Korg Forums

[advid]

..after reading the initial comments about the PA4x... i think it's a 'worthy' but not great 'upgrade' and improvement of the PA3x...
I was patiently waiting to see what it would be like in order to perhaps trade in my PA900 for a PA4x but now ,.... NO...
What I'd really like (as a piano player) is another new release...
A Korg PA900 with 88 keys based on the Havian 30 but with all the functions of my 900...

That would be my ideal instrument for both home use and gigs..

..just my opinion.....
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Korg PA900 - Yamaha Tyros 4
: HK Nano 300 (stereo) PA system

[Bachus]

[Dikikeys]

As long as they make it easy to integrate a separate 88 controller, Korg's refusal to integrate an 88 with a full TOTL arranger seems what we have to accept.

In fairness, as difficult as it is to play organ, synth and other light touch needing sounds on a fully weighted 88, probably your best bet is to find a great feeling 88 controller (with no controls on the top surface) and stack it in as tight as possible under the PA4X, organ style... Basically rest the PA4 on the 88's top surface, so the manuals are as close together as humanly possible.

Best of both worlds!

[Bachus]

[Dikikeys]

I'm kind of presuming that Korg's new main piano, along with a streaming sampler, might make moot having to tote an 88 full piano around. Simply a good feeling 88 dumb controller might be the better option?

If you have to integrate the built-in piano sound with arranger use, you open yourself up for MUCH more complexity in getting the MIDI and sounds integrated to a complex rig use. Sometimes you'd want the 88's piano, some times you wouldn't, sometimes you'd want the 88's sounds layered with the Korg's, sometimes you would want splits, sometimes the 88 in the UPR, sometimes in the LWR... This would complicate integration a bunch, wouldn't it?

Let's find out if the new PA4X piano satisfies... some of the demos I've heard are not bad at all!

[Dikikeys]

BTW, I think I've posted about this before, but I think most arranger manufacturers could do a MUCH better job of easing integration in of a second manual, whether it's an 88 or a waterfall 61, or a plastic 76...

If they provided an easy option to assign any of the Keyboard Parts to a range on the extra manual (a few more Keyboard Parts wouldn't hurt, either, particularly as the Song/Style section has 16 of its own, right?), having the arranger itself easily take care of what sounds are assigned to what range on what manual would simplify integrating a second manual.

This way, as well, you could buy a 'dumb', cheap, no sliders barebones 2nd controller, and get the two in REAL close to each other (with the arranger on top) and ease playing on the two. There's a reason organ manuals are that close! Having two keyboards so far apart, simply to be able to get to the bottom keyboard's display and controllers makes using double manuals MUCH harder and less musical. Organists found this out over centuries, it seems a shame to discount their experience!

Given that a fairly large percentage of arranger players came form a home organ background, I think there's a lot going for the idea of easy second manual integration. Make it simple, make it easy, you'll find a LOT more people doing it. In fact, manufacture a simple weighted 88 and a plastic 76 designed to fit in close and tight to the 61 on top, make the OS designed to integrate the extra manual into the top one painlessly, I pretty much guarantee Korg would sell a boatload of the second manuals!

[Bachus]

by the way Diki, i owned an M3 88 key once, and that was the perfect combination of 88 keys and module for adding it to an arranger, had a PA2x on top of the m3 keybed and the M3 modules placed behind the Pa2x, gave a perfect mix of both 88 keys and 76 keys... while having both units controll safely in reach...

I handcreated a stand for it, but after that it worked just fine...


I am probably the only one in the world that never understood why the Kronos was not available in the M3 formfactor..

Would also work the other way, with a Pa4x 88key/module in the M3 formfactor.



you could even have both a kronos and a pa4x (like a radias) in a single keyboard, or add speakers and amp to the sides of the module..(tough i do like how the PAAS works)