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The NAMM Show 2013


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Guest KBeaumont

PS. The difference between $999 and $1299 is $300 not $200 ;)

I was quoting street price differrence between what until very recently the PX-3 $799 & the Street price of the PX-5S $999.

I have never ever paid the MSRP on any board ever!

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Guest KBeaumont

I think it's a bit over-priced. I'm still hoping for a 76 key version - maybe that will put it in the right price range.

Quick question: The PX-350 has Rhythm Patterns. The PX-5S doesn't seem to have Rhythm Patterns listed in any of the published specs I have seen. Is it possible that they left that out of this supposedly "all-purpose" performance keyboard?? Hard to believe!

Yup...a bit over-priced.

Also, has anyone divulged what that mystery black section behind the upper register is for? There was a lot of speculation about it, but I haven't seen the final answer yet.

Thanks!

Batteries! This thing is Pro board the PX-350 is really a home digital piano you could also gig with. You guys are missing all the controler / sound tweaking functionality and the Hex Layers from the XW series. The PX-350 isn't in the same league as this.

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I was quoting street price differrence between what until very recently the PX-3 $799 & the Street price of the PX-5S $999.

I have never ever paid the MSRP on any board ever!

OK, but even so, I bought my XW-P1 for about $500, approx $100 below the MSRP. The PX-3 could be found around here for $699, $300 below MSRP in the past 6 months. So it's really anyone's guess what street price will be for the PX-5S.

However, it seems to me that the PX-5S is more evolutionary to the PX-3 rather than any radical, groundbreaking departure. Yes it has Hex modes. But what about Solo Synth and Drawbar Organs and 400 PCM sounds? What about the step sequencer and the phrase sequencer?

It seems that my $500 XW-P1 will blow this machine away without working up a sweat. This is a gussied up stage piano rather than an 88 key workstation.and I seriously see nothing about it that merits more than double the price of the XW-P1.

I waited patiently for weeks thru all the hints and hype and teasers and upon seeing the finished product I have to say this is not kewl beanz. It's actually pretty weak and ridiculously overpriced for what is essentially this years model of PX-3.

I'm sorry if I'm not as enthused as the rest of you, but to me this was definitely not worth the hype and buildup.

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Guest pjprevitejr

On Mike's demo at NAMM at one point he had some kind of a rhythmic pattern going when he was playing. My PX-3 doesn't have a separate "drum pattern" section either unlike the PX-350 (with built-in speakers) which does.

Apparently, the mysterious black section houses the battery compartment (the keyboard will also run on 8-AA batteries!) :)

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On Mike's demo at NAMM at one point he had some kind of a rhythmic pattern going when he was playing.

I noticed that too!

I'm sure hoping I'm wrong about it not having Rhythm Patterns!

But, even if it does, I still think it's over-priced. All the hype isn't a justification for that price.

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Mike does mention 'patterns' at 6:00 when I think he actvates one.

I'd be very surprised if they don't have any.

I agree, but WHY is it not listed in the specs here:

http://www.casiomusicgear.com/products/menu_privia/PX-5S

Another concern of mine:

Can anyone tell us if the action is the exact same as the PX-350 or has it been tweaked, or replaced with a totally different action?

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Guest pjprevitejr

I've seen (3) demo videos of the PX-5S from NAMM and on none of them have I heard any of the keyboard's organ sounds. I'm guessing that this isn't going to be one of the instrument's strengths. (sigh)

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Guest KBeaumont

Just to let you know this is not a finished product. Its a prototype, notice Mike is using an iPad to bring up registrations.

Many of the sounds in his demo were programmed by him in the final couple of days prior to NAMM.

So the organ sounds which probable aren't high priority on a fully weghted board anyways probably aren't finished.

Also this board is highly tweakable so if you don't like the factory patch, you can always try your hand at it.

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Oh, OK. (whew!) I did notice that the demonstrators kept reaching over to the iPad when punching up new sounds. What you wrote makes sense. Everything I've read (and heard) makes me want to get this thing so, keeping in mind what you said, I'll patiently withhold any further judgement for now. Thanks!

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Just to let you know this is not a finished product. Its a prototype, notice Mike is using an iPad to bring up registrations.

Many of the sounds in his demo were programmed by him in the final couple of days prior to NAMM.

So the organ sounds which probable aren't high priority on a fully weghted board anyways probably aren't finished.

Also this board is highly tweakable so if you don't like the factory patch, you can always try your hand at it.

How do you know it is HIGHLY tweakable?

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Just watched the Sonic State video from NAMM on the PX-5S...

...and it's a pretty nice look at the instrument, but it does confirm one of my worries is that this thing doesn't have an expression pedal input. I hope I'm wrong, I know I miss having one on my XW-P1, and with the great control possible on the PX-5S, it would really be great to have an expression pedal input. Or two. The envelope feature with a standard footswitch is a nice idea, but a standard expression pedal would still be preferable in my opinion.

So if Casio can drill a hole in the back panel there and wire in an expression pedal jack, that would be really terrific! :) If I am wrong about it not having an exp pedal input, I apologize.

Besides that, this keyboard looks really great. I look forward to reading the manual when available to find out the full feature set, but it does sound like lots of the shortcomings of the hex layer mode on the XW-P1 have been addressed!

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Guest Charles

The spec for the PX-5S includes a _sequencer_, I think. That, presumably, could be used to program drum loops (or any other kind of loop).

. Charles

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Ok. The hex layer has been upgraded NICELY!!! Filters and envelopes for each layer, and several hex layers at once! And 4 insert effects simultaneously as well, which is super nice addition!

DAMN, if this only could have kept had the step sequencer, it would have been super, super nice partner with the Prophet-12, that also lost its step sequencer...or, the MS-20. There would have been fantastic opportunity for Casio at this Namm.

For the exception of this year, Namm shows have been boring for a decade(generally, not Casio), but the pace at which Casio seems to be advancing in their synth battlefront might help to save the future Namm shows. I cannot wait to see, what magic Casio is demonstrating next year.

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I like that last video. The PX seems to be a very good all-around board. I'm curious as to what the limits of storage are for the USB input. In other words, is there a limit on the number of gigabytes it will support? Could an external hard drive be used with it?

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One thing I took away from NAMM 2013 was the Roland VR-09. To me it's the closest thing to an XW-P1. It's double the price but the sounds may be a bit nicer. Would have to give it a listen. But functionality as far as I can see the XW-P1 is much better. Some suggestions to Mike for the XW series:

1. Look at IPAD/Android integration. This is a big deal. To modify parameters via the IPAD would make this awesome. With the IPAD space on the upper right it only makes sense. Hell start developing for both IPAD and Android and you'll even further your lead. Keep in mind this isn't a nice to have. The future are the tablets so really it's a must do. Nobody's going be to hauling laptops around in 2 years.

2. Further the quality of the sounds

3. Continue to add on to current functionality in general.

If you do these three things you will be the leader in the synth area no question.

Can't speak much to the new PX. Not my cup of tea really. Looks wise it's really bland and don't dig the weighted keys myself.

Scal3r

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@ Casio Man

Look at the Sonicstate video where MIke explains it. It looks to be exceedingly flexible. Sounds like you can tweak this keyboard to death and still not exhaust all the possibilities.

  • Each of the hex layers gets its own effects. Finally.
  • Parameters can be tweaked by knobs, sliders or either pedal, that is 12 controllers plus pitch and mod wheels! I won't get more tweakable than this.
  • Assigning envelopes to the pedal is an icing on the cake.
  • Mike hints at the very end that there could be more to the USB than just USB and MIDI signals - looks like Casio are looking into bringing a full blown audio interface to the USB port? Assuming it will be 44.1 KHz sampling rate.
  • Triggering of sounds on key up is a nice touch
  • 4 arpeggiators? That is crazy! and if they are polyphonic? Then, that's nuts.
  • What I'm most excited about is ......

...Mike mentions in the vid that they are working on a tone library.

If they are talking "Nord style" sound library, then this could be huge!!! Nord has thousands of sounds and you can pretty much download anything you want and set up your sound patches on your keyboard just the way you like them. It is a very clever marketing strategy because it helps to retain your customers who stick with the same brand, even if they get a new board - because of the sounds.

Apple did the same thing with iTunes - the main reason iTunes was created was to promote sales of iPods and to "lock" the users into the ecosystem.

Making a sound library would have the same halo effect for Casio - people could share sounds via vast library and most likely would stick with Casio product from that point onward.

The social media aspect is where Casio is really lacking today...

Imagine an iPad app which would be directly connected to a vast online library of sounds and you could download/upload sounds to/from your Privia via iPad on the fly!?

How do you know it is HIGHLY tweakable?

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$999 is out of my price range, as I'm just a low key hobbyist, but I'd still like to see and hear one live at the Naperville or Villa Park Guitar Center.

I do not think this is overpriced, being a pro keyboard and all. I'm just not in a pro category.

The online piano samples on Soundcloud and YouTube sound lovely.

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Agree.

I'm not impressed with either product. I do like the KP3+, though.

Korg should take a lesson from car manufacturers. They too started digging into past instead of developing new designs and released old car designs HHR, PT Cruiser, Thunderbird...where are those cars now? Success-wise, micro MS20 is destined to be the opposite of microKORG.

Th VR-09 looks nice but did you also take a look at the King Korg (stupid name :P ) from Korg? Looks like everyone's getting into the retro VA synth market these days.

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