Review:
$399 USD
Korg B2
$499 USD
Korg B2SP
$599 USD
Launched in 2019, the Korg B2 is an easy-to-use beginner, upgraded version of the Korg B1 which was released in early 2016. There are some improvements from the latter, but there are also some things that Korg could have done better on. The Korg B2 comes in 3 variants, the entry-level B2N, the Korg B2, and the Korg B2SP.
Build Quality
The build of the B2 feels a bit better-built than the Korg B1. Supposedly, this is because of the improvement of the quality controls after some feedback on the areas of improvement of the build quality of the B1 that Korg received. The Korg B2N, is the lightest version of the B2 variants due to the removed weighting of the keys. However, the 9W Korg B2N speaker amplification loses out to the 15W speakers on both the Korg B2 and the Korg B2SP. The 15W speaker amplification is pretty powerful, but it just doesn’t do enough justice to the voices in terms of lustre and clarity as compared to if you were listening to it using headphones.
The key bed of the Korg B2 is pretty good in the sense that it has the scaled hammer action which means that the keys on the lower register are heavier than the keys on the higher register. There is an option to change the touch sensitivity with 3 different levels of touch response. However, the keys are not made of a textured feel (which is what other brands are doing) which will allow for less slippage when playing fast musical passages.
The Korg B2SP also comes with an additional furniture style wooden stand and 3 pedals just like those on a regular piano.
However, there is no LCD screen found on the Korg B2 which is unfortunate as it would have been so much more user-friendly to know which piano voice is currently on. Something to also take note of, the Korg B2 is not battery-operated.
Built-in Features
On the Korg B2, you get 120 notes of polyphony on the electric stage piano voice, 14 notes on the Italian Grand Piano voice, the Jazz Piano voice and the Ballad Piano (which is given 3 samples of note) and 16 notes of polyphony for the rest of the voices as Korg does multi-sampling and that is the sample more than 1 sample per note, which affects the polyphony. You do get iconic, high-quality 12 voices, which is 4 voices more than the Korg B1. Moreover, you can add reverb chorus to the voices, transpose and a built-in metronome can be found on the piano as well. However, there is no rhythms that comes with the Korg B2 that people can practice with. There is only the boring metronome ticking sound.
An upgrade from the former B1, the B2 comes with a brand new 3.5mm auxiliary inject, audio MIDI and an USB MIDI jack which allows you to connect to your IOS devices and your computer and play along with your backing tracks. In addition, you get 3 months’ free subscription to the SKOOVE learning app, Korg’s award-winning Gadget and the Korg Module IOS apps.
However, as for the usability of the sustain pedal, you are only allowed to use the sustain pedal that comes with the Korg B2. You are unable to use the generic, quarter-inch sustain pedal that you can buy from third-party stores. Also, there is no separate output jacks as it is combined with the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Sound
Let’s have a listen to some of the voices on the piano. Click the video to listen to the different voices. Unfortunately, there is no guitar sounds found on this piano.
Classic Piano voice
Italian Concert Piano voice
Jazz Piano Voice
Ballad Piano voice
Stage Electronic Piano voice
60s E’s Piano voice
Digital Electronic Piano voice
Harpsichord voice
Pipe Organ voice
Electronic Organ voice
Conclusion
Although there are some features that are missing on the Korg B2, it is undoubtedly still a not bad beginner piano to get at this price range. I hope that this review has been useful for you in determining if the Korg B2 is a piano that you should get.
Do check out the links provided in this article for more about the latest prices and information of the B2 pianos.
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