KORG x50

happyfun said:
Hey guys, I've had my eye on the X50 and the microX. Looking for a synth to start off with (always been using the Electone). Specs-wise it seems that both are relatively the same, the catch though is the microX's 25 keys only. Having always been playing on nothing less than 61 keys, I'm not sure if getting that would be like, shooting myself in the toes.

Electone rox! I own the ELS-01C & EL-900m...
 
think the microx won't be a good synth to start on. it has too few keys. it was made more as an add on to the studio or to existing synths
 
too few keys for the 'proper' keyboardist..how to play a 'proper' piano song with 25? its definitely meant s an add on.. or as a synth 'lead' instrument.

if u play simple stuff ..depeche mode maybe u can get by... but piano/electric piano full chords and runs itll be tough.
 
ok here's my take on the X50, after spending about 20min playing on it at city this afternoon:

sounds:
firstly, only spent 20min cos it's very similar to the triton le and karma. recognised about 75% of the patches in there having either same name or same sound, or both, as those on my korg karma. there might be more similarities to the triton le which i am not as familiar with. couldn't see or hear the extra 32MB PCM (apparently X50 has 64MB PCM ROM). X50 owners please help to point out if i've missed out on any new material. i would like to go back and check them out.

keys and action:
similar to triton le. a bit more plasticky and cheap, like the way radium 61 feels plasticky and cheap. and keybed is spongy like the triton le, not thumpy-hard solid like the others such as karma, TR, extreme. while most players might not feel comfortable with it at the first few takes, i think it could potentially be something that grows into you if you play on it long enough. it can be pretty expressive if you use that sponginess to your advantage. i managed to attain a few glimpses of a greater degree of expressiveness which would usually be harder on say, my korg karma keybed.

navigation interface: korg has replaced the 4-way buttons with a 4-way joystick. feels a bit funny twitching a very un-ergonomic stumpy joystick instead of pressing a button. buttons are still faster, to me. LCD screen is smaller with finer pixels. but still large enough to be readable.

overall: not built with the tougher feel like the tritons. this one is the m-audio radium of korg. probably won't survive a fall off the keyboard stand. sound-wise, nothing new from korg with this one. just another triton under a different name and lower price bracket.
 
duvall said:
X50 has no after-touch. So no problems with the keybed dying out... Anyway, at $1.2k per piece... Change keyboard once a year is not a problem too... Just bulk dump all the settings into PC and bulk dump into new X50 and you've got the same gear again...


at 1.2k a piece...changing keyboard once a year is not a prob...?
8O ...wow...tghis is reali subjective man.

y not a few hundred more on a proper keyboard with a more durable keybed...after a while the novelty of a light synth may wear off and playing more expresively, without having to tahan keybeds with weird/dampened velocity sensitive keys is better..IMO.. :P

i;ve tried rs50 and juno d and so3 with worn out keys..the velocity action simply cant tahan the years of use...all light weight synths.
 
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