Bought a Korg SV-1 88 key

[Boris the Blade]

I'll be honest. I'm not too thrilled with it. I wanted something with a different action than my Nord Electro 3 since I can't really afford the Hammer action electro 3 or any of their stage pianos lol.

 

The E pianos on the SV-1 do sound better than my electro 3, but to me thats all this keyboard has going for it. The E pianos on the nord arent too shabby, and the acoustic pianos sound worlds better on the electro 3. The organs are quite worthless in my opinion on the SV-1.

 

I almost chose the SV-1 a while back over the Nord but I am definitely glad I didn't.

 

That is all.

[AnotherScott]

There are some update packs on the Korg web site that you can download into the SV-1 which will make some improvements to it.

[Needmorebass]

Definitely try the acoustic pianos of SoundPack 2, huge improvement. There are 3 soundpacks total, Factory, SoundPack 1, and SoundPack 2. I went through all three and chose the best from each to make my own soundpack. The SV-1 is definietly limited, but what it does it does well.

 

I also use it as a controller for Kurz PC361 and the action is superb.

[Boris the Blade]

I just added Sound pack 2. I gotta say the e pianos are pretty damn impressive. I still don't care for the organ or acoustic pianos. My nord is still superior when it comes to the organs and acoustic pianos. But the e pianos on the sv-1 are definitely way better. Still not sure if that is enough for me to want to keep it. haha. I guess I will see.

[AnotherScott]

 

I just added Sound pack 2. I gotta say the e pianos are pretty damn impressive. I still don't care for the organ or acoustic pianos. My nord is still superior when it comes to the organs and acoustic pianos. But the e pianos on the sv-1 are definitely way better.

 

I agree with all that. But for a weighted controller for your E3, it's pretty nice, both because it also gives you better EPs, and also because, even though the piano is not nearly as nice as Nord's, it at least give you *some* piano you can play while you're using the Nord itself for organ (or vice versa). If you don't care so much about having those EPs, though, you could get most of the same benefit from a cheaper board like a Yamaha P95/P155/CP33, Casio PX3, Korg SP170/SP250. Many of those are lighter, too. But it's also a matter of how you like the feel of the keys. (I think the SP250 has the same action as the SV1, though.)

[Needmorebass]

 

I just added Sound pack 2. I gotta say the e pianos are pretty damn impressive. I still don't care for the organ or acoustic pianos. My nord is still superior when it comes to the organs and acoustic pianos. But the e pianos on the sv-1 are definitely way better. Still not sure if that is enough for me to want to keep it. haha. I guess I will see.

 

 

You won't get an argument from anybody about the organs, but there a couple in SoundPack 1 that aren't bad. Personally I think the AP's in SoundPack 2 are better than the EP's.

 

I went through all of the Rhodes patches and turned off all effects and EQ and listened for the ones that had the best base sound to work from, then built my own custom Rhodes patches from there.

[Needmorebass]

 

If you don't care so much about having those EPs, though, you could get most of the same benefit from a cheaper board like a Yamaha P95/P155/CP33, Casio PX3, Korg SP170/SP250. Many of those are lighter, too. But it's also a matter of how you like the feel of the keys. (I think the SP250 has the same action as the SV1, though.)

 

 

The SP250 does have the same action, but there is more variation control on the SV-1 onboard and even more with the editor.

[Boris the Blade]

It is nice to have 2 keyboards with 2 different types of action. I love the organs on my Electro 3 but weighted keys for organ just wouldn't work for me if I had got the hammer action E3. Semi weighted is nice, and the semi weighted keys are decent for the piano on the E3. If I do decide to keep the SV1 it would strictly be for the EP's and the Electro would be for everything else. Maybe the AP's will just be something I will get used to eventually on the SV1. I did want something with weighted keys anyways. Preferably for pianos but the Nord Stage Piano is too expensive.

[AnotherScott]

 

If I do decide to keep the SV1 it would strictly be for the EP's and the Electro would be for everything else. Maybe the AP's will just be something I will get used to eventually on the SV1. I did want something with weighted keys anyways. Preferably for pianos

 

You can play the Nord's piano from the SV1's weighted action. That's actually what I thought was the goal in the first place! The fact that the SV1 has good EPs of its own is just a bonus. The only time I would use the SV1 to play its own piano sound would be if you're simultaneously using the Nord for organ (or some other sound).

 

It's a little awkward, because neither the Electro 3 nor the SV1 are terribly flexible in their MIDI parameters, though. You may be better off with something like a PX3 because you can create MIDI presets, which would make it much easier to switch between using your weighted board for either its own sounds or to trigger the Nord piano sound, without worrying about how to stop the weighted board from triggering the Nord when you don't want it to (like when you may want to play an internal sound on the weighted board while playing organ on the Nord, at the same time). I think the CP33 may offer equivalent functionality there. Also, the Kurzweil SP4-8, and the Yamaha MOX8 will let you do these kinds of things. The Kurzweil, in particular, has some really nice EPs, too, IMO. Again, a big variable could be how you like the actions.

[Boris the Blade]

Lol well what i actually wanted was something with weighted keys that I would do piano parts on and the nord would be strictly for organ. I came across the SV1 for fairly cheap so I didn't want to pass it up. It was a keyboard I had considered in the past too before I bought the nord. The EP's on the SV1 are great so that is definitely a bonus as well. So how would i go about controlling the nords piano w/ the SV1??? O_o I'd want to experiment with it. Would rather figure something out than to sell it and end up buying something else

[AnotherScott]

 

So how would i go about controlling the nords piano w/ the SV1???

 

Run a MIDI cable from the SV1's MIDI OUT connector the the Nord's MIDI IN connector. If you're never going to actually have to play both boards at the same time with different sounds, you're probably done. Use the boards' volume controls (or volume pedals, or mixer faders) so that you only hear the sound you want when playing the SV1 (which will vary, depending on whether you're using the SV1 to play a Nord piano sound, or using it to play one of its own EP sounds). You can get fancier, but for your purposes, it may be this simple.

[Boris the Blade]

cool thanks i will try this out!

[Needmorebass]

 

Run a MIDI cable from the SV1's MIDI OUT connector the the Nord's MIDI IN connector. If you're never going to actually have to play both boards at the same time with different sounds, you're probably done. Use the boards' volume controls (or volume pedals, or mixer faders) so that you only hear the sound you want when playing the SV1 (which will vary, depending on whether you're using the SV1 to play a Nord piano sound, or using it to play one of its own EP sounds). You can get fancier, but for your purposes, it may be this simple.

 

 

There's a button on the front panel of the SV-1 labeled "Local Off", push that to turn off the SV-1 sounds and hear only the Nord.

[AnotherScott]

 

There's a button on the front panel of the SV-1 labeled "Local Off", push that to turn off the SV-1 sounds and hear only the Nord.

 

Yup, that could be handy. And I suppose you might be able to create an easily accessible organ preset on the E3 with all drawbars at zero to get a comparable kind of "mute" button for when you want to be playing the SV1 without hearing the Nord playing as well, which might be more handy than a volume knob/pedal/fader.

 

EDIT: also, if you want to be able to pick different sounds on the front panel of the SV1 and not have the Nord change to different sounds as well, you'll want to go to the MIDI menu on the Nord and set Program Change to Off.

[fingersg]

It seems to me that all of this is moot because the electro is not multi-timbral!!

That functionality was saved for the stage series.

[Boris the Blade]

thanks for the extra info guys!

 

if i could afford a nord stage piano then i would buy one. but i cannot

[AnotherScott]

 

It seems to me that all of this is moot because the electro is not multi-timbral!!

 

The fact that the Electro is not multi-timbral is exactly why I've made some of the suggestions that I did. It's not moot at all. It is the very reason why it's worth having "acceptable" sounds in the 2nd keyboard, even if it's primarily going to be used to trigger the piano sound in the Nord. As I mentioned, you probably wouldn't normally want to play the SV1's acoustic piano sound if you could be using it to trigger one of the Nord pianos sounds, but it's nice to have it as a "fallback" in case you want to play a piano part while you are playing organ on the Nord, because the Nord is not multitimbral.

[Needmorebass]

Forgot to mention that if you go into SV-1 Editor and change the mid freq in the EQ it makes a world of difference on the piano sounds. They come set around 800hz and I bumped mine up to around 4.0khz. You have to change each piano sound individually.

[Boris the Blade]

thanks ill try that too

[Boris the Blade]

Ok now im starting to really really like this thing. After {censored}ing around with the effects and what not ive come up with so much crap. I've even come to like some of the organs on it. Definitely happy with it!

[Needmorebass]

 

Ok now im starting to really really like this thing. After {censored}ing around with the effects and what not ive come up with so much crap. I've even come to like some of the organs on it. Definitely happy with it!

 

 

 

How about the pianos, any luck with those?

 

As I mentioned earlier, I went through every Rhodes preset and turned off all EQ and effects to find the best base sound to work from as they were all different. My favoites are Tines EP/amp from the factory presets and Rockin EP from SoundPack 2. With these base sounds you can configure the best Rhodes EP's IMO. The way I have them configured now are nothing like the original presets and I absolutely love the the way they sound. I don't use the amp modeling at all, very little if any EQ(it's usually off) and a minimal amount of either spring or plate reverb. I have to use the Editor to get the spring reverb down where I like it. Then add whatever effects I want.

 

There are a couple more base Rhodes sounds that are good also, but I don't remember them and I'll have to look them up.

[Boris the Blade]

I haven't done anything to the pianos yet. I'm wanting to get really comfortable with the keyboard first before i begin editing anything so far i'm digging what i hear with the EP's but if there is room for improvement I'll start exploring. I'll start working on the AP's tomorrow though

[Needmorebass]

I haven't done anything to the pianos yet. I'm wanting to get really comfortable with the keyboard first before i begin editing anything so far i'm digging what i hear with the EP's but if there is room for improvement I'll start exploring. I'll start working on the AP's tomorrow though

 

I recommend concentrating on only Grand Pianos 2A and 2B. Use the Room delay and I prefer turning the EQ off.

[pogo97]

My piano tuner has an SV-1. He was originally unhappy with the stretching of the tuning. He edited that and is now much happier.

[Needmorebass]

 

My piano tuner has an SV-1. He was originally unhappy with the stretching of the tuning. He edited that and is now much happier.

 

 

Thanks for the tip!! Both of the Japanese Grand presets were set to Equal Temperment and I changed them to one of the Grand Piano Stretch settings. HUGE improvement!!