[ KORG PA-600 ] Needed improvements in the new version. (OS)

[minhtuan89]

Hi everyone,

I'm using the PA-600 .I feel some discomfort when using this keyboard and expect there will be some changes in the next version.
 If you also feel that way. Let us propose the manufacturer the necessary changes in the new version of PA-600 to make it more complete.

1. The first, music files from USB need to be loaded directly when the user points to file without having to go through steps OPEN --> LOAD --> SELECT...I was used the Yamaha PSR -Sxxx and I feel it very convenient. Only select style or song,voice... ,or a MP3 song...That file will be select and play without "load".This much trouble for the user, especially users is called ONE MAN BAND when they play live.

2. The Assign. Switch button should be added to the sync-stop and sync-start function for users to both play chords with your hands to press sync-stop because of the arrangement of SYNC_STOP buttons at a distance while the user very often use this button in conjunction with their left hand to play STYLE.

3. The KORG STYLE FILE need to be separated, should not be put in the file. sty as it causes inconvenience in accessing each style on external memory (USB).

4. The fill1 only should active when press VAR1, and fillX for VarX.Because of the player often use fill1 for var1 but in PA-600, when you are playing var4
you can't play immediately fill1. That is not reasonable.

I hope this information is useful for KORG.

Thank KORG for yours products. I love all you.
Best regards,
Minhtuan89

[dehmani]

Hi,
PA600 can load only eight first performance bank from any SET and each bank must be loaded in the same number of original bank.
You can't load ex:bank10 from any SET. You can load only a single performance. KORG must find a solution (new firmware).
THANK YOU

[xtech]

Another thing they could do:

although the Screen supports a resolution of 800x480, the menus are indeed using a lower resolution (probably inherited from the poorer resolution of the PA500, in a rush to put the product out in the stores.

Although this is merely aesthetics, i felt korg LIED to me. I was expecting a true 800x480 navigation and i got an interface with a lower resolution (inherited from the korg PA500.. maybe korg didn't want to spend a little bit more into reprogramming and redesigning a new interface).

This is the first time i have bought a Korg, and it was not the best way to start. I have had other keyboards from other brands (Roland, Kurzweil, Yamaha) and this time i felt korg lied to me.

I think a new firmware is urgently needed to:

- Support the functions the users in this topic already explained
- Provide a high resolution interface, instead the disgusting one
- Provide a new set of sounds (ok, Korg tried to give us the Real Drums to pimp the styles up in a CD that sound ok (much better than the styles drum sets), but the voices, the sounds itself.. are a bit lacking in several areas.

To conclude: i think korg rushed into putting into the market a product that is not up to its full potential due to lacking firmware.

For comparison, the kurzweil piano and strings sound MUCH better than the korg's, both in terms of quality and in terms of expression. The Tyros series styles sound AMAZING.

I think Korg could do much better in the new firmware.

By the way, the positive points about the PA600:

- The speaker system sounds good to me. I am impressed, i wasn't expecting much quality of it.
- The MP3, SMF and .kar playing capabilities are impressive, in my opinion, being an entry level arranger
- The interface navigation is easy.

I hope Korg releases a new firmware extracting the PA600 full potential. As a first time Korg buyer, i was not very impressed with it. I hope Korg changes my opinion about it if they want me to buy more of their products in the future.

[adimatis]

... i felt korg LIED to me.

...For comparison, the kurzweil piano and strings sound MUCH better than the korg's, both in terms of quality and in terms of expression. The Tyros series styles sound AMAZING.

...As a first time Korg buyer, i was not very impressed with it.

I think you did yourself a big disfavour buying this little keyboard. You'll live frustrated and unhappy with it. Better go and sell it and buy a Yamaha. You'll then be much happier! Why suffer?

[Frans N]

No complaints here

[xtech]

... i felt korg LIED to me.

...For comparison, the kurzweil piano and strings sound MUCH better than the korg's, both in terms of quality and in terms of expression. The Tyros series styles sound AMAZING.

...As a first time Korg buyer, i was not very impressed with it.

I think you did yourself a big disfavour buying this little keyboard. You'll live frustrated and unhappy with it. Better go and sell it and buy a Yamaha. You'll then be much happier! Why suffer?

I do appreciate irony, you're welcome but please do not put my ideas out of their context.

It is the first time i buy a Korg keyboard. I just tried to explain what in my opinion i felt korg lied: Korg tells the screen is high resolution (800x400) but the interface is designed with half of that resolution. So the truth here is, they should advertise this correctly. As an engineer, this takes me to the conclusion they put the keyboard on the shops without properly designing the firmware, or polish it.

In fact i am not dissatisfied with the PA600, it has features i wanted to. I wasn't expecting to be the best keyboard in the planet for about 1000€. I like its features as an arranger, i like how light it is, great for transport, i like the sound quality of its speaker system. Nevertheless i just feel korg could do much better in its firmware (accomplish the promised 800x400 resolution interface and improve some sounds).

I sold a Tyros 3 because although the styles sounded good, it had too much features i would never use, such as the harmonizer, etc. So in fact i chosed the PA600 because it had all the features i needed, in a more compact package. I am satisified with it, but Korg should accomplish its marketing "bells and whistles". When i saw the interface i thought "ok they
kept the pa500 poor resolution interface in a fantastic screen with the double of the resolution... "

I won't live frustrated, i just want korg to deliver its promises.
As i told you, this is the first korg i buy. I'll keep it for 2 or 3 years. If korg doesn't solve these small things in the next firmware upgrade, i'll never buy a korg again, as a matter of fact.

Kurzweil has much less marketing, but you would be surprised how a PC3 LE (which costs about the same) sounds. They have a very good customer service, always upgrading the firmwares. I've had a PC3x which i have also sold and although the sounds were excellent (the best i've heard in my life), the navigation was very difficult. This is something Korg excells: a easy to use interface!

As a matter of fact, i have also bought a midi 88 Fatar hammer action keyboard with very old Kurzweil sound module... man, you should hear the quality and realism of the pianos and strings... made about twenty years ago an still much better than what i can find in nowadays products. That's why i think Korg could improve that. Just an example of nice strings and piano of my old Kurzweil Micropiano. I used the PA just for the rhythm:

https://soundcloud.com/joaomourinho/comunh-o

At this one i used the Tyros 3:

https://soundcloud.com/joaomourinho/passeio-contigo

Concluding: till now, Korg has yet to convince me they deliver what they promise. If they do, they will deserve my money in future acquisitions. If not, bye Korg.

[Frans N]

It is all personal. I don't like the sound of Yamaha at all. Sound fake to me. But that's me. If you don't like the sound of Korg buy something else. The PA600 is a real steal for what you get for your money.

[Thoraldus]

XTECH ...

Have you looked through all the displays yet? I think it would be quite logical that KORG would not waste memory on full resolution displays if it wasn't needed. I do not have my PA600 yet (soon,soon!) but I would bet that Korg would only use the memory required for full resolution displays where they really need it. It seems a little strange these days to be concerned about memory, but when you're making a LOT of keyboards, saving a little bit here and there adds up. The PA600 would use about 4 times as much memory for it's display versus a PA500. (307,200 pixels vs 76,800)

As soon as I get my PA600 I'll see if I'm right.

[xtech]

Hi Franz N, it's true: sound is always a matter of personal taste. I do not dislike korg PA600's sounds in general, i just think there are here and there some couple of sounds which could be improved, like the piano and strings. I agree with you that for the price, the PA600 is a great deal. That's the reason why i have bought it: value for money!

Thoraldus you're right, it would be 4x more memory demanding a high resolution interface, so they may save some money in memory chips, but.. using the same reasoning, they should use cheaper screens also to keep costs down.

What is the idea of putting a hi-res screen and using an low-res designed interface? Either they should keep using cheaper low-res screens or re-design the interface to make the most of the hi-res screen. If they say in the specs their screen is 800x400, i do expect the interface to be tailored to that resolution, which does not happen by now, so that's why i am suggesting they do it in the next firmware upgrade!

You will see when you get your new PA600: when the word "KORG" appears when booting is indeed in high resolution (and looks AWESOME), but the "working interface" is still low-res, which is a pitty!

[adimatis]

I'm glad you took it in good spirit! I like when one can get a little bit of irony!

I think you are just a little bit upset now, but you'll feel better about it later. At least to me, these "cosmetics" are something nice to have, but really not essential. Who knows, it is not impossible that a new OS to increase the real resolution later on...

And for all things, we need to keep in mind that Pa600 needs to be less impressive, otherwise why would still buy it's bigger brothers? For this good price, I'd much more have the sounds and styles at their best and get the cuts from other areas.

Keep playing it!

[xtech]

I'm glad you took it in good spirit! I like when one can get a little bit of irony!

I think you are just a little bit upset now, but you'll feel better about it later. At least to me, these "cosmetics" are something nice to have, but really not essential. Who knows, it is not impossible that a new OS to increase the real resolution later on...

And for all things, we need to keep in mind that Pa600 needs to be less impressive, otherwise why would still buy it's bigger brothers? For this good price, I'd much more have the sounds and styles at their best and get the cuts from other areas.

Keep playing it!

Yes, no problem at all!! Life would be too boring without it!!

Indeed, it's just cosmetics, but with such a nice screen the hi-res interface would look fenomenal, and i was expecting it as korg advertised it! I just hope someone from Korg sees this topic and decide to put a hi-res interface in the next firmware (together with the sound and style tweakings, which i agree with you that are very important)!

[Thoraldus]

RE: Display Resolution

It's actually spec'd at 800x480 TFT

There is possibly another reason for going to the higher resolution display ... more accurate user touch positioning. As I said above, I think you will find there are selective user interface screens that use the full resolution, while those that do not need it would be rendered in lower resolution.

Perhaps Paolo from Korg Italy could give us their reasoning.

[Frans N]

Hi Franz N, it's true: sound is always a matter of personal taste. I do not dislike korg PA600's sounds in general, i just think there are here and there some couple of sounds which could be improved, like the piano and strings. I agree with you that for the price, the PA600 is a great deal. That's the reason why i have bought it: value for money!

Thoraldus you're right, it would be 4x more memory demanding a high resolution interface, so they may save some money in memory chips, but.. using the same reasoning, they should use cheaper screens also to keep costs down.

What is the idea of putting a hi-res screen and using an low-res designed interface? Either they should keep using cheaper low-res screens or re-design the interface to make the most of the hi-res screen. If they say in the specs their screen is 800x400, i do expect the interface to be tailored to that resolution, which does not happen by now, so that's why i am suggesting they do it in the next firmware upgrade!

You will see when you get your new PA600: when the word "KORG" appears when booting is indeed in high resolution (and looks AWESOME), but the "working interface" is still low-res, which is a pitty!

You understand that the PA600 unlike a Yamaha Tyros or PSR is a full blown synth so why not make the sound the way you like. Personally I find the strings of Korg one of the best but hey again that's me.

[xtech]

You understand that the PA600 unlike a Yamaha Tyros or PSR is a full blown synth so why not make the sound the way you like. Personally I find the strings of Korg one of the best but hey again that's me.

Well, i'll try to dig more into the PA600. Maybe i can tweak those sounds the way i like them.

Btw when you speak of a "full blown synth", are you meaning you can create sounds from scratch with it?

[Frans N]

Yes that is the power of the Korg PA arrangers. Everything is editable. You can read in the Pa600 Reference Guide page 108 how to edit the sounds. This is where the fun begins