Korg SP500 vs. Yamaha P120

[Mike Steen]

Since April I have been saving up to purchase an upgrade to my Yamaha DGX
500 keyboard. I have used it for a year now to learn piano and notereading
skills, but I believe the time is near for me to upgrade to an authentic
digital piano with a more realistic keyboard feel.
I've narrowed my choices down (so far) to the Yamaha P120 and the new Korg
SP500. Though I've only played the Yamaha in the showroom, the reviews I've
read online seem to highly praise the Korg. In fact, most reviewers have
been hard put to praise it enough. By contrast, though everyone here "loves"
the Yamaha, that mysterious ringing sound that everyone mentions has me
worried.
Anyway, the choice comes down to this: Spend $1200 for the Yamaha or $1500
for the Korg. At this point, the price difference is negligible for me; I
simply want the best bang for the buck. OTH, going much over $1500 isn't
going to work either.
Thanks for your input.

[Marc Sabatella]

I haven't seen the newest Korg, but I liked the previous models quite a
lot - at least as much as the Yamahas.

--------------
Marc Sabatella
***@outsideshore.com

The Outside Shore
Music, art, & educational materials:
http://www.outsideshore.com/

[Brian]

It'll be interesting to see what the follow-up posts look like, I just got
an sp500 as a first keyboard. I already play another instrument and knew the
importance of 88 weighted keys.

Brian

Post by Mike Steen
Since April I have been saving up to purchase an upgrade to my Yamaha DGX
500 keyboard. I have used it for a year now to learn piano and notereading
skills, but I believe the time is near for me to upgrade to an authentic
digital piano with a more realistic keyboard feel.
I've narrowed my choices down (so far) to the Yamaha P120 and the new Korg
SP500. Though I've only played the Yamaha in the showroom, the reviews I've
read online seem to highly praise the Korg. In fact, most reviewers have
been hard put to praise it enough. By contrast, though everyone here "loves"
the Yamaha, that mysterious ringing sound that everyone mentions has me
worried.
Anyway, the choice comes down to this: Spend $1200 for the Yamaha or $1500
for the Korg. At this point, the price difference is negligible for me; I
simply want the best bang for the buck. OTH, going much over $1500 isn't
going to work either.
Thanks for your input.

[Mike Steen]

Post by Brian
It'll be interesting to see what the follow-up posts look like, I just got
an sp500 as a first keyboard. I already play another instrument and knew the
importance of 88 weighted keys.
Brian

Great, then maybe you can tell me a few things.
1) Any unusual ringing or metallic sounds?
2) How's the touch adjustment? Does it actually affect the feel of the keys
or only the volume when they're struck?
3) What do you think of the piano sound? How about the other voices? How
many does it have?
4) What's the overall feel? Is it a substantial and solidly built
instrument, or does it have some flimsy parts (aka a masonite bottom panel?
5) Are there built-in speakers? If so, have they got decent volume and
timbre, or would you recommend headphones/amplifier?
6) Anything else you care to add.
Thanks a lot.
Mike

[Brian]

Product page http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?A_PROD_NO=SP500

Manual http://www.korg.com/downloads/pdf/SP500_E1.pdf

More reviews http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Korg/SP-500-01.html

Here's my had it for 1 week take.

There are no unusual sounds.

Re the keys it definitely is firmer in the lower registers. Adjusting the
touch introduces a slight firmness variance, it is not that large. There
are 6 settings, 5 degrees of touch and a 6th that disables weightedness
completely, it is so friggin loud that way.

I like the piano1 sound a lot, there are several sounds, divided up into
about 10 or so categories, each category has 5-7 pages of 6 sounds each.
Altogether there's thirty something pages of 6 sounds per page. The
keyboard can be split, there are percussion sounds. There church/worship
organ and ah choir sounds are really fine, several of these sounds are
pretty good, as expected the synth sounds are pretty good as well. I play
it now through a decent bass amp, I'm looking forward to piping it through
better gear eventually.

It does seem pretty solid, it does have a large wall wart that may be a
detriment if you tour with it.
There are no speakers built in, there's separate left and right out 1/4 inch
jacks in the back, as well as midi in and out, and a pedal. It sounds
pretty good through my sennheiser 280s.

It has 2 headphone jacks on the front, so playing with someone, perhaps a
teacher is certainly possible.

Brian

Post by Mike Steen

Post by Brian
It'll be interesting to see what the follow-up posts look like, I just got
an sp500 as a first keyboard. I already play another instrument and knew

the

Post by Brian
importance of 88 weighted keys.
Brian

Great, then maybe you can tell me a few things.
1) Any unusual ringing or metallic sounds?
2) How's the touch adjustment? Does it actually affect the feel of the keys
or only the volume when they're struck?
3) What do you think of the piano sound? How about the other voices? How
many does it have?
4) What's the overall feel? Is it a substantial and solidly built
instrument, or does it have some flimsy parts (aka a masonite bottom panel?
5) Are there built-in speakers? If so, have they got decent volume and
timbre, or would you recommend headphones/amplifier?
6) Anything else you care to add.
Thanks a lot.
Mike

[Gary Rimar]

Post by Mike Steen
Since April I have been saving up to purchase an upgrade to my Yamaha DGX
500 keyboard. I have used it for a year now to learn piano and notereading
skills, but I believe the time is near for me to upgrade to an authentic
digital piano with a more realistic keyboard feel.
I've narrowed my choices down (so far) to the Yamaha P120 and the new Korg
SP500. Though I've only played the Yamaha in the showroom, the reviews I've
read online seem to highly praise the Korg. In fact, most reviewers have
been hard put to praise it enough. By contrast, though everyone here "loves"
the Yamaha, that mysterious ringing sound that everyone mentions has me
worried.
Anyway, the choice comes down to this: Spend $1200 for the Yamaha or $1500
for the Korg. At this point, the price difference is negligible for me; I
simply want the best bang for the buck. OTH, going much over $1500 isn't
going to work either.
Thanks for your input.

You really have to try both, preferably back to back, to decide what is
going to work best for you.

[dbcooper]

I'm still waffling between various digital piano/keyboard models
trying to decide.

I tried several of the Korg models, don't recall is the SP500 was one
of them or not, certainly tried some of the more expensive ($3700
range) korgs. Sound was fine, but the keyboards all had a kind of
mushy feel.

Roland keyboards are too bouncy.

Yamaha keyboard is just right.

Sheesh, I feel like I'm reading out a kids book...

Anyway, the "feel" of the keyboard is obviously a very personal
choice, and I suspect that if you like one you won't like the other
two.

Good luck-

Post by Mike Steen
Since April I have been saving up to purchase an upgrade to my Yamaha DGX
500 keyboard. I have used it for a year now to learn piano and notereading
skills, but I believe the time is near for me to upgrade to an authentic
digital piano with a more realistic keyboard feel.
I've narrowed my choices down (so far) to the Yamaha P120 and the new Korg
SP500. Though I've only played the Yamaha in the showroom, the reviews I've
read online seem to highly praise the Korg. In fact, most reviewers have
been hard put to praise it enough. By contrast, though everyone here "loves"
the Yamaha, that mysterious ringing sound that everyone mentions has me
worried.
Anyway, the choice comes down to this: Spend $1200 for the Yamaha or $1500
for the Korg. At this point, the price difference is negligible for me; I
simply want the best bang for the buck. OTH, going much over $1500 isn't
going to work either.
Thanks for your input.