Technics SX-P30

Extremely easy and portabe and overall just excellent. Wether I want in in my room or at a show it always fits right in and is setup in milliseconds.

Brilliant feel to the p30. I swap constantly between this and an upright and the only difference is that the p30 sounds better! Have to admit it doesnt have any features other than piano and a synth like sound, but a pianos all I wanted it for so it suits me to a tee.

Extremely realistic sound, especially through headphones its like playing a grand, its great.

Have to admit the 2nd to lowest key is abit sticky, possibly damaged by previous owner, but ive never even used it. Other than that ive never had a problem with it.

Yeah of course you could find a fault with any keyboard/piano if you looked close enough, but I have to say this things great. Wouldnt trade it for a piano since its so portable, and I'd chalenge you to find an electric that sounds, proforms and feels better than this one.

This really is about as simple as it gets, and that in itself is part of the SX-P30's charm. I love the way the very simple switches are hidden on the side of the board so that the keyboard itself is completely uncluttered. It feels more like a real instrument this way. There are only two official sounds and the piano is the main event. I bought this second hand with no manual and I can't imagine what is in it - the operations are so simple.
There is no onboard editing and the only other real option is a choice of reverb on or off. You can also tune the board with a simple dial.

The reverb sounds best to me on though I know a lot of players here disagree. I like it. It gives warmth and atmosphere and given the sample is a Steinway grand you kind of want to give the sound a bit of space and atmosphere. I'm sure you can program your own reverb if you are using this as a controller but I think the onboard sounds good. I haven't used this board as a midi controller so can't comment.
The main extra feature is the Fender Rhodes described by many other reviewers below. It's a hidden sound and is really a fantastic, growly sample. To get it, select electric organ, then turn on the board while holding down the top C key.
The action of the board is one of the main appeals. It feels really good and is nicely weighted, though it's a little bit heavy. Beautiful action though - a pleasure to play.

The piano is sensational. I haven't found a better digital sample even after all these years. Love the lower and higher register in particular - they sound incredibly real.
Hidden Rhodes is good.
Electric piano has a touch of the Celine Dion's but does the trick and sometimes you feel like taking it for a spin.

This thing (touch wood) feels indestructable. I bought it second hand and it feels rock solid. I'd definitely gig with no fear of trouble.

They are now no longer in existance as a manufacturer of boards ( I'm not even sure they exist at all. Luckily the machine is so reliable, there's no major requirement for them. Best source of info about the board is this site! You can buy the manual over the net if you want to but there's little need for it I would suspect.

I'd be pretty upset if I lost it; it's got such great character and sound - I'd be lucky to find another really.

Great to use! You quickly get the feel for the switches being out of sight. Iv'e never really bothered too much with the manual, just plug and play. Wouldn't bother with the electric sound, bit weak. Love the hidden Rhodes sound though, nice and growly and great for jazz solos. A chorus slider alongside the reverb slider might have been a handy edition.

I did a gig the other night with my trio and played on someones RD500 and was amazed at how much better my P30 is. The action on the P30 is great, very definitive not like the roland. Rolands action took me about half an hour to get used to and even then I only half got used to it.It seemed to me as if the keys weren't coming back to rest, or at least a playable position in time, playing very quickly was outa the question.

When I'm doing a solo jazz gig (I sing too) I tend to EQ the P30 with a fair bit of bottom end, this to me sounds great and very realistic. I wind the mids back to about 9 oclock. Also sounds good this way for classical. When it comes to playing rock and jazz with the band I tend to wind the tops up a bit and the bottom end off a bit. This gives me enuf attack and ability to be heard over the band.
Steinwaty samples are very good but the onboard demo tunes are a bit of a waste of time. I have used them to hear what the piano sounds like out the front but find that the sensetivity on them is much heavier than normal so it's hard to judge from that point of view. Simple reverb is good enuf to use on the job. Sounds great also through a reasonable quality set of headphones too, which is fantastic for practicing.

As far as reliability goes it's fine. Although when I turned it on to use it at a gig a cupla weeks ago it wouldn't work so I called someone in the know and because I hadn't used it for a while there was something inside which needed recharging so it had to sit for a while and it had probably only been a month. Bit of a freak out but the sound came back slowly, maybe a capacitor or something.

Never needed customer support.

I'd buy another one quickly if mine were broken or stolen. I also think that the piano sound is far better that that on the P50,. I used one a year ago at a jazz festival and found the sound very uninspiring and lacked quite alot in the middle. the sound on the P50 was also very thin. The P30 is much better, IMO,than the new clavinova.
I reckon that what would have been a great idea instead of the punsey sounding FM electric piano would have been the same steinway sample again but beefed up and processed for that 70's ( Elton and Billy Joel) style rock sound!!?
Much better than anything else.

As easy as it can be, only minus: controls hidden on the left side. Bought it as a used one, an anybody help me getting a manual?

cf other reviews, very good keyboard action

Piano is quite okay, E-Piano usable (bould I've heard far better ones), Rhodes (hidden) was one of the reasons I definitely bought it. Fourth sound(if you can call that a sound) if you hold the 2 central Eb keys while powering on - just a sine tone.

Bought it used from someone who had bought it as a used one as well. Lowest two keys are clamping but I don't need them. Anybody knows how to fix it?
Apart from that seems very reliable.

Could have needed it (cf problems with the two lowest keys, need of a manual), but the german distrubutor I found on www.technics.com seems two have gone bancrupt a year or so ago...
This I'd actually like to rate this "0".

Chose this one because I needed just a piano at a reasonable price without any rubbish noone really needs.

couldn't be easier.

polyphony
good enough for me. if you play heavy chopin and make heavy use of the pedal, you might need 64 voices.

key action
this is the reason I bought the piano. I compared against most of the other pianos discussed in the forum. my second choice would be yamaha p90. I agree with the reviewer who stated the P90 has a great action but is away from being natural; I'd also admit that the P30 keys feel a little loose.

I miss two things on the P30: a cover for the keys, and output for a soft pedal.

design
I like it. black. small. puristic. fits under my dektop.

Sound
Cannot comment on the epiano, hardly ever use it.
the steinway samples are really good. I like the idea of having only one piano sound, and not messing around with GP2,3,4 to find out you use GP1 only anyway.

I use it basically for home use, some party gigging once in a while. no drop outs in six years.

the music stand is not optimal constructed (not really an issue)

never used, n/a.

Considering the price/value, I'd buy it again, or take a closer look at yamaha P90. it is technically slightly more advanced.

best key action up to far higher price ranges, extrodinary steinway piano grand - 10.

Very easy to use since there's so little features. The only minus I will give is that all the controls are located on the left side of the machine, and they can't be seen directly. But since I'm familiar to it, I don't need to see the switches anymore to use them.

The P30 has two piano sounds, one acoustic and one FM-type electric, plus one hidden sound, rhodes piano. There's one on/off -reverb. Basic MIDI; in/out, no thru. Connections for headphones and sustain pedal, of course. And that's all, there's no more features.
The polyphony is only 32; could be more, but it does for me, although when playing big arpeggios etc. the limitations can be heard.
The P30 might be good for a beginning keyboardist who doesn't need any further features, for a professional pianist it may not be adequate.

The acoustic piano is quite good, not perfect, but with a good reverb it's perhaps useable on studio, too. The electric piano is useable. Rhodes piano, which for some reason has been "hidden" (check the previous reviews), is very good, although it's quite "hard" and slightly distorted. The onboard reverb isn't very good, but useable if there's no other. I don't use it since it has no adjustable parameters. The action is very good, maybe best that I've tried! It's a little softer than usually in digital pianos, but it works perfectly for me. I play both classical and jazz/fusion.

I bought mine used, and it feels a little worn when I compared it to a newer one, but it works perfectly. It's quite strongly built, and seems very reliable.

Haven't ever needed.

I bought mine because I needed a cheap digital piano with a good piano touch, and this one filled my needs. I've been having it for over a year now, and I'm quite satisfied with it. Sometimes I miss better piano sound, and I have planned to buy an extra piano module. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a cheap basic digital piano with good action.

The piano is plug-and-play. Ideal for students and professionals alike.

The polyphony hasn't caused a problem with me yet, and I've been playing "Duncan" for three years. The action is better than most acoustic pianos I've played. My only complaint about its features is the sounds. I wish there was a way to layer the crystal-clear electric piano with the mellow strike grand piano.

The velocity, aftertouch, and response are all amazing, except when using it as a controller. I find that I have to boost the volume on my sound module to compensate for the "weight" of the P30. Does work as a decent controller, but MUCH better as a grand piano.

Like I said, I've been playing this piano for three years. It has lasted me longer than any other piano I've purchased. The other great thing is it's almost expandable. Yes, I've probably voided my warranty, but I've already opened it up and switched out the red LED for a blue one (very simple procedure). I'm in the process now of installing a small GM sound module into it. I'm not going to condone pulling this thing apart, but I've done it before and it still works well. Bottom line? It's virtually indestructble! =)

The great thing about the piano is that not any store can sell them. Fortunately, I have a Technics dealer about 15 minutes away. I've never needed to, but I know I can bring it there and they'll fix it for me. And yes, they'll give me a loaner. They can advertise that simply because it's not going to break in the first place!

Out of all the equipment that I own, the P30 has the best touch, the best acoustic piano sound, its the lightest keyboard I have, it's small enough to stick anywhere, and it's ULTRA portable. Just buy it; you won't be disappointed. (To see a listing of all my gear owned, check out http://mdjohnson.info/inventory.html

Very simple. It's really only a piano sound (haven't even bothered w/ the hidden sounds). If you want more than the piano -- which is great, then keep looking.

32 polyphony. Would prefer 64, but 32 hasn't caused any problems. The action is very nice. A real piano feel. This was my main concern: the action and the piano sound. I'm very satisfied w/ both.

I play classical and jazz, mostly jazz. It's pretty sensitive to touch and responds well. Again, I'm quite satisfied w/ the keyboard.

It's pretty solid. I bought it used and didn't have a box for it. As I brought it home it got banged a few times and is totally fine. It's also pretty heavy.

Never used.

I would purchase the Technics again if I found the right price. I looked into Rolands and the other major brands while searching for the right piano for me when I ran into the Technics. It meets all of my demands: looks good, sounds good, feels good. I hope it lasts for years b/c I'll keep it for that long

I've had this for a couple of years now. The action is by far the best weighted keyboard I've ever tried; the Yamahas have a very annoying initial stiffness that makes playing with a light touch extremely difficult, whereas the Technics action is silky smooth.
If you want a decent master keyboard with a real piano feel, this is an excellent choice, though a bit heavy for gigging - but that's how it is, 88 weighted keys are obviously gonna weigh!

I have to say the bass end is really superb, just incredibly convincing.

minimal - but I don't mind that. Polyphony doesn't really seem to be a problem.

The piano sound is pretty good; there's one note (I think B above middle C from memory) that has a subtle timbral 'oddness' that makes it stick out in classical pieces sometimes; it sounds fine if you just hit each note one at a time but somehow in context it sticks out. I largely get round this by mixing in a second piano from a Roland module just to add a little richness to the sound.

Only use it at home; I'd be a little concerned that the slide switches on the side would be vulnerable if you weren't careful, but the side flanges do offer a fair amount of protection.

Oh, I'd be grief stricken if it were lost or stolen. I'd just go out and buy another Technics model with the same feel.

Easy to use
Piano - Good
E. Piano - Very Good
Rhodes - Average (hidden sound - press top key while powering on)
Organ - Not so good (hidden sound - press 2 central Eb Keys while powering on)

No expansion capabilities, great keyboard action, 32 voices polyphony
Efects - Only Reverb
Easy to carry
Good for the price you pay.

I use it with a Rolan Xv-5050 and it suits perfectly.

Never let's me down.

Never needed it

Whell if it were stolen i would buy another one but that doesn't mean i don't like it :)
If someone knows about other secret sound please share whith us here.