cpcohen

a) What does the manual say? I'd start with a damp cloth, plain water, and see if that works. On really dirty keys, I'd start with a cloth _dampened_ (not "wet") with a solution of 10% dishwashing liquid / 90% water. Wipe off the keys, rinse out the cloth, wring it out, wipe off the remaining soap from the keys: . . . repeat "rinse, wring, and wipe" until there's no soap film left on the key surface. The trick is to _not_ get water into the keyboard action. That may be slow, but it avoids anything that might damage the key surface. God knows what kind of magic sweat-absorbent plastic Casio used, or what might damage it. If dust is a problem, get a Gator "stretchy keyboard cover" -- Lycra, with a drawstring. There are other brands. Like this: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Musician-s-Gear-88-Key-Stretchy-Keyboard-Cover-103235800-i1152266.gc . Charles

+1. If I remember right, the PX-780 is essentially a PX-350 (auto-chord, auto-accompaniment, hundreds of voices) in a nicer cabinet with better amps and speakers. Depending on how sensitive you are to subtleties of piano sound, you might, or might not, appreciate the improvement in the PX-850 sound generator (over the PX-350 / PX-780 sound generator). I've never played a PX-850, and can't comment on how large the difference is. A new pair of KRK Rokit 5 G3 powered monitors will cost you about $300. They will drastically out-perform (in loudness, frequency range, clarity of sound) anything built into a DP in the price range you're looking at. If you wanted to spend $200, I'd check the Guitar Center website (or other places) for a used pair. [There are lots of alternatives; the Rokit's are popular, and easy to find. And you can add a subwoofer if you want to rattle the windows.) Good headphones (if you don't have them) will run about $100, and out-perform the built-in loudspeakers in your target DP's. . Charles PS - bias -- I own a PX-350. I play it, mostly, through a computer running Pianoteq software. That's a reasonably-priced upgrade path.

The way a sostenuto pedal is supposed to work: . . . It sustains the notes that are held down _at the moment the pedal is pressed_. So if you play a C chord and hold it, and press and hold the sostenuto pedal, . . . and then play a G chord with the pedal down, . . . . . . the G chord will not be sustained. That's the way it's supposed to work. It's _not_ a "damper" pedal. That pedal lifts _all_ the (virtual) dampers, so any note struck, while the pedal is down, will be sustained. . Charles

That was a really nice piece of work -- thank you! I've posted a link in the Digital Pianos & Synths forum that I frequent. Now, I have a question: . . . Why didn't the factory build it like that? The cost would have been minute, and the improvement in quality would be noticeable. On double-sided tape: An auto-body supply shop will sell you "body molding tape", which is what they use to hold side-moldings onto car doors. It's very tacky, especially if you prep the surfaces with acetone (or special "activation liquids" they'll sell you). And it doesn't let go easily. Another possibility would be to use silicone sealant. You'd have to arrange the keyboard so the added felt was on top. A _thin_ bead (or layer) of sealant on the plastic would grab nicely to any felt you put onto it, and pressed down gently. Wait for the sealant to set, before inverting the unit to "felt-down" position. . Charles

A Google of "casio key bounce" shows that you're not the first person to notice this. I suspect many of these "key noise" and "key bounce" problems disappear if the piano's volume is turned up to match "acoustic piano" levels, or if you wear closed-back (ambient-sound-isolating) headphones. That is, acoustic piano keys also make noise (and bounce -- search for "key bounce" in Youtube). But the noise is mostly hidden under the noise of the vibrating strings. . Charles PS -- I run Pianoteq, and the default setting for "action noise" makes the key release noise very noticeable in "pp" playing. I have my "action noise" turned down 10 dB, which makes it less obtrusive. I guess that's how an acoustic piano sounds, but I haven't tested one yet.

I'm pretty sure the answer is: "No". But I would have said the same thing about loading new styles. If you figure out how to do either one, please tell the rest of us! . Charles

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

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

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

Yes -- After I wrote that post, I checked my PX-350. Going to a non-touch-sensitive "tone" doesn't change the "touch" setting. And changing the "touch" setting doesn't make the tone touch-sensitive. So there's no easy way to "fudge" a touch-sensitive organ or clavichord. The constant volume is built into the sound generator. . Charles

Not a malfunction! Some tones are velocity-sensitive -- pianos, EP's, and others. Some tones are _not_ velocity-sensitive -- harpsichord, organs. They play _loud_ -- as loud as a piano, hitting the keys as hard as you can, which generates MIDI velocity = 127. As an experiment, check the "Touch" setting when you're playing harpsichord. It may show "0" -- not touch-sensitive, generating velocity=127. As a second experiment, see if you can change "Touch" to "2" (the default for piano). That might give you a touch-sensitive harpsichord (which does not exist as an acoustic instrument) or a touch-sensitive organ (which does exist as an electro-mechanical instrument). Have fun -- there's nothing wrong with the pX-850. . Charles

+1 to Joe Muscara. I've used an M-Audio SP-2 pedal with a PX-350; it works fine. I don't remember the "polarity" setting on the SP-2, but it's set by a switch on the bottom. It's a simple on/off switch -- "monophonic" plug, just tip and sleeve. It sounds like the Roland pedal is a real "continuous damper" controller. The PX-350 won't work right, with that kind of pedal. The 3-pedal unit for the PX-350 has a damper pedal with two switches ("full pedal", and "half pedal"), not a "continuous damper" controller. . Charles

I just read of some Japanese announcements of new Privias: http://casio.jp/emi/products/privia/ Unfortunately, the text is Japanese. . . . Would anyone care to translate? . . . Would anyone care to guess about a North American release date? . . . Would anyone care to speculate as to whether the PX-760 and PX-860 will be . . . accompanied by other PX-x60 models? Thanks -- . Charles

The "local control = ON", at power-on, avoids this situation: . . . "Why isn't my piano making any sounds?" _You_ wouldn't be confused if that happened, but Joe Average might have a bit of trouble with it. That's my guess, anyway. Thank you for exploring this stuff. So far, I'm using the PX-350 to control Pianoteq -- strictly "real-time" -- without any problems. But the time will come when I need to do something beyond that. . Charles

I think you'll be happy with a mixer. It will handle several audio sources, and almost all mixers have microphone preamps. I have found my Behringer Xenyx 802 to be very handy. . Charles PS -- the PX-850 may be the "flagship" model, but it is missing _many_ features that are present on the PX-350. But the PX-850 has the best "Piano" sound generator of the whole line, I think.

FWIW -- The only work-around I can see: . . . Put the backing track on a WAV file on a USB drive (thumb drive) . . . and play it back through the PX-850. I _think_ that you can "play along" using the keyboard. . Charles

After a long delay -- . . . Pianoteq 5 is really, really nice. I set up a "custom" velocity curve for the PX-350, and mostly use the Bluthner piano in Pianoteq. It's not quite an acoustic grand, but it doesn't have the problems of the PX-350 sound generator -- no looping, and the string resonance and damper resonance is quite good. Put on headphones, close your eyes, and enjoy the music . . . . Charles PS -- reducing "latency" took a bit of time and experimentation. But my Intel Core i5 laptop is plenty fast enough for Pianoteq, if it's set up right.

It's a bit of a hassle. I had to establish an account ("membership"?) with "Sound on Sound", before I could order anything. But doing that was free. . Charles

Available here, costs 99 cents for non-subscribers: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul14/articles/casio-privia-px5s.htm I don't own a PX-5S, but "Sound on Sound" does good reviews, and it will be interesting to see what they make of it. . Charles PS -- and if Mike Martin bought the rights, and posted it here, that would be really neat!<g>

An easier way to crack the nut: . . . The PX-350 (presumably also the PX-780) has a full "General MIDI" sound kit. There should be a standard file for that. At worse, you'd have to add "X" to every patch number, where "X" is the number of non "General MIDI" patches. You'd be missing the "Grand Piano" tones (the defaults) -- those would be worth adding by hand. . Charles

It's not programmable, in the sense that a synthesizer is programmable. You can't control attack / decay / sustain / release times on the PX-350. . Charles

No. You could try to use an iPad (or other software) to send a MIDI CC#64 / value 127 message ("sustain pedal on"), and then play. . . . Are you trying to generate a drone? . Charles

Googling " Casio px-350 SP-32 " gives this review (of the SP-33) from Amazon.com: -------------------------------------- Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)Amazon.com: 7 reviews6 of 7 people found the following review helpful Exactly the same as the SP32, not sure why the price difference. Dec 16 2012By Tech Nurse - Published on Amazon.comVerified PurchaseA bit disappointing with this foot pedal. I was hoping for the price difference between the SP 32 and SP 33 that this might of been an upgraded design. Apparently it's the same design. Note: the model numbers are different because depending on which keyboard you have depends on which model will work. The SP32 will NOT work with the PX-350. You have to get the SP33. This is a dark grey plastic bar which doesn't match the Black CS-67 stand. The pedals are small and does not fit flush with the floor which allows the chord to slide underneath without pinching. I would of preferred a channel on the side that the chord could of been slotted thru. The left 2 pedals don't appear to be as responsive as the far right pedal. If you want a 3 pedal solution, this appears to be the only option though. On a side note, does anyone know of a 3 pedal design that would work with the PX-350M that doesn't have the cross bar for a more portable setup? For pictures, it's the exact same as the SP32 which I had first ordered by mistake. -------------------------------- So he (she?) tried the SP-32, and it didn't work. If you're content with 'damper on / damper off' for the sustain pedal (no half-pedalling), two M-Audio sustain pedals will do the job. But my experience is that the "soft pedal" on the PX-350 makes _very little_ difference to the sound. It makes a bit "darker" (less high frequencies), doesn't change the volume very much. As a side note (probably irrelevant to you): With the SP-33 pedal (which I have), the PX-350 correctly sends a "soft pedal" (controller #67) message out the MIDI port. Pianoteq "hears" it, but the Pianoteq sound isn't affected at all! I suggest buying the SP-33. Half-pedalling is nice to have (even the one-value "half-pedalling" that's supported). . Charles

My _guess_ is: . . . If the rhythm (or accompaniment) is playing when you save the Registration, it'll start playing when you retrieve the Registration. . . . If it's not playing when you save, it won't start playing when you retrieve. So, before you save, make sure the "rhythm" light is out, and that the "auto-accompaniment" light is out. I haven't had any problems with "auto-starting" rhythms, but I haven't saved many Registrations, either. . Charles

One of the buttons is marked something like "(F+) Reverb". That means: . . . Hold down the "Function" button, and press that button. The LCD should show the current "reverb" setting. You'll be able to change the "reverb" setting with the "up-arrow" and "down-arrow" keys, if I remember right. . CHarles