Korg M50 88-Key Keyboard Workstation

by Korg

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.5 x 0.9 inches ; 20 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 66.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B001GOODSY
• Item model number: Korg
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,733 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
  • #12 in Musical Instruments > Keyboards > Electronic Keyboards > Synthesizers & Workstations
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 25, 2008

Product Description

Weighing in at 46 pounds, Korg's 88 key M50 keyboard workstation is lighter than many workstations in its class and features Korg's top-of-the-line RH3 Graded Hammer Action, providing a satisfying performance experience for the piano purist. It is packed with incredible sounds; fat & juicy combis, splits, and layers; a plethora of ace effects; dynamic drum tracks; enhanced poly-arpeggiators; classic sequencing tools; a solid, confident keybed; up-to-date SD storage; companion editing software, and Korg's TouchView interactive display. It all adds up to an invigorating and sexy Korg keyboard, at our service. A Keyboard for EveryoneOver 20 years of category-defining workstation expertise beats in the heart of the 88-note Korg M50 Workstation. Just as the M3 borrowed elements from the legendary OASYS, the M50-88 captures all the sonic firepower of the M3, distilled into a top-notch performance instrument. A Natural PerformerMade to be played, the M50-88 is inviting and comfortable. The TouchView screen is intuitive and interactive, allowing the uniquely angled front panel to remain refined and uncluttered. The buttons themselves are rock solid, backlit, and rounded for visibility and ease-of-use under any playing conditions. In addition to Korg's 4-way joystick and multifunction knobs, the M50-88 offers 4 Chord Triggers that provide a flexible and fun way to play chords and trigger arp patterns. A 10-key numeric keypad allows on-demand instant access to sounds, combis, and other parameter/values. Hundreds of drum track patterns, and over a thousand arpeggiator patterns—including chord grooves, picking-patterns, and more—are instantly available to add punch and pizzaz to your M50-88 performance, and to provide hours of musical inspiration.Perfectly Shaped SoundsM50-88 is packed with over 600 individual sound programs, each one created by Korg's international voicing team. With a robust 256MB of sample data—recorded in exacting studio conditions—t

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Clumsy, Impractical, Needlessly Complicated, January 13, 2012

By 

JohnFDM - See all my reviews

This review is from: Korg M50 88-Key Keyboard Workstation (Electronics)

I've had this keyboard for a few months, and I'm not impressed. The layout is so unnecessarily complicated, I suspect it was designed by an utter lunatic. One can use it as a performance keyboard easily enough, but layers, combinations, recording, mixing, or any other higher function on this keyboard is maddening and needlessly time-consuming. One has to switch back and forth from function to function, switching from page to page to page (assuming you can find the page you need, which cannot be safely assumed with this keyboard), and back again, in order to get things set up. Roland makes their workstations to function much, MUCH more intuitively. The layout of this thing is just an impossible mess. It will have you pulling your hair out in no time.
In addition to the confusingly written and unhelpful 100+-page Owner's Manual, the keyboard comes with a CD containing a 400+-page "Program Guide." There's little point in looking up anything in the manual, since every page of the manual refers you to the Program Guide.
The sounds themselves are typical Korg sounds - cold, sterile, and punchy, which is fine for some things, and certainly a welcome alternative to the sometimes mushy sounds one gets from Roland. However, Roland does make warmer string sounds than Korg, and more realistic bass and guitar sounds. The piano sounds on this Keyboard, as with all Korg keyboards, are very unimpressive. If you want realistic piano sounds, you'll be much better off with a Yamaha keyboard.
If you like Korg sounds, and just want a performance keyboard, I suppose this would work all right (but why buy a workstation if all you want to do is use it to perform?). The keys feel good and the action is realistically weighted. But if you're looking for a studio recording instrument that's intuitive and logical in its layout, keep looking: this is NOT the keyboard you want.
The only recommendable aspect of this workstation is the low price. But beware: you really do get what you pay for.