Pa3xLE vs Pa4x: is it that different?

[pmaggie]

So, I eventually took my time to test the Pa4x. I own a Pa3x LE and until now I never had the chance to test the the new model. Coming from the boiled down version, my expectations were very high (perhaps too high...).
I have to underline that in this post I'm not considering the hardware department, I know that the LE lacks some serious features like the drawbar slides, the phantom input, the EC-5 input, the separates outputs etc., I'm just considering the sound itself.
My firs test was the classic "go to the shop and play". I confess that I was not very impressed, the sounds of the Pa4x are great but I couldn't hear such a terrific difference between the 4 and the LE (that means, a fine dressed PA900). I'm not a pro, so I thought I was simply not able to understand the difference. Since the amount of money between the LE and the 4x is very high, I decided to perform a more "scientific" test.
Back home, I recorded the same song playing live with styles both as a song (midi format) and as an mp3. I put the two files on an USB stick and I returned to the shop. I loaded on the 4x both the midi and the mp3 as song1 and song2, I started the two songs simultaneously and I played with the song fader to hear the difference. The surprise was big, No difference. I'm not speaking about a slightly difference man, no difference!! Also the shop owner was very surprised. He underlined that the new 4x has a lot of new and beautiful sounds, that the piano was really improved and so on but he had to admit that perhaps most of the sound library was not improved in any way "since the sounds are already quite perfect" (he's a fantastic seller...). So I decided to perform a second test. On the same USB key, I recorded with the 4x some free piano playing and sequence of selected notes as an MP3 file. Back home, I made the same with my LE. Then I asked to the other 3 guys of my band to listen the two mp3 and tell which was the best piano sound (we listened them through our band setup, a Presonus 24 channel digital mixer with big reference speakers). Excluding me for the obvious reason that I knew which one was the 4x file, 2 opted for the LE and one for the 4x. I'm not saying that the LE piano is better than the 4x one, just saying that out of a semi professional setup you can't say that the 4x is better hands down, seems more a matter of personal taste. Keeping in mind that the file was piano only, is the difference noticeable in a real world situation (live playing)?
And the final answer is: is the Pa4x worth the price coming from a Pa3xLE/Pa900 if you don't need the additional hardware? And from the Pa3x (same hardware configuration as the 4x)?

[advid]

..if you go out playing at gigs your 'average' audience won't care a jot if your keyboard sounds are good, very good, realistic or even super realistic....

If they come back to you at the end of the night and say' thanks - that was really good'.....they are commenting on your overall performance... playing the stuff they wanted to hear...

It's only the now and again guy that comments on 'that's a nice keyboard'...'what make is it'....'I also play the keyboard at home'...wish mine sounded like yours...'

But - unless he's he a 'super nerd' even he probably couldn't tell the difference between a PA3x or a PA4x on stage... to many other things to take into account - hall acoustics - PA system/speakers etc etc.

My PA900 does the job for me...

[tombikadam]

instead of sounds, Pa4x is a little superior than other models, more RAM, different sound engine, using 2 sets at the sametime, but the structure is the same including buttons! but I guess KORG thinks their users to comply with the new models when buying a new one... I have the disappointment too because I waited a beast that is completely better than 3x but there is I guess not much difference in total

[duby2]

advid

You are so right

[musiccankill]

I had both the pa3x and the pa4x home for about a month and i can say that the difference is huuuuge!The 3xle has better piano than the 3x and the 900 (has 64mb bigger factory rom and most probably it is for the piano).
The test you did with the mid file wasn't as good as you may think as midi files use GM sounds to be played back and not the real engine of the system..
You should have done the check with a factory style that is present in both the 3xle and the 4x. Where the pa4x wins hands down though is the clarity in the whole style mix.Especially compared to the 3x cause i heard the 3xle to be a bit cleaner than 3x too..3x is older generation hardware and the factory library is compressed as in 2x/800 and compression of that strength (~50%) means that we have a bit of audio loss...
I don't believe though that the audience will be able to easily tell the difference in a live situation between the 3xle and the 4x.I would only make the change because i like the sound of 4x way more than any older machine..

[pmaggie]

Actually, I did not make the test with a midi file, I know they use the GM set. I recorded a live performance using styles on the LE, saved as a song (that is midi format anyway) and loaded the song with the 4x. Exactly same sound, no GM set involved.
Interesting what you're saying about the fact that the LE is i someway "newer" and better for some aspect than the 3x. Maybe this is the reason why I did not find any big difference in the sound in comparison to the 4x. I always thought that the LE was boiled down version, a well dressed Pa900 (more robust for live situation), inferior than the 3x.

[musiccankill]

Well hardwarewise pa3x is almost the same as pa800/2x/pa500/m3/m50 and maybe others too while the 3xle shares the same architecture as pa300/600/900/4x.Cpu board between the newer models is almost the same.What changes are the RAM (300/600 have 512mb chip while 900/3xle/4x have 1Gb chip) and the nand memory (the 4x has bigger 16gb for the streamed samples and their backup files while the old ones had 4gb if i recall correctly).Thats the reason why the 3x was so slow compared to the newer released models.Functionwise the 3xle has less features than the old 3x like the effect number,but having a newer and faster cpu makes it respond faster and having raw factory library rather than compressed (and 64mb bigger on the 3xle (256mb compressed for the 3x ,576mb raw for the 3xle)) makes the sound cleaner and better if you don't need the extra effexts the 3x has.

[pmaggie]

Thanks a lot, very interesting. Your one is the first really technical explanation I read ant it puts everything in place. Until today, I always read opinions based on a "ranking", i.e. lower step PA900/LE, next step Pa3x, higher step Pa4x. Now everything is clear, thank you.
If you put in comparison the LE and the Pa4x what please are the real plus of the 4x? Do you think it's worth the price I have to pay for the switch (about 2000 euros)? Last question (thanks for your patience!): what do think about the 4x mic pitch correction? Is it at the same level of the software plug in like Autotune or Melodyne?
Thank you!