Kara-Moon Forum

I just discovered the existance of the most awe-inspiring budget workstation to date....this is as good as it gets...the nearest to pro quality you'll ever find for the money-read on....

The Korg M50 61-key is a semi-weighted workstation that has technology borrowed from the Oasys & M3 & no other workstation in the entry-level range,can touch the sound quality & the functionality of this extraordinary masterpiece-of-a workstation!

SOUND ENGINE: EDS: enhanced sound definition;2 stereo oscillators,4 filters,two amp sections,5 LF oscillators & 5 envelope generators per voice.

PROGRAMS: 256MB of sound data,600 programs.1,600 drum samples

TWEAKING: edit sounds using 5 different control parameters in all modes: program,combination & sequencer mode.

1,000 arpeggiator patterns

80 voice polyphony

SEQUENCER: 16 tracks,5 insert effects

COMPUTER INTEGRATION: editor librarian feature,karma lab software,compatibilty with software such as Pro Tools Dp6,Sonar 7,Cubase 4,Logic Studio-to name a few.
100 control templates! :o

STORAGE: SD card

DISPLAY: large touch screen

WEIGHT:14.9lbs!
PRICE: $1,099.00!!(USD)

MEDIA:

This is a beautifully designed & fantastic looking board-check this out:

http://www.korg.com/GEAR/prod_info.asp?a_prod_no=M50&category_id=1

AVAILABLITY: The 61 & 88 note models will be released in November of this year & the 73 key version,will be available in early 2009

For that price, it would be hard to go wrong.  O0
I've been an admirer of Korg's keyboards and workstations since the early '80s.

I've always liked Korg. All the way back to the mini-korg!! I'm looking for a 76-key performance board to compliment the Yamaha s90 es I purchased a few months ago (I'm convinced yamaha has the best 88-key feel). I've been looking at used Triton Extremes, but this M50 may be a better choice! 

Looks like the perfect little brother of the M3, even karma will be useable.
Could this become my new keyboard ????

k

O yes. This will be a great one! I like the way Korg is thinking. This will be without any doubt a great keyboard.

Moon

They are saying a seventy-three key version will be available in a couple months.
It's in the article link in original post; 73 key   they said it at least twice

Yeah, I saw that. Early 2009. Thanks!

I've been doing an awful lot of thinking about my next keyboard & even though I''m awash in a sea of deciding factors,I've come to a few conclusions to narrow things down more.
First thing would be this; one of the unfortunate things about Kurzweil being bought out by a Korean company,is that Kurzweil's products & the corporate end of the company,are behaving in very much the same fashion as alot of other companies,in terms of serious compromises with regard to reliablity issues & scrambling to be the first on the market with a new product. ::)

This sort of haphazard behaviour is shocking-coming from a company like Kurzweil,but it is in fact true and all the threads & postings on SonikMatter.com will attest to this.
Just to name a few,there are existing tech issues with memory cards,software,display screen,key-bed problems,missing OS features & the list goes on & on & on....

Also,Kurzweil has no plans for a 61 note keyboard & I simply cannot spare enough room in my studio for anything larger than a 61(I absolutely know this,because I've done all of the measuring & as it is,my room is opitmized in configuration,which only allows an extra 40 inches of space and the 61 M50 is 40.43 inches in length).


Perhaps one day,when Kurzweil's R&D has all of the issues ironed out,I may look into a Kurzweil product some day....but in the interim,I'll have to stick with Korg,as Korg has always served me very well and has been my best musician friend for over 20 years.
I'll be the first one in a SamAsh or GuitarCenter to physically demo a Korg M50 for myself to confirm that this will be my next board,but so far,I am confident that the M50 will be ideal,because it seems very clear that this new synth will open up a entirely new world of possiblities-certainly so,if I decide to step into the computer world of synthesizers.
The Korg M50 is actually tempting & luring me towards computer based recording,because this amazing & inexpensive synth provides an easy & very enticing gateway into this world & it's certainly a vast & limitless world at that.


I'll have to admit that I am already baited & hooked by this wonderful synth! :;

Thom

I'm looking forward to that review of you Thom, once you actually played with it.
If i have to change my GEM keyboard, I definitifly need the 73 key version, so I'll have to wait a bit...

But, you are right, it looks very tempting !

k

Based on my recent research,it would appear that the official release date of the M50 will now be Nov. 1st...a few websites have the same dates,so it looks like I'll be strolling into a SamAsh and/or a GuitarCenter-come November.... :-

I'm very interested in this new keyboard  8)

k