I heard the XS demos and compared them to the M3 video demo.

The Rock Demo on the XS Listening room blows the M3 distortion/acoustic guitars completely out of this planet and beyond! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif alt=

The Orchestral XS demo sounds classy and natural, compared to the M3 which sounds clean, but unrealistic and processed. THe XS orchestral demo sounds like the ‘REAL THING’, not some synth trying to be an acoustic instrument like the M3.

The Techno XS demo sounds great, especially the first flute, strings, and the drum and bass pattern. Only thing I don’t like is the arpeggiated lead which sounds pretty cheesy. I am sure there is so much out of the 355 MB to choose from /forums/images/icons/smile.gif alt=

CONCLUSION:
Overall, I feel that the XS sounds a lot more professional than the M3. I have never been a fan of Karma, which sounds like ‘News music’ (when you turn to channel 6 and hear at the beginning of the News).

NOTE:
I am not biased, I love some Korg sounds, mostly the synthetic sounds - pads, and synth leads/basses...but the demo just didn’t capture it. And I do hope they changed their gawdawful filters on the Triton Extreme and replaced them with MS2000/Radias filters.

Now, the best part....wait endlessly for 3 months!! And work overtime!!!

Re: XS demo vs M3 demo...

To me, the M3 sounds like a typical Korg synth in the last 13 years - creative programming, but too much effect processing applied (I’ve had a Triton LE61 befor I jumped on the Motif ES bandwagon). Stephen Kay definitely deserves appraisals for these enjoyable demo songs, but does it mean that the M3 sounds better than the XS? I don’t think so - I don’t like this overprocessed sound. Rain After the Game (Rock Demo) on the XS still looks like a real band to me and K2:CounterPointe on the M3 is too fast and dynamic to actually hear the nuances of orchestral voices.