X50 NIGHTMARE TO USE ,CANT CHANGE OCTAVE , POOR REALTIME TOO

[sneakydisco]

Very unhappy with my new purchase , it has 88 keys and octave buttons only allow shift of one octave ! ( even my microkorg has a knob to move through all of them ) . How on earth are you supposed to play the ENTIRE keyboard if you can only shift up and down ONE octave !!
Also the realtime controls are awful , a real nightmare to assign and theres only 4 that are useful ( even the microkorg gives you access to 12 at a touch )
somebody please tell me that im wrong and that there is a quick way to shift octaves while im playing , and also make some sense of the useless realtime knobs that are a bitch to set up !

im new to keyboards , but i fing the xl soo easy to use , this x50 is not at all easy to use and every time i want to change something you have to stop and use this awkward display and point click thing .

[xmlguy]

[yap, yap, yap, yap]....im new to keyboards...[yap, yap, yap, yap]

There's your problem right there....bitchin' about things you haven't learned how to use yet.

every time i want to change something you have to stop and use this awkward display and point click thing .

Download and use the editor librarian software.

[sneakydisco]

I have done the manual and it only shows SW1 and SW2 as being single buttons , so how am i supposed to shift down or up to reach the last octaves ?
this X50 is really fiddly to use i am finding , yes i agree i am on the steepest bit of the learning curve but this user interface is not simply laid out . . .
If the realtime knobs are assigned for lfo's and stuff then how do i control effects at the same time ! i can't control the things i want to at the same time , i have to stop and go into the menus and reconfigure it all then restart . As far as i can see anyway . ?
I love the build quality and the big keys etc but it needs about 5 more knobs on it i reckon .
Bummer , but im not giving up any time soon , just built a great stand for it and am persevering with the manual again today.
I love the fact that it has 16 MIDI channels , i have got soo much depth and layers on my stuff now . Its fantastically clear and smooth sounding .
Anyone have any ideas how to get that 303 squelch out of it ??????

[xmlguy]

Are you using the editor librarian software?

[sneakydisco]

I don't want to have to ,
2 reasons ,
a. i want a keyboard that works on its own and doesn't rely on another piece of kit
b. i get a hum when i plug in my laptop ( unless i unplug mains and use on battery)

but i have had a go on it briefly ( it looks OK , but i only just got my head round the MicroKorgXLs editor ) .

any advice on how i can play the 128 notes (a piano has) off its 60 keys ?

[michelkeijzers]

You can do different things to change the octave:
- Use global transpose (I think from -24 to +24)
- You can change a program and change the octave (I think even in a greater range)
- You can set SW1 or SW2 for one octave up/down.
- You can use a combi, copy a piano as timbre in the combi, and set the transpose (I think from -5 to +5 octaves).

[xmlguy]

I don't want to have to ,
2 reasons ,
a. i want a keyboard that works on its own and doesn't rely on another piece of kit
b. i get a hum when i plug in my laptop ( unless i unplug mains and use on battery)

but i have had a go on it briefly ( it looks OK , but i only just got my head round the MicroKorgXLs editor ) .

any advice on how i can play the 128 notes (a piano has) off its 60 keys ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIX0ZDqDljA

If you refuse to even try the advice I give you, then I don't want to help you. So either you try the editor like I want you to do, or you can sit on your ass scratching your head to figure out the X50 on your own. It appears that only one of us can get what we want, in this case. It doesn't much matter to me if you can't figure out your X50 because you refuse to try the editor software.

Regarding your two points, they are irrelevant for the purpose and reasons why I advised you to run the editor.

(a) The X50 does work fine on its own without relying on the software or a computer to run it. That's not the issue. The problem is that YOU were bitching about how difficult it was to program the assignable knobs and that "x50 is not at all easy to use and every time i want to change something you have to stop and use this awkward display and point click thing." Using the editor solves both of those problems. Programming those assignable knobs takes maybe 5 seconds using the editor. You would completely avoid having to use the "awkward display and point click thing", at least if at least tried my advice to you. YOU are the one that needs the editor to learn the X50. The X50 doesn't need the editor or you to function. As soon as you are done learning it and seeing how much easier it is than "menu diving", then you can unplug the X50 and it will work exactly how you programmed it.

(b) It's your defective laptop that's to blame for sending noise down the USB cable ground when hooked up to the AC/DC adapter. It shouldn't do that. You could get the same noise problem with any music/audio device hooked up to your laptop. The X50 and most music gear with line level unbalanced outputs have audio signals that are referenced to ground, and ground is assumed to be a clean DC reference point. So any defective power supply or regulation circuit that screws up the ground will usually screw up the output audio. You can solve this problem by fixing the laptop or getting a better one which doesn't do that. Or you can live with the noise only while running the editor, since you only need the editor to learn and program it, not to play it or use it.

I think the editor software is the best way to learn the X50, R3, Radias, MKXL, and the MKXL+. Everyone who has followed my advice to use the editor has always agreed with me after trying it, and most thank me for it. But you'll never know until you try it. Continue menu diving all you want with that point and click thing. That's the punishment you deserve.

[sneakydisco]

at XMLGUY , i shall try and be polite and word my reply in a nicer fashion than yours ,
I have tried the sound editor , i understand its ease , i also am aware that the power lead to it introduces noise , not the fault of the Korg . This another reason that i wish to use the Korg on its own , i do not want to use a computer AT ALL . If i did i would simply do it all on a computer like most modern producers , i prefer hardware .
If i wanted to sit infront of an apple all day clicking and pointing then i would not have got the x50 to begin with .
I have taken your advice and will do again , i shall persevere with the X50 and obviously not give up , but i do think that the keyboard on its own is not at all simple to use , and i am still finding that the only way to play the entire keyboard over all its octaves is impossible unless you stop playing and shift octave s by some other means that the SW buttons ( as they only move one octave ) .
This is like painting with only two primary colours , to get all the spectrum you need three colours . Why would a keyboard be made that only allows 3/4 of the keys to be played ?
I love the sounds on the X50 and am getting alot of mileage out of it , its just the octaves and the fiddly screen that holds it back.

[michelkeijzers]

Sneakydisco ... did you try the options I gave you?

[xmlguy]

The X50 keyboard covers 5 octaves (plus 1 key). Pressing SW2 transposes up an octave. Pressing SW1 transposes down an octave. That's a 7 octave range that covers 85 notes. By my calculation, that's 96.59% of 88 notes, not 3/4 or 75% as you assert. Besides that, the top 3 notes of a piano aren't frequently used by most keyboardists for most songs, so it's usually not a problem to not be able to play those notes. I do understand that some classical piano music does use those notes more frequently than other genres of music, but most classical pianists would be buying an 88key with fully weighted and graded action, not 61 key synth action keyboards.

If you really needed a full piano range, then you probably should have bought an 88 key synth like the Triton Extreme 88 or midi controller like the AKAI MPK88, and I would have advised against the X50 if you had asked in advance. If you wanted more direct control of the sound beyond 4 assignable knobs, you indeed should have not purchased the X50.

any advice on how i can play the 128 notes (a piano has) off its 60 keys ?

Since when do pianos have 128 notes?

[sneakydisco]

at michelkeijzers
i have tried and it worked well , thanks for the advice . I am not giving up on this keyboard even though it is not well laid out .
I tried the editor again last night and if i can get over the constant hum from the ground then im sure it will speed up the understanding of the layout .
Thanks very much .
At xmlguy , and you too .

[michelkeijzers]

at michelkeijzers
i have tried and it worked well , thanks for the advice . I am not giving up on this keyboard even though it is not well laid out .
I tried the editor again last night and if i can get over the constant hum from the ground then im sure it will speed up the understanding of the layout .
Thanks very much .
At xmlguy , and you too .

Good to hear ... I know there is a learning curve (as with any synth) but it's good you take the time to learn the X50.