PA800ex review!!

[blue78]

Hi All,

Have any felt the difference between the original pa800 & the new un-official model 800ex? As I was going to buy one then suddenly made some deep research and found the below…then put this idea on hold

well, for those whom have at least an idea or have heard the demos on YouTube, couldn't you feel that there is some distortion in the sounds? i have compared many many video's and all was in favor of the normal 800 in rich sound, quality and clarity compared to the 800ex!


another thing...regarding the make of this ex...it was mentioned on korg.com website a small notice on the page of the original blue 800:
An important note regarding the Pa800EX:
This model is authorized by KORG only to be sold in Lebanon and Syria. It's a local product and the warranty for this model is applied by KORG only in these two countries. Units purchased through any person, dealer, or website in other markets will not be supported or warranted by the KORG Distributor in that market.''
the questions are here; why it never such info or any info been displayed on the official website of the KORGPA.com ?
and why Korg are saying only authorized and not made by??
why the intended to say it is a local product and didn’t say a korg product? isn't it been made by Korg italy as the dealer in Lebanon is saying or what!!
is it the parts made in italy and assembled in china and that's might why Korg is a local product and didn’t said it is been made only for the local market of Lebanon & Syria ?!



at the end this is my personal review and not a generic decision on the product, as it could be right or wrong...but...this is what my logic sense is still saying...

any agreeing or disagreeing?

cheers

[blue78]

Sorry, forgot to mention an important thing as well the exaggerated price of this ex compared to the original 800 !!

[BasariStudios]

Hello, the PA800EX is not an upcoming synth, its on sale for several months
now, it is an Oriental version of the PA800 with more RAM and some extra
Features on it, i dont think it can be ordered outside of Middle East.
I know the people who created it personally, they did it just as a regional product.

[blue78]

thanks BasariStudios...

actually i live in middle east, but seriously not convenced about the quality and enrich of tones generated from it compared to the 800...plus concerned whether it is Really italy prodcut (parts and assembly) or what...

btw, have you tried it on real?

thx

[obarguti]

Hey blue78,

Frankly I never played on a PA800EX, however I knew several people who did. I did a fair amount of research on it and I decided in the end to go with a PA800.

The basic story that is not mentioned online, there is a guy name Eddy Kanaan who is based in Lebanon. He worked closely with Ketron in the past and ordered a custom made keyboard which the Vega. He added a bend pitch and they granted him access to the internal Rom where he provided his own samples. He borrowed many samples from Roland from what I understand. Now, Ketron dominates the market in the middle east. Every time I see an orchestra playing behind a singer on TV, the keyboardist is using a Ketron The EX4 is great, it just does not come with a sampler, so you are stuck with what comes with it. Now, the Ketron displays the sounds and the styles in one screen. Eddie is a live performer and its important for him to be able to change the style and the sounds with a single click.

Now that he is done with Ketron, he decided to bring Korg to the middle east. He bough a bunch of custom made PA800's and requested certain changes, mainly software. Its different color and has new "flat" speakers that handle higher power. Also the software allows you to view sounds and styles in the same screen. Most people criticized the machine for having the same samples as the Ketorn and wished it had more than what the Ketron had. I hear they are releasing more and more updates and improvements so hopefully given sometime things will get better for the PA800EX. Bottom line, it is still a work in process and you can easy find some imperfections such as the style volume levels and sound levels. Some samples are not as clean and it seemed that the dev team spent a lot of effort to block the machine from all aspects so no user can extract samples of midi data out of it. I also do not think you will get the support that will make you happy in case anything is wrong with the machine. Hope this helps

[blue78]

thanks indeed obarguti for your helpful review...

actually there is million saying in the market against & with this new 800ex...
most of them they are re-seller to Eddi's company...

you know what...it is funny...i've seen many many guys on different forum were against it badly and suddenly they own one and defending it with their life !!! specially they were complaining of price (which is truly high) and also suddenly they could afford it easily!!

well who know, if'll get it for free i might change my mind and do like others...looooool (im just kidding)
truley i like it as shape/color and ready to buy if it's prices get better as i hate the blue color, but again won't mind to have the 800 ex silver one against the blue 800 if someone could conveince me that it is YES fully italian and never accessed any chinese factory for anything as well tones and sounds are rich and realstic like the pa2x or at least like the original blue 800!

hopefully someone trustful whom used both or least have a deep review to give a nuetral feedback on PA800 VS. PA800ex


thanks again for your great info obarguti

[obarguti]

Hey Blue,
I think you should wait for sometime before you buy it. That is what I am doing. The software will get better and it will get cheaper and there will be more and more available on the market. I suspect it will be like Ketron. A lot of people spent top dollar to buy it early and now you find Ketron's everywhere.

It is Italian btw and it is certified by Korg. It is not made in China.