NAMM 2019: Korg announces the Pa4X OS NEXT
It’s a free operating system update for the Pa4X Professional Arranger.
Yet more NAMM news from Korg: the brand has just unveiled an OS update for its Pa4X Professional Arranger, dubbed the Pa4X OS NEXT. The update, which comes two years after the last one, has tweaked a range of features, including the user interface.
UI
Korg has given the GUI a “dark-glimmering” makeover, upping colour contrast and making colour coding easier than before. Though the arrangement of elements remains the same, the NEXT update helps foreground more relevant elements, while static ones stay unobtrusive.
Improved sample memory and mono solo instruments
The update also lets the Pa4X read user samples directly from disk, and more than triples the Pa4X’s user sample memory: you can now load 1.5GB of user samples, which inflates to 3GB when you use the brand’s fast compression algorithm.
On the instrument front, Korg has worked on making the arranger’s mono solo instruments smoother and more realistic by revising the Mono Legato and Portamento Time parameters. Special attention has also been paid to the Drawbars organ page, which with the NEXT update feels more like a classic organ console.
Boosted recording functions
Firstly, thanks to a consolidated dialog, when you press ‘Record’ you can easily choose what you want to record, whether it be a song, style, pad or an MP3, independently from the current Operating Mode. Secondly, the Quick Record function is now the same as the main page, with just a few record indicators in the mix.
Simplified connectivity
Besides those tweaks, Korg has also made it easier to connect small keyboards, mixing surfaces, percussive pads and the likes—just plug them into the Pa4X’s USB HOST port and select the relevant MIDI preset. Other small improvements include the ability to copy Keyboard Sets between Styles and Song Book entries, pick more Song Book entries at once, lock the selected Keyboard Sets and remotely control the Synchro Start/Stop function using MIDI.
Watch this clip to see the updated OS in action:
The Pa4X OS NEXT update is free for all existing users and will be available late February. More information at korg.com.
