I would second the idea of getting the PA700. I have one and have used it almost daily since I first got it in September 2017 (hard to believe it has been 3 years already). I find new things out about it each time I play it.
It is a remarkable instrument and really is feature packed, even though it is considered the entry level of the PA Series. There is really nothing on it that I cannot do, or at least that I have not found yet.
I write MIDI files on it for a trio that I am putting together and have around 300 custom MIDI files for it, including original material, and it always sounds great.
I used it in church as well when I was the music director/musician for a local church and it always worked well. It really brought the 'praise and worship' up a few notches from what I experienced before in other arrangers (including the PA500 that I used to have).
If the stock pianos are not to your liking, there is a Yamaha C5 sample pack for free in this forum that you can load into it. I have, and it sounds great.
I used to use the PA700 in the classic rock nthat I am in, but changed to a more conventional synth setup (consisting of 6 synths) and really needed an 88-key unit for piano and controlling everything else. The PA700 stays at home and I program the MIDI files on it for the trio (as soon as the COVID thing lessens and we get to play out).
I also exclusively use the PA700 for the nursing home music ministry that I have. With COVID in place, I have not really played at a nursing home since March, but I was doing about 50 gigs a month using the PA700 and it never failed me. I almost always used the styles for the nursing homes, but also found myself playing different MIDI arrangements of songs as well. I have been dioin that ministry for over 11 years now amd the PA700 was a MAJOR step up from the arranger I was using before I got the PA700.
I also use it for my solo show (again, kind of on hold due to COVID) and play a combination of MIDI arrangements of my songs and MP3 soundbeds of my songs. I mostly play the lead lines on the PA700, but also have a Korg M50 that shares certain lead sounds on my songs. I have 24 solo albums out and so my set list is diverse with all of the different styles of music I play.
For the price, I have NEVER had a better instrument to cover all of the different styles of music I play. It sounds great playing rock just as easily as it sounds great playing my original orchestral pieces. Even the Double Reed sound works well and the ONLY other instrument that makes those sounds to my liking are my Ensoniq VFX synth from 30 years ago. The violin sounds are pretty good, but still lacks something to my ears that the Ensoniq still gets right. It may be just a matter of taste on that sound, though. I have created a number of custom patches and they all sound good on the PA700. Some are copies of sounds I used on the Ensoniq synths, and while they lack the character of the Ensoniq, the Korg does a really good job of bringing the emulation of the sounds fairly well. The custom lead guitar patches I made on the PA700 are so good that I have stopped using my Fender Strat in my studio. It woks that well for what I need.
For the trio I am putting together, I am using the PA700, an Alesis SR-16 drum machine (to supplement the drum sounds on the PA700) and my old Korg M50 (mainly for lead guitar sounds). It is a potent setup that sounds great and will provide all we need. The trio is myself on keys (and some lead and background vocals), another dedicated female lead singer, and another female lead/background singer who also plays a Korg M50 (I sold my extra M50 to her a couple of years ago). While the guitars on the PA700 are better than on the M50, I have used the PA700 guitar sounds (like bends and such) as a template to make more believable guitar leads on the M50. I will say that the effects section on the M50 is a bit more deep than on the PA700 for individual sounds (5 insert EFX, 2 main EFX and a total effect), but I have never really run into problems on the PA700 when putting full scores together with leads over the top.
If you need vocal harmony stuff, then the PA1000 is also a good choice. It has everything the PA700 has but features more memory, sounds, and styles over the PA700. It also has a tiltable touch screen and the tc helicon harmony stuff built in.
The PA4X is the top of the line, so it has everything you would want. The price of entry may be a little steep and may be more than what you need for what you are doing.
I have never really had a polyphony issue on the PA700 either. A lot of my original music features dense orchestral sections and I never run out of notes. On MIDI sequences that are 10 tracks or more of music, I can still confidently play a lead sound over the top and not run out of notes.
I hope that this helps a bit
Grace,
Harry
Alesis Vortex Keytar, Alesis QS6.2, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR-16, Behringer Deepmind-12, Ensoniq Avista 7600, Ensoniq VFX, Ensoniq VFX-SD, Ensoniq SQ1+, (2) Ensoniq SQ-R+/32, Korg i3 (2020 Version), (2) Korg Kross 1-61, (2) Korg Kross 1-88, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Minilogue XD Module, Korg M50-61, Korg PA700, Korg X5DR, Korg Z3, Kurzweil SP1, Lowrey EZP3 (bascially a Kawai), Roland D-05, Roland E-09, Waldorf Streichfett, Yamaha Reface CP, Yamaha Reface CS, Yamaha Reface DX, Yamaha Reface YC
