Disappointed with Korg M50

[pianoman1959]

Is anyone out there downright disappointed with their M50? I am not satisfied with the pianos or the organs. Grand piano stinks. No Hammond B3. Synth lead patches are OK at best. Keys are like a Casio (I have a 73 key). I use mine for gigging, not recording. I am not real good at tweaking patches so I tend to rely on the factory presets. Maybe it's just me but I think $1100 is a lot of money. Any comments?

[korman709]

dont be dissapointed,m50 is a good machine,if u want to upgrade it to an m3 buy the karma software for 150euros.

[candlewick]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment with your M50. I will agree that I much prefer my Triton LE keybed to the one on the M50, but the sonic output is clearly leaning in the M50's favor. I agree that some of the piano's need a little tweaking but I have had great luck with the organs, (be sure and take a look at the Stesco stuff) and the Vintage Piano patches available for download. The complete soundset is an absolute steal in the $900-$1,000 range............IMHO. !!!!!!!

keep digging and you should find some real keepers.

[Synthoid]

I am not real good at tweaking patches so I tend to rely on the factory presets.

I'd recommend reading the manual and learning how to program the M50. Sometimes adjusting something as simple as a few effects can make a big difference.

Sure it takes a commitment and isn't much "fun" at first, but slowly you'll learn how to develop your own sounds... it's well worth the time invested.

[mocando]

I am not real good at tweaking patches so I tend to rely on the factory presets.

Then you shouldn't had got it in the first place. A Workstation is MEANT to be used for tweaking patches and building sound sets (combis), as well as sequencing, but if you can't find the sound you are looking for, you build it from scratch or tweak the presets to get as close as possible. That's the whole idea.

[kimu]

personally i am very happy of m50 as gig-machine: it's a real workstation (not just a perfomance synth as X50); it's lightweight and portable (not as trinity, triton or m3); it's got a huge ROM full of sounds (much better than ones in new Juno Series); it's full of programming possibilities and can import all the program/combi from M3.....

there is just few think i would make better for gig such as having favourite patch as in X50...

piano sounds have been really improved from Trinity / Triton even i agree that they are not the best in class (yamaha wins here...)

for organ sounds i do not use them, so i cannot complain....

[McHale]

I'm also very happy with the M50 as a gig machine. I initially bought the M3 and found it very heavy and bulky and really desired an M50-like keyboard. All the sounds, none of the features I don't use live (like sampling or aftertouch).

[holdsg]

I use the m-50 73 as a gigging board. have set up combis for all our songs. Not a tweaker either, but I have learned a few things from being apart of this forum and asking questions. Seriously recommend the vintage pianos, and also, the organs can be improved for around $50 (see my organ thread for details). I am in the happy camper camp.

[sixtoeightfeet]

I am surprised to hear that anyone is dissapointed with the M50's sounds. I shopped long and hard before I bought my M50 and it was the high-quality sounds that sold me on it. I bought my M50 for approximately $1,200 U.S. and felt I'd have to pay two or three times that amount to get anything close. Best of all, the M50 came with a sequencer and all the other bells and whistles too! As with any product, there's always room for improvement. Korg could put a better rotary-speaker B-3 type program in. Korg would also do well to improve the quality of the keys -- both in the unweighted-key versions of the M50 and in the weighted, 88-key version of the M50. However, as a whole, it is a great product. It will probably be my first and last keyboard workstation. I intend to keep it forever. I love it!

[guillex]

Well It can happens!

Not everybody likes the same. Maybe you should sell it, and buy a new one, but take enough time to try all the sounds, as you will not edit them at all, you should be a 100% sure that you like that sounds.

Anyway, why you dont try to edit the sounds? I've really edit hammond and piano sounds, and they really sound killers, just you should learn how and what to do.

Regards and good luck with your decission!

[Ziggy]

One of the main reasons I bought the M50 was to control my Alesis drum & bass module. Not only can't I figure it out, I can't even find anyone else who knows. I should have my rear kicked!

[mocando]

MIDI implementations can be very simple, or could turn into a real nightmare if you don't know what you are doing. There is so many details involved. I would give a good read at the parameter guide before blaming the hardware.

[organportal]

I also have the M50. The acoustic piano's are indeed crap.
BUT in general i love most sounds from the M50. This workstation sounds a lot better than most others with this pricetag.

Greeetz
Organportal

[kandarv]

Two main problems I found on my new M50-73.

First, the sequencer is not all that great, there's no easy way to change tracks while recording or playing and at the same time adjust parameters. No pattern mode (as in Motif) that can really help making a beat very quick and then convert it to a song. Editing midi files (assuming you can open it) and DAW integration are not straightforward. Compare button is very useful though.

Second, no octave shift designated buttons. This one is pretty obvious, I don't understand why Korg didn't include them. I find my self setting the octave up to SW2 on a daily basis several times cause I have to do it on many programs and combis.

Two other minor problems

Favorites programs, combis and banks. Can't figure out a way to easy change between them without getting lost in the middle.

Second, polyphony limit can be reached pretty easily with those stereo, doble osc, double layer sounds.

and don't get me started on the pianos, even my old MM6 has better pianos IMHO.

On the good side of things, I really appreciate the light weight, slim format and chord keys, and even though the sequencer has its flaws it can be very useful while gigging.

I remember I was in the market for a workstation. The M3 was my first choice but it wasn't available in the store when I went buying and the seller gave me a super deal on a Motif XS6, wow I was lucky. A year later I was looking to replace my secondary keyboard (MM6) with something that had a sequencer built in and still can move it from home to studio or friends garage. M50 is the obvious choice and being a close relative to the M3 I had high hopes, so maybe I'm not being fair comparing it with the XS.

Anyway, I'm still happy with it, knowing it's limitations is a good thing. It is a great instrument for its price and a fun tool to play with.

[Kim Lajoie]

I'm making a pack of improved piano sounds for the M50/M3. Hang in there...

-Kim.