Korg Pa5X: Major Firmware Update adds Loads of new Features
4,5 / 5,0 | 
Korg has released a major firmware update for the Pa5X arranger workstation. The new firmware 1.3, which is now available as a free update for all owners of the Korg Pa5X, adds loads of new features, including new style edit functions, KAOSS FX, round-robin samples, and much more.
[July 3, 2024] Great news for all owners of the Korg Pa5X! The flagship arranger just received a major firmware update that adds a long list of new features, many of which were high up on users’ wishlists.
In addition to 45 new styles (only for the standard version at this time; the Pa5X Musikant variant will receive new content soon), the 1.3 update includes a massively expanded Style Edit section. New Delete Note and Undo features and a more flexible system for editing chord variations make editing styles much easier. There are also new Record and Play modes for every track.
Furthermore, the update introduces Korg’s popular KAOSS FX to the Pa5X. These allow for intuitive real-time manipulation of styles and MIDI files for a more expressive performance – DJ style! And thanks to two new matrix presets, you can now use the pad matrix to control chord sequences and setlists.
The new OS also greatly expands the memory slots available for user samples. You can now save up to 53,000 samples. Moreover, the popular round-robin samples are now also available for user drum kits, with twice as many velocity layers as before (16 as opposed to 8).
In addition to this, the Korg Pa5X update adds support for CDG files. These include MP3 audio plus lyrics / graphics for a more professional-looking presentation of karaoke content via the HDMI output. Moreover, the update includes many small improvements
The Korg Pa5X update is now available as a free download from the manufacturer’s website.
The Korg Pa5X is available at Thomann*.
Korg Pa5X
[June 30, 2022 / original post by Robin Vincent] Korg is not messing about with the Pa5X. The new arranger has had a complete redesign with more power, less fuss, Pads, guitar inputs and virtually unlimited storage.
I’m aware that as synth enthusiasts we tend to look down on the Arranger keyboards as if they have little to offer our music-making endeavours. But that’s to miss out on the extraordinary power and potential of these massively versatile and fun-to-play keyboard workstations. You will never find yourself lost for ideas because you can settle back into over 600 styles of possibility while dialling through over 2200 tones. Sounds are pulled from all the other Korg machines including Kronos, Nautilus and SV2. This is not a toy.
The Pa5X has everything you need to discover the music you want to make and the musician you want to be. There are even “Musikant” editions that localise the content to various territories so it’s not all about Western styles or English labelling.
This is a premium keyboard ecosystem. It has 160 voice polyphony, Enhanced Definition Synthesis-Expanded sound generation, multimode filters and EQ on every track. Each track also has insert effects from a huge library as well as master effects from Waves | MaxxAudio® Suite. Along with the tones, you get 130 drum kits with room to store up to 384. The matrix of percussion pads gives you a more nuanced way to run your kits. There’s an 8″ touch-screen for displaying all the information you need and a colour-coded system that highlights the functions you need to be focused on. And you can fully mix your whole arrangement and finalise your mix with those Waves plugins.
Sampling
For sampling, there are 8GBs for waves and Soundfonts and an SD card slot for continuous expansion. There’s now a dedicated guitar input alongside the microphone input. And, of course, the Pa5X comes with amp and speaker simulation and room for 4 stomp-box effects. You also get some nice vocal and harmonisation effects.
Some of the style and accompaniment options are amazing. It has a dual song engine so that you can set two different things going and cross-fade between them. This extends to the dual MP3 player and recorder, the chord sequencer and song jukebox.
The Pa5X is a massive machine that can be a complete arranger and music workstation for MIDI, sampling and audio recording. The build quality and user interface are excellent and are reflected in the price. There are 61, 76 and 88 key versions with a hammer action keyboard to be found on the bigger one.
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8 responses to “Korg Pa5X: Major Firmware Update adds Loads of new Features”
I’m a synth / drum machine/ sampler / sequencer / DAW and VST person predominately but I’ve always had a soft spot for arranger keyboards. The Yamaha PS6100 from ‘84 and the Roland E-20 from ‘88 being a couple of my favourites. I left a cheap Tyros 2 at the in-laws house overseas, which is a refreshing thing to just sit down and play when we go there once a year. There’s nothing in stone that says synth players can’t enjoy a bit of Bossanova, Beguine or ‘Disco 16 Beat’ from time to time 🙂
Actually I’m surprised there aren’t any true arranger VSTs (at least, that I’m aware of). Vengeance kind of pulls it off, but I’m taking about something where you can activate Fills, Intros, Endings etc.
You’re talking about Band-in-a-box right?
Aha! Thanks Robin! Yes, I suppose I might be! I completely forgot that Band-in-a-Box existed. It’s not something I’ve been searching for and it was only while I responded to the article, that I pondered “why are there no proper arranger VSTs 🤔”
Will definitely be checking BIAB out.
Cha Cha Cha !!
Went on the 5x the other day. Its a beast! Until now both yamy and korg each have had their own advantages. The 5x however is like having a yamy and a korg in one
I hope you just do gender bender o the lead only as when I write my songs I’d like to hear them sing on à female
can’t wait to play the pa5x instead of lugging the Norg 88 to band rehearsal s
In terms of aesthetics, this is a gorgeous, beautiful machine, evocative of the Oasys. The design suggests this is the successor to the Kronos, but unfortunately under the hood it is a completely different keyboard.
Had they built this thing on the Kronos’s 9 engines, this thing would be a true beast. instead, it has only one engine, something new that I’ve never heard of.
I mean, I’m sure it’s full of great sounds, but I can buy boxes of great sounds and download thousands of free ones. I want a Kronos, been scammed twice on reverb trying to buy one.
Note also to Ash: I sincerely doubt any version of the PA 5X will be lighter than any version of the Nord. 😎
Looks a bit like a MIDI keyboard with an iPad on top to me. – with a super premium price.
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