Korg M3 Piano Sounds - Questions

[djhunt]

Howdy folks,

 

So I've had the M3 for a few months. This is my second significant hardware synth (my previous was an Alesis fusion).

 

I use it primarily for the pads, karma, and some of the VA sounds off the Radias module.

 

Let me preface my overall synth knowledge level as being weak at best. Right now, I am definitely more of a preset tweak guy.

 

That said, I cannot find or tweak a good piano sound. I have even reset the device completely back to system default.

 

I listen to Rich's demos on the Korg site, and the the M3 Expanded piano sounds nice... however, mine does not sound like that. There seems to be something that I am missing. The sound it seems hollow, like there is a filter on it, or just plain weak.

 

I understand that Piano sounds are generally very subjective, however, the Casio Privia upstairs absolutely destroys the sound I am getting from the M3.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

thanks.

[zzzxtreme]

what speakers are u using

i suspect that's the no.1 culprit

[djhunt]

 

what speakers are u using i suspect that's the no.1 culprit

 

 

Primarily Alesis M1 Active MK2, although I have tried with a set of KRKs and some . I have also used some Sony MDR-7509HD headphones, another set of Sony's as well as my Denons.

 

The sound does vary between the different speakers and headphones, however, a simple piano sound through a software synth using the same setup sounds better.

 

Is there a general guideline for piano sounds and EQs?

 

Assuming it is a speaker issue, do you have any recommendations for something better than the Alesis (which aren't perfect, but I can mix fairly well with them).

[Son of HuHefner]

 

Howdy folks, So I've had the M3 for a few months. This is my second significant hardware synth (my previous was an Alesis fusion). Any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

 

 

you need to change the velocity level. That will open up your M3 acoustic piano

 

Its late and I can't get at my M3M for my velocity level.

 

The M3 acoustic pianos are excellent. There is no doubt. I have an XS and Rd700GX. And an M3M

[McHale]

OK this is going to date me, but I hope it helps...

 

I initially bought my Korg DSS-1 because the pianos were AWESOME (if you didn't know, each DD floppy holds 4 sample banks and the DSS-1 can only hold a bank at a time. So that's about 200k for the entire piano sample).

 

When I got my Triton, I was disappointed with the pianos and was positive the pianos on my DSS-1 were MUCH better. So I loaded up the DSS-1 to compare and couldn't believe I ever thought that sounded like a piano at all.

 

At some point, a few years into owning the Triton, I created a stereo 64MB piano sample with 2 levels of velocity. I used a 256MB AKAI sample library (that AKAI made and offered for free for a short while) that was very good for my multisamples. It was as good as anything on the market for the Triton.

 

I got my M3 and thought the pianos were OK but not NEARLY as good as my Triton sample I created myself. So I loaded up the Triton with my piano sample to compare and you know what, the M3 BURIED it. No question. Personally, "Stereo Grand 3 Way" is the one I prefer. Expressive as hell...

 

I program all of my patches using very good headphones. When I play out, every PA is different so I take comfort in knowing they had the best sound source to start with and any bad sound is there fault.

 

RichF (a Korg technician who visits these here forums) created a video on getting the most out of the M3 pianos which you should check out. He does a great job explaining a lot of the nuances of the M3 pianos and how to manipulate the M3.

 

-Mc

[Citizen Klaus]

 

RichF (a Korg technician who visits these here forums) created a video on getting the most out of the M3 pianos which you should check out. He does a great job explaining a lot of the nuances of the M3 pianos and how to manipulate the M3.

 

 

Here's a

to the video in question. Good stuff.

[kilon]

and under no circumstances listen the pc3x pianos or strings , you will immediately think that anything else sound just lame, as far as workstations go.

 

I have committed this mistake and now cannot appreciate my motif es6 pianos.

 

"ignorance is a bliss"

[Pr3Va1L]

And yet there are countless people saying how the PC3 pianos suck!

[Karma1]

Is your M3 updated to Version 2?

I may be wrong about this, but I think that more piano sounds were added in this update. I'm more into ambient synth sounds and rarely use pianos so I'm not the best one to evaluate them. But I had a friend over recently who is a pianist and she was going through the piano sounds in my M3and was impressed. I was surprised how many of them there are.

[Gribs]

Based on the video linked above by Citizen Klaus, there is at least one new piano in the Xpanded sound set.

 

I dunno why but every time I watch an M3 video I keep thinking I would like to swap my XS6 for one. It is two years down the road and I have learned a lot since I got it about what I like and want to do. The XS6 is a great workstation but the flow of the M3 looks like it would fit my style more. Either that or it is just a GAS sort of thing and it would be a toss-up.

[McHale]

The Original piano (before expanded) was removed and a new one replaced it in the ROM. They gave us a new piano with the Expansion 3 library and gave us back the original as Expansion 4. So 2 new pianos and they are all very good.

 

Personally, I'd say give in to the gas and get the M3. And I'm not biased towards Korg or anything. Just look at my gear list in my sig.

 

-Mc

[evildragon]

And yet there are countless people saying how the PC3 pianos suck!

 

Those are minority.

[berbie]

McHale, I really like the idea of installing a 1 gig SD card into the M3 so that I would not need to put a drive in the back of the board to load. I hesitate because I do not know how or am not sure about loading the new SD card. Or for that matter, what SD card to get. Does brand matter?

 

I don't think I would make a mistake in the installing of it.

 

Do you simply download the expansion from the computer into the new and larger SD card? Then install the card into the keyboard?

 

Or do you take out the original SD card, copy to the new one, then add the expansion? I would like to know that I had been successful in preparing a proper SD card before I removed the original one.

 

Let me ask the question as I should have without all that talk; exactly how did you do that? And what are the chances of having a WTFH moment in the effort.

 

I catch on pretty quick, but should this be left to people who are very skilled in this area?

[berbie]

Pardon, DJHunt, the post that I just made is off topic. I will start a new thread.

[McHale]

 

McHale, I really like the idea of installing a 1 gig SD card into the M3 so that I would not need to put a drive in the back of the board to load. I hesitate because I do not know how or am not sure about loading the new SD card. Or for that matter, what SD card to get. Does brand matter? I don't think I would make a mistake in the installing of it. Do you simply download the expansion from the computer into the new and larger SD card? Then install the card into the keyboard? Or do you take out the original SD card, copy to the new one, then add the expansion? I would like to know that I had been successful in preparing a proper SD card before I removed the original one. Let me ask the question as I should have without all that talk; exactly how did you do that? And what are the chances of having a WTFH moment in the effort. I catch on pretty quick, but should this be left to people who are very skilled in this area?

 

 

Korg used generic SD cards but that doesn't mean you should. In fact, as cheap as they are, get a GOOD one (Sandisk is my favorite). You can go 1 gig or 2 gig but 2 gig is overkill and at this point, you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the extra space anyway.

 

It's easy as hell. Take off the screws so you can get inside, copy the files off the old SD card (copy, not MOVE) and copy them onto the new card (formatted in Fat32 I have been told will work no problem). Then copy the 4 expansion libraries to the root of the card as well and when you put it back in, you're done. Took me like 20 mins from taking the module off my keybed and remounting it. If you aren't afraid to use a screwdriver, you'll be fine.

 

There's a great tutorial in the Karma-labs WIKI (painstakingly created by user Rob Sherratt so thank him when you see him around):

 

http://karma-lab.wikidot.com/korg-m3:expanding-the-internal-sd-card-to-2-gbyte

 

That should get your more than started. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me...

 

-Mc

[djhunt]

Ok guys, time for me to admit shame.

 

So after swapping speakers, resetting etc, I missed two crucial things.

1.) my daughter apparently likes chorus effects... And applied it to the piano sounds, this coupled with the fact that I did not correctly wipe and reload the sounds gave me the false impression I was starting from scratch.

 

2.) My four year old decided to adjust the knobs on the mixer, which I didn't realize chorus was also on the main bus.

 

My apologies for screwing with everyone's time, I really thought I had checked everything... hehe what a noob.

 

On a better note, I heard the M3's piano sound really clearly for the first time last night. It's awesome. It really is. The expanded set is very expressive, I also followed McHale's suggestion and found Rich's relatively new piano video. It helped out as well.

 

So in short, thanks guys! my faith has been restored in my awesome M3.

[berbie]

Thanks very much for the info, McHale. It was very clear. I have now only to make up my mind and jump in.

 

Thanks to Rob Sherratt as well. I read his instructions fully and they were very detailed and informative.

 

I have not fully decided to go ahead right away but when I do, I will report on the effort so that others who are not so much technically trained will be able to see how they might fare.

 

Thanks again,

 

berbie

[berbie]

I am moving forward with the update to my M3. I installed the Expanded material with no problems. I have ordered the 256 memory required and will install it and report. I also ordered a very small flash drive. I will try it before I change the SD card. For anyone hesitating on updating, I can report that it is extremely simple.

[zoink]

 

And yet there are countless people saying how the PC3 pianos suck!

 

 

 

I don't know about there being 'countless' people who think this. It's subjective, of course, but I don't think very many people would deny that Kurzweil does pianos and orchestral instruments pretty well. I own versions of pretty much every major workstation out there, and I was blown away by the PC3X.

[stikygum]

I'm still using the first OS on my M3M. I'm hesitating on updating because I'm thinking that the OS 2 will have some different soundsets. I like the soundsets on the first version. I haven't listened to the ones on the 2nd, so I haven't looked into how the 2 versions compare. Anyone know if the OS 2 changes the patches around or if anything is different in the programs?

[djhunt]

 

I'm still using the first OS on my M3M. I'm hesitating on updating because I'm thinking that the OS 2 will have some different soundsets. I like the soundsets on the first version. I haven't listened to the ones on the 2nd, so I haven't looked into how the 2 versions compare. Anyone know if the OS 2 changes the patches around or if anything is different in the programs?

 

 

Isn't OS 2 the Expanded release? If that is the case, it really is night and day.

 

Well, if it's any consolation, the piano from the 1st version is apparently still there.

 

Also if you upgrade, I guess there is no turning back: http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37745

[Goofball Jones]

My ONLY concern with getting an M3 is longevity. I guess I'm not like a lot of people here, but when I get a piece of gear, I tend to hang on to it and use it for a LONG time. I like the idea of buying a guitar or bass and 30 years down the road I'm still playing it. I bought my Fender P-Bass in 1977 and I've not upgraded it or retired or exchanged or thrown it away. It keeps on keeping on.

 

Now with the M3, I'd be concerned as to how long the touch-screen would last. I know boards are much different animals than guitars, but what's the lifespan on these things? 20 years from now, will that touch-screen still be going strong? Or do people treat their boards as only "temporary" tools, knowing that they will be upgrading to newer models in the future?

 

This is one of the reasons why the new SV-1 is intriguing to me. It's simplicity of design. I can see that board lasting for decades...well, if you don't bang it up that much I guess. But with the M3, if you use it all the time, isn't it just a matter of time before the screen just burns out? What then?

[evildragon]

Trinity's touchscreens still work even today. It's a sturdy thing.

[McHale]

I've been gigging my Triton for 10 years, never a single issue and the touch screen looks as good today as it did when I bought it.

 

-Mc

[TropicThink]

 

Trinity's touchscreens still work even today. It's a sturdy thing.

 

 

I can attest to this. My Trinity Plus's touchscreen is even scratched (previous owner = retarded), but works absolutely perfectly.

 

That being said, though, the build quality of stuff that's put out today tends to be so cheap that I'm not sure I'd expect ANYTHING to last two decades....