I need your help here

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:07 pm

I own a PA 50. But ever since I got it, I've tried to tweak the sounds changing oscilator parameters, LFOs, etc. I found it to be very time consuming and not really easy to do.
I've seen the PA 800 tutorial with the touch screen and was blown away how intuitive it can become.

BUT, and is a bug but: I'm not really in the need of an aranger, since my needs are only soloing while playing with my kids (drum + guitar) maybe adding some base sequences but that's all. I really don't need a band-in-a-box kind of gear. In fact, I hardly use styles, only to group together sounds for easy switching while performing.

Is a workstation a better option for me? Am I going to be able to change sounds on the fly easily while playing? Is the M50 interface better than the PAs?

BTW, I mention the M50 because I have a real change of getting one, and maybe throwing the PA 50 as part of the price.

What do you think?

Many many many thanks to all.

Cheers

jpscoey · Post by **jpscoey** » Thu May 07, 2009 10:38 pm

If you're coming on to the M50 forum asking whether or not to get one...

I think you'll find the answer is a unanimous YES !!!

.

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Fri May 08, 2009 1:28 pm

jpscoey wrote:If you're coming on to the M50 forum asking whether or not to get one...

I think you'll find the answer is a unanimous YES !!!

.

That is not my intention. I'm 43 years old, and I know a stupid question when I see one. I just need some help figuring out if a Workstation would be better suited for my needs than an arranger. That's all.

Synthoid · Post by **Synthoid** » Fri May 08, 2009 1:57 pm

Visit a local music store and play one for yourself... that's the best way for you to make a decision. Audition individual programs and combinations--play with the drum tracks and arpeggiators.

jerryv · Post by **jerryv** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:03 pm

In general, the m50 makes it easy to move from sound to sound simply by using its 'preview' capability. Once you've selected a sound bank (like A,B,C, etc) or an instrument group (like pianos, brass, synths), the touch screen shows you about 16 of those sounds at a time and you can simply touch the sound you want and you're playing it. It's also easy to scroll horizontally to see more sounds available from that group.

You can also set up your own categories of sounds (like 'favorites') and put your most-used sounds in there where they'll all be close together and easy to reach. All of this stuff is available with a touch or two on the touch screen.

You can also easily jump to any sound on the unit by simply pressing a few keys on the control panel of the m50 .. for instance, press A,1,2,Enter to go directly to sound a12 ...

And of course the m50 gives you the ability to drill down into any of its sounds to tweak things like the oscillators, EQ, effects, etc etc ... there's enough depth in this things to keep an old fart (I'm 62) busy for years.

This doesn't even touch Combi mode which lets you layer sounds (up to 16 at a time), split the keyboard, even do velocity-based switching.

It's a great toy. Highly recommended ..

Acid510 · Post by **Acid510** » Fri May 08, 2009 8:20 pm

yea i say just go to your local music store, and test out some of the ones you got there, the korg M50 is great and easy to move around in, and im only 15 so it shouldnt be harder for you to use, but its really what you like not what you need. go test some out.

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Fri May 08, 2009 9:04 pm

Thanks jerryv and the others. That was exactly what I needed.

jpscoey · Post by **jpscoey** » Fri May 08, 2009 10:15 pm

.[/quote] I know a stupid question when I see one. I just need some help figuring out if a Workstation would be better suited for my needs than an arranger. That's all.[/quote]

Hey, I may be reading this wrong, but I didn't intend to come across as sarcastic or or stuff... I simply thought that the M50 speaks for itself really.

It's a great keyboard, and looking at your wishes, then I don't think I could give a better answer than the one Jerry did.

If you go for it you won't regret it - out of all the pieces of kit I'm lucky enough to own, the M50 is the last one I'd part with.

Go for it... and have fun !!!
.

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Fri May 08, 2009 11:44 pm

The only feature you wont like on M50 which is zillions of times better on any
PA arranger is the SoundChangng which might dissapoint you on M50 over PA.
But let me reasonable here instead of sounding dumb:
I've been programming the PA synths since day one of PA80 and i know those
synths by heart, i dont think there is any single parameter in there that i dont know.
Same thing with M Series, M3 and M50, since day one, i own all of them.
First of all deppends on what you are used and then second is which one is better:
1. Coming from PA to M series might feel funny at the begining since changing
sounds on M is funny, slower then PA series, way slower and also when switching
sounds fast on the M is very harsher then the PA series, PA does that Smoothly.
2. When you open a bank on PA and switch between banks the same sound stays
on, doesnt change while on M it changes as you change banks which makes life
waay harder and its a big pain for us.
3. Editing sound is time consuming on any machine, thats why us devellopers
charge for it, it takes hours to create a sound from ROM, forget Sampling, days.
Creating Sounds on the PA is a lil easier taking in mind that of being less complex
then a workstation (which is made for sounds).

The rest is all you.

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:20 pm

Well, I have to thank everyone for your thoughts. I'm a happy M50 owner for a few weeks now, and I'm not going back to the PA50.

The one thing that bothered was that when changing programs it changes when selecting a different bank. That one is a tough one, but I don't usually go switching while performing. Now I can create all my songs in Combis and switch them with the pedal. Can't get any easier than that.

I'm having a BLAST!!!