TEST OF KORG PA5X 76 - EVALUATION AFTER 2 YEARS OF USE
OS UPDATES:
From the beginning when I had the Pa5X all basic functions worked.
As updates have been made, some basic functions have stopped working, while several advanced ones have been fixed, as well as new advanced ones added.
I find no extenuating circumstances for such a practice, because basic functions MUST and SHOULD be prioritized over advanced ones.
An update has also resulted in something very frustrating:
All internal data is organized by date, while everything you enter in USER is arranged alphabetically.
EVERYTHING should be in alphabetical order !
It is a daily nightmare to find styles due to this chaotic layout.
Another update has caused pads to be out of sync with styles - when you first start a pad, and then start a style - out of sync.
I have always liked to start with pads, but after the update this is impossible.
A third update fixed an advanced feature, but made it impossible to edit parts individually. This is a very basic feature that needs to work and I have to go back to OS 1.21 because of this.
The latest update also does not have the content that was promised, without this being accounted for.
MIXING QUALITY:
From the beginning I thought the mix quality was good, but 2 years of experience going through all styles shows otherwise:
The Pa5X is the worst professionally mixed of all the Pa models I've had.
By that I mean that many sounds in style parts are barely audible, as well as that many tracks have a maximum volume of 127, plus that in several cases effects have been used that crash into each other.
Drums, perc and bass generally have too low a level, plus the AMB and RR kits do not have ambience activated (value 0).
At one point, the Pa5X is the best I've ever heard, but due to bad mixing you can't hear it:
There are a number of hidden special effects especially on drums and perc, which only become apparent when you use the Drum Editor and turn up the various drum elements.
Are we supposed to do everything ourselves ?
It's a hell of a job to re-mix all styles..!
It's also clear that different people have worked on this, because at least 3 different setups have been used in the mix.
There is even heavy distortion on several styles due to too high a level, which can be shown with an external meter.
Although everything I say about the mixing quality may seem very negative, these are trifles compared to the Genos1, which is the worst I've tested.
PLAYER 1 VS PLAYER 2:
There are different levels - Player 2 has a 2dB lower level than Player 1.
THE LEVEL METER:
This shows 2dB too little, but often 8dB too little in the bass area.
It also provides a very variable display, and shows changes in value often long after it should.
THE MIDI DRIVER:
It took time for this to work at all, but this is actually better than before, because it rarely crashes.
However, it has a new weakness that none of the others had:
It stops working all the time when I use XG midi in Style Works; it must be reactivated again and again.
THE X-FADER:
This is very poorly calibrated in the center area - selecting Player 1 or 2 is very difficult.
Try playing a style in one player and a vocal Mp3 in the other - often one of them disappears when you try to tweak.
THE KEYBED:
I thought at first that this reminded me of OASYS, but there is absolutely no similarity - OASYS is many times better.
It is much better than all previous Pa models, but at the same time far worse than cheap synths such as the Krome EX-88 and the more expensive Nautilus.
THE JOYSTICK:
This one is programmed strangely compared to anything I'm used to - when I move it up to achieve modulation, it often happens to a certain point, and then an effect occurs that I don't want.
This can probably be reprogrammed, but I haven't figured out how, and this should be unnecessary anyway.
It feels more difficult to use than previous versions.
STYLES, PADS AND KEYBOARD SETS:
Here it must be said that Korg has done a fantastic job, better than anyone else - styles, pads and keyboard sets from all previous Pa models work brilliantly.
THE QUALITY OF SOUNDS:
At first I thought this was very good, but I feel that acoustic pianos and electric guitars (Distortion & Overdrive) do not live up to what I am used to.
Kronos, for example, has much better acoustic pianos, and Yamaha much better Distortion & Overdrive guitars.
My Ketron Audya is better on drums, perc and acoustic pianos than the Pa5X in a direct A/B test.
Especially drums and perc are much more dynamic on Audya.
Maybe (very likely?) this can be fixed with simple edits, but I haven't found these.
GENERAL LAYOUT:
I originally thought this was chaotic, but soon realized I was completely wrong, because Pa5X's layout is consistently the best I've seen, which has proven with daily edits for 2 years.
Advanced editing has never been so easy !
DAILY USE:
If I had done like most people, I would have turned off the Pa5X when I wasn't using it, and turned it back on when needed.
I never do this.
Why not ?
First and foremost because there are a number of locked settings for opening and storing data.
These should have been possible to change at will, because Korg uses settings that do not suit me, and I have to change these every time the keyboard starts.
Terribly annoying !
Secondly, all electronics are at their best when there is a constant current on the components, and electrolytic capacitors in particular are reduced at each start-up, because they have to be drained and recharged each time.
One thing is also poorly thought out by Korg:
The surface of the keyboard is in grooved aluminium.
This is VERY difficult to keep clean, because the rag you wipe with has to be moved horizontally, otherwise all the dirt and dust gets stuck to its grooved surface.
I would have liked the surface to be off white WITHOUT grooves.
FINAL CONCLUSION:
Although my negative comments are almost twice as many as the positive - 24 positive comments and 41 negative comments in POSITIVELY/NEGATIVE, my final conclusion is positive.
The vast majority of negative conditions can be worked around, which is quite unusual and almost exceptional.
This shows that Korg has, after all, used their heads well when they have decided how the Pa5X should work; I would like to think that they actually thought about problem solutions when they designed everything.
Korg has made many revolutionary synths, such as the OASYS and Kronos, which to this day stand alone.
Arrangers have never reached these, but I would argue that the Pa5X will stand out as revolutionary in a few years as the best and most intuitive arranger ever to see the light of day.
Although I've had Pa5X for 2 years now, I've only tried a few of all the editing options there are, and it will probably be many years before I've tried most of them.
During this period, I have been pleasantly surprised again and again by how easy everything is with Pa5X.
As recently as the day before yesterday, I discovered what is actually possible to do with Chord Sequences, which have gained expanded functionality with OS 1.3.
This is a formidable tool for all style creators..!
At the latest yesterday, I experienced it again, when for fun I wanted to try making pads from style tracks. Without looking in the manual, I figured out how to do this within a minute.
Try doing the same with any other arranger...
No arranger I have tried has met my expectations to the extent that Pa5X has.
OS UPDATES:
From the beginning when I had the Pa5X all basic functions worked.
As updates have been made, some basic functions have stopped working, while several advanced ones have been fixed, as well as new advanced ones added.
I find no extenuating circumstances for such a practice, because basic functions MUST and SHOULD be prioritized over advanced ones.
An update has also resulted in something very frustrating:
All internal data is organized by date, while everything you enter in USER is arranged alphabetically.
EVERYTHING should be in alphabetical order !
It is a daily nightmare to find styles due to this chaotic layout.
Another update has caused pads to be out of sync with styles - when you first start a pad, and then start a style - out of sync.
I have always liked to start with pads, but after the update this is impossible.
A third update fixed an advanced feature, but made it impossible to edit parts individually. This is a very basic feature that needs to work and I have to go back to OS 1.21 because of this.
The latest update also does not have the content that was promised, without this being accounted for.
MIXING QUALITY:
From the beginning I thought the mix quality was good, but 2 years of experience going through all styles shows otherwise:
The Pa5X is the worst professionally mixed of all the Pa models I've had.
By that I mean that many sounds in style parts are barely audible, as well as that many tracks have a maximum volume of 127, plus that in several cases effects have been used that crash into each other.
Drums, perc and bass generally have too low a level, plus the AMB and RR kits do not have ambience activated (value 0).
At one point, the Pa5X is the best I've ever heard, but due to bad mixing you can't hear it:
There are a number of hidden special effects especially on drums and perc, which only become apparent when you use the Drum Editor and turn up the various drum elements.
Are we supposed to do everything ourselves ?
It's a hell of a job to re-mix all styles..!
It's also clear that different people have worked on this, because at least 3 different setups have been used in the mix.
There is even heavy distortion on several styles due to too high a level, which can be shown with an external meter.
Although everything I say about the mixing quality may seem very negative, these are trifles compared to the Genos1, which is the worst I've tested.
PLAYER 1 VS PLAYER 2:
There are different levels - Player 2 has a 2dB lower level than Player 1.
THE LEVEL METER:
This shows 2dB too little, but often 8dB too little in the bass area.
It also provides a very variable display, and shows changes in value often long after it should.
THE MIDI DRIVER:
It took time for this to work at all, but this is actually better than before, because it rarely crashes.
However, it has a new weakness that none of the others had:
It stops working all the time when I use XG midi in Style Works; it must be reactivated again and again.
THE X-FADER:
This is very poorly calibrated in the center area - selecting Player 1 or 2 is very difficult.
Try playing a style in one player and a vocal Mp3 in the other - often one of them disappears when you try to tweak.
THE KEYBED:
I thought at first that this reminded me of OASYS, but there is absolutely no similarity - OASYS is many times better.
It is much better than all previous Pa models, but at the same time far worse than cheap synths such as the Krome EX-88 and the more expensive Nautilus.
THE JOYSTICK:
This one is programmed strangely compared to anything I'm used to - when I move it up to achieve modulation, it often happens to a certain point, and then an effect occurs that I don't want.
This can probably be reprogrammed, but I haven't figured out how, and this should be unnecessary anyway.
It feels more difficult to use than previous versions.
STYLES, PADS AND KEYBOARD SETS:
Here it must be said that Korg has done a fantastic job, better than anyone else - styles, pads and keyboard sets from all previous Pa models work brilliantly.
THE QUALITY OF SOUNDS:
At first I thought this was very good, but I feel that acoustic pianos and electric guitars (Distortion & Overdrive) do not live up to what I am used to.
Kronos, for example, has much better acoustic pianos, and Yamaha much better Distortion & Overdrive guitars.
My Ketron Audya is better on drums, perc and acoustic pianos than the Pa5X in a direct A/B test.
Especially drums and perc are much more dynamic on Audya.
Maybe (very likely?) this can be fixed with simple edits, but I haven't found these.
GENERAL LAYOUT:
I originally thought this was chaotic, but soon realized I was completely wrong, because Pa5X's layout is consistently the best I've seen, which has proven with daily edits for 2 years.
Advanced editing has never been so easy !
DAILY USE:
If I had done like most people, I would have turned off the Pa5X when I wasn't using it, and turned it back on when needed.
I never do this.
Why not ?
First and foremost because there are a number of locked settings for opening and storing data.
These should have been possible to change at will, because Korg uses settings that do not suit me, and I have to change these every time the keyboard starts.
Terribly annoying !
Secondly, all electronics are at their best when there is a constant current on the components, and electrolytic capacitors in particular are reduced at each start-up, because they have to be drained and recharged each time.
One thing is also poorly thought out by Korg:
The surface of the keyboard is in grooved aluminium.
This is VERY difficult to keep clean, because the rag you wipe with has to be moved horizontally, otherwise all the dirt and dust gets stuck to its grooved surface.
I would have liked the surface to be off white WITHOUT grooves.
FINAL CONCLUSION:
Although my negative comments are almost twice as many as the positive - 24 positive comments and 41 negative comments in POSITIVELY/NEGATIVE, my final conclusion is positive.
The vast majority of negative conditions can be worked around, which is quite unusual and almost exceptional.
This shows that Korg has, after all, used their heads well when they have decided how the Pa5X should work; I would like to think that they actually thought about problem solutions when they designed everything.
Korg has made many revolutionary synths, such as the OASYS and Kronos, which to this day stand alone.
Arrangers have never reached these, but I would argue that the Pa5X will stand out as revolutionary in a few years as the best and most intuitive arranger ever to see the light of day.
Although I've had Pa5X for 2 years now, I've only tried a few of all the editing options there are, and it will probably be many years before I've tried most of them.
During this period, I have been pleasantly surprised again and again by how easy everything is with Pa5X.
As recently as the day before yesterday, I discovered what is actually possible to do with Chord Sequences, which have gained expanded functionality with OS 1.3.
This is a formidable tool for all style creators..!
At the latest yesterday, I experienced it again, when for fun I wanted to try making pads from style tracks. Without looking in the manual, I figured out how to do this within a minute.
Try doing the same with any other arranger...
No arranger I have tried has met my expectations to the extent that Pa5X has.
Shared knowledge provides increased knowledge
If we all share everything we have, we all have everything
Every theory is only a hypothesis until it is practically proven
KEYBOARDS, SYNTHS & MODULES I HAVE HAD AND HAVE
Casio CTK 811-ex ||| Roland EXR-7 76 ||| Yamaha DGX-620 ||| Yamaha PSR-550 ||| Yamaha PSR-S700 ||| Korg Pa800 ||| Korg Pa3X 61 ||| Deebach XMS-Pro ||| Ketron Ajamsonic ||| Casio WK-7500 ||| Yamaha Tyros5 61 ||| vArranger ||| Ketron Audya5 61 ||| Yamaha PSR S950 ||| Solton X8 Chromatic ||| Yamaha Tyros4 10th Anniversary ||| Korg Pa4X 61 ||| Roland BK-7m ||| Technics KN-6000 ||| Technics KN-7000 ||| Roli Seaboard RISE 49 ||| Deebach MAX Plus ||| Yamaha Genos ||| Korg Pa700 ||| Korg Kronos2 73 ||| Tyros4 61 ||| Deebach BlackBox ||| Korg Pa2X Pro ||| Yamaha A3000 ||| Ghenos Plus ||| Medeli AKX10 ||| Korg Nautilus 73 ||| Yamaha DGX-670 ||| Korg Krome EX-88 ||| Korg OASYS 76 Sondius-XG version ||| Korg Pa5X 76 (Pythagoras Tuned) ||| Yamaha Tyros1 ||| Ketron Audya 76 (Own developed OS) ||| Yamaha PSR-3000 ||| Yamaha 9000 Pro ||| Yamaha MODX M8 ||| Korg Grandstage X ||| Roland Juno-D7 ||| Korg Kronos 1 73 (Pythagoras Tuned)
MY PA EQUIPMENT NON-ACTIVE AND ACTIVE
Aune S6 32 bit/384 kb DAC ||| Topping USB Isolator ||| MOTU 32 bit Audio Interface ||| TEYUN Q26 32 bit/384 kb Audio Interface ||| FM Acoustics FM 300A Power amp ||| FM Acoustics FM 255 Resolution Series Pre amp ||| MBL 6010 Pre Amp ||| STAX SR-L300 (Lambda) electrostatic headphones with STAX SRM-252S Amplifier ||| beyerdynamic T70 headphones (without pads) ||| Baffle horns equipped with Seas Exotic 8" fullrange units ||| JBL horns with Compression Planar membranes ||| Fountek NeoPro 5i (Special Edition) ribbon tweeters with Compression Planar membranes ||| Hexagonal subwoofer with 12 pieces Push&Pull coupled Seas Prestige 8" units, 1 item 10" slave unit and built-in XTZ power amplifiers & Cambridge Azur 640A as pre amplifier ||| Yamaha HS-5 active monitors connected to all keyboards
If we all share everything we have, we all have everything
Every theory is only a hypothesis until it is practically proven
KEYBOARDS, SYNTHS & MODULES I HAVE HAD AND HAVE
Casio CTK 811-ex ||| Roland EXR-7 76 ||| Yamaha DGX-620 ||| Yamaha PSR-550 ||| Yamaha PSR-S700 ||| Korg Pa800 ||| Korg Pa3X 61 ||| Deebach XMS-Pro ||| Ketron Ajamsonic ||| Casio WK-7500 ||| Yamaha Tyros5 61 ||| vArranger ||| Ketron Audya5 61 ||| Yamaha PSR S950 ||| Solton X8 Chromatic ||| Yamaha Tyros4 10th Anniversary ||| Korg Pa4X 61 ||| Roland BK-7m ||| Technics KN-6000 ||| Technics KN-7000 ||| Roli Seaboard RISE 49 ||| Deebach MAX Plus ||| Yamaha Genos ||| Korg Pa700 ||| Korg Kronos2 73 ||| Tyros4 61 ||| Deebach BlackBox ||| Korg Pa2X Pro ||| Yamaha A3000 ||| Ghenos Plus ||| Medeli AKX10 ||| Korg Nautilus 73 ||| Yamaha DGX-670 ||| Korg Krome EX-88 ||| Korg OASYS 76 Sondius-XG version ||| Korg Pa5X 76 (Pythagoras Tuned) ||| Yamaha Tyros1 ||| Ketron Audya 76 (Own developed OS) ||| Yamaha PSR-3000 ||| Yamaha 9000 Pro ||| Yamaha MODX M8 ||| Korg Grandstage X ||| Roland Juno-D7 ||| Korg Kronos 1 73 (Pythagoras Tuned)
MY PA EQUIPMENT NON-ACTIVE AND ACTIVE
Aune S6 32 bit/384 kb DAC ||| Topping USB Isolator ||| MOTU 32 bit Audio Interface ||| TEYUN Q26 32 bit/384 kb Audio Interface ||| FM Acoustics FM 300A Power amp ||| FM Acoustics FM 255 Resolution Series Pre amp ||| MBL 6010 Pre Amp ||| STAX SR-L300 (Lambda) electrostatic headphones with STAX SRM-252S Amplifier ||| beyerdynamic T70 headphones (without pads) ||| Baffle horns equipped with Seas Exotic 8" fullrange units ||| JBL horns with Compression Planar membranes ||| Fountek NeoPro 5i (Special Edition) ribbon tweeters with Compression Planar membranes ||| Hexagonal subwoofer with 12 pieces Push&Pull coupled Seas Prestige 8" units, 1 item 10" slave unit and built-in XTZ power amplifiers & Cambridge Azur 640A as pre amplifier ||| Yamaha HS-5 active monitors connected to all keyboards
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