.

Last night I was flicking through all the legacy XG sounds in the PA4x and they destroy most of their equivalent comparisons on the Yamaha PSR and previous Tyros keyboards I have played/owned... And that's Korg doing Yamaha's XG sounds better than Yamaha themselves, go figure??

In my opinion a Korg PA 500 still has more crisp sharper punchier sound than the Yamaha overall... its so frustrating. We talk about how Korg are still using the old Triton engine in their TOTL arranger as a negative, but really its still strong in a lot of ways... If the current PA4x had a new refreshed OS with the same triton sound engine - everyone would love it... and the same goes for the BK9 from Roland.. give the G70 OS to the BK9 - everyone would love it... A lot of what steers people towards certain keyboards is the OS and ease of use... I get it that Korg can be complicated and Yamaha is a big safety net in comparison... Yamaha has been designed to make it as easy as possible for someone jump on and play straight away without too much thought process to understand it, where Korg relies on a more serious learning curve.

Back to sound - Yamaha has some amazing acoustic sounds - all bread and butter sounds are top notch no doubt... but when it comes to pads, basses, warm electric pianos, strings, choirs, drum sounds, they really LACK low end deepness and WARMTH... the lower octaves are hollow and need a lot of EQ'ing which 'can' get you a better result - but why should it be that way? Why cant they get it right from the start - its a $6,000.00 instrument that in their eyes which is designed and marketed to be right straight of the box??

Yamaha arrangers are still using the AWM 1 engine... not even the engine from the MOTIF ES/XS/XF line which was AWM2? Sure there are samples in the yamaha taken directly from the Motif AWM2 Engine BUT they have been stripped and thinned out that they have lost their low end warmth - and I have compared them side by side to a Motif XS/XF...

One thing I have always noticed about Yamaha... if its the ONLY keyboard you play, you kinda 'get used' to the sound and dont realise that there is an overall 'lack' of 'something' until you sit it side-by-side with a Korg or a Roland and start comparing - it instantly becomes a very shocking night and day difference...

Though I can still see why a lot of folks love yamaha - and so do I in some ways, BUT although Yamaha has released a fresh new look to their OS - the sound engine is STILL ancient and dates back to maybe even before the Triton timeline...

One more thing regarding the amount of insert effects - 28 Insert effects on the Genos does blow the competition out of the water as a stat on the brochure.. but lets be honest - MOST of Yamahas voices are already so processed in effects there really isn't much to be added outside the usual Reverb / Chorus etc... so who is really needing and applying THAT many effects onto their voices in a Yamaha arranger? and again this goes back to the user and the demographic that the Genos and PSR's are marketed towards - its still a player who doesn't really want to deep dive and spend a lot of time tweaking so its kind of an oxymoron...

I have gone back and edited this post 4 times now - I think that's enough I hope I haven't offended anyone, but really am trying to be as subjective and honest as possible...

Nick
Far from being offended,I think your post is very well written and informative. I don't posses the technical knowledge,but have a decent ear and 50 plus years with keyboards of all makes. I couldn't help but think of my Audya 76,and the superior sound,all around,compared to my other instruments. I think that even though there have been newer features introduced,the basic sound has diminished,even on my SD40. Newer is not always better for old boys,like myself, that don't need them.

Bernie

Nick thank you for the best explanation of korg vs yamaha ive seen on this board so far