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Harmony Central has a review here of the Korg Module iPad app. It's a collection of sampled, unlooped sounds of (mostly) keyboard instruments to be played on the iPad using your own keyboard.

Korg's demo video (embedded on that page) shows some very nice keyboard sounds, and to be honest, I've always liked Korg's sounds much better than their keybeds.

I'd been thinking of getting a low-end iPad for storing music charts. Now I'm wondering if I need to go considerably higher in RAM...

Well no matter how good or bad it could actually sound, it certainly won't be up to the real software on dedicated computers, which by the way tend to be even cheaper than the trendy Apple gadgets.

I think this is extremely bad design for Korg to try to catch up with the software industry. They concur to ruin their future reputation, and while it's an obvious way to get a fast cash return on their sampling and developing investments, it brings the entire thing down another level, and towards the worst of sound mediocrity combined to hardware weakness.

But sure it will sell and reviews will be wonderful, only for an audience that will be deaf and dead to proper musical tools in the future. And we can bet about it.

Korg and the like major hardware instruments maker should state clearly they define the line between soft and hardware goods, and should they go on the software side as well, they should deploy as a major actor on this field too, not as a miserable dwarf.

But hey that's just my opinion!...

And if you want to play a proper piano in a box - is piano such a minor instrument that it is not worth a dedicated box design? you still have no other option than silly compromises and half bad deals...

It's the economy _, and this peculiar smart move from Korg is the one that really is _

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iPads and other tablets are just computers in a different case. There is no difference, and with the sale of phones and tablets on the rise advancements in their processing capabilities is increasingly rapid and this attracts software developers, and that's pretty much all you need. Korg is a music technology company and all of their intellectual property with regard to sound generation resides in software. Their flag ship Kronos and Oasys instruments are simply computers in a keyboard case running their software based sound generation engines.

This topic comes up often, so I'll just quote from another thread re: the notion that tablets and smart phones are under powered to run "good" music software. Korg Module running on an iPad Air 2 is just as capable of doing sample playback with good polyphony as the vast majority of keyboard/synths and digital pianos in people homes and currently for sale.

All current iPads have 1 gb RAM, except the Air 2 which has 2 gb. If you're talking about storage, that varies from 16 gb to 128 gb. The Air 2 is the best for music, for having the fastest processor (which should help minimize latency) and the most RAM (useful for running multiple music apps at once, and/or apps that use large samples). As for storage, 16 gb is kind of minimal these days, you probably want to go up at least one step from there, if you're going to want to work music apps that use sample libraries, which will probably keep getting bigger. But if you're on a budget, a lot of music apps work just fine on the least expensive iPad Mini. Not sure about "Module" though. It will work, but I don't know how well... their site does prompt you to try to use the newest models for best performance.

FWIW - I run Korg Module and its optional Ivory add-on on a 16 Gb iPad 4, and it runs just fine. In fact I'm pretty impressed with it (except for the short "throw" of the sustain pedal on my DGX640, which I think is more an iPad MIDI issue than a Korg issue, since I experience the same thing with the iGrand app).

Note that Korg Module + Ivory add-on takes up between 2 and 3 Gigabytes of storage.

I hope this helps you make your decision about it.

Now granted, just like with a desktop or a laptop, it is up to the developer to maintain their application. So Korg needs to do bug fixes and release updates to their music applications, particularly after Apple releases updates to iOS. The downside to using a computer for music is the temptation to upgrade the operating system. If the developer abandons the software and you update your OS you're left with a broken app. But same thing we've always done, if you're happy with what the device/computer was able to do when you bought it, and you've invested in a bunch of apps - leave it be.

As Scott mentioned, older iPads only have 1gb of RAM, slower processor, and less storage space. But as Bert has suggested - the applications he uses were written efficiently and optimized to run well within the limitations of the hardware. That's just good coding. Similarly, a lot of our digital pianos and keyboards have hardware specifications that are specifically designed to do no more, no less than what is required. They certainly aren't going to run Grand Theft Auto - or Angry Birds for that matter. So the software developers who wrote the code for the pedals, and keys, and buttons on your Yamaha CLP to do what they need to do and playback the correct samples at the right time and spit them out the DA converter to the speakers were working within the hardware specifications that the hardware designers gave them. They are not going to stick a high end processor and extensive amounts of RAM and storage beyond what is necessary for the CLP to operate into the final product. That cuts into profits and is bad business. Anyway, you get the idea. It's all the same silicon and the same business. Keyboards, tablets, smart phones, laptops, smart watches, smart cars, cameras, drones, etc. etc. same stuff different case and peripherals.

Is your pedal an on/off type, or a continuous (half damper) type?

Hmmm....I'm not quite sure which type it is but I think that it's continuous. It has a much more controllable, longer "travel" when I use Pianoteq with my laptop (after calibrating the pedal, of course), and natively. When using my iPad apps, the "travel" is about 1/2 that of Pianoteq. The pedal doesn't "engage" until it's pressed to about the halfway point. After that, it's controllable but much more difficult to do so.

I have the 3 pedal stand for the Yamaha DGX640.

So, I thought I would give this a try and use up a couple gift cards Ive had sitting around. I got both Korg Module and Ivory addon. Sounds good but notes drop too quickly as if it has less than 16 note polyphony. Am I missing something here? I also use iGrand for about a year and have no issue with notes dropping whatsoever. It's installed on an iPad 4th Generation w/ 64GB. (with 42.3 still available as I don't have not much on it). Any thoughts?

According to the specs, it should have 48 notes polyphony on that model. Assuming they are counting stereo as 2, that's 24. I don't know whether the iPad version of ivory employs additional samples (resonance? key off?)... that could reduce it further. Korg also says it can very with your latency setting. You might get better polyphony if you can deal with more latency.

http://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_module_for_ipad/specifications.php

4th gen iPad only has A6X processor and 1gb of RAM. So polyphony will only go to 48 not the 72 voices Korg says they are getting on the iPad Air 2 with A8X processor and 2gb RAM. However, a few things to try.

First turn off all other apps when using Module by double clicking the home button and flicking them all up.

Next go to Settings and select the preferences for Module. You'll have to raise your latency setting to get better performance.

Also, the sounds with long tails/sustain will steal polyphony. In other words, they say it will run on older hardware but not perform up to spec unless your using most recent iPad Air 2 or better - well, there is nothing better at the moment.

Also, to maximize performance on an iPad, putting it in airplane mode turns off a lot of unnecessary background processing.

I bought Korg Module and all the expansions including the Ivory one. It sounds great but I have a big issue with velocity: I get a drastic change in sound when passing from soft touch to heavy. The change in sound rises with a spike and it is really unnatural. I have very soft sounds when I press a little the keys and then suddenly very loud sounds if I press more. I use a Numa Acuna 88 as controller with an Ipad Air2. No problem of latency at all.
I tried to set the velocity parameter in the app but didn't manage to solve.
I have also a rack module with piano sounds and the app Igrand form IK and both work well with my keyboard.
Unfortunately the velocity setting in the Korg module is quite poor: only 1 slope point to set. I tried with all settings from acuna (soft, mid, hard touch velocity) with no results.
Anyone has the same issue with korg module? Because of this I consider IK Igrand more playable than Korg Module despite the sound of Ivory should be better.
I saw a post from David Farley in a previous tread who seems to have the same problem: "The voices, even the Ivory, just don't grab me as much as I was hoping. They either sound harsh or muted, depending on how the velocity curve is set. And there seems to be a real unevenness in response between some notes.

The velocity curve bottoms out at something above zero, no matter how I have it set, so it's not possible to depress the keys without sounding a note, and I can actually see this happening on the velocity indicator in the app. I don't have this problem with Pianoteq".

I'm thinking about buying a Kawai VPC1, anyone who tried this coupled with korg module?
VPC1 should have a velocity set made for Ivory (the computer version), did anyone try it with the Ivory from Korg Ipad app?
Please let me know, thank you!!

I agree with you that Korg Module needs a better velocity curve editor. One point is clearly not enough.

I also feel that the velocity curve editor should include a sustain pedal calibrator, such as what's found in Pianoteq. As it is, my sustain pedals' effective travel is halved when using Korg Module vs when I use my DP natively or when I use Pianoteq.

That said - I still use Korg Module a lot, for it's convenience and the wonderful Ivory sounds.

Does Korg Module recognize continuous/half dampering? If it doesn't, then the issue sounds like you're probably using the wrong kind of pedal. Try a regular (on/off) sustain pedal.

From reading the comments here and various reviews, it seems the consensus is that the Korg Module piano sounds are good, but not as good as the best VST/AU instruments (understandable given the price and memory usage).

But I'm wondering how the Korg Module compares to entry level digital pianos. If sample size was an indicator of quality (which of course it often isn't), then the Module should be at least up there with the likes of Nord Piano. Has anyone had the opportunity to compare the sounds and playability with the likes of Roland F30, Kawai ES100, Yamaha YDP series, etc.?

I bought the Korg Module and Ivory plugin on recommendation of a silent system maker, hoping I could combine one of their Midi systems with the (allegedly) superior Korg samples for a silent system on my acoustic upright. I found all Korg samples very disappointing and artifical to my ears. I also had the random spikes in volumes others refer to here - just one or two notes per octave, but noticeably louder than other notes despite playing them no differently.

Either everyone here delighted with Korg/Ivory is using a different App to me or I have fussier ears. The Korg piano samples sound to me as much like a piano as a tupperware beaker resembles a crystal glass. The Yamaha SH silent system samples: now we're talking.

I have Korg Module with Ivory Expansion and it is at best mediocre. Even with an iPad Air 2 you only get 18 notes before polyphony quits on you. This is because every note played actually sucks up 4 (resonance alone takes up 2 and you can't turn it off). I also have iGrand, Thumbjam, and SampleTank. All are just OK with the best sound being iGrand. But I still have not come across a Piano app that really shines. They all have unrealistic transitions from soft to hard samples and or something unpleasant about their sound. In the end I made my own piano (months of work) which is playable on a cheap app called bs-16i.
The sounds are freely downloadable from my site if you would like to try. Audio samples are also available.
https://sites.google.com/site/soundfonts4u/

I have the Korg Module (iPhone 6s) and have issues with the velocity curve - I get very quiet sound output with the MIDI, and when I use the keys on the iPhone screen the velocity curve is backwards (soft presses make loud sounds, hard presses make quiet sounds). I haven't bought the Ivory add-on yet, and with how horrible the Korg Module is to tweak I don't know if I want to.

I've been using CMP Grand with the add-on Bechstein piano and really enjoy it.

I have a 128 gig iPad Pro 12.9" with 4 gigs of ram and the Apple Pencil. It slices, dices and and is fast on the draw!