Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Korg SV1-88 or Yamaha CP-50?

I've played (someone else's) Korg live and it sounded and felt good, but I've read so many reviews saying the keyboard is awful or breaks easily. The Yamaha I've tried in a shop and the keyboard (GH I think) feels exactly like my old Clavinova did. The Yamaha feels a bit heavier than the RH3 to me.

I prefer the general set up and look of the Korg but am wary about the potential problems. The reviews I've read of the samples on the Korg are also generally good and I'd like something with an acoustic piano sound which isn't just a Yamaha.

Not looking to spark debate here, just after some pointers from anyone else who's played or owned both!

Eddie, I've only played the CP5 and 50 briefly in store so am not qualified to talk about them - although I will say that the CP5 is probably worth the extra bucks (and weight) in terms of sound quality.

The SV-1 does have its fair share of problems - mine has the low velocity cutoff issue, so gentle, sustained playing becomes hit and miss. It is also more of a vintage electric piano replicator, and so most of its resources are dedicated to reproducing the kind of effects that characterized recordings of those keyboards. That said, the AP patches have a very nice basic tone, and come complete with damper resonance, release samples and half-pedaling. But you really do need to load up soundpack 2 due to overly quick decay on the original samples.

Thanks Voxpops. I liked the sounds from the SV-1, although I only played one of the AP's and one of Rhodes style sounds. It wasn't mine so I don't know quite how the guy had set his up and fiddled with the settings. I will go to Chappell again and try the CP5, although I didn't much like the feel of the keyboard the last time which seemed pretty light (although I've got a CP-80 which can feel rather heavy..) I will need to give it another go and adjust the touch I think. It did sound amazing!

I suppose, to a certain extent, it depends on use and style of music. I love the SV-1's visceral quality; I can hold my own against any guitarist with that thing, and it's also capable of some really beautiful sounds. And it also does a pretty fair CP-70/80 emulation, just to make you feel at home! To be honest, despite its faults, I think it's a very special instrument with a unique character that I wouldn't want to part with. However, I'm not sure I'd want it as my only DP, particularly if solo performances were on the agenda.

I have and love my CP5 - sounds great and I love the feel of the keybed - only negative is the size and weight - I have to say I have been sorely tempted by the Korg SV1 - I think it has the best Rhodes I have every heard. Unfortunately the other sounds do not come close to the Rhodes. Well I take that back - the CP and Wurlies are good too - I am not a clav guy - and I would have gotten one if the piano sound were servicable - but I don't care for the sound of it. Too bad cause that board had me written all over it.

I have owned both boards at several times. I will say that the Yamaha is clearly more durable and less problematic in terms of mechanical issues, like the notorious trigger issue that cuts of low velocity playing as mentioned by Voxpops. The AP's on the CP50 are better and the Rhodes definitely holds its own although not as lavish as the SV-1's Rhodes. I owned two SV-1s (the red 73 and the black 73) and both displayed clacking keyboard action noise only days after light use. It was very frustrating to me because Yamaha CP50 never displayed that and I had two of them at one point. BTW I have a 2004 Yamaha P-120 that I acquired used recently and it is mechanically sound and smooth with a wonderful Rhodes sound, I might add. Korg back in day never used to have such quality control issues on their keyboards like they do now. I remember them being built like tanks and being able to take poundings and having no mechanical keyboard issues. Now you're lucky if you get a keyboard with the RH3 action without problems from the start. Honestly, I really did like the sound of the SV-1 but I would stick with a CP50 if its going to be your main keyboard. However, its all up to you!

Thank you all for the tips!

That's because they used to use Yamaha actions - the venerable "AE - Action Effect" action.

So yesterday I tried the Korg SV-1 and the CP-5 side by side at a shop in London. Also tried out the Nord Stage Piano 88. Played all with a pair of KRK KNS8400 headphones.

Korg SV-1: loved the Rhodes sounds and the organ sounds. All of the amp settings were fun, but the acoustic piano sounds were flimsy. The keyboard felt a bit "cheap". But overall not bad.

CP-5: played this for about 20 minutes and gave it a really good going over. Couldn't work out the user interface at all, but managed to try most of the piano sounds by trial and error (before you ask the guy in the shop did say to ask for help but I wanted to see how user-friendly it is).

After a bit of getting used to, I loved the keyboard. It felt solidly built, no odd key-spacing problems, lovely feel to the keys. A light ungraded touch but they must have compensated for that in the samples/modelled sounds I imagine. It felt more like a real acoustic piano than the others.

I find the Yamaha acoustic piano sounds a bit "clean". The S6 sample was strange. Sounded almost muffled rather than mellow.

Rhodes sounds were good and by tweaking the settings I got some good bark out of it. Still a bit clean. The choir and strings sounds were wonderful.

Nord: best sounds of the three pianos. I had tried one of these before and found the keyboard to be a bit plastic-y but yesterday it felt better. Loved the Lady D and Bosendorfer samples. Didn't really try the organ/EP sounds so much as I ran out of time. One thing...I though the CP-80 sample on the Nord was better and more faithful than on the CP-5!

Overall, I'd buy the Nord if I could justify the outlay especially as it's smaller than the CP-5 but I think my money will go on the CP-5. I'll probably wait until the CP-4 comes out and have another test run though!

If you enjoyed the Nord, perhaps a lower cost model (without all the whiz-bang features of the Nord Stage) such as the Nord Piano would be worth considering?

James
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Thanks James. I shall try and seek one out! The Nord Stage HA88 seemed mind-bogglingly complicated on the control panel, although I'm sure it's not in reality. I left thinking you'd need to be Michael Knight to work one.

I'm also keen to give a Kawai or two a test run. More specifically I'm going to see whether the MP-10 might be a good option. I'd like to see how the proper wooden keyboard compares with the CP-5 :-)

Eddie, yes the Nord Stage does have a lot of knobs and buttons...I think for many folks, that's half the appeal - even if they only ever use piano or EP sounds!

The Nord Piano on the other hand is rather less daunting, but still powerful, with some great sounds. The second version (Nord Piano 2) addresses the main complaint of the original, adding the ability to split and layer sounds.

As for the MP10, yes, please do give one a try. Assuming you're based in London, there should be a number of stores in the capital that stock the instrument. The keyboard action will almost certainly feel heavier than the CP5 (which was arguably more geared towards EPs than pianos), but your hands should quickly adjust to the weight.

Best of luck!

James
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