Anyone tried the Korg SV2

[drohm]

How does it feel, sound, compare to the Nord Stage 3 or Electro series? I have not been able to try one yet. I like the looks and ergonomics of it, but have been a Nord guy for so long I don't know how to make decisions anymore that don't put me in the red

[drawback]

Begin here.

[AnotherScott]

Compared to NS3 and Electro, SV2 has no drawbar organ engine and no ability to assemble splits/layers without using the PC/Mac editor; and compared to NS3 it further lacks MIDI controller ("EXT") functions, VA synth capability and aftertouch/pitch/modulation controls. Action and piano sounds are subjective, but strictly as a piano, I think the SV2 is more enjoyable to play (even more so if you're comparing the 73s... which is also the only hammer option on the Electro). I think many would consider the SV2 EP sounds to be superior. When it comes to the sampled non-piano sounds, I think SV2 is probably stronger at least from the perspective of not limiting all those sounds to a single velocity layer.

 

I guess I'd sum it up by saying it depends what you need. Apart from any specific functions one has over another, but just talking in broad generalities...

 

Piano and other sampled sounds? SV2.

You also need strong organ? Electro.

You also need strong synth? Stage.

[drohm]

Thanks! I must have missed that last conversation. I'm using my XK5 for organ, so mostly interested in a second keyboard for Rhodes, Piano and Clav.

[Brad Kaenel]

Begin here.

 

I have an SV2-73s on order, to evaluate; should arrive next week. When it arrives, I'll do the "ask me anything" thing, but in the original thread, above.

 

I played an SV-1 regularly for two years, but sold it because I thought the RH3 action was causing me wrist pain. Turned out it was mouse.

 

It's pretty expensive to demo/eval big gear these days without stores to go -- all the "free" shipping charges you have to eat, in both directions, if you want to return something. Fortunately, I live rather close to a Sam Ash where I can pick stuff up, and return it without having to incur the shipping charges. But that does limit me to only the brands they carry. My daily-driver board right now is still a Forte 7, but I really want to switch to a 73/76 board that has a vertical control panel, instead of just a flat slab. Currently, I think these are my only options:

 

Korg SV-2

Crumar Seven

Viscount Legend '70s

 

(If I missed one, please chime in )

 

Sam Ash only has Korg, so that's where I'm starting. I played dB's Seven at NAMM two years ago; didn't really connect with it, but that's an impossible place to do a real eval. The Legend '70s intrigues me, and I'm hopeful the new 3-sensor TP100 keybed is implemented a little better for acoustic piano voices -- if I can find one in So.California...

[Stokely]

My buddy loves his, I've been unable to get together with him to try it out myself due to covid...but in a couple weeks we'll both be past our second shots.

 

The inability to do splits and layers on the keyboard is a pain according to him.

[ProfD]

My buddy loves his, I've been unable to get together with him to try it out myself due to covid...but in a couple weeks we'll both be past our second shots.

 

The inability to do splits and layers on the keyboard is a pain according to him.

It's a bummer that splits/layers cannot be done via the KB, however, it's not really something KB players do in real-time anyway.

 

As part of sound programming, hook the SV-2 up to the computer, set up those splits/layers via the software editor, load the banks into the KB and it's done.

 

While it's not plug and play, it is super easy and a better looking screen too.

[cp-the-nerd]

Thanks! I must have missed that last conversation. I'm using my XK5 for organ, so mostly interested in a second keyboard for Rhodes, Piano and Clav.

 

In that case, I definitely think the SV2 will serve your needs perfectly.

[jejefunkyman]

After 3 months using it, i'm happy with mine (I have the 88 keys with no speaker variant), even though I believe it has some room for improvement. Especially the acoustic pianos have some background noises which are mostly hearable through headphones, and are part of the base samples. I've already contacted the Korg support team about it, and their answer was "we want to make the sounds as realistic as possible, so please bear with it".

 

There are some workarounds to reduce these background noises, and if you use only speakers, this might not be an issue at all, but to me it definitely is. However, I would call this rather a minor annoyance, as otherwise the acoustic piano tones are very nice (especially the Italian ones) and very playable.

 

In the EP section, there is also a very nice choice of different models, which can be amped or not to create different tones.

 

So a very strong improvement compared to the SV1 in both the AP and EP sections.

 

Clavs are also very good (they were already very good on the SV1 IMO).

 

For the split and layer functionality, it's not really a problem for me to prepare them only within the editor, but i'm not a die hard user of it. Also, there's a bit of hope that Korg will release an iPad version of the editor, as many users requested it during the recent online events which Korg organized on social medias, with interaction to the Korg Product Team, which replied several times that they would request it to the development team. But wait and see, so far nothing was released.

 

Last improvement point for me would be the release of new libraries by Korg or external parties. It is something which is clearly mentioned on the SV2 presentation page on Korg's website, but nothing happened until now, even though it's already been more than one year that the board was released (I'm not counting here the SV1 factory sounds and extra soundpacks which were recreated for the SV2).

 

I've seen also the Korg Product Team saying they would request the addition of new piano variants, like the Berlin piano which is included on the Grandstage as I understood.

 

On my side, I'd like to get another variant of the MK 1 Suitcase with a clearer tone.

 

So again, let's wait and see what happens. It's true that Korg is not as dynamic as Yamaha or Nord to offer updates or new features to their boards.

[AnotherScott]

I've seen also the Korg Product Team saying they would request the addition of new piano variants, like the Berlin piano which is included on the Grandstage as I understood.

I would be surprised if that were feasible. First, there has been no indication that the SV2 either has space to load new samples, or that the existing samples are in rewritable memory and capable of being replaced. Second, even if there actually is some such unknown capability, the Berlin Kronos piano sample (which I think is identical in the Grandstage) is 8.7 GB, so the amount of free space (or the amount of existing sample data you'd have to erase and replace) would have to be huge.

[jejefunkyman]

Yes I know all that, but again I've seen explicitely a member of the Korg Product Team during this Facebook live event, replying to a user requesting the Berlin piano: "Yes, we can request that"!!

 

I would be surprised if this Korg employee would have said that just to please temporarily one person, if he knew from the very beginning this will never happen, or it's not possible.

 

I would call this then false advertising, and this would of course damage Korg's reputation (unless nobody else than me and the other FB member noticed it).

 

It's also a mystery to me how Korg is handling this, but if you remember on the latest Vox Continental and Grandstage software updates, they added some new sounds (or at least that's what they say) which were not included in the previous software version (for example this Soft Grand piano and Bass sounds on the Conti, or this Cinema Piano on the Grandstage).

 

So they could have just made available some waveforms which were already loaded in the internal memory, or just applies different EQ and effects on existing waveforms, I don't know...

 

Again it's a complete mystery to me what they do, but I can just report what I've seen. So... as I said let's wait and see.

[AnotherScott]

Yes I know all that, but again I've seen explicitely a member of the Korg Product Team during this Facebook live event, replying to a user requesting the Berlin piano: "Yes, we can request that"!!

 

I would be surprised if this Korg employee would have said that just to please temporarily one person, if he knew from the very beginning this will never happen, or it's not possible.

 

I would call this then false advertising

Simple answer... the employee has no idea whether it's possible or not. Someone asks him to request something of the development team, and he says he will pass along the request. As simple as that. There's no implication either way as to (a) whether it's feasible, or (b) whether they'd have any interest in doing it. I dont see it as false advertising at all.

 

Good point, though, that Vox Continental had what seem likely to be new waves added, when there had not previously been any indication that such a thing was possible. Nothing very large, though.

[jejefunkyman]

Hum, I would personally not allow this if I was a Korg manager. Nowadays, it's never good to give expectations to customers and not fulfill them. Social media has a big memory and customers can give very negative comments quickly, which would of course have a negative impact on other potential customers...

 

So I'd be really surprise that this would be the intention of this particular Korg employee. Also in my experience, when Korg doesn't want to do something which a customer is requesting, they just don't reply at all...

 

But, as one says, times they are a changing ;-)

 

And these guys are calling themselves "Product Specialist", so they should definitely know what the board is capable of...

[AnotherScott]

And these guys are calling themselves "Product Specialist", so they should definitely know what the board is capable of...

I think the qualification of "product specialist" means they know how to use the board and are capable of demonstrating it and answering questions about how to use it. I would not assume anything about their knowledge of the internal design, or what the developers are/aren't interested in or capable of doing with the design.

 

Hum, I would personally not allow this if I was a Korg manager.

I think saying "I'll pass it along" is better PR than ignoring the question. I don't think it would be better if a Korg manager said "if someone requests you pass along a suggestion, ignore them," or ""if someone requests you pass along a suggestion, tell them you will not." ;-)

 

I don't want to say anything definitive because I did not see/hear the exchange in question. But if they simply said they would pass along the request, I think it implies absolutely nothing either way about the possibility of it happening.

[jejefunkyman]

I think we have a different understanding or what is a product specialist and what is good PR ðð But I also know that Korg is always releasing at least one major software update for their flagship boards at one point in time, usually with the addition of new sounds, which would tend to confirm my own assumptions.

 

I also see that Korg has recently invested some resources in social media and increased user interaction. There should be some reasons behind ð

 

I can"t believe that Korg won"t do anything to provide some new features to the SV2, which is also a good way to push up sales and attract new users, even more considering that Yamaha, Nord and Roland are quite active in this area.

 

But only time will tell if I was right or wrong (well I surely hope to be right, as a SV2 owner ð).

[cp-the-nerd]

I think we have a different understanding or what is a product specialist and what is good PR ðð But I also know that Korg is always releasing at least one major software update for their flagship boards at one point in time, usually with the addition of new sounds, which would tend to confirm my own assumptions.

 

I also see that Korg has recently invested some resources in social media and increased user interaction. There should be some reasons behind ð

 

I can"t believe that Korg won"t do anything to provide some new features to the SV2, which is also a good way to push up sales and attract new users, even more considering that Yamaha, Nord and Roland are quite active in this area.

 

But only time will tell if I was right or wrong (well I surely hope to be right, as a SV2 owner ð).

 

Korg released zero new samples for the SV-1. They released two sound packs that tweaked built-in samples early on and then never did anything else for the keyboard for over 5 years. What you can't believe Korg would do is what Korg literally did for the last iteration.

 

It is very unlikely they will add new samples. AnotherScott's opinion is based on experience, we don't want you to get your hopes up.

[jejefunkyman]

It"s always good to hope for something, especially in the current times ð Well I don"t expect too much from Korg, as I"m a long time SV1 user. But just a little bit ð¤·ââï¸

 

The Vox Conti software update was nonetheless a good surprise for me ð So...

[cp-the-nerd]

It"s always good to hope for something, especially in the current times ð Well I don"t expect too much from Korg, as I"m a long time SV1 user. But just a little bit ð¤·ââï¸

 

The Vox Conti software update was nonetheless a good surprise for me ð So...

 

I still play my SV-1 daily. I've gotten a ton of extra mileage out of it by firing up the editor when I zero in on sounds I want. Have you tried tweaking one of the existing piano sounds to sound more like the Berlin sample you mentioned? You can probably get close.

[jejefunkyman]

Well I actually don"t know how the Berlin piano sounds, as I"m not a Kronos or Grandstage owner ð Another user requested it, not me.

 

This is written on the SV2 presentation page, under the Editor section: « Additional SV-2 libraries released by KORG can be loaded using the SV-2 Editor to renew your personal sound catalog ». Could it just be some marketing BS ð¤?

 

I don"t remember they wrote this on the SV1 presentation page ð¤·ââï¸

[drawback]

The Berlin Grand on the GrandStage is chunky-forward with a fast decay â not my favourite. They got it right with the GrandStage Piano which is apparently a hybrid of the best qualities of the others. On the Kronos, I like the German best of all, except it has no una corda. Second-best on both instruments is the Italian.

[AnotherScott]

This is written on the SV2 presentation page, under the Editor section: « Additional SV-2 libraries released by KORG can be loaded using the SV-2 Editor to renew your personal sound catalog ». Could it just be some marketing BS ð¤?

An open question would be whether downloadable libraries would include new samples or not. But even if they do, I think it would be very unlikely they could add a new 8 GB sample.

[jejefunkyman]

I agree it"s definitely not clear what it really means ð¤·ââï¸

[Brad Kaenel]

SV2-73S arrived today; set it up and played the factory Favorites for a couple of hours through the in-built speakers - which I found to be surprisingly good, IMHO.

 

First thought: the acoustic pianos are indeed much improved, and I find the playing experience on the RH3 keybed for those sounds quite satisfying. But the RH3 is still the RH3; no changes I can detect. Still a pretty chunky-feeling keybed, and that"s not bad. A little ironic if the APs turn out to be the best thing about the SV2 .

 

Control panel is much better labeled, all the buttons and knobs feel great. MAJORLY disappointed to lose the old-school ON/OFF lever switch Lots of 'hidden', alternate uses for the buttons and switches may be hard to remember, but the 'top-layer' feature are still quite immediate and obvious like on the original.

 

Still wish the body had some good grab-handles; others have commented that SVs seem determined to slip out of your hands when moving them around, and they"re heavier than you expect them to be. The creme/dark-gray color scheme is very cool.

 

On to the EPs tomorrow, with some headphones...

[MikeT156]

My buddy loves his, I've been unable to get together with him to try it out myself due to covid...but in a couple weeks we'll both be past our second shots.

 

The inability to do splits and layers on the keyboard is a pain according to him.

 

It's a bummer that splits/layers cannot be done via the KB, however, it's not really something KB players do in real-time anyway.

 

As part of sound programming, hook the SV-2 up to the computer, set up those splits/layers via the software editor, load the banks into the KB and it's done.

 

While it's not plug and play, it is super easy and a better looking screen too.

 

I don't know D, I find necessitating connecting a computer to a KB in order to do Splits and layers is totally stupid on the part of the manufacturer. How can they justify such a stupid inconvenience? Even my 10 plus year old Motif ES 8 can setup splits and layers and saved to a "Sound Set" on a USB stick. I can also load sound effects from the Internet and save those sounds into individual songs, Save it on a US stick and play. I have a small house, my Computer is a mini tower in the next room. It is NOT convenient to move that PC to the music room to do set up work that should be built in, Korg should fix that.

 

Mike T.

[AnotherScott]

Even my 10 plus year old Motif ES 8 can setup splits and layers

It's not a sensible comparison, because the design goals, architectures, strengths and weaknesses of the boards are entirely different, and age has nothing to do with it. It's like saying, "how is it that my new Mini Cooper can't fit my Leslie 122? Even my 20 year old Dodge Caravan could do that."

 

Korg does make a kind of similar board with on-board splits and layers, the Grandstage. But that one doesn't have other things the SV2 has, like tons of on-board real-time effects controls, and the ability to combine 3 sounds rather than 2. So one way to look at it is might be, what's more important to you, real-time split/layer or real-time effects? I think one factor is, as soon as you want a board with dedicated instead of assignable controls, you end up with limitations because having controls for everything then becomes more costly, and requires more panel space, and can turn the simplicity of dedicated controls into the complexity of what looks like a 747 cockpit.

 

Picking up specifically on the space saving part, I think there is a real issue of there being nowhere on an SV2 to put split/layer controls. Keep in mind that the board has no menu navigation (and therefore no display), and that a decent split function requires numerous functions... split point location, which sound for each side, volume balance between the two sounds, the ability to determine the octave of each of the sounds, and whether or not the sustain pedal should affect them, are the most common. You probabably also need to determine whether the upper and lower sounds are or aren't going through the same effects. Assuming the layout of the panel is fixed and you don't want to take away any functions, any attempt to build that into the board would probably require all kinds of arcane combinations of button-and-key pressing. (Which the board has some of as it is.) I'm not sure that's what anyone would really want to see in the SV2. I'm not saying Korg's choices were good or bad, I'm just saying that I think they're understandable, and that not every board is designed for every player. Heck, Korg apparently sold tons of SV1s, and they effectively couldn't do this stuff at all. And at least the SV2 still has more split and layer functionality than your Rhodes. ;-)