PX-560M Rhythms

[aw]

Saw couple of demo videos on YouTube and decided to buy PX560M... Searched for a dealer in Toronto but there is NO showroom where one can go and try Casio keyboards. Eventually ordered PX560M from amazon and got it 4 days ago..

Keys are good, Piano sound is great and thats it!!! very bad styles or Rhythms.. poorly designed and they didn't even bother to adjust the levels of instruments in those Rhythms. Switch from one registration to another while the style/Rhythms is playing and you will have a break/pause !!! How can you perform when you have a break/pause while performing???

Honestly this instrument does not sound (specially styles / Rhythms ) for the price I paid for it.. Rhythms are poorly designed and very low quality as compared to Roland/Yamaha/Korg with similar price tag.

NOT satisfied and returning it.

 

Hope Casio take notice of this and improve in future.

 

Thanks

[Trent]

Agreed, this does not have great tones or rhythm.  Did you read my post on this?

 

 

[aw]

I agree... even my Yamaha PSR 740 which I bought in December 1999 has way better styles and rhythms than this PX560M released in 2015 

It all sounds like a joke but its true...

[Trent]

Anther side to this, is in particular, if an acoustic piano is wanted, but there is not room for one, then a slab electric piano may be the next best choice. They can be easily moved and put elswhere too.  A big piano in the living room may become an intrusion, or even an eyesore to a non-playing spouse... and maybe the player/owner themselves would like it better in another room.

 

In my case, I really wanted a Steinway, but settled on a PX-560 as a viable substitute for an acoustic piano. From the get-go, my priority was on achieving the best acoustic piano features and sound.  I already have an arranger, and it is not an acoustic keyboard. Likewise, my electric piano is not an arranger, but it is one really good piano.  My goal for an acoustic piano substitute is reached and exceeded with the Casio PX-560.  

 

The px560 is categorized by Casio as a stage piano, not an arranger.  At first, however underwhelming its arranger qualities may seem, it is capable of more, much more. Prove it to yourself by listening to the demo and presets.  They are convincing and realistic band sounds. So there must be a way to harness the tones and styles to create equivalent arrangements. 

 

Until then, I'm enjoying a fantastic acoustic piano experience.  

 

 

[Billsolo]

I agree also! Really lame! I have a Korg pa3x. Which has awesome rhythms. You can break/pause, change instruments and levels. Use drums only or use any of the accomniment you want. But a Yamaha is the leader for arrangers. They have been at it longer. I had an old psr630, used it for years on stage. Because it was so light to carry around. I even had a hard case made for when I did Cruiseship gigs. The px560 is a nice piano keyboard with an assortment of sounds. But sucks as an arranger! But they say you can make your own accomniment sets. I haven't gotten close to doing that. I still have my korg to fall back on for great rhythm accomniment. Mike Martin needs to do more "how to" videos on this board. I bought this because of the sequence and accomniment feature, along with piano sounds. Getting help has been very lax!

 

[Trent]

BTW, on the PX-560, you can select the drums only part to the accompaniment; easily.  Just press the rhythm >/O* (for play/pause) or don't engage the accompaniment button.  You can also pause/break and start back up again during a chord progression.  Just hit the >/O* button to pause when you want the break, and hit the chord or note when you want it to start again either with or without accompaniment (or drums only if you wish).  Two different drum roll breaks can be had with NORMAL/FILL-IN, and VARIATION/FILL-IN.  They also provide a break of sorts during the song performance.

 

The Yamaha arranger is a totally different animal.  It IS an arranger, and NOT a piano.  EDIT> (NOT TRUE)>They really are lame pianos compared to the 560. LOL  A B3 organ is not a piano either.  You don't want weighted keys on an organ, and the 560 will again, blow it away in the piano department.  A Montage is not an arranger either.  It doesn't have much in the accompaniment department, but a lot in the synth department.  It may come fairly close to the 560 in piano mode, but for crying out loud.  It's 3x more expensive too.  Controller keyboards are quite different too.  Those are best at DAW sequencing and playing VST samples.  Controllers are usually cheap too.  Mostly under $500, and loads of fun if you want to get under the hood.  

 

Categorizing of Keyboards is important, because while there is overlap, the various types are also quite distinct.  The PX-560 is definitely not lame by any means.  It is however, unique, and is extremely equal to or better than other brand pianos.  You should be comparing it with the Yamaha 255, Yamaha CV, and other piano keyboards.  NOT a PSR, pa3x Roland other arrangers.  Casio PX-560's are not arrangers.  But those keyboards that are sold as arrangers should be better at doing arrangements than a keyboard sold as a piano.  It stands to reason and is only logical, because that is what they are made for. Casio PX-560's  do crossover slightly into the arranger territory.  Just like arrangers crossover into the piano region.  Arrangers though usually have synth key action, non-weighted and less than 88-keys.  Not good for a piano. 

 

As I experiment more and more, I'm finding that the rhythms and tones in the 560 aren't really that bad after all.  Maybe my speakers are getting broken in.  LOL  But I am indeed getting to like them, and adjusting to using them to play a multitude of piano songs.

 

*The "O" is a square icon, like a pause button.  Use that button to play or pause your rhythm during a song.  Oh, and that's what I got my PX-560 for; to play songs.  Look out Elton John!  HaHa  He has nothing to worry about.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Trent
Fixing some errors, later found the PSR piano tone is as good as the 560

[JiminyClickit]

In referencing the PX 560 it seems a lot of the members haven't read the keyboard's manual, which I admit is pretty daunting.  I downloaded it online and have been studying it .  However if you go to you tube and research Casio Music Gear and the Casio Privia Pro PX 560 live webinar, Mike Martin gives a superb explanation of how to do many of the things members complained about above.  Also on YouTube is Piano Man Chuck who also does a couple of in depth operational reviews that will really help owners to find their way thru the intricacies of the operating the PX 560.  Piano Man Chuck convinced me that the PX 560 was a better choice for me.  So I ordered one Geartree.com and am awaiting its arrival.  GearTree knocked off $120 from the list price of $1199. and thru in a $100 Z stand to boot.  I normally go thru Amazon for my purchases, but this time Gear Tree blew Amazon away. 

[Trent]

Yeah; but have you played through all the many instruments and rhythms and compared the sounds to a good baseline?  My impression is that you haven't. 

 

For crying out loud, the 560 is pretty simple, logical, and straightforward. Yeah, hex layers are cool, but having good sounding default tones is important too.  Most layers are built from multiple tones.  

 

Of course I bought the PX-560 a long time after downloading and studying both it and the PX-560 Appendix. I've also watched several dozen of Chuck's excellent videos, plus have watched and followed Mike's webinars also.  When on this site though, I try my best not to insult owners of the 560 who are pleased.  As I've said before, I'm kind of pleased with the 88-keys, and am ok with the grand concert piano tones. But the Organ, Guitar, Bass, Strings, Brass, Reed, Synth, Ethnic, Drums, and even the infamous Hex Layer tones are all lacking in sound quality. They are dead, flat, with no rich harmonics to add dimension.  All of the tones sound mediocre at best when compared to Yamaha; even my old tech 2004 PSR Yamaha. 

 

My comparison baseline is an obsolete Yamaha PSR-3000 that I purchased in 2004.  According to the folks on the PSR Tutorial FORUM, The latest PSR-s970 is a vastly improved product, with much better sounding voices and styles (aka tones and rhythm accompaniment). So, I have and am using a somewhat inferior old and obsoleted product, simply due to new and advanced technology. I really expected Casio to be up to par too, and be better than my Yamaha. Wow. It is NOT though! ...AND... It's by a huge margin. 

 

I'm sure that the OP has wisely sent his back by now.  Keeping it for just the piano didn't seem to be in his best interest, as it is mine.  I've got a superior (to my 560) sounding arranger to pull me through for the other exciting features.  I'm now saving up for a PSR-970, and won't be sidetracked or sucker-punched again.

 

But you have to admit; the 560 is good eye candy sitting underneath my 12-year old arranger.  Dang, the old arranger sure sounds good -- but the 560 is a good or ok piano. Just don't dig deep or it's not so good.  LOL 

 

 

[Trent]

I've been experimenting with running my PX-560 into the Yamaha, and the results are rather revealing and music to my ears.  Sonic delivery is much improved using the Yamaha's sound system . 

 

Now the the sound quality from my Casio Privia is on par, tit-for-tat with my yamaha.  Whoot!

[Brad Saucier]

Are you saying you prefer the sound from the Yamaha speakers?

[Trent]

Yes

[AlenK]

On March 29, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Trent said:

As I've said before, I'm kind of pleased with the 88-keys, and am ok with the grand concert piano tones. But the Organ, Guitar, Bass, Strings, Brass, Reed, Synth, Ethnic, Drums, and even the infamous Hex Layer tones are all lacking in sound quality. They are dead, flat, with no rich harmonics to add dimension.  All of the tones sound mediocre at best when compared to Yamaha; even my old tech 2004 PSR Yamaha. 

 

My comparison baseline is an obsolete Yamaha PSR-3000 that I purchased in 2004...I really expected Casio to be up to par too, and be better than my Yamaha. Wow. It is NOT though! ...AND... It's by a huge margin. 

 

That's quite a harsh assessment. If I'm not mistaken many of the tones in the PX-560 come directly from the PX-5S. Reading the comments on other forums of professional musicians using the PX-5S I can't remember any of them complaining that the tones were particularly bad. Quite the opposite, actually. (I don't have a PX-5S or PX-560 myself so I can't offer a personal assessment.)

[Trent]

Point taken, and my apologies. Piano tone and tactile-key response are quite good, in fact. Good enough to keep it instead of sending it back.  

[AlenK]

I'm not a moderator but I don't see why anyone should delete your post. You are allowed to have opinions here and yours should stand. What I pointed out is simply that I haven't heard the same opinion expressed elsewhere (concerning the tones in the PX-5S - the PX-560 is too new to have garnered much feedback other than here). I wasn't invalidating your opinion but I'm sure it would come as a surprise to Casio given where the tones come from.  

 

PS. If I were you I would edit your posts again to remove the notes to the moderator. Otherwise they are just going to sit there because I doubt very much that Scott would remove the posts. 

[Trent]

Sound Upgrade #2; using my old KRK RoKit 6 is the great equalizer. Now, my PX-560 is up to speed and really sounds good!

[AlenK]

Glad all is well now. Yeah, speakers can make a huge difference. I didn't know about the KRK Rokit line. I will have to check them out in person sometime. 

[stuartr]

Just received my 560M , lovely piano.

However, can someone answer this question.

Is it possible to program your own drum patterns and load them into the keyboard.

I use midi already , but there are situations where I want custom patterns with fills breaks that I want to program  myself .

 

How do you actually do this. ? I use cakewalk at the moment so Im guessing I can program in cakewalk the convert to some "format"

that will be compatible. ie pattern A pattern B fills/ breaks, intro ending

 

Any help out there would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

[SimoneCarini]

I like to play Piano + Drums --> ACCOMP OFF

and in case I switch ACCOMP ON --> FULL RANGE CHORD

[SimoneCarini]

I bought a brand new Alesis SR-16 Drum Machine, though the unit was invented 20 years ago, it still has some nuances that make you feel it more realistic than the mechanical rhythms of the PX-560M, the Alesis fill-ins are charming

http://www.alesis.com/products/view/sr-16

as for audio example http://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/sr16.php

[Keiwn GM]

Hi  please i have ask for load tone i can casio px5s load tone for casio x 560 ?

[Brad Saucier]

1 hour ago, Keiwn GM said:

Hi  please i have ask for load tone i can casio px5s load tone for casio x 560 ?

 

Tones are not compatible between PX-5S and PX-560