My SV-1 has been "fixed". It took two and a half weeks, and before taking it home, I wanted to check if it really is OK now.
It has gotten better, the touch feels somewhat different, but who knows, I owned it for a week before bringing it back for repairs, so I can't really tell with any confidence. However, the problem still shows up every now and then, so the guy in the shop will talk to Korg again and they'll let me know what option's there are.
Very disappointed. And I'll have to do without the instrument for another 3 weeks I guess. We currently have a bunch of public holidays coming up here in Japan, which many people here extend with paid holidays to a week off, so it'll take more time as usual. And I don't even know what they will offer me then.
If Korg can't fix this, I'll have to look for something else. You cannot make music with this keyboard, such as it is. Unless you only play in a percussive style.
Haven't the SV-1 keybed issues been fixed?
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
I spent some time yesterday slowly playing through all my keys to try to replicate what you guys are experiencing. Thankfully, rock solid with zero issues. I did buy it used (demo pool)- which means it got hammered for a good year. I do have gappy keys though- but it kinda gives it some character (ok, it doesn't really need more character then the sexy red beast already has).
Korg SV-1, Prophet 12, DeepMind 12, 2xJU-06, Akai EWI USB
Summary
Good for you, javaj.
The shop, in a "we don't normally do this" manner allowed me to choose another keyboard, that had to be at least as expensive as the SV-1 (not that hard a task, considering I bought it for ~1.1k), and pay the difference.
I obviously did that, and will get me new Roland FP-7F delivered tomorrow morning. Can't wait and will post a final note on this thread once I've checked the new one out. In a shop it felt way better. Obviously it doesn't look half as sexy as the SV-1. But the sounds is more important.
Just to recap:
* I tried a SV1-73 in the shop, the keys were OK. I didn't really like the keyboard back then, but it was good enough, as my main instrument is still a real grand piano.
* I received the SV1-88, and the keybed issues that many other people encountered with the RH3 keybed was there right from the start. You can't play musically with this problem, unless you only play strong or percussive.
* According to the shop, Korg new about the issue, and although that this happens is "part of their specs", but they'll nevertheless fix it for me for free, provided I pay for bringing it in
* Korg "fixed" it. Result: Problem was alleviated, but still persisted.
* Shop allowed me to change the Korg for another keyboard of my choice, and I took a Roland FP-7F
The shop, in a "we don't normally do this" manner allowed me to choose another keyboard, that had to be at least as expensive as the SV-1 (not that hard a task, considering I bought it for ~1.1k), and pay the difference.
I obviously did that, and will get me new Roland FP-7F delivered tomorrow morning. Can't wait and will post a final note on this thread once I've checked the new one out. In a shop it felt way better. Obviously it doesn't look half as sexy as the SV-1. But the sounds is more important.
Just to recap:
* I tried a SV1-73 in the shop, the keys were OK. I didn't really like the keyboard back then, but it was good enough, as my main instrument is still a real grand piano.
* I received the SV1-88, and the keybed issues that many other people encountered with the RH3 keybed was there right from the start. You can't play musically with this problem, unless you only play strong or percussive.
* According to the shop, Korg new about the issue, and although that this happens is "part of their specs", but they'll nevertheless fix it for me for free, provided I pay for bringing it in
* Korg "fixed" it. Result: Problem was alleviated, but still persisted.
* Shop allowed me to change the Korg for another keyboard of my choice, and I took a Roland FP-7F
I have my new Roland FP-7F now for 2 days, and it is pretty awesome, compared to the SV-1. Here are the few things where I think the SV-1 is superior:
* the SV-1 is sexy, the FP-7F only has a nice, uncluttered design
* the SV1-88 is only 20.55 kg, the FP-7F weighs in at 24 kg
* the SV-1's E-Pianos sound way better and inspiring (if it weren't for the keys that kill any music) than the Roland's, although the Roland's aren't bad
That's about it. Here's why the FP-7F rocks, and I'm trying to something close an acoustic grand piano, so that's my bias:
* the keyboard feels like the real thing, and I found that the following aren't just marketing buzzwords, but really useful
* escapement (also allows for fast note repetition)
* "Ivory Feel" surface of the keys, not the shiny and slippery plastic
* Needless to say, Roland doesn't cut off your sound
* sympathetic resonance for the piano sound
* you can attach a 3-pedal unit (sold separately), so you can use the sostenuto pedal, which I was missing from the SV-1
* the piano sound is way better, way more natural
* some 300 sounds, a lot of useful ones, if you want to create MIDI-based background accompaniment
* built-in metronome feature
* mic harmonizer based e.g. on the harmony you play (duet, trio, quartet)
* features that are useful for practice: "looper", "session partner" with limited sequencing (limited: only the most important stuff, so no menu clutter)
* assign wav files from your usb stick to keys on the keyboard, w or w/o looping etc. so you can create full background tracks
* built-in speakers, although I play using headphones, so I'd rather not have those, because they and their amp is probably what's bringing this sucker's weight to 24 kg
I was so surprised about the quality of the keys and the sound, I had to jump back and forth from this to my grand piano (a good, 4 year old Yamaha C3A) and compare. The main difference I see between the keys is that when you play the acoustic grand, the whole key bed vibrates caused by the sound, whereas on the digital piano, especially playing with headphones, there's no motion due to the sound.
The sympathetic resonance, as far as my limited tests go, is 100% like the original. Absolutely amazing.
I'm not 100% happy with the built-in piano sound though, and had to fine-tune using the equalizer (but then again, that always depends on your equipment, like my headphones), and reverb. Also, the attack is too sharp when hitting the keys just a little harder (but that was addressable by changing the touch from "Medium" to "Heavy"), and I'm not 100% with the "built-in" sound of my acoustic grand either, and the latter one is almost impossible to change.
A professional classical pianist check it out as well, and she too thinks it's way better than the SV-1, both in terms of the piano sound, and the keys.
As the shop took my SV-1 back, I consider the broken SV-1 keys a blessing in disguise. The FP-7F was only about 200 bucks more expensive than the SV-1. Both are pretty cheap these days, in the FP-7F's case, because the successor came out, in the SV-1's case, simply because it's old, I guess? Or because the key bed stinks?
After having had a Yamaha stage piano, and a Yamaha digital grand piano (with a real acoustic grand piano mechanics), now this Korg SV-1, the Roland FP-7F is no doubt the best one of them all (well, it's probably the newest of them), and (now) it's really cheap.
Roland has my respect. because they come from the all-synthetic angle (no real grand piano mechanics like e.g. the Yamaha DGP series) and model-based piano sound (although the FP-7F's "SuperNatural Piano" sound appears to be sample-based, in contrast to the V-Piano, where the SuperNatural comes from and which is completely modelled), and approach the acoustic instrument better than those guys trying to take the real thing and remove as little as possible and necessary, like the strings, the wooden sound board etc. Anyway, this is a Korg forum, so enough already.
* the SV-1 is sexy, the FP-7F only has a nice, uncluttered design
* the SV1-88 is only 20.55 kg, the FP-7F weighs in at 24 kg
* the SV-1's E-Pianos sound way better and inspiring (if it weren't for the keys that kill any music) than the Roland's, although the Roland's aren't bad
That's about it. Here's why the FP-7F rocks, and I'm trying to something close an acoustic grand piano, so that's my bias:
* the keyboard feels like the real thing, and I found that the following aren't just marketing buzzwords, but really useful
* escapement (also allows for fast note repetition)
* "Ivory Feel" surface of the keys, not the shiny and slippery plastic
* Needless to say, Roland doesn't cut off your sound
* sympathetic resonance for the piano sound
* you can attach a 3-pedal unit (sold separately), so you can use the sostenuto pedal, which I was missing from the SV-1
* the piano sound is way better, way more natural
* some 300 sounds, a lot of useful ones, if you want to create MIDI-based background accompaniment
* built-in metronome feature
* mic harmonizer based e.g. on the harmony you play (duet, trio, quartet)
* features that are useful for practice: "looper", "session partner" with limited sequencing (limited: only the most important stuff, so no menu clutter)
* assign wav files from your usb stick to keys on the keyboard, w or w/o looping etc. so you can create full background tracks
* built-in speakers, although I play using headphones, so I'd rather not have those, because they and their amp is probably what's bringing this sucker's weight to 24 kg
I was so surprised about the quality of the keys and the sound, I had to jump back and forth from this to my grand piano (a good, 4 year old Yamaha C3A) and compare. The main difference I see between the keys is that when you play the acoustic grand, the whole key bed vibrates caused by the sound, whereas on the digital piano, especially playing with headphones, there's no motion due to the sound.
The sympathetic resonance, as far as my limited tests go, is 100% like the original. Absolutely amazing.
I'm not 100% happy with the built-in piano sound though, and had to fine-tune using the equalizer (but then again, that always depends on your equipment, like my headphones), and reverb. Also, the attack is too sharp when hitting the keys just a little harder (but that was addressable by changing the touch from "Medium" to "Heavy"), and I'm not 100% with the "built-in" sound of my acoustic grand either, and the latter one is almost impossible to change.
A professional classical pianist check it out as well, and she too thinks it's way better than the SV-1, both in terms of the piano sound, and the keys.
As the shop took my SV-1 back, I consider the broken SV-1 keys a blessing in disguise. The FP-7F was only about 200 bucks more expensive than the SV-1. Both are pretty cheap these days, in the FP-7F's case, because the successor came out, in the SV-1's case, simply because it's old, I guess? Or because the key bed stinks?
After having had a Yamaha stage piano, and a Yamaha digital grand piano (with a real acoustic grand piano mechanics), now this Korg SV-1, the Roland FP-7F is no doubt the best one of them all (well, it's probably the newest of them), and (now) it's really cheap.
Roland has my respect. because they come from the all-synthetic angle (no real grand piano mechanics like e.g. the Yamaha DGP series) and model-based piano sound (although the FP-7F's "SuperNatural Piano" sound appears to be sample-based, in contrast to the V-Piano, where the SuperNatural comes from and which is completely modelled), and approach the acoustic instrument better than those guys trying to take the real thing and remove as little as possible and necessary, like the strings, the wooden sound board etc. Anyway, this is a Korg forum, so enough already.