The Three Deadly Sins with a Korg Micro Arranger

[johnsmies]

Over the last six weeks or so we have seen how this new mini arranger first hit the streets in the USA. We have also witnessed some folks who already want to sell it again within weeks. There is nothing wrong with that in itself and seeing the streetprice (new) in the States you can't go wrong very far or loose out a lot in selling. Compared to the top arrangers we are truly talking peanuts here.
In my view and for what it is worth the three deadly sins with the Micro are these:
1. Playing the Micro basically on the Micro keys itself.
2. Playing the Micro thru its own internal amplification.
3. Playing the Micro with basically the factory presets.

It goes without saying that unboxing the Micro one has to give it a maiden spin which implies playing the darn thing on its own keys and thru its own (lousy) amplification. Now I know some here have said they do not find the small keys to be a problem, Colin for one even preferred them. Personally I am convinced that if you want to warm to the use of this Korg you should try and hook it up to major keys as soon as possible.(also see page 8 of my webpages where I have explained how to do so with a Yamaha keyboard).
I had the Micro in my home for one afternoon over the weekend and of course tried out some of my copious software. The amplification is really poor. I hooked it up ( audio wise) to my Korg PA800 and later Yamaha PSR300) and the Micro sounded absolutely great. Even hooking it up to my Creative gigaworks T10 (or T20) speakers made it sing. So why persist in using its internal amplification other than very short spells in between whatever, one should not bother to play it on its own.
As to the third point, a bit tricky cause it may sound like "when did your trumpeter die ?!". But I believe there is also a proper English adage that says " What is the good of a sundial in the shade ? "
With the possible exemption of the Yamaha Tyros I have heard very few arranger keyboards that sound terrific and impressive straight out of the box. And that certainly goes for Korg and Roland as far as I am concerned. I had the PA50 and PA80 for five years and programmed intensively on both. Why would one not want to avail himself of those sources ? surely not because of the 25 euro that I am asking as a donation ? I know for a fact that many Yamaha players buy styles at regular intervals paying up 5 to 10 dollars for one single style !!!

In conclusion I want to say that people who observe these three points and taken into consideration the incredibly low streetprice in the USA cannot go wrong with the acquisition of such a keyboard. My two cents for what they are worth......

kind regards,
John Smies