Korg Forums

[tdweis]

Hi everyone: I am getting back into playing after several years & am trying to decide which is the best keyboard for me of these 3. I searched the entire forum for posts on the subject but didn't find anything on point. I'm aware that these are so-called "budget workstations" & I've read all the reviews but am not getting a clear idea of which may be the best, partly because they've been released at different times. Aside from the possible brand bias since this is a Korg forum, I'm primarily concerned about the following (no order of importance):

1. I'm interested in good acoustic voices (guitar, bass, strings) [I've heard Yamaha is good];
2. Maximum flexibility in recording different instruments to form my own "background band" in case I want to play for family, friends or one-man gigs (Note: I am NOT interested in arranger boards - I don't mind laying down a bass track, drums, guitar, etc. verbatim)
3. I'm interested in eventually interfacing with PC & also really learning synth - wanted to know which is the most enlightened choice (Korg's KARMA sounds interesting).

Would love to hear what you knowledgeable people have to say, especially if you recently had to make the same decision & what may have swayed you. Thanks very much!

[mocando]

Since your interests doesn't account for sampling, the M50 is a shot to the floor. Is way over the Juno, since I had the opportunity to check one out in the store several months ago. Not even close. Besides, the Juno just looks like a toy aside the M50.

I have had not too much time with an MO6 to have an idea, but for what I saw is in the same league as the juno.

And if you plan to play with your own sounds, the M50's touchscreen is a Godsend. You won't regret it just a bit.

Sound wise, it has the same sound engine as the flagship M3, which tells you everything you needed to know about the sound quality.

I think is a no brainer.
_________________
Martin Ocando

Korg Gear: Wavestation
Korg Software: KLC Wavestation, iWavestation for iPad
Non Korg: M-Audio Code 61 MIDI Controller, Nektar GX49 MIDI Controller
Music Computing: 16in Macbook Pro with Touch Bar Mid 2019, i9 32GB RAM 2TB Flash, MacOS Catalina - 2019 iPad Air 64GB
Software: Apple MainStage, Arturia V Collection 7, Arturia OB-Xa V
Visit: Synth Fans :: Everything Synths Twitter: @korgfans

[cabobs]

@tdweis

Owning both the M50 and the MotifES (the MO's bigger brother - identical soundset though) I have to say that personally I still prefer Yamaha's guitar's both electric and accoustic over the M50's. Howvever, the M50's synth sounds are superb and I like its accoustic pianos better. The rest of the sounds is above average in both boards. I really think you ought to listen to both before buying - judging sound quality is just such a subjective matter.

There are, of course, other features you might want to consider:
M50 has 5 insert effects per voice, MO6 has 2
M50 has more master effects
M50 has 256MB wave ROM, MO6 has 175
M50 has an easily accessible drumtrack, MO6 has no such thing
M50 has RPPR (trigger patterns via designated keys), MO6 has a pattern-based sequencer section
M50 has a maximum polyphony of 80, MO6 of 64
M50 has a fairly large touch screen, MO6 has much smaller display
...

What I am saying here is that yes, both instruments are really good intermediate level workstations which sound excellent and offer an abundance of sounds and tools to produce music. Both offer easy integration into any computer-based recording setup. While it's nice to be able to choose from two instruments this technically advanced, the choice is still yours to make. Both contenders have their strengths and weaknesses and although the M50 is the more recent instrument and has somewhat stronger specs, I wouldn't say that it surpasses the MO6 in just about every department.
_________________
Regards, Carsten
(Korg PA4X, Kawai ES8, Yamaha PSR2100, Yamaha HS5)

[ricardS]

Just for Drum and Bass/Breakbeat/Jungle/DubStep and DUB/Reggae, Trip Hop,Minimal Techno, Hard Trance,Shoegaze, Noisepop,Post Rock,Electro,Jazz/Easy Listening/Downtempo/Lounge, what is the best music workstation, before i go to buy?

Korg M50
Korg Electribe EMX1 + KP3 or ESX1
Yamaha MM8
Roland Juno G/Fantom S88
Korg Triton Studio/ TR/LE
Korg Trinity
Yamaha M06
Kurzweil K2500XS

Thanks a lot the help.

[tdweis]

Martin & Carsten: thanks very much for your helpful responses.

Carsten, I have a question for you. In your comparison list of the M50 and MO6 you stated: "M50 has RPPR (trigger patterns via designated keys), MO6 has a pattern-based sequencer section". As I am just learning to figure out what the machines do, would either of those features help me program something approximating an "auto-fill" transition phrase on an arranger keyboard?

I would love to be able to completely program a song and be able to call up a couple of drum and/or bass/chord fills to transition into the next part of the song. If those are not possible using the RPPR (on the M50) or the pattern-based sequenced feature (on the MO6) is what I am describing possible in some other way?

Any answers would be most appreciated. Thanks!

[cabobs]

@tdweis

[kanthos]

[ksounds]

The MO allows up to 3 voices to have their dual inserts active at once. And both boards allow 3-band EQ without consuming inserts. Comparing the MO's 6 total inserts to the M50's 5, I think the greater flexibility of the M50's effects give it the advantage.

Comparing to a Motif ES or Motif XS, however, is a different story. With up to 8 dual inserts available, the Motifs clearly have more effects horsepower than the M50 or M3. And the Motifs (including the MO) allow the Total effect to be multi-band compression. To my knowledge, the only Korg workstation to allow that is the OASYS. (Not sure about the arrangers, but the M50 / M3 / Triton doesn't allow it.)
_________________
Keven Spargo, Sound Designer
[b][url]www.ksounds.com[/url][/b]
Now available: Organimation - Massive B3 organ upgrade for the M3!

[tdweis]

cabobs, kanthos and ksounds, thanks for the discussion on insert effects in the M50. By the 5 insert effects each of which can be used by all 16 tracks, are we saying that all instruments could be played/programmed to do the "auto-fill"-type function on the same measure? That would give the entire "virtual band" a transition like the actual "auto-fill" on an arranger? Am I correct in how I articulated that?

Thanks again for responses, I am learning a lot.

[CfNorENa]

[ksounds]

As CfNorENa seemed to say, effects have nothing to do with creating fills or otherwise generating notes. It may help to browse the online PDF manuals for the M50 to get a better feel for what effects are used for.

If you're after automatic note creation, check out the documentation on the included arpeggios. These can help you quickly create tracks. I have not checked the list, so I'm not sure if fills are included or just standard rhythm patterns.

If you're willing to spend beyond the price of the keyboard, also consider Karma software for the M50. Huge possibilities for generating high quality tracks quickly.
_________________
Keven Spargo, Sound Designer
[b][url]www.ksounds.com[/url][/b]
Now available: Organimation - Massive B3 organ upgrade for the M3!

[Hugo]

Regarding effects, it seems to me that Yamaha's solution is the better one. Although there is more flexibility in the Korg M50, the Yamaha let's 3 voices use their own unique effects - where as in the Korg you'd have to figure out how to set up the various tracks using the same 5 insert effects. Unless I'm totally mistaken.

But since there's no sampler in either, this isn't an easy choice. I think personally I'd go for the M50, as the big screen is a HUGE benefit, plus the option of the KARMA software seems pretty tempting.