Voltor07 wrote:David, what are your thoughts on the SV-1? I've been looing at them since they came out, but not sure if it would be worth it. What's the keyboard action like? Does it sound like what it's supposed to? Or does it sound like bad samples?
Well firstly, I'm no pianist - my only venture into keyboards (from bass) has been my Phatty chain and an old Technics arranger with waterfall keys (given to me).
Secondly, I'm mainly into the Acoustic Piano sounds (plus maybe some strings + pads), not the organs, rhodes, clavs, electric pianos etc. that are included - and I wouldn't know how they compare to the real deal, but I can tell they are of high quality. I'm sure everything sounds good (especially the Acoustic Pianos - as that's what I'm mainly looking at). Apparently you can download sound packs and a free software editor - this allows people like me to replace unwanted sounds (like organs etc.) with more pianos or strings/pads for example.
Being a synth tweaker, I really like the interface's simplicity and real-time hands-on approach. There's only 40 presets on the unit at one time - 6 sections with 6 variations + 8 quick-saved "patches". So unlike some of the Rolands etc, there isn't thousands of samples, but there's no menus to navigate either. I thought the effects were pretty cool, especially the different types of reverbs with acoustic piano sounds. Some of the effects I probably wouldn't use too often (as they would more suit sounds I wouldn't really use - but who knows, I'll probably stumble upon some cool sounds by putting effects over organs etc.).
The hammer keyboard action felt great to me (but I haven't played many pianos).
It's generally based around piano and alot of funky vintage sounds. In my case it will primarily be an Acoustic Stage Piano, but I'm sure the funky vintage sounds would be fun for mucking around with the band etc.
I've yet to actually receive my unit, so all this is based off playing in the store yesterday.
Regards,
David Smyth
NZ
Minimoog Voyager XL, Little Phatty Stage II + CV Output Mod, 2x Slim Phatty, Minitaur, MP-201, EP-2, 2x CP-251, MF-102, MF-104M, MF-107