Review: Korg SP-250

[pogo97]

 

 

Being a house-dad, I'm on a very tight budget. For some years now, I've been looking for a stage piano that I could afford; that I could lift; that felt good.

 

Before Christmas, I borrowed a Korg SP-250 for a gig. I liked how it felt a lot; no judgement on the sound because I was using MIDI and Pianoteq on my laptop for the piano sound. I've used another one a couple of times since, also for gigs. I used the built-in sounds and they were adequate.

 

The action on this is the same as on Korg's $2k Vintage boards and I like it better than any of the Casios or Yamahas under $1000; it's perfectly plausible as a piano action and feels good and expressive to play. And that's the most important thing I have to say, because I'm a piano player and how the keys feel is a big big deal.

 

And the supplied pedal transmits half-pedaling, which is really lovely if you're a piano player.

 

The sounds are samples, of course, and are adequate unless you don't like them. There are a couple of piano sounds that seem perfectly adequate to me for most gigs. And because there's a MIDI out, I can use Pianoteq when I want fancy. The non-piano sounds you'll either like or not; you can layer two sounds, which can sound cool. A surprise feature is that you can switch temperaments. I always try to play in Werkmeister, so having that there was nice. Because it's samples, though, you won't hear all the wonderful things that does to the overtones and resonances.

 

It has MIDI in and out, 1/4" stereo line outs and that's about it. It weighs 40 pounds which is mid-range but rather less than my 90 pound midiboard.

 

At $700 for the SP-250 including a sturdy stand, damper pedal and music stand I think this is a great deal for any piano player who isn't a tech weenie. I found mine on Kijiji for $450. What it means for me is that now I can freely play out without hurting my back or playing on a crummy set of keys.