Korg IS35

best keyboard on the planet bar none...............reliable

all the features are user friendly...i never used the manual more than once...korg are very generous in their efforts to make this the ultimate gigging synth...

this keyboard can play anything and do anything......you can also set your own sounds taken from scratch or from preset....you dont need a computer with this keyboard...just imagination...and a wee bit of patience....some of the string sounds are stunning..and the drum selection fantastic......piano sounds the only thing thats only 99% but its so versatile you can mix two different piano sounds..and get what your looking for...the electric piano and vibes are amazing...

I'll never buy another keyboard...unless i get rich

Anything i've bought from Korg never fails or breaks...15 years of gigging...Korg are the Mike Tyson of musical gear...this keyboard is solid...

I wish I could delete all the crap preset arragements...and also would like to write my own backing sequences and save them as arragements...

I've owned this keyboard for almost two years and love it! The thing that sold me on this one was when the salesman hit the arrangement intro for "Soul Man"! Sounds just like the record!
Editing the patches isn't all that hard if you have the time to sit down and go through them. The manual didn't quite explain the way to get the Rotary effects (fast and slow), but I figured them out on my own.

My original instrument was the accordion, so I like the keys as opposed to the Korg models that have the Piano action. This comes in especially handy when playing an organ sound (sliding up and down).
I also like the fact that you can record songs to disk right from the keyboard. It has the MIDI capabilities, but I haven't really used them yet. I also like that you can plug a Microphone in the keyboard and Harmonize with yourself! Or you can plug in a guitar and use the built in effects.

The main instrument sound I was looking for was a sax and this has several great sounding saxes, not to mention brass and strings. The other features I wanted were Keyboard Velocity, Pitch Bend and Aftertouch. All work great.

I have not had a single problem with this keyboard and would love to get another one to keep at home. (I play at church and leave it there most of the time.)

I've not had to contact customer support yet.

I would like to have something very similar to this model if I ever need to replace this one. I think I got a good deal on this keyboard. I've been playing for almost 45 years. I love just about everything this keyboard has. I've heard other keyboards and the instrument sounds just weren't that good. I can select an arrangement and use the built in intros and come up with songs easily. I've heard Kursweil and several other brand name keyboards, but Korg has them beat.

For the most part, this is a very easy keyboard to use. When you turn it on, it automatically goes into arranger keyboard mode. If you want to change parameters, you usually have to go through several
pages on the display to find the parameter that you are looking for. There are some parameters, such as octave change and transpose, that have dedicated buttons. There is also a dedicated sustain button, and a dedicated auto-harmony button that is labeled "ensemble." There is a rather bulky manual for this board, but I have never needed to read it.

This keyboard has a polyphony of thirty-two. For the price I would have expected it to have sixty-four, but I really have not needed that much polyphony.
There are some basic effects, but they take time to implement. Some of the preset sounds have the effects already added. When I connected my Kaoss Pad to this instrument, I found that it was much easier and fun to experiment with different effects.
This keyboard has a disk drive that can accept style disks, and many style disks came with this keyboard. The IS35 has a full complement of MIDI ports including two MIDI ins.
The keyboard action is better than the action on Yamaha PSRs, and the keys feel more sturdy than similar keyboards made by Roland and Technics.
This instrument is loaded with a sixteen track sequencer, but I have never used it. I still find that a computer is much better for sequencing.

I have read many negative comments about Korgs piano sounds. The pianos on this keyboard are really not that bad. They are not the best, but they are usable. Some of the organ sounds are very good, and some of the brass and saxophone sounds are among the best that I have heard. The jazz and steel guitars are very good, and the ensemble strings are fine. The pads are typical Korg, so I like them very much.
The auto-accompaniment rhythms are very realistic and they include two intros, two endings, two fills, and four variations. The rhythms for jazz, latin, and country styles are very well written. I have to say that this keyboard is excellent for cocktail keyboard work. The built-in microphone jack enables you to add background vocals to your voice, although this makes a singer sound less accomplished to an educated listener.
The keyboard is touch sensitive, but not as responsive as some others. Still, it is more sturdy than most of its competition.

I have never had a problem with this instrument, and I don't believe that I ever will. When I use this board for "lounge" work, I have a Yamaha PSR740 for backup.

I have never called customer support.

I know that this keyboard is no longer made. If my IS35 ever quits, I will buy another Korg keyboard of the same ilk. At this time, such a keyboard would be the PA80.
This is an exceptional arranger keyboard. It far surpasses anything made by Casio, and it compares very well with similar instruments made by Yamaha, Roland, and Technics.
I would love to use this keyboard in the classroom, I teach general classroom music at the elementary level, but the size of the instrument is prohibitive. This keyboard takes up the entire back seat of my car when I bring it to a gig.
This is not an instrument for developing new sounds, or for tweaking presets, but it is a great tool for a lounge performer.