REVIEW – Korg SP170S Digital Piano

UPDATED REVIEW – September 15, 2016 – This model is now discontinued – I have reviewed the previous Korg SP170 (not the S version) in the past and wasn’t very happy with it. However, the Korg company does make some great pro keyboards and other pro music gear throughout the years so I do like a variety of music products from this company and have personally played and used them. Update: This model has been replaced with the Korg B1 ($499US internet price) which in some ways is similar to the previous SP170, and I will be doing a review of this new model in the near future, so stay tuned:)

Previous review: Korg has made some nice improvements over the older SP170 in this updated version which is called the SP170S ($499 internet discount price – optional stand additional cost). First of all, Korg finally realized their mistake (which I had pointed out earlier in a previous blog) in the original SP170 with regard to Korg not having a control panel with knobs and/or buttons for that model. What were they thinking!? Anyway, they put a power on/off button on the front top of the piano along with a basic control panel which includes a button to quickly access all 10 instrument sounds (which are very nice by the way) as well as a default button to automatically reset the instrument to the best piano sound on the instrument (there are 2 acoustic piano sounds with only the main one being acceptable to me). They also put the volume control knob on the front control panel instead of on back of the piano as they did on the previous model. I give credit to Korg for learning from their obvious mistakes in the recent past.

The keyboard action on this model is surprisingly quiet and sturdy but in my opinion the response of the piano notes/keys while playing normally is not so good when wanting to play lighter or softer passages. When you are trying to play a piece that requires a good response from the notes while playing easily and/or quickly, the keys on this model do not react as they would on an acoustic upright or grand piano. This may not be something the average person would notice right away until you play a song where you would need to play more quickly or quietly with less finger pressure. In that way the key action feels mushy to me with some peculiar note reaction time. There is an editing control for key touch sensitivity but this does not help when wanting to get better control over the sound (any instrument sound) during normal play. When you play normally, the physical action, response time, and sensitivity should work well no matter how you play. In this instrument it does not and that’s too bad. The stereo piano tone is nice and convincing as an acoustic piano for many people, but the tonal dynamics from soft touch to hard touch when playing the piano could be much better. In other words, I am not impressed with the physical nature of this NH key action and Korg uses the NH in their newer SP280 digital piano ($699 internet price) as well. It’s also somewhat noisy and plasticity sounding too when playing the keys. The key action is the most important thing to look for in a digital piano and I like the Yamaha, Kawai, and Casio key actions in the lower priced portable pianos much better than this SP170S piano.

The physical buttons and knob on the instrument feel sturdy and well built and the on-board speaker system sounds good in this price range and is an improvement over the older SP170 model. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that this piano supports half damper play using the included single sustain pedal. So sustain is not just on/off as it is in some other low priced models, but it has a “half-damper” feature which duplicates what acoustic pianos really do when it comes to proper pedaling with the damper pedal. There is plenty of polyphony with 120 maximum notes (60 in stereo) and the design of this instrument is decent but also plasticky cheap looking in my opinion as compared to the Yamaha & Casio, and Kawai portable digital pianos in the lower price range. The SP170S is lightweight at just about 27lbs so it’s easy to carry for most people. It has some sound editing features as well as key transpose which is a good thing, but it does not have a high speed USB computer/iPad connection output, only regular MIDI output. That’s a  disappointment to me because so many people are connecting their digital pianos to iPad & computers for an interactive playing and learning experience and having a “Core Compliant” USB Midi connection is a better way to do it however a MIDI to USB interface can make the connection better.

Overall, it’s an OK instrument (especially with its large amount of polyphony memory) but it’s still not quite there because of the key action. As I mentioned earlier, the piano touch response sensitivity, especially when playing with a lighter and/or quicker finger touch as many people do, is mushy. I played on the SP170S many times, and personally, even though all the other features on this piano are fairly nice and the price is somewhat low, I would instead recommend you also look at the portable Casio PX160 ($499US internet price), Casio PX350 ($699 internet price), the Yamaha P115 ($599US internet price), and also the Kawai ES100 ($799 internet price). You’ll get a much better playing and practice experience in my opinion, along with better overall features.

Korg is gradually coming close to ‘getting it right’ when it comes to a low price digital piano, but they’re still not there yet with this one in my opinion. Korg does not offer an optional 3-pedal setup for this piano (which is a good thing to have), but Casio, Yamaha, and Kawai do. The Casio Privia PX160 and PX350 ($699US internet price) is by far the best bang for the buck in a portable in this price range, although the Yamaha DGX650 ($799 internet discount price) is nice too, and they not only offer a much more realistic piano playing experience than the SP170S, but the PX350 and Yamaha DGX650 also offers a vast array of built-in educational learning features which are very cool and quite useful. Casio also has a brand new 2016 model called the CGP700 ($799 internet price) which I have reviewed, although it is obviously more money than the Korg. Always do your homework and research so you can make the best buying decision for your needs and then contact me for specific advice and I will be happy to help you.

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