The EK-50 is a 61-note arranger keyboard with auto accompaniment, built-in speakers and a sound set aimed at pop and band material. Keys respond to velocity, and four touch settings let you pick how firm that response feels. It suits home players and solo performers who want a band behind them.
Sounds and accompaniment
Over 702 sounds and 41 drum kits sit inside, GM compatible sets among them, along with more than 170 keyboard sets that recall a voice and its settings in one press. Backing comes from more than 280 styles, each holding two intros, four variations, two fills, a break and two endings. Synchro start and stop plus tap tempo keep the arrangement under your hands. Polyphony runs to 64 voices, with two stereo multi-effects on the keyboard part and two more on the accompaniment.
Recording and playback
The onboard sequencer records in real time across 12 tracks, four for your playing and eight for the backing. Storage stretches to 999 songs and roughly 100,000 notes, and a saved song converts to SMF when you want it in a DAW. Playback handles MP3 and WAV audio at 44.1 kHz, plus standard MIDI files in format 0 or 1. A USB Type A port takes a flash drive.
Speakers and connections
Amplification runs 10 watts per side into a pair of 120 mm double-cone drivers in a bass reflex enclosure, and eight speaker EQ presets shape the result for the room. Connections cover quarter-inch left and right outputs, a foot controller jack, a stereo mini audio input and a headphone socket. For computer work, USB Type B carries MIDI. Half-pedalling is not supported.
Practice tools
A metronome covers timing work, with beat and volume both adjustable. Tempo spans 30 to 240. Eleven scale types are on hand, one of them yours to define, for music that sits outside equal temperament. Transposition reaches a full octave either way, and tuning moves between 427.5 and 452.9 Hz. Set lists hold ten banks of four.
See it in action
Specifications
| Keyboard | 61 keys (velocity sensitive) Touch Control: Soft (light), medium (standard), hard (heavier), fixed |
|---|---|
| Sound Generator | Stereo PCM sound generator |
| Maximum Polyphony | 64 voices |
| Sounds | Over 702 sounds, 41 drum kits (including GM compatible sound sets) |
| Keyboard Sets | More than 170 sets |
| Effects Accompaniment part | 2 stereo digital multi-effects |
| Keyboard part | 2 stereo digital multi-effects |
| Styles | More than 280 presets 2 intros, 4 variations, 2 fills, 1 count in/break, 2 endings, synchro start/stop, tap tempo |
| Audio Player | MP3, WAV (44.1 kHz) |
| Sequencer Record | Real-time recording (Style mode), maximum of 999 songs (approx. 100,000 notes), 12 tracks (4 keyboard parts + 8 auto accompaniment parts), original format (can convert to SMF0) |
| Scales | 11 types (including user scale) |
| Tempo | 30-240 |
| Key Transpose | C (-12) to C (0) to C (+12) |
| Tuning | 427.5-452.9 Hz |
| Input/Output Foot controller jack | 6.3 mm (1/4") phone jack * EK-50 does not support the half-pedaling. |
| AUDIO IN jack | 3.5 (1/8") mm stereo mini-phone jack |
| OUTPUT L/ MONO, R jacks | 6.3 mm (1/4") phone jack (unbalanced) |
| Headphones jack | 3.5 mm (1/8") stereo mini-phone jack |
| USB A port | TO DEVICE port for connecting USB flash memory |
| USB B port | TO HOST port for connecting personal computers |
| Speaker System Amplification | 10 W × 2 |
| Speakers | 120 mm (4.72") double-cone speakers × 2 (bass reflex box-type) |
| Speaker EQ | 8 types |
| MIDI | USB MIDI |
Specifications from Korg. Appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.
