All user reviews of 4/5 for the Korg SP-200

Bought used as a rental return in Vancouver, Canada.

The Korg SP-200 has all the essential features of a quality digital stage piano, and is ideal for piano students who'd like to try some other sounds. Gigging musicians will find it a pleasure to play, but might find some of the features a bit limiting for stage performance.

The piano, electric piano, harpsichord, vibraphone, pipe organ, and clavinet sounds are excellent. Though not quite as grand-piano-like as those on Yamaha's P series stage pianos, the weighted keyboard is very fine indeed.

The control layout -- a row of buttons with LEDs, and just two sliders for volume and metronome tempo -- takes an excellent less-is-more approach, making the SP-200 easy to use for beginners.

Korg claims 60-note polyphony (simultaneous notes) for ther SP-200, but that's not always true. Some of the better sounds, like the first two stereo grand pianos, use two sets of oscillators and reduce polyphony to 30 notes, while the reverb and chorus reduce polyphony still further. If you layer two complex sounds and add effects, it's not hard to make notes cut off if you hold down the sustain pedal and play a few two-handed chords. On the other hand, if you use the lovely mono grand piano with no effects, it's nearly impossible to make that happen, so whether the polyphony limits are an issue depends on what you want to do.

The jazz/rock organ and synth string/choir sounds are merely adequate to good. There is no way to store custom user settings (for reverb, key-touch sensitivity, etc.), so when you turn the keyboard off and on, everything reverts to factory settings, which is why the SP-200 might not be best for those who primarily use it onstage.

The SP-200 can act as a MIDI controller or sound source, but neither is its forte -- it is designed to be plugged into some speakers, turned on, and played. Those seeking a weighted keyboard controller probably want other features, such as a pitch bend wheel, that the SP-200 lacks.

The case is about as small as it can be for a weighted, full-88-key stage piano, and at 40 pounds it is even relatively light. All the connector plugs are on the back, even for headphones, which is too bad, since a front-mounted phone jack would be more useful. There is only a single headphone jack, and no line-in to play along with CDs. The power adapter is a standard "wall wart" type with a small plug, rather than a more robust three-prong plug. The included damper pedal is just a footswitch, though a separate piano-style half-damper pedal is available.

For compact, high-quality, excellent sounding stage pianos in this price range, it's a tough competition between the SP-200 and comparable models such as Yamaha's P60 and P90, Kurzweil's SP88X, Roland's RD models, and a few from other manufacturers. The SP-200 acquits itself well, and can be a wise investment if you understand its few limitations in advance.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

88 notes
30 sounds prprogramms not ditables
effects rverbes 3, 3 chorus, 3 touches (lightweight, raliste, heavy)
2 tempra
2 output jack (R Lmono)
Midi in and out
Sustain pedals book with throwing (for roro 15 was a real like on a real piano)
1 headphone
Mtronome.

UTILIZATION

Raliste touch,
Easy
Manuel clear

SOUNDS

The sounds are generally good, I have acht for piano sounds, electric pianos and organs.

The sounds of violins, choir tops are good but, I have never found to my liking.
6 piano sounds, electric 6 (of Rhodes, the Wurlitzer or digital), 1 + 1 clavinet wah clavinet, organ of great beauty + two more with a little distortion + 3 organ "church ...
An acoustic guitar a lot ...

OVERALL OPINION

I've had about one month, I find it perfect for my use: it tolls for music 70 ', the reggae classic.
Trs good qualitprix Report

I had pls emulations, a Pianet T: the korg sounds much better! It's rare when buying an instrument I did not t deu ...

For technical info, read the other reviews.
My only regret is that the sounds can't be edited.

UTILIZATION

For me, the keyboard is excellent.
I tested, among others, the Yamaha P140, whose keyboard felt too "heavy" even in light mode.
It's extremely easy to use and the manual is really helpful for certain settings that are a bit more complicated.
The response is perfect, it is exactly what I was looking for.
I haven't had the time to test midi.
Impeccable manual. That said, there aren't many settings to modify...

SOUNDS

I was looking first and foremost for a good piano sound, and I'm really satisfied!
The sp200 offers no less than 12 pianos from classical to more "artificial" ones.
Personally, I prefer pure sounds with the metallic sound of the strings. One of the pianos is really satisfying.
The other ones are OK and the classical guitar is also pretty good.
The strings are rich but not realistic (too "stringy," in fact).
So it's not bad when it comes to sounds.
The excellent keyboard and response make it a real pleasant piano.

OVERALL OPINION

I got it 2 weeks ago.
I love its looks, weight (40 lbs) and ease of use. The effects, chorus and reverb, are awesome, as well as the setting of the keyboard.
I only regret that the sounds can't be modified and I don't like the sustain pedal at all, it's really cheap.
As I said before, I tested the yamaha p140 but I didn't like its keyboard.
I was ready to buy a secondhand roland RD500 that is very comprehensive and whose keyboard I like a lot.
I think the sp200 has a very similar keyboard (although I haven't played an rd500 in years, so maybe I'm not being too objective...).
As for the value for money, I found one for $700 online, shipping and handling included!!! I think I bought the last in stock. I got lucky...
I would certainly buy it again, especially at that price!!!
Even if you buy it for $800 in other stores it's a great deal, IMHO.