https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRPd1SWwc1E

Hello, everyone!
After six days of almost no rest or sleep, we’re super excited to finally share the first video showcasing all the amazing improvements and updates coming in Version V.1.4.0 for the Korg Pa5X! 🎉
We’ve tried to capture as much information as possible about this update, and there’s even more to come. Stay tuned to our channels, and don’t forget to subscribe, follow, and like so you don’t miss out on any of the exciting details.
It’s been such an honor to have the incredible Korg team supporting us throughout this process. They welcomed us with open arms, gave us their time and attention, and shared their insights. On behalf of myself and the Global Sound Sweden team, a HUGE thank you goes to:
John (The Legend, Head Manager)
Dirk Lindemann Product Manager
Enrico, Luciano Minetti, Roberto, and many more who made this possible.
About Version V.1.4.0
Now, let’s talk about the update itself!
Here’s what you can look forward to:
Quick Record: This isn’t just a basic recording feature, it’s powerful and very easy to use for Anyone! Quickly capture your ideas, edit them like a pro, and export them to your favorite DAW (Cubase, Logic, Ableton Live, or others). You can then import them back into the Pa5X workstation. Think of it as having a DAW on your keyboard, with features like a timeline, color markers, and much more, like the Garageband from Apple.
Alphabetical Order: It’s not just improved; it’s better in every way. You can now replace, overdub, delete, copy basically do anything you need, and it’s easier than ever.
Song Creator: Creating songs has never been easier. Import/export songs, edit, cut, glue, paste, overdub, and quantize (with even more quantize options now, more humanized). You can also pan and add lyrics, rewriting them directly on the Pa5X!
Style Creator Booth: Yes, it’s finally here! The Style Creator makes it super simple to convert MIDI files into styles. It’s so fast—Dirk joked there’s no time for a coffee break because it only takes 10 seconds to complete. Once converted, you can refine it with sounds, drum kits, FX, EQ, panning—you name it! The better the MIDI file, the better the result.

Clean System = Happy System!
Many bugs have been fixed, but remember: this keyboard works best with clean, high-quality files. Avoid downloading random files from the internet, they can cause issues. Keep your system clean for the best experience, learn to sort out files that you know can make your PA5X unhappy.
There are also several other improvements, and will be much more in the future updates, like RX enhancements, a better UI, and overall performance boosts. For all the details, check out the video!

It’s been a tough but rewarding process, and we hope this update makes you as excited as we are about the Pa5X. Since we’re all part of one big Korg family, we’re thrilled to share this with you.
It took us 8 days to put all this together, so if you could spare 8 seconds to subscribe and like our video, we’d be forever grateful! 💖
Thank you all for your support, and we can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Best regard from me and the Global Sound Sweden team.
🌐 Visit us at www.globalsound.se

Hi Taike,

This is brilliant!

I enjoyed watching the 19 minute video elaborating all the wonderful new features in the OS 1.4 Beta update to the Korg Pa5X.

Thanks for capturing this demo by Dirk Lindemann at NAMM. I have subscribed to the GlobalSoundSweden YouTube channel.


https://www.youtube.com/@globalsoundsweden5900/videos


I had one quick question.

The Korg Pa5x has a fully weighted hammer action keybed with Channel Aftertouch.

How does the Responsive Hammer Action (RH-3) keybed on the KRONOS 3 compare to the Pa5x?

Does the RH-3 keybed that is made in Japan have a better action?

Is the RH-3 keybed more suited for pianists?


Best regards,

David

So, no mention anywhere about a Pa-1000 replacement?

I was sure we'll see it this NAMM, but it looks like Korg is not terribly interested in keeping the MOTL arrangers up to date...

Any ideas?

There isn’t much actually NEW here, merely the reintroduction of features that were on a PA4x and missing FOR TWO YEARS on the PA5x. Personally, I find this massively troubling, the song and dance and excitement over stuff that SHOULD have been a Day One release feature. Imagine having a supposedly brand new state of the art arranger, and it couldn’t do the basic act of recording an entire performance in MIDI using the arranger….

That’s been on most arrangers for 20+ years. And is pretty integral to using an arranger in music production.

I guess that PA5x users have been stonewalled by Korg for so long, they have forgotten the outrage most users felt when basic stuff like this was missing after they ponied up $4k for what they expected to actually be an improvement over the previous model.

As to the AWOL MOTL arranger, I’m not feeling charitable enough towards Korg to be able to say that maybe they held off on it until the OS from the PA5x was mature enough to be used in the PA1000’s successor. They certainly didn’t hold off from the PA5x’s release until it was fully functional!

Korg definitely show the signs of disinterest in the arranger market that we saw before Roland bowed out. Long development times, very cursory and slow bug fixing pace, and the abandonment of the low end and middle end lines to concentrate on just the flagship product (much higher profit margin). Not to mention a complete disconnect between development team and customers.

The PA5x’s hardware shows so much promise, but Korg doing the happy dance for simply reintroducing features that should have been there from Day One isn’t doing it justice…

I wish I could test the PA-5X, not that I want to buy it. Unfortunately music stores nearby don't carry arrangers, especially not $5000 ones...

Thanks Diki

I am glad I kept my trusty Pa4X

It's good to read that you're happy and that the Pa4X serves you well. That's what matters! 👍

I had Pa4X a couple of months before I got tha Pa5X, and even if Pa4X is a great machine, personally I would choose the Pa5X over the Pa4X without any doubt.
As well as Pa5X is a wonderful machine, to me the new Pa5X OS is much more logical (and similiar as i.ex. Genos and PC'ish) compared to Pa4.

I think Korg is going to sort out the things not fixed or added, and even add more fun to the Pa5X.
I'm pretty sure that the users that's not fully satisfied now is going to become more happy with the Pa5X as further updates pops up. ❤️🌞

The thing Jonny is, having only had the PA4x for a few months, I imagine that you barely scratched the surface of what it could do, and consequently didn’t really miss what you hadn’t used when it was missing from the PA5x…

I’ve said before, most PA5x users that are brand new to the Korg brand are pretty happy with it. They haven’t invested a lot of time learning and using the advanced features, although I find it surprising that a missing easy ‘capture’ recorder didn’t make even new owners mad they couldn’t easily make a sequence from a style! And let’s not forget, by ‘new’ owners, we’re talking about some who have put up with this basic loss for TWO YEARS! That’s not a new owner in my book! 🥺

There’s still MUCH from the PA4x still missing, a laundry list of unfixed weirdness, and a lot of work to realize the potential of some of the new features. Back in the day, after two years of a new arranger, most moved on to talking about what might be coming next. Not still waiting for basic stuff from the previous model…

Korg needs their existing customers to migrate to new models, not just those new to the Korg brand, and they’ve pretty much scotched that for most existing customers. Again, back in the day, most of us would happily pre-order the next model of our favorite manufacturer sight unseen. Today, I think most PA4x long term users wouldn’t buy a PA6x until someone else did and found out what was wrong or missing first.

That’s a bad situation marketing wise. Yamaha don’t release a TOTL Genos until it actually IS better than the previous one, not release one and then say that ‘in future’ (whatever that means!) they’ll get around to making it better…

Another botched release (say a new MOTL) of a half finished product may very well kill the brand…