Korg Forums

[jacke]

(First post here.)

I'm looking at getting the M50-61 as my very first synthesizer in the near future. At first I was looking at the X50, intrigued by the plug-in editor and low price, then as the TR61 dropped in price after the M50 was announced I also considered that, liking the SD card feature and the prospect of aftertouch (even though I've never used it, having only a M-Audio Keystation 49 myself).

But before I make the investment, there are a couple of things on my mind.

Reading these forums I notice that some people are having issues with it hanging. Is this symptom of a bad batch, or just normal teething problems for a new synth, fixable with a firmware update?

Which leads me onto the second thing, updating the OS on it: I notice that there are several different versions on the Korg support page, is it necessary to install all those in order or just the latest version?

Since I'll probably be reluctant to save over any of the factory presets at first, is it possible to easily load and switch between sounds that you have saved on an SD card? The plan is to eventually have two footswitches, one for changing patches and one for potentially controlling expression, is this feasible with the two "assignable" pedal connections?

Lots of questions, but as I said, first time buyer. Hopefully I'll one day be able to provide answers...

[StudioMan]

"some people are having issues with it hanging". Until I witness it at LEAST one time,,, It's not an issue...
Wierdness happens we EVERYTHING! We don't have the specific facts on this "hanging" issue yet..
If I were you, I WOULD NOT let this be a deciding factor on to purchase or not.

Updating the OS is NOTHING! SIMPLE!!!
But I personally would suggest making the updates..

Don't worry about saving over programs or Combis. It takes like 15 seconds to put everything back to factory Default.

Yes, simple to save, load, whatever.. But not like you think by how you worded your question.

Your questions you should ask yourself?
How much $ do you want to spend? This narrows down your search.
Do you need a vocator?
Is weight a factor?
Is easy to learn/use a factor?
DO you need to use your own samples live?

I love my M50! I looked at everything! I really like the M3, but weight, price, learning curve pointed me at the M50. (I should note, now after kind of knowing the M50, the M3 is the same,,, but MUCH MORE!!!

I hope this helps!

Read thru the threads. There are many owners who LOVE the M50. I can only think of one who claimed he was sending it back (I'm not sure he ever owned one, he knew nothing about it). There is a TON of info here, and check out the Karma site. Say hi to Stephen over there, he's a VERY HELPFUL person. He owns Karma.
Also download the Manuals from Korg.com.

Mike

[kimu]

Hi Jacke,

regarding M50 i can say that never had a problem and i use it regularly for home-recording and for rehearsal with my bands. from my pint of view the OS is very stable.

updating OS is absolutely simple (nothing to share with old MIDI-only synth), just follow instruction that Korg gives with new OS and everything will go fine.

you can have two pedals connected (footswitch + expression)

further both in combi and program there are empty memory slot for your own sound, so you do not have to overwrite factory sound (anyway loading and save sound banks from / to SD is very simple).

regarding TR, keep in mind that is a discontinued product, you will no benefits any new update in OS or in sounds and further is based on old synthesis enging and has less fx (only you can have sampling that is no possible in M50).

if you want to look for M50 competitors, i would say that they are Juno-G and Juno-Stage, Fantom X/S, and Yamaha Mo6/8

[FifthElement]

I certainly have a note hanging problem but it's infrequent and not a show stopper and maybe it can easily be sorted with a firmware upgrade. I put it down to the general lack of quality control these days from all manufacturers and the "made in China" syndrome.

You only need to install the latest version of the OS update

Loading sounds from the SD card is easy and you can store them where you want. You can even audition the patch by just selecting it on screen even before you load it.

No problem with your pedals. The "switch" pedal can be assigned to program UP/DOWN and the "pedal" controller assigned to expression, volume etc.

Hope this helps.
_________________
Korg M50-88, Nord Electro2 73, Roland JV-90

Fender Strat Plus Deluxe, Ibanez MESA, Line6 Variax, Line6 POD 2.0

[Xenomorph]

I had the TR for 2 years and after having the M50 for a month, I say don't even bother with the TR unless you can get it really really cheap. You'll enjoy the M50 much more and once you use the touchscreen, you'll be spoiled big time. I was making a split on my Karma the other day for my cousin and I actually tapped the screen LOL. My cousin looked at me like wtf are you doing?
_________________
Life is short, play a KORG!

Current: Pa5X, Nautilus
Past: M1, X5D, N364, Karma, X50, TR61, M50, micro-Korg, Triton Extreme, Pa3x, Roland Fantom 06, Akai mpc key61

[michelkeijzers]

I bought a Behringer pedal board with 10 switches and 2 expression pedals and those work fine with a Triton Extreme (and I now for 100% sure it will work for any Korg from that time). You also can use other MIDI expression pedal boards of course. They are not as cheap as a controller but have more possibilities. I use mine for stepping one program up, enable/disable leslie and make it fast/slow, enable distortion, one sustain, one portamento on/off, one pedal for volume (on one synth), and one expression pedal. And then I have still some presets left.

[leonh]

M50 all the time ,easy to work no need to get to to many sub menus (not to many )if you have idea you can work it easy sound good enough to make any song you like (add talent),and latter you can have Oasys but you still need idea

[jacke]

Thanks for all the replies! I've done a lot of research on it, including other boards, but I'm pretty set on this one. Really looking forward to getting it...