Havian 30 Review

[Odanster]

This new digital keyboard from Korg offers something for the home or school buyer searching for a very powerful device.

Keybed
Before I obtained this keyboard I had an 11 year old Yamaha CVP305, this was still in very good condition and its GH3 keybed was still very playable, it felt as much as possible like an acoustic piano. I was finding though, that compared to newer digital pianos, the keys were heavier to play and had more movement which made softer playing less precise. Newer Yamaha Clavinova keybeds do not feel as heavy. So I wanted something lighter yet still like a real piano. I found the Kawai keybed very playable and if they had something akin to the Havian 30 I may have got that but they don't.
I compared the Havian's keybed to my daughter's Kawai acoustic piano and it was very similar, though being new the Havian keys felt firmer yet have a good weighty feel allowing for more precise softer playing. They are also quiet in movement.
I visited a music store and tried several different digital pianos like Roland, Kurzweil, Casio, Yamaha and some acoustic pianos and all felt different, so it is going to be rather subjective whether you like the Korg European Hammer action, as they are calling it. In my estimation it feels fine and better than say the Yamaha DX650.

Sounds
As you would expect the sounds, or tones, of the 900+ instruments are very good. There are several pianos to choose from and they are excellent to my ears, not as over loud like some of the pianos on my previous CVP305. The amplification of the Korg is a total of 50watts, the CVP305 had 80watts and was a bit too powerful or dense in its sounds, the Havian sounds cleaner.
The guitars are great though some of the woodwinds are breathy. I doubt that I will access many of sounds but they are used in the styles to great affect. You can easily create your own list of favourite sounds.

Styles (accompaniments)
There are over 400 styles and it is refreshing to hear how Korg have created them, the Yamaha ones were getting tired. You have easy control over the instruments as they are recorded on separate tracks so you can select which to hear if you desire. There is a songbook with over a thousand songs styled to an accompaniment, the titles are different but very close to the song it is meant to be, like 'Let it Letter B' for the Beatles 'Let it Be'.
There is a balance dial next to the volume control that let's you easily balance the volume between the accompaniment and the instrument you are playing.
There are 3 intros, 4 variations and 3 endings also a break. You can also change the sounds on any track of the style as well.

Menu System
The Touch View display menu system is easy to use (there is an easy mode) but it's worth checking the videos on the supplied DVD as there are some additional features not at first obvious to use, like using the shift key with the menu items. You could use the menu system without touching the screen but it is just easier to do so. There is a means for those of poor eyesight or blind to access the menu system too.
This menu makes it easy to have layers of instruments, much better than the way Yamaha has on many of their keyboards. It is only a 5 inch display but contains a lot of information. The orientation of the touch points was quite accurate on my Havian so I did not feel the necessity to calibrate it again. I only wish the display wasn't so flat, it would have been easier to read if it was raised at an angle like it is on some other Korg keyboards.
The only other negative is the supplied music stand, it is just too narrow and music sheets fall off it onto the menu display. I would worry that a heavy music book could damage the screen. I have built my own stand that sits behind the keyboard and gives me a place to hold other music books.

Keyboard Stand
I bought the Keyboard Stand, ST-H30BK. It was easy to put together and the keyboard is securely held to it with screws.
It also comes with a good holder for the supplied damper/sustain pedal which can be securely put in place, just right of centre for access by your right foot.

Other points
The Havian takes 45 seconds to boot, this is longer than Yamaha keyboards, so turn it on then arrange your sheetmusic while you wait.
There are few connections on the back which is typical of other Korg keyboards. USB host and device, headphones/output but no input for external devices, so you can't feed the sound from an iPad if you wished to use the keyboard as a midi controller. Perhaps Korg feel you just don't need too.
You can play mp3 recordings as well as midi files from an external USB drive.
There are quite a few other features I have not mentioned, in particular the various ways to record. The on screen 16 track sequencer is easy to use but it is quite extensive so reading the manual is recommended, the full 800 page manual is on the DVD. This goes into greater detail about everything including a lot on changing sounds and parameters.

This is not a cheap instrument so it is worth checking out the videos on YouTube, all the videos from the DVD are there, to see whether it suits your needs. Try it out in a store if you can find one, not many Australian stores have them, perhaps that will improve as it is still relatively new. I obtained mine through Bettermusic in Canberra in only a couple of days and they had to get it from the Korg distributor first.

[Reidoo]

Very nice review!!!!
Do you have for home use or do you use it for gigs?

[Odanster]

Thanks.
Just for home use for my daughter and myself. I have it with the stand.

[RayDF]

Does the Havian 30 have an "STS Mode" function that links variations and STS?

[Odanster]

The Havian does have an STS mode which is connected to the Performance menu selections. But the STS mode is not linked to changing variations (as it can be on a Yamaha CVP), you have to change to a different STS yourself when you change to another variation. I must admit it was a feature I liked on my previous CVP.

[RayDF]

Yes, but the Korg PA600 (and higher) PA keyboards do have the feature. I think that omitting this feature in the Havian 30 was a serious design mistake.

However, it could be possible to mimic a little bit this function (I think) by setting up the damper pedal to the "STS UP" function, so that by a pedal press the next STS to the right would be selected. Not the same, of course, but perhaps it could work -- I'm trying it out tomorrow in my Havian 30! HOwever, I have no idea what would happen if we're at STS4 and press the pedal -- would it return to STS1? I wonder...?

To make everything perfect, by pressing the big "PIANO" key the damper pedal should return to its normal damper function but this remains to be seen if it happens in reality or not.

[Odanster]

Interesting idea. Let us know if it works.
I agree, while I like the Havian, it would have been nice to have a few more features like that, plus the pads.

[RayDF]

Works like a charm: by setting the damper pedal to "STS UP" you can easily switch to the next higher STS in an instant, and going "up" from STS4 takes you back to STS1, as expected. The big "PIANO" key, however, doesn't reset the damper pedal to its normal function, which is a bit non-optimal but well, it can work.

A highly useful software update from Korg would include such a customization for the "PIANO" key (resetting the damper pedal to its normal piano function) and optimally it could be user-selectable. Another such software update could do the same thing for the damper pedal but for the "STYLE" button, with a user-selectable function assignment for the damper pedal. If such a customization would be done, then to switch from one to the other would only be a one-button thing -- nice!

Do you know if the Korg people actually read these forums? Is there some E-mail address where we could send update suggestions to Korg?

[Odanster]

Great that you got it to work. Can you save it as a performance? Then if you select another performance it resets the damper?
I have been checking the Korg website every now and then to see if there is an update, but nothing yet, it hasn't had an update at all.

[RayDF]

Actually, this idea of the damper pedal wasn't a good one after all. I played a little this morning to try it and --although it works as I described above-- the lack of the actual damper function in many of the STS voices (pianos and others) makes for a bad choice. I would say then, that this workaround, although it works in principle, in practice it really doesn't, sorry.

[Stevedoz]

Hi
I just wanted to start by saying hi and have found the review and conversation here very helpful.
I currently own a Roland HP107 digi piano and am looking for something new and different. The havian 30 looks very interesting. One thing that surprises me is that I can't find much information about what people see as its main competitors.
I saw a video pitting it against the Yamaha Dgx 650, but with the big price difference I am not sure it is a good comparison.
I thought the likes of the kawai es8 or Roland fp80 would be more in the same market.
Anyway I wondered if anyone could say what other models they tried along with this, and what led them to buy the havian.
I am ideally after an 88 key weighted instrument, with nice pianos, lots of good sounds and plenty of fun backing tracks. I'm uk so the havian price is about right for me but could go a little higher.
Many thanks...

[Odanster]

I looked around for quite awhile. I was thinking of one of the Kawai digital pianos but they didn't have many sounds and the menu system was very limited. The price of the Yamaha CVP was just too much. I, too, wanted a real piano action with weighted keys and while the action on the Kawai was very good, probably better than the Havian, I liked the menu system and the sounds on the Havian better. The backing tracks are fun and varied, they sometimes have nice little touches that my previous keyboard (CVP 305) did not have. So, yes the backing tracks on the Havian have been fun to play along with, and it is easy to change how many of the tracks play.
Its not a perfect instrument but satisfies my playing level.
You may want to check out Pianomanchuck for his reviews of the new Casio CGP 700, which I considered but it doesn't have the extra features that the Havian has and its stand seems very unstable.
I have also found the keys on the Havian to be fairly quiet, something that cannot be said of the CGP700, and my Yamaha CVP 305 was getting noisy. You just have to find one in a shop and give it a go.

[Thoraldus]

The Havian does have an STS mode which is connected to the Performance menu selections. But the STS mode is not linked to changing variations (as it can be on a Yamaha CVP), you have to change to a different STS yourself when you change to another variation. I must admit it was a feature I liked on my previous CVP.

This feature has been removed from the PA300 and the Havian. I did find a reference to "STS MODE" in the MIDI command section in the Havian user manual, although I think that it must be a 'cut and paste' oversight. It would be interesting to see what happens if you sent a Program Change 96 event to the MIDI Command Channel though . (See page 687 - Style and Player Controls)

[Stevedoz]

I looked around for quite awhile. I was thinking of one of the Kawai digital pianos but they didn't have many sounds and the menu system was very limited. The price of the Yamaha CVP was just too much. I, too, wanted a real piano action with weighted keys and while the action on the Kawai was very good, probably better than the Havian, I liked the menu system and the sounds on the Havian better. The backing tracks are fun and varied, they sometimes have nice little touches that my previous keyboard (CVP 305) did not have. So, yes the backing tracks on the Havian have been fun to play along with, and it is easy to change how many of the tracks play.
Its not a perfect instrument but satisfies my playing level.
You may want to check out Pianomanchuck for his reviews of the new Casio CGP 700, which I considered but it doesn't have the extra features that the Havian has and its stand seems very unstable.
I have also found the keys on the Havian to be fairly quiet, something that cannot be said of the CGP700, and my Yamaha CVP 305 was getting noisy. You just have to find one in a shop and give it a go.

Thanks very much. Really leaning towards this one as soon as I can get the local place to get one in for me to try... Cheers..

[tkarlmann]

I cannot find a listing for the songs in the Havian 30. Is there such a list in a pdf file? Thanks!