what are everyone's opinions on these two keyboards? i know the sp500 has more bells and whistles, but how does the sound compare?
and the feel?

also, i know the yamaha has a "to host" output that you can connect to your computer, can the SP500 do the same thing? can i just plug the sp500 into my computer and record my songs? that is one of the main features i am looking into...

I have both the SP500 and the P80 at my store. Both have good action, both are light weight(although the Yamaha is a few lbs. lighter) and the piano sounds are very good in both. So......the choice is....do you want an arranger keyboard and a Piano (korg) or do you just want a piano with nice keyboard sounds and split and layer options (no performance memories however on the Yamaha). Also, the P80 sells for around $899.00 and the Korg is around $1499.00. I don't remember if the Korg has a to host port but I will check when I go to my store this morning.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

thnx. yah i would like to know how to set up the korg and hte yamaha with a computer.... what exactly do you need to do? do i need any software to interface with the keyboard?

right now i don't need an arranger... that is because i never had one before, just an acoustic piano, but i think i would like and arranger though, and start making some nice complete compositions, all of which is possible with the korg... hmmm...

do you think i can get the korg for less than 1499?

Korg has what are called "map" prices. These are the lowest prices stores can advertise prices at. I will email you with an exact price.
I just realized you don't have your email address listed. Contact me via my email or phone for my lowest price.
kayeland@aol.com or 818-881-5566 after 10AM west coast time.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 05-21-2002).]

thnks, i sent you an email.

After a lot of searching and comparing, I ended up with a Korg PA80 and the Yamaha P80. I don't know how much "lighter" the Yamaha is, but I wouldn't carry it around! It came with a bag but with 88 fully weighted keys, I'll leave it in one place as much as possible.

I just took a wild leap and traded my i5s and the is35 towards an SP500. I had to throw a few bucks on top, but only a few. I'll keep this piece in my studio for recording, and see how it fares. I like the grand piano sound, I like the feel, and although I hate the touch screen, it will not be much of a factor at home. Live is another story, altogether. Too bad there is no way to import styles ..... or IS there? There is no disk drive, and I haven't cracked the book open yet. I have a bunch of i series disks with styles that I'd love to use, if I could.
Anyway - give me a few days to plunk on it, and I'll tell you what I think about it as a studio controller.

Dave,
there is no place for user styles so you can't load any in. All you can do is make new performances with the styles that are in the SP500. Changes in Volume and voice selection plus effects are possible but that's it!
Enjoy!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

I found one annomaly that I can't seem to work around so far - the tempo does not lock if you change styles while it's running. I can't work that way. I NEED to change styles within a song or I can't use it. Am I missing something?

Tried everything, and the tempo does NOT seem to stay put if you change rhythms during style play. Bummer. I took it back - I can't work like that.

An interresting sidenote - EVERY rhythm style on the sp500 can be found on the is35.
This move was simply not in the cards for me - I already have all the staple sounds I need with modules, so the 88 keys was just a luxury. Now I don't loose the disk drive, sequencer, pattern load, etc......

Weird of Korg to allow that feature to happen. Takes this piece out of the running for a lot of people that play live as a soloist. You GOTTA be able to change styles on the run! What were they thinking ??????

Dave,
After reading your post I came into the store early today and started reading the owners manual. I thought of two ways as a temporary way around your problem and called my good buddy at Korg USA in New York to run these by him. He is working on getting me an answer if there are any other ways to do this and he also says that it is possible to upgrade the operating system via midi if in fact the function of locking tempos is not available. What we talked about was either writing user performances with different styles at the same tempo values and then selecting these to cange styles without the tempos changing (However, I would suggest this is not a great solution because you might want to not always play at the same tempo's you have programmed). The next solution could be in using the Song mode which allows you to create 200 songs and you can set the style to be in manual mode vs auto mode. Manual mode means the tempo will not change and auto means whatever you set it moves to. I'm not sure how you would use this mode while playing the keyboard but my friend at Korg is looking into all this and will call me back as soon as he finds out something. Stay Tuned!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

As ALWAYS - thanx for the concern and advice, but I have no time to wait for POSSIBLE upgrades. If they fix it, and I try it again - who knows, but for now .... it's useless to me.
You're the best George ! Thanx for tryin, my friend.

(Went to see my girlfriend, Padme' again today........ahhhhhhhh)