Absolutely, no one should discount the Genos if considering between that, PA5X and Event.
I got frustrated with the PA5X after about 5 months so went back to the Genos.
The styles sound good on the PA5X, really good in certain places even, very funky basslines and inspirational, and they sound even better on the Event going by demos but if your playing isn't enjoyable then that will matter much less.
Another stupid thing on the PA5X; it can only record to MP3! No Wav! I hope this is addressed in the future but maybe not as it's written into the manual MP3 only. With all the extra expansion space (two small sd slots at the back that can take a 1TB each I believe) I don't understand why.
The keybed is also disappointing on the 88 key version, the main reason I got it. Very noisy and it is getting worse. I reckon any Fatar one will not suffice for me personally. Now looking at swapping the Korg for a Kawai or Nord Grand and use that in conjunction with the Genos. I think that might be the perfect setup for me.
Hopefully we can see the Event screen registration buttons in action. But with styles taking the attention away this may stay hidden from us.
All very true (from a dealer perspective). Yes, the Korg weighted keys are good in terms of weighting, but they are relatively slow (compared to any Yamaha with wooden keys, like P515, CVP800 series, etc) and yes they get clickier as time goes on. Not just Korg, Nord keys, and yes, any Fatar keys are like that. Not for me either; once I had a wooden key Yamaha, there was no going back to sluggish keys. I had a customer who originally pre ordered PA5x 88, but before he did I had to show him what the keys felt like (same as on Korg C1Air/G1Air. Decent, but not as fast as his acoustic grand piano) so he switched to the 76 (and immediately refunded it because it's even more complicated to use than his PA1000). On Yamaha you just pop in your USB stick and read a style, on Korg, due to being forced to read from a fixed array, you actually have to individually* copy the styles you want into the internal fixed array, and then overwrite one of those slots (you *can* batch copy, but it overwrites the entirety of each bank, so really only useful to batch copy the 1st set of styles for each bank, the rest you have to individually copy).
Having said that, the PA5x piano sound is *fantastic* and schools the Genos, the solo strings (and even the combination string layers) are quite good, except for the higher octaves which still sound distinctly "synthy", same problem as the predecessor. And the modern pop/R&B styles are second to none. The build and finish are also far superior to the Genos... but as a consequence it weighs 10 lbs more.
I like the Classical guitars slightly more on the Pa5x (but Genos still has better steel string guitars, and shockingly, electric distorition guitars, which Korg has traditionally been superior in). Both have great electric clean guitars. The PA5x Shakuhachi is also *miles* better than the default Genos one. EP's and Organs are good on both, but you won't have people complaining about rotary on/off being baked into the sound, as they use DSP's on all organs. And instead of having to hold the stick up for fast? You just tap the stick up once to speed up/slow down the rotary. *however* it would've made more sense to use one of the 3 assignable (articulation) buttons :p
Oh the Nord Grand is the only one that doesn't use the standard clacky Fatar keys, and the piano samples are *fantastic*. However, still not a wooden key. If you're looking for a better key feel and a better piano sound than the P515 (which is middling), try the CP88. I would've suggested one of the new wooden key Casios (PXS5000-7000), but oddly, they only offer USB B midi out, not standard 5 pin, rendering them difficult to use as a master KB.
One of my customers tried slaving a PSRsx900 from a Casio PXS1000... and weirdly it *worked* using a custom USB B to B cable. But it's not supposed to! :p
Baffling decision to leave out 5 pin midi, but *wow* are they ever compact and light. Wood/resin hybrid 88 keys weighs 25 lbs *with* built in speakers... the next lightest with built in speakers is the P515 which comes in a 49.5lbs.
If sound is more important than the key action, I'd go with the Nord Grand. If key action is most important I'd go with the CP88. If you want good key action (not as good as the Yamahas but superior to everyone else) and lightweight portability? Try one of the PXS5000/6000/7000. Crazy light. But you'll need to buy a USB B to B cable if you want to run a master/slave setup on your Genos.
Mark