New KORG SV2??

[AnotherScott]

Good points, cp, but also worth noting...

Pawelsz, the GS and SV are very different approaches to keyboards. There's obviously strengths to having a 500 voice swiss army knife with canned effects built into the instruments, but there's something totally different and rewarding about the SV instrument interface

Yes, but something not immediatley obvious is that they BOTH have in the neighborhood of 400-500 factory sounds. Similar to how both let you assemble a split but GS does it from within the board and SV2 does it via an editor, all those sounds are available from the front panel of the GS whereas only a small portion of them are available from the front panel of the SV2, the rest require, you guessed it, the editor.

 

You also have complete control over the entire preset section of the SV in addition to the favorites, so my SV1 has my own personal sound bank top to bottom which is a small point of pride every time I turn it on.

That was indeed true of the SV1, but as far as I can tell, not the SV2. The SV1 had its 8 Favorites plus 36 rewritable front panel selectable sounds, for a total of 44 rewritable sound locations. The SV2 has more, it has 64 favorites, but the 72 front panel selectable sounds are NOT rewritable, so you end up with a total of 64 rewritable sound locations. Still more than on the SV1, but only available through the banks of 8 Favorites, not the factory program selectors.

 

there are stage keyboards like the YC61 or Vox Continental (and many others) that let you throw splits and layers together on the fly and save them.

I wouldn't put the Vox in the category of boards that are strong on splits/layers. Yes, you can do it right from the board, but the split function is still pretty severely limited (weaker than Grandstage).

[cp-the-nerd]

Good points, cp, but also worth noting...

Pawelsz, the GS and SV are very different approaches to keyboards. There's obviously strengths to having a 500 voice swiss army knife with canned effects built into the instruments, but there's something totally different and rewarding about the SV instrument interface

Yes, but something not immediatley obvious is that they BOTH have in the neighborhood of 400-500 factory sounds. Similar to how both let you assemble a split but GS does it from within the board and SV2 does it via an editor, all those sounds are available from the front panel of the GS whereas only a small portion of them are available from the front panel of the SV2, the rest require, you guessed it, the editor.

 

You also have complete control over the entire preset section of the SV in addition to the favorites, so my SV1 has my own personal sound bank top to bottom which is a small point of pride every time I turn it on.

That was indeed true of the SV1, but as far as I can tell, not the SV2. The SV1 had its 8 Favorites plus 36 rewritable front panel selectable sounds, for a total of 44 rewritable sound locations. The SV2 has more, it has 64 favorites, but the 72 front panel selectable sounds are NOT rewritable, so you end up with a total of 64 rewritable sound locations. Still more than on the SV1, but only available through the banks of 8 Favorites, not the factory program selectors.

 

Reading your first two responses, I am simply confused. If the 72 preset sounds cannot be rewritten, how can you upload the SV1 throwback sound pack? And how does the SV2 have 400-500 factory sounds available through the editor if you cannot change the 72 presets? Is everything routed to the favorite banks? That seems like a step backward in functionality, albeit with more memory slots than before.

 

I'll take your word about the Vox, I'm not as familiar with it.

[AnotherScott]

If the 72 preset sounds cannot be rewritten, how can you upload the SV1 throwback sound pack? And how does the SV2 have 400-500 factory sounds available through the editor if you cannot change the 72 presets? Is everything routed to the favorite banks?

Yes, all alternate sounds are loaded into the Favorites banks.

[pawelsz]

Pawelsz, the GS and SV are very different approaches to keyboards. There's obviously strengths to having a 500 voice swiss army knife with canned effects built into the instruments, but there's something totally different and rewarding about the SV instrument interface. You have raw instrument sounds that are jumping off points and then five high quality effect sections (EQ, Pre FX, Amp Drive, Mod FX, Reverb/Delay) at the turn of a knob.

 

AnotherScott spelled it out pretty well with his description of the clavinet presets. I could take any individual preset instrument and come up with multiple completely unique variations worth saving in favorites in any one sitting. You also have complete control over the entire preset section of the SV in addition to the favorites, so my SV1 has my own personal sound bank top to bottom which is a small point of pride every time I turn it on.

 

It really depends what you want. What brought you to considering the SV2 if you are focused on splits and layers? I think we've made the case for the specific strengths of the SV2, but there are stage keyboards like the YC61 or Vox Continental (and many others) that let you throw splits and layers together on the fly and save them.

 

Having 500 (564) voice swiss army knife is really tempting for me, particularly when I would like to move from 2000+ voice FA. I think this is more important to have broad pallete of sounds for me than endless possibilities with clavinet or rhodes sound, but lacking e.g. pitchbend for synths.

I am/was considering SV2 for layers and searching for its possibilities because of more natural sounding EPs and APs. Maybe more natural, but I think Granstage pianos should be more effective at cutting thru the mix or sounding on worse-than-ideal sound system. And the possibility of having 3 sounds playing together (you can make split with the layer). At the end I'm gravitating to my first-thought choice - Grandstage 73, with the Vox Continental 73 as the lightweight alternative. I was also considering Kurz SP6 - great bang for the buck and lightweight despite being 88 keys (and should fit P-515 case!), but I believe the build quality will disappoint me. I played one once in the music shop for a while. Great gig-machine for the price, but maybe too plasticky.

 

I think I should stop in this place in the thread about SV2, because I feel that Korg Japan is better for me than Korg Italy

[AnotherScott]

Having 500 (564) voice swiss army knife is really tempting for me, particularly when I would like to move from 2000+ voice FA. I think this is more important to have broad pallete of sounds for me than endless possibilities with clavinet or rhodes sound, but lacking e.g. pitchbend for synths.

I am/was considering SV2 for layers and searching for its possibilities because of more natural sounding EPs and APs...And the possibility of having 3 sounds playing together (you can make split with the layer). At the end I'm gravitating to my first-thought choice - Grandstage 73, with the Vox Continental 73 as the lightweight alternative. I was also considering Kurz SP6 - great bang for the buck and lightweight despite being 88 keys (and should fit P-515 case!), but I believe the build quality will disappoint me. I played one once in the music shop for a while. Great gig-machine for the price, but maybe too plasticky.

Okay, so we're talking about a compact hammer action board, strong on piano and AP, with good split/layer functions (ideally with more than 2 sounds), a wide patch selection, pitch/mod controls, and a non-plastic build. Grandstage is obviously a strong contender here, with the only notable compromise being 2-part split/layer. I guess the only real alternative in its price range is the Yamaha CP73. If price weren't a factor, Kurzweil Forte 7 and Nord Stage 3 HP76 become strong possibilities (depending on how you like their actions).

[jejefunkyman]

Hi dear keyboards aficionados, I hope you're all doing well, are still healthy and mind sane ;-) I have to admit I had a harder time handling the 2nd lockdown, and it especially affected my musical motivation, so really not nice :-( However, in order to push me back to playing music, I finally decided to pull the trigger on a SV2 88 without speakers. I found lower prices (promotion?) in some french stores for a brand new unit, and thought it was the right time to buy after a long time hesitating. Overall the main benefits I see in the SV2 compared to the SV1 are more and better AP and EP sounds, better polyphony, wider range of available tones to choose from beside pianos (especially strings and synth pads and leads), the possibility to use the DS-1H sustain pedal which is much better thant the DS-2H, functional XLR outputs for the stage (one of my SV1's XLR output was broken, and I never found the impulse to have it repaired), and graded hammer action (especially looking forward to this one). I'm not so much interested in splits and layers, so I don't have an issue with the fact that you can prepare them only in the editor. I had the chance to quickly test the CP88 in a music store before the lockdown, and must say that I was positively impressed. The action was very good, I liked the keys finish and the AP and EP tones which I could go through. But I finally decided to stay faithful to my favorite brand, namely Korg. So I'm now waiting for the unit to arrive and let's see if it will keep me happy for the next 10 years, as did the SV1 during the last 10 years ;-). I hope that the Corona crisis will end soon and that we can all go back on stage, and let the music roll!!!

[AnotherScott]

SV2 has RH3 action like SV1, graded.

[jejefunkyman]

The SV2 description says the action is the RH3 graded-hammer action. Unlike what I thought (or felt), the SV1 RH3 action is also graded (at least, it's stated in the user manual ;-))

 

From Korg's webiste:

 

"Agility and Expression

 

All SV-2 Stage Vintage instruments share the finest KORG RH3 graded-hammer action keybed. As on a grand piano, the weighting of the keys is graduated across the keyboard; heavier in the lower registers and becoming lighter in the upper registers. This RH3 keybed is remarkably sensitive to the nuances of every performance, accurately delivering every expressive element. Selecting one of the eight distinct velocity curves allow the keyboard response to match any playing technique of performance style. Authentic to the end, the SV-2 offers eight tuning schemes including equal, grand piano stretch, electric piano stretch, electric grand, upright stretch, detuned and two user-definable types (configurable using the free SV-2 Editor). The overall tuning, or concert pitch, of the SV-2 can be adjusted to match another instrument or a previously recorded track. Needless to say, the SV-2 can be transposed into any key."

 

So you think the SV2's RH3 is not improved compared to the SV1? At least, since I have one of the first edition of the SV1, I think the RH3 action is not the Japanese one (it's not written on the sticker). I've understood they introduced the Japanese version later on, and that it is improved compared to the previous one. Anybody can confirm?

[AnotherScott]

Yes, I messed up that tiny post multiple ways. ;-)

 

I believe all RH3 have the same basic design (except that some also have aftertouch)... but that doesn't mean they all feel the same. The early Kronos (which already had the Japanese version, I believe) was criticized for note cutoffs. There was a fix, and some people noted a change in feel after the fix.

 

I had an SV2 and an old (non-Japanese) RH3 action SV1 side by side. I happen to prefer what seemed like a lighter feel in the original SV1 action... BUT that action is also prone to the occasional sound cutoffs that were fixed in the Kronos and are presumably also fixed in the SV2. I don't know whether or not that was addressed in the later SV1 shipments.

[jejefunkyman]

Alright, lol!!! A lot of different feelings for just a keyboard action ;-) A very important thing indeed!!! I've never experienced any cutoffs with my old SV1 non Japanese RH3 action. Let's see how I feel about the SV2 action. When I played it quickly in a music store, I felt it was lighter than my SV1... So do not fit with your own feeling. Once again, I guess we enter in a very subjective topic ;-)

[pawelsz]

Maybe it is strange but I decided on SV-2. I have got a question about the keybed. Valid for other RH3 keybeds also. Should I worry about uneven key heights? Also keys gaps between B/C and E/F are bigger than for other keys but it is not a big deal. Photos :

 

 

[jejefunkyman]

I"ve got also uneven key heights on my SV2 88, though not so many and with not such a height difference between keys. But maybe it"s just due to the optical effect, as you took a very close picture. How does it feel when you play yours? Do you have any issue compared to your other boards?

I think I had also uneven key heights on my SV1, but I never felt anything wrong when playing it. I guess the height difference is so small that it doesn"t interfere in the playing sensation. But maybe it"s just me...Any other thoughts?

[jejefunkyman]

By the way, when starting to use the SV2, I had a little issue with the piano sound. I noticed from time to time a small background noise, which sounds like a white noise. Then I checked a bit more carefully, and I saw that this background noise appears only when striking hard on the key. It happens on all keys and and almost all piano sounds. It is mostly heard when using a headphone. Mine is an AKG K371 which covers a high frequency range. So at first, I thought there was something wrong with my unit, but then I talked to some other SV2 owners who said they had also the same on their units. Then yesterday, I went to a music shop with my headphones to test other SV2 units, and I could hear also the same, on all units including the speaker variants. So my conclusion is that this noise is part of the recorded samples. Now I"m feeling a bit better about it but I"m just wandering from where does this sound come from on a real acoustic piano. I also listened to the first piano sound of the CP88 which was sitting just beside, and could hear nothing.

Again, it"s not really an issue but it surprised me a bit at first because this noise is neither existing on the SV1 pianos, nor on my other keyboards pianos (Krome or Vox Conti).

I"m also wandering why Korg decided to include it in the samples, knowing that some people may have an issue with it (as I read in some german forums). I asked these questions to the Korg support team here in Germany, but I got no reply so far.

I did a recording but seems I can"t attach it here. If somebody is interested, I can pm it.

Otherwise, I"m pretty happy with the SV2. I wrote a small report about it that I"ve not yet finished. Will post it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, any hint about this background noise would be appreciated.

[pawelsz]

The height difference does not affect my playing, I think. I don't feel it. Just weird looking, at least for now. May be worth replacing with the whole new unit, but I am not sure I want to send this for repair (action replacement) which includes disassembling if it is only the appearance issue.

 

Yes I hear this hum/noise when playing some loud notes/chords particularly with damper pedal depressed. It is in samples. I got an info from AlphaBravoCharlie that Grandstage behaves in similar way.

 

My headphones AKG K271 MKII

[jejefunkyman]

Ok, but I"d really like to get an explanation about this noise ð For the keys, I"d say that if you don"t feel anything wrong while playing, just keep your unit. It"s not guaranteed that if you exchange it, you"ll get a unit with perfectly aligned keys ð¤·ââï¸ If you want to feel better about it, maybe you can do like me, just going to a shop and check some other units to see if you see the same ð But I agree nobody should have to do this when buying a new board ð Korg, you"re playing with our nerves ð!!

[jejefunkyman]

Dear keyboard aficionados, I hope you"re all doing well and are still healthy and mind sane during these difficult times. Let's see if the holiday season can bring a bit of relief.

 

I"ve received my Korg SV-2 88 since three weeks now and I"d like to share with you my experience with the board so far.

 

While the SV-2 is the successor of the SV-1, and as such takes many elements from it, their concepts are somehow different: whereas the SV-1 is a kind of 'straight forward, ready to rock and play' board, in the sense that the sounds and presets are already tweaked to sound clear and loud (I"m talking here mainly about the EP and AP), especially in a band context, the SV-2 is rather offering at a first glance basic sounds for EP and AP (story is a bit different for the other sounds), that need to be tweaked to fit your own tastes and playing concepts.

 

Though this is not a bad thing in itself, for the long time SV-1 owners like me, it can be a bit disturbing in the very beginning.

 

It means that one should spend quite some time discovering the different sounds, amp simulations and effects in order to get familiar with it and build one"s own presets. So it is absolutely a must to download and use the editor for this purpose.

 

The way sounds are built is also quite different between both boards, since with the SV2, you can layer up to 3 sounds, including the noises when available, while in the SV1 you could only add the noise layer on top of the basic sounds (again when available).

 

So this gives a much wider range of tweaking possibilities, which can be also daunting at first for the so called 'preset players' (like me) who don"t want to spend time building their own presets.

 

Splits are very easy to build through the editor, with all the needed parameters available (like independent octave setup, independent pedal setupâ¦) and though I understand people"s complains that it is not possible to do this directly on the board, it is still very well implemented and manageable within the editor.

 

The editor in itself is a bit old fashioned, especially in the backup page since you can"t slide presets from slots to slots and switch position with another preset (it will instead delete the installed preset), and it would be also nice to have an iPad version. But it is otherwise well running.

 

With all that said, the sound offering is much wider and better than on the SV-1.

 

The APs are all good and different from one to another and nice to play and this is a big step forward compared to the SV1. I"ve finally decided to keep the SV1 pianos on board, as I still like them and I have the feeling that they may cut easier through the mix in a live context, but I still need to verify this point when time will permit. In any case the SV2 AP tones offer much more details in all aspects, and one can clearly hear it. The only important thing is that the monitoring conditions must be appropriate, as the APs include a lot of low-end frequencies which provide them character but may lead to a muddy sound if the speakers are not positioned and setup correctly.

 

The EPs are also all good and realistic, with again a much wider choice than on the SV-1, and all useable. So now you really have the choice to use a MK I, a MK II or a MK V in their different variants, with or without the amp sim, whereas I"ve always found that the SV-1 EPs sounded good only through the amp sim but unrealistic without it. I find the EP noise layer very nice, with a very good definition and really enjoy putting it at a high level to get the feeling of playing a real EP unit. I"m not sure how this is improved compared to the SV1, since I was not using the noise layer so much. I would have to compare this point again to make a conclusion. I have the feeling though that some of the SV2 noises were not included in the SV1, or not audible.

 

Wurlis are also very good, and though I liked really much the SV1's amped Wurli, I finally prefer to play the new SV2 ones, as there is something subtle which makes them nicer to play.

 

I didn't have the time to go through all the effects, but I've seen that tweaking them is much more precise than with the SV1, thanks to the different knob resolution (especially for the Reverb and Tremolo, but also for the amp section).

 

As with the SV1, I find the Hammond organ section not so good, especially since I also own a Hammond SK-1 and a Vox Continental, but I was not expecting so much on this anyway. The Vox organ sounds good though (but I guess it is not the most difficult to sample and reproduce).

 

For the rest, I will not comment so much as I don"t really use the SV-x for other sounds beside the APs and EPs.

 

I can just say that the strings sound all good to me with a wide available choice.

 

There is a wide choice of other sounds available through the editor (including Clavs, FM electric pianos, other electronic pianos, harpsichords, brass/woodwinds, mallets, flutes, guitars, choirs, as well as many different synth sounds like leads, synth brasses, padsâ¦) with a good quality (except maybe the brass sections), so one can find any kind of sound he is looking for, even though there"s not much tweaking possibilities especially for the synth sounds.

 

So overall a very positive experience so far with the SV2 at home, it's clearly a strongly improved board compared to the SV1, not even mentioning the addition of the speaker variants. I'm now looking forward to testing it on stage.

 

I"m satisfied with the upgrade step from the SV1 to the SV2, and I will store the SV1 to my father"s home so that I can still use it for practicing when visiting him ;-)

 

As a side note, I"m now in discussion with the Korg Team here in Germany to clarify this background noise that one can hear on all APs when pressing hard on the keys. Let"s see if I can get a good explanation.

[Ken Beaumont]

Thanks for taking the time and giving us your impressions. I had an SV1-73 and regretted selling it.

[jejefunkyman]

You're very welcome ;-) I have a very special relation with my SV1, and it was a hard decision for me to replace it. This is why I finally decided to go with the SV2, to stay in familiar grounds ;-)

[AnotherScott]

Did you have any feeling about any possible difference in the actions? Was your SV1 one of the later ones with the "made in Japan" RH3 action, or one of the earlier ones? Had you ever experienced the "soft strikes getting cut off" issue on teh SV1?

[jejefunkyman]

I bought my SV1 in 2009, right when it started in production, so I had the non Japanese early RH3 variant. I never experienced any cut off issues with it, or any keybed issue along those years. So I might have been lucky with it

 

The first time I played the SV2 in a store, I had the feeling that the action was lighter than on my SV1, but since I've received my own unit, I don't feel this anymore.

 

I actually have the feeling that the actions are quite similar. However, I think to have a proper evaluation, I should put the 2 units side by side and spend some time playing one after the other. But I won't be able to do it. In any case, the SV2 action feels good too me and don't make me regret the SV1 action, which is a positive sign IMO.

[ProfD]

I beileve my SV-1 with the "made in Japan RH3" sticker has the subtle uneven keys too. It doesn't affect the playability at all.

 

Knock on wood, I've never had issues with the SV-1 keybed and I've gotten used to the "noisy" amp output.

 

I've test driven the SV-2 a couple times. It's definitely a nice upgrade to the SV-1 and if I ever had to replace mine, I'd get the SV-2 only because it includes the SV-1 soundset.

 

Because the times are so different in terms of music and technology, I don't know that the SV-1 will gain a similar status as a real Rhodes. But, IMO, the SV-1 will be a collector's item in the future.

[jejefunkyman]

Honestly speaking, I thought at the beginning that I would probably stick to my favorite SV1 EP and Wurli presets, as i liked them so much, and that the upgrade would be worth mostly for the APs. So I've loaded the 2 factory Grand Pianos, the Tine EP amp and the Wurli amp presets in some of the favorite slots, but actually, after spending some time playing the SV2 new EPs and Wurlys, I now prefer them. There is something that makes them better. Tone wise they are very similar, but they just play better. I think it has something to do with the new EDS-X sound engine and probably the bigger memory used for the samples. Now, the SV1 tones sound a bit rude to me in comparison, so to speak.

 

But I could also have continued gigging and playing with the SV1 without any problem. Now, it's just not possible to come back after spending some time with the SV2 (though at very beginning, it crossed my míndf for 1 or 2 days that I should maybe send it back ;-)). I will surely not tell anybody that they MUST upgrade to the SV2.

[ProfD]

Honestly speaking, I thought at the beginning that I would probably stick to my favorite SV1 EP and Wurli presets, as i liked them so much...after spending some time playing the SV2 new EPs and Wurlys, I now prefer them. There is something that makes them better.

 

But I could also have continued gigging and playing with the SV1 without any problem. Now, it's just not possible to come back after spending some time with the SV2 (though at very beginning, it crossed my míndf for 1 or 2 days that I should maybe send it back ;-)).

Since the SV-2 is an upgrade to the SV-1, it totally makes sense that the SV-2 is now your preferred DP.

 

On a side note, the main reason I have not bought a real Rhodes yet is fearing I'll never play my SV-1 again.

[jejefunkyman]

On a side note, the main reason I have not bought a real Rhodes yet is fearing I'll never play my SV-1 again.

 

But a real Rhodes is not as easy to carry all around as an SV1 ððð So I don"t think there"s any risk. Plus you"d probably never be able to reproduce the SV1 tone on a real Rhodes, as we all know that each Rhodes are different from one another ðð

[U.Honey]

Ok, but I"d really like to get an explanation about this noise ð

 

Did you have the preamp on? Then it could be noise from the tube preamp.

[ProfD]

Ok, but I"d really like to get an explanation about this noise ð

 

Did you have the preamp on? Then it could be noise from the tube preamp.

 

Also make sure RX layer is off. Otherwise, it's probably in the samples.

[jejefunkyman]

You mean the amp simulation? No because I never use it with acoustic pianos ð¤·ââï¸

[jejefunkyman]

Also make sure RX layer is off. Otherwise, it's probably in the samples.

 

It"s the first thing I did as I initially thought this came from the RX layer. But it didn"t remove this background noise. ð¤·ââï¸

[The Piano Man]

Just thinking.. the SV2s 73... possibly the lightest and most compact hammer action board that has these two features;

 

Built in speakers and Internal Power Supply.

 

I could be wrong but can"t think of any others at that weight and size.

 

I would like the S version in black though. For a cream/white version, I would have rather they had made the entire board/panel/end cheeks all cream/white. As it is, the mix match reminds me of the PX5s, which I never liked either.

[pawelsz]

Similar options: Yamaha P-121, both black or white, also with speakers, but with external power supply... and vastly different price point and features set than SV-2. Dexibell VIVO P3... also external power supply which is a bit strange at this price point. It is lightweight, but has TP100 keybed which surely not everybody likes. The advantage of external power supply is when it accidentally fails, can easily be replaced without disassembling the whole board. Also when you have another portable DC power supply you can use the instrument anywhere.

 

When it comes to 73 (or 76) keys and internal power supply and speakers, SV-2S 73 may be the only one. And Korg is one of the very few manufaturers who produces 73-key boards with good piano action. Most others have lower-tier keybeds than 88-key versions (Yamaha CP73, Nord Stage HP76) or don't have speakers (Kurzweil Forte 7).

 

Did I forgot about something else?