Posted by: Mike Potter

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Korg x3 Workstation

I have a floppy disk with my .SNG files but my X3 floppy disk drive isn’t working.

I have songs on the floppy disk that I want to recover.

Is there any software that I could use to convert the .sng to Standard MIDI (*.mid) so I can load them into my sequencer (Cubase).

I would be grateful if someone could help me out with this,

Best regards,

Mike

Hi Mike,

You're in a common situation—many Korg X-series users run into this when their floppy drives stop working.

✅ Here's what you can do:

1. Recover the files from the floppy disk

Since your X3's floppy drive isn't working, you'll need to:

• Use a PC with a working floppy drive, or

• Get a USB external floppy drive (they’re still available online).

If the floppy is still readable, copy all the .SNG files to your computer.

2. Convert .SNG to MIDI

Unfortunately, Korg .SNG files are in a proprietary format specific to the X3 and are not readable by most DAWs directly.

However, here are a few workarounds:

Option A: Use a Korg X3 Emulator or Hardware

• Load the .SNG files back into a working Korg X3 (yours or borrowed).

• Then export them as Standard MIDI files (.MID) using the X3’s internal “Save as MIDI” option.

• Transfer the .MID file to your computer via floppy.

Option B: Use a Korg X3 File Converter

• There’s no official or widely known standalone converter for .SNG to .MID, but a few developers and collectors have written custom tools or scripts.

• Search for utilities like:

  • X3 to MIDI converter (rare, but sometimes shared on synth forums)

  • Check out old forums like KorgForums, Gearspace, VintageSynth, or even GitHub repositories for user-made tools.

3. Ask the Community

If you can't find a working X3 or converter:

• Consider uploading the .SNG file somewhere (Dropbox, Google Drive).

• Ask nicely in Korg or synth enthusiast forums—some users still own working X3s and may convert it for you.

💡 Tips:

• Be sure the .SNG files are truly from a Korg X3, as Korg M1, M3, and other series use different formats.

• Try not to open or modify the files before conversion—any corruption may prevent loading.

Hi Anna, thank you for replying.

Jason found a utility that can convert .sng to midi.

It works well but with some errors. The errors are consistent so it’s fairly straightforward to reconstruct the midi files to their original 

format!

Best regards, 

Mike.