michaeln2

19 hours ago, Rocknrolldentist said:

-I've been to the music store and have played the yamaha MOFX8, the Kross Krome and the Kurzweil Forte--all of which have big, rich pianos (among other things). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just goes to show how subjective these things can be, especially when it comes to accoustic piano sounds.  I own the Yamaha MOXF, and although the  accoustic piano's are excellent (IMHO), I find the PX accoustic piano's are better. In fact, out of all the other keyboards & sound modules\tone generators that I own (7 keyboards & 3 tone generators in total) I find the PX accoustic piano's are superior. 

18 hours ago, aron said:

I agree with you. Do you find the strings to be good when played live? I find that they are very sterile - no movement and not full. I had to mix the more synthesized strings in with the real strings to make it sound more decent for live. Yes, I have very little EP sounds that I am happy with - maybe 3 at the most.

I dont use the PX  for gigs.......it was bought as an Xmas present from the Wife just to practice on at home. The weighted keybed makes it a pleasure to play and to generally "lose track of time" when absorbed in practising. I just use a pair of "Studio monitors" for this purpose.......not brilliant but passable for practising.

The PX string sounds are not bad with a bit of editing.........I use the Yamaha MOXF for gigs which has some very nice string\orchestral sounds right out of the box. The Rhodes style EP's are very nice also.

I prefer the PX acoustic pianos over the MOXF........same with the Wurly style EP's. These really shine on the PX.

Also, the PX has an absolutely superb nylon guitar patch.......far superior to the ones on the MOXF. Really love that sound!

 I guess we can't have everything we want from one board!

A few words on the subject of stage monitoring on gigs.........I recently bought an Alto TS115a active cab for my keys. Very strange cab........at a low level it sounds nice, but at the stage levels we play at the sound just doesn't cut through. It also clips quite a lot.  Like the old saying "buy cheap, buy twice". 

May any try one of the Yamaha DX series.......heard a lot of good reports on these.

On 28 April 2016 at 11:07 PM, aron said:

I have only played the PC361 which is the precursor to that keyboard. VAST is still amazing if you are a programmer. Kurzweil keyboards are not "bright". They are full sounding and more mellow in terms of high end content. That being said, there's a global EQ and you can make it brighter - I know I did. The electric pianos on the Kurzweil are great and I enjoyed the keyboard very much. I miss it, but the airlines had dropped it so the backlight didn't work so I couldn't use it on stage. I could have fixed it, but I sold it and bought the Korg Kross since it was only 9 pounds and so far the airlines are having a hard time breaking it. :-)

 

It took me a long time to like the Kurzweil piano, but eventually I did and I started using it on a lot of jazz gigs. I would have to say that for me, the PX-5S electric pianos and the strings are very, very weak to me. When compared to all my other keyboards, the sound/overall usability of the electric pianos and the strings are at the bottom. I use it and it does sound "ok" but there is a disconnect with these sounds for me. I really do like the piano - it was so great with the band last night!

Thank you aron,very helpful.  I like the acoustic pianos and some of the Wurly EP,s......it's the Rhodes EP,s that always leave me wanting more. The first 2 EP,s in bank 1 (Air electric piano) sound very dull to me.........but others rave about them so I suppose it's purely a matter of taste.  In almost every respect I am happy with the PX5s, it's just some of the Rhodes EP,s that I find a disappointment.

Thanks again.

21 hours ago, aron said:

Also, I know you said that there are only a few electric pianos in there - but I saw the list. Kurzweil nailed those sounds - the electric pianos are really great and dynamic. I used them all the time. The dynamic polyphony is the best in the business so even though it has "only" 128 voices, it plays like more. The only negative I had with my Kurzweil was that it was heavy and the airlines kept abusing my travel case and it caused problems with the keyboard. Otherwise I would still be using it.

I got the Kronos as a backup to the Kurzweil and the PX because my S90ES was way too heavy to use with limited polyphony. 

The effects on the Kurzweil are also much higher quality than the PX effects and the programming potential is unmatched except for the Kronos.

That being said, the PX-5S is fun and light and sounds fine. Even the piano believe it or not! :-)

Aron, have you played the Kurzweil PC3K88?     I am thinking of buying one as i have heard the V.A.S.T synth engine is something else. The electric pianos are one of my reasons for going the Kurzweil route.  Sadly, no dealers in my area stock Kurzweil so i cannot try before i buy.

Good to know aron ....... I've long been a fan of sysex stuff.

Thank you  Brad, much appreciated.

i have just discovered I still have an ancient Akai ME25S midi note separator hiding under a bed in the spare room.........puchased in the early 1990's.  This will allow up to 4 midi channels to be controlled from 1 channel.

Many thanks again.

My Akai MPK88 controller keyboard will only transmit note data on 1 midi channel at a time.  When i play a stage setting on the PX from the Akai, it will only sound the tone that is on zone 1.   This is fine for stage settings that only use 1 zone.......but not for stage setings that have additional zones turned on.(layers,etc)

The question is, can the zones (1 to 4) have their midi receive channels changed within the stage setting?

Many thanks.

16 hours ago, aron said:

 

 

To be honest, I like 1 of the electric pianos on the PX-5S and it sounds good, but the main - dyno type piano is not responsive enough - compared to my Kronos. So I am dealing with that. The problem with the PX-5S is that what you hear in the headphones is radically different from what I hear through speakers. So I program everything through speakers - the strings are this way as well.

This is the Ep sound I would be really happy with.

012 Tine Elec Piano.mp3

Absolutely first class. Loved this.

Anyone interested in strings, orchestral type stuff?

 

Certainly am Dave.

To be clear, does loading in ONE new stage setting wipe out ALL of the 100 existing stage settings?

 

Thanks.

No. Loading a single stage setting will only overwrite the "target" stage setting.

Is it my dodgy eyesight or is that player in the clip playing left handed? .........reverse keyscale sort of thing.

I do prefer the "bell like" tone on the rhodes at 1.38 to 1.42. If i could get that on the PX i would be more than happy.

Though must admit i have had little time for programming thus far.

Don't think that's possible on the casio. The last board I owned that had this feature was a Yamaha dx7. A very nice feature it was too.

The only other way apart from doing it manually would be to send the appropriate sysex string...........I "think".

Just time for a quick reply........first thing i would try is make, or use, a stage setting that has only one zone in use.

If no luck, i have a moxf\px5s set up & will try it tomorrow.

If you want to lower a layer of a hex tone then it is edit\tone\layer edit\pitch\octave shift.

If you want all layers of a hex tone to be shifted then it is edit\stage setting\zone edit\midi edit\octave shift.

And one other little thing

 

SUN

 

 

It freezing here

On the other hand,people from Cumbria are very nice indeed and we have mountains lakes and sea and country lanes.

 

( but no guns,I don't like guns )

Aye, it's a beautiful part of the UK. I'm from the North east.

Before the economic downturn we used to gig over there 2 or 3 times a week........love the area and the people, very friendly and go out to properly enjoy themselves. Only get over there 2 or 3 times a year now, sadly.

I have both also...PX5s and MOXF6. Agree with pretty much all that has been said in the posts above, though i cannot comment on the MOXF 88 note keybed as i have not tried one thus far.   The keybed on the MOXF6 is far too light & plasticky for me, but when i control it from my PX5S or my Akai MPK88 the MOXF6 sounds & feels fantastic....as if new life had been breathed into the sounds.

PX5S & MOXF are a great combination IMHO.

Speaking as someone new to the PX, so far this is my favourite EP patch. Well done!