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New KORG SV2??


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I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe the SV-1 is a product of Korg's Italian subsidiary - which normally makes the Arranger keyboards (Pa series). I always thought it had the feel of a personal project from one of the Italian team that somehow got the greenlight from Japan.

 

So it's something of an anomaly in their professional keyboards range. I think they have given it several different lives with boutique colors for the shell and key colors, but I think this is a sign that it's sold well enough to get a follow on run even with the Grandstage also in the lineup. I don't think the team that makes this shares much of a collaboration with the Grandstage team or Japanese approach.

Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries

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I had more of a "Wanted to Love But Could Summon Only Hate" relationship with the SV-1. I coveted it from the first time I played one, in Sam Ash, back in NY. That was pre-adjusted action, and I sort of made a mental note to follow it. I loved the growly EPs but hated the soggy action.

 

Then the "look for the Made In Japan" stuff, which I did, and finally even bought one. I hated that action too. Rubbery and lazy. Plus, the shape makes it basically unworkable on a frequent basis. It keep wanting to slip from my hands because of the curved back, which is fine if it's your only board, but impractical as a lower board in a two-board set up, which was what I wanted to use it for.

 

Such is its hold on my imagination that I STILL covet them when I see them for sale, forgetting that I already had and sold one. It's like the hot girl in high school who you finally score with, find her vapid, and then find yourself maybe wanting one more dip in the pond just to know you could go there.

 

Don't go there, MoI....don't go there MoI....don't go there, MoI....

 

 

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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It's like the hot girl in high school who you finally score with, find her vapid, and then find yourself maybe wanting one more dip in the pond just to know you could go there.

 

 

Unless you were at that time a guitarist, drummer, or lead singer, this never actually happened to you.

 

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe the SV-1 is a product of Korg's Italian subsidiary - which normally makes the Arranger keyboards (Pa series). I always thought it had the feel of a personal project from one of the Italian team that somehow got the greenlight from Japan.

 

Yes, it was developed by the Korg Italy team, but the spec design and front panel layout involved input from specialists from the US and Germany in addition to the Italians. A few of us from the US worked on the voicing as well. I'm not in the loop anymore with Korg pre-release, so I'm very curious if they finally addressed a few issues that I always tried to get them to update, but never did.

 

1) the front panel gain knob for the Amp sim should have controlled both the overdrive/gain of the front stage of the amp while conversely lowering the total output, so you could saturate the sound without it getting louder at the same time. You can only control that relationship when using the editor in the SV-1.

 

2) The resolution of the Reverb/Delay knob is waaayyyy too coarse, especially at the low end of the range. First click is off, next click is pretty wet, the next click is probably too much already, and the rest of the range is unusable (IMHO).

 

I'm curious about the new SV2, as the final nail in the coffin for me using it live was my dissatisfaction with the acoustic piano, especially for solo work, jazz etc. Jack Hotop's pianos in the SoundPack 2 were the best for band context, but still, the PCM just didn't do it for me. Definitely checking it out next week.

 

Jerry

 

 

 

 

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Comparing the character of the tube in the SV1 versus the Nutube in the Vox Continental, I loved the latter but found the former almost useless. At least in the version of the SV I had way back when it first came out, the tube got aggressive very quickly but wasn't much good for just warming and fattening the sound, whereas the Vox Nutube does that very well. I suppose it depends on whether you want really aggressive tube distortion or not, but for me the applicability of the SV tube was very limited.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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1) the front panel gain knob for the Amp sim should have controlled both the overdrive/gain of the front stage of the amp while conversely lowering the total output, so you could saturate the sound without it getting louder at the same time. You can only control that relationship when using the editor in the SV-1.

So true! I blew up a foldback wedge not realising this the first time I cranked the OD on mine.

 

2) The resolution of the Reverb/Delay knob is waaayyyy too coarse, especially at the low end of the range. First click is off, next click is pretty wet, the next click is probably too much already, and the rest of the range is unusable (IMHO).

Unless you're playing piano in "The Great Gig in the Sky", in which case it's pretty usable until about click 4.

 

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It's like the hot girl in high school who you finally score with, find her vapid, and then find yourself maybe wanting one more dip in the pond just to know you could go there.

 

 

Unless you were at that time a guitarist, drummer, or lead singer, this never actually happened to you.

QFT. Certainly never happened to me.

 

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Comparing the character of the tube in the SV1 versus the Nutube in the Vox Continental, I loved the latter but found the former almost useless. At least in the version of the SV I had way back when it first came out, the tube got aggressive very quickly but wasn't much good for just warming and fattening the sound, whereas the Vox Nutube does that very well. I suppose it depends on whether you want really aggressive tube distortion or not, but for me the applicability of the SV tube was very limited.

 

You really had to use the editor to dial it in, as I wrote above, the front panel knob was pretty useless. You could certainly dial in decent warmth from the editor...

 

Jerry

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1) the front panel gain knob for the Amp sim should have controlled both the overdrive/gain of the front stage of the amp while conversely lowering the total output, so you could saturate the sound without it getting louder at the same time. You can only control that relationship when using the editor in the SV-1.

So true! I blew up a foldback wedge not realising this the first time I cranked the OD on mine.

I'm not surprised to read this, but sorry to hear it, nonetheless.

 

 

2) The resolution of the Reverb/Delay knob is waaayyyy too coarse, especially at the low end of the range. First click is off, next click is pretty wet, the next click is probably too much already, and the rest of the range is unusable (IMHO).

Unless you're playing piano in "The Great Gig in the Sky", in which case it's pretty usable until about click 4.

 

Ha!! You nailed it.

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Unless you were at that time a guitarist, drummer, or lead singer, this never actually happened to you.

 

First of all, this post is way off. You forgot "sax player."

 

I wasn't a sax player either, though. I meant, meeting her later and finally getting to go there.

 

But who am I kidding, that didn't happen either.

 

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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The actions were firm but clunky on Ver. 1 , very hard to get any subtly out of them but y good for Rock, Blues and Funk and Rhodes stuff . . .

 CP-50, YC 73,  FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122

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So just to be clear, is the keybed the same as the SV-1, or an upgrade, even if ever so slight? I remember the SV-1 going through some revisions too, so I'm not sure this question has a simple answer.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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It"s hard to say - it"s an RH3 which is Korg"s weighted action - same as the SV-1.

On the 1 it played the internal EP sounds pretty well.

I didn"t like it at all on the internal AP sounds.

Will have to sit at it and play to see how the 2 feels.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Thanks; it's easy to understand that the keybed action itself is not the whole picture, as the housing and other factors can still impact the overall feel, just as with Fatar actions that get tweaked here and there by Nord, Kurzweil, and others (or that may optionally include a felt-based soft landing that isn 't part of the core keybed mechanism).

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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[video:youtube]

Hardware

Yamaha MODX7, DX7, PSR-530, SY77/Korg TR-Rack, 01/W Pro X, Trinity Pro X, Karma/Ensoniq ESQ-1, VFX-SD

Behringer DeepMind12, Model D, Odyssey, 2600/Roland RD-1000/Arturia Keylab MKII 61

 

Software

Studio One/V Collection 9/Korg Collection 4/Cherry Audio/UVI SonicPass/EW Composer Cloud/Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trilian/IK Total Studio 3.5 MAX/Roland Cloud

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2) The resolution of the Reverb/Delay knob is waaayyyy too coarse, especially at the low end of the range. First click is off, next click is pretty wet, the next click is probably too much already, and the rest of the range is unusable (IMHO).

 

Not only was that a complaint of mine too, but that was almost word-for-word how I expressed it. Makes me wonder if my emails and posts to the Korg forum got passed around the department!

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Looking more closely, I can see why this thing got developed. Obviously, the SV1 was very popular and still selling. A few years ago we had a discussion here about not underestimating the cost of designing and tooling a case/bodywork. The SV2 reuses the SV1 casework exactly - presumably this reduces the development costs. Plus internal speakers allows cross-marketing into the home-keyboard market.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Pretty nice update... I'll have to try one!

 

I"ll give it another spin, but unless Korg fixed the sluggish action or made the bed or housing more responsive, I"ll put my sheckels with the Viscount Legend 70s.

 

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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I dig the S model having speakers. Of course it's more versatile than the Crumar Seven with its sizeable library and the addition of split/layer and additional poly.

But yeah, the RH3 is not my fav - and in use on the SV1 - with the acoustic piano sounds in particular - its sloppy feeling, poor connection with the sound.

Don't love it on the GrandStage either, so not expecting this to be better. I appreciate the effort though, its a cool instrument.

Most excited to hear Viscount's Legend 70s though.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I like my SV1's RH3 action, for both APs and EPs. It felt also good to me on the Grandstage.

In principal, I'm happy to see a SV new version, with improved technology and features, but now I'm very confused on what to choose to replace my SV1!!!

Should I buy a SV2 or a Grandstage???? Based on the SV2 specs, I still see the Grandstage as a more complete keyboard with state of the art sounds. I'm not so sure if I need integrated speakers, but who knows, it can be good to have for playing and practising at home... I always had issues with my home monitoring system.

I still don't get why they force to use the editor for a full configuration of the splits. But on the other hand, I'm not really a user of splits.

Then should the decision be made on the look?? Well, that is surely not my main decision criteria for a keyboard, even though I like the SV style.

Last but not least, what should I do with my SV1? I guess the price on the second market will completely drop-off due to the SV2 release...

Hum, things get a little bit more complicated ;-)

The SV2 soundcloud demos sound good to me though, especially for APs. Definitely a strong improvement compared to the SV1...

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I'm on the lookout for a second keyboard. Have a Kawai MP11SE at my house, but need another piano for my appartment where I spend 2 out of 3 weekends per month. I was looking at all kinds of options, from portable pianos, to stage pianos and even cabinet pianos.

My shortlist consisted of the Roland FP90, the Roland HP704, Yamaha P515, Korg D1, even the Yamaha CP88 as it's such a cool board.

I'm more a pianist than a keyboarder so 90% of my playing is acoustic piano.

 

The SV2 is not exactly a pianist's board, but I think it looks unbellievably cool. I love my MP11SE which is technically a stage piano, but it really isn't because of the weight. But I like the form and feel of a stage piano.

Hence my interest in the D1 and the CP88. The fact that the SV2 is available with internal speakers makes it ideal for home use, I think. The RH3 keybed isn't the best out there for acoustic piano (Roland's PHA50 and Yamaha's NW-X and NW-GH are somewhat better for that), but it is still really, really good, even for classical music.

And I like the retro styling, the ivory finish is just perfect. Put it on the SV1 stand and you've got the perfect living room instrument (provided you like retro and minimalism)

A long time ago, in a musical galaxy far, far away...

Eminent-Solina B412, Yamaha DX21, Yamaha V50, Yamaha U1

 

21st century...

Kawai CA58, Kawai ES110

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Pretty nice update... I'll have to try one!

 

I"ll give it another spin, but unless Korg fixed the sluggish action or made the bed or housing more responsive, I"ll put my sheckels with the Viscount Legend 70s.

 

One my buddies had one of these and that was my issue as well the action of it.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Bought an SV-1 88 and sold it the following year. The action was too stiff for me and the acoustic piano didn't cut through at all. Plus, the shape and contour wasn't ideal for a 2-tier setup with the piano at the bottom

Kronos 88 Platinum, Yamaha YC88, Subsequent 37, Korg CX3, Hydrasynth 49-key, Nord Electro 5D 73, QSC K8.2, Lester K

 

Me & The Boyz

Chris Beard Band

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