M3 Keybed question!

mahavishnujoel · Post by **mahavishnujoel** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:48 pm

Hi,
I have a Korg 61-key m50 and I'm thinking about upgrading to a M3. the question is... does the M3-61 has the same keys? or does it have semi-weighted keys? what about the 73 version? the thing is that i dislike the action on my m50, and would like a more real one without using the real weighted hammer action keys... would the m3-61 have better action?
Thanks in advance!

leetheedge · Post by **leetheedge** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:52 pm

the m3 has a great keypad...its improved loads from the trinity and triton range,,not sure about the m50 thou..

Jon Lord · Post by **Jon Lord** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:57 pm

The keybed in 61/73's are amazing. Great feeling, not too light, not heavy either but heavier than M50 keys. They are also silent compared to many other keybeds.

mahavishnujoel · Post by **mahavishnujoel** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:04 pm

leetheedge: I've never tried the trinity or the triton... but thanks anyway...

Jon lord: Thanks, by any chance do you know how does the m3-61/73's keybed compare to a kurzweil? I have a sp76 with semi-weighted keys which i use to control the m50... which is great but carrying two keyboards is not what i need right now... thanks in advance...

Jon Lord · Post by **Jon Lord** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:39 pm

mahavishnujoel wrote:leetheedge: I've never tried the trinity or the triton... but thanks anyway...

Jon lord: Thanks, by any chance do you know how does the m3-61/73's keybed compare to a kurzweil? I have a sp76 with semi-weighted keys which i use to control the m50... which is great but carrying two keyboards is not what i need right now... thanks in advance...

Sorry, have almost zero experience with kurzweil keybeds, I saw my first kurzweil (PC3 88) few months ago when i was browsing a store to see if they had a Kronos to demo, to my surprise...they had a kurzweil there... and a kronos! So you can guess which of these fine instruments i dedicated 99% of my time

. But what I have understood kurzweils use Fatar keybeds which are used in many other keyboards aswell

iluvchiclets · Post by **iluvchiclets** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:47 pm

Hi mahavishnujoel,

The M3 has a noticebly improved keyboard when compared to the M50. The M50 feels a bit clunky and has a longer throw to the key action in contrast to the M3. The M50 has a quite unusual action compared to other keyboards out there.

In my experience, the M3 (both 61 and 73) have a contemporary synth-action keyboard, very similar to the new Kronos.

If you are not happy with your M50, you will probably find the M3 much nicer in terms of feel.

_joe_ · Post by **_joe_** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:19 pm

the M3 61 has a much better keybed than the M50 61, its heavier, better built and the action is amazing.
The M50 is so cheaply built to cut cost and mainly to make the the keyboard lighter. No doubt about it, the M50 keybed feels like a cheap PSR yamaha.
As compared to Kurzweil. I have the PC2 which has the 76 semi weighted full keys. They really don't compare, it took me a while to get used to the M3 after using the Kurzweil, but the M3 61 feels sturdy and very comfortable that it has become my favorite keybed so far.

mahavishnujoel · Post by **mahavishnujoel** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:22 pm

jon lord: thanks again!! I understand about the Kronos! I would have done the same thing!

iluvchiclets: thanks a lot!! you hit the nail in the head!!

you guys have been very helpful! now i've decided to buy a m3-61! my worries were that I had to buy the more expensive 73 or 88 key versions to get a better keybed than my m50 but if the 61 has a better keybed plus the portability of 61 keys and doesn't break my bank then I'm in for a m3-61!! once again thanks guys!!

mahavishnujoel · Post by **mahavishnujoel** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 11:25 pm

Joe: thanks a lot!! I don't expected it to be like a Kurz but at least a better action than my m50. Which even tough its very cheap and clunky I still enjoyed playing it... thanks again... an m3-61 will be on the way to me!!

guillex · Post by **guillex** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:29 pm

great question.I was going to ask the same. I have an M50 73, I hate the keybed, so I was planning to go for an m3, and also to enjoy all the advantages that it has compared with the m50...

SwissArmyKnife · Post by **SwissArmyKnife** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:38 pm

I have an M3-73, and I love the keybed.

It's just firm enough to be able to play piano reasonably expressively, and nice synth action for everything else. Good feel, good aftertouch. Can't say anything bad about it.

iluvchiclets · Post by **iluvchiclets** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:39 pm

I know this is a bit off-topic, but since we are talking keyboard action (and in comparison to the M50...)

I wrote earlier mentioning that if you don't like the M50 action you will probably enjoy the M3 keyboard. I wanted to add that I really enjoy my M50 action!

My MoX (and the M3, Kronos, etc...) have an immediately useable and enjoyable action. But, I found that after getting used to the M50 it is very rewarding in its own right. The longer key-throw is very similar to an actual piano.

Fooling around with the keyboard velocity parameters on the M50 make for a different playing experience as well. I can't believe I'm writing this, but I would miss my M50 action if I had to give it up.

I'm hoping to find a used M3 module in the near future...

MarPabl · Post by **MarPabl** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:37 am

Today I was able to compare actions from M50 (61 and 73) as well as M3 (61 and 73) and I can tell you that M3 action really rocks!! It's a great great difference between those actions.

Indeed I was also able to compare with action of Motif XF and some Nords all of them having 61 keys and the same result: action of M3 is way better than any of those actions.

Regarding M50 and M3 having 88 keys, the keybed is the same... So if you're planning to get M50, it's better to get the 88 keys in order to have some great action. The action for other versions, it's really not that good.

michelkeijzers · Post by **michelkeijzers** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:23 pm

MarPabl wrote:Today I was able to compare actions from M50 (61 and 73) as well as M3 (61 and 73) and I can tell you that M3 action really rocks!! It's a great great difference between those actions.

Indeed I was also able to compare with action of Motif XF and some Nords all of them having 61 keys and the same result: action of M3 is way better than any of those actions.

Regarding M50 and M3 having 88 keys, the keybed is the same... So if you're planning to get M50, it's better to get the 88 keys in order to have some great action. The action for other versions, it's really not that good.

That's good news... I'm in the market for a Kronos 61 and that has the same keybed as the M3 if I'm right ... currently I have a M50 so it will be a step up.