PX-350: User reviews, DP questions & hands-on experiences...

[Dattaa]

Who has tried out the new PX-350 digital piano (dp)?

What are your thoughts?

What stands out?

Give us your hands-on 'good, bad & ugly' evaluation!

Who has bought a 350?

What is your user experience with your new dp?

What do you like about it?

What don't you like about it?

Would you recommend this dp to your family and friends?

Who's thinking to buy a 350?

What are you looking for in a new dp?

What questions do you have about the 350?

What are you hoping to get from buying a new 350?

What other brands/models of dp are you also considering?

How does the 350 stack-up against these other brand/model dps?

[Guest bossbandbob]

I actually just tried one at GC yesterday. IMO The action and feel is fantastic, real close to an actual piano. Same for the pedals. The APs Sounded real good to me all around but a bit too twangy in the mids, when pounded hard. I would think a touch sense adjustment (if it has it) could fix this. The other sounds strings, Ep's, etc. were also pretty nice.

[Bigmark]

I own one and I really Like it and what stands out is what bang you get for your buck.

The piano sounds are great as are the EP`s ( better than my £5K Clavinova ) plus it acts as an arranger keyboard too.

128 note Polyphony you don't even get that on a Mox8 , only weighs 24ilbs so brilliant for gigging.

If this had Roland /Yamaha/Korg etc on the back it would easily cost 3 times the price and Musicians would be snapping them up and ranting and raving about them on all the forums.

Its also very easy to use unlike some Yamaha's where you need a degree in Quantum Physics to store a setting to a bank.

But there are a few things I don't like about it.. I also owned a PX-330 prior to this and one of the biggest complaints was that the Privia is marketed as a stage piano, yet you cant see a darn thing in low light on stage, I have to use a clip on goose neck lamp, you can easily press the wrong button ie Synchro End rather than Variation, all rather embarrassing if playing live.

I really thought Casio would have addressed this issue on the PX-350 after all, how expensive would it have been to put illuminous transfers on ?

There is also no feature to change key of midi files, seeing I can get a midi player for free that does this job on my ipod again Casio could have easily and cheaply included this feature.

I would have liked to have seen the ability to play MP3 tracks through the USB stick, the only way to do this is to convert them back to WAV files then name them Take01 to Take99, you need to catalogue or list each track on paper so you now what's what.

The speakers sound muffled to me when playing with the on board Accomps but sound great through an external amp like my Peavey KB60.

A button so you could layer tones on the fly would have also been a great feature.

But hey for the money its one hell of a set up and I am sure before too long you will see bands live at Glastonbury using them live in their sets..Then you will really see them take off .

[taswulf]

I already have a PX 730 which both my wife & I love. We have a CTK 4200 which we are selling on and we are waiting impatiently for delivery of our new PX 350.

[Guest Sud]

I have purchased a Casio PX 350 and I am loving it. I chose this model after a lot of research. This is by far the best in this price range.. suits for my playing style. I have compared this one to PX 130, PX 330, Yamaha P 95, Yamaha P105, Korg SP 170, SP 250. Off all these, I am sure that PX 350 will beat them hands down. Very nice GP sample, very authentic key feel etc. etc. It is very good for small gigs as it comes with a line in too (for your friends Guitar). The stand CS 67 is very nice. It makes playing very comfortable.

[Guest Joe M]

Who has bought a 350?

What is your user experience with your new dp?

What do you like about it?

What don't you like about it?

Would you recommend this dp to your family and friends?

My electronic keyboard/midi controller for the past several years weighs in at over 50lbs. I am considering doing some open mic type things and maybe even getting involved with a band again. I definitely needed something a little more "portable." I also didn't want to break the bank. My personal preference is to play a real piano, so that sound and feel very much colors my judgement when it comes to electronic pianos (as opposed to something like a synth).

Was leaning heavily towards a P-105 based on things I had read. Frankly, I have never seen the attraction to Yamaha equipment - electronic or acoustic. Still, there are plenty out there singing the praises.

Went to the local music store and there were three keyboards to try out (three that met my specs for price, features and portability). The first one they showed me was a Korg (250?). They had a great price on it since it was the last one in the store. Considering the negative things I had read, I was very impressed. It is a nice little keyboard. Even considering the price, I still wasn't impressed enough to want to buy one.

Next up was the P-105. I had to double check the brand and model number to make sure I was playing the keyboard so may rave about. Sound and feel were (to me) horrible. It took me less than a minute to see this was NOT the keyboard for me.

There was a PX-150 on the rack, which was on my "short list" of units to look at. Someone had stolen the power supply! I was thinking "it couldn't be that much better than the other two and was ready to leave the store. Fortunately, the sales guy was determined to help me out and found a supply. It was very much worth the wait.

The 150 blew me away. This is the closest I have every had an electronic piano come to the real thing. The speakers are inherently limited by their size, but do an adequate job. Connect to headphones or a sound system and the sound is fabulous. What's really nice about the built-in speakers is they give you a little "vibration" you can feel - just like playing a real piano. The action is amazing for a 24lb electronic keyboard. I was never one for playing in music stores, but I must have played this thing for 30 minutes.

I ended up buying the 350, which is the same basic unit with a few more features. Since I got it home, I can't stop playing it. It's all good - no bad, no ugly. To be fair, I really haven't worked the other sounds extensively since I really bought it for the piano sound (which it excels at). I have also used it as a midi controller with my computer software and that works exactly as it should.

"What questions do you have about the 350?"

I know that Casio makes a three pedal board for the unit. However, I am just looking for a single pedal that is a little more substantial than the included piece and supports the half pedal feature. Is there anything (Casio or third party) that would fit this bill?

[Guest Joe M]

Okay - found one small negative.

"Line Out" really isn't line out. The signal sent through the line out jacks is controlled by the volume knob. I was really expecting "line out" to produce a straight volume (as line out is supposed to do). This would allow the speaker volume to be set independently by the volume knob. Casio should really consider fixing this in some kind of firmware update.

[Null]

Okay - found one small negative.

"Line Out" really isn't line out. The signal sent through the line out jacks is controlled by the volume knob. I was really expecting "line out" to produce a straight volume (as line out is supposed to do). This would allow the speaker volume to be set independently by the volume knob. Casio should really consider fixing this in some kind of firmware update.

That's not really a negative in my book. My Korg TR76 exhibits the exact same behaviour. To me it's actually a plus since it allows the player to make minor volume adjustments on the fly without having to run over to the mixing console to set the levels. The XW-P1 also behaves exactly the same way. My guess is that this is actually the industry standard.

If anything, proper standard behaviour would be for the onboard speakers to cut out the second anything's plugged into the Line Out Jacks.

[Guest Joe M]

Guess it's a matter of preference. I can see the advantage of being able to adjust volume. However, that same feature can cause a big problem due to an unintended volume change after levels are set up properly.

As far as "industry standard" - line out is, by definition, means a constant signal which is unaffected by a volume control. It makes sense that the headphone outputs are controlled by the volume knob. Calling this "line out" is misleading. If this is the new "industry standard" then the industry has become illiterate.

Connected to an amp or PA system, you could easily blow a speaker if you (or someone else) accidentally turned up the volume knob. The more I think about this, the more I realize what a bad idea it is. If you really wanted to plug into an external source and use the volume control, you could simply use the headphone out jack.

I see your point about the speakers not cutting out when the line out is used, but don't agree. First, if the line out was really line out, you could simply turn the volume knob to eliminate sound from the speakers. Personally, I would love to keep the line out at the standard, fixed level and still be able to separately adjust the speaker level with the knob to get the "feel" of the sound vibrations from the speakers. As it is, it becomes very difficult to find the right balance between speaker volume and "line out" volume.

Either way, I would still like to know if there are any pedal options (casio or 3rd party) besides the included one or the 3-pedal board (which pretty much needs the casio stand).

[Guest Joe M]

FWIW - the Korg unit you mention doesn't have a line out, it has "audio out." This is consistent with other pro audio gear I have owned and used.

Seems like casio is the only manufacturer that is mislabeling their outputs as line level when they are not.

Not sure if I will decide to void the warranty to open it up and fix the line-out, or use the 30day return policy. I wish I didn't like the sound/feel of this so much more than the other units I tried.

[Dattaa]

I know that Casio makes a three pedal board for the unit. However, I am just looking for a single pedal that is a little more substantial than the included piece and supports the half pedal feature. Is there anything (Casio or third party) that would fit this bill?

Casio SP-20 - http://www.casio.com/products/Accessories/Pedals/SP-20/

M-Audio SP-2 - http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/SP2.html

Both are good. I use M-Audio's SP-2. Works fine!

Dattaa

[cpcohen]

Dattaa --

I've been reading the manual. It only talks about _half-pedal_ operations with the Casio 3-pedal board.

The M-Audio SP-2 pedal may be restricted to being a "damper pedal" / "soft pedal" / "sostenuto pedal". I have one, and I'm going to see if it's a simple on/off switch, or if it's continuously variable.

. Charles

PS -- I'm new here, just thinking about getting a PX-350.

[Guest Joe]

Dattaa.

Thanks for the info. I am aware of those pedal options. What I was wondering about is the half-pedal operation. As Charles mentions, the only reference to half-pedal is with the large pedal board. I have pedals similar to the two you note (from other keyboards) - they work, but simply and an "on/off" pedal. I was hoping to find something which also supports half-pedal operation.

Charles,

Were you able to test the pedal?

[Dattaa]

Dattaa

What I was wondering about is the half-pedal operation. As Charles mentions, the only reference to half-pedal is with the large pedal board. I have pedals similar to the two you note (from other keyboards) - they work, but are simply "on/off" pedals. I was hoping to find something which also supports half-pedal operation.

Charles

Charles, here's link and quote from Mike Martin, Casio Marketing, concerning their SP22 & SP33 sustain pedals:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1968403/13.html

The SP32 and SP33 BOTH support a "progressive half-pedaling." It is a variable controller from 0-127 in MIDI values. Not an on/off switch. The SP33 is actually velocity sensitive. The force at which you press the pedal also impacts the volume of the "damper sound". You can hear the dampers lifting off the strings and this will be either very subtle or more noticeable based on the how quickly you stomp on the damper pedal.

[cpcohen]

Dattaa --

I'm on PianoWorld, but I missed that!

Those features are clearly worth the cost of the 3-pedal option, and whatever trouble it takes to make it work with an X-type stage stand. It's more sophisticated than I was expecting.

Thank you!

I _did_ try putting an M-Audio "Expression" pedal -- continuously-variable -- into the "Sustain" pedal jack on the PX-350 rear panel. All positions are interpreted as "damper off".

. Charles

[Guest Mick Seven]

I returned mine- speakers are not loud enough especially on mellow sounds and line out does not amplify like the 130 and 330

[Dattaa]

Charles, have a gander at this:

http://www.joflaherty.org/PianoPedal/Pedals.pdf

Well-written article on M-Audio SP-2 sustain pedal and how to re-wire it to get half-pedaling on PX-xxx keyboards.

Dattaa

I _did_ try putting an M-Audio "Expression" pedal -- continuously-variable -- into the "Sustain" pedal jack on the PX-350 rear panel. All positions are interpreted as "damper off".

Charles

[Guest cpcohen1945]

Thank you! He did a really nice job -- both investigating, and explaining.

Last week I got the Casio SP-33 triple-pedal unit . . . It works nicely. It's positioned on top of the bottom legs of my X-stand, with some cardboard under it. Tied in place with shock-cord.

I'm having lots of fun just playing the keyboard. I'm using headphones, or a pair of Behringer MS40 "multimedia speakers". Either one is better than the built-in loudspeakers -- that's just an observation, not a complaint.

OK -- back to scale practice . . . and thanks again . . .

. Charles

[Guest cpcohen1945]

One more thing:

. . . I think that the "half-pedal" isn't analog, as Mike Martin believes.

There are three audibly-different damper pedal positions with the SP-33 triple pedal:

. . . Pedal up = dampers down.

. . . Pedal half-down (a range of positions) -- "half-damped" -- longer decay than "note off", maybe 1 second or so,

. . . . . . not dependent on pedal position within the "half-down" range

. . . Pedal down -- "damper off", long decay.

It's quite playable.

I can't detect any velocity-sensitive "loom of strings" difference.

. Charles

[Guest Guest]

I've had the 350 at home for a few days now. Absolutely love it. Being a portable for me was a drawback but it was hands down the most advanced in the price range. The recording capabilities alone are astounding.

Cons: mine is on the stand which looks great but it's in a carpeted room and rocks/wobbles slightly when played. I'll need to resolve that. The grand piano sample is great through headphones but sounds a bit dull through the speakers. I need to see if there's a way to tweak the crispness of it without switching to a different voice. The drum track accompaniments are great but limited in terms of ride cymbals, accents etc. I'm going to see if there's a forum to help a non-geek (geek being a compliment, not an insult as I mean it) learn how to import and use clips effects, etc. That's over my head for now but I hope to tackle it. The sax and trumpet voices plus a few others are so bad you would think you bought one of those $79.99 Casio toys at Walmart.

Pros: lots of them. Key action and feel, numerous voices, track on track recording (17 tracks!), the abilities to export recorded songs are impressive, it goes on and on. By far the best purchase I could have made without dropping a few grand on a really high end Kawai. I can't wait to figure out what all this instrument can do!

[Guest Charles]

There's a "brightness" control in the Function menu -- it might help to turn that up. And there's a "Grand Piano Bright" voice that has a lot more high-frequency EQ than the "Grand Piano Concert".

I suspect that the _real_ problem is with the loudspeakers in the PX-350. I have mine running through Behringer MS40 powered loudspeakers (4.75" woofers), and they sound _much_ better than the built-in speakers. I imagine that larger woofers (and higher-quality monitors) would be a further improvement. I'll have a chance to play through a Yamaha PAS 300 PA system (8" woofers) this weekend -- it'll be interesting.

Have fun -- it's a remarkable piece of gear.

. Charles

[Guest Guest]

Thanks Charles! I'll hunt for that brightness button ASAP. That will probably be all I need to make the voice sound a little sharper through the on board speakers.

Kerry

[Jared Beaney]

mine is on the stand which looks great but it's in a carpeted room and rocks/wobbles slightly when played. I'll need to resolve that.

Do you mean you have it on the CS67 "furniture" style stand? If so make sure you extend the stabilizers that are on the bottom of each leg by un-doing the screws, sliding the metal brackets out, and screwing in again. This should help with the wobbles.

[Guest Guest]

I'm aware of those. I'm actually thinking of extending them, attaching "L" brackets to them and screwing the "L" brackets into the wall that the piano is up against. That should do nicely. Now I'm going to hunt for forums that might give me some basics on how to import files into the 350 to add drum effects, etc. I'm working on " So What" by Miles Davis and need some ride cymbals and snare drum brushing sounds, things like that. If anybody has advice it would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Kerry

[Guest Charles]

. . . Now I'm going to hunt for forums that might give me some basics on how to import files into the 350 to add drum effects, etc. I'm working on " So What" by Miles Davis and need some ride cymbals and snare drum brushing sounds, things like that. If anybody has advice it would be much appreciated! Thanks.

Kerry

I don't think you can import _sounds_.

The PX-350 has a bunch of MIDI "drum kits" -- they're on the high end of the "General MIDI" list, if I remember right. All the standard percussion sounds -- snares, brushes, cymbals, etc -- are in those: one note per sound. See the manual, appendix A-4.

Also in the manual, pg. E-21 has a section on creating your own "user rhythms". That should be what you need for a Miles Davis-like backing track. If you check the built-in rhythms, the "Jazz/World" ("Jazz/European"?) group has a few very minimal jazz rhythms.

The PX-5S (just announced, not yet available) has looping sequences. Might be just right for drum patterns.

. Charles