after much research, i have narrowed my choices down to korg m50 and rolnd juno gi. i would like to ask if anyone here had a chance to try these two. unfortunately the music store close to me doesnt have them so i am unable to try them. any input regarding sound quality (especially piano, drums, strings), ease of use, advantages, and disadvantages.

i am mainly a guitarist and songwriter. i would like to have a lot of voices available nd ability to modify and create for songwriting.. i wont be performing live with it.

one more thing, i believe that they dont have speakers so any additional input as to good amp or monitors that are not too big or expensive. .. i will just be playing indoors and mostly with heAdphones. thanks.

I've tried them both, but I've unfortunately not done a lengthy side by side comparison.

Anyway, what I remember clearly is that I liked the pianos on the Roland much better, and the same goes for strings, and most other orchestral sounds (at least the ensemble patches)
The Korg was noticeably better on pads and synth leads, and maybe a little bit better on the organs.
Don't know anything about the drums at all since I never even checked them out on either board.

When it comes to ease of use I preferred the Roland, but that's only to be expected since I've owned several Roland synths, but only one Korg, and I guess the same goes for the keybed where I also preferred the Roland.

Both boards are good if you ask me, it's really a matter of personal taste and preference. (and for me it's the Roland in this case )

/ Joakim

Hello, I was actually playing/recording on my Roland Juno Gi for a few hours right before I read your post!(which I purchased 2 weeks ago after only finding out about it 3 days before that)

I recently began to turnover all my gear which was a Fatar + piano modules, Motif 6 and Triton Le.

I really liked the M50 88 keyboard and liked the RH3 action along with the piano sounds.
However, I decided to get a P95 and look for a workstation+ digital recorder. I was considering a M50 61 + a Tascam DP008 digital recorder.

However, I found the Juno Gi which has a 8 track digital multitrack recorder built in. As a guitarist, you can actually record your guitar into the Gi and add built in effects. The keyboard also has XLR inputs for a microphone ( I ordered a XML V67G which i am waiting for)

I would highly recommend the Gi over the M50 since it has the built in digital recorder along with SD storage. You can also do mastering on the keyboard. A friend of mine who is a guitarist says it is a no brainer for him since it includes many boss like ffects.

In terms of the sounds, I really like the B3 organs and feel as though the acoustic piano sounds are very good for a workstation. I would not expect them to be as detailed as a P95 but they are excellent.

In terms of speakers there are 2 main options of course:

Studio monitors or a amplifier.
Since I am selling my old monitors, I might invest in a dedicated Roland keyboard amp so I do not need another stand

thanks for the input guys!!! i just ordered the juno gi! im excited!

Congrats! You will enjoy it very much. It is very sleek, and even though it has a digital recorder it has a "1980's-early 1990's" feel to it.

It really complements my P95 well as I enjoy taking breaks/time between the 2