EXB-M256 expansion cards for European customers

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:34 pm

If anyone in Europe is having difficulty getting an EXB-M256 expansion card for your Pa2x, what I suggest is as follows:

At this web site rent yourselves a "virtual" USA post box at parcel2go's USA depot.
https://www.parcel2go.com/Rent-US-Address.aspx

Order the cards from www.korgusa.com and specify your parcel2go USA mail address as the delivery address. The EXB-M256 cards are listed as M3 accessories, they are the correct cards for the Pa2x also.

Best regards,
Rob

Vangelismusic · Post by **Vangelismusic** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:37 pm

I guess this would hold true for any company that does not ship worldwide, although most companies do, I guess KORG does not?

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:02 pm

Vangelismusic wrote:I guess this would hold true for any company that does not ship worldwide, although most companies do, I guess KORG does not?

Yes the Parcel2Go forwarding system works for any goods purchased in the USA where the seller will not ship internationally. Note that on import to Greece there will be about 25% of the invoice value including cost of shipping to pay (21% VAT, 2.5% import tax, 1.5% handling fee).

The Korg USA on line store only ships to USA addresses.

Best regards,
Rob

Vangelismusic · Post by **Vangelismusic** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:06 pm

Rob Sherratt wrote:
Vangelismusic wrote:I guess this would hold true for any company that does not ship worldwide, although most companies do, I guess KORG does not?
Yes the Parcel2Go forwarding system works for any goods purchased in the USA where the seller will not ship internationally. Note that on import to Greece there will be about 25% of the invoice value including cost of shipping to pay (21% VAT, 2.5% import tax, 1.5% handling fee).

The Korg USA on line store only ships to USA addresses.

Best regards,
Rob

I have contacted someone in Customs in the past, and these figures are not exactly as you state, they asked me what it is, what's it's used for, will I resell it and a whole bunch of other nonsense, Greece is one of the worst in Customs, they can charge anything they want and you cannot do anything about it and now that we are in this MESS, forget about it, they will squeeze as much as possible to get every bit of juice out of you.

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:41 pm

I don't want this thread to become another "lets knock the Greeks" slanging match. I have the greatest respect for my Greek neighbors. My friend Soutiris is a customs and immigration officer. I have other Greek friends who work in Insurance and local Government.

Goods coming via courier (e.g. FedEx) or postal service into Greece from USA are always inspected and if the invoice value exceeds about 40 Euros, then VAT, Import Tax, and Handling Fee are payable. The VAT has just gone up from 19% to 21%, and Import Tax and Handling Fee together add about another 4% for personal purchases, but may be as high as 8% on some commercial goods. Prior to last week, as a non-commercial importer, I was always charged a total of 23% of total invoice value (P&P included in invoice value). It is now 25% with the VAT increase.

With respect, the fees on courier and postal imports are not arbitrary and are not subject to the whim of the customs officers. They will question the recipient if fraud may have been committed, for example if they suspect that the invoice value has been under-declared.

Best regards,
Rob

dragoncaz · Post by **dragoncaz** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:53 am

I will buy EXB-M256 only if korg update OS for add more space.
I think actualy the expansion is good for who need only big sample
But I need more and more user slot, for User sounds, user drumkit
Performance and styles too!!! because I have many samples (and not so big) but don't have space to save it. and of course I don't want to overvrite the internal sound.
there is more than 1 year I wait and hope for this update but nothing from korg. maybe pa2x is stop update and future is only for little fix
then I don't buy the expansion

AdDeRoo · Post by **AdDeRoo** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:26 am

Hi all

http://www.dwmusicstore.nl/ sell the EXB for 149 Euro excl shipping and ship to many countries in Europe (english website)

I have ordered in from Korg, opening a US Postbox as Rob indicated. Will see how that goes.

If I calculate everything (PO box costs, shipping costs, and Italian VAT), I might still come close to the DWStore price..

But then again with the US Postbox, I can use that for a whole year, because you rent it for an entire year

Ad

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 2:13 pm

dragoncaz wrote:I will buy EXB-M256 only if korg update OS for add more space. I think actualy the expansion is good for who need only big sample. But I need more and more user slot, for User sounds, user drumkit Performance and styles too!!! because I have many samples (and not so big) but don't have space to save it. and of course I don't want to overvrite the internal sound. there is more than 1 year I wait and hope for this update but nothing from korg. maybe pa2x is stop update and future is only for little fix then I don't buy the expansion

Hi dragoncaz,

User slots including user styles etc are stored in the internal SSD (like compact flash card). The EXB-M256 is RAM memory used for playback of samples. When you turn power off they disappear and have to be copied from SSD to RAM each time the system starts up.

I don't think Korg will modify the OS to create more User slots, though of course it is for them to say, not me. However while you are waiting for Korg to change the OS if ever, you can unprotect the factory Sound and Style and Performance slots and replace them with your own if you want. For Styles, there is already plenty of space with ten FAVORITE banks in addition to the USER style banks. I do agree that it would be nice if we could also have ten FAVORITE banks for Sounds and Drumkits as well.

If you don't buy the EXB-M256 then you will never be able to use the fantastic Irish Acts 4-layer grand piano sound that Sharp and I created specially for you

Best regards,
Rob

dragoncaz · Post by **dragoncaz** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:33 pm

thanks Rob, but I know how pa2x work.
I have my personal Piano sounds: I work only with styles, no midi, no mp3 and the slot are never enough. yes, it's true about many user styles,
all favorite bank and possibilty to rewrite internal (my set is all changed as normal). but for example to have more slot for every category like disco, 8beat or other make job easy. I'm talking about more slot for every page. Example: I use many dance styles. then have bank favorite or internal dance bank with more and more pages free.
about the exb 256 ,(and the price ? is only 256mb ... smile) the ram need for me styles too because use loop audio, and many waves drum kit. I don't need your big piano 256 mb I have my personal created and very happy. what I need is user space to put my samples and new sounds. Try to create many groove, loops and see how user slot are next to full.
actually I have many pianos, many drum sounds and many loop audio and about 20 mb free ram (without exb). I don't load more samples because I don't know where put it. No sense. I put new piano sound in bass slot that don't use ? or what ? user sounds are full.

Vex · Post by **Vex** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:47 pm

dragoncaz wrote:I will buy EXB-M256 only if korg update OS for add more space.
I think actualy the expansion is good for who need only big sample
But I need more and more user slot, for User sounds, user drumkit
Performance and styles too!!! because I have many samples (and not so big) but don't have space to save it. and of course I don't want to overvrite the internal sound.
there is more than 1 year I wait and hope for this update but nothing from korg. maybe pa2x is stop update and future is only for little fix
then I don't buy the expansion

dragoncaz wrote:thanks Rob, but I know how pa2x work.
I have my personal Piano sounds: I work only with styles, no midi, no mp3 and the slot are never enough. yes, it's true about many user styles,
all favorite bank and possibilty to rewrite internal (my set is all changed as normal). but for example to have more slot for every category like disco, 8beat or other make job easy. I'm talking about more slot for every page. Example: I use many dance styles. then have bank favorite or internal dance bank with more and more pages free.
about the exb 256 ,(and the price ? is only 256mb ... smile) the ram need for me styles too because use loop audio, and many waves drum kit. I don't need your big piano 256 mb I have my personal created and very happy. what I need is user space to put my samples and new sounds. Try to create many groove, loops and see how user slot are next to full.
actually I have many pianos, many drum sounds and many loop audio and about 20 mb free ram (without exb). I don't load more samples because I don't know where put it. No sense. I put new piano sound in bass slot that don't use ? or what ? user sounds are full.

I MUST agree with ALL dragoncaz's comments - because I have the same problem. User sound & drum banks are not proportional to ram memory,especially there's no sense with 256 exp.slot. ... Pa1 has 32 mb,pa800 64mb -and for that amount of ram memory 256 user sounds an 64 DK is enough....but where to put other 64mb or 192mb ram sounds in pa2??? I do not want to overwrite internal sounds because two reasons: 1. I may need sometime that overwrited sound,an 2. (maybe most important) these sounds (if they will be in internal memoru) will be gone if new OS come... So it's nice -pa2x with 256 mb ram- but with that amount of user space- is useless

dragoncaz · Post by **dragoncaz** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:52 am

it's good to read that now pa800 can be expand to 256 ram and 128 user drum kit !! I don't undestart how they do it without modify os
but maybe pa2x will be some good in future, hope

do you know xprodata ?
they modify OS of pa2x and it has more sounds pages, and more drumkit pages (not rewritable) infact in the screen there is 2 plus switch for
additional pages. how they do it ?
then why they don't make the same but put slot rewitable ?
then I will buy exb immediately

mrniceneasy · Post by **mrniceneasy** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:42 am

dragoncaz wrote: do you know xprodata ?
they modify OS of pa2x and it has more sounds pages, and more drumkit pages (not rewritable) infact in the screen there is 2 plus switch for
additional pages. how they do it ?

Hi Dragoncaz. Korg could do this very easily I'm sure in an OS Update as the XPRO Software updates the actual OS to accomplish this. I'm in the same mind that this would be a very good improvement to the pa range in a future [new?] OS....

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:12 pm

dragoncaz wrote:it's good to read that now pa800 can be expand to 256 ram

Hi Dragoncaz,

Could you send me more information about this, with a web link?
I was not aware that the Pa800 RAM could expand beyond the 64 Mb fitted as standard.

Thanks,
Rob

mrniceneasy · Post by **mrniceneasy** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:27 pm

Here's a link Rob

http://www.musitronics.de/musitronics.d ... 00_ex.html

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:56 pm

mrniceneasy wrote:Here's a link Rob

http://www.musitronics.de/musitronics.d ... 00_ex.html

Thanks Keith,

So it is true ... and this expansion will be great news for Pa800 owners. Especially because they can now use the Irish Acts MegaPiano. I will ask Sharp to amend the description on his web site

Best regards,
Rob