M50-61 Keyboard Quality and Feel ?

Dapunk · Post by **Dapunk** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:54 pm

Hi,

I wanted to buy a nice keyboard for playing my VSTIs but then decided I may as well buy a cheapo workstation because I like to use such a thing offline from the PC as well.

Anyway I was suprised at the power and price of the M50 but how is the keyboard action ? Is it soft or hard, or responsive or cheap ? I have no way of knowing because a music dealer is 100s of miles away, so I can only order one via the internet.

I am a bit hesitant because I had a Korg Karma and the keyboard was truly awefull and like a cheap toy. I also had a Yamaha EX5, I loved the feel of that keyboard it was incredible.

So can anybody tell me their opinions about the keyboard feel and quality.

Thanks,
Dapunk

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:55 pm

I think every opinion you'll find here will tell you the same thing. The only way to really tell is to try it yourself. A keybed's feel is that, a feel and is personal each and every one of us. What might feel cheap to you may be cool for others.
In my short experience, I can tell you I find it very responsive and light. Is a synth, ok, not a piano. If you want piano full weight feel, get the 88 keys version.

At the end is a matter of taste.

nitekatt2010 · Post by **nitekatt2010** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:05 am

Dapunk wrote:Hi,

I wanted to buy a nice keyboard for playing my VSTIs but then decided I may as well buy a cheapo workstation because I like to use such a thing offline from the PC as well.

Anyway I was suprised at the power and price of the M50 but how is the keyboard action ? Is it soft or hard, or responsive or cheap ? I have no way of knowing because a music dealer is 100s of miles away, so I can only order one via the internet.

I am a bit hesitant because I had a Korg Karma and the keyboard was truly awefull and like a cheap toy. I also had a Yamaha EX5, I loved the feel of that keyboard it was incredible.

So can anybody tell me their opinions about the keyboard feel and quality.

Thanks,
Dapunk

Hey. I have the M50 88 and played it several times as well as all the other name keyboards in it's class, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, other Korgs. For my touch, I like the M50 88 action because to me it is very close to playing a fine acoustic grand piano.

But yesterday I was at the same guitar Center where I bought my M50 88 and they had an M50 61 board that I tried out and to me, the keyboard action and feel is nothing like the original quality keybeds on the Korg M1 or the Yamaha DX-7. Around 1997 I bought a Korg X-3 61 keyboard and hated the key bed and cheap feeling action. The sounds are great and the same on the M50 no matter if it's a 61-73-88 board. But of course the M50 88 costs more bucks and is a heavy board, about 46+ lbs and not easy to load and pack up for gigs.

However, I will only buy a keyboard with an 88 weighted hammer action with the exception of an organ like a Hammond Suzuki with waterfall keys or the Nord C2 double manual organ. Playing organ patches on an 88 weighted is a challenge and hard to get used to, even though you can change velocity in global Mode to suit your touch.

katt

sti23 · Post by **sti23** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 4:23 pm

all i can say is that the m50 i received at my house was way different than the one at guitar center. i played around with it at guitar center many many times before ordering. the thing i hated was how cheap it felt. the keys felt like they would break off.
but the actual m50 shipped to my house felt different. it felt more solid than the one that was at gc.
i believe people demoing the one at the store were not being very nice to it.

now it's still not as solid IMO as the keybed on the m3, but it's still pretty nice. like some have said, they feel very responsive and you can play pretty fast on this.

mocando · Post by **mocando** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:59 pm

sti23 wrote:all i can say is that the m50 i received at my house was way different than the one at guitar center. i played around with it at guitar center many many times before ordering. the thing i hated was how cheap it felt. the keys felt like they would break off.
but the actual m50 shipped to my house felt different. it felt more solid than the one that was at gc.
i believe people demoing the one at the store were not being very nice to it.

now it's still not as solid IMO as the keybed on the m3, but it's still pretty nice. like some have said, they feel very responsive and you can play pretty fast on this.

Maybe the one at GC was one of the first iterations or a demo, not fully factory tested and finalized.

sti23 · Post by **sti23** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 8:27 pm

well, either way, the one i received just felt so much nicer. I'm glad about that!
It does feel pretty solid. I was kinda concerned about durability at first, but after receiving a brand new unit, it seems like it will stand up pretty well, of course you have to take care of it.

kontroller4938 · Post by **kontroller4938** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:59 am

I have the M50 61 too and boy do I love it for shredding with its distortion guitars. The board is solid construction and the keys are nothing like my old X50 they feel perfect for soloing.....You wanna hear some shredding on a 61 note M50 check out the song "Retrospective" its on my myspace page. Just click the banner below and see what you can do with an M50 61.

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M50-61 Keyboard Quality and Feel ?

M50-61 Keyboard Quality and Feel ?

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