Korg SP-500

I'm adding to my review below on how to use the SP500 with a sequencer. I have Digital Performer 4. These things are not explained clearly in the manual. The SP500 has five sound banks (MSB = 0, LSB = 0,1,2,3,5) and one Drum Bank (MSB = 0, LSB = 4). The Drum Bank is standard GM issue with two new User Drum Sets loaded at the factory. Sound banks 0 and 1 have 128 sounds each. Sound bank 0 is GM. Sound Bank 1 is a set of patch for patch variations on the GM list, a slightly different guitar, a slightly different pad. Sound banks 2 and 3 have 64 sounds each. Sound bank 2 contains some patches with the same names found in the DP patch lists for ther Korg X3, the N364, and the i3. A few synth sounds in bank 1 also share names with the X3, N364, and i3 lists. Sound bank 3 is a user set, loaded at the factory. There are twelve sounds in bank 5, the beautiful Grand Pianos and "Melody" sax, trumpet, and violin. The "Melody" sounds seem to be more human. If you play the SP500 in accompaniment mode, all the voices will be recorded by your sequencer, if you assign the channels correctly. Channels 10 - 15 are used when accompanying yourself with a rhythm style. Channels 1 and 2 are used for the split or layered keyboard. That leaves the remaining channels free to add voices. The bad news is that I haven't found an easy way to transfer the Patch info from the SP500 to the sequencer. There is a built in recorder that will capture your performance and that can be fed into your sequencer. But if you play back the sequence with the SP500 in the same configuration, the song will not reproduce any patch changes you made while performing, switching leads fom piano to synth for example. So you have to enter them by hand. To do this select your rhythm style and copy it to the edit buffer. Then you can read off the names of all the patches used in channels 10 - 15. Insert those patch changes at the beginning of your MIDI data and switch to the DEMO mode. Voila! The tune plays back with the same voices. The mixing levels appear to be different between the DEMO and Accompaniment modes, so some additional tweaking may be necessary to get the same balance. I tried using an Edirol PCR 30 to send Bank and Program changes messages to the SP500. The SP500 only recognised Bank Change messages in the DEMO mode. That's why I used the DEMO mode to play back the MIDI data. The bad news is that the DEMO mode doesn't give information on the voices or channels on the LED display. Also the local switch needs to be on playing back recorded data. So although it is easy to get started playing, the MIDI functionality is harder to use effectively. But it's there.

The on board recorder does capture the performance, but I can't seem to get it to write to an external file. Also the file is not a standard midi file. The Auto Accompaniment is very nice, if you like that sort of thing. I gave it high marks in my previous review. The keyboard fells great, although the Touch setting is peculiar. Also when playing the SP500 from an external keyboard, the touch/timbre button sems to be disengaged. Also, Aftertouch is not transmitted, making the SP500 a poor choice for a MIDI controller.

I think that the SP500 "does not cut thru the mix" because the sounds seem to be designed to fit with the Auto Accompaniment, which is on the soft side. There are some excellent soft rhythm styles that I can't find on my Motif Rack, nor my RD 700. The Electric Pianos, which sound thin by themselves, blend nicely with the soft accompaniment. The walking bass, big band, and bossa nova sytles are very well executed. There are four bass and drum variations per style that can also work as foundations for more more agressive sounds found on othe rmodules. There are plenty of hard driving shuffle pop, blues and rock bass and drum patterns, but the rest of the voices in the styles are very laid back. This is not a lead instrument for a hard rock band, but will do nicely for school, church or lounge style jazz.

It solid, but too pretty. It would be best kept set up in one place. Not a road warrior.

The Korg site has some info, but not much. I never tried to get a human response.

This is an easy listening machine for easy listening music. The piano sounds are unique. The rhythm styles supplement those found on the modern sound modules. As a practice instrument it is unbeatable. You can amuse yourself for hours playing along with the Auto accompaniment. I use it for the rhythm styles for 70's - 80's style singer/songwriter material and for lounge style jazz. It occupies a small, but valuable niche in my home studio.

Definitely agree with the previous review, the Piano sound can be very good, but you have to configure it. The factory setting is very basic, and piano sound is quite muddy (for me). To get a nicer piano sound (to my preference), the easiest way is to turn on the Demo mode and play it like normal. Otherwise, this is what I normall do: 1) Put the touch value to 'Light 1' or 'Light 2' 2) Change the instrument frequency, default is 440 Hz, but something higher between 442-444Hz makes it sound more natural like a piano. Do this by going into functions/page1 3)If you're happy with it, go to functions/page7 and save it so next time you turn on, the values of Touch and Frequency is saved. 4) Play around with the Effects, choose a combination of Chorus and Reverb that's best for your music style and playing environment. For mysefl, I like a natural piano sound so I prefer Reverb/Hall set @ 65 and Chorus/Flanger1 set @ 20.

It's an excellent keyboard, but only for people who know. The SP500 requires a bit of knowledge to configure it. It doesn't good with factory preset, but once you get the right touch control, tune the frequency in function/page1 (the factory value is 440 Hz, but this is a bit muddy for me, so I tuned it to 444 Hz to have a more crisp and natural piano sound). Once you're happy with settings, should save it to the memory in function/page7 so next time you turn it on, these settings will be preserved.

Controls are very well laid out, I could use it right away without menu. Buttons with lights are very handy and nice to look at.

Features are enough for my need, all I ever need, such as good piano-like weighted keys and auto accompainment styles. It's a bargain at the price I paid for with recording and user-adjustable styles and programs.

I tried the Yamaha P120 and Roland FP2, but I rather like the KORG 'Grand Piano 1' sound. It's also important for those who are not familiar with Sp500, you should try the 'Touch' settings to get the expressiveness to your preference, I prefer 'light2' without Amp and 'light1' with Amp . The piano sound in the SP500 is crisp and bright compared to the P120 and FP2, but it's only my personal reference.

Very good built-quality, no plastic, just Oak-like wood and aluminium, looks very good, in fact it's the best looking keyboard for my taste.

I don't think I ever need it

It's the perfect keyboard for me as I need a keyboard with auto accompainment styles to play for my church's choir, but also want a piano-like weighted keys to practice classical piano. The sound is more than adequate for me, its 'Grand Piano 1' sounds even more natural than the more expensive Roland KR series. But again, it's my personal choice. When looking for a keyboard, one should look at the one that's suitable, not the brand. Roland, Yamaha, Korg and others all make good products, just choose the one that is best suited for you. Korg makes very affordable products and the SP500 is proof, it's priced at the same level as the Yamaha P120 and Roland FP2, but the auto styles and programs, which were taken from more professional products such as the Triton, are excellent features.

I was able to figure out the basics of layering, splitting and changing voices while in the store trying it out. However, I never could get the piano to sound like the demo songs until I read the manual. It was clearly written and unlocked the full potential of this fine instrument. All the info is clearly presented on the small display.

I use this keyboard a a practice tool. The keyboard action is more than adequate for a true piano feel. The two great features are ensamble play and auto accompaniament. The keyboard will sense chord changes and change the bass and rhythm accordingly. By spliiting the keyboard and using the touch screen interface to switch and swap voices, you can play lead against comped chord with three more voices plus bass and drums behind you. Endless pleasure! It is possible to record the performance, and torecord your own rhythm patterns for new accompaniaments. The keyboard can be used as a multi-timbral tone generator via MIDI. It's not a Triton and not a Karma. It's somewhere in between

There is a large selection of voices. There are about a dozen or so that I realy like, one or two in each caregory. Some voices are sort of worthless, however. This would be a great instrument for church, school or a one-man-band gig at the mall. I bought this instrument for its sustain. The chords really ring. I agree with the other comments on the touch control affecting the timbre.

I only use it at home. But the quality is very solid

I just use the Korg website for info.

I think it is worth the price, especially if you can use the auto-accompaniament features. I've had this for about two years. I use it for practice. I love the sustain. My main piano is a Roland RD 700. The SP500 saves me some wear on tear on my RD 700. I think this a good extra keyboard, not a primary keyboard. It is a lot of fun, though, once you read the manual and get into it. Since this an extra keyboard, I would not replace it if disappeared.

Presets are not on the same level as other things out there. I completely agree with the reviewer that said the piano sound is muddy and sounds like a refurbished digital piano. I tried editing the piano sound for about two weeks and finally realized it shouldn't be that hard to get a playbale sound. After reading various reviews (magazines and Internet) and speaking with other keyboardist in forums, I realized I would never get the sound I wanted. What shocked me is how many people in Korg Forums told me they use Yamaha or Roland products for accoustical sounds and recommended I do the same. As a whole I was mostly disappointed with the other preset sounds sounds as well.

I was shocked that I was having issues with the polyphony when I was playing. I personally play classical music and I have never had an instrument where the sound died because of polyphony. What a huge disappoinment. It is midi compatible but after all my other disappointments the other features didn't matter.

There are so many better sound options that come to mind. The Yamaha P250 would be an ideal choice for anyone who wants to play a real instrument in this category. I would also recommend the Yamaha S90 first and the Roland XV 88 second as option to people considering this as a purchase. The action of the SP500 is not anywhere near the level of many of its competitors. The action reminds me of the old digital hybrid pianos donated to our high school years ago. Same crappy feel.

It's built with plastics, enough said

Mixed bag here. I owned several Korg instruments over the years. Overall they are better than most but still I have had my problems. I did inquire about possibilities regarding the SP500 but with no luck.

I recently started a studio. The SP 500 was given to me by another studio since they got it free from Korg. (Good write off!) They didn't like it and said it went unused since they had better options for musicians. The same is true for me and I only have a few other keyboard options. One guy was actually going to use it, but his own band mate told him to use the Yamaha S90 instead. He played both and used the Yamaha in the end. I would never purchase this and I can't imagine why anyone else would either with so many better options out there. I guess to each his/her own.

As a software IT analyst - SP-500's soft is good enough. I've found only one bug after sinth' experience - 1 and 2-nd octaves become duplicated.
Some note about famous mess in USER program.
It should be used to collect your favorite sound in desired order. But it already has some sounds and this fact can confused (and confuses really) You. But these factory sounds just fills USER store not to be empty. You can rewrite it by your's from any other programs (and sounds from this USER program too !).

I did not find any sound lost.
Action is good, "dry", but a little bit knocking.
Roland's RD-700 in action is more "wet and liquid - viscous".
Recorder is great. Don't forget, it has three pages in customazing.

Some significant note about PIANO SOUND in Korg SP-500 !
You should estimate PIANO sound with TOUCH CONTROL in FIX position. You'll feel the real piano sound. The reason is that Korg's touch velocity acton mode does not change the volume of sound, but CHANGE the TEMBRE (espessially for treble frequency). As a result in NORMAL TOUCH mode You hear a weak and unrich piano sound. I use sp-500 in LIGHT-2 or in FIX mode. For some reason Korg made touch control wrong enough - it requieres to action heavily enough.
The most beatiful PIANO sounds for me - GrandPiano-1 (deep and rich sound), GentlePiano is the same as GP-1, Piano-2 (thin, slim sound), and 90'Piano. Layered with AnalogPad (String Group) - my lovely sound.

I think that delicate aluminium body can be easy scrathed.
The same is about labels, unprotected by lacquer.
This tender thing is not for horrible gigs, but for home.

As You can agree, every owner praises his "nice thing".
I've choosed SP-500 after 3 months of quest for my "ideal" imagination. I did'nt see any alternative to be own instead of.
I've been choosing between Roland RD-700 and SP-500.
I wish it could:
1) "remember" current settings and restore it after turn on.
2) TOUCH control became more lighter and not to supress PIANO's treble tembre while light actioned.
3) has one more HeadPhones connector at rear side (not to be broken at front panel)
4) surface on aluminium body to be lacqeured

I am going ot make this short and sweet. Piano sound is muddy and almost unusable. It sounds like it was sampled from a reconditioned casio digital piano. The action is horrible and dead. As any sane person will tell you and the keyboard sales will back up almost anything is better than a Korg when it comes to a piano sound. I love my Triton Studio but when I need a piano I have to admit I go to the best sampled piano sound of all, Yamaha. As much as I hate to admit it, I make a living off my music and when it comes to sound I have to have the best. That why I use Yamaha for almost all my accoustical sounds.

Very simple to use. Sounds can be accessed via touch screen, rotary dial or program group buttons. For some reason, some of the sounds have been randomly put in the USER program rather than in the logical location with other related samples. Owner's manual is only fair. It has that "translated from Japanese" sense to it and I still haven't figured out how to save custom set-ups (or if it can indeed be done). There is essentially NO editing of patches, not even EQing. Do not get this instrument if you want to tweak your sounds on the keyboard.

The SP-500 has 64 note polyphony. This seems to be more than adequate. The "Real Weighted Hammer Action 2" plays very much like a real piano. Keyboard split and layering are both easy to use (but can't be used at the same time).The built in effects and reverbs are very satisfactory and are very simple to use. The "rotary speaker" effect is disappointing. There are no expansion capabilties. The SP-500 has MIDI in and out. There is an onboard recorder that appears fairly simple to use. Multitrack recording up to five tracks is possible. There is six levels of touch control. One of the best features is that it weighs only 43 pounds.

I compared side by side Korg, Roland, Yamaha and Kurzweil stage pianos. I prefered the piano sound and touch of the Korg. The "grandpiano1" sounds best via headphones, but the "piano2" is a nice, very bright sound that sounds better amplified and "cuts" through very well playing with guitar, bass and drums. There is a HUGE variety of sounds (412). One disappointment is the extreme variation in the quality of the various sounds. For example, the "melody tenor" is a beautiful expessive jazzy sax, but the french horns are very fake sounding.

The only problem I have had is a broken headphone output that only happened because I left the headphones plugged in and stepped on the cable.

Overall a good value compared to its competitors. I would probably buy this keyboard again but would look at new alternatives.

I have been playing 35 years. I primarily play jazz and blues. My other gear is a pair of Mackie SRM-450s and a Mackie 1202 VLZ PRO mixer.

Great variety of sounds. I primarily use the piano, EP, and organ sounds. I wish it could save some of my set-ups (e.g. I use the keyboard split to set up a B3 two manual organ) so that I could not have to go through 3-4 steps every time.

pretty easy but not as efficient like i30 that has sliders or dedicated buttons for realtime control... everything has to use touchview screen and value dial or buttons.

64 polyphony. the SP-500 is very2 beautifully made (made in japan)looks charming and solid, the key action is the same with TRITON STUDIO (graded hammer), touchview interface and all i can say is it has a very superb hardware... to bad it doesn't have pitch bend... it doesnt have any media storage or any kind of dump facility which will be limiting for some user...

now come with my main concern.... the sounds and software interface... first of all it has accompaniment feature, its styles are the same like in the i30... the only difference is it has some pianist styles... very nice but nothing to write home about... it doesnt have variation 1-4 buttons so u got to select it with value button and touch screen... the mixer isnt intuitive like the i30 couse u got to select it with touchview and value dial.

the 500 has user area but the stupid thing is the only parameter u can edit in arrangement or program is... ITS NAME!!! my goodness!!! dont be fooled by its adds... itsn't programable at all!!!! if you're a preset guy you wont care but if you're into programing and tweaking sounds and styles like me-- FORGET THIS BOARD!!!!!

now... the main problem... i hate it so much even though God knows how much i try really hard to love it... the main stereo grandpiano actually IMHO taken from the same accoustic piano KORG use for i30 and SP-200 but even though they sound quite similar they dont actually the same since they have different multisample zone and filtered differently. i30 have a mono sample piano and the SP-200 and 500 use stereo sampling piano... the SP-500 only have 1 stereo piano program called "grandpiano1" it sounds very nice if you're gonna play pop or classical music, but if you need another piano thats aggresive& bright for cut thru the mix piano like me-- i think you'll be dissapointed. no piano sound thats bright enough for rock or aggresive enough in the 500 (exclude the M1 piano in it that sounds much worse than the original)... i much prefer SP-200 bright piano and all its piano program... they (the piano sounds in sp-200) have better stereo imaging (the sp-500 stereo grand is so narrow that it almost sounds like a mono grand), cleaner sounding (the sp-500 is a bit hissy if you really bang the keys, and react to my touch better even though the sp-200 key action is aint graded like the 500. the stupid things in 500 is some of its piano sounds is very identical... i mean IDENTICAL!, the only difference is its name(grandpiano2 and piano1)... and for me only the main piano is useable (but not for all purpose)...
the electric piano is very ugly, its taken from some of the i30 e.p. collection but they only included a few of them and they put the ugly one... they sounds ugly becouse in sp-500 all the program dont have its own effect, the 500 use 2 master effect setting for all the program and arrangent!!! (remember i5S?) so its very hard for its program to sound charming like the i30 since all of them will be naked, maybe only got a little chorus or reverb from the global master effects.now... the main problem... i hate it so much even though God knows how much i try really hard to love it... the main stereo grandpiano actually IMHO taken from the same accoustic piano KORG use for i30 and SP-200 but even though they sound quite similar they dont actually the same since they have different multisample zone and filtered differently. i30 have a mono sample piano and the SP-200 and 500 use stereo sampling piano... the SP-500 only have 1 stereo piano program called "grandpiano1" it sounds very nice if you're gonna play pop or classical music, but if you need aggresive, bright and cut thru the mix piano like me-- i think you'll be dissapointed. no piano sound thats bright enough for rock or aggresive enough in the 500 (exclude the M1 piano in it that sounds much worse than the original)... i much prefer SP-200 bright piano and all its piano program... they (the piano sounds in sp-200) have better stereo imaging (the sp-500 stereo grand is so narrow that it almost sounds like a mono grand), cleaner sounding (the sp-500 is a bit hissy if you really bang the keys, and react to my touch better even though the sp-200 key action is aint graded like the 500. the stupid things in 500 is some of its piano sounds is very identical... imeand IDENTICAL!, the only difference is its name... and for me only one is useable...
the electric piano is very ugly, its taken from some of the i30 e.p. collection but they only included a few of them and they put the ugly one... they sounds ugly becouse in sp-500 all the program dont have its own effect, the 500 use 2 master effect setting for all the program and arrangent!!! (remember i5S?) so its very hard for its program to sound charming like the i30 since all of them will be naked, maybe only got alittle chorus or reverb.
now... the main problem... i hate it so much even though God knows how much i try really hard to love it... the main stereo grandpiano actually IMHO taken from the same accoustic piano KORG use for i30 and SP-200 but even though they sound quite similar they dont actually the

very2 nice building quality and great looks... solid like a tank.

the only thing i love about the sp-500 is its look and building quality.... at last after 3 days heavy using and so many hours and sleeples nights i spent infront of it-- i sell the 500 today and keep the SP-200 that i thought i gonna sell to be replaced by the 500 instead... now after using the 500 i realise how good the sp-200 is-- for digital piano purpose... so i'm using the 200 not becouse its cheaper or simpler but becouse i prefer it and choose to use it.. i might be biased couse i've been using the 200 for several months and beginning to love its unique sound character =)

ps: there's no such thing as return policy in my country and i'm one of the first buyer and cant try it first since no unit is displayed for demoing or try... i order one becouse i trust KORG since i've been using (or used) M1, O1/w, X2, TRINITY, i3, i30, X5D and SP-200 with fully satisfaction... (i'm also owning Roland FANTOM, XV-5050, D-50, emu proformance1+ for now) to bad this one really let me down. but dont trust my oppinion guys, the 500 may work for some fellows that need its accompaniment (great ones like in i series), key action, main piano sounds and great looks... =)