Just ordered my M3 73 yesterday!! So what's next....?

jeffrey · Post by **jeffrey** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:15 pm

Thanks to you guys for helping me decided to go ahead with the M3. I had it narrowed down to this and the Yamaha XS6. I liked the feel of the keys on the XS6 and the sounds were nice, but the touchscreen and additional features of the Korg sold me.

If you may recall from my earlier post, I was a bit hesitant buying either right now since they've got to be towards the end of their life cycle soon, but at least I'll have a couple of upgrades to look forward to with the Korg. The XS6 just looks dated to me and seems like something I could have seen in the late 80's/early 90's. This leads me to my question about 'what next'...should I get either the EXB-256 or the EXB Radias?

I play mostly blues/rock/dark/natural instrument kind of sounds and was just listening to the Radias effects on youtube (assume it was just the expansion card as I didn't see the additional rack device on the keyboard). Seems like most of the sounds are geared toward the electronica/techno kind of sounds that I would find unnecessary for my needs, with the exception of a few of course. Would I be better suited to just sit tight and enjoy exploring all the features of the M3 and not worrying about any board upgrades at this time?

Not sure I would really need the EXB-256 either, but from what I can tell, it does give you more natural instrument sounds??? Like I said, I'm into natural sounds mostly and although I know the XS6 is supposed to excel in that area, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money on that keyboard (even though I do enjoy my MM6). The pads/touchscreen/karma etc are what sold me on the Korg in the first place, so hopefully I've made the right choice! Time will tell...

Thanks for all the great input on this board guys!

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:31 pm

Hi Jeffrey,

Congratulations on your new purchase of an M3. I am responding in some detail about the benefit of the EXB-M256 card.

The M3 has 64 MB sample RAM as standard. By default the M3 is configured so that the EXPCM03.KEP sample file is loaded into that RAM, giving you several extra pianos etc. When you look through the Programs, you will find several which include EX3 in the file name. Those Programs require the EXPCM03.KEP file to be loaded into memory.

You will also see several programs labeled EX1 and EX2, especially brass and woodwind. Those need the EXPCM01.KEP and/or EXPCM02.KEP files to be loaded into RAM. There isn't space for those as well as the EXPCM03.KEP file, so you would "unload" that one and load one of the other .KEP sample files instead.

There is an additional set of pianos in EXPCM04.KEP as well.

Where the EXB-M256 card comes into its own is that you can load all of the EXPCM01.KEP, EXPCM02.KEP, EXPCM03.KEP and EXPCM04.KEP samples at the same time and can play the corresponding sounds without having to manually load/unload from the limited 64 MB RAM each time you want to use them.

There are more details here:

http://karma-lab.wikidot.com/korg-m3:lo ... mple-files

I know the proprietary EXB-M256 card is expensive compared to computer memory. However Korg did not charge us for providing 256 MB of samples free of charge (arguably worth at least $100 for each of the EXPCM01.KEP, EXPCM02.KEP, EXPCM03.KEP and EXPCM04.KEP collections). So the fact that the EXB-M256 card is $130 or whatever is not unreasonable based on it enabling full use of those "free" samples.

Best regards,
Rob

jeffrey · Post by **jeffrey** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:08 pm

Thanks for the quick reply and good input Rob. Sounds like I would definitely be interested in the 256 since I'll mostly be working with pianos, EP's, organs, brass, strings, etc...

Just ordered one off the Korg site since they seem pretty hard to come by otherwise!

Rob Sherratt · Post by **Rob Sherratt** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:21 pm

jeffrey wrote:Just ordered one off the Korg site since they seem pretty hard to come by otherwise!

Not only "pretty hard" but almost impossible! They are sold direct by Korg "to keep the price down" and no dealer discounts are offered!

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:42 pm

Give the EXB-RADIAS a serious consideration. It will give your M3 a very very broad spectrum of sounds. If you ever plan on getting one, getting one sooner than later will be financially a very smart move. The EXB-MOSS card for the Triton line gets more expensive as time goes on and used cards fetch more than they did when they were new.

-Mc

LiqMat · Post by **LiqMat** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:30 pm

Not to mention it's just not cool to have an M3 with a silent I-F bank!

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:40 pm

LiqMat wrote:Not to mention it's just not cool to have an M3 with a silent I-F bank!

+1

jeffrey · Post by **jeffrey** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:51 am

Sounds like I should consider the Radias card too, huh? So even though I'll be doing mostly acoustic sounds you guys still think it's a good consideration and add on??

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:58 am

absolutely. It gives your M3 so many more sonic possibilities. The price will continue to go up and up for the EXB-RADIAS. I'd say get it now while the price is still reasonable.

jeffrey · Post by **jeffrey** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:45 am

Well dang! Gotta spend even more $ now!! Can't wait for this to arrive either way....

Thanks again for the input!

McHale · Post by **McHale** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:55 am

The M3 is a phenomenal workstation. And the price for the EXB-RADIAS is very very cheap IMHO. The full RADIAS rack is more than twice the price and the EXB-RADIAS combined with the M3 is arguably more powerful.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:01 pm

Yes, the M3 is totally AWESOME. I too recommend going for a full upgrade, including the KARMA software. You won't realise the full power of this technology until you play with the software. I've only scratched the surface yet, but am still blown away.

Enjoy your synth, sir!

jeffrey · Post by **jeffrey** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:39 pm

Thanks again guys! Just got my tracking number so it should arrive next Tuesday or so! Can't wait to dig into this baby and will definitely be taking the manual to work so I can read it over and over since there seems to be a fairly large learning curve (especially for a guitar player/drummer like me who's never owned anything like this!).

I've been watching all the videos and reading as much as possible before it arrives and I must say, I'm already overwhelmed! Hopefully once it's in front of me it will become more clear. There's certainly an amazing amount of things this board can do stock out of the box so I'll probably wait a bit to get the Radias (mainly b/c I just spent so much $ already!) and try to familiarize myself with the overall operation in the meantime.

BTW, I got the board from MF on their Memorial day special at 15% off!! I NEVER buy the silly 3-year extended replacement warranty, but I'm actually considering seeing if I can add it on (I know GC gives you 30 days to add it to your purchase). The only reason I am even thinking about it is b/c of the touchscreen, sensitive electronics, etc.. It will sit in my studio it's entire life, but you just never can tell...