Korg M50 Synthesizer

In great condition

Some small player marks but nothing much

For ease of imagination, think of the M50 as a strimmed back M3. The superfluous features have been cut away to leave 256MB of PCMs, 608 patches and 384 combinations covering all the bases.

Special mention must go to an accent on great synth sounds (alongside the slightly more mundane impersonations) and a full recreation of the classic Korg SG-1 sampling grand piano. And, for when you get creative, there’s a superbly ample 640 program slots and 512 combo slots to store your patches and stacks.

The synth engine on board is Korg’s EDS (Extended Definition Synthesis). This is borrowed from the M3 and it’s impossible to tell if you’re listening to an M3 or an M50 when you rack up both side by side.

The sound is powerful and definitely synthetic, although a GM soundset is onboard, too. For synth strings, leads and basses the M50 excels – all are rich with plenty of movement, with the rest of the soundset serving up a wide gamut of, above all, useable textures.

Build-wise, the M50 is amazingly light. Take possession and you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’d forgotten to put one in the box.

While bigger brother the M3 has metal parts visible and even a glimmer of wood at its ends, the ’50 isn’t so blessed. That said, the plastic used throughout has a nice matt patina (think black MacBook and you’re bang on) and the casing is impossible to flex.

And we love the unusual half-open hinge design. With the keyboard flat, the controls tilt upwards at 45 degrees meaning that that touchscreen is at the perfect angle for viewing and prodding.

While the screen is the same size as that of the M3 there’s less to press on the M50 due to the reduced number of features on board. While the M3 was guilty of crowding the screen with difficult to locate buttons, the M50 is less packed (though a little more ‘basic’ feeling as a result).