Biggles wrote:I sold my 700 because it was full and because of the poor keybed.
The Next OS in the 4X was released two years ago and even then the 4X is an old design.
Where are the OS updates for both the 700 and 1000, nowhere?
Both are on v1.5 which given that the 700 and 1000 were both released in 2017 is pretty damming of Korg.
Since 2018 Yamaha have released the Genos and the SX 600, 700 & 900 models.
What have Korg released, yet more and more Synths and the cut down Kronos which is the Nautilus.
Arranger users are being very badly served by Korg in fact they are not being served at all.
Sorry to hear that you sold your PA700. I still have mine from September 2017 and it is getting more use than ever (even with COVID hindering my live performances). I find it a very capable instrument in my studio and still the centerpiece of my songwriting and sequencing.
I am not sure what people expect from Korg from the arranger category, as even though we love the instruments, they are still what I would consider a 'niche' instrument. There is very little that I wish Korg would change about them, to be honest, as they serve my purpose very well. There was one lingering problem I had with MIDI control of external instruments (namely, for me, a drum machine to layer with Korg's built in drum sounds) and siebenhirter gave me advice that solved that problem. Thanks again siebenhirter
I know that the keybed on the PA700 is not the best - I think that it is the same one as on the Kross 2. Yeah, they are not the most musical, but maybe I am able to adapt better to a keybed than others. I simply use what I have been given when I buy something.
I will agree that Korg have paid more attention to their synth line than they have their arranger line. Again, for me, that is not really a problem, as the PA700 really does work for me. It is obvious that is not the case for everyone.
I read the comments as they come in, as I check the forum daily on almost every category that they have a thread on. There are many posts about 'I just bought this and I want to add my own sounds'. While that is fine, I wonder if the user actually took the time to listen to what Korg have already provided in the Factory resources... I know that not every sound on our PA keyboards are the best that Korg have to offer, but most of them are really good. The obvious exception would be a really good main piano sound for the PA700 (that is why I loaded in the Yamaha C5 piano sample set from Reuben). THe PA1000 and PA4X have the better piano sounds already in the factory resources. Others have commented about the guitar sounds. I really find nothing much wrong with them at all, because part of playing a convincing guitar sound on a keyboard has as much to do with the articulation (playing) of that sound as much as the samples that are used IN that sound.
I also understand about configuring the unit to one's specifications, but sometimes I think that our expectations are bit high in this regard. These are not synths like the Kronos with lots of memory available for loading in our own samples (well, maybe the PA4X is, but it IS the flagship...).
I read the comments about the lower models in the PA series under the PA4X not having enough sample RAM and such and that puts people off. Are they thinking that this keyboard should be more like soft-synth and have the ability to load whatever we want in them? I do not think that this is realistic.
With the above said, I think that it would be really neat if Korg made the PA Series a bit more open-ended so that we could install more sample RAM and have more configurability in their arrangers. I, for one, would like to be able to change the colors on my screen to something that is more pleasing to me. I also wish that we could stack multiple MIDI tracks in the sequencer on a single MIDI channel (like on their synths). This would free up more space in the sequencer when multiple sounds are playing the same pattern/sequence. Right now, if I want two tracks to play the same part, I have to copy one track to another track and change the sound on that track to the other sound I want. This takes up memory in the sequencer, and being able to change the MIDI channel on a given track would be easier and more efficient.
With regard to siebenhirter's ongoing issue with the StyToKbdSet thingy, I am not sure how Korg would venture to fix that. I am not even sure that I understand fully what he is talking about. I do find the PA Series a bit fiddly when wanting to change a specific Keyboard Set in an already saved slot in the Songbook. Maybe it is my lack of understanding how to fully operate that portion of the arranger... I do not know.
I did find a video from Luke from Korg on the topic of Keyboard Sets and Styles here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8gyQZhpTzc . I am not sure if this would help at all. I have a number of custom entries in the Songbook that point to an MP3 soundbed for my original music and the main sound that I play over those soundbeds. I am also putting MIDI files in there too for many other original songs and set the Keyboard Sets up accordingly. Other than that, I simply pick a style (Factory or User) and play along with them in Style Mode.
Yamaha has a few new entries in the arranger market (the SX700 and SX900, the SX600 is not an option for me), and they are pretty nice, but I think that they really do pale in comparison to Korg's offerings. I am intrigued by the new DGX670 in lots of ways, but the lack of 5-pin MIDI puts me off because I have a lot of legacy MIDI gear that I want to control. I really do not want to buy a USB to MIDI host device or a specific PC to be able to interface with them all. The EFX routings on the new SX arrangers are better than on the PA Series (even the PA4X), though. Korg would do well to do something similar to Yamaha in this category.
Maybe Korg will surprise us with a new arranger or two (or more). I would not hold my breath, though. I am not sure how I would feel about a new arranger series though, unless they offered OS upgrades on the existing line that gives us most/all of the OS features that the new arrangers would give us.
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
