tjjohn61

Thanks for the brilliant compositions Brad, New Order is one of my favorites. In fact I love the 80s synth pop scene. You really showed the capabilities of the S5. You're right, you have to experiment and read the manual/watch the video tutorials to get the most out of the S5. The thickness and complexity of the hex layer sounds is simply amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on the S5 and start programming. I'm not that fussed about some of the supporting sounds being GM in origin. As you guys say, stacking them and filtering them and applying effects can make them sound pretty convincing. After I pay the new car off I'm definitely getting the S5 for Xmas. Didn't take much to talk me into it, you just need to have a good look and listen. You can see the keys rebound as in a real grand piano, it looks really authentic. As in any keyboard, there are always things you would like to see implemented, like a larger LCD screen for the S5, a digital out line, more sequencing power, better samples for the support sounds like strings. I'm sure Casio will take these suggestions on board and produce a killer workstation in the next few years. They already have the perfect keybed for the weight and a great synth engine. Just a few additions and some tweaking would really make it indispensable to any serious keyboardist who doesn't want to limit himself to just piano sounds.

Fair enough, it depends on what you want to use the 5S for. I think it would be great for synth sounds and piano/Rhodes sounds, and as a controller keyboard. You could always resort to DAW software sampled sounds for strings, brass, orchestra, etc. I accept it's not meant to be a workstation, but it fulfils its main purpose extremely well. I'm more into pianos and creating synthesized sounds than trying to emulate woodwinds and brass anyway. I love creating deep pad sounds, and it seems like the 5S does this better than most keyboards. One thing though, does the S5 come with any drum and bass patterns for accompaniment? I'm a keyboardist, but definitely not a drummer or bassist! Nice to have those in the background to work with when necessary. Thanks for your reply.

Thanks Guys for your feedback. Experienced members here are very helpful I find. In the end I'll probably go for the PX-S5, but not until Xmas, so I have to time to think about it. I see now there are midi note recording possibilities, so that's one more plus for the S5. Having 88 keys and authentic piano key emulation is the other big plus. My budget is around 1000 Euros this year, so the S5 hits that sweet spot as well. Not getting it till Xmas, so I'll be learning about it as much as I can before then, downloading the manual and watching the excellent tutorial videos by Mike Martin. I've heard the bread and butter piano, Rhodes and clavinet sounds on various YouTube videos, but not so much the other supporting sounds. How do the strings, brass, woodwind, orchestra, etc sounds stack up? Until now I've been using mainly VST instruments, mainly for synthesizer sounds. I do have the Vienna Grand by Native Instruments, which sounds extremely realistic. I also use most the Arturia classic synth emulators and various NI synthesizers like Razor and Skanner. I have only a mediocre keyboard controller, so I look forward to using the S5 as a controller with some decent expression for those as well. But it will also be nice to finally have a decent standalone instrument rather than having to rely on a PC for all my sounds, tied to it like an umbilical cord!

Thanks for the info. I guess I could work with that, although with chords, other MIDI events like mod/pitch wheel, etc. the 1600 notes would get used up pretty quickly. I'm just trying to get away from total reliance on the PC DAW for recording pieces, whether it's in an audio format or just capturing the MIDI notes. Could be what I need for that is more of a dedicated workstation, which has a standard sequencer built in, but the S5 is very tempting nevertheless...looks almost like a new kind of synthesis. Keep up the momentum in R&D Casio, you're right on target to challenge the usual big three. A few more bells and whistles like sampling, proper sequencer and beefed up brass, string, orchestra sounds would certainly challenge Yamaha and the rest.

Hi All, I'm trying to decide between buying the Kurzweil PC3-LE8 workstation and the PX-5S. I'm really impressed with the PX-5S, especially the hex layers and deep editing, not to mention the excellent keybed and light weight. What I'm not clear on though is the "Phrase Sequencer". The capability I'd like to have is to sit down at the keyboard, hit the reocord button, and play something off the top of my head and have all the midi notes recorded, whether it's a phrase or a ten minute improvisation. I know that you can record audio, which is great, but can you make a lengthy recording of midi note events? Maybe not, since the PX isn't a true workstation, but it would be great if it had that feature. Thanks in advance for any information you can give on this. Tim