REVIEW - Korg SP280 & Korg LP380 Digital Pianos - New for 2013 - Good but not great

REVIEW - Korg SP280 & LP380 Digital Pianos - Good but not great. The Korg Keyboard and Pro Music Products company has been popular with professional keyboard players for many years and I do like many of the products they make and have used them professionally. You see the keyboards on stage and in a variety of venues all over the world and they make great synthesizers, keyboard workstations, and a bunch of cool pro products. However, they are not really a "player" (haha) in the digital piano world:) They used to make a number of home/portable digital pianos like Roland, Yamaha, and Casio do but they just have 3 basic models now including the SP170S and the new redesigned 2013 model SP280 portable piano and LP380 compact furniture cabinet pianos. The SP280 ($699 internet price) replaces the popular SP250 which Korg had out for the last 7 years or so, and the upcoming compact furniture style piano LP380 ($1199 internet price) due out in late June 2013 will replace the older LP350 and they both come in black and white cabinet finishes and include built-in music racks.

When I first heard that Korg was replacing the older SP250 ($699 internet price) with an updated version I thought this could be a very good thing and in some ways they did a good job. However I was disappointed to find out that the top of the line Korg RH3 key action that was in their older SP250 has been replaced with basic NH key action which is not as good in weight and movement in my opinion. The new LP380 does still have the better RH3 key action which is good:) The Korg RH3 hammer weighted key action is one of the main reasons the older SP250 did as well as it did although the sound/polyphony was not near as good as the new SP280. The new key action in the SP280 is a bit sluggish and somewhat unresponsive in my opinion when playing softly and using dynamics and just doesn't feel right to me. However, the NH key action is quiet and doesn't make much noise when the keys move, so I give high marks to Korg for that. Korg is using this NH key action in other models as well and there is a noticeable difference in the two key actions (NH vs RH3) although the NH action is weighted and feels much more like a piano than keyboards do. For this reason alone I was not so impressed with the new SP280 as compared with the older SP250 model. I will admit my opinion of the NH key action is subjective and other people may have a different opinion, but since there are options in other brands I like better, I would not personally choose the NH action. Perhaps the better RH3 key action costs more money now than Korg wanted to invest in the SP280 (that would be my best guess), but whatever the reason, I am not happy about it not being in the new SP280. Also, the keytops of both pianos have the regular white shiny plastic as opposed to the new synthetic ivory material used on other pianos such as comparable new Casio models and higher priced Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai. That synthetic ivory material allows for a better playing surface on the keys for a smoother playing experience for the fingers, like the older grand and upright pianos used to have.

As far the piano sound goes, Korg increased polyphony piano memory from 60 notes to 120 notes on both the SP280 and LP380 so that is a very nice upgrade and much needed for better extended note sustain and sound layering. The main stereo acoustic piano sound is big and full and has good sustain decay time (with half damper control) when using the sustain piano pedal included with the SP280. An optional 3 pedal unit is available from Korg for all three regular pedal functions if necessary. Although I do like the piano sound on these new pianos, it has noticeably limited sound dynamics when playing soft to hard, delicate to loud, etc as compared to Casio and Yamaha in my opinion in similar price ranges. In other words, when you try to express yourself and want more natural "color" to the music as you play the keyboard, the Korg SP280 just doesn't cut it for me. It's like the sound itself is good but doesn't change character much as you strike the key harder or softer like a real piano would. Also when the volume is up somewhat loud, when you try to play more quietly it is somewhat difficult to do that...it's like the the volume is automatically too loud to strike the keys easily enough to get a quiet response. This is not true on other good digital pianos I have played where the volume knob or slider was on loud. On some of those better pianos you could still play lightly at a very soft volume because the dynamics and added key sensors allowed for more natural response. But if you are a beginner you may not notice this right away.

The bottom line is, music has tonal dynamics, color, and expression and when you play a good musical instrument correctly (piano, guitar, violin, clarinet, etc), you will be able to achieve those tonal dynamics, full expression, and color and then you'll be happy the instrument can do that. The SP280 is very basic in that way when you try to do those things, even though the initial piano sound is good. The new Korg's are rather limited playing realism as compared to a regular piano and other good digital pianos. As I mentioned earlier, in the beginning it does not matter much, but as a student progresses they'll not be able to play more intermediate & advanced music in the way it was intended to be played and heard, and so that would be a deficiency of the SP280 & LP380 in my opinion. (*Note - I have not physically played a LP380 yet and although it has a better weighted key action, it has the same electronics and dynamics, etc as the SP280. Also, I have played the older LP350 and it has the same key action as the new SP380).

One of the impressive features of the SP280 as well as the LP380 is the audio power and speaker system. These two models both have 44 watts of total power (22 watts per side stereo) with nice sized built-in speakers so if you are looking for a big loud piano sound, both pianos do that nicely and the SP280 is especially impressive in that way for its low price. In fact it has the most powerful speaker system in this price range of all the major brands. However, the sound on the SP280 comes up towards you through its speakers on top of the SP280 and if you have the volume up much past 1/2 way -3/4 volume, it gets to be too loud coming right up at you. The speakers are in a different place on the LP380 so it is not the same in that way and sound is dispersed below. As a comparison, the new Yamaha P105 portable piano ($599 internet price) has only 14 watts of total power but it also has 4 speakers as opposed to two in the Korg, and the Yamaha in my opinion is plenty loud and full because the sound is projected in a different way and using 2 additional speakers helps too. So you would think that at 44 watts for the Korg, which is 3 times the power of the Yamaha, the sound would be better and fuller than the Yamaha P105, but it really isn't in my opinion. The Korg is just much louder but louder does not always make for "better." In fact, the SP280/LP380 is much louder through headphones too so you cannot play much past half volume that way either. I suppose if you were playing in a large crowded noisy room either professionally or at home, the extra volume would be helpful but even then it gets too loud for the person playing it as opposed to the sound (speakers) pointing forward or backwards. But for general home use the 44 watts is just way too much and not necessary in my opinion, especially with where the SP280 speakers are located. A speaker system is more than the sum of its parts and in my opinion Korg could have done a better job in optimizing this power considering they increased the amplification so much.

The SP280 does have a contemporary new design and styling with its rounded corners, back, and sides and the control panel buttons are easy to use, nicely laid out and accessible with buttons centered above the middle of the keyboard. Korg did a great job with that although the features themselves on this piano are somewhat basic (same as LP380), they offer good control over the functions. The LP380 compact cabinet piano is also nice with its flat closing top although I do not like where the control panel buttons are located on the LP380 on the far left side above the lower keys. Roland does the same thing on their similarly priced F120 ($1299 internet price) compact digital piano and it would have been much better and easier to use had the control panel buttons been centered above the middle piano keys like on the SP280. Why Korg did it that way on the LP380 I don't know but if you are right handed like me, it's not helpful to have to reach across the piano keys to your left to press a button. But that's just me and maybe it would not bother someone else.

Both pianos offer 30 good instrument sounds including electric pianos, strings, organs, choirs, etc, layer two sounds together, reverb echo, transpose, 3 key touch sensitivities, adjustable metronome for rhythm timing, stereo audio outputs, and other useful features including duet partner mode. Partner mode is the ability of the piano to electronically split into 2 identical 44-key pianos so that two people can play the same notes at the same time for practice (such as teacher student). This feature is also available on competitive Yamaha & Casio digital pianos but have different names for the same function. The SP280 also has a number of preset temperaments or tunings including tunings for middle eastern and Indonesian music which is very cool. The SP280 does come with a basic metal keyboard stand/legs included in the price which mounts to the piano and allows for good leg room when sitting at the piano, although I don't personally like the look of the stand unless this will be on-stage or in a bedroom. The stand is functional but not very attractive in my opinion. But what surprised me is both the SP280 and LP380 do not have a recording feature nor USB direct connection to computer or iPad. When I saw that these features were missing, which you do find on the competitive models from Casio & Yamaha, I was disappointed especially because the other brands do have them.

Everything uses USB connectivity these days and I am a big fan of using an iPad in my studio for teaching, learning, etc and it's hard for me to understand why Korg would not include these additional features, especially in this price range. Korg makes outstanding pro keyboards for thousands of dollars so there is no excuse as far as I am concerned to leave those features off. They did included standard MIDI in & out connectors but unless you are a pro using older MIDI sound modules that you want to connect to these pianos, standard MIDI connections are a thing of the past. Perhaps Korg designed these pianos for people who just want more of a basic digital piano with basic features but if that's the case, they should have kept their better RH3 key action on the SP280 and not just put it in the LP380.

Casio Privia  PX850 - $1099

My general assessment of these pianos is that if you are wanting to spend somewhere between $700-$1200, there are better choices in both Yamaha and Casio with their new 2013 digital pianos including the new Casio PX850 compact cabinet piano (left pic). You'll get better key action, better sound, better playing dynamics for sound and color (very important), more overall useful features, USB direct connect to iPad and computers, and the new portable Yamaha & Casio pianos are much lighter than Korg. The Korg SP280 portable weighs in at about 40lbs and the Yamaha & Casio weigh in at about 25lbs each. Having 30 sounds and huge audio volume is great but having less sounds with better key action, sound dynamics, and USB direct output (among other things) is even more important in my opinion. Both Korg pianos are essentially the same pianos in different cabinets with the same features and I believe that you could be happy with either the Korg SP280 or LP380 depending on your musical goals, playing skill level, and music experience. But for the same money, give or take $100 or so, I believe there are better options such as the ones below:

Casio PX850 review
Casio PX780 review
Casio PX350/150 review
Yamaha P105 review
Yamaha YDP142/162 review
Yamaha DGX640 review

If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.