KORG Pa5X ORIENTAL - Professional Oriental Arranger
The Korg Pa5X 61 Oriental at a glance
With the Pa5X Oriental, Korg presents the entertainer flagship among the Arranger keyboards! Created for solo entertainers, bands, performers, solo artists and songwriters, the Pa5X Oriental is equipped with cutting-edge features that make making music and working on the instrument a real pleasure. True to the motto "Simple. Better.", the entire User interface has been redesigned and provided with logical color codes that make interaction with the large 8" touchscreen and other controls easy to recognize. Compared to the previous model, this allows more intuitive handling of the instrument and its functions, shorter routes to the destination and even faster loading times. A great new feature is the practical strip Display under the nine faders, which shows the current assignment of the sliders. A new addition are 16 velocity-sensitive pads, which can be used for various tasks such as eg. firing samples or muting tracks. The attractively designed and high-quality aluminum housing with the elegant wooden side panels conveys a professional impression and frames the very pleasantly playable, lightly weighted 61-key keyboard, which is velocity-sensitive and has Aftertouch in an appropriate manner.
Music from 1001 Nights - Pa5x Oriental
The Oriental version of the Pa5X is specially tailored to the music of the Middle East with a focus on Turkey and the Arab region and contains even more sounds and styles that have been programmed exclusively for this cultural area. Additional sounds, drum and percussion kits, keyboard sets, pads and styles are offered, covering the rich musical traditions of Turkey and Persia, with a special focus on Arab countries thanks to the extensive sound and performance libraries from Lebanon. The more than 2600 sounds include 240 oriental sounds and 70 oriental drum kits. The extensive collection of styles has been expanded to include 264 oriental styles.
Dual player
Another highlight of the Pa5X Oriental are the two independent players, which can play styles, MIDI files and MP3 files in any combination. This enables the mixing and synchronized playback of two different styles! The timing of MIDI files can be changed at the touch of a button by setting a marker. With the Chord Sequencer, new chord sequences can be created and played back at Style. The innovative Round Robin function guarantees authentically played drums, as fine accentuation is achieved with up to four layers and eight velocity levels.
Optimized sound generation
In terms of sound, the Pa5X Oriental has a lot to offer: over 2600 sounds from the Korg instruments SV-2 (pianos), Nautilus, Wavestate and ARP 2600, among others, provide a varied repertoire and cover countless styles, including traditional instruments and varied percussion. The Smooth Sound Transition function specially developed for the Pa5X ensures that no sounds or effects are cut off when switching or crossfading.
Effects & post-processing
Korg has taken the opportunity to significantly expand and refresh the Pa5X's effects department. The extensive selection of effects is available as an insert and Master. In addition to proven standards such as delay, reverb, distortion and various modulation effects (including chorus, flanger, phaser), the microphone input has been given a four-voice Vocal harmonizer with autopitch function, so that even vocal choirs and backgrounds can be accurately tuned. The gain-adjustable guitar input can also be equipped with effects. The integrated audio mixer allows detailed settings for each track and even includes the various players. Thanks to the finalizer, it is easy to handle the different levels. With WAVES, a legendary mastering tool is implemented in the Pa5X, which gives the sound the finishing touches and, if necessary, brings it up to the right level.
Other special features
Instead of the handwheels Pitchbend and modulation wheel, the Pa5X is equipped with a high-resolution joystick that can be replaced from the outside for easy servicing. Three buttons positioned above it allow you to quickly switch between different actions and can be assigned to matching actions. Below the joystick is a Ribbon Controller, which can be used to spontaneously modulate any parameter with the swipe of a finger. If an "internal" loudspeaker is indispensable, Korg offers the PaAS MK2 loudspeaker system for retrofitting. Installation is completed in just a few minutes and without any specialist knowledge, as the 2x 30 watt stereo speaker and internal 60 watt subwoofer are attached to the rear of the Pa5X.
Everything at a glance
The large tilting 8" touchscreen is the central control element of the Pa5X. With razor-sharp image quality, the touchscreen provides access to all functions and features and, thanks to logical color codes, ensures clear interaction with other control elements. On the touchscreen in particular, you can clearly see that the motto "Simple. Better.": with large buttons, realistic displays and a simplified structure, the well thought-out new user interface shines. Whether you're editing the chord sequencer, fine-tuning the sound with the finalizer or adjusting effects, it couldn't be more convenient.
Realtime fader with mini display
The nine faders and the corresponding buttons are absolutely suitable for performance and can be switched for numerous tasks. For quick adjustments or parameters that need to be changed from time to time, you can reach your destination quickly and have everything under control. The slim strip display, which shows the current assignment of the faders, proves to be very practical.
Pad Matrix
The 16 velocity-sensitive pads fulfill various tasks. They can be used to fire previously assigned samples, switch tracks on and off in the mixer, control instruments and much more. Like many things in the Pa5x, the color of the pads varies according to their task. An additional plus in terms of overview and handling.
Professional connections
The rear of the Pa5x is pleasingly versatile. In addition to the keyboard, there are foot pedal connections for Expression, Sustain and Footswitch. This increases the expressive possibilities on the keyboard with the usual pedals. MIDI communicates via the In/Out/Thru and USB connection trio. This is perfect for anyone who wants to operate additional equipment such as a rack expander or a DAW with the Pa5X. In its capacity as a complete all-in-one Live instrument and sampler, audio inputs are of course a must! On the input side, the Pa5X shines with two Stereo line inputs, which are divided into 2x 6.3mm jack and 3.5mm stereo jack. A microphone input is provided via an XLR combo socket; even a guitar can be connected to its own input. There are six 6.3 mm jack sockets for signal output, which can be configured as 3x Stereo or 1x Stereo and 4x mono. There are two USB host ports for expanding the memory and connecting additional keyboards and controllers. The HDMI video output displays song lyrics, scores or the mirrored Display on a connected TV or projector.
