Is this a good deal for a Korg M3M + Radias card?

So I've got a chance to pickup one of these used locally for $1075. Owner's had it for a year, added the RADIAS expansion card. I believe they've added more sampling RAM as well but I am not certain.

I could benefit from having another sound module... plus adding the keys would probably make this a good master board, which I definitely need right now. But on the other hand, I usually tend to prefer the Yamaha sound a little more. Plus money and space are both a little on the tight side. Does this sound like a good deal?

if you checked ebay, you would see its a killer deal

Buy it

Ya - it's a pretty good deal.

I tried to talk a guy into selling me his barely used M3-61 (zero upgrades) for $1000 and he wouldn't go less than $1200.

I'd jump on it immediately!

-Mc

Do it man.

Right now I'm kinda inclined to let it go. The M3 hasn't done much for me on the previous occasions that I've played with it... or at least in comparison with time spent on the latest Motif or Fantom. Interface definitely works but the sound doesn't really grab me.

Then again it is a pretty good price... guess I'll have to give it another whirl at the music store to find out for certain.

Have you tried Xpanded M3? Also don't forget that neither Motif nor Fantom really have anything close to KARMA.

Oh I know. The M3 definitely has a lot of {censored} going for it... I find it very appealing on paper. I've wanted to like the board but the sound just hasn't pulled me in. Do the Xpanded sounds really make a huge difference?

Yeah, more strings and brass (if you throw in the additional sample ram, you can have close to 512 MB of sound making material, plus 64 MB for your own samples) and way better pianos (even though the old ones weren't that bad either).

You should try it. And also not rely on just the presets. Editing is what makes a workstation powerful. I was surprised how I always end up getting a fat sound from supposedly thin Korg's samples, while Yamahas and Rolands, no matter how you edit them, always have that medical, sterile feel. Korg has punch and cuts right through where others lack power, which is very important in some genres.

The only machine that can cut through the same way, but still remain transparent (which Korg actually can't - it cuts through and does so in a very obvious matter) is Kurzweil. That thing is bloody awesome.

My experience as well. Pianos were DRAMATICALLY improved.

This is just for the M3 module though. No keys.

Still, it's nearly 50% off street price for new, and it's a current model, not one that's been superseded. That makes it a deal.

Has anyone tinkered much with the sampler in the M3?

Anyone with leads on cheap M3s like mentioned, contact me with info - If you're not going to get it. I'm looking for either the M3M or M3-61.

Is this it?

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/msg/1178114039.html

Yup. Looks like he dropped the price, even.

I played a Xpanded model today and definitely noticed the improvement in piano sounds... found some of the orchestra ensemble patches appealing as well. Dug into a couple of patches and tinkered with their KARMA implementations, tons of variations to be found. If anything it makes me wish Korg would throw some kind of KARMA software or hardware arpeggiator out there. :poke: Truth be told though, I'm tighter on cash at the moment than I'd like to be to justify picking up anything over $700 or so right now. I also still have a lot of digging left to do with the Virus anyway.

So if anyone wants to take a run at it, feel free.

I looked around for a long time for a good deal on a used M3M and eventually found one for $995, with no Radias or other options. So I'd say that $1075 with the Radias is a great deal. It's an awesome sounding synth that does things no other synth (besides the Oasys) does. I've been a Karma user for a long time and am appreciating the new upgrades and realtime control of the M3.

It's always tough to gauge if it's legit. The pic is generic and not of the actual unit looks like. If I lived there, no problem as I could go see it. Otherwise I'd buy that.