Hey,

I've been trying to find a comparison between these two DP. They have the same look, nearly the same price tag (at least here in Canada, with a difference of $100 more for the Korg), but I can't find anything...

I've tried the Korg SP-350 in store and felt the touch was ok/good, but I can't put my hands on a Casio PX-830 so I can't compare for myself.

I know there has been a few sticky key problems with the Casio as well as speakers loudness issues, but I will most of the time use it with headphones.

As for the Korg, it rarely comes up in the forums. Any reason why?

Thank you for any input.

Happy New Year

I live in Southern California one of the largest markets in the world for digital pianos and could not find a Korg 250 or 350 to look at or try. I even contacted Korg's USA sales department asking how I could demo the piano. They said basically "We don't know of any shop near you who has one." Odd because every one of them was a Korg dealer and carried other Korg equipment.

The local Sam Ash store had stacks of nice printed sales literature for the 250/350. I asked a Sam Ash sales person and he said the Korg sales rep drops off the literature every time he stops buy. But no pianos, just papers.

Likely I'm not the only one who was unable to even look at one, let alone know enough to have an opinion.

I used to own a Korg SP-250. I believe that the sounds/action are pretty much identical to the 350. The piano sound was darker and more mellow than most Yamaha DPs. Some people have described it as a sounding a little synthetic in the mid-range, and I don't totally disagree. However, I found it very playable and expressive, although within a dynamic range that could have been a tad wider. The amp/speakers in the 250 were much better than I expected from a slab piano. Some of the other sounds were good quality - Rhodes was a "dyno" type with a nice bark but very obvious velocity switching. Good strings also.

Compared to the Casio PX-320 I also used to have, when amplified through external equipment, the Korg had significantly better sound reproduction quality (IMO). I have only very limited experience of the PX-330 and none of the 830, so I can't say whether the latest Privia line is now a match for the Korg. Certainly, the Casios' polyphony is greater and the additional sounds/features are worth something. You also need to be aware that there is only a single pedal socket on the Korg - soft/sostenuto pedaling can only be achieved via midi.

If it helps, when I first received the Korg (a blind purchase) I was a little underwhelmed by the sound. However, it grew on me, and I came to like it mainly for its expressivity and quality of reproduction. There are definitely better DPs out there, but the Korg is a good workhorse. Korg has never been a frontrunner in DPs, and given their relative scarcity it's no wonder that they are rarely mentioned in the forum. Their new SV-1 is a fascinating contraption, but it is getting very mixed reviews - and again, very few mentions here.

Evidently the Korg LP350 is out of stock across the US. I've got one on order, as the wife insisted we get the black one instead of the white which the store still had in stock (their last one, and it was gone yesterday!) They said they expect them back in stock "in January," but my phone hasn't rang yet with an estimate.

So far as a comparison between that and the Casio, I don't remember which Casios I tried when I was searching, but none of them had as good a feel (to my fingers) as the Korg. Alas, the casios were in a busy general music store, so I couldn't really crank them and get a good feel for the sound relative to an acoustic piano (no acoustics to compare to). Because the feel was inferior, I didn't give a whole lot of focus to the sound at that point. The Korg has a great blend of sound/feel/price.

Later,

K