Comparison Kurzweil KA120 vs Korg Havian 30

The ability to adjust the sensitivity of the digital piano keyboard.

The sensitivity level determines the volume and sharpness of the sound that the instrument will produce at a certain force and speed of pressing the key. High sensitivity allows you to achieve sharp, expressive sound with significant volume differences, low — relatively quiet, soft and smoothed. And some instruments even provide "zero" sensitivity — when all keys sound with the same volume and dynamics, regardless of the pressing force. This can be useful, for example, to imitate the sound of certain instruments (such as the harpsichord).

The number of built-in sounds provided by the Digital Piano.

Despite the name, digital pianos are extremely rarely designed to imitate the sound of only a piano — the electronic hardware allows them to provide other timbres of sound. In addition, even the piano has its own varieties — for example, among the grand pianos there are 6 main classes, from large concert to miniature. So the built-in sounds can cover different kinds of pianos, as well as other instruments and sound effects.

The abundance and variety of timbres in digital pianos as a whole is not as great as in synthesizers, however, in this category there are very “charged” models, with a hundred timbres or more (in the most multifunctional, this number can exceed 900). However, it is worth specifically looking for a “multi-instrumental” model if you do not intend to be limited to the sound of the piano and would like to have more freedom of choice. It is worth remembering that a specific set of timbres can be different.

If the instrument is bought exclusively as a piano, then here, on the contrary, it is worth paying attention primarily to solutions with a small number of timbres. Such models are not only cheaper than "universals" — they can also sound better (due to the fact that there are few timbres and the manufacturer can carefully approach the sound quality of each built-in "instrument").

The number of user tones provided in the instrument's design.

A certain assortment of built-in sounds is a must for any digital piano; see above for more details. However, the specific list of these timbres may be different, and it does not always include the options required by the user. In this case, the possibility of creating user timbres is provided. The specific method of creation may be different: in some models, timbres are loaded from a computer or a USB flash drive, in others you can create modifications to the “instruments” available in memory (for example, by applying certain filters and effects), in others, you can set all sound parameters manually, achieving unique sound. However, the most popular is the first option.

Anyway, the presence of user timbres greatly expands the capabilities of the instrument. Choosing a model by their number is based on how many original timbres will need to be constantly kept in memory.

The number of Auto Accompaniment Styles (see above) originally stored in Digital Piano memory.

Different auto accompaniment styles differ from each other in the same way that different melodies differ from each other — in tempo, time signature, rhythmic pattern, set of instruments used, etc. Accordingly, the more styles initially available in the instrument, the wider the choice of the musician and the higher the probability of finding the option that best suits a particular situation. However even numerous styles does not guarantee that among them there will be a suitable one; in addition, we note that with the same number of styles, their specific set in different instruments can also be different. However, custom styles can be provided for this case (see below).

Summarizing, we can say this: if you plan to work intensively with auto accompaniment, in addition to the number of styles, it will not hurt to clarify their specific range.

The number of User Auto Accompaniment Styles that can be stored in Digital Piano memory at one time.

See above for auto accompaniment and built-in styles. Here we note that these styles may not be enough — after all, the needs of the musician may not coincide with the decisions of the manufacturer. In this case, it is possible to write custom accompaniment styles to the instrument's memory, along with the standard ones. There are many ways to create and record these styles, but most often they need to be loaded from an external source — from a flash drive or computer. However, some models allow you to compose accompaniment manually.

It is worth paying attention to the number of user styles first of all if you plan to work intensively with auto accompaniment.

The presence of built-in songs in the design of a digital piano.

Unlike auto accompaniment (see above), built-in songs are ready-made tunes that are played exactly according to the notes; the musician can change their tempo and key (if the instrument has the appropriate functions), but cannot control the melody during playback.

You can use built-in songs in different ways. So, when learning, they can play the role of a model that the musician is trying to repeat. You can include such a melody for accompaniment, or even use the synthesizer as a player (for example, to fill technical breaks in a live performance). In addition, the built-in songs can be useful when choosing a specific digital piano model — these melodies are played back using the instrument itself, which allows you to evaluate its general capabilities and the sound characteristics of certain tones.

The ability to overlay individual timbres provided in the instrument (or loaded into its memory by the user). Simply put, layering allows you to play a part on two timbres at once — for example, to complement the sound of a grand piano with the sound of a violin. This allows you to achieve a richer and more original sound.

Specific combinations of sounds can be stored in memory, however, in many models, the user himself can choose a combination of his own. However, it's ok to clarify these details separately.

The ability to add a reverb effect to the sound of the instrument.

Reverb is the repeated reflection and decay of sound. Most of all, this effect is noticeable in vast spaces with a pronounced echo — for example, large caves; however, in any environment, the coloring of the sound characteristic of such an environment is mainly due to reverberation. Thus, this function allows you to simulate music that sounds in different rooms — for example, to give the impression that the instrument is in the hall of a Gothic cathedral, or, conversely, in a small room with soft walls. However, it is also possible to use reverberation as a classic sound effect, which is not aimed at simulating the situation and only gives the sound a specific colour.

The presence of the chorus effect in the digital piano.

Initially, this effect was developed as an attempt to simulate the choral sound of several instruments of the same type. Even a perfect choir never plays 100% in sync, which is what the creators of the chorus tried to reproduce. This effect works as follows: several copies are taken from the main signal, which are played along with it — but not strictly simultaneously, but with a small (up to 30 ms) delay, selected randomly for each individual signal. This really allows to imitate the effect of polyphony to a certain extent, however, such sound is still far from a full-fledged choir. However, the chorus itself is quite interesting as an additional effect.