I cannot say enough good things about this board!Coming from a perspective of someone used to playing on Kurzweil's top flagship boards, this "gig ready" board is very capable!I do have pros and cons, so I will list them out so hopefully they will help someone else know if this is the right board for them.Pros...The ability to layer up to 4 sounds is unheard of in the low range keyboard market. Not only that but the 4 categories that you can layer have very rich sample sounds with plenty of polyphony to keep it all going! Then que in the separate volume knobs for each layer, it makes it very easy to "grow" the sound as the song progresses and cut back as the song comes to an end. I have noticed very little "click and cut" between changing of samples, however I tend not to get very crazy with the effects. I believe this helps some on that end.A few things Kurzweil did very right on this board would include the pitch bend and modulation wheel (rare to find on cheaper boards, and very useful for midi sounds). The feel of the key bed is excellent for a board in this price range! I would compare the feel and the way the samples relate to your fingers as butter. Very impressed with the feel (and it's not even Kurzweils best action). The weight at only 26lbs absolutely is the best feature by far on this board lol! As an aging musician, the setup usually goes from 3 separate boards to as lite and simple as one can possible make it. This board is both lite and simple! Transpose is right on top. Something somewhat new to Kurzweil, but a huge improvement over past boards (no more going into three menus just to try and remember how to transpose). The jacks on back are loaded, there is a lot of capability coming from a cheap board from left and right audio in, to left and right audio out as well as multiple midi in and out slots, headphones and dual pedal jacks. Last but not least, Kurzweil not only allowed this board to be used as a midi controller, but gave a whole separate control section just for that! What I have found is the 16 on board sounds pair very well with an iPad loaded with Korg's Module Pro app. Between the two, you can come up with some incredible combos, and all sounds are volume controllable right from the knobs on the Kurzweil, even the sounds coming from the iPad! So the next question would be does that create another layer? Yes it does. between midi and the 4 layer option in the Kurzweil, you can play 4 sounds from the Kurzweil, and as many sounds from the iPad as it will allow you, all at the same time. The Korg Module pro only allows 2 layers, but when added to the Kurzweil I can play up to 6 different layers! Incredible for a cheap keyboard and iPad setup. Best part is the Kurzweil has plenty of empty space to set the iPad right on top. This makes for me the easiest setup for live events I have ever had. 1 keyboard, 1 iPad, tons of great ability!Now the cons...While this board is exactly what it claims to be(an entry level board) it does quickly show some of that entry level ability when compared to Kurzweils flagship models. It's not fair to compare this to a flagship keyboard, and that is not what I am intending to do, however there are some important things to point out, that I noticed right out of the box.The first thing I noticed right out of the box was the "acclaimed" 9ft grand piano sample taken from the Kurzweil (higher end) Artis model. While the sample is much better than most, this board is missing a few FX engines which allow for a rich and real piano sample. What this means is, even though the piano sample sounds great for what it is, it's really not the best piano sample Kurzweil makes. And even though it's recorded from the same German 9ft Steinway sample, it sounds very condensed and almost like the spirit of the Steinway is taken out of the sample. (Hard to explain but very noticeable if your used to a high end piano sample. (I did find a fix for this by layering the Korg 9ft German Steinway sample with the Kurzweil. I found that with the iPad at 80 on the volume, and the Kurzweil piano sample volume at full, you get a sample very comparable to Kurzweils flagship piano. Maybe even a tad bit better!)There are some limitations to what can be done on this board. While it is loaded with at your fingertips effects, the effects seem lite in their abilities. Also the effects connect to all layers simultaneously. You cannot add reverb to one layer unless you want that same reverb on all layers. Same goes with delay and tremolo. Not a huge thing, but it is for sure a weakness.Because there is only one knob for controlling midi functions, you are a bit limited as to what you can do at your fingertips. This is fixable by adding a second midi board with knobs and sliders, but takes away some of the simplicity of the setup. Other higher end Kurzweil boards give you many sliders and knobs and they are all assignable. These knobs are somewhat assignable but it gets in the way of what the knobs are originally intended for.Another big deal to me is, there is no panic or home button. I have ran into issues where some of the effects have clung on when I want to start a new song with different patches or effects. This is a pretty big deal when performing live. I have found a work around by clicking the dual button, then going back to layer. It seems to help, but it would be nice if there were a home button for everything to go back to normal before edits were made.My last con or pick is, there are only 5 save-able presets and no ability to save externally. You get 5 that's it. As a gigging musician, it's hard to land on just 5 presets. 5 seems like enough for only 16 samples, however once you get volumes and FX where you want them, there's a lot that can be done with just those 16 samples. I would have like to have seen either banks of save-able presets, or a way to save externally. Also there are no speakers. Not a big deal to most pros, but if you buy this just for house use, you will have to add speakers to it.Final thoughts...I still give this board a 5 star review. The layering of 4 samples, ability to bring in a midi device and control it right along side the other samples, the lite weight and feel of this board just absolutely kills the competition in this price category in my opinion. There are a lot of budget keyboards out there, and that category keeps getting larger and larger everyday, but there are few that have the feel of a Kurzweil. That butter feel where the keys just seem to do exactly what your fingers asked of them. That to me is what makes Kurzweil different. This board has quickly become my go to "gig" board. No more complicated setups, it's simple, functional, lite weight, and rich in sounds. Everything I was hoping it would be when I landed on this board after almost a year of research! If you take this board at $899, add a $300 iPad with say $100 worth of sound software on it, you are still in a cheaper price category than the next step up for Kurzweil (which would be the SP7). The thing that sold me on it was simplicity! If I want to get complex and have tons of control over shaping your sounds, this is not the board for you. But if you just want to plug in and have a few saved presets of rich and very usable sounds with full control at your fingertips, this board is the one!

I like!!

After 30 years of playing keyboards, I decided to upgrade my rig, and this year was financially able to do so. I didn't want to blow thousands on a Nord or likes, just wanted a digital piano that could wow without causing tears to my wallet. Well, this is it!!!!! If you decide to spend over $1000 on a high end quality piano to be able to get an excellent and crips sound...a non-sense instrument of you will, .well, you should take on kayaking instead of playing music.This digital piano is offered for less that $600....and produces a feeling and sound like a $3000 one. One of he best features......ohhhhh, what a difference does it makes....it has the transpose buttons within reach.......instead of hiding within the internal program like other keyboards. And it has all the musicians' best friends features: mono and stereo input and outputs, pedals outputs, MIDI/Computer USB..... Only drawback...it is heavy....but once on its stand...dude...simply put........its just Marvelous...in quality, sound and price......!!

pour mon home studio , c'est parfaitpiano très simple d'utilisation , super son , pour la musique planante , rock ,blues etc, gros sons superposables en 4 couches ,c'est le top, enfin les touches sont géniales , du type piano acoustiqueil y a , une transposition très pratique , pour protéger sa voixje recommande vivement ce piano de scène , avec un prix abordable

I love the Kurzweil brand. I have a Kurzweil PC88 which has been an excellent keyboard for 20+ years. I was hoping I would have the same experience with the SP1 which I did not. I love the weighted keys but there were not enough options. However, if you are looking for a simple keyboard this would be an excellent choice. It did not meet my needs. The other drawback is when I decided to return it I looked at the stores return policy and they had a 45 day return option. I was able to return it through Amazon but after it was picked up by UPS I received an e-mail that there was a restock fee which was $159.00. I was told it was Amazon so be sure before you buy you want it.