Best Arranger Workstations for Entertainers and Performers
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Arranger workstations are powerful all-in-one instruments that offer all the sounds and features needed to put on a perfect show as a one-man band. In this article, we check out the best high-end and mid-range arranger workstations in 2025.
Best Arranger Workstations
Arranger Workstations
Some musicians still look down upon keyboards with automatic accompaniment, perhaps because they bring back memories of the cheesy “kiddie keyboards” of their childhood. But modern arranger workstations – especially those in the upper price range – have very little in common with the cheap toy keyboards of the 80s and 90s. Today’s mid-range and high-end arranger keyboards are powerful all-in-one instruments whose sound engines often rival those of high-end synthesizer workstations. They’ve also come a long way in terms of expressiveness and creative possibilities. Features such as audio styles and instrument-specific articulations provide a great deal of realism. Many arranger workstations also let you import your own samples and create your own accompaniment styles, so you’re by no means limited to the preset content. In this article, we take a look at some top-of-the-line arranger workstations from Yamaha, KORG, and Ketron, which are setting new standards for entertainer keyboards.
Ketron Event: As Real as it Gets
Italy is not only the birthplace of many unique synthesizers, but has also been the origin of high-quality arranger workstations for many years – beginning with the Solton Programmer 24, the legendary “Italo Disco Machine”. This legacy lives on under the Ketron brand. And the state-of-the-art Ketron Event is right at the forefront when it comes to realistic accompaniment styles.
Ketron was one of the first manufacturers to incorporate audio tracks recorded by real musicians into their styles – initially drums, later also basslines and guitars. This makes for particularly authentic-sounding accompaniment patterns that are much livelier than the MIDI tracks conventional arranger workstations.
The Ketron Event, available with 61 or 76 keys, is the culmination of this development. Compared to earlier keyboards such as the SD9, the arranger engine has been completely revised and offers even more of these “Real Styles”. A total of 580 live drum tracks are available, plus 216 guitar patterns, 256 audio basslines, and over 300 live chord tracks. Needless to say, these patterns automatically adapt to the chords you play. The solo sounds also offer a high degree of realism and expressiveness thanks to so-called “Real Solos”.
In addition, the Ketron Event offers all the professional features you would expect from an arranger workstation of this class. It comes with 2.5 GB of free memory that you can fill with additional sound banks and user samples. There’s also a high-quality organ simulation with drawbars, as well as a fully-featured style editor, two independent MIDI and audio players, a vocalizer effect and an HDMI output for displaying lyrics, images and videos on an external monitor.
The Ketron Event is available with 61 or 76 keys from Thomann*.
Yamaha Genos 2: Yamaha’s Flagship Arranger Workstation
Yamaha’s current flagship Genos 2 also sets new standards in terms of realism and expressiveness. One of the most important innovations of the current Genos generation is the new Style Dynamics Control feature, which gives you precise control over the dynamics of the accompaniment tracks. This isn’t just a fancy volume knob, but affects how the styles sound, just as if the virtual musicians were playing their instruments louder or softer. Together with the new Ambient Drums, this gives you an unprecedented level of control over the sound and dynamics of the accompaniment styles. All in all, 800 styles are included from the factory.
In addition to this, the Genos 2 offers a powerful sound engine that’s clearly related to (but not identical to) Yamaha’s flagship workstation Montage M. For example, the Genos 2 not only contains several of Yamaha’s best grand piano sounds such as the CFX Grand, but also an FM engine with the sounds of the DX7. A total of over 1900 voices are available, many of which feature instrument-specific articulations. It goes without saying that you can also add the content of your choice through various optionally available expansion packs.
The user interface also takes some clues from the Montage M. In addition to a 9-inch touchscreen, the Genos 2 offers an intuitive Live Control section with an additional small screen and assignable LED faders and encoders. Other professional features include a microphone input with a harmonizer effect, an HDMI port for an external screen, a chord looper, a playlist function, an integrated USB audio interface, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Yamaha also makes an optional speaker system specially designed for the Genos 2.
The Yamaha Genos 2 is available from Thomann*.
KORG Pa5X: The Choice is Yours
Of the arranger workstations on this list, KORG’s current flagship Pa5X is the only one to come in several versions tailored to different styles and markets. In addition to an international variant, the Pa5X is available in a Musikant version for the German-speaking market and an Oriental version for the Middle East – both markets where solo entertainers are a common sight at weddings, company events, and similar festivities. All three variants are also available in several keyboard sizes. While the Pa5X Oriental comes with 61 or 76 keys, the international and Musikant varieties are also available with an 88-key hammer-action keybed. This means you can choose the keyboard that best meets your requirements in terms of sound and keybed.
Compared to the Pa4X, KORG has also redesigned the user interface to make it even more intuitive. In addition to an 8-inch touchscreen, there’s a new pad matrix. The parameters currently assigned to the nine faders and buttons are displayed on a small separate screen. Many controls are illuminated by LEDs that correspond to the colors of the main display, so you can easily tell what they’re currently assigned to.
The revised EDS-XP sound engine features round-robin samples for drums and percussion, which makes for more realistic and lively accompaniment styles. Many sounds come with instrument-specific articulations, which you can activate using the DNC (Defined Nuance Control) function. Needless to say, the Pa5X also features the patented dual player, which has long been a key feature of the Pa series. Thanks to two completely independent players (both capable of MIDI and audio), you can perform with songs and even styles like a DJ, including smooth crossfades and transitions. The Pa5X also offers separate inputs for microphone and guitar, as well as an HDMI output for an external screen.
All versions of the KORG Pa5X are available from Thomann*.
Yamaha PSR-SX920: Affordable Alternative to the Genos 2
Do you like the sound of Yamaha’s styles and voices, but don’t need all the bells and whistles of the flagship Genos 2? The PSR-SX920 is a more affordable alternative that still offers many sounds and styles also found in the Genos, including several especially expressive “Super Articulation 2” voices.
The PSR-SX920 even offers the “Style Dynamics Control” feature that first debuted in the Genos 2. All in all, it comes with over 1500 voices, 63 drum/SFX kits, and 575 styles, along with 2 GB of memory for voice expansions. Other features include a 7-inch touchscreen, a playlist mode with 2500 entries, programmable Multi Pads, and an external input for a microphone or guitar, complete with a harmonizer effect.
The Yamaha PSR-SX920 and its even more affordable sibling PSR-SX720 are available from Thomann*.
KORG Pa1000: Affordable Alternative to the Pa5X
What the PSR-SX920 is to the Genos 2, the KORG Pa1000 is to the Pa5X: a more affordable alternative that still offers many of the sounds, styles, and features of the flagship.
The EDS-X-Engine delivers over 1750 sounds, including pianos and electric pianos from the KORG SV-1 and an organ simulation with drawbars. The Pa1000 also offers the DNC (Defined Nuance Control) feature that gives you instant access to many instrument-specific articulations. There’s also a sampling engine with 1 GB of memory for user sounds.
In addition to over 430 internal styles, the Pa1000 offers KORG’s signature dual song player and sequencer with a crossfader. And because true entertainers don’t just play keyboards, but also sing and sometimes even pick up a guitar, the Pa1000 offers an external audio input with a TC Helicon Voice Processor and guitar effects. Everything you need to put on a convincing performance – including a striking burgundy finish that’s sure to turn heads!
The KORG Pa1000 is available from Thomann*.
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