Korg Update for Pa5x for those who have it.

[Divemaster]

As an owner of both the PSR-SX700 and the KORG Pa5X, just to confirm that Korg announced their long awaited update today to V. 1.3.0
I know some of us also have this keyboard.

https://www.korg.com/us/support/download/software/0/895/4965/

[Danny1972]

Thank you very much for that! Can't wait to try it, hopefully it will have some more wonderful new styles.

Edit:

Just read the specs and wow they've packed it a load of new stuff including increased user memory and banks. Plus it does have an extra 45 brand new styles too. I need to get off work early today lol.

[Bill]

Although I do not have a PA5X I'm always interested in what others are doing, so thanks very much for the info. Quite a comprehensive update.

https://youtu.be/6pWeRYNB9Fs?si=qEj5QAnYdA-90z18

Bill

[Misu]

Hi,

IMO,
What the PA4x lacked was a better sound.
Now the PA5x started with a sound up to today's standards but with many missing functions (some in the minus and it became YAMAHA - everything is possible but on the computer)
This update takes the PA5x where it should have been initially. Even the KAOSS coming back.
If the stability of the operating system don't be an issue, I will replace my PA 1000.
You spend 4000 euros but you don't need anything else in front of you.
Good job Korg.

Best regards!

[Divemaster]

Although I do not have a PA5X I'm always interested in what others are doing, so thanks very much for the info. Quite a comprehensive update.

https://youtu.be/6pWeRYNB9Fs?si=qEj5QAnYdA-90z18

Bill

Thanks Bill.
I have both Yamaha and Korg keyboards, but am always interested in other keyboards generally as well.
I updated mine yesterday, and all I can say is WOW!

Keith.

[nonchai]

( Now if only Yamaha would see sense and add the same functionality to Genos and PSR SX range..  one can but dream... )

see Korg release video here

https://youtu.be/FHtny0LnPr8?si=V_MNBJo8GfHT6gb7

[robinez]

In every OS update for the korg Pa5x they add between 30 and 50 new styles for free. Here is a demo of all the 45 new styles included with the Korg upgrade firmware OS1.30 for the korg Pa5X International. These styles are absolutely fantastic and sometimes hard to recognize if you want to use them for playing the original song. You can find styles in these new set ranging from Simply Red, Grace Jones, Queen, Ariane Grande, Miley Cyrus to Pat Metheny and much more.

So I have included the original artist name and song title for the song styles I know (which are a lot). You can find that information on the style information tile in the video for each style.

Style time list:
00:00 Got Me Started
00:41 En Rose
01:53 Feeling Emotions
02:47 I'm Torn
03:41 Next to Me
04:26 Redstars
05:24 That Face Before
06:25 We Rock U
08:04 Dua Magic
08:40 Fall back to you
09:36 Gonna be alright
10:23 I cut my hair
11:12 Looking at
11:42 My Flowers
12:33 No friends
13:09 Nothing Lasts
14:10 Some bad decisions
14:44 Takes 2
15:20 Thank Pop
16:13 Yes, and then
17:02 We're Seventeen
17:49 Yours Girls
18:34 Baddie
19:25 Bury a man
20:00 Juicy Pop
20:43 In The Dirt
21:44 All I Need   
22:21 Be Free With You
22:55 Cuz angels don't cry
23:42 In The Dark
24:49 No Money
25:43 Parallel Universes
27:09 Take Good Care
28:06 This Love I Have
29:17 With you
30:09 Love What is
30:42 P-A-D-E
31:24 R-E-A-C-T   
32:12 Broken Heart
32:56 Memory Country
33:33 Orange Ballad
34:27 What God Gave
35:05 You Should Leave
36:16 Going With Me 
36:51 Soul Singer

You can find the style demo here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL4NjW6Ardc

[robinez]

For the people that also have the pa5x, I've created another tutorial about the new KAOS effect processor.

Korg Pa5X tutorial: How to use KAOS arpeggiator and style transformation

In this video we are going to look in to the KAOS Effect processor, the KAOS interface will be explained, we will see how the transformation effects should be used and we are going to see how the arpeggiator works. Also there are some playing tips to get the most out of the arpeggiator.

And of course we will hear a lot of real-time examples of the KAOS in action in a style.

topics:
00:00 short DEMO of the arpeggiator function
00:27 intro (os1.3 and KAOS)
01:06 KAOS explanation
03:45 how to setup your keyboard sets
05:37 KAOS examples with a style
13:11 Tips arpeggiator playing techniques
15:24 outro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc_iHKCWHlk

[BogdanH]

I'm following development of Pa5X with quite an interest and after latest firmware (v1.3) I was hoping that keyboard will finally be as it should be since beginning... after about two years(?).

But quite soon complaints from owners started to emerge (i.e. this video). The main complain (at least most important to me) is.. keyboard is still freezing. Ok, someone may say "that happens only in special/rare cases", but that's not really an excuse -it shouldn't happen at all.
There are also other issues that don't work (at least not as expected). But because I'm not familiar with Korg's creation workflow I won't comment about that.

Pa5x looks just great, is well built and it has a huge potential... but for 4000+€ things like freezing aren't acceptable. Let's wait for next OS and see... I must say that some Pa5X owners have quite a patience 

Just sharing my thoughts,
Bogdan

[Divemaster]

Hi Bogdan

I can't say I've had any  issues, since the V1.3.0 update.
One, I see from the video is quite simply down to USER impatience!
The Preloading buffer can take quite a while to reload, (several minutes, especially at the end), so what is illustrated is quite normal following full System update.
Obviously, unless the update is allowed to complete the full preloading sequence, the keyboard won't work properly...
Patience in following the quite clear pdf instructions supplied with the update, is necessary.  Stabbing at buttons repeatedly, probably doesn't help either. 

Keith

[BogdanH]

hi Keith,
As I have said, I am (or was) interested on Pa5X and so it's really not my intention to bash it -I just need to mention that.

In video that I've mentioned the freezing doesn't only happen at updating something. It also happens when display is showing normal working state: video at beginning, at 5:13, at 9:00, and especially at 9:15 (where keyboard froze while still playing sound).
Of course pushing buttons doesn't help in such case, but I think that author is only showing that keyboard doesn't respond anymore.
It's many times the case that problems happen to some and not to the others, which probably depends on what the owner was doing at certain time. But the fact is, it happens... means, it can happen to anyone.

Bogdan

[Misu]

Hi,

After 3 years of working with Korg, I can say with certainty that 95-98% of the screen freezes are due to the user's lack of skill and the others to an unknown cause or possibly a bug.
My PA 1000 after the first update never froze without knowing why. (defective or missing waves, missing multisample, too low wave frequency, wave name with symbols and pauses).
In 3 years 5-6 times with sets with many defects.
When these types of videos appear, most people think: what a problem this keyboard. For me it's closer: what an unskilled user.
A professional arranger lets you do anything with him, unfortunately don't warn you that <<unprotected wires are not OK to be inserted into the socket at 220V in direct contact with the hand>>, you still need to know something.

Best regards!

[Divemaster]

You're right Misu.
Study of the User Manual seems to be a forgotten art!!

Reminds me of the old saying
Designed by Computer
Built by Robots
Used by Idiots

[overover]

... Study of the User Manual seems to be a forgotten art!! ...

Yes, I also have this impression. For this reason, I have the following wisdom in my forum signature:

Never put the Manual too far away: There's more in it than you think!


Best regards,
Chris

[BogdanH]

Ok, so "it's the user"... which always comes handy.
But in Korg forum I can see many complaints in this regard. Also from experienced owners who play various Korg keyboards for many years, like here (see 3rd post by Korg member since 2008).

Actually I don't care who's to blame -it just shouldn't happen (unless there's a power outage in the middle of some sensitive operation).
Some maybe remember that I had and still have some complaints about Yamaha keyboards and so I'm definitely not some fanboy. But kudos where kudos is due: in five years my SX700 never froze -and I've tried a few things that are not really "by the book".

Why am I even writing all this? Well, I'm only sharing information found on internet and my personal opinion.

Bogdan

[robinez]

Why am I even writing all this? Well, I'm only sharing information found on internet and my personal opinion.

yes, but your personal opinion is influenced by the video's you choose to watch. That 'bug' video for instance is 80 percent of user errors, 15 percent of things they have caused their selves and maybe 5 percent is something that should be looked in to, but it really influences your opinion (otherwise you wouldn't post it) and a lot of the other users too.

But something to wonder is why my almost 50 video's of the pa5x don't have those issues? And I do know a lot of people with the pa5x that don't have issues at all.

And yes I do agree with your statement that a keyboard never should freeze, no matter what you put in to it. But the pa5x is a very different arranger than the pa4x or older models, It's also maybe a little bit to complicated for most of the keyboard users. People with synthesizer experience will not have huge problems with it, they will recognize a lot of the concepts from the synthesizers.

[Amwilburn]

Robin, you're using yourself as a very small sample size... let me explain:

Lee (here on psrtutorial) swore that the Genos was of inferior quality to the Tyros 5 / T4 because the start/stop button broke on his, but never broke on his previous ones. But as a dealer, with a much larger sample size, we've actually had a few T5's with buttons that broke (and another 2 that the buttons circuit board was malfunctioning right out of the box, both in the first shipment), but never experienced that with the Genos across all our customers. Still, Yamaha shouldn't have simply left his bad experience at "well, it's no longer under warranty" and basically it took me intervening as a dealer to reach a more affordable compromise :p

Glad that you haven't experienced any freezing issues; I can tell you that with the PA1000 we *did* get 2 that crashed/froze. Quite frequently. One of them could be considered user error; once we stuffed it *too* full of styles, it started to freeze and crash. But why have all those memory slots if you can't use them all?? For that one, i performed a factory reset, and everything worked fine after, so that's purely a software issue. Korg still sent him a replacement unit. For the other one, the customer wasn't as picky and just lived with the occasional crash.

But i've also experienced freezes/crashes on PSR2000/2100, PSrs900, and Genos 1 (although the G1 crashes could always be attributed to loading a converted registration, the ones are the PSR's were out of the blue). So I'm not pointing my fingers at Korg either; it happens, and Bogdan is right, it should never happen.

I also had 2 more Korgs with "stuttering" issues (a Kronos X and a Krome) that they initially wouldn't acknowledge as warranty faults, until Korg Japan suddenly admitted fault (and luckily both cases were fixed by... swapping out the micro sd cards that they use for their user memory!!! Turns out some were just too slow and caused issues. I wouldn't consider that a major issue, since they did finally replace them with faster ones that didn't freeze or stutter). And I like their workstations so much that if you can't afford a G1/G2, my next most recommended keyboards is the Nautilus.

All I'm saying is don't assume smooth sailing for you is smooth sailing for everyone; and that applies to *all* brands. Yes, even Roland, Casio and Kawaii.

Mark

[BogdanH]

hi Robinez,
You have my attention and that means you also influence my opinion. That's why we come to forum: to share information and experience.. and make conclusions -yes, sometimes wrong conclusions 

There's a saying "there's no smoke without a fire" and I only wonder where from (and why) smoke comes. This reminds me on when I was complaining that keys on SX700/900 keyboard rattle. First reaction was "not mine... you're smashing the keys.. it only happened on first batch, Yamaha solved that..", etc. Meanwhile, I'm not alone with that issue anymore.

Greetings,
Bogdan

[Amwilburn]

*This*. This is a perfect example. The PSRsx700/sx900 keys issue (which I frankly wouldn't have even noticed playing the demos at work, because I never played them with the volume off. But it turns out it *was* an issue, and far more widespread than thought.

But if you *only* play at full volume, you'd never notice any key clacking. I didn't, until it was pointed out. And even then my display model was good enough (not loud,); but I had a customer come in and point out that his white keys made *no* sound, but some of the black keys did clack... and that *was* very odd. Even though only noticeable with the volume off, it *is* there. (Went home and checked my s970, and no such issue even with the volume off)

[BogdanH]

hi Mark,
I believe you: I can't imagine that this would be much noticeable on a demo keyboard (unless it's standing there for a long time and played a lot).
I play my keyboard almost daily (can be 20min's or 3hrs) and I noticed clacking of black keys after about a year. Now I'm sure that it started before, but we kind of adapt by forgetting  how silent it was when new. I have greased the keys, but black keys became noisy again after 6-8 months -ok, maybe my grease wasn't that perfect for this, but still.
Anyway, I can clearly hear clacking of black keys at normal loudness (volume knob at about 10h position). Of course, if black key is pressed perfectly vertically, then it's silent.

I apologize for going off-topic.
Bogdan

[Oldden]

Korg seems to be more like a computer than Yamaha keyboards are. I remember for years windows had a common problem that was called the BSOD, which stood for the blue screen of death, when your computer crashed. It took years to sort that one out. Perhaps we have a choice, go for Yamaha and you get a simpler operating system and does not crash or go for Korg which gives a lot more control but maybe will crash if certain things happen.

[nonchai]

In every OS update for the korg Pa5x they add between 30 and 50 new styles for free. Here is a demo of all the 45 new styles included with the Korg upgrade firmware OS1.30 for the korg Pa5X International. These styles are absolutely fantastic and sometimes hard to recognize if you want to use them for playing the original song. You can find styles in these new set ranging from ..... Pat Metheny

36:16 Going With Me 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL4NjW6Ardc

Nice!  would be so cool if 3rd Pty or Korg put out a large list of PMG classics. 

[BogdanH]

While waiting what surprises SX900/700 successor might bring (by having quite low expectation), I'm gathering information about Pa5X.

About current OS troubles (freezing, restarting, etc.) that I've mentioned in my previous post... Later I've found a video where someone found the reason why/when that happens (in one particular case). In short, it happens if user is trying to use a wav sample that doesn't have expected specification. For those who're not familiar with that: every sound that we hear when we play, comes from wav audio sample(s).
So, in some way, it is to blame the user... however an OS should me smart enough to check sample parameters before allowing to import bad samples and not simply crash if such sample is tried to be used -just my opinion. So I still blame keyboard.

But that's not the reason for this post.
At some point I was confronted with "Chord Variation" (CV) term related to style creation, which is sometimes mentioned among Korg owners. As Yamaha owner, at first I didn't really understand what's that about, because such term doesn't really exist for Yamaha keyboards.
And after further research I had the "Eureka!" moment... and I realized how much more advanced Korg is compared to Yamaha.

We can simulate CV on Yamaha only to a small degree (is better than nothing), but the problem is, it can't be done on keyboard. It can only be done on PC and even worse, the process is completely undocumented. Interesting enough, Yamaha itself is using this "trick" in almost all preset (built-in) styles. And that means, for keyboard owner, it's impossible to create a style that's comparable to preset style -at least not officially. I really don't understand why Yamaha doesn't make this feature accessible to owners. Ok, it still wouldn't be the same as CV on Korg.. but would be at least something.

Some will say "I don't create styles, so it doesn't really matter to me..". Wrong thinking! If Yamaha would have this option available, then those who are interested in style creation would be able to create much better sounding styles.. and at the end, all Yamaha owners would benefit.

Just sharing my thoughts,
Bogdan