The Korg RH3 hammer weighted key action is one of the main reasons I like Korg digital pianos so much along with a big, full piano sound through their powerful speaker systems. But now in the last few years with their new very successful higher priced models called the C1 Air at $1449 and the G1 Air at $1799 and now the the LP-380U with advanced integration to external devices like iPad, Korg is a big 'player' again in the home digital piano market.Īs I previously mentioned, the Korg LP-380U has the top of the line high quality RH3 balanced and piano weighted key action while the SP-280 portable digital piano has the more entry level NH piano key action which is not as responsive or natural as the LP-380U key action but it is still good in its price range. The new LP-380U cabinet model has the same responsive key action found in their higher priced digital pianos which is a very good thing.

But what makes the new LP-380 U so special is that you can turn it into anything you want to be (so to speak) with the new USB AUDO STREAMING and USB MIDI connectivity.īut then Korg got out of that business and instead concentration on professional stage keyboards, stage digital pianos, and studio production gear and they are a powerhouse in that category. It also does not have any on-board MIDI recording features like most other digital pianos do in this price range and in lower price ranges.

With regard to the LP-380U itself, there is a relatively extensive library of 30 instrument sounds resident within the LP-380U (same as previous LP-380) including acoustic & electric piano sounds, strings, organs, harpsichord, etc, along with a huge 44 watt internal amplifier system driving a tuned, internally housed speaker system which makes those instrument sounds have a big sound output and better than any other digital piano in this price range with regard to the speaker system, but otherwise this model is fairly basic in technology and features. What this new USB audio streaming technology has done is to turn the otherwise very good LP-380 digital piano into an iPad driven super digital piano LP-380U.

Korg tiny piano review