sorry for third topic in a single day.

Tried the SV-1 and now I understand what so many people have been praising and grousing about.

The main Rhodes sample is simply great - I loved playing it - but there is only one of them and it is tine-y bell-y in the upper registar - the eq can change that a bit but a second OR third sample set would have been nice.

The control layout is great but like someone said some of the dials don't have enough resolution - especially in the first two or three clicks - like the reverb - anything above three seemed like way too much. But the tweakability is off the scale.

The piano sounded ok. The keybed was ok. The size was great. Looked like it was begging to be taken out to a gig. Most of the other sounds were wasted on me - would have preferred a few more Rhodes sounds over any of the other sounds - Nord/CX3 have spoiled my expectations on Hammond sounds - or a good split w bass and piano/rhodes patch.

I loved the chorus and phaser effects btw - they sounded really cool. But this board isn't right for me. And I really wanted to like it and replace my PC1SE. I just can't see getting one for just the single Rhodes sound. YMMV.

I played one last week.

The piano sounds too much like a Korg, and the organ sounds too little like a Korg.

I thought the Rhodes was great, but otherwise Jamey Was Right.

Played one this saturday, and apart from not liking the sound, I actually didn't like the appearance of the keyboard. Looking at the back of the keyboard it's really appealing, but I dislike the curves, and to me the vintage factor of the SV-1 is overly exaggerated. Hard to explain other than saying "Meh, look at me! I bought a new keyboard, yet I'm Vintage (R), ooh ooh!" But... I guess that's just me

I got one this Saturday. I played my first gig, and tried it in my home studio. And I like it. What I really love is EP #2 thru Avalon U5 DI. Really sweet...

Cheers,
Ed

It would have been nice Korg had put a flat top on it... it just begs to have another kb stacked on top while still leaving all the controls accessible. I remember when I had a polymoog and a Fender Rhodes... so easy to create a monster keyboard stack without any keyboard stands. Just stack ´em up and pop the minimoog on top... and you can still see over the top. Vintage, baby!

I tried it at NAMM. Did not like the rotary switches...

I tried it today and involuntarily hit the favorite buttons a couple of times when playing montunos. Had that problem with the Yamaha P-150 as well. Very annoying to have the sound change while playing.

The new OS for the SV-1 fixes the problem with involuntarily switching sounds. It now takes a deliberate button press to do that. I almost returned the keyboard because of this (it's a nuisance if you play RH octaves), but Korg promised a fix and they delivered.

I think the SV-1 was over-hyped (all those advertising dollars get reflected in the price tag), and the fact that some things about are more gimmicky than useful yields a temptation to not take it seriously as a whole. And yet I think it's still a good value. To me, the outstanding points are:
1) Highly portable, especially the 73. I wish there were more entries in the 70-something key weighted action field.
2) Outstanding rhodes and clav, and very useable piano, all with excellent sound-to-touch connectivity.
3) control panel that can be 100% navigated in the dark.
4) superb effects.

Even though it's supposed to be more about the electric keyboards than the acoustic, ironically, I'll probably use it most for strictly piano gigs, just because of it's portability.

Adan

I personally really liked the acoustic pianos in the SV-1. Particularly the upright. Prefer it over those in the PC1se and even the PC3. You may wrap your jaws round a diff'nt cup o' tea and all that.

Did you guys try it with headphones or speakers?

I thought Piano 2 was pretty good. Only checked it with headphones. The 73-key layout confuses me, more so than a 76 layout. May just be a matter of familiarity, but it looks kind of asymmetrical to me.

I've spent 2 days playing SV-1 in a local music store and had so much fun that I had to buy it. :-)

Up to this point, I've been using Kurzweil PC1se as a Rhodes replacement but I never liked its keyboard. Yes, it has great samples but it never "felt" like my old Rhodes. After years of playing Kurz (PC2x, PC2, PC1se) I can say that Kurz weighted keyboard is simply different. I even tried the new PC3x but IMO KORG did a much better job with SV-1. SV-1 really sounds and feels like a Rhodes.

SV-1 will be an excellent complement to my Nord Electro 2 since it brings in a superior weighted action and much better classic pianos. B3 are still better in Nord Electro.

My hotel gig last night spotlighted perfectly why I bought an SV-1/73. The "spot" they had allocated me in the restaurant was a niche in front of the stairs barely 5ft wide. There was no way I'd have fitted an 88-note board in there. And this sort of crazy stage allocation is by no means rare...

Having played a few gigs, I now actually agree with B3boy's assessment that the Yamaha is the better of the two grands. It certainly sounds more even and natural through my two JBLs than the Steinway.

I may go with the sv-1/73 yet. I have been all over the place - even looking at an M50, cheap DP's, a pc361LE, etc. I need the sounds in a smaller footprint. How about the organs? In GC I just could not get them to sound right. What was I doing wrong?

I played one in Guitar Center with a pair of 6" powered KRK monitors. I selected the Rhodes, turned off the Amp Simulator, turned down the EQ highs and boosted the mids a little. It was very good. The Rhodes is the best thing about this keyboard, imo. The Acoustic Piano (Steinway) sounded good although somewhat uneven, but the single notes in my piano lines sounded more percussive and shorter than I would have liked. The Yamaha Piano seemed suited for playing rock, funk or blues, not really jazz or classical.

Tried out the SV1 again - the rhodes sound on it is outstanding no doubt about it - I would have gladly scrapped all of the other sounds for a second and third rhodes sample set - and a couple of bass sounds and the ability to do splits. Then add pads and the ability to layer. And a mod wheel and pb and some midi functions.

The pianos just sounded ok - nothing special - the organs all sounded really good but I don't need - same w the clavs and synth brass - and the tron choirs sounds - for the jazz cocktail sets I do now I would never use any of those sounds - maybe the cp piano for a blues or root beer rag. Different strokes I know I might feel differently if I was still doing the Motown thing.

That Rhodes sounds is outstanding and everything else on it either sounds just ok or doesn't interest me.

I loved how portable it looks and the Wurlies are cool too. I was listening through two Maudio bx5's so maybe that has something to do with my impression of the pianos - I didn't think that the pianos sounded terrible just kind of average.

I liked the feel of the keybed but still like my VMK176 better.

OT: also got to play the V Piano through some nice headphones - I know there isn't a lot of love for it and I could never afford one but it did sound impressive - it also wins the Lauren Hammond portability award.

The other dig I was suprised at was the Kawai MP8II - hated the piano sound - didn't do anything for me - the action was ok - but again I like my VMK better.

I did sit w the CP300 for a bit - I do like that board - probably the internal speakers make it sound better than what the other floor models were playing through - but I think the CP has some great Rhodes samples. - oh and I tried the s90xs through a Roland KC amp. UGH. sounded terrible.

Blaah blaah

Denistu - I totally agree with you on the PC1SE - that is the board I do my gigs on these days - I love the sounds but that keybed is plain weird. But the sound set covers what I need - I have a couple of cool bass ep or p splits - some pad piano things for fun I will use the solar lead once in a while - I used to like the flutes till I got the Motif XS - the sweet flute in there is great.

I played an SV-1/73 for a bit earlier this week, and agree with the positive posts. I thought the acoustic pianos were only slightly above average, but in a band setting I think they could be tweaked to be just fine. Rhodes and organ were solid. And I liked the action, which seemed to be a nice compromise between acoustic piano and ep, with enough spring to be okay for synth and organ.

My only objections are that dopey looking tube (placed sideways. . .what's up with that?) and the price. US street price seems to be $2000/2100 or so, which without kickass acoustic pianos for solo or trio work, or state-of-the-art organ, seems high.

I played it a second time in GC with KRK powered monitors. The Rhodes is great, better than a Nord, and the Rhodes bass made me think I would not need a bass split. I did not like the acoustic pianos, they were clangy. The organs did not seem to be suited for jazz, Nord organs much better. I wish it had internal speakers and came in black.

How does it sound in mono?

I have no idea.

The EPs sound OK(ish) in mono, but I couldn't use the APs in mono, certainly not solo. And the mono piano sample, even more so than the one on board my old CP33, is ultra compressed with little dynamic range - might just work in a rock and roll band situation.

"Jamey_Was_Right",
I am glad that you've noticed the same thing about the Kurz's keyboard because I thought I got too picky over the years

I have to admit that the Kurz sounds are really outstanding. Every time I brought it to a studio, people were blown away. But the keybed is really weird, which really disappoints me because Kurz is known for their superb pianos. Why not giving us the right feel too?

I was ready to upgrade to PC3 but I was quite disappointed when I tried the "fully-weighted" PC3x. Again the same awkward feeling. I guess Kurz had to compromise the keyboard feel to accommodate playing of other, non-piano sounds. PC3 apparently have even less weighted keys then PC3x so I decided to pass.

On the other hand, playing Rhodes sounds on SV-1 was real refreshment. When you close your eyes, you really feel like you are playing a real Rhodes. For me, the touch is very important, so I was sold right on the spot.

For me PC3 with SV-1 keybed would be an ultimate board, taking into account the sound, portability and the keyboard feel.

"Jazz+"
I agree that the organ section is not as powerful as Nord's (which I also own) but I was able to download two new Jazz organs from the "SV-1 Sound Pack #1" provided by Korg for free, and they sounded great IMO. This tells me that with a bit of tweaking you can get some powerful organs from this board too. It's just that the factory preset organs are not as impressive. The SV-1 comes with a nice s/w editor which gives you a chance to tweak parameters not accessible through the board. But, if you are mainly an organ player, you would be better off with Nord Electro, becasue it was design for organ players, including the keyboard touch which is much faster and lighter.

The bridge rectifier circuit looked dopier.

Initial impression:



Conclusion after more extended playing:



However, the Rhodes is great!