How does the M50 compares to a Kurzweil SP4-7?

[theplague]

Hi!
I've owned a Korg X2 and Korg Triton Classic before, right now I have a Kurzweil SP4-7 which sounds pretty good imop but the keys are kind of annoying, they get sticky after idle for some time, plus the diplay is tiny and there is no sequencer or drummer.
To all you Korg M50 owners, in your opinion, does the Korg M50 matches up to the Kurzweil SP4-7 sound quality wise?
My concern is that the M50 sounds flat and thin (as on youtube) cause the SP4-7 sound full and heavy.
Does the M50 really sounds the same as the M3?
How good are the acoustic piano sounds and symphonic sounds?
Thanks for your help!

SP4-7 sounds:
http://kurzweil.com/product/sp4-7/audio/

[levis]

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/tests_v3/kor ... stique.wav

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/workstation/ ... rdoue.html

[csteen]

The M50 and the M3 do indeed have identical sound engines. Drum editing is an absolute dream on the M50 with nearly unlimited options to make things easy for you. If you are seaking a display for ease of use, the touch screen of the M50 is going to rock your world for changing patches on the fly especially leads in combis. or a change of drum kit in the middle of a sequence. You really should give one a try somewhere IMO.

[xmlguy]

Most youtube videos sound flat and thin because people are stupidly recording pro quality music gear using cheap, terrible camcorder mics, not pro quality audio recording gear. Occasionally you'll find someone who knows how to record HQ audio, but then it's useless to compare that HQ recording to other videos that have terrible recordings. Even when they have HQ recordings, often they have done nothing on the synth/keyboard side to optimize the recording like adjusting the patch and EQ settings to make the synth quality stand out. I'd estimate that less than 1 in 100 videos have superb audio quality, but when you run across one of them, you'll wonder why they sound so good when the rest sound crappy.

[Scott]

I have a Kurzweil SP4-7 which sounds pretty good imop but the keys are kind of annoying, they get sticky after idle for some time, plus the diplay is tiny and there is no sequencer or drummer.
To all you Korg M50 owners, in your opinion, does the Korg M50 matches up to the Kurzweil SP4-7 sound quality wise?

Personally, I think the Kurzweil sounds better, at least for most of the "bread and butter" sounds (EPs, organs, strings, etc.), but the M50 is more flexible. The sticky key issue was a known problem with an early production run, they should be able to fix that for you.

[theplague]

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/tests_v3/kor ... stique.wav

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/workstation/ ... rdoue.html

Thanks, the piano on this recording sounds more towards a plastic toy piano, I wonder if the M3 also sounds like that, it has a powerful engine and stereo samples and it still sounds like plastic, why???

[theplague]

Personally, I think the Kurzweil sounds better, at least for most of the "bread and butter" sounds (EPs, organs, strings, etc.), but the M50 is more flexible. The sticky key issue was a known problem with an early production run, they should be able to fix that for you.

Hi, when you say that the M50 is more flexible does it means that it can be tweaked to sound at least as good as the SP4-7?
The sticky key remains on the latest models and unfortunately cannot be fixed, it's a cheap chinese action and it behaves like that.

[Scott]

when you say that the M50 is more flexible does it means that it can be tweaked to sound at least as good as the SP4-7?

I doubt it. It's more flexible in having more sounds, more sound editing capability, more front panel controls, more locations to save custom setups, a built in sequencer, etc. etc. But the samples are the samples, and you can't really make one board sound like the other.

Novamusik still has some close-out PC361 for under $1,000 which will give you the Kurzweil sounds with all those other advantages I listed for the Korg, and then some (no touch screen though). But it's only 61 keys, and it's kinda heavy at about 31 lbs... which is why, I've been gigging with an M50-73.

[theplague]

I doubt it. It's more flexible in having more sounds, more sound editing capability, more front panel controls, more locations to save custom setups, a built in sequencer, etc. etc. But the samples are the samples, and you can't really make one board sound like the other.

Novamusik still has some close-out PC361 for under $1,000 which will give you the Kurzweil sounds with all those other advantages I listed for the Korg, and then some (no touch screen though). But it's only 61 keys, and it's kinda heavy at about 31 lbs... which is why, I've been gigging with an M50-73.

I hear ya, it amuses me that the M3 may not sound as good as the SP4-7 with the factory rom samples since it is supposed to sound just like the M50, my expectations over the M50 were based on its inheritance from the M3.

[levis]

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/tests_v3/kor ... stique.wav

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/workstation/ ... rdoue.html

Thanks, the piano on this recording sounds more towards a plastic toy piano, I wonder if the M3 also sounds like that, it has a powerful engine and stereo samples and it still sounds like plastic, why???

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/Kurzw ... Strike.mp3

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/KorgM3-4Way.mp3
I do not think the piano m3 plastic

rhodes in m3/m50 better than sp4

[Scott]

rhodes in m3/m50 better than sp4

I disagree, but sound evaluation is always somewhat subjective. But I do want to point out that some of the better SP4 sounds aren't in the unit out of the box, but are available as free downloads form the Kurzweil web site, so it's possible you might not have heard the SP4 at its best. (Actually, as I understand it, pretty much any PC3 sound can be loaded into the SP4... though if it's not on the web site, you'd have to have some other access to a PC3 to get the sound in the first place.)

[levis]

rhodes in m3/m50 better than sp4

I disagree, but sound evaluation is always somewhat subjective. But I do want to point out that some of the better SP4 sounds aren't in the unit out of the box, but are available as free downloads form the Kurzweil web site, so it's possible you might not have heard the SP4 at its best. (Actually, as I understand it, pretty much any PC3 sound can be loaded into the SP4... though if it's not on the web site, you'd have to have some other access to a PC3 to get the sound in the first place.)

in pc3 only 4 keymaps rhodes samples

Rhoadz Hard
Rhoadz Soft
Rhoadz 2Vel
Rhoadz Thump

in m3/m50 rhodes 20 multisamples

0012 E.Piano-Suit Bright mp
0013 E.Piano-Suit Bright mf
0014 E.Piano-Suit Bright f
0015 E.Piano-Suit Dark mp
0016 E.Piano-Suit Dark mf
0017 E.Piano-Suit Dark f
0018 E.Piano-Suit Soft
0019 E.Piano-Suit Hard
0020 E.Piano-Suit Pure mp
0021 E.Piano-Suit Pure mf
0022 E.Piano-Suit Pure f
0023 E.Piano-Suit Pure ff
0024 E.Piano-Stage Soft
0025 E.Piano-Stage Hard
0026 E.Piano-Dyno 1 Soft
0027 E.Piano-Dyno 1 Medium
0028 E.Piano-Dyno 1 Hard
0029 E.Piano-Dyno 2 Soft
0030 E.Piano-Dyno 2 Medium
0031 E.Piano-Dyno 2 Hard

[theplague]

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/Kurzw ... Strike.mp3

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/KorgM3-4Way.mp3
I do not think the piano m3 plastic

rhodes in m3/m50 better than sp4

In this case you are comparing (4Way) is from the M3 Xpanded. Everyone agrees that the 4Way piano on the M3 is better than the stock pianos but unfortunately it is not available on the M3 which includes the 3Way only.

[levis]

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/Kurzw ... Strike.mp3

http://www.purgatorycreek.com/mp3/KorgM3-4Way.mp3
I do not think the piano m3 plastic

rhodes in m3/m50 better than sp4

In this case you are comparing (4Way) is from the M3 Xpanded. Everyone agrees that the 4Way piano on the M3 is better than the stock pianos but unfortunately it is not available on the M3 which includes the 3Way only.

[theplague]

Great info Levis, thanks, I don't have the M50, yet, and by looking at the patch list from Korg's website I couldn't locate the 4Way piano, did that come as an update or you imported it from somewhere else?