Bill, trying to do a deep dive into the differences between the FP90 and the FP90x. THIS kind of research is fun, fun, fun, but taxing on the brain .

chas

From my quick look at the differences not much. I just got curious and listened to sound samples of the 90X because they changed the sound engine. I don't hear much from the demos. Mine does all I want plus it midies seamlessly to my BK7m. A NOS FP90 will save you a good amount of $$$. Amazing how prices have jumped. I see used ones for more than I paid new.
Nice story about your grandson, keep the music alive. And it sounds like he well above the typical 3 chord guitar shredders and playing some good music

Yeah, he's pretty cool. He's been taking private lessons on piano and guitar for a few years now and tenor sax at school. He plays in the school's Rock band on guitar and the (highly touted) jazz band on sax. He doesn't seem to show much interest in my various keyboards except for the Crumar SEVEN and seems mainly interested in acoustic piano. When he comes to visit, all we do is eat junk food and play music. He's in stark contrast to his older brother who is quiet, studious, musically talent-less, and an honor student in Aerospace Engineering at the Univ. of Illinois. Hard to believe they have the same parents . Hope I live long enough to see them succeed at whatever role they choose.

chas

Two kids using the different hemisphers of the brain to a high level. Very cool .What do you do when the Aerospace grandson visits, play chess ?.

NO! Since I too am an engineer (Moore, Penn) and former military and commercial pilot, we have plenty in common. I've been helping him with his instrument and commercial ratings as I have a very elaborate flight simulator setup with full physical flight instruments and controls. I am/was a CFII so I have all the instructional materials. The hardest thing is keeping up with new regulations. Just one more thing to keep the mind from getting stagnant, otherwise I'd spend all my time napping and snacking. After I'm gone, I just want them to look back and remember me fondly. I'm very proud of the way my son raised them.

chas

Currently, my stage piano gearlust choice would probably be for the Nord, primarily because of the wide selection of different sampled sets available. Sometimes a nice Yamaha CIII is perfect, sometimes I want that Steinway darkness, sometimes a beat up (but convincing) upright is the perfect choice. Nord have a ton of available soundsets…

I must admit, I am astounded at how many are underwhelmed by the PA5x, apparently by people that haven’t quite yet understood the game changing nature of being able to mix and match between two styles (and multipads) simultaneously on the fly. It’s the death knell for style fatigue. Limitless style variations at your fingertips!

It’s the first truly gamechanging ARRANGER OS addition in decades. We’ve been mired in 3-4 Intros, 4 Variations 4-6 fills and 3-4 Endings (plus a break/fill) for 20+ years. This one feature DOUBLED all that, plus allows instant mixing and matching between the two. Remember, this isn’t just about playing two whole styles at the same time… there’s nothing to stop you muting out different Parts in each style.

Two styles, six Parts, that’s 36 potential combinations of no two similar Parts playing at the same time. 36 different styles out of just two! And that’s not counting if you have BOTH Parts playing together on some combinations…

We should be dancing in the streets..! Other manufacturers should be scrambling to add this lest they lose their market..! I don’t understand how this can be glossed over and people say they don’t think the PA5x is ‘different enough’.

This is the most important arranger in 30 years. Wake up, arranger players..! 😎🎹🎉

Different things are important to different people. We superficially look at features (most of which we'll never use) and then immediately turn to the demos; demos done by professionals (defined as 'people who play a lot better than us ) who are paid a lot of money by the manufacturers to present their products in the best possible light. We then decide if we like what we hear. The buyer's EAR, not the instrument's features, is going to be the larger determinant of whether we shell out 5 grand or not. Of course features matter but our overall impression of the way the instrument sounds in the styles that are presented, are going to weigh much heavier in the decision...IN MY OPINION.

Frankly, I'm not seeing the value of the new features you mention but that's probably because I'm not a dedicated, all-out Arranger player. They seem more technical than musical to me and (for me) would be a distraction when playing in real time. Off-line, I'd probably spend to much time trying to figure out how, when, and where, to use these 'breakthrough' features. A B3's drawbars has over two million possible combinations; in fifty years, I've learned about 8 of them . But hey, you know how old folks feel about change .

Anyhow, glad you're here to help us with the technical stuff, Diki, even if we're too dumb to understand, acquire, or use it. Intellectually, we're only one step above drummers .

chas

It’s not so much about why people buy arrangers… that’s pretty predictable. New sounds, new styles. As you correctly point, not too many of us salivate over the OS’s (although I’d venture that Korg users tend to be among the more technical amongst us), but I’m pretty sure I know why most of us want a new one…

New sounds, new styles.

Well, here’s the solution to new styles. A myriad easy ways to combine two at the same time.

And a pretty big sampler and the fresh feature of being able finally to import sf2 multisample files, of which there’s a never ending supply, so new sounds has become much easier.

Time after time, again and again, everybody focuses on the new styles and new sounds. In truth, very little else has been added to arrangers in the last 20 years. A wrinkle here, a wrinkle there. But truth be told, most of us would be able to sound nearly as good (or bad!) on what we played 20 years ago. But many of us have bought each new arranger. At considerable cost. When all we really wanted was some fresh styles and some new sounds.

Well, here it is. The math is pretty staggering. 2 styles with eight Parts, that’s 64 possible combinations of muting different parts to make unique (but related) styles. Way more when you allow two similar Parts to play simultaneously…! The end of style fatigue, with none of the technical skills needed for making your own styles, or even hand combining them the way current arrangers allow.

Yes, you and I chas are not big fans of the arranger section up to this point. Both of us are probably more focused on the playing part rather than the backing part. But this is, after all, an arranger forum. So I thought I’d try to shine a brighter light on a brand new capability that radically changes the arranger experience.

It’s not the first time, LOL..! For years I praised the chord sequencer to little interest, back when only Roland had it. Now they all have them at least on the TOTL, and more and more are beginning to see it’s usefulness. Few thought there was any need for a 76 keybed. Now it’s common on most brands, and some flagships are available ONLY in that size. NO, I’m not prescient! But I have used the arranger section enough to spot something that has a MUSICAL use, and a way to extend the span of time it takes before you want something fresh.

You and I have hung on to arrangers much longer than most, primarily I think because we aren’t that fond of the arranger section. N the bad old days, we had many members buying the latest thing every single time a new model (often of any brand!) came out. And I guarantee it was boredom with the styles and sounds that triggered it.

So, before it takes months or even years for us to recognize it, allow me to gush about the new Korg! I probably won’t be getting one. I’m still not that much in love with tying up my LH playing rote chords. But for those of us who do, here’s IMHO the biggest step forward they’ve made in decades…. 🎹

Diki

That just makes me feel guilty for not doing the work that would get me more conversant with the more technical aspects of my keyboards. Like it or not, I feel you are so right. OTOH, most of us take the less painful route of throwing money at the problem of wanting something new and exciting. Of course, we really know that down the road we will do it again-such fun to have a new board.

I guess that I am just an old hack that loves playing my music the fastest way. Shame on me, but I will get over it. LOL

Don’t worry, we ALL go down that path to one degree or another..!

The reason I’m so enthusiastic about this new feature is that it is several orders of magnitude easier to mix and match two styles than it used to be. And something that is easy will get used a lot!

I know how to combine styles the old fashioned way, but it took hours and you never really knew if it was a good fit until you had done hours of work. So, to my shame, I only did it a couple of times just as an exercise.

Because everything you are doing can get stored in the Songbook, both styles, which mutes are on etc., what used to take hours can be done in a couple of minutes…

Now THAT’S my idea of something I’d do all the time! 😂🎹😎