KORG SV-1 88 - CUSTOMER REVIEW

Last month, one of our customers, Tim Hender, submitted a fairly in-depth review of the Korg SV-1 88... in fact it seemed so in-depth that we decided it was worthy of a blog post of it's own, so with his permission, here it is!

KORG SV-1 88 - HOW DID I ARRIVE AT THE DECISION TO BUY THIS AS OPPOSED TO IT’S APPARENT EQUIVALENTS?

Firstly, it was the necessity for a stage piano… because I can’t take an acoustic piano with me wherever I am working!

Thanks to the showroom demonstration areas and the variety of instrument stock at Absolute Music I was able to A-B the SV-1 88 with the Kurzweil PC3X-88 and Nord Stage 88 (I guess this is A-B-C). All three stage keyboards were within my budget so what I was really interested in was the sound reproduction quality. As a classical and jazz pianist who always prefers playing a ‘proper’ piano with hammers that hit strings, I was particularly interested to hear the acoustic pianos as well as feel the responsiveness of the keys. So in the studio/demo area, which had a nice stereo field, the SV-1 far out-weighed the acoustic piano sounds of the other two.

Having had a weighty Roland stage keyboard for years (and feeling the signs of age on my joints), a major buying factor for me was mobility, i.e. could I carry it easily? Ok, I am not using a full flight case any more but the weight of this instrument is considerably less in the purpose made SV11 carry case.

KORG SV-1 88 - WHAT DO I PUT IT ON?

Ok this is where I had a headache… I waited and waited for Korg to bring out the purpose made ‘retro’ stand and when they did eventually do so I believe that the pressure of putting it into production meant that they took it off the drawing board too early. I think it was too awkward to assemble and fit to the SV-1, and then potentially too fragile to bare life on the road. So I was lent a Stagg X-stand… don’t ever do it as the locking system (which doesn’t look very clever) failed, giving me the pleasure of having to catch my new keyboard during it’s decent to terra-firma. Fortunately there are only a few cosmetic marks on the Korg badge (all part of the history of my SV-1 now!). Well I have to say that I am very pleased with my final support solution… the Quiklok WS 550. Very substantial and stable.

KORG SV-1 88 - ON THE ROAD…

I know that I referred to a stereo field earlier and I know that in a live situation this is not always possible and if I am honest I struggle to ‘feel’ the music if I am playing the SV-1 in an unbalanced or mono situation (I use stereo monitoring wherever possible). Perhaps this is because I tend to play either in a solo setting or one where the piano features prominently with the support of a rhythm section or as the only accompaniment to vocals or a solo instrument. However, it faired very well in all of the preceding scenarios at a wedding reception gig last weekend!

The electro-mechanical Rhodes, Wurlitzers and clavs are superb... almost feels like I am playing the real thing (at least from what I can recall of playing a Rhodes anyway)… the sounds are awesome and fit really well into the mix with the band. I don’t think I would use the Hammond type organ, however, the Vox organ could be pretty cool if you are trying to reproduce the sound of the mid to late twentieth century. However, the string section... this I have used and they are very dynamic, giving detail and atmosphere, both pianissimo and fortissimo.

In summary I am very pleased with the SV-1 88. I think I will have it for a while to come!

Purchase the Korg SV-1 88 note stage piano

Purchase the Korg SV-1 73 note stage piano

Purchase the Korg ST-SV1 keyboard stand for the Korg SV-1

Purchase the QuikLok WS-550 keyboard stand

Also, if you want some more information on the Korg SV-1, CLICK HERE to read an in-depth review by Tony Long.