Korg Pa800 Professional 61-Key Arranger Keyboard

TC Helicon Voice Processor. Assignable switches and sliders. More than 950 ROM sounds.

Item: KORPA800

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Korg Pa800 Professional 61-Key Arranger Keyboard reviews

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75 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 8 out of 10

 

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Read all Korg Pa800 Professional 61-Key Arranger Keyboard reviews...
* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

"Gearheads will love Korgs blue meany (get it) with the coolest funky base lines. It could be setting the benchmark in this genre"

Feature:
Loads of knobs and sliders and good touch screen make it easier to use than Tyros. Two sequencers!!!!! .The voice harmony from Helicon is NOT as good as a stand-alone TC Helicon unit and is on par with Tyros. OK for home use. I can't understand why this feature can't be made as good as the TC Helicon voice live. After all, it's just a circuit board without the case. I won't be parting with my TCH quite yet, although I would like to, just to simplify my set-up. Rear panel ports for line in/out and midi etc are excellent, but as usual you have to look over the top of the panel to read them! Good postion for a USB stick/card/host on the front wher it's easy to use. The keyboard quality (keys) are typical for this level of board. Very light to play and quite good for Hammond like chops and gliss, but not good to bring out a good piano voice. However, I have never been a fan of synth like keys and prefer to use my Roland with full wieghted keys as a master. You can get great sounds though and if you are a left hander chord player this is works fine. The syles, rythems, voices will appeal to almost every age and taste. Nothing cheesy about these sounds and purists will hate the fact it sounds so damn good.

Quality:
Looks are good. Not too heavy but feels like it has some solid build to it. Perhaps a little too much plastic, but they all have these days. Different in blue to all the silver and black kb's on offer. Stands out like the Nord red machines. I liked it. Cool and modern looking. Perphaps too modern? I would bet if the manufacturuers wanted to upsell and add value, that a special edition of any upscale kb with say some nice wood stock ends larger touch screen etc. would command a premium price from pro users. Why not custom models like autos? The Hammond KB cab on their XK series is an example of a pro board with a pro looking case. Does nothing for the sound, but looks are important up there on stage. I bet for an extra $300 in cost they could add $500 to the price. I will accept a commission for this brilliant marketing concept if taken up by any of the top 5 manufacturers.

Value:
A little more than PSR300 but a grand cheaper than Tyros, but all of the power of Tyros. The price point seems to have been set bang on.

Desirability:
I am buying it after trying out most of the KB's on the market today. I have owned Yamaha organs, synths and KB's. I curently own a Nord Clavia and Roland RD700SX and the PA800 will sit on top of the Roland with the Roland as the master KB. The Roland RD700SX cannot be beaten by the way for Piano and strings (I love my Roland) and because it has fully weighted keys it brings out the best in the Korg PA voices.

Sound:
Great sounds, very lifelike. Musical sounds/voices are a personal thing, (one mans meat etc)and in my opinion, all of the voices are good, or better than good on this KB. The styles are great!! They feel more alive and less repetative than the competition. Good variations that build nicely.I could be wrong, but the backing voices (score accomp) seemed to vary without changing the style. The intros and endings are of a very high technical quality that sound as good as any MP3. I have to say, they have an edge over Tyros. One touch defaults are chosen well and suit the styles with great compliment. Base lines are too real! In fact, they are scary good. Close your eyes and the baseman is playing next to you. They have worked hard on these styles. Ryhthems kept from being boring and were amongst the best I have heard. Great production Korg! This is a perfect partner for song writing inspiration because the rythems and styles lead the way. "Sweet" voices (flute, clarinet, harp etc) are excellent, but I think Tyros has an edgein this zone. PA800 Guitars,piano and organ are (opinion) better than Tyros. The organ voice lacks a good clear key click and attack on the drawbar organ voicing and the rotary is a little weak. Perhaps a later upgrade can "fatten" this sound. Also needs an easier way to vary the organ sound to allow for over-drive and a more aggressive sound. Again, this may be a price point thing, but an extra knob or two for this feature, would add sales appeal to players who look for that "real" organ sound. Let's face it, we all want a few basic voices that stand out as a the platform for all solo voices. They are; Piano, EP, organ and strings. Top this off with a good horn section and peaople will beat a pathway to your door!!! In past years, most keyboards in this segment, sufferd with diluted synth sounds, lousy accoustic pianos and toy like organ voicing. In recent years, solo voices have leapt ahead, but some of the foundatio voices remain tepid. This KB has excellent strings, piano and not bad organ. I can see some pro gigs using this kb for solo and piano voices. The built in speakers/amp are excellent. Pretty loud on their own! Good stereo field. Perefct for quiet playing and song writing in your den. I played it through a KB amp and it reproduced very well. played through high end ref monitors, it really opens up with lots of nuance and color to the voices.

Ease of Use:
Easy as any I have tried and owned. The TC Helicon harmony feature is too small on the screen and needs it's own set of controls, but I guess the price dictates the features packed in. Faders and sliders make for easy control from KB to mic to sequencers etc. I got around it without the manual but I have many years experience with personal kb's

Support:
Web site is OK. Have never had to call them.

Overall:
I like to change with the times. I am a gear freak! However, I stick with my basic piano and Hammond sound for foundation and supplement with a good arranger for backing etc. I have also used rythem boxes and modules for the latter. One of my faves is Ketron for the best in arranger type modules. But I have decided I need keys as well as sounds. This new axe from Korg looks like it has legs due to it's ability for upgrades,sound libraries, USB for SMF files etc. So, my bet is I would keep it for a couple of years. I really like this new arranger and when compared to Tyros, PSR3000, Roland G70 this is a real contender and in most cases at a much lower price point. Each to his/her own though. I have ordered one.

Submitted: 4/24/2007

Style of Music: All kinds of music, but like jazz, rock and country


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About This Product!
Description
Multimedia
From Our Catalog
The new Pa800 is the complete Arranger keyboard for the professional musician. Intuitive, powerful, interactive with the most stunning sound ever produced by an Arranger keyboard.

Introducing the Pa800
The Korg Pa80 is the most successful Professional Arranger keyboard ever produced. Used by tens of thousands of musical professionals in every country of the world, the Pa80 is the industry standard. So, developing the next generation of Arranger from Korg -- the Pa800 -- required Korg understand the needs of the modern musical professional while respecting the technology chosen by so many musicians worldwide.

After countless interviews from musicians in dozens of countries, Korg knew what they needed to do to develop the complete professional Arranger keyboard -- the new Pa800!

RX Technology
First used on the Pa1X, the most powerful Arranger around, RX Technology is the guiding philosophy behind the Pa800. RX -- Real eXperience -- guided all their design and sound decisions. When the Pa800 performs, they want the audience to listen -- and believe.

TC Helicon inside
To be sure that the vocal processing and harmonies of the Pa800 were the best possible, Korgworked with a recognized world leader in audio technology, TC Electronics.

The Pa800 includes as standard the world acclaimed TC Helicon Voice Processor. This features EQ and professional quality effects (reverb, echo, etc.), designed and shaped specifically for vocals. These effects, combined with the built in 3 voice harmonizer and dedicated high quality mic preamp, ensure your vocals have the highest possible sound quality.

The most important controls to keep your voice under control are available in the panel and in the display's main page. Simply connect your microphone and start performing!

Taming Technology for Intuitive Ease of Use
With all the technological power packed inside, it was vital that Korgalso made the Pa800 easy to understand and easy to use. But even more, Korgwanted the whole way you use the Pa800 to be an intuitive, musical, fast, foolproof experience. The graphical user interface uses an amazing Graphical Color Touch Screen so you simply think, point and click for easy and intuitive use - RX Technology at work for you!

So musicians of all levels can make great music quickly, there are two interface modes: EASY and EXPERT. The EASY mode shows only the most important controls while keeping a clean and easy interface, useful for beginners or playing live, while in EXPERT mode you have full editing control. Nothing stands between you and your professional performance.

Switches and sliders are assignable so your live performances work the way you want.

And when you need more information? Check out the multilingual contextual Help System that is standard on board!

Unparalleled Quality of Sound
Of course, having power and ease of use mean nothing without great sound and the stunning high quality sound performance of the Pa800 will impress any audience. The Pa800 delivers sound that makes it seem like you have the coolest band available on stage - all working under your control.

Korg sound quality is universally recognized as superior, and relied on by musicians everywhere. For the Pa800, Korgredesigned what was already the most powerful synth sound engine available to give you an even richer, more detailed, sophisticated natural sound than ever before with musical instruments from almost every genre exploding with depth, nuance, subtlety, accuracy and richness. Korgeven used several sounds from OASYS (the most powerful synthesizer ever made) helping the Pa800 set a new standard for arranger keyboards.

The sound memory of the Pa800 has been largely increased to achieve the best sound quality possible boasting all new multi level samples of the instruments you know and love. Many of these also include also various levels of articulation so the polyphony has been also expanded to 120 notes to cover even busy passages.

There are more than 950 ROM sounds, including a new amazing multilayer stereo acoustic piano accurately sampled from a Concert Grand (and including String and damper pedal Resonance!) , plus an extra 64 drum kits. In addition, the RAM area contains up to 256 user sounds and 64 drum kits and of course, there is full on board sound editing.

Full Featured Sample Tools
Still not enough sounds? Many professional musicians choose to add their own sounds and because the Pa800 is dedicated to professional musicians, you can load Wave, AIFF, Korg format files and of course the incredible Akai sample library - about the largest sample library available - into the standard 64MB of added memory.

The Pa800 also features professional editing facilities such as loop, cut, normalize and cropping of samples. A special "Time Slice" feature allows you to slice audio grooves and import the audio data into a Style so you can create some of the coolest rhythms imaginable.

Powerful Multi-effect Processors
But great sound is even more. For many years, Korg has produced outstanding studio quality effects that are simply breathtaking. The Pa800 has 4 Stereo Master Effects processors with hundreds of these effects from the standards such as reverb, delay and chorus through to specialized effects such as a fantastic Vocoder and some of the universally acclaimed REMS guitar based effects for authentic guitar tones. The vocal effects (EQ, Compressor, Noise reduction, Echo, Reverb) are separate and completely independently controlled.

Deeply Defined Musical Styles
Matching this high sound quality the Pa800 delivers a new set of deluxe styles, programmed by some of the leading arrangers in the world each of whom worked according to their musical strengths. The result is hundreds of preloaded Styles that provide unparalleled realism and detail. Covering an expanded range of musical genres, the Pa800 gives you styles for almost every important occasion.

If you require a special Style Collection simply record and edit your own styles on board. Add further realism to your performance with Fill 3/Break, Intro 3/Count In and Ending 3 Style Elements.

And if you are looking for more pre-written styles, you will be pleased at the exciting future for the Pa800 with many new styles to be produced by both Korg and also independent 3rd party companies. Keep checking www.korgpa.com for more details!

Never a Dull Moment
Korg Pa80 introduced the world's first Arranger keyboard with two separate MIDI file players in the legendary Pa80 andtheirPa800 showcases these double sequencer features working at an all new power level. In addition, the Pa800 supports the main musical formats such as SMF (Standard Midi File), Karaoke files and GM (General MIDI) and of course is able to display lyrics in most popular karaoke formats.

There is also a practical Marker function to allow you to jump directly to a given position in the song: you can fix the markers using the internal sequencer (or using a computer based one - the marker format is standard) and then remix your favorite songs during a live performance for added spontaneity.

Easy-to-Use, Advanced Musical Sequencing
Along with a powerful and fully programmable multi track sequencer, you can use Backing Sequences to create songs based over styles - quickly and easily. You don't need to be a master programmer - you can write your own song in minutes: even beginners can easily create songs using the step edit feature. This approach to quick programming is also useful for studio use when you want to create great sounding professional backing music for films, video, multimedia or internet applications very quickly.

Taking Requests
This exciting feature was developed to make your life easier while playing live. The SongBook is a Musical Database, completely user programmable, containing all the settings needed to play a particular song. You have only to search the title of the song you would like to play, select it and hit "Play". The SongBook can use styles, MIDI files or sequences and immediately recall settings such as Song Title, Genre, Artist, Tempo, Volumes, Sounds, Muted Tracks, FX settings, Easy Edit, 4 STS*, Master Transpose and more. Everything you need to play your song back perfectly is in the SongBook, a useful musical feature that is unique to Korg - the only Arranger keyboards available with all these sophisticated controls.

(*STS - Single Touch Settings is a memory that recalls sounds for all the real time tracks (upper 1, 2, 3 & lower).)

Make it Your Own
You can configure and edit almost anything in the Pa800. You can modify and save Styles, Performances, Programs, Settings for Sliders, Switches, Pads, Global (Midi channels, output routings, etc.) and more for both internal and external control. Scales are fully programmable and include quarter tone settings and a programmable Arabic Scale.

With all of this control, the Pa800 also functions as a superb MIDI controller (Master Keyboard).

Connect to the World
Naturally, the Pa800 has all the connectivity you need including 4 separate audio outputs, 2 mic/line inputs with separate gain, 2 USB Host connections and 1 USB (Device) connection. The optional VIF4 graphic video interface (available in PAL or NTSC standard formats) can display on an external TV monitor either just the lyrics (useful for Karaoke) or if you want it to clone the on board display.

Enhanced USB Capabilities
The Pa800 has two USB Host connections available to connect standard pen drives, external hard drives, CD-ROM or even a floppy disk. One Host is to connect other USB devices from the front panel for quick access in real time, while the second Host is on the back panel. A further USB Device connection is available for the Pa800 to connect with a PC for fast exchange of large amounts of data or as a MIDI connection without the need for extra MIDI computer interfaces.

Stellar Sound System
The custom designed amplification system is exceptionally high quality. The 2 x 22 Watt amplifiers drive the 2 tweeters and the 2 x 10" woofers in a bass-reflex box to generate a powerful listening experience. Loudness and Fixed EQ boost the overall volume to deliver a big sound!

Great Feel
The keybed is unique to Korg, feels great and naturally has aftertouch as well as being velocity sensitive.

All in the Family
And if you have been one of the many longstanding Korg Arranger users you will be happy to know that even though the Pa800 is all new, it is also compatible with the Korg i-series style format and with all Pa50, Pa60, Pa80, Pa1X files. This means your Pa50, Pa60, Pa80 and Pa1X sound programs work in the Pa800 as well so you can keep your favorite sounds and styles while benefiting from a cutting edge keyboard.

Growth Potential
Even though it comes with almost every features you could want, the Pa800 has many useful expansion options:
VIF4 Graphic Video Interface: to display lyrics or the on board TouchView display on an external monitor or TV (PAL or NTSC formats).
Hard disk installation kit for standard 2.5" ATA hard disk drive (not included) with a capacity of up to 2 terabytes.

Korg Pa Series Website
Not only you can expand your Pa800, you can also easily keep it new with operating system updates. These updates are available as free downloads from and will ensure your investment is protected! For additional information, audio demos and updates, please visit the Korg Pa Series website. Downloads of software updates, owners manuals and FAQs are available for free as they are released!

Specifications subject to change without notice

Technical Info

Keyboard: 61 keys with Velocity and Aftertouch

System:
RX (Real eXperience) Technology
OPOS (Objective Portable Operating System) Multitasking (Load while play feature)
Upgradable Operative System
SSD Solid State Disk

Tone Generator:
KORG HI Synthesis (Hyper Integrated)
120 Voices, 120 Oscillators
Filters with Resonance
EQ for each track

Effects:
4 Stereo Digital Multi-Effect systems
124 Effects types plus VOCODER
Voice Processor Technology by TC Helicon: Three-part Harmonizer, Reverb, Delay, Compressor, EQ

Sounds & Drum Kits:
More than 950, including a Stereo Piano and GM Level 2 compatible Sounds
63 Drum Kits - User area: 256 Sounds, 64 Drum Kits
Digital Drawbars: 8 Footages
Realtime control: Assignable Sliders
Full editing of Sounds and Drum Kits
Sampling: Record, Edit, Time Slice, Load/Import of Korg, Wav, Aiff and Akai files
Export of Wav and Aiff files
PCM RAM Memory: 64 MB standard

Styles:
More than 400 preloaded Styles, SSD-resident, freely reconfigurable
Up to 960 available Style locations including the Favorite banks
Eight Style tracks, 4 Single Touch Settings and one Style Performance per Style
Compatible with old "i-Series" and Pa series Style format
Style Record with Step Record, Track and Event Edit functions
Style controls: 4 Variations, 3 Fills, 3 Intros, 3 Endings, Synchro Start/Stop, Tap Tempo/Reset, Fade In/Out, Bass Inversion, Manual Bass, Tempo Lock, Memory, Accompaniment/Real Time Track Balance Volume, Accompaniment Mute, Drum Mapping, Snare & Kick Designation, Single Touch

Performance/STS:
320 Realtime Performance locations
STS: Memorize Realtime tracks and Voice Processor settings, up to 4 x 960 Styles, up to 4 x SongBook entries

Realtime Tracks:
Four Keyboard tracks (Upper 1, 2, 3, Lower)
4 Pad tracks

Song Play:
Patented XDS Crossfade Dual Sequencer player
2 Sequencers with separate Select, Start/Stop, Home, Rewind and Fast Forward controls
Balance control
Lyrics data can be displayed on-screen, or on an external video monitor (with VIF4 option installed)
Markers
Jukebox function
Compatible with (formats 0 and 1)

Sequencer:
Quick Record (Backing Sequence), Multitrack and Step Record functions
Full-featured sequencer
16 tracks
Up to 200,000 events
SMF native format

SongBook:
Fully programmable music database, based on Styles, SMF, Karaoke with automatic selection of Style Play and Song Play modes
User-definable custom lists
Filtering options

Compatibility:
"i-Series" models: Styles
Pa series: Style, Performance, Program/Sound, Song, SongBook

Multi Pad:
4 Assignable Pads + Stop Button
Pad Record function

Help System: Hypertextual, Contextual, Multilingual

General Controls: Master Volume, Real Time-Acc/Seq Balance Volume, Ensemble, Octave Transpose, Master Transpose, Style Change, Quarter Tone and Arabic Scale memorized inside Performance/STS

Realtime controllers: Joystick (pitch + modulation), 2 Assignable Sliders, 2 Assignable Switches, Dial, Up/+, Down/-

Control Inputs: Damper Pedal (Support Half-Pedaling), Assignable Pedal/Switch, EC-5 (Programmable Multi-Switches)

Analog Output: Unbalanced Jack Left/Mono, Right, Out 1, Out 2, Headphones

Analog Input: 2 Unbalanced/Balanced (automatic switch) Jack Line In with separate Gain control

MIDI:
In, Out, Thru standard MIDI connectors
USB MIDI using the USB Device port
Individual track assignment
8 user definable MIDI Setups

USB: Host Front/Rear (2.0 Hi Speed) and 1 Device Rear (1.1 Full Speed) connections

Hard Disk: Optional 2.5 in. ATA Hard Disk Drive

CD Player/Writer -- Floppy Disk: Optional standard USB CD-Drives to be connected to USB Host port

Display: 320 x 240 pixels, Color TouchView Graphic Touch Screen

Amplification: 2 x 22 W, Loudness, Fixed EQ

Speakers: 4 Speakers (10 cm Woofers + Tweeters) 2 way in Bass Reflex Box

Consumption: 40 Watt

Dimensions: 43.7 in. (W) x 13.3 in. (D) x 7.1 in. (H) inch without music stand

Weight: 29.3 lbs

Accessories: Manual, AC Power Cable, Music Stand, CD-Rom

Specifications subject to change without notice
Update of the PA80 with new sound and effects engines, new vocal effects, and more! Over 950 authentic Styles, plus 416 user Style locations. Over 900 sounds, over 60 drum sounds, 120-note polyphony. Dual mic/line inputs with TC Helicon vocal effects. USB ports for data storage; 61 keys with velocity and aftertouch.

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