Sound:
I am a professional who have done keyboard engineering for major recording artists on major labels. I have spent well over $50,000 in gear over the years. I am also a hardcore musician who gigs 3 to 4 nights every week for many years now. I have never been endorsed by any company so I have nothing to gain by my opinion. The X5D ,if you are a programmer has the potential to be one of the most major and valuable musical instruments in your collection. I cant say enough about its great sound potential.

Feature:
somebody once wrote in some article about synthesizers "with a small lcd screen is rather like papering a hallway while looking through the letterbox" x5 excells here. but for the price against features and sonic power it is excellent.

Quality:
bomb proof i dropped mine twice during studio relocation and still cheerfuly switched on and said "hello evrybody" present and previous owners will know what i mean.

Value:
worth every penny. this was actually my first full blown synthesizer. and well worth saving for beginners or pros alike

Desirability:
its compact and good looking for a portable synth even by todays standards, small and cute does go along way.

Sound:
the only thing that i found awkward was there was no resonance control. evrything the sounds are excellent, clear, and very bright.

Ease of Use:
once you get your head round the menus it is pretty simple to get your desired sonic idea in to actual sound. again the small screen didnt help.

Support:
i have dealt with the people at korg many times and even have been to the offices to have an old korg 707 memory reinstalled, considering i live over 300 miles away. they are a pleasure to deal with, in my book thats 50% of overall sale of quality equipment.

Overall:
never replace never. i like/hate my x5 no resonance and a small screen. however the portability, sounds, the overall ease of sound creation and a very large pallett of preinstalled sounds available straight from the box what more could you ask for this excellant synth. i would like to see someone else find all the features and power for same price it went for at that time

Feature:
You can do absolutely anything with it. 16 MIDI would be preferable, but its an old machine so you cant betoo demanding.

Quality:
It s solid as a rock and never fails. When u think it's acting weird, don't even wonder: it's you who must ve altered a program.

Value:
It's excellent value for money

Desirability:
Plain simple black style. Cool!

Sound:
String and Wind Instruments imitations are not good, as always with this kind of synthesiser, but that's not really the purpose of the machine and with all the great electronic sounds it has it wont bother you a bit. The modules are so varied, you can even programm the notes using 1/100th tones!!

Support:
didn't need any repair

Overall:
This ancester of the triton is absolutely great at a more reasonable price now, but it used to be the top class in it's time, and quite frankly it is still a great machine to work on.

most sounds are OK.piano is not great,but even the one on Triton is not better.the presets,combinations are very thoughtfully programed,very playable.The mod wheel can make some stunning effects for some combis.The percussion 's clear and crisp..but pity they don't sound as good in a mix.
With some editing,espcially with its wonderful effects,this synth could have many different good sounds.Here's a sonnd bank downloadable everywhere from the net,in which here are many B3 sounds.It rocks!!
Won't sell it,coz it sounds 100 times better than later N series.Even after i got my Trition,will have it as a trustful backup

The Korg X5D has tons of features, an easy-to-use and intuitive interface and great effects. This unit combines the best features of the classic M1 and 01/W and pushes the classic Korg sounds into the new millenium. The strings and ethnic sounds are simply great. Great value, I love it.

Feature:
Useful to be able to split the keyboard for performances. It's size means it fits in a guitar case no problems, so easy to transport and gig with. I think the piano sound is quite acceptable and I'm a pianist!

Quality:
Good. Power lead not good though. Despite careful and robust storage and protection, it frayed internally after 1 year. Korg wouldn't replace it easily until I got trading standards on to them. If you use your original lead for gigging, get a spare, they're nearly

For the price of this little beauty I was surprised at the sound quality and versatility it has. When I bought the X5D I was mainly looking for a MIDI controller, but I have found myself using the X5D sounds in my recordings more and more. It's a great sounding synth for the price.

Quality:
After a good 5 years of gigging a lot it stopped working. It didn't power up anymore. A friend sent me his and that too is giving me problems right now. The keys stop sounding after a few mins playing.

Sound:
For me Korg is good for sound effects not for actual piano, brass, and wind instruments. I downloaded sounds from the internet for the x5d (all free). Using the sound editor I was able to edit and create my own sounds and place sounds from the M1, Z3, N264, and more on this. There are two presets also. If you learn how to use it for what you need you can.

Ease of Use:
It was easier to understand how to change and edit sounds via the pc editor. using the tiny screen didn't help.

Overall:
I've already purchased a Yamaha Motif ES Rack. It blows it away of course.

What more would you want in a low-priced, full featured synth? And to the person who wonders if he should have purchased a Roland XP-10, FORGET IT! The XP-10 only has 28 note polyphony while this beauty has 64!!! No comparison! I had the XP-10 for a week and returned it. This KORG rules in it's price range!

This is a very good keyboard for the price. It's very light and can be compared to korg's n264/364. Plenty of effects to choose from.