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


Dattaa

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  • 1 month later...

I have a wk7600 and am thinking to change it to px350, but unsure?

Can you do a tone edit on px ?  I like to add sustain as a default to certain ep's, vibs etc  but I don't see in the manual any adjustment for tone other than reverbs and chorus effects.

 

It also sounds like the layer and split functions are a pain in the arse, which they are also on the wk7600 for performing,  the wk8000 has them perfect, why casio change them is beyond me,  saving set ups to reg banks is not the answer for performance.

 

Could anyone advise pros and cons??

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I have a wk7600 and am thinking to change it to px350, but unsure?

Can you do a tone edit on px ?  I like to add sustain as a default to certain ep's, vibs etc  but I don't see in the manual any adjustment for tone other than reverbs and chorus effects.

 

It also sounds like the layer and split functions are a pain in the arse, which they are also on the wk7600 for performing,  the wk8000 has them perfect, why casio change them is beyond me,  saving set ups to reg banks is not the answer for performance.

 

Could anyone advise pros and cons??

 

You read the manual correctly.  The PX-350 has a better keyboard action than the WK-series -- closer to an acoustic piano.  But the PX-350 is closer to a "digital piano", than to a synth like the WK.

 

You _cannot_ edit tones on the PX-350.   You can adjust "reverb" and "chorus".   You cannot control attack / sustain / decay / release.  And there is no EQ.  The built-in tones are pretty good, but you can't change them.

 

The Layer / Split is clumsy.  You must go through the menu to change the volume balance of "main tone" to "layered tone".   So I save all my combinations to register banks.

 

The PX5S has _much_ more freedom, if you want to edit tones.  Of course, it is more expensive.  There is a review here:

 

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul14/articles/casio-privia-px5s.htm

 

.          Charles

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If you don't need workstation tools like song sequencers and rhythms but want top of the line editing abilities and setup flexibility the PX-5s is the way to go.  The PX-5s has an incredible download section with almost any sound you need ready for download.   Add that the PX-5s has incredible support so if you can't figure out a feature.....ask the question here or in the faster paced PX-5s facebook group.  It will get answered.

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The Roland FP-80 is a _very_ good digital piano.  It has better keyboard action, and better sound generator, than the PX-350.  I _think_ it has a 4-band EQ.

 

I don't know if you can edit the non-piano sounds.  There is _some_ control over the piano sounds, using the "Piano Designer".  And there are "virtual drawbars" for the Hammond organ sounds (a very nice feature!).

 

There are lots of Roland owners here:

 

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/6/1/Digital_Pianos_-_Synths_&a.html

 

They might be able to tell you what you can do, and what you can't do.

 

.            Charles

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Hello Charles. not too much experience with the Rolands, the RD-500 years back had a beautiful action i recall, quiet, smooth and very responsive compared to everything else.

 

I was looking seriously at the FPs and RD series, still do! What do you find different or better compared to the Casios as i haven't played a Roland for several years and don't remember all that well? I still need to work on modifying the PX-350 keybed as it is not as quiet as I'd like it to be-and there is still not enough cushioning at key bottom even though I've already added more. Without additional padding underneath the keys in time this will I think contribute to keybed damage from too much vibration with repeated playing.

 

If I had room, i'd probably pick up and RD-500 or 700 to compare. i am primarily a piano player so key response is still my major priority. PX is certainly better than any of the Fatar actions I've played-Kurzweil, Ensoniq, not sure about Yamaha and Roland which like Casio must have their own physical mechanism which differs from the Fatar.

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I haven't played seriously on the Rolands, but I've tested them in stores.

 

Roland has a new series of actions -- I think they're the "PHA" series.   The one in the FP-50 didn't impress me, but the FP-80 action and sound generator is responsive, easy to play, and matches pretty well to an acoustic piano.  Both the action, and sound generator, is better than what Casio offers.  The price is nearly triple the PX-350 price, though.

 

I bought my PX-350 about two years ago, shortly after it came out.   When I played a Roland FP-7F, I thought:

 

. . . Ah, this is the next big step up.

 

The FP-80 is at least as  good as the FP-7F.  You have to like (or at least accept) the Roland "SuperNatural" sound.   It's not quite an acoustic piano equivalent, but it's good, and it varies smoothly across pp to FF.    And on the high-end models (FP-80, RD-800, etc) there's some user-settable tone-control options in the "Piano Designer".

 

I wasn't nearly as impressed by the F-130R.  Its sound becomes harsh (lots of high harmonics) playing loudly -- more harsh than I like.

 

You really need to try the keyboards yourself.   Your ears aren't my ears, and your fingers aren't my fingers.  I've been using Pianoteq, driven from the PX-350 keyboard, and I prefer it to the PX-350's built-in sounds.  But not everyone likes it, and it complicates the physical setup.

 

I just played for a chant performance, using the PX-350 with bass, percussion, and guitar.  In that environment, nobody is listening for subtleties of sound, and the PX-350 did very well for itself.

 

.             Charles

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True, true and true. Sound can be so subjective and key response or 'feel" also.

 

Although i haven't done any ensemble work yet, I'm sure the Casio will be fine, especially since it is infintely lighter than any other 88-key hammer action digital I've owned! I spent an entire day years back playing every piano in the store before I finally picked a Kurzweil digital grand which I've kept. And although it holds up fairly well for realistic sound even today the Fatar action isn't very pleasant (I tend to go to the PX-350 more often). but the other factor i discovered is based upon "listener fatigue". i tended to notice after lengthy playing, certain digitals were less stressful to monitor than others as I tried etudes jazz songs etc. Again in ensemble this probably wouldn't be a problem, our church music director uses a Yamaha digital grand and except for layers she sometimes uses for strings, It sounds fine in that environment, much less so up close in the "driver's" seat when I've played it  where it tends to sound "brittle".

 

When I  tried Yamaha digitals in a piano shop the sound although realistic was fatigiing after a half hour or so, the Rolands less so. I can play the Casio for quite awhile and do not experience this. I can only guess this is due to its relatively realistic response dynamically and less harsh  (to my ears at least) samples which is the case with the Kurzweil which has a "rounder" but not muddy response. Thanks for sharing some info, I appreciate it.

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In the px350 manual it says the file extensions for rytham are .ac7  this is the same as the wk7600 series, also data manager will convert .ckf files from older casio models to .ac7

 

I don't have a px but I assuming because of this statement in the manual you load in styles via usb , As I have a wk76 this would be a real bonus because ive spent time on data manager with conversions and even got Yamaha .sty files converted to .ac7 thru some 3rd party program I have

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Julian-you cannot load new tones into the PX-350, the only modifications possible are the few effects you can choose=reverb, chorus. The brightness setting can also be changed, but this is global (affects all tones together).

 

I am working on deciphering the sysex codes for the PX series with the midi spec sheet, trying to make an editor for it, which may give us the ability to modify other things-maybe even tones which (possibly) could be stored in the "registrations" still working on this.  And yes, you can save and load styles (.ckf or .ac7) from the usb drive, although there are only 10 slots for "user" rhythms. have to use the usb card, there is still no librarian/editor for the PX's that I have found. If you load a .ckf, the PX converts this to .ac7. Not sure what the technical differences are but I've used both.

 

Mike Martin had informed me in another post that the midi app (I think it's midiband or midi designer) many here use for the XW series synths can also do some modifications when connected to the PX. I don't own an iPad so I can't speak on that. I'd be interested to know if anyone here has had any success with that as it hasn't been designed for the PX, but if it works, might be worth the additional investment. I'm so heavy invested with the Windows/Linux/Android world already-time/money/equipment/technical studies, all I need is one more platform to deal with aaarrrggghhh!

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