SP500 ??? Questions ?
Action is OK ... Not as heavy as FP3 or P80 .
The styles are typical Korg Styles . 4 variations .
Piano sound ? Stretch out a PA80 to 88 keys !
It is light in weight . The drum patterns are much better than the FP3 .
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To Uncle dave .........there is a UNCLE FUNK style ....also
8beat ,guitarballad,L.A.R&B , Sweet beat,analog night, 8 beat rock , shuffle shade , windy beat , home beat , color beat , miami beat , etc.....just to name a few styles listed

Do I want one?

Yo ...Dave !
Here's what I know .
While using the styles , there is not a dedicated fill in button . You must touch the screen and than turn the dial to move to 1 of 4 variations . Not easy for live performance IMHO . The action is the same action as on the just released SP200.
Korg recently started using Fatar actions , instead of YAMMY . The action is better than what Fatar has previously made . But not as good as Yamaha or Roland IMO.
The styles are classic Korg styles . They do offer "ensemble" feature to harmonize the right hand sound . There is also a dedicated button for small ensemble ( lees parts of pattern) .
I would say that the keyboard is a better value than the FP3 .
$200.00 or $250.00 price difference between the 2 products . You get more recording and much better drum loops with the SP500 and it's LIGHTER to carry . It looks nicer than the FP3 as well ! dano

Dave and Dan,
I thought I posted a response a few minutes ago but I don't see it. I'll say it again....
Dan, the keyboard used on the SP500 is a graded hammer action unlike the SP200 which is not a graded hammer action but just a hammer action.
The sounds on this keyboard are not from the same engine as the PA80 but rather from the iS series of a few years ago but with 64 notes of polyphony because they doubled the original 32. The PA80, which has the triton engine is only 62 notes polyphony.
One other thing I noticed was that in the Korg Proview Magazine, Korg states that there are 64 user style locations for custom styles. This is a bit misleading. I thought this meant you could program your own user styles so that you could record your own drum beats, bass lines, etc. However, you can not do this. You can only edit the styles by changing the sounds, tempos, effects, etc. and store them in these locations.
However, I agree that this is a good addition to our line of 88 key arranger keyboards.
I wish it had a disk drive for song storage but you can midi dump to the computer is you need to.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene

I'm thinking that it might be a nice studio controller. I only need basic drum features, and a midi OUT to send to other gear. I like the idea of 88 keys for the piano player clients that come over - I HATE how they tend to bang on my synth action keys. They have NO idea how that URKS me ! It's plastic man - be gentle !
So ......... think it sounds like an is35?
That's NOT a bad thing, really.

UD, I should point out that even though it is basically the iS engine, the samples have been developed just for this keyboard, so the sounds are better then the iS35.
George Kaye

Can't wait to try it. The action is a big part of this decision .... I hated the SP100, and haven't tried the 200 yet, so I'm very cautious.

GK,
Thanks for the clarification .
I had mayber 5 minutes with sp500. I have the SP200 set up , as well as the SP500. I can not feel a hugh difference between the 2 .
Just My opinion .
I can see the Is35 all over this piano !
dano

[QUOTE]Originally posted by George Kaye:
[B]Dave and Dan,
I thought I posted a response a few minutes ago but I don't see it. I'll say it again....
OK.....what you witnessed with the post #'s is what I was trying to convey to the forum the other day . You make a post and the post # does not show . I clicked on this post showing a #2 . However , there are more than 2 post ! GET it ? dano
Ps...I had Nigel delete the 1st post !

If you hit "refresh" at the top of the main page, it will update the number of posts. Otherwise it may show 2 posts, but when you to to read the posts, it causes the topic to refresh as you go to them.
DonM