What does the Korg SP250 really sound like?
Korg has a very good reputation for producing realistic sounding digital and electric pianos. However, when I looked at the Korg SP-250 portable digital piano I wasn’t that impressed with the look of it. I don’t know why but it looks cheap to me! I think its the brown wood effect above the keys. Anyway that’s just my own personal taste, what’s really important is if it sounds and feels like an acoustic piano.
Customer feedback on the Korg SP250
Before I look at the customers reviews (which come out really positive by the way – 5 star ratings!) lets remind ourselves that the SP250 is a portable stage piano and is the first one in this range that has the Korg RH3 real weighted hammer action – that is the keys have been weighted according to pitch (high, middle and low) which more closely resembles the acoustic piano feel.
Main Product Features
- weighs less than 42 pounds so is relatively easy to move around
- 88-keys
- 3 touch sensitivity – light, normal and heavy (you can adjust this according to your own preferences for expressive playing)
- stereo sampling system (longer samples have been used for this piano to enable more natural sustaining of sounds after you press the notes)
- 60 note polyphony
- 30 sounds and you can layer 2 sounds (grand piano, guitar, drums, strings, voices etc.)
- Reverb and chorus effects are both 3 levels
- damper pedal, tuning, transposition, metronome, MIDI and 2 headphone sockets
- 30 demo songs
Customers Particular Likes
- sounds extremely realistic with a deep rich tone
- the keys respond in the same way as a real acoustic piano and they look and feel the same
- the sounds fade naturally
- the stand is stable and the keyboard doesn’t wobble at all as you play it (better than Yamaha stands)
- lovely bass sounds
Any Downsides?
- no internal recording facility – however you can connect it up to a computer and record that way
- if you want to use this piano as a MIDI controller then it is limited and does not allow access some of the sounds you might have in your module (I doubt many people will be wanting it for this though but I thought I would mention it)
- speakers volume could be louder
UPDATE – No longer available on Amazon instead check out the Korg SP170
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Here is a you tube video I found that you should find helpful – and make you laugh! It’s of a guy playing the Korg SP250 so gives you an example of the sound quality and stability of the stand but he’s performing (by ear) the music you hear on Mr Bean! Look at the way he walks off at the end. Its just like him! The fact that you don’t see his face makes me wonder if it is in fact the Bean himself. 🙂
Conclusion
I came across someone who actually likes the retro look of this unit – I’m still not keen though. However the quality of the sound is superb. The best thing I like about the Korg SP250 is the way that this sound lingers. Often with keyboards the sound immediately dampens but not with this one. Definitely recommend this instrument.
UPDATE – No longer available on Amazon instead check out the Korg SP170
(sponsored link)