Korg updates to manuals suck.

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Biggles
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Korg updates to manuals suck.

Post by Biggles »

I have a PA700 and if course an electronic manual.

A few months ago I upgraded the op system from version 1.0 to 1.1 and also downloaded the amendments to the original manual.

Now version 1.2 of the op system is available and yet another manual supplement with 14 pages of changes.

So now if I want to find out something I have three manuals to check instead of one.

This is going to get pretty dire by the time we get to version 1.9 with having to check nine potential manuals/supplements.

So come on Korg amend the original manual to reflect the op system changes and issue the full manual as version 1.1, 1.2, 1.3x etc so we just have the one manual related to the exact op system version we have in our keyboards.
Biggles
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Biggles
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Post by Biggles »

I sent an email to Korg UK.

Their response
.
.
Thank you for your feedback.

While I can understand how what you are suggesting could be useful, in the eyes of others, they may prefer to look only at the new functionality/improvements included with a new OS update in which case having a separate document specifically for this is much more preferable.

In either case, we expect this should not cause any difficulties since they are reference documents which we don’t expect users will need to refer to very often.

Best regards,
Biggles
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Sharp
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Post by Sharp »

To be honest with you, I'd have to agree with KORG. I prefer the manuals the way they are formatted right now.

All due respect to KORG too, the manuals are written extremely well.

Just my 2 cents.
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Biggles
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Post by Biggles »

Not sure how you cannsay that.

Korg manuals are written in Klingon.

The Kross 2 manual is so bad I had to read the Roland DS manual first, & watch the Roland DS videos before I could fully understand how to do things on my Kross 2.
Biggles
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Paolo@Korg
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Post by Paolo@Korg »

Hi,

I don't know if there was some delay in updating the web site, but I see the User Manual you can download from www.korg.com is updated to the latest releasead OS.

So, you can both see only the added/changed features in the Upgrade Manual, or have an overview of all the current features in the complete User Manual.

Best,
Paolo
romney_yw
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Korg Manuals

Post by romney_yw »

I have just upgraded the OS in my PA700 to V1.3.0.

There is a V1.3 User Manual available to accompany the new OS version, as well as an updated version of the upgrade manual. The upgrade manual documents all the changes to the software since the original release, making it clear what changes were introduced with each release, while the full manual describes the full features of the software in the corresponding version of OS. I also have a V1.2 User Manual for the V1.2.0 OS (and there was presumably a V1.1 Manual to accompany the V1.1.0 OS - but this was before I became a PA700 owner, so I cannot comment directly).

This is a fairly standard documentation practice which does not require the user to sift through multiple copies of the documents. There is a full version of the manual to accompany your version of the OS, plus a related Upgrade Manual allowing you to quickly identify what has been changed since all earlier versions of the OS. You read either the full manual OR the upgrade version (only) depending on what you want to know, and how familiar you are with earlier OS releases.

I cannot comment on manuals for anything other than the 01/Wfd and the PA700. On the whole, I think Korg has done a pretty good job with both of these machines. They are powerful machines with extensive and complex functionality and the manuals reflect that. You may need to read a bit to find out what you are looking for, but the PA700 manuals start out simply (playing the sounds) and gradually lead on to more complex actions (programming pads, editing sounds). To my mind at least, they are written in reasonably clear style with illustrations and tables of detail where appropriate.

So in defence of Korg, I think they've done a pretty good job, in accordance with standard documentation practice. The manuals don't need changing - they are already structured in the correct fashion. I too like them as they are. If you read a little more carefully, you will discover that you only ever need one of two possible manuals, depending on which OS version you are running in your PA700.
Biggles
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Post by Biggles »

The point is you look up a feature in the original manual.

Then have to look through the upgrade partial manual to see if the feature you looked up in the original manual has changed in the upgrade.

Come the next upgrade and you then have yet another partial manual to see if said features have been changed

It would be so much better if a complete new manual was issued with each update, with the actial details of the upgrades included in the main manual text. Within an Addendum the feature changes could be listed.
Biggles
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romney_yw
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Post by romney_yw »

If you look at the existing manuals carefully, you will see that they are already structured in the way you are suggesting. There is a new V1.3 manual issued with the V1.3.0 OS which describes the complete operation at that release. That is the only manual you need to look at.

There are also earlier versions of the manual corresponding to the earlier releases of the OS, so if you haven't upgraded to the latest version, you can just read the single manual which applies to your version of OS - although if you didn't download them when your OS was the "current" version, you may now have difficulty downloading the earlier versions of the manuals from the Korg website.

However, if you are familiar with a previous version of the OS, the upgrade manual shows you quickly what changes have been introduced in each update of the software. Each version of this manual includes all the previous changes, clearly identifying the OS version at which they were introduced. Again you only need to read the version of the upgrade manual which corresponds to the OS version you have installed.

I hope that helps.....
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