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yul_2000
Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 19
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 Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:10 am Post subject: Question on MAXX |
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Hi, I am planning on purchasing a Korg PA and would like to know how useful is the Maxx eq in your everyday life.
In all honesty I am looking at PA1000 but felt the final mix from the demos a bit flat (sound quality still really good).
I have asked around for some opinions and would like to hear yours.
One opinion was that the 1000 would not sound as dynamic as a modx for example.
Are you using maxx for live or in the studio?
I plan to keep mine in the studio for composing but would like a great sound from the start.
Others have said PA1000 sounds as good as 4x without the features obviously. I also heard the maxx was necessary in a live venue.
Is the Maxx a way to improve on the perceived flatness? How necessary is it to get a great final result?
I can certainly use a maximiser on my pc for mastering tracks.
I am very confused as to why this is only on the 4x as it has a big impact on sound and doesnt make the 700-1000 look adequate.
Thanks |
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karmathanever
Platinum Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 10402
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| Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 8:56 am Post subject: |
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My quick reply is that it is excellent and so flexible.
Create your own configurations to suit the environments in which you play.
Love it!!
Pete 
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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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Biggles
Platinum Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2017
Posts: 1011
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| Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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The 1000 and 700 both have Eq which by default is set to off.
Simply turning it on in Global brings the PA alive.
There are also six available Eq presets to choose from.
These presets are fully customisable to suit your needs
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Biggles
Lancashire, UK |
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yul_2000
Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for your replies.
Yes the eq is one thing but the maxx is another..
The fact that a simple maxx is implemented only in the 4x still raises questions.
It makes me feel like the 1000 is not suitable for live.. |
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Musicwithharry
Platinum Member
Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 694
Location: Anamosa, IA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2021 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| yul_2000 wrote: | Thanks for your replies.
Yes the eq is one thing but the maxx is another..
The fact that a simple maxx is implemented only in the 4x still raises questions.
It makes me feel like the 1000 is not suitable for live.. |
I would not look at it like that at all. Sure, the PA4X has every feature available and the lower models in the lineup would not have everything.
This is not a bad thing, it is the nature of adding items/features to the lineup as you go up in price.
I can tell you, confidently, that the PA700 is VERY workable as a live instrument. I have been using mine since September 2017, when they first came out, with great success. I use mine for many diffrent things, but the main thing I originally got it for was to upgrade the unit I was already using when I play at nursing homes. I do this for a living and before COVID, averaged about 50 performances a month - just at nursing homes. I played all genres of music because the reisdents of the homes were from all age brackets. Granted the majority were older in age and I focused on songs from the 1920's to the 1980's, but I added a bit of EVERYthing to my shows.
As I grew in knowledge on the PA700, I also started using it for sequencing at home and it eventually replaced my M50 as the centerpiece of my studio. Now, the M50 sees use for guitar solos while the PA700 does all of the really hard work.
I also use it for DJing at times because I can store MP3 songs in there and use it that way too.
I can also program it like a regular synthesizer and have had liitlel trouble getting just about ANY sound I wanted from it.
I also use the PA700 as the main board in my live setup for my solo music, consisting of almost every genre there.
I also use the PA700 for the main instrument in a duo and in a trio that I am putting together. It has proven capable in every situation I have put the PA700 in.
Being as though I use the PA700 in the studio as well, I find that I am not lacking anything in that department. I am able to control all of my MIDI gear with it. I used to mix and EQ all of my tracks in the PA700 and simply go with a two-track to my DAW or recorder, but have started going with each individual track into the DAW. With the EQ/EFX settings for each track already done in the PA700, I find that I need to add very little to most of them in the DAW. The exception would be the drums, and that is because I also use an Alesis SR16 drum machine to layer with the drums on the PA700. This is mostly for adding punch for live work, but the layer of the two drum kits really adds something in the studio recordings, as well. Of course, I add compression on the drums a bit and EQ them a bit differently in the DAW to make them stand out (an inherent problem with electronic drums in a dense recording), but they really sound real and big. It is not a fault of the PA at all.
With regard to Maxx - I do not know what I am missing, I guess, because the PA700 does not have it either. The PA700/PA1000 have a 4-band EQ and a Limiter on the output stage. I have created custom EQ settings and custom Limiter settings depending on what I am using the PA700 for.
I believe that using the sonic maximizer programs are getting a bit out of hand anyway because it seems that from a production standpoint, they want EVERYTHNIG loud to the point where there is no longer any dynamics in the music. Sure, I want the best, loudest and clearest possible mix for an album, but to do it to the point where one does not have any dynamic range in their music defeats writing dynamic music. I am looking at it from a studio standpoint now, as I own a studio and have for 30 years...
I think that you would enjoy the PA700 or the PA1000. I would not only read the specs, do research here in the forums, and watch as many videos as you can of these machines in action, but also PLAY one, in person, so you can experience it yourself.
I think that focusing so much attention on the features and what it may lack compared to the flagship without playing one is self-defeating and doing yourself a disservice.
Try to find one and play it in person and see what you think. I think that you will find that any of them may suit your needs. If you need vocal harmonies and such then the PA1000 or the PA4X would meet your needs there too.
I had originally considered the PA1000 before I got the PA700, but due to availability and other issues that arose with the PA1000, I ultimately chose the PA700. It was the right price, was available when I wanted it and it paid off with huge dividends in my music is every aspect. I am not sorry I got it at all.
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 |
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yul_2000
Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for your kind reply. Lots of valuable information.
Possibly the only reason for the existence of Maxx on the Pa4x is for it's intent on actual live use as a complete sound source / OMB.
Whereas the 700/1000 are perhaps meant for smaller/studio/home uses with the integrated speakers and a DAW. It is always a possible to use a maximizer inside a DAW with any finished tracks and loaded back into the PA1000 I guess..
Not that I use a maximiser in general unless the sound is too compressed and this is why I was asking in the first place. The sounds on the PA are really excellent but there seemed to have a slight compressed feel (maybe it's just the EQ as others have posted).
On a Pa3X thread a user mentioned that the Maxx was nice but the effect not as drastic or as important as a good eq in the first place. |
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Musicwithharry
Platinum Member
Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 694
Location: Anamosa, IA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| yul_2000 wrote: | | Possibly the only reason for the existence of Maxx on the Pa4x is for it's intent on actual live use as a complete sound source / OMB. |
On Korg's website, MAXX is listed as a "Final Mastering Effect". I agree that this can help the final output of a mix, but in the wrong hands, can cause all sorts of problems.
| yul_2000 wrote: | | Whereas the 700/1000 are perhaps meant for smaller/studio/home uses with the integrated speakers and a DAW. It is always a possible to use a maximizer inside a DAW with any finished tracks and loaded back into the PA1000 I guess.. |
I strongly disagree. The PA700 and PA1000 have a professional sound and with the use of the Master EQ and Master Limiter, you can get a very powerful and punchy sound if you want to. These keyboards also sound just fine without those two things being used.
| yul_2000 wrote: | | Not that I use a maximiser in general unless the sound is too compressed and this is why I was asking in the first place. The sounds on the PA are really excellent but there seemed to have a slight compressed feel (maybe it's just the EQ as others have posted). |
I am not sure what you are talking about with a 'compressed' feel. I do not feel or hear any abnormal compression in the sounds themselves, unless I compress them myself. It is true that when you are playing acoustic instrument samples on an electronic instrument (namely drums), there is only 'so loud' they can go. This is the inherent nature of acoustic instruments being sampled in the first place. It does become more evident in more dense passages of music, and especially evident during mixdown sessions of said desnse passages. There is a workaround and that is to mix the drums separately in the mix instead of using a 2-track recording. For a live situation, having an extra set of dedicated outputs would also allow for EQing the drums differently than the rest of the mix. The PA4X has extra outputs in addition to the main l/r outputs. Another workaround is to add a drum machine. This is what I do. The mixture of the internal drum kits and the internal drum machine, mixed together, make a great drum sound.
Maybe MAXX would help with some of that, but it is difficult to expand a compressed wave that is not externally compressed on purpose. There are different EQ settings that can help augment different frequencies and such, and it sounds like the algorithms in Waves Audio MAXX do this. It is not a 'cure all' for making you sound better, per se.
I have never really experienced any issues using the PA700 as the main sound source in my material. With the right EQ curve, you can get a very detailed and 'un-muddied' sound. I use the Limiter when playing live at the nursing homes, because I do not want to blow the speakers. I use the PA700 without a PA system in most of the nursing homes because of the size of the rooms. The 50 Watt system built into the PA700 sounds just fine and can be heard very well. In places where I need a PA, I bring one and I have never had an issue with the PA700 sounding muddy.
I do have different EQ/Limiter settings when using the built-in speakers and when using the PA700 with a PA system. In the studio , I turn the built-in speakers off and use studio monitors or another PA (the pa is for practice with the duo/trio, or when I just want to get loud).
When I record a song in the multi-track, I send each stereo track by itself into a corresponding stereo track in the recorder. This gives me the ability to mix everything, just like I would if I were physically playing the guitar/bass/drum tracks myself into the recorder. There is much more control of each sound that way (which is pretty standard). Additionally, each track can be EQ'd separately in the PA keyboards. To go evern further, you can tune each drum sound group in the drum kit, change the pitch, add ambience, and add different EFX levels for each drum group. The PA keyboards are very powerful in that regard.
I am not discounting MAXX effects at all on the PA4X, it is just that since I do not have them on the PA700 (or PA1000), I have never had to work with them. If anything, that should say something about the sound of the lower cost units anyway 
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 |
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yul_2000
Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks so much, this really helps understand these series of keyboards.
Yes quite possibly this synth sounds stellar without too much manipulation.
The youtube videos are sometimes recorded with an Iphone it doesn't make it justice.
For multi-band sound maximizing, I had this done on an album and it's a great "effect" especially on bass/drums but the album sounded awesome without it too..it's just an effect so it seems.
Thanks again |
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