Of course, there are heavier stage pianos on the market, but Kurzweil’s sturdy metal chassis, which is exactly the same on both pianos, is arguably a bigger obstacle to its portability than the weight. The smooth, rounded edges and attractive angles may be aesthetically pleasing, but they certainly don’t make this cumbersome instrument any easier to handle. It’s very hard to get a decent grip of the piano and it feels as if it is about to slip from your grasp at any moment, which is a bit nerve-racking when it isn’t even yours.

Apart from this minor fashion disaster, very little at all has changed in terms of knobs and buttons, and the connectivity is identical. Once again, the main control panel is angled towards you, making the various knobs and buttons easy to view and access. And once again, the layout of these knobs and buttons is very logical. The display screen is set in the centre of the panel, with the controls to the various performance features clearly grouped in distinct zones or ‘regions’. Just below the screen are the standard plus and minus value buttons, which cover a multitude of functions, including cycling through the sounds. To the right of the screen, the Sound Select region once again comprises two rows of eight buttons, through which you can select sounds, effects or onboard rhythms.

The big difference here isn’t the number of buttons, but what they give you access to. Each button on the upper row now has two banks of sounds assigned to it, rather than just one. For example, press the first button on the upper row and you get the first bank of piano sounds — the second row of eight buttons provides access to the eight different piano sounds within that bank. Press it again and the red light changes to green and you are accessing the string sounds. Just as you are starting to realise that there is clearly more to the SP3X than meets the eye, an innocent new button not found on the SP2X gives you access to a whole new Secondary sound category containing an alternative selection of sounds to each Primary bank. Then a couple more equally innocent-looking buttons casually send you in the direction of a massive range of orchestral instruments, as well as a full complement of GM patches and 16 Setups (richer performance patches created from a combination of sounds). The SP3X may look almost identical to its predecessor, but it has clearly got a lot more going on under the hood.

At the far right is the Edit section, which allows you to edit and save various parameters within your presets, as well as settings for the piano such as velocity and transpose. Here, you will also find a button for the Quick Access bank, a place where you can store your most frequently used sounds so you can select them easily when performing live. This is a very handy feature, as sometimes finding one of your favourites can be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially if you can’t even remember whether it was in the Primary or Secondary category, let alone which number it was.

The cluster of buttons to the left of the screen includes the Effect settings, Split and Layer functions, global settings, a Tap Tempo button and the Start/Stop button for the rhythms. The next zone comprises four assignable knobs that control various volume, tempo and effects settings. Having this section to the left of the panel is particularly handy when you want to change the effects levels while performing (meaning you can play lead parts with your right hand whilst editing the effects on the fly). To the left of these control knobs is the Master Volume fader, and the modulation and pitch-bend wheels are where you would expect to find them, to the left of the keyboard.

In terms of connectivity, nothing has changed since the SP2X. The piano offers a headphone output, left and right line outs, sustain and control pedal sockets (a piano-style sustain pedal comes with the piano), a USB port, and MIDI In, Out and Thru ports. As the SP2X had a limited selection of usable sounds, I felt that the lack of line inputs to run a sound module through it was a slight oversight, but this is less of an issue with the SP3X because of the quantity of sounds now on offer.

Of course, you can always argue that such things are highly subjective and everyone has their own personal preferences, but for me, one of the things that I still struggle to come to terms with in the SP2X is the selection of acoustic piano sounds. With a bit of careful editing, I could just about get the sound I wanted from it, to be fair, but I can’t help feeling that I shouldn’t have had to. Thankfully, this is one area where Kurzweil have really improved their offering. Not only does the SP3X offer considerably more acoustic piano variations to choose from, but their overall quality has improved as well. The acoustic pianos on the SP2X were incredibly muddy in the bottom end, but Kurzweil have remedied this. These pianos generally have a very good definition of tone, right through the register. Also, this time you can actually tell the difference between most of the variations. Some of the richer grand pianos are more suitable for the solo performer and others will work better as part of an ensemble. I found ‘Piano For Layers’ particularly versatile. As the name suggests, it is ideal for layering up with strings or pads, but it also fares well when put through a PA.

Although the SP2X may not boast the best acoustic pianos in the world, some of its electric piano sounds make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I was worried that in some moment of madness the R&D team at Kurzweil would have replaced them with some pale imitations of this former glory, but thankfully this is not the case. They’ve simply added more of a good thing. The Wurly and Rhodes-style sounds really benefit from Kurzweil’s sparkling effects, which can be edited on the fly with some very satisfying results when you operate the assigned control knob.

There occasionally comes a point when I’m becoming immersed in a new piano or synth where I’ve found exactly what I’m looking for, sonically speaking, and don’t really want to move on. I start experimenting with just a few favourite sounds, trying out all sorts of different musical styles to see what inspires me, and I lose interest in whatever else the instrument has to offer. With the SP2X, I became ever so slightly obsessed with about three electric piano sounds and the stunning action. I dutifully reported on the fact that I felt many of the other sounds were pretty much pointless and that the basic design had certain flaws, because that’s my job, but I didn’t really care that much (I probably wouldn’t have cared at all if it had just one acoustic piano that turned me on). The SP3X, however, has a much broader appeal, as it isn’t just the pianos that I found inspiring.

Like most stage pianos, the SP3X does feature a lot of sounds that most musicians probably wouldn’t use live, but might find a use for in the studio (how many keyboard players have you ever heard using a guitar sound on stage, for example?). The big difference with this piano, certainly in contrast to the SP2X, is that many of these extra instruments really are very addictive and a lot of fun to experiment with. You may be less likely to use them on stage, but I felt that some of the sounds could make inspiring songwriting tools. I found myself indulging in some of the synths, pads, brass and guitars, almost as much as the electric pianos. Many of the sounds are very well programmed to aftertouch as well, which can add a whole new dimension to your playing (although when playing some of the lead sounds, a joystick controller would still have been nice at times).

The SP3X also contains a separate bank of Setups: combinations of layered sounds, which create fuller, richer patches, more similar to those you might expect to find in a synth than a piano. The SP2X attempted to offer something similar, but whereas I couldn’t imagine even using a single one of them, on stage or in the studio, the Setups on the SP3X have been programmed with considerably more thought and are generally more inspiring, rather than depressing.

A couple of times, I did feel that Kurzweil were simply trying to make up the numbers, but having introduced a Secondary category for each sound set, that was probably unavoidable — although, actually, some of the best sounds are hidden away, relegated to the ranks of the Secondary category. Of course, you still get the inevitable scat sounds (the sort of thing that gives keyboard players a bad name, in my view), but I guess I can handle the odd “doo-bap-pow!” when the programmers haven’t forgotten to include a decent Clav as well.

In addition to what Kurzweil rather immodestly but perhaps correctly claim to be the best-sounding GM sound set you’re likely to hear (I know that isn’t hard, but there you go), the SP3X also offers a whole additional orchestra of strings, brass, woodwind and timpani. These sounds are completely separate to the patches found in the brass, woodwind and strings sections. Admittedly, this Orchestral section is clearly aimed at the home studio rather than the stage, but it all adds to Kurzweil’s offer.

You may not be missing much by ignoring the rhythms, but the effects deserve special attention. Just as they do in the SP2X, Kurzweil’s powerful and expressive effects really bring this piano’s sounds to life and can give them a powerful new dimension. I particularly enjoyed manipulating some of the complex Lazerverb effects to create interesting new sounds and textures.

I’m actually feeling nervous about risking what little integrity I have by even suggesting that the action isn’t identical. There is no reason whatsoever for Kurzweil to change the keybed. After all, I was by no means the only reviewer to shower this aspect of the SP2X with praise, so why would they? Also, the total weight of the instrument is the same, so the idea that they have changed the action quite literally doesn’t add up. Furthermore, Kurzweil themselves have intimated in the press release that accompanied the model I was sent for review that the celebrated action is still the same. However, I can’t get away from the fact that I just didn’t feel it. Perhaps some digital pianos are a little bit more like real pianos than we would believe. Perhaps they can have more personality than we give them credit for. The keyboard on the SP2X was so responsive that it was almost playing me, but even though I was a lot happier with the sounds in SP3X, I wasn’t moved by the action in the same way — just satisfied with it.

Convinced that some kind of nostalgia for the time I felt this glorious action was clouding my judgment, I even decided to A/B both pianos, but found that the SP2X somehow had the edge. The same thing happened to me when Roland upgraded their RD-150 piano to the RD-170 (although I think the difference there was obvious, despite similar claims at the time that the keyboard was the same). Clearly, I’m either succumbing to the power of suggestive phenomenology or I’m just bonkers, but this kind of thing is so subjective anyway that all you can do is try for yourself and make your own mind up. Opinions on a postcard please.

OCD aside, the SP3X may still have a few physical design flaws — some old, some new — but Kurzweil have made massive improvements in terms of the quantity and quality of sounds on offer. Plus, of course, logically, it follows that the action is still excellent (it must be, right?). This all makes for a genuinely attractive offering to the serious gigging pianist.