Korg M3R

Don't know what software version...never bothered to look. Some presets great, some cheese. Editing is tricky. Never used a patch editor, just dug in and found my own.

This was my first multi-timbral synth module and my entrance into the world of sequencing/composing. There are effects, my favorite being the rotating speaker which I used on the organ patch to simulate the Leslie speaker accelerating and decelerating rotation speed. Never heard another box do this as well. No onboard sequencer. Had an expansion card that I used to store patches.

Piano sound was pretty good for its time. All other sounds are crap compared to today's. However, I have never heard ANY tenor sax sound from any other box that even came close to the one in the m3r. I used to do sax parts on jingles and I could pitch bend and add vibrato with the control wheels on my DX-7 (controller).

Mine died last year. Am trying to find a place to fix it.

Haven't dealt with them...yet.

I miss this box. I have Logic Pro 8 with its massive sound library, a Roland SP-700 with tons of sounds, and a JV-880, but none of these things have the sax or organ sound that are as good as the m3r. Gotta get this pupp fixed.

With a little practice this is really easy to program from the front panel. The 8 buttons appear confusing at first but the map of all the parameters is pretty logical and the manual is a big help. It's easy to set up either as a live module or with your sequencer of choice. It's factory sounds are pre general midi so it can be a pig to substitute other gear or sound cards unless you spend a lot of time programming.

pretty powerful sounds allthough it would never appeal to Analogue enthusiasts ( No resonant filters and the synth waveforms are not great) You can do some pretty powerful spaced out sounds and the effects section is really great. There is loads of controller software if you want to get it. I have never felt the need.

I don't like the acoustic piano on this. The sound is harsh and cutting and never sounds full and warm. It's OK live but not really satisfactory in the studio. I found certain areas of the keyboard showed really bad intonnation on the sustain loop of the piano samples. However the saving grace sound wise is the INCREDIBLE Fender Rhodes sound. I use this module just for that sound. The strings are harsh and despite loads of effort I never could generate lush string pads with either the string waves or the synths. Maybe I should chase an expander card. However a lot of the other sounds that can be tweaked out of this beast are great and have a distinctive 80's Korg Digital sound.

Never failed since new - One new battery and that is it. Toured, dropped, bent, and neglected, and every time I turn it on it works perfectly.

Never had to do anything

These units can be picked up dirt cheap now. If mine was lost I would sorely miss that fender rhodes sound and some of that cheesy 80's wonderment. I've got a JV1010 now and it walks all over the M3R in many areas. Sounds, flexibility and programming power. I'm sure I'd miss the bang on reliability and sheer 80's ness of this beast. Did I mention it has a killer Fender Rhodes sound ? You Don't get that on the JV.

I've been using an M3R as a replacement for an M1. With little additional stuff, it replaces the M1. The presets are OK. Editing patches is sometimes a little difficult, but you learn from time to time. The manual is OK as well. There is also a lot of free M3R editing software on the net, you can even use your old Atari if you want.

The effect section features are EXCELLENT for the price you pay right now. It's a pure sound module, so no bullshit like sequencers and stuff. Plug in a MIDI keyboard and play yourself!

It's that typical AI Synthesis thing... not very acoustic, not too electronic. The filter could be more versatile (no resonance), but if you are a little bit into programming you can create a hell of noise with it!

The battery said goodbye after 8 years of age, but replacing was no problem. The rest of the machine works great!

I did't have to deal with the company, they don't offer too much stuff. But theres a lot of free stuff on the net.

It it was lost, I'd buy another one straight away. It's an excellent and cheap replacement for an M1. I've been playing the M1 for 5 years, did not own any comparable for 5 years and I am happy to have this crisp early-90s-sound again - thats what it is good for. a little bit more memory was good - cards are hard to find (30 EURO on ebay or more!)

It's not really that hard to use. Sure the buttons are small, but the display is legible, if you can follow along with the manual you are all set. Much easier to deal with than more modern synths, not as intuitive as my old Sequential Circuits full of knobs.

Tons of deep editing options. It may not have all the features of new expensive synths, but hey it's old and cheap! Many of its presets do not appeal to me, but there are plenty that are very very good. It's not going to fool anyone into thinking it's a guitar, or a piano, but it sounds GOOD. If you want guitar sounds, you can get some reasonable convincing ones by buying a guitar. It's a rack mounted module, no keyboard or sequencer. Storage of patches is by onboard battery or hard to find card.

Wide range of sounds, the ones emulating other instruments are the weakest, but its original sounding presets and its analog sounds are good. Some of the orchestral sounds are very good too, not realistic but pleasing to the ear. Velocity and aftertouch, but MIDI is not general MIDI. I have made some very scary sounds with this just by noodling around. Came up with one, and someone that heard it said it sounded like the devil was coming to get him. Then the battery died and I lost it.

Even though the battery died, I still give it a 10. Old unit, it had been in a closet for years. Easy cheap fix, install a new battery from Radio Shack and good to go. No other problems.

never had to, great unit

If it were lost or stolen, after wreaking bloody vengeance I would replace it, they're cheap and great. Only negative experience is when the battery died and I lost the greatest patch ever devised. Should have written it down. I have since found out you can go here http://www.october28.com/default.asp and download a shareware patch editor that allows you to edit M3R via your PC and save your new patches to your computer's hard drive. No more searching for expensive, hard to find cards, or relying on battery back up! Well worht the registration fee.

The buttons are small making editing form the front panel a bit of a challenge. A good ed/lib makes things alot easier

For what it is (a 15 year old Module) it is phenomenal. The 16 note polyphony is a little limiting but this was purchased as a pad/utility synth not a main generator. The most amazing thing about this unit is the depth you get in this unit's sounds and effects units.

The Pads, organs, and some of the orchestral layers, percussion and bells still stand up to today's synths. The solo string sounds and brass sounds....well buy a sampler.....The drum sounds are a bit dated now but make nice effects. The Korg effects section is amazing and the key to the depth of the COMBI mode sounds. Some of the layered sounds are at least 3-4 velocity levels deep so you can really let loose and build a theme within the same sound. The leslie effect is also excellent and has a very convincing acceleration curve.

well its 14 years old and still in great shape (purchased used). The front buttons are well worn so those have me a bit scared.

If you are not familiar with this unit, it is the little brother of the the M1R. It has no sequencer, uses a different program card and is only 1U high. It has other limitatins of synths from that era(no GM, 100 patches, strange midi response). The similarities include: a good mix of M1, M1-EX, and T-series sounds built in. It also uses the same PCM card (called and MSC card) as the M1 and T1 series. and has 4 audio outs, and typicial MIDI IN/OUT/THRU. If you are looking for a cheap alternative to the M1, a good compliment to your M1 /T series or just a cheap utility synth, this thing will add a good solid 8-16 notes to your polyphony.
I would (and plan to) buy another one of these ASAP. They make great utility synths and have alot of mid-80s early 90s korg sounds.

The only odd thing I found was that the unit had a tendancy to have some minor distortion on the headphone output when some of the stronger sounds were played at a high velocity. not sure if that applies to the main outs or not but I will keep that in mind as a special effect. Especially on the B-# sounds gives a nice 70s mic clip effect.

Oh, this is really hard to program.. i mean 8 buttons and that's all :-(. Really hard

It's just a basic rompler.. hard to edit, 99 programs/combi.. simple effects.. no sequencer in (but who cares?)

Instruments are NOT realistic. Sounds in general are good for the era (1989).. but i don't use emulation sounds. Good percussive pads, also many presets are really useful (Es. Perc. organ, the most abused organ in dance music, the grandpiano -m1piano-). Very good EPs and rhodes. I used to play the roland expansion boards (60&70, piano) on a 1080 for rhodes stuff, but now i'm planning to sell this cards , cause they are worse than korg m3r standard rhodes ! I'll not back to roland rhodes anymore (even if in general prefer roland stuff to korg anyway). Not many good sounds in general (about 20?) but the few ones.. rocks!!
Dacs are low quality (compared to today standards) and you can hear high background noise, but they give an incredible warmth to the sounds. I have a Wavestation EXpanded and dacs are better but they're more cold sounding :(
Also i have tried a korg PA80 at the store (i know, it's an arranger etc etc) and it sounded worse to my hears.

Uhm.. sometime it crashes, during editing.. it happened just 2 times, i don't know if there is a bug system...

I own a wavestation ex since long time and i called korg one time. Good customer service, very friendly and helpful.. but it was more than 8 years ago ! So no opinion.

10.
I also own other older stuff (jd990, Wavestation EX, jx10, testing jv1080, alfajuno-2, e-70), and excepted for the e-70 (which is an arranger) they're better than m3r. But i haven't find a better rhodes than this one, as also other sounds, even on later machines! Also, the perc.organ, piano and bells, EPs really rocks !
Pair it up with a JD990 vintagesynth expanded , and you won't need others romplers.

This synth is not the easiest to program. Some of the preset sounds are great, but to get the best result you have to either buy new sounds, or program some by yourself. If so i would recomend an editor because it's like hell to go trough all menus.

Polyphony is ok. The effects are good enough to lift the sound to a useable level.

You can create some good organ and elpiano patches.The Rhodes sound i very good. The strings also sounds nice.

Had to change battery. But that's an easy job to do. No problem to use this synth live. Just turn it on, and off you go.

Try some newsgroups to get info about it.

This is module fits nicely into my rack, and supply's me with the strings and elpianos i need in addition to the rest of my gear.

I'VE have been using my m3r korg module for over 10 years
and it has never let me down. It has been left in my car
for days in minus 0 temp. and also in the heat
I do have one problem though.
MY sound card was left in the m3r during tranit and it cracked
I lost everything I programmed into it
I can't find a replacment sound card.Korg reps tell me that
if I had the KORG M1 a sound card would be no problem
All I want is a new blank card. Is that too much to ask for
Can anyone help me?diane.rankin@n.s.sympatico.ca

I've had mine for ten years and have done well over several hundred gigs with it, so I guess my rating could reflect the fact I've had it so long. Without the REI remote editor, I'd give it a "1" with all the button pushing you have to do - impossible on gigs. With the REI, though, it's not much more complex than messing with a Hammond's drawbars and presets. You can change combinations, effects, etc. on the fly and in real time. It has sliders which give you ability to create patches that you fade one or more sounds in and out- like strings coming up or down with the piano remaining constant. It has buttons so you can just punch in your desired patches in real time. I can change patches between songs just buy pressing a few buttons of the editor, which sits on top of my keys. I can't imagine using one without the remote.

Limited polyphony relative to newer modules, but I just bought a used one and chained it as a slave to the one I've had for ten years. This doubles the polyphony (check the manual). You can get these used now for 200 - 300 bucks, so for me I just cheaply doubled my polyphony and solved the problem of holding out notes and have them go away on their own while I'm still holding down keys.

I actually like the piano sounds.......most people knock them. They are bright ("rinkydink" I think they've been called), but since I gig with rock bands it helps cut through the competing sounds. Frankly, I've never heard better piano sounds live in a gigging situation, and I have received numerous positive comments on gigs, even from other keyboard players, on the piano sounds in particular. I use a Korg Concert 3500 digital piano as a controller (yep, the home model) and will mix in the internal piano sound with the M3R to give it some bottom, but I've played most gigs with just the M3R and shut off the controller's internal sound. Horns, and such aren't half bad, but I don't use most of the bells and whistles and new age sounds you find.

Big 10 here. I've not had the first problem with it in ten years of nearly constant use.

I actually had an experience with customer support when I bought a new second REI remote editor as a back-up and it didn't work right fresh out of the box. Turns out they stuck one of the chips in backwords (my local Korg approved guru found it). The tech at Korg central was great and went over all kinds of possilities with me before my local guy figured out it was a simple backward chip. They seemed to be really concerned with figuring out my problem until it was solved.

I've never owned another full synth module, so I can't really comment on how it stacks up to others. I have owned a Roland JX8P and have heard lots of modules, and I haven't heard any better for a live band situation. Of course, I stick to piano, strings, occasional others. I've never really liked the B3 sounds, although you can build patches by mixing key click sounds, hum noise, and other Hammond noises. The demo sounds are impressive, so I should think somebody (much more familiar with programming than I) could make this thing sing. For the money, I don't think you can do better. Buy two and for about $400 you can have twice the polyphony and a ready made backup should one go down - which has never happened to me in ten years. But, if you don't buy the REI remote editor, I'm not sure I'd bother at all.

The menu system on this synth can be confusing at first (you
have a 2 line LCD and sometimes you must go 9 levels up the
menu ladder) but you get used to it rather quickly, plus the
reference card, if you have it, is really helpful. Still, the user
interface is rather spartan.

You can have 8-timbral polyphony on this unit, and setting it
up is not difficult at all. The effect section is actually quite
good, and if you have time to program (I use SoundDiver), you can
use it to a great advantage. It has an extra pair of outputs, and
the effects routing is configurable, parallel or serial.

There is a low pass filter without the resonance, which is a bit
of a shame... The cutoff is supposed to be controllable via
MIDI CC.

Two slots for PCM and program cards. The PCM cards are 100% compatible
with the M1 series. Some of the sets you can buy are actually quite
good.

The sounds are pretty much unmistakably Korgish, clear and
atmospheric. Emulation of acoustic instruments is not great, although
I happen to like one of the piano patches... The additional cards
you can get for this unit allow you to have more synthy stuff,
with nice pads, leads and really cool FX patches (like "War") on
Synth 2 card set.

Bells, and various pads are probably the strongest part of M3R.
A few included drum kits are OK.

It seems to be reliable. Users are usually capable of replacing
the backup battery themselves. Mine was dropped during shipment,
and there is a very minor dent on the back corner. It's very
solidly built, with the faceplate being milled anodized aluminum.
It does look like a tank. Never failed on me

Never had to deal with customer support...

If it were stolen, I would be looking for a similar sounding
synth. Maybe I would have bought a TR if I had money, but between
$200 and $300 the M3R seems to be well worth the money.