Powered up Pa5X and None of the Styles Play

[Basspig]

Today I powered up the Pa5X and noticed that none of the styles play anything but the drum and percussion tracks. In the mixer, only those two are lighting up when the player is playing. I tried a bunch of factory styles and all I hear is the drum part.
What could be the problem?

Two power cycles and the problem persists.

I can play normally from Cakewalk Sonar, so the other instruments are there, it's just Styles that are not playing anything but the drum track. And no, the other tracks aren't muted.

I tried a factory reset and the problem persists.

Also, coincidentally, I noticed the LEDs on the Lower and the E Piano suddenly have a black curved line in the lens that looks like a crack or an eyelash inside. Probably not related, but a coincidence because there were no cracks on those buttons yesterday.

[Basspig]

Now this is VERY weird. I absent-mindedly turned the big wheel next to the menu buttons and noticed the BPM for the current style decrementing. Then I hit Play and now the full instrumentation is playing.

Software bug? I spent an hour researching, resetting, rebooting and just touching that wheel was it. But it makes no sense. Changing the tempo to something other than the factory style tempo shouldn't make it play the full array of instruments if it's not to begin with. Something funky with this keyboard!


I guess the more concerning thing is why did my buttons become defaced overnight? This is a climate controlled studio. So it wasn't on the road or exposed to sub freezing temps that could crack plastic.

[rod74]

I had the same problem. Suddenly, after turning on the Pa5X only bass, drums and percussion were played on the styles. I started to play the DEMO and somehow that reset something and the styles problem was fixed (temporarily). If I moved the player volume slider, then the problem appeared again. For several days it was like that. I did a factory restore and the problem is fixed now.

About the black spot on the LEDs, that is a common problem affecting I guess everybody.

Anyways, I like and enjoy playing the Pa5X and eventually KORG will release more software updates that will sort out some of the problems and bring some improvements and new features.

[Basspig]

For me, only the drum track is receiving MIDI data from the style.
And.. I started it up today and again have the same problem. Only difference is that I could not fix it by changing the the wheel setting. Tempo slowed, but still only the drum playing.
I did a factory reset yesterday when this happened and it came up the same, only the drum playing.

I am also observing Pad 3 is silent on all the styles I've tried. The other pads all play a sound.

[AntonySharmman]

I did a factory reset yesterday when this happened and it came up the same, only the drum playing.

After factory restore (all squares clicked) , without anything loaded , do you hear factory styles playing only Drums ?
Disconnect any USB / midi jack /Pedal !

[Basspig]

Just did a full factory restore and disconnected the USB cable and it's still not playing anything but the drum track on styles.

[AntonySharmman]

- Be sure that you have also disconnected MIDI or any expression pedal !
- Explore all non playing tracks of a factory style and check if those do play normal in sound mode.
- Are you sure that all sliders in mixer are at their maximum value ?

[Basspig]

Yes, things like mixer levels and mutes are the first thing I checked.

Also, the Finalizer and the EQ are no longer working since the factory reset. They are ON but I can dial in any dB level and hear no change in level. I can dial in any amount of boost or cut on the EQ and hear no change in audio.
The first clue something was wrong when I saw no gain reduction meter deflection with the Finalizer ON. It is simply not working at all now.

[AntonySharmman]

It seems that some factory Styles midi events have been lost ! Very weird !
As last , reload latest Pa5X OS v.1.2.1 and check it back !

[QuiRobinez]

sounds to me that you have set the style volume to 0 for Bass and ACC.

check the following:
- press the settings menu
- press the general tile
- at the bottom you see style volume
- check that all three faders (bass, drums and ACC) to at least 100

[QuiRobinez]

It seems that some factory Styles midi events have been lost ! Very weird !
As last , reload latest Pa5X OS v.1.2.1 and check it back !

I agree, it could be anything ranging from midi settings internally or even routings problems from a daw.

Just load the OS again is the quickest way indeed and start from there again.

[AntonySharmman]

sounds to me that you have set the style volume to 0 for Bass and ACC

For me too , but he insists this was the first thing to check !
Also any external connection & expression pedal could cause that !

[Basspig]

That's not under general, it's under preferences and all three are set to 127.


Now here's the strange thing. After doing a MIDI check (play a Cakewalk project to the Pa5X) I tried playing a style and it's working properly again.

However, the Finalizer and EQ have no activity and no effect on the sound, whether ON or OFF and no matter how high or low I set the gain.

Correction on the Finalizer.. it wasn't showing activity because the MIDI comes in on Player 2 and just needed to move the slider over to the right to make it active.

[AntonySharmman]

Do not connect anything after OS reloading ...
Midi routings from DAW can make upside down the whole Pa5X ...

[Basspig]

I mostly use the Pa5X with my DAW. Of course I need to have it connected to PC to play out my projects!