used extreme vs. new m50

choken31 · Post by **choken31** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:28 pm

hello. i own a korg tr, and i want to upgrade it. i got the option to buy a used extreme 88, or a new m50 at the same price.
if both were new, i think i got no doubt of chosing an extreme.
the extreme is two years old, used in studio, never in gigs, but i don´t know how many hours is. it´s in excelent cosmetic condition.
one of my fears is the durability of the touch view screen.
what do you think? does anyone have experienced technical problems?
thank you and sorry for my english.

shrike · Post by **shrike** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:54 pm

Weight your options carefully. I well point you to some facts and some personal opinions:

88 key version - you didn't point out whether you aim for M50 with 88 keys too. If you do, M50 with 88 keys uses RH3 keys, currently top of the line, slightly better then RH2 which are fitted in Extreme 88. If you go for shorter M50, I prefer Extreme's keys on 61 and 76 versions, those are Yamaha keys. M50 uses something different. You should really try. If you aim strictly to 88 version, M50 is the better choice.

Durability of the touch screen shouldn't worry you. It is supposed to endure over 1000000 touches (if we take 10-year period into consideration, that would mean you have to touch it 273 times each day), are you really gonna touch it so many times? Even if you do, I'm sure spare touch screens will be available, those are Sharp (not moderator Sharp, but company Sharp) screens. Still available for Trinity, for example.

Technical problems - although users reported some issues with their Extremes, I personally haven't experienced any. And I abused it with constant gigs, whole-day workouts on programming and extensive playing - never a single glitch. Although, that may be due to fact I power it via UPS always, with no exception.

As for M50 - it doesn't have aftertouch. It supports it and is capable of processing aftertouch information, but the keybed itself doesn't send aftertouch control values to internal generator.
Also, it doesn't have sampler. If sampler and aftertouch aren't important to you, those aren't setbacks.

M50 is based on new EDS tone generator with 256 MB or ROM. It also has EQ per timbre/track in combi/sequencer mode, unlike from Tritons.

I would take Extreme rather than M50 if you would like personal opinions here. Also, two years isn't much for studio Extreme.

Xenomorph · Post by **Xenomorph** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:43 pm

I don't know if I could chose one over the other, it would very hard to make that decision. I've gotten so accustomed to using both for gigs that I don't think I could live if one was taken away.

The sheer amount of sounds the Extreme has makes it irreplaceable not to mention the sampling, but if you remove my M50, I lose drums, chord buttons, extra arps. They even out as far as moving around. The M50 61 is feather light compared to the blue beast but weight never bothered me honestly.

I can't pick one over the other right now. I got both within a week of each other and it's only been 5 months so give me time

BasariStudios · Post by **BasariStudios** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:37 pm

I personally wont even ask, M50 compared to Extreme? Never! In anything!

Gargamel314 · Post by **Gargamel314** » Thu May 07, 2009 4:56 am

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=42791 - it's a similar link going in the general synth forum

dimitris · Post by **dimitris** » Thu May 07, 2009 1:11 pm

Triton Extreme of course!!

Phunky · Post by **Phunky** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:05 am

Definitely the Triton Extreme!

choken31 · Post by **choken31** » Tue May 19, 2009 12:55 pm

hello. finally i decided to buy the used extreme 88, and i´m very plased with my decision. it works fine and it´s almost new. just a little dirt in the menu button. i saw the m50 in the store and it seems cheap. thenk you for your opininions

Gargamel314 · Post by **Gargamel314** » Tue May 19, 2009 8:20 pm

yay! a happy ending... good choice

dimitris · Post by **dimitris** » Tue May 19, 2009 9:23 pm

Very wise decision!!

Regards,
Dimitris

shrike · Post by **shrike** » Wed May 20, 2009 3:00 pm

Wise indeed.

Congratulations on smart choice.

kanthos · Post by **kanthos** » Wed May 20, 2009 4:13 pm

Did the Extreme have the MOSS expansion?

shock · Post by **shock** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:59 am

i've finally got hold of an extreme from a friend's friend. its in mint condition and i'm very happy with the purchase!

the owner did some tweaking with the sounds and now i want to get back to the default sound set and start from scratch to make my own sound set. I've tried to load the "default pcg and demo songs" data from the global settings but it refuses to load. it says "memory protected". can anyone help me please?

and also i want to know what's the function of a moss board?

smstome · Post by **smstome** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 5:46 am

Go to GLOBAL mode

Untick memory protect from program
Write global settings

Now you are good to go

Fear Of Midi · Post by **Fear Of Midi** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:30 pm

I'm a full-time musician, teaching and doing the Top 40 thing as well as Jazz, Fusion, etc., so this is primarily from a 'live' player's perspective.

Now, I'm not sure how many who replied to this thread have actually played both instruments beyond demo-ing in the store...

I got a used M50-61 for $850.00 (CDN) and used it for a month and a half, then took it back and bought a used Triton Extreme-61 for $1000.00 (CDN)... and now I'm an EXTREME-ly happy camper Smile

Now, like said I'm mostly concerned with the "live" capabilities, although I do record in Logic. Also, of the other keys I own, the ones I regularly use are my Kurzweil SP2X, Roland JP-8080, and Waldorf Blofeld (keyboard version).

So, right away what irritated me about the M50 was the lack of response on the TouchView screen (this was confirmed in the Sound-on-Sound review). I didn't realize this was NOT normal until i had a chance to play an original Triton where the touch response was almost like an iPhone, and the Extreme has the same great response!

Next issue: setting up for "live" performance... the mere fact that Korg had to produce a video for their YouTube channel to address the complaints re the M50's limited manual patch switching potential in a "live" situation says something about this issue right there. Furthermore, 2 out of the 3 remedies suggested in the video involved using the touch screen (see previous paragraph), and the 3rd suggestion involved hacking the already limited number of banks available in order to use the bank buttons as quick Patch selectors.

Now the Key bed: on the 61 & 76 key versions, the Extreme has the same beautifully responsive action as the original Triton... playing the M50 side by side, it's a no brainer which is the winner there!

So, take all that and then add in (in Extreme's favour) Ribbon Controller, Sampling, extra audio outputs, way more sound selection, Vacuum tube (though that's a frill, albeit a cool and useful one)... well, what can I say?

If one is intending the M50 merely for studio use and/or are just a hobbiest, then they may be happy with it... though AB-ing the TouchView screens might give one pause! And maybe they'd actually miss the M50's "Chord Buttons" (clearly the domain of the "House" music programmer, not that they weren't fun).

Now, there are those who will tell you to buy the M50 simply because its based on the newer (ie. OASYS) technology, but listening to some of the Extreme's samples (acoustic ones in particular), especially AB-ing with the original Triton will illustrate how Korg were quite busy continually improving things leading right up to the release of the OASYS (the flute samples sound identical to the ones on the M50 and M3, ie. like having James Galway or Moe Koffman right in your studio). Make no mistake, the improving of the Triton technology and the development of the OASYS coincided in more than just time (remember the fundamental technology specific to the OASYS was already long in development).

One last note re road wear... the Extreme is built like a tank! The M50? Definitely not much support structurally under the key bed!

Anyway, hope this all helps!

Cheers!
FOM