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PX-5S: Features you're glad ARE included. Features you wish WERE included.


SonnyDaye

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I think "PRIVIA PX-5s" is the perfect name for this design .
The name sounds very smooth . Reminds you on "privilege" .
If this became a fully editable Synthesizer , also the biggest in world , in future , this is also the perfect name , i think .
Because of this : It should be an privilege to own this beautiful white-blue designsynthies .   

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I'd have to agree here, because when comparing the fidelity of the sounds in the PX-5S to say my Kurzweil PC3LE6 which is in a similar price range here in Australia ($2,000 retail) the Casio sounds seem to be sampled at a much lower bit rate and don't sound as clean and crisp.

Now, while some people may be really disappointed with this, I tend to see the PX-5S keyboard as the ultimate excersise in compromise by the Casio engineers. I mean we have so many features packaged into a board featuring 88 superbly weighted keys with crazy polyphony limits, making it an amazing gigging instrument. Forget lugging a Hammond & Leslie to gigs, for some of us older folk, even lugging a Kurzweil or Roland is too much ;)

What I'd really like to see is the ability to turn off polyphony so when you play solo instruments like woodwinds and some retro synth sounds the phrasing is more authentic. For example, think of playing the synth solo in the classic 'Nutbush City Limits'

Finally I want to add that this is one rare moment where I have not experienced buyers remorse and I've owned a lot of boards in the last 35 years.

In Germany the Kurzweil costs less than 1200 AUD and the P(hantastic)X-5s more than 1500 AUD .

This is because the Kurzweil have three soundengines instead of one . You know: You have VA and physical moddelling .

Not only Therefore it weighs up to 14kg .

 

..and (dirty trick!) is not expandable with V.A.-S.T.machine  KOREa64.

So , The Kurzweil is unfortunately cheaper

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Hi and welcome to the forums. While the PX-5S is capable of creating some really fat sounding lead sounds, it will always be in polyphonic mode.

 

Thanks!

 

Is it possible to add this feature (mono mode) by upgrading?

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Lest it be forgotten, I wanted to put in my quarterly plug for the next ugrade, if there is one, to add the ability for the PX-5S to send MIDI messages for cc values 100 or greater.  A few of the controls on my Nord Electro 4 require this.  Thanks and happy holidays!

 

Don´t wait :

Get an Behringer BCR2000 - and you´re able to control all your Nord parameters incl. SysEx .. 

Much more comfortable than via Casio!

Boy ,

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ultra.klick, thanks for the tip on the Behringer but it's not what I'm looking for.  I need control for live playing.  I use the PX-5S and its weighted keys to drive the pianos on the NE4 (I have the SW for organ use) and it would be nice to have all the Nord effects controllable from the PX-5S.  I mapped the ones I could to a Stage Setting I posted just after the PX-5S came out.  Seems like twenty years ago but it's only been about eight months. Scott, Mike, any chance this is going to happen or should I just give up?

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  • 1 month later...

Another wish for a new feature that would very likely be easy to implement:

I'd like the Start/Stop functions (for phrase, arpeggio, song) to not be toggles.  That's already a function in the pedal list (momentary vs. toggle).  When selected for a pedal, the momentary function of the pedal turns into a toggle.  The toggle function of the pedal becomes some funky double-toggle thing.  It might be nice to only have the phrase play while holding the pedal down.

Maybe not so easy to implement, it would be nice to be able to assign controllers to trigger note events.  You know, like if someone wanted to turn their pedals into kick drums or hi-hats or something.  ;-)

 

While we're at it, maybe we could add a "tap-tempo" function to the pedal, too.  I LOVE that the PX-5S has this function already.  It would just be nice if I could assign it to a pedal.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know that the PX-5S isn't designed to be a mixer, but...  if it had a balance control for the line-ins, that would be really awesome!  I'm finding it extremely useful to use it as a volume controller for other acoustic instruments as well.  I can also assign a "solo boost" function to a pedal which really helps!

Now if the line-ins came in before the effects, that would be something else!  Like another one- or two-thousand US dollars else!

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  • 1 month later...

Something to ponder while Casio designs their next great breakout machine.  Howabout a built in Ribbon Controller?

 

I just ordered one for my Kurzweil and from what I can see on Youtube they are the Bee's Knees! :)

 

Wouldn't cost all that much extra to implement either. ;)

 

 

Gary

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  • 5 weeks later...

I would LOVE to pick up a PX-5S. I'd want to use it as a bottom keyboard in a two keyboard midi rig driven by a laptop. I currently use a Nord Stage 88 classic on bottom and a novation sl mk2 61 on top. Great balance of weighted action/synth action. onboard sounds in case of failure/faders and buttons for interfacing with software.

 

I feel like the Nord is a little heavy for how often I move it, which is everyday! I'm gigging/rehearsing a lot. It'd be beautiful to have this casio on bottom to drive pianoteq and co. 

 

Pros:

  • 24 pounds!!! Cannot overstate how important this is...
  • Great action. Very impressed when I brought my laptop in to Sam Ash and tried it as a controller for pianoteq. 
  • Very usable onboard sounds in case of a computer failure.
  • Pitch bend, mod wheel, sliders, zone support, and other real time controls make this nice for a master controller.

 

Cons:

  • NO EXPRESSION PEDAL! While I'd most often use my nonweighted top board for organs, sometimes I need to use the bottom one and not being able to control an expression pedal is a nonstarter for me. You cannot do great B3 work without an expression pedal.
  • NO AFTERTOUCH! Another big one. It's so nice to be able to control vibrato and other things without having your hands leave the keyboard. Also, so many soft synths have critical parameters mapped to aftertouch that it's a pain having to reroute them.
  • On board organ sound (especially leslie sim) needs serious improvement. 

 

If Casio can add an expression pedal slot, aftertouch, and an even slightly better leslie sim all while keeping it at a low weight, I'd buy one this very second. I love the price point, but these features are important. I spend another 500 to have this version of this keyboard right now.

 

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right with you sppiano. the expression pedal omission was the stopper from the start for me, and I never got a good answer as to why something that relatively simple would be omitted. I would also probably own one right now if not for that (well, ok, I don't care for the white on the case either, but that's nitpicking).  You don't see a lot of aftertouch these days, which is, indeed, a shame.

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Continuous Controller capability (as in available via a footswitch jack)

Some decent acoustic (steel and nylon) patches. Sorry to say but (imo) the ac gtr sounds are about on par with the GM synth in Windows. Forget trying to create Jimi Hendrix or Slash, just a believable set of acoustics please.

 

Everything else is pretty much okay at this price point ;)

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I would like to suggest that there should be an indicator in the display screen to say if the PX is running on batteries. I tried using them yesterday (such a brilliant feature! :-) ) and decided to leave them in. What worries me is that In the event of the power supply not being properly connected - ie. if the cable gets pulled or (heaven forbid) if I forget to connect it at all!! I might not realise and then my batteries might quietly go flat and leave me high and dry in a real emergency....

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Exactly Knuckles.   I request the same thing for the same issue.  Plugging into a dead outlet will cause you to run on batteries without any warning.  I would go along suspecting nothing and be surprised when the low batt warning came on.   I suggest the screen backlight dim and an icon on the screen be active while on batteries.  

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Some decent acoustic (steel and nylon) patches. Sorry to say but (imo) the ac gtr sounds are about on par with the GM synth in Windows. Forget trying to create Jimi Hendrix or Slash, just a believable set of acoustics please.

 

You must have hit the wrong button.  LOL   One thing to realize is that the "melody tones" are mostly Casio's usual programming of their wave samples.  The real magic is in stage settings and hex tones where access to additional waves and programming tools can make sounds that are incredible.  Look at the factory stuff first and get familiar with the board, then when you're ready to expand, scour the downloads section for additional stuff from both users and Mike Martin(Casio Official).   Saturday I have some new sounds going up.  Be on the lookout for greatness.  :)

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I do agree that acoustic guitars are not that good, dont forget that the PX-5S is a stage piano with synth capability,

there's not a lot of good guitar sound out there (synth) the only one I use are on my MOXF, there are some good

electric sound on Korg and Roland, but acoustic, nope !, 

When I need a good nylon I use soft synth ( Omnisphere, Native instruments .....) metal I use my MOXF.

It's mostly a sampling affair There's not enough memory space in the PX to have good acoustic sounds

they did very well for the pianos sound with there new chip, but guitars, well I dont think it's a priority for

Casio, and I can understand that.

 

Padking

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Pax. Check my Guitar pack on casioforums...MauVan i try from the beginning to create them slowly i understand that for example the charange is a good base for hendrix like and the clavinet to make funky guitars in hex.layers use your ears and fantasie to recreat guitar and use the casio guitars only like salt and pepper to add. When i start in hexlayeers i always play with it like it was an analog with sinus square and noise then i go later into the sample waves samples are to static and the filters give you not su much to change the timbre.

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Re the guitars...at first I listened to the Stage Setting guitars (non electric) and then went into the tone bank, same result. I fully understand and appreciate it is a stage piano BUT having a really nice acoustic guitar, even just one, means one can create some really nice soloing over the top of keys playing in splits.

 

Not trying to pretend to be a guitarist (which is why I think most electric - read o/d and dist guitar emulations - even when played cleverly, just sound naff! A good solo synth sound is a better option than keys based electric gtrs (JMO!)

 

But a sweet nylon or steel acoustic can really be a very expressive solo instrument. 

 

I have a couple a VST gtrs I can use so I am not lacking, but as this is a wish thread ;) I thought I would put it in there :D

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Pax. Check my Guitar pack on casioforums...MauVan i try from the beginning to create them slowly i understand that for example the charange is a good base for hendrix like and the clavinet to make funky guitars in hex.layers use your ears and fantasie to recreat guitar and use the casio guitars only like salt and pepper to add. When i start in hexlayeers i always play with it like it was an analog with sinus square and noise then i go later into the sample waves samples are to static and the filters give you not su much to change the timbre.

 

Thanks, but as per my post above, wild electric guitars on keyboards are really not my style. The problem is the base acoustic guitar samples - they really seem to be some old sf2 stuff, or GM based ones (as I said about on par with the Microsoft Synth in Windows).............as this is the base sample (it is not modelled) there is not a lot that can be done. Can't create a silk purse from a sows ear!

 

It is just a wish that on future versions of the PX line, that perhaps Casio can re-think what guitar samples they use :)

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