Korg have announced not one, but three successors to their popular B1 digital piano; B2, B2N and B2SP. The entry level digital piano market is highly competitive with similarly spec’d offerings from the likes of Casio and Yamaha all fighting for the attention of budding piano players (and their parents). So here’s a quick rundown on what Korg are rolling out with the B2.
The B2 has a brand new sound engine with 12 instrument presets including 5 acoustic piano variations. These 5 patches are derived from two sampled acoustic pianos, one German and one Italian. Judging by the audio demos these both sound gorgeous but look out for a full video from us soon for more insight. Other on-board sounds include electric piano, organ and strings.
Korg have also added USB for connectivity with PCs, phones and tablets making the B2 a potential weighted action MIDI controller for any soft-synth/DAW program out there. As well as handing MIDI, the USB connection can also carry audio from your phone/tablet back to the piano for playing back music through the B2’s onboard speakers. An analog line-in is also provided for this purpose.
There’s also plenty of bundled software which is unusual for this category of product so you can put that USB connectivity to use right away. Module Le and Gadget Le for iOS offer a range of high quality sounds from acoustic pianos to analog synths, and the 3-month trial of Skoove premium can act as your personal piano tutor with interactive lessons and personalized feedback thanks to that USB connector.
Then there’s the 3 variations of the piano itself.
Stay tuned for our full review once the B2 becomes available in August.
Combine a piano, pad and sampler layer in Cubase 16, then shape what each layer…
Sketch a film cue with Sonuscore’s free Kontakt Player library. Here’s how to claim it…
Ibanez and Dragon Ball Z have something in the works. Here’s a first glimpse, with…
Slate Digital, SSL, Harrison Audio and sonible feature in a permanent free collection, with updated…
Arturia, the French music technology company known for recreating iconic gear in software form, has…
Roland’s TR-1000 1.50 update adds note and keyboard modes for compatible generators, plus effects continuity…
I’m concerned with all the issues that seem to plague some owners of weighted keyboards with hammer action. So, I am interested in the Korg B2N, since it is unweighted, however, I cannot find anyone’s comments or review on this model. What happened?