The Grandstage X is Korg's redesigned stage piano, built around seven sound engines and a panel where every important control sits in plain sight. It carries 700 programs, from concert grands and tine electrics to tonewheel and transistor organs. Working players who need those sounds ready in seconds are the obvious audience.
Acoustic pianos from the SGX-2 engine
SGX-2 samples every key without looping, switches through up to 12 velocity layers and reproduces damper resonance along with mechanical noise. Thirteen main acoustic tones are on board, six of them grands drawn from German, Italian and Japanese instruments. The GSX and Nautilus voices can be layered with their matching Far variants to set how much room ambience you want. Also included are uprights, a small grand, the OASYS tone, the SG1D stage sound, the M1 favourite from the 80s and 90s, and a fortepiano.
Mono voicings for busy stages
Three mono piano tones come from a dedicated mono recording source, added at the request of touring players. A midrange focused variation is there too, voiced to sit clear of the guitars and keys around it. Both are useful when the front of house engineer wants a narrower image. Try them in a loud mix.
Electric pianos and vintage keyboards
Electric piano duties fall to the EP-1 engine, while the HD-1 PCM section fills in the rest of the vintage keyboard cupboard. Clavi D and Clavi E are multisampled across eight steps, and the electric grand across six. Harpsichord, pipe organ and a metallic FM electric round out the selection.
Three organ voices with rotary
CX-3 recreates Korg's own tonewheel combo organ, with the drawbar character that goes with it. Alongside it sit two transistor models, the VOX sound that shaped 1960s pop records and the smaller FC-1 of the same era. Rotary speaker and vibrato effects are built into the engines, so the wobble and swirl are always to hand.
Analogue modelling and the wider library
AL-1 handles the analogue modelling side, covering cutting leads and thick brass. Add the HD-1 sample engine and the total reaches 700 programs, with 128 note polyphony shared dynamically across whichever engines are running. Preload PCM data runs to roughly 25.5 GB.
Built for the stage
Balanced XLR outputs with a ground lift switch sit next to unbalanced jacks, and a mic or line input lets you run a backing source through the onboard processing. Nutube valve circuitry drives the Analog Tone effect, backed by a three band EQ and a reverb and delay section. Half damper pedalling is supported. Storage and control cover an SD card slot, USB and MIDI in and out.
See it in action
Specifications
| Sound engines | SGX-2 acoustic piano, EP-1 electric piano, AL-1 analog modelling, CX-3 tonewheel organ, VOX transistor organ, FC-1 transistor organ, HD-1 PCM |
|---|---|
| Maximum polyphony | 128. Actual polyphony varies with the engines and effects in use, as voice processing power is allocated dynamically |
| Preload PCM storage capacity | Approx. 25.5 GB (linear equivalent approx. 51 GB) |
| Number of sounds | 700 |
| Favourite memories | 100 (including 20 preloads) |
| Reverb and delay | Reverb types: hall, stage, room, spring, shimmer. Delay types: delay, mod delay, tape echo |
| Audio in effects | Dyna compressor, exciter and enhancer, isolator, multi mode filter, mastering limiter, limiter, graphic EQ, modern compressor |
| EQ | 3 band equaliser: low, mid, high |
| Analog Tone | Vacuum tube analogue sound effects with Nutube |
| Part control section | Main button and slider, layer button and slider, split button and slider |
| Rhythm section | Chord progression, key, setup, play and stop, bass mute, tempo buttons |
| Sound select section | Buttons 1 (Grand) to 10 (Others), favourite button |
| Realtime controllers | Pitch bend wheel, modulation wheel, SW1 button, SW2 button |
| Frequency response | 20 Hz to 20 kHz, +/- 1.0 dB, 10 k ohm load |
| Audio output XLR (left, right) | XLR-3-32 type (balanced) with lift and ground switch. Output impedance 600 ohm, maximum level +16 dBu, load impedance 10 k ohm |
| Audio output (L/mono, R) | 6.3 mm TS phone jacks (unbalanced). Output impedance 1.1 k ohm stereo, 600 ohm mono. Maximum level +16 dBu, load impedance 10 k ohm |
| Audio in | 6.3 mm TRS phone jack (balanced) with mic and line switch and level knob |
| Headphones | 6.3 mm stereo phone jack. Output impedance 50 ohm, maximum level 150 mW + 150 mW at 32 ohm |
| Control input | Damper (half damper supported), switch, pedal |
| MIDI | In, out |
| Card slot and USB | SD card slot, USB type B x 1 |
| Power supply | AC power supply terminal |
Specifications from Korg. Appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.