MusicRadar

The SV1 is a new stage piano that looks to the past.

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PRESS RELEASE: The name pretty much says it all. The SV-1 Stage Vintage Piano offers the most rewarding compendium of electro-mechanical, transistorized, tape-driven, analog, and early digital keyboards ever available in a single instrument.

Crafted using Korg's RX (Real eXperience) Technology; each sound is a detailed and authentic re-creation, accurately capturing the full range of expression and dynamics of the original. But for Korg, even that is not enough. The SV-1 also provides access to the effect pedals, amplifiers, speaker cabinets and studio techniques that gave these sounds their original lustre. Together, they provide fingertip access to the sounds that defined generations of popular keyboard playing.

Designed with performance in mind, the SV-1 is a pleasure to play. Once you try it, you'll understand what all the excitement is about. The RH3 Real Weighted Hammer Action is the finest keybed Korg offers, with a solid, responsive feel that inspires confidence. Forget menus. Never mind banks and programs. Stop staring at displays. With the SV-1, the entire front panel is always live, using clearly labelled knobs to dial up just the sound you are looking for. Saving your eight Favorite settings for quick recall is as easy as saving a station on your car radio.

Best of all, the Korg SV-1 provides an economical, reliable, portable, and maintenance-free alternative to collecting and maintaining a stable of vintage instruments. The cabinet styling (and optional chrome stand) clearly defines the SV-1 as an instrument that was made to be played; providing a retro-chic appearance that reflects the pulse and heart of the original instruments.

The sounds

The 36 sounds in the SV-1 span from electric pianos, acoustic pianos, organs, strings and synth. Each category of instrument starts with the essential classics and then moves beyond what other products offer, going into some rare and unique instruments that were the part of the soundtrack of their eras. So the electric pianos start with a seven-way velocity switched "tine" version, continue through the classic "reed" based model and then into a vintage analog "electra" instrument (all from American manufacturers), as well as two different Japanese mid-80's digital classics.

The acoustic pianos include three-way stereo versions of both German and Japanese grand piano giants, a more intimate upright piano, a much-needed mono piano for small gigs, a late '70s-mid 80's Japanese electro-acoustic variation, plus some blended sounds. Organs include three variations of the classic tonewheel model, plus the most famous British and Italian combo organs, along with the first known offering of a signature American tube-driven console organ.

Clavs include four variations of the tonal settings plus a related keyboard from the same manufacturer that used a plucked-reed mechanism for a unique and intimate sound. Add in real, tape-based, and analog strings; choir; and a couple of fat analog synth sounds and you have an incredibly versatile palette of sounds to perform with.

Each of the core instruments has been accurately sampled including tine, key-off, damper and hammer noises at different velocities. We even sampled piano cabinet resonances to enhance the accuracy of our pianos. This attention to detail, called the RX Experience, is what makes playing the SV-1 a joy. It comes to life under your hands, with a three-dimensional sound evoking the electro-mechanical legends, reborn.

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