Korg X5D

When it comes to easy using the X5D is not the greatest choice. if you are on stage it is very difficult to change volumes of certain combination sounds, since it has very few buttons with which you can interact. If you are at home, you can plug it to a computer, and play with the sound patching as much as you like to a very precise level, and with a lot of ease comfort.

The keyboard polyphony is very modern and professional and it gives out some pretty realistic sounds. The strings are better than on any other keyboard of it's class and it's great for electronic/techno sounds (some patching needed). The dynamics are as precise as they can be at this price range and the pitch and mod wheel are a fun tool to use. It has no card expansions or disc/memory capabilites, but believe me, you won't need them. I have a Behringer FCB 1010 foot controller pluged in via MIDI-IN port and it works great.

The sounds are as said before fantastic. I compared it to a Roland D5 (which is much older) and the roland didn't stand a chance in neither instrument chosen. The strings are allmost real, drums great, piano solid (needs sustain pedal), trumpets and wind instruments good, organs good. all instruments are practically above price range average. The aftertouch velocity is very good and the special effects make it fun to play ambiental. great for making film music.

I haven't had a breakdown in a year since I have it, and there havent been any other bigger problems. sometimes you have to reset it immediatly after turning on (1 in 200) but then it works just fine. I play progressive/experimental music with it on gigs and It's the only keyboard I use.

I haven't had manny issues with KORG but there website provided me with anything I needed.

In my opinion, this keyboard is worth more than what I payed for it. It's a great starter synth and a good professional tool. wouldn't change it for the world.

It's not very difficult to use. The problem is that you need a computer to set the sounds to your liking but once that is done, it's very easy to handle.

The combination sounds allow you to combine 8 sounds to one note, which gives a great polyphony. I got a special midi cable which allows me to easily put in new sounds and change my combinations as I like. It also has possibilities for a foot controller which is great.

The strings and other background sounds are practically perfect! I also uploaded some dance and techno sounds which are also great. The only thing bothering me is the piano sound which isn't very natural. I use the keyboard for progressive/experimental Metal music and it works great!

I never had any problems with it whatsoever. I would take it on a gig without a cable if I had to :).

I wasn't searching for any new updates lately so i'm not sure. But when it comes to Korg, they have always been supportive about their products.

I think it's a great synth for the kind of music I play. It's deffinetlly worth it's money and It has never dissapointed me since I bought it. If your and upstart or an ambitious musician I would recommend this keyboard.

not very easy to use without the help of a computer program..
i have a problem please help us out. usually what comes out of the LCD screen is the solar flare combination right when it's turned on? but all we see is initial combination. all of the programs are gone. could somebody help us how to program it again manually without using the PC and the manuall that is not very helpful. we need a step by step info on the editing of the program and how to use the combi, edit, global buttons along with it,, please please help us email me at gdquijano@yahoo.com.. please we badly need your help.. tnx..

features are great! i have a problem please help us out. usually what comes out of the LCD screen is the solar flare combination right when it's turned on? but all we see is initial combination. all of the programs are gone. could somebody help us how to program it again manually without using the PC and the manuall that is not very helpful. we need a step by step info on the editing of the program and how to use the combi, edit, global buttons along with it,, please please help us email me at gdquijano@yahoo.com.. please we badly need your help.. tnx..

korg x5d is packed with very good effects once you know how to prgram it! i have a problem please help us out. usually what comes out of the LCD screen is the solar flare combination right when it's turned on? but all we see is initial combination. all of the programs are gone. could somebody help us how to program it again manually without using the PC and the manuall that is not very helpful. we need a step by step info on the editing of the program and how to use the combi, edit, global buttons along with it,, please please help us email me at gdquijano@yahoo.com.. please we badly need your help.. tnx..

we always use it on a gig and the band is good to hear if we use this keyboard! go x5d!! i have a problem please help us out. usually what comes out of the LCD screen is the solar flare combination right when it's turned on? but all we see is initial combination. all of the programs are gone. could somebody help us how to program it again manually without using the PC and the manuall that is not very helpful. we need a step by step info on the editing of the program and how to use the combi, edit, global buttons along with it,, please please help us email me at gdquijano@yahoo.com.. please we badly need your help.. tnx..

no free manual for the korg X5d online that can be browsed easily like the korg x5dr huhuhu

the buttons are very weak all of our buttons are dead but we have it repaired but it still hopeless. i have a problem please help us out. usually what comes out of the LCD screen is the solar flare combination right when it's turned on? but all we see is initial combination. all of the programs are gone. could somebody help us how to program it again manually without using the PC and the manuall that is not very helpful. we need a step by step info on the editing of the program and how to use the combi, edit, global buttons along with it,, please please help us email me at gdquijano@yahoo.com.. please we badly need your help.. tnx..

Being a producer of 11 years, I have an x5D along with about 12 or so other keyboards.
The presets are what are to be expected. Nothing too dangerous, but good if you want to layer sounds toether for a fatter or unique sound. I use the sounds from this synth as some of my flagship sounds. It has a good base of typical real world sounds. There is a symphony patch that is invaluable to me. Editing patches is easy, but button pressing becomes time consuming. This is not an "on the fly" editor.
The manual is fine.

Polyphony is 64, and the keyboard action is typical. Korg's action is much better than Roland (and I own a few Rolands as well) The effects are warm, and you can save them to your patch, although not possible in combi mode. There is no expansion possibilities, which is fine with me as expansion cards are expensive, lacklustre, and out of date.
Midi out, in and thru, and the keys are pressure sensitive, although afterouch could be better.
Thank God it doesn't have an onboard sequencer. They weigh a ton, and don't compare to any PC or MAC sequencer. My notebook computer is tougher than any keyboard sequencer on the market, and it weighs less too.

Velocity is quite sensitive. Like I said, the symphony patch when played properly is a killer. The sounds are pretty good. Over all the sounds would be suited for anyone playing live rock and roll. I use it mostly for dance as I have tweaked the sounds the way I want them.
This is a small enough piece of gear to travel with, and also use in the studio with ease.

My old roommate had epilepsy. He fell over on top of my X5 3 times. It never broke, and all I have had to replace is the power (its a wall wart-booo) 3 times.
I have used it on the road, all is well

no idea

I would be pretty upset if it were stolen. I got it I think 8 years ago and was in a music store yesterday. They still sell them new for almost what I paid-what does that tell you?
I love that its small, compact and quit to get going.

First of all I'm a guitarist, so please forgive me...;). I have learned to play piano many years ago though so I decided to buy a decent synth. Having almost no experience in programming synths makes initial contact with X5D somewhat painful. Sound editing is horrible and the tiny LCD screen doesn't help you much. The manual isn't well written, although it is invaluable when you want to do something more than use pre-programmed patches.

It's best to plug it to your PC\Mac via serial cable or midi cable, makes sound-tweaking whole lot easier. BTW, you can find drivers for WinXP in the web!! Once you acquire some basic knowledge, the board isn't that scary...

This is purely the player's board. No sequencer, no floppy drives. Just you and the keys. If you want these extras go and buy KORG N364 or N264 these are the X5D's big brothers. The synth incorporates AI^2 synthesis and that means it gives you the sound module of Nx64 boards only at the lower price...Which was exactly what I wanted.
The polyphony is 64 and I haven't run out of sounds so far...
The keys feel plasticy but hey -this is a synthesizer not the real piano! You can play much faster thanks to that! The velocity sensitivity is amazing, and you can adjust it easily to match your personal preferences. No aftertouch, although the sound module is compatible with it. Personally I don't miss it ;)
Sound editing capabilities are good: 2 digital processors, four effect at once, nothing to complain about...

The main reason for buying this thing was that I am a Nightwish fan and I do simmilar music with my band. The keyboardist there uses many Korg instruments, among which the Nx64 are most noticable. X5D offers you exactly those sounds.
- That means absolutely fabulous strings - better than those in Triton! You can play heavy guitar-like riffs with some of them.
- Pads and choirs, as well as many ambient sounds, are simply fantastic. They are warm, and rich.
- Piano when properly layered is good, maybe nothing to write home about but works fine, especially in the low and high range (middle is crappy).
- The organs make you feel like the Phantom of the Opera, which means they are mighty. You can produce purely gothic tones!
- Guitars: who wants to play guitars or bass on keys in a rock band?? They never come close to the real thing so why bother??
- Drums: See above. This is no 1-man-orchestra device. Go for real drums instead... Though I have to admit that Timpani sounds are superb!
- Trumpets: Don't like them in real and those digital ones sound even worse. Sax is acceptable. Haven't played them too much...

In overall X5D offers you the sounds that will cut through the metal band. I don't know if it's OK for jazz or techno, but I don't care. What I needed was the keys that sound good in rock\metal music and I got one...
Oh X5 can give you the possibility to play one of the best rock-harpsichord sounds ever!

I am giving it 10 points.

Mine is a little battered. The body is plastic (I'd appriciate metal, but...)and it can be damaged quite easily. The keys work fine, judging from the overall wear of the instrument they succesfully survived some harsh playing so they must be strong. There are no problems with hanging up, so the software is reliable. I am gigging without a backup. The instrument weights only 4.5kg so it's easy to carry. Nice little portable thingy :D
I trust it so far

Had no contact with Korg, fortunately. The bad thing is that I had to find drivers for my PC somewhere else than the Korg homepage, as the original soft includes only Windows 3.1 drivers...Too bad

Well, If it were stolen I'd probably go for the bigger brother KORG N364\N264. I don't need a sequencer but having one cannot be harmful ;)
Like I mentioned earlier I use it in a specific music style. It's perfect for it so I have nothing to complain about...
The only drawback is that it cuts off sounds when you change programs in COMBI mode. So, lets say that the last chord played with choir isn't sustained when you switch the sound to a piano for example. It's no problem when recording, but can be unpleasant at the concerts...
It does its job properly though, it has huge potential. I mainly use it at home studio, and sometimes live. Nice machine. I doubt if it's particulary useful for pop musician when compared to modern boards, but no other synth can give you these vintage,classy sounds at this price ;)

This synth is dead easy to get into! You have your basic patches and then your combo sounds. Granted, this is a cheesy synth: but thats why i love it. The sounds are crisp, clean and solid. If your looking for a synth you can tweak then this probably isnt the one for you (that's what my Juno 6 and Korg Polysix are for!); the X5D is what i would refer to as a "bread and butter" synth with solid piano, strings, bass etc as well as some smooth pads. Used in combination with a line-up of other synth gear the X5D works a treat.

This synth is easy to set up for Midi - but dont go looking for too many extra features other than your basic functions cos this keyboard dont do it well. I dont really like the action on this baby either...I find the keys are a little too bouncy, even for a synth! One of the main things i love about the X5D is how light it is...4.4kgs (approx); i can lift it with one hand and walk out the door - it makes a great practice synth. As I said before...if you want tweakable...get an analog synth or some of the newer analog emulators.

As I said, this synth has some decent "bread and butter" sounds: nice clean pianos, pads, strings, organs - even a choir effect (this can sound good if you run it through fx after youve recorded it). I actually like the simplicity of the pad sounds on here as Im quite sick of playing some very expensive synths whose pad-sound has got ten layers of blips, bleeps and sweeps that are distracting. Used in array of other synths this is good value. On the downside these sounds are a little glassy and plasticy by comparison; without much body or real punch and this synth would be hard pressed to stand on its own. Doing a whole song with only this synth would be BAD!

Had a few problems with the power when i first bought it as it was second hand. Since its been fixed - not a problem.

never had to deal.

Ive been playing pro for about 10 years. Done live tv in the UK and Hongkong as well programming an endless stream of pre and post production for albums. Other synths in my line up at the moment include: Roland Juno 6; Korg Polysix; Kawai K5000s; Fender Rhodes Mk 1 stage piano (Seventy three) - and of course the Korg X5D (to name a few).

I chose this synth because I'd used it at college when it first came out back in 1997 (I think??) and found it to be a great learning tool as well as a great (heres that term i keep using) "bread and butter" synth. I had fond memories from my time using it and also i saw it going for really cheap $249 AUD (at the time they were still going for $1000 AUD second hand!). As for wether i love it or hate - my moto is "you can never have too many synths" and let me tell you a lesson I learnt - synths I was getting rid of in the 80's cos they were outdated, cheesy, or lame - are now selling on ebay for $$$$$$$ and Ive found it painful buying back some of the keyboards i got rid of when i thought they were out of date - like a Casio CZ1, Roland D50. Ensoniq ESQ1 and SQ80 to name a few - so hold onto those babys!

Easy. But boring.

Very limited. This can't even be classed as a synth, its just a very cheesy midi keyboard. No filter control, no envelope, no VCO's, no nothing, except choose your instrument, pitch bend and modulation.

Terrible. you try making a song with this and not laughing at the results. I get so frustrated with people on this site who give every synth on here 10/10 because they obviously own one and love it. Well i'll tell you, I dont own an X5D, but I use them everyday at College, and i HATE every second I spend with them.

who knows.

50/50

If this was lost or stolen i would celebrate.

It's a very easy to use keyboard. You just have to read the manual and you can do almost anything on it. Editing patches don't take too much time and by the time it gets easier. The manual explains everything you need to control this thing.

64-voice polyphony ir a lot for a synth with this size and price. The built in effects are very good in average. I don't use it with anything related to MIDI, but it seems to work fine. It has no expansion capabilities, but it's fine anyway.

It desearves a good grade. I don't know any other synths at this price (and even higher prices) with better sounds. Piano sound are very good (specially if you work on them to meake them sound as you want). Strings are very good too, so are basses. The Synths and Pads are good. Other sounds I don't use often.
It fits very well to my needs. I play in a Progressive Metal band that requires a lot of different and good quality sounds.
It has a lot of Velocity sensitivity levels (7 I think) but no aftertouch, only a simulation of that.

I was the first customer who got this unit with a problema in the memory system of the motherboard. I got it fixed and since then I had no problems

They where fine when solving my problem. Could be faster and be more kind.

A very good keyboard and very affordable. The best in this price range. I would buy it again if I was stolen, but not right at this moment because I'm trying to sell it in order to buy a digital piano.

i think you have to be a total idiot if you can't use this synth. this is the first i had and i only need the manual to get it on. i mean it, you need no brain at all to make it work.
the presets sound nice, compared to many synths i have been listening too, it sounds really good for a little synth.
editing patches is not so hard, you have to USE it to learn how to edit patches, you can't expect to know everything without reading the manual.
the manual is extremely complete, for lazy people like some of the people here it's hard, but if you read it, you get it, as simple as that

the polyphony works great, the keyboard is a little sensitive, but you can adjust it in global mode.
the effects are really good, and with a lot of combinations. they sound really good.
no expansion at all, but i hate sequencers, and the memory it has is enough for me.
full midi capabilities, it has pressure sensitive keys, it's very easy to use with midi.
it doesn't have a sequencer, but i hate them so i don't care. i don't use sequences with my music, rock. i am not a "dancing freak"

the instruments are very realistic, i would love to have more organ sounds instead of dance sounds, but anyway. i can really imitate sounds with it.
i use it for rock, but i think it would work good with dance.
the effects are really good, sometimes i would like to have 3 effects in one program, but i am happy with two.
it is very sensitive, you can do so many things if you really know to play.
it is sensitive to velocity, but it only has polyphonic aftertouch.

i really depend on it, i always use it in the gigs, and always people tells me that my synth sounds great. i really trust it, i have had it for 6 years, without any problem.

i haven't dealt with the company, i haven't had any problems at all.

it is really worth what i paid, definitely. if i lost it now maybe i would buy something else, because i had it for 6 years, i think there would be something better now.
i've been playing it for 6 years, i have a crate amplifier and two pedals.
i love the size, it's really a big little synth, the only thing i hate is that you can't store the controller settings (pedals) for every program independently.
i wish it had more organ, string, piano, and acoustic songs, and a bigger keyboard.
it really helps me creating music.
i am very happy to have it,

i think it's easy to use because it's a simple synth. The presets sounds nice. if you compare with Korg T Series, i prefer T1, older than X5D but sounds ok. X5D is good to play synths music, atmosphere or new age. i don't like drums, but pads are beautiful and warm. the manual are very complicated, i don't like it

keys seems so fragile, i don't like it nothing at all. Effects are good, i like korg effects. it's not an expansion keyboard and it doesn't have sequencer

it's a synth keyboard, for dance music.

i don't depend on it. if it was stolen maybe i would buy a Casio PSR 6...maybe it sounds better for a gig...

good...they are very eficient, they repair my X5D 2 times in 6 months...then i gave back to the shop because i felt disappointed with that people, not with korg

one year ago i sold my korg T1...i have played it for 7 years(i bought in second hand) and it was perfect (so bigger and heavy to move it).then i bought an X5D because it's smaller than T1 but...i felt decepcioned with this instrument...and now, i will buy the Triton Le 61 keys because i like Korg and i hope that this keyboard make me happy. i give you an advice, try the X5D before to buy...and if you like it, buy it