Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards KORG D1- few issues + review and advices

Hi,

I recently got KORG D1 , and I would like to share few things if anyone is interested. I have tried few different brands of digital pianos in stores but I did not own one previously. I will try to share my experiences here.

I have 2 issues so far, F key just bellow middle C is a bit squeaking, not crazy, when it is pushed bit to the right I think, Will give it a time and 2nd "'problem", when connected MIDI I/O to my Motu ultralite mk4 , interface is acting like midi signal is triggered all the time even if I am not pressing anything ( I can see that on the LCD screen from interface) but when i connect my novation x-station, there is no such a problem, signal triggers only when I press a key. please see video https://youtu.be/cb5IozgbrYc

Otherwise , Keybed feels really nice and heavy, responsive, keys are nice and long , easy to play top of the key, just to compare , I did not like PHA-4 Standart from Roland FP 30 for quick play,it is harder to play top key, do not get me wrong, it is nice keybed but a bit slow for me, god for slower pieces tho'. PHA-4 Concert and PHA-50 were great for my feeling, really nice. Casios Privia px-s1000 or px-560 were too wobbly and plastic noisy for my preference. What I have like the most so far is keybed from Hybrid Yamaha NU1X. This is joy to play for me. Yamahas CLP645 NWX was nice but CLP 675 had better feeling to play for me, mostly played Chilly Gonzales pieces. CLP635 whad a bit worse feeligg to RH3 keybed from KORG for me. Between NWX and PHA50 , I prefer PHA50 more. Yamahas P-125 GHS keybed feels like a toy . So if any one will want to make a buying decision on the Keybed perspective, from the my and Korg's RH3 keybed point, ranking will be this for me :


1. NU1X Hybrid
2. ROLAND's PHA50
3 YAMAHA's Grand Touch wood keys (CLP 675...)
4. ROLANDS's PHA-4 CONCERT
5. YAMAHA's NWX
6. YAMAHA's GH3X
6. RH3 KORG's
7. PHA-4 STANDARD
8. YAMAHA's GH3
9. CASIO's scaled hammer action II (Tri-Sensor)
10. YAMAHA's GHS


Bear in mind I have never tried any KAWAII's keybed.

I am not gonna review piano sounds from KORG's D1 because I simply don't like it. Although digital piano, choir, vibes and some soft organ is pretty nice. Compared to Garritan CFX plugin with my Sennheiser HD600 , this sounds really bad for, does the job if you want to learn but I prefer learning by ears most of the the the time and using other modules or VST's is better option for me. D1 does not have a speakers which is big + for me. Cheap speakers are useless on digital pianos ,remember and they are usually bad, even on NU1X. Korg D1 does not have USB but MIDI is enough if you have audio interface with midi i/o/. If not there is a MIDI to USB adapter for 30 bucks from Roland.

Minus is that there is no support for 3 pedals only for sustain which is supplied, but if you need half-pedaling, Korg DS1 H is your only option for 60 euro.

For me this is perfect option option so far for 550 euro.

Thanks guys and maybe someone can confirm that nonstop midi signal triggering is just fine.. I will post recent updates during my use.

Thanks again..

In MIDI we have "internal clock" vs. "external clock" i.e. some devices send a MIDI clock signal themselves, others expect to receive it from the other device and some are configurable either way.

...which also may lead to a MIDI-USB converter to not work with all devices.

...or maybe a device to blink a MIDI receive LED all the time.

Perhaps(?)

Wow!

You have it very similarly ranked like me.
But I'd rank the CLP-695 over the Yamaha N1X in terms of size and feel.

But about the Korg D-1 itself, there were major flaws of why I send it back.

- I disliked the Audio a lot
- Doing trills on black keys doesn't work fluidly / fast

About that MIDI issue - I've never had it!

MIDI clock is only needed to synchronise two MIDI devices which need to be synchronised. A DAW and an arpegiator... anything which has to know where we are inside a bar. No MIDI clock doesn’t prevent other MIDI events to be exchanged.

But it is true that MIDI clock is seen when looking at the MIDI receive LED.

yeah , I am keeping it because of the price for now audio on clavinovas for about 2000 euro was not so much better than D1's for my ears.

So , is that unnecessary midi signal triggering doing any harm to audio interface or it is just fine ?

thanks

CLP695 is probably better , never tried.

Well there were two problems I saw at the CLP 695!

- If you go 'louder', you immediately reach 127 with ease. That did bother me.
Probably could change the key touch, but it was in the default.
- If you use the pedal something clacks against the body, that did annoy me.

I am using pure MIDI cables, no MIDI TO USB( you have probably ment that audio interface is doin midi to usb)

Should I change MIDI clock to external?

I saw someone on group that complained about midi velocity.
He said that the keyboard couldnt transmit midi velocit under 10 or 15.
I think that this is a stranger behavior in a product like that.

Could someone confirm that D1 can transmit all velocitys ?

Using D1 and Roland midi usb. I tried to play as sofly as I could and got many 1-5s, but 6-15s were hard. There is an option on the piano to change the touch sensitivity settings too.