Korg GrandStage X

[Fleer]

3 hours ago, jejefunkyman said:

I really think you should go in therapy to get rid of this MDF phobia that you have 🤣

 

 

More Dan Fobia!

[AUSSIEKEYS]

15 hours ago, The Piano Man said:

My long serving Technics P30 (circa 2001) has a dodgy dc jack socket now so I decided it was time for an upgrade!

 

Oh no...but what a long term of service from the forerunner of all our present slimline piano slabs. "I tips me hat" again to technics. 

 

I look forwad to seeing what you decide to replace it with. Happy hunting.

[ProfD]

13 hours ago, Fleer said:

But I’m hoping they’re not using MDF underneath, the same cheap-feeling, liquid sucking particleboard they used for the OG and the SV-2. 

Interesting.  I've owned several KBs with MDF underneath and never had any problems with it. 

 

Maybe I'd feel differently if I played those particleboard underneath KBs near a lot of water and/or carried them around upside down without a case in downpours of rain.🤣😎

[RandyFF]

TLDR, only about half of the posts.

 

What were they thinking?  55 pounds!!!  For a stage piano that’s a non-starter for many of us.  That clearly puts it in the studio board range.

 

Is it true the first GS had only 3 engines?  

 

I love the unison slider, the key touch, tube, volume for rhythm, EQ sliders, volume for 3 parts, etc.  You never know until you play a board how much it sings beneath your fingers, and it looks like Korg has stacked the deck to make that happen, esp since I’m sure the EPs they’re renowned for will be included.  25GB of sound, twice as much uncompressed!  Wowzies!  I’m sure the sounds on this board would knock me out.

 

But I really don’t get why it’s not knobbier.  Like the effects area, that’s a paltry showing for a stage keyboard, there needs to be at least 2 knobs for 2 parameters.  And so on, it needs 1/3 again as many controls to make it mostly menu diving free.

 

And the pictures of it!  I thought it looked weird/boat-like/ungainly until I saw the pic on Korg’s website.  They did an excellent job, and it looks smart in their pics- you’ve got to catch it at the right angle. 

 

And the price?  At first I was kinda shocked, I was hoping for something that is not as fancy as a Kronos to come in at more like the SV-2 or RD-2000 prices, maxing out at $2,500.  But I suppose my thinking hasn’t adjust to inflation, and the price is one way to distinguish a difference.  Still-

 

Am disappointed that Korg hasn’t figured out how to deliver a great keybed feel in a medium-weight package that still has a metal frame.  Am all the more impressed by the Numa Piano X73, weighing in at 26 pounds, though for most people I imagine the TP110 action is not up there with the best.

 

But how good is the RH3 action?  For some damn reason many manufacturers are reluctant to change up the name of their actions, even when it’s gone thru considerable revisions.  All I know is I’ve tried various Kronos and other so-called ‘RH3’ actions several years back and hardly considered them premium, they felt sluggish.  And no AT??????!!!!!!  What the chunk?

 

Yeah, in conclusion, I don’t think Korg used good sense with this board.  They know darn well that much above 40 pounds is a non-starter for a stage keyboard.  They seem to have gotten clearly in the Yamaha territory of allowing their premium 88 note boards to go north of 50 pounds.  Oh well, it was too pricey for me anyways, but it is the kind of board that is my favorite these days.  As much as I like workstation capability, I get bogged down in too many possibilities, for musics sake I relate most readily to stage pianos!

[Paul Woodward]

In answer to your question, it’s not true as the original GS had seven engines from the Kronos….the same seven engines in the GSX.

The RH3 is a great keybed and, as noted in several threads, plays slightly differently on different boards. For example, the Kronos RH3 seems not quite as good as the GS to some owners, possibly because it’s got aftertouch?

The GS has a dynamics knob which affects the touch, EQ, volume dials and pretty much the same effects. There are some improvements; rhythm section , layer three sounds, unison mode, aesthetics, bigger sample memory (although the original was already 32GB uncompressed), but doesn’t seem a lot for the price, weight and years between this and the original, not for me anyway. Im not bashing this, I love Korg, love my GS and glad to see a new model…just hoped for more.

Also slightly misleading of the Korg rep there to claim the seven engines are a completely new feature of this model. Those engines were in the original and are also 13 years old now. Hell, they still have the GS product spec up on the site.

 

[CHarrell]

3 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said:

The RH3 is a great keybed and, as noted in several threads, plays slightly differently on different boards

 

And sometimes the same boards! I was at a store a few weeks ago with two SV2-88's vertically stacked: one felt very rigid and clunky, which I've also experienced in some other RH3 boards, but the one above it felt really smooth and pleasant to play! I could only assume one was "played in" more?

[jejefunkyman]

I really love the RH3 keybed on my SV2 and SV1, but I’ve played it over the last 14 years, so my opinion may be not fully objective 🙂

 

I’ve tried the Yamaha CP88 and the Kawai MSP7se, and I couldn’t feel the keybed was better than my beloved SV2 RH3. 

 

I’ve also tried the GS and I thought its RH3 keybed didn’t feel exactly the same as on the SV2. Just a tad softer maybe, but it’s pretty subtle. 

 

 

[Paul Woodward]

1 minute ago, jejefunkyman said:

I really love the RH3 keybed on my SV2 and SV1, but I’ve played it over the last 14 years, so my opinion may be not fully objective 🙂

 

I’ve tried the Yamaha CP88 and the Kawai MSP7se, and I couldn’t feel the keybed was better than my beloved SV2 RH3. 

 

I’ve also tried the GS and I felt its RH3 keybed didn’t feel exactly the same as on the SV2. Just a tad softer maybe, but it’s pretty subtle. 

 

 

I planned to trade my GS for a CP88, just convinced a Yamaha must be the better piano. Played it for 10 minutes and really didn’t like it…and my previous piano was a CP4 which I loved.

[jejefunkyman]

I think my preferred alternative to a Korg stage piano would have been the Kawai MP7se. 

 

I found the CP88 not too bad though. 

 

Anyway, I’m still hooked to Korg 😂 But will not go for such an heavy board. I’m already at the limit with the SV2 😱

[ProfD]

52 minutes ago, Paul Woodward said:

….the same seven engines in the GSX.

Slightly curious to know why a digital stage piano has 3 organ engines.😁

 

 

26 minutes ago, jejefunkyman said:

I think my preferred alternative to a Korg stage piano would have been the Kawai MP7se. 

In case you haven't read form another thread and from a former fellow SV-1 aficionado, the Kawai MP7SE will be my next digital piano.😁

 

I didn't upgrade from SV-1 to SV-2 in order to get the split/layer capability advantage.

 

However, after laying hands on the MP7SE, I found the FTEC of the Kawai RHIII to be better than Korg RH3. 

 

I'll have to test drive the GSX for myself but I don't expect the FTEC to be similar to and/or better than the SV-1/2. 😎

[APP]

Was hoping for a Grandstage replacement in a CK88/RD88 form factor.

[jejefunkyman]

Honestly the SV2 is way better than the SV1, not only for the split/layer capability but also for the sonic capabilities, the variety of available quality tones both for AP and EP, and all the rest.

 

I also believe the SV2 is better in term of sonic capabilities than the MP7SE. But I fully understand its attractiveness though 🙂

 

Sorry I get a bit OT now 😂

[ProfD]

19 minutes ago, jejefunkyman said:

I also believe the SV2 is better in term of sonic capabilities than the MP7SE. But I fully understand its attractiveness though 🙂

Agreed.  The SV sounds better but doesn't feel as good.  YMMV. 😁

 

Korg should have  found a way to slip the SV EPs into the GSX.  IMO, Kronos flavored EPs are just OK. 😎

[Paul Woodward]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

Slightly curious to know why a digital stage piano has 3 organ engines.😁

Stage keyboard in piano clothing. All the bread and butter sounds with patches such as Africa Brass, Jump, Sawyer Lead, Jimmy’s organ and so on, 560 of em. Unlike boards like the YC, you have just about everything, even sound and orchestra hits…and all four settings of a Clav, which Yamaha still don’t have. If it had drawbars and decent leslie assignable to a pedal, I probably wouldn’t have bought a YC.

[drawback]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

IMO, Kronos flavored EPs are just OK. 😎

For sure. But at least on the Kronos, they’re so deeply editable that they can be turned into something pretty magnificent. So yeah, when I had my GrandStage it didn’t take long to realize two major things: the RH3 is definitely for me, and I needed to get into the source engines. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with presets on any board.

[Paul Woodward]

19 minutes ago, drawback said:

For sure. But at least on the Kronos, they’re so deeply editable that they can be turned into something pretty magnificent. So yeah, when I had my GrandStage it didn’t take long to realize two major things: the RH3 is definitely for me, and I needed to get into the source engines. I don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with presets on any board.

I think Korg’s aim was to give you enough variations of sounds that you could always find something near to what you want then tweak a few of the limited settings, eq, SW1 and 2 to taste. It certainly worked for me and I’m ashamed to say that with both Kronos’ I had (61 and 73) I pretty much used them as preset machines (didn’t even use the sequencer)! so the GS was a perfect solution but still quite expensive. Discovering a bargain priced, but hardly used GS a few years after launch was just what I needed. It was already a great price on Reverb and then the seller just slashed the price in half, shipped it overnight and included a table style stand and decent gig bag. No brainer and it arrived boxed like brand new, he had only played it a few times at home.

[Fleer]

12 hours ago, ProfD said:

Interesting.  I've owned several KBs with MDF underneath and never had any problems with it. 

 

One disaster evening soaking in beer and wine will suffice…

That’s why I love Roland’s RD-88. 
No cheap particle board or MDF there

[AnotherScott]

9 hours ago, RandyFF said:

Is it true the first GS had only 3 engines?  

As mentioned, 7 engines, whereas the new version has the same 7 engines but can pay 3 sounds at a time instead of 2. Eliminates one advantage the SV-2 had over the Grandstage.

 

9 hours ago, RandyFF said:

And no AT??????!!!!!!  What the chunk?

As I mentioned somewhere else, AT is not that common on stage pianos, and is sometimes even blamed for why their actions may not feel as good for piano as versions of the same action w/o AT. Though people do seem to really like the action of the Yamaha Montage M8x, which has poly AT!

 

 

8 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

the original GS had seven engines from the Kronos….the same seven engines in the GSX.

It's the same 7, but only 5 are from the Kronos. The Vox/Farfisa engines in the GS and Vox Continental were not in the Kronos.

 

6 hours ago, ProfD said:

Korg should have  found a way to slip the SV EPs into the GSX.  IMO, Kronos flavored EPs are just OK. 😎

The Japanese and Italian implementations of the sound engines never seem to appear in the same board. 😉 But I like both boards' EPs. As I have postedd elsewhere, here's a thread comparing the Rhodes sounds of SV1, Vox Continental (Kronos-based, but also with nutube), and a Casio, for anyone who wants to get an idea of the difference between the two different worlds of high end Korg EPs. https://forums.musicplayer.com/topic/178238-scotts-big-rhodes-test-1-voxsv1px5s/

 

 

[jbolazzi]

On 1/27/2024 at 8:31 PM, Paul Woodward said:

The news of the GSx prompted me to dive into the original this weekend. It has 564 sounds in it and I played it alongside a Yamaha YC61. First I had forgotten how many great sounds are in it and the synths and strings blow the YC away. I'm ashamed to say I never really messed with the sounds beyond the presets but I was amazed at how much difference using SW1 and SW2 and the mod wheel made to many sounds. One sweeping pad introduced a huge sweeping filter and a sub oscillator, never heard it before. Pianos were better to my ears and everything was so clear and punchy, it made the YC sound, well, dull. And for the record, the GS was passing through the YC audio in. 

Kind of moot now it's discontinued, but this board continues to impress me and anyone getting the X will likely be very happy with it. Anyone grabbing a bargain 1st gen will be equally happy. 

Fully agree with you. The GS 73 is to my opinion still the best Korg option for gigging pianists. There is probably a market for these stylish 88 keys keyboards and the new GS x is now a good alternative to the Nordgrand. I guess Korg didn't want to  compete against their own SV2 keyboard and  decided not to introduce the GSx 73 keys version yet.

 

[jejefunkyman]

4 hours ago, Fleer said:

One disaster evening soaking in beer and wine will suffice…

That’s why I love Roland’s RD-88. 
No cheap particle board or MDF there

 

You just have to choose your gigs more carefully 🤣

[AnotherScott]

9 hours ago, Fleer said:

One disaster evening soaking in beer and wine will suffice…

 

Sounds like someone might want to look into AA. 😉

[TJ Cornish]

10 hours ago, Fleer said:

One disaster evening soaking in beer and wine will suffice…

That’s why I love Roland’s RD-88. 
No cheap particle board or MDF there

If that truly happened, the MDF might be the only part of the keyboard that survived. 
 

MDF can take some liquid for a short period of time. The electronics and rubber inside will have more trouble with the sugar and acid, not to mention the conductivity. 

[kwyn]

Wondering if this breathes new life into the already pretty decent OG Grandstage? Maybe new firmware as they may be compatible?

[Stokely]

I have some interest in a used GS 73, or a new/used SV2 73.   Love the forward-facing, shallow control layout on the SV2 but really dislike the rounded chassis, looks like an "oops, dropped it" waiting to happen and I'd think it limits you on case/bag options.

This one is just wrong for me in multiple ways so disappointing.  I don't need a workstation for home, and this is too big, heavy and rounded for live.   I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't give a hoot how my keyboard looks, I'm way toward the function side and not form.  Some might differ in that regard, like my wife when picking stuff for the home    After all, the audience gets to mainly see the back of the thing, so basically a dark rectangle.  Not that anyone in the audience or band for that matter cares one whit what the keyboard player's gear looks like in my experience   

 

[Paul Woodward]

1 hour ago, kwyn said:

Wondering if this breathes new life into the already pretty decent OG Grandstage? Maybe new firmware as they may be compatible?

Doubt it very much, but would love an update to my GS.

[Moonglow]

One thing I liked about the GS was that the Italian grand, my favorite of bunch, was stock - including a dedicated mono patch. I think the most the Kronos 2 came with were the German, Japanese, and Berlin pianos. Of course, the Italian grand can be purchased for the Kronos ($199).

 

Edit: Looks like the Kronos SE came with the Italian grand.

[Paul Woodward]

The Italian was first released on the Grandstage and then the Kronos SE inherited it.

The SE looks like a Nord is trying to burst out of it…

[Paul Woodward]

It was this video that helped me decide on the GS

 

[Paul Woodward]

As the casing of the GS is metal, an iPad folio case with magnetic cover snaps nicely to it and, if you squint really hard, its reminiscent of the Oasys....pmsl.

[D. Gauss]

1 hour ago, Paul Woodward said:

As the casing of the GS is metal, an iPad folio case with magnetic cover snaps nicely to it and, if you squint really hard, its reminiscent of the Oasys....pmsl.

 

Forget the IPAD, I'm all about the keyboard stand. Making some chili mid set?  Very Bo Diddley!