Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Korg SV2 replace 3 others

I have in total 3 ‘keyboards’. Thinking of getting 1 device to replace them all. Possibly a Korg SV2S-88.

I currently have:

1). Korg G1 Air
2). Bluthner Pro-88 (not the EX model)
3). Casio WK-7600

Previously owned:
a). Yamaha P255
b). Roland FP-90

I have also tried other pianos from the above brands and from Nord and Kawai.

The Korg RH3 action is the best compromise of the ones I have tried.
I prefer quality over quantity. Fewer good quality sounds instead of many OK sounds.
Also the Korg SV2 looks really good and seems simple to use.

Is the Korg SV2 the sort of piano/keyboard for me?

I’m not enamored with the MDF bottom, TBF.

Korg Grandstage is also similar and has RH3.

What exactly have you tried?

Kawai ES920 and Yamaha P515 spring to mind. If you've tried the Kawai (or anything with their RH-III action) what did you think?

What are your thoughts on the G1 Air's piano sounds? I had one (I gave it away but still have access to it). I am also sitting here looking at a Bluthner Pro 88 EX that arrived on Thursday. What are your thoughts on the pre EX version?

Korg SV2 comes with or without speakers. Grandstage has no speakers but much larger piano samples.

I quite like the Korg RH3 action but for some reasons that are difficult to explain I think it's a little behind the Yamaha NWX, Kawai RH-III and Roland PHA-50 (why did you get rid of the FP90?).

Hi EssBrace.

Looks like we both own/owned Korg and Bluthner digital pianos.
I also have a Bechstein Model B (mine is about 100 years old).

I can’t remember them all, but I have tried:
Many Yamaha’s, including P515, CLP 6xx range and NU1.
Kawai, not sure exact models but console style ones in the £2000 to £3000 range.
Casio GP500.
Nord, several models.

I prefer the Korg RH3 action compared to Yamaha NWX and the Kawai actions I tried.
The PF90 action is good, but I could not get it to sound right. I tried many things and all failed.
I was spending more time playing with it than playing it. It had to go.
The G1 Air piano sounds are OK. Not the best, but useable.
I like the Korg RH3 action. I would put it about equal to the FP90 action, but the Roland sound put me off, so has perhaps affected my judgement.
Also I was offered a good trade in deal for the FP90 against the Korg G1 Air, almost a straight swap.

Bluthner Pro-88 has very good piano and other sounds, but the action is weird. Too light and bouncy. The speaker output is fantastic, good enough for small venues.

We're living parallel lives! My Bechstein B is from 1905.

I agree that the Korg action is nice.

I found the velocity response on the G1 Air frustrating. There's four velocity layers in the main piano sounds and I found, especially in the transition from layer three to four, that it plateaus on layer three - within that layer you can play harder and there's no timbral change at all and almost no volume change then when you trigger layer four there's this jarring timbral change. I just gave the thing away. Onboard speakers have got some punch though!

The Bluthner action is horrendous. White keys feel very nice actually but the black keys are just like feel-less springs - the mismatch is very disconcerting - makes it almost unplayable for me. The piano sounds don't sustain at all in the mids and treble. Speakers would deafen you at 100 paces - quite astonishing. Build quality seems top notch. The basic tone of the Bluthner piano is great but taken as a whole it's a flawed product so that's going back next week.

I had the FP-90 but just could not live with the modelled sounds. I'm trying again with one though because I think the newer sound engine (Pure Acoustic) is an improvement and there's a bit more detail in the sound. It's always the midrange on Rolands that is just wrong. I'm hoping the playability and really useful overall spec will compensate for the slightly characterless modelled piano sounds.

I think you should try and get the SV2S on a 30 day returns type of basis and give it a try. I am betting the piano sounds are somewhere between the G1 Air and the Grandstage. If you can do without speakers my first port of call would be the Grandstage. I very nearly bought one (wanted it very badly from listening to demos) but in the flesh it disappointed me a bit. If you do get to try one it needs the velocity curve tweaked (I think there's ten curves and the default curve isn't quite right for acoustic piano in my opinion - it makes a big difference).

Keep us updated with what you do.

For an 88 with speakers, the SV2 and the Kawai ES920 would probably be my short list (in the context that I haven't actually laid my fingers on an ES920 yet).

I’ve been thinking about what I really need/want.
Korg G1 Air has a good enough key action and sound.
Bluthner good enough for a small venue.
Don’t like the Casio WK-7600, too many options I will never use.
How about change the Casio for a Yamaha Reface CS to experiment with synth? Cost should be very low.
Study piano using my acoustic and Korg, perform with Bluthner and broaden via Reface CS?

If you like the style and the keybed and want the rhodes sound just go for the SV.
It is really fun to have the analog-style direct access to the effects section. Remember, there is a tradition to
shape the live sound while playing with the modifiers.

You might not need SV-2. If you can live with external monitors (highly recommended!) you could get most of it
with an SV-1.

-Rhodes74

I bought a Yamaha Reface CS.
I’m still thinking of getting a Korg SV2 to replace my other digital pianos, but not sure if the difference,improvement & usability will be worth the change due to cost & hassle.
Are the piano and other sounds on SV2 much better than the Korg G1 Air?
It could be the speaker system on the Korg G1 Air causing some issue, but the built in sounds don’t sound as good as I would like via headphones either.
I have a Korg plugKEY, and find the basic piano sound pleasant, but would prefer a simple all-in-one system without needing extra bits.
The money (selling what I don’t need plus additional cost to buy an SV2) could be put towards changing the hammers in my Bechstein. Although my piano tuner/technician didn’t push new hammers after I suggested them. He seems happy to just keep my piano playable and in tune even though I was happy to spend a bit.

Another potential plan!
Keep the Korg G1 Air. I like the key action for practice.
Replace the Bluthner Pro 88 and Casio WK 7600 for a Roland FP-7F.
Reason – I much preferred the Roland FP-90 action to the Bluthner, but the Bluthner sounds really good. The Roland FP-7F action should be closer to the FP-90 but has better sound (subjectively).

Whilst I’m look at other digital pianos/keyboards, what are your thoughts on a Casio PX-560M?

Well, I thought I solved my digital piano problem!
I have owned several and tried many more.
I need just one for practice but have 3, each with pro’s and cons.
Didn’t want to spend too much and wanted to make the best value of what I already have.
Nearly sealed a deal on a Roland FP-7F that I thought would fix all my woes, but someone defeated me and bought it merely hours before me!
The next candidate vanished in hours too!
What was I to do?
Deflated, angry (at myself), confused…
I spent some time practising on what I had.
With a more focused mind, I quickly discovered what I like and dislike about the Korg G1 Air and Bluthner Pro-88.
I have finally rediscovered why I purchased the Bluthner Pro-88.
The key action may be awful, but the sound is AMAZING!
The various sounds are fantastic! The speakers are top quality.
Also, after over a year of piano lessons my technique has improved, so the Bluthner Pro-88 action is less of a problem.
So, I’m keeping the Bluthner Pro-88 and getting rid of the Korg G1 Air and Casio WK-7600.
That was a very long way around, but I’m glad I missed out on the Roland FP-7F.
Lesson to ones self: be grateful for what one already has.

I just remembered this thread. I had thought about commenting, rather asking, why do you want to give up the Bluthner Pro-88 :-) I had thought that consolidation + upgrade was your goal so I left it at that. I am happy you're keeping the Bluthner. But I do want to ask why you think the action is awful. Too heavy?

The Bluthner action (a Fatar action?) is generally too light and bouncy, but noticeably heavier near the ‘fallboard’.