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It's about time for me to add another instrument and I'm seriously stuck choosing between 2 candidates: a PA3 X (or other) arranger or a Kronos X.

The ultimate goal is song creation, not playing live in a venue. My thought is to have a tool that enables me to craft the bones of a song more quickly, even if I have to later transport it in some fashion to the Oasys or a Kronos at least via midi tracks in Digital Performer 8.

On the one hand, I've never had an arranger, but the concept that the backing tracks are already down and one can noodle around with developing melodies intrigues me. It's not that I can't develop backing tracks, I've been doing that for years.

What I find with the Oasys is that many ideas are sparked from Karma combies that form a suitable basis as backing which lets me focus more on adding melody.

One of the things that concern me about arrangers: is the sonic fidelity comparable to the Oasys or Kronos? I suspect not and that might be a deal breaker for me, but maybe not if I'm going to be using the midi tracks developed on the arranger in DP8 that can then drive either the O or K.

Another thing is how much variability is there in the "rhythm section" when you might want to punctuate it with gaps instead of sounding like a relentless metronome? (think more like Karma) I'm talking a top of the line unit like a Pa3x, not an entry level one.

Regarding the Kronos X, it seems to have a much larger availability to import new sounds than the Oasys does, which is always good. What I don't know is how difficult it is to combine it with the Oasys as Mike Conway has done. Have there been any significant changes in Karma on it or are significantly more Karmafied combies available for it?

I realize that at some point the Oasys will die and then I'll be forced to move to the Kronos X or whatever takes it place.

Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy both an arranger & a Kronos X at the same time.

I'd sure like to hear your thoughts on which unit to go with.

You might try posting this with the kronos forum.Sounds interesting.

I've been thinking about that for awhile. Seems like the traffic is fairly light here in Oasys land now-a-days.

I resisted putting it into the Kronos forum thinking the responses would be overwhelmingly toward Kronos. I also resisted putting it in the arranger forum for the same reason there.

However, I'm beginning to think it might better to put it in each of those to see what happens since I'm still trying to make the decision.

Thanks for suggestion, it's enough get me off my duff to search further for an answer.

I'd go for the arranger. You already have most of what you need in the Oasys. I'm sure you can midi in the Oasys to take advantage of sounds, at least in sequence mode for sure. Once your Oasys gives up the ghost, then get a Kronos or whatever is the current state of the art at that time. It gives you time to save up, since buying both is too cost restrictive now.

nightcrawler,

Thanks for the reply! It's in some ways what I'm leaning towards, but never had my hands on one is giving great pause to spend the bucks on what is to me a virtual unknown.

If I were interested in solo or duo local gigging, that would be a different story and no further discussion would be needed.

You're right about the Oasys being most of what I need. While I'm still in the process of resurrecting my studio, I haven't found the need to fire up too many of the other 16 sound modules or older keyboards i have.

I just don't know about the quality of the arranger sounds and backing track variation capabilities and at $4000, I can't afford to make a mistake.

kenackr wrote:nightcrawler,
I just don't know about the quality of the arranger sounds and backing track variation capabilities and at $4000, I can't afford to make a mistake.

If can't get "hands on" check out Utube videos of the Pa3x. To me, they sound pretty good; but my ears are not what they once were.

It is a big investment.

I've done some of that but I'll go back and do some more. At this point, I think I'm leaning more towards the Kronos X, however.

I'm in no great rush and still have plenty of exploring to do on the Oasys. Like most folks, I haven't really scratched much more than the surface of it.

I'm also beginning to think about adding a real piano again, but that has it's pros & cons too.

kenackr wrote:The ultimate goal is song creation, not playing live in a venue. My thought is to have a tool that enables me to craft the bones of a song more quickly, even if I have to later transport it in some fashion to the Oasys or a Kronos at least via midi tracks in Digital Performer 8.

Given that you have an OASYS, this would suggest getting an arranger. In terms of that requirement, the Kronos is not much more advanced than the OASYS.

One of the things that concern me about arrangers: is the sonic fidelity comparable to the Oasys or Kronos? I suspect not and that might be a deal breaker for me, but maybe not if I'm going to be using the midi tracks developed on the arranger in DP8 that can then drive either the O or K.

Some argue that the sonic quality of top-line arrangers is better. I won't dig up the threads right now, but they are there.

Have there been any significant changes in Karma on it or are significantly more Karmafied combies available for it?

To be honest, no.

Based on your expressed needs, and the fact that your OASYS is still working, I'd say you'd get more in terms of expanding your potential with one of the arrangers you mention - as long as you truly understand that world and what you will be getting: a preset machine with generally excellent interpretations of various styles of music with which you can write songs and select from a huge array of preprogrammed styles.

Stephen,

Thanks for the reply!

As I was just writing a reply to you, it struck me that since my inspiration came primarily from Karmafied combi grooves, that I should buckle down and really learn all I can about Karma & the Karma Oasys software that I purchased but haven't dug into.

Just maybe I need to learn how to build my own Karmafied combis, rather than spending $4K on an arranger.