DocsBasicsOpen a SET & Resources

Open a SET & Resources

The two buttons at the top that start everything: Open SET/KST to load a KORG SET or PA5X KST, and Resources — your personal library of SETs, KSTs, AKX sets, styles and Community downloads.

6 min read · 5 sections · Beginner
In this chapter you will learn
  • How to open a KORG .SET or PA5X .KST folder (three ways)
  • What happens while a SET loads
  • How to use the Resources library: Favorites, All, Community, Browse
  • How to open a second SET or a Medeli AKX set next to the first (Import/Merge)

Open SET/KST — load your SET#

Everything starts by opening a SET. In PA SET Explorer you always open the folder of the SET (the folder whose name ends in .SET or .KST), not a single file inside it.

  1. 1
    Copy the SET from your USB stick to the PC

    On your keyboard, save your SET to a USB stick. Copy the whole folder — for example MySET.SET (PA300 – PA4X) or MySET.KST (PA5X) — to your computer, e.g. to the Desktop.

    Always keep an untouched copy of the original SET somewhere safe. It costs nothing and saves you from any surprise.
  2. 2
    Click Open SET/KST

    Press Open SET/KST at the top right. A folder window opens.

    PA SET Explorer
    The Open SET/KST button in the header.
    1. 1Open SET/KST — click it to choose a SET folder.
    The Open SET/KST button in the header.
  3. 3
    Select the SET folder

    Go to the folder that ends in .SET or .KST, click it once, and confirm. Do not open it — just select it.

  4. 4
    Wait for the loading window

    A Loading SET window shows the progress, the file being read and a log. The first step is “Preparing the working copy”: the program copies your SET to a safe working area so that nothing you do touches the original until you press Save.

  5. 5
    Choose the keyboard model

    Pick the keyboard the SET is for (see Getting started). A PA5X KST is recognised by itself and skips this step.

    PA SET Explorer
    select-model
    1. 1All supported models with their sample memory.
    2. 2Click your keyboard.
    3. 3Or Skip.

Three ways to open a SET#

WayHow
ButtonOpen SET/KST → select the .SET / .KST folder.
Drag & dropDrag the SET folder from Windows Explorer and drop it anywhere on the program window. The window shows “Drop a KORG .SET / .KST folder to open it”. If a SET is already open, you are asked “Replace loaded SET?”.
ResourcesDouble-click the SET in Resources → All or Favorites.
Pro tips
  • A SET folder normally contains sub-folders such as SOUND, STYLE, PCM, PAD, PERFORM, GLOBAL and MULTISMP. If you see them, you are one level too deep — go back and select their parent folder.
  • Dropping a single style file on the window does not open it: drop styles into Resources instead (the program reminds you with a message).
  • Dropping a Medeli AKX/Zen folder on the window opens it in SetManager as an AKX set.

Resources — your library#

Resources opens your personal library: every SET, KST, AKX set and style you have opened or added, in one place. Only the location of each item is saved — nothing is copied or moved.

PA SET Explorer
Resources → All with KORG SETs, PA5X KSTs, an AKX set and KORG, Yamaha and Medeli styles.
  1. 1Favorites, All, Community and Browse — with how many items each one has.
  2. 2Every item is a card with its type (SET, KST, STY, SFF, MSF, STG, AKX) and its name.
  3. 3The full type: Korg SET, Korg KST, Korg Style, Yamaha Style, Medeli Style, PA5X Style, Ketron Style or AKX/Zen Expansion.
  4. 4Star — add to / remove from Favorites.
  5. 5✕ — remove from the library. The files on disk are not touched.
  6. 6Reminder: double-click a SET/KST to open it, right-click an AKX/Zen folder to load it.
  7. 7Open Folder — opens the Resources folder (your Community downloads) in Windows.
Resources → All with KORG SETs, PA5X KSTs, an AKX set and KORG, Yamaha and Medeli styles.

What a double-click does#

ItemDouble-clickRight-click
KORG SET / KSTOpens it as SET A (you are asked first; the open SET is closed).—
Any style (KORG, PA5X, Yamaha, Medeli, Ketron)Opens it in the Style Player.▶ Open in the Style Player · Open in SetManager (MIDI) for KORG .STY / .stg
AKX/Zen setLoads it like Load AKX/Zen Set.Load AKX/Zen Set
PA SET Explorer
Right-click menu of a style in Resources.
  1. 1A Yamaha style.
  2. 2Right-click → ▶ Open in the Style Player.
Right-click menu of a style in Resources.

Resources → Community: your downloads#

Everything you download from the PA SET Explorer Community website (styles, samples and drum kits shared by other musicians) appears here, sorted by brand and type.

PA SET Explorer
Resources → Community with 40 downloads.
  1. 1Show All, Styles, Samples or Drumkits.
  2. 2Show only KORG, Medeli or Yamaha files.
  3. 3Search by name.
  4. 4Open the Community downloads folder.
  5. 5A downloaded resource: name, brand and kind, file type and size.
  6. 6⇄ Open in the Converter (styles) — convert it to another format.
  7. 7📂 Show in folder.
  8. 8A Medeli voice (.voi) downloaded from the Community.
Resources → Community with 40 downloads.

Double-click a style to listen to it in the Style Player. Double-click a sample or a drum kit to open its folder. To put a Community style straight into a SET, use Import Style → From Community on an empty slot (see Importing).

Resources → Browse: add things to the library#

PA SET Explorer
Resources → Browse.
  1. 1Drag & drop here — KORG .SET/.KST folders, AKX/Zen folders (with a .GSTarget) and style files.
  2. 2Add Folder… — pick a SET, KST or AKX folder.
  3. 3Add Style Files… — pick one or more style files (.STY, .sty, .stg, .kst).
  4. 4Items added here go to All. Items dropped on Favorites are marked as favorites.
Resources → Browse.
Pro tips
  • Use Resources as your “style shelf”: add the styles you like from anywhere on your PC, then double-click to listen or import them into a SET with Import Style → From Resources.
  • If a card says the item “no longer exists at its saved location”, you moved or deleted it in Windows. Remove the card with ✕ and add it again from its new place.
  • Press Esc or click outside to close Resources.

Two SETs at once: Import/Merge#

To copy things between SETs you need two of them open. That is what Import/Merge in SetManager is for:

PA SET Explorer
Import / Merge — what do you want to import?
  1. 1KORG SET / KST — load a second KORG SET or a PA5X KST as SET B, next to your SET A.
  2. 2Medeli AKX / Zen expansion — open a Medeli AKX/Zen set next to your KORG SET (or next to another AKX set).
Import / Merge — what do you want to import?
SET A (left, cyan)
  • Your main SET — the one you edit and save.
  • Everything you drag lands here.
  • Has the working copy with Undo, Redo and Save.
SET B (right, orange)
  • The source SET you take things from.
  • Drag its styles, sounds and pads onto SET A.
  • Loaded with Import/Merge.

The full story — drag & drop, groups, pages, banks, KST rules and Medeli AKX — is in Combining SETs.

Still stuck? Ask in the forum, send a message from your profile, or use Bug Report inside the program. We read everything.