Comparing the casio cdp s350 and casio px s 3000

[Dnnyboy]

Im a new piano player and for my first purchase I was thinking of buying the casio cdp s350.I know that both the s350 and the px s3000 are both newer models so I was wondering is there a huge difference in the sound's they produce,the sound engines they use and the overall feel of the pianos.I know it as reported that the black and white keys on the px s3000 are not weighted correctly so I was wondering if this issues is same for the cdp s350?

[Mike Martin]

Advantages of the PX-S3000 over the CDP-S350 (off the top of my head)

 

• Better piano sound and piano experience (damper resonance, string resonance, mechanical noises and more)
• Better and fully editable global effects 
• Expression Pedal Input and 2 knobs for realtime control
• Tone editing and insert effects editing
• Higher polyphony 
• Better speaker system
• USB Audio Recording
• Bluetooth Audio Input
• 1/4 Audio Outputs
• I'd also add the cosmetic appearance to the advantage list but the CDP-S350 is also pretty cool looking. 

Mechanically the keyboard actions are very similar but there is additional patent pending technology in the PX-S3000 related to the action and how the piano sound respond. It has a better touch to sound connection that is more like a piano as opposed to a an electronic keyboard.

[Joe Muscara]

18 hours ago, Dnnyboy said:

I know it as reported that the black and white keys on the px s3000 are not weighted correctly so I was wondering if this issues is same for the cdp s350?

That claim is garbage. Don't listen to it. Lots of us play either model (as Mike said, the actions are similar) and have zero problem with the actions.

 

Both keyboards are great and have great sounds. The PX-S3000 has some more and better features as Mike described, but if you don't need those the CDP-S350 is a great choice as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either one unless some feature of the PX-S3000 is needed (such as polyphony or 1/4" outputs) and you get the CDP-S350 instead.

[Dnnyboy]

Ok so Im only left with three question so I can finally make my final decision between the two

1-Do you guys think the low polyphony count ever becomes annoying or to noticable while your playing classical music or adding any other effect on top?

2-Is it true that the cdp s350 comes with the new AIX sound engine?

3-Is there a way to easily connect the cdp s350 to external amps or speakers?

[Chandler Holloway]

6 hours ago, Dnnyboy said:

1-Do you guys think the low polyphony count ever becomes annoying or to noticable while your playing classical music or adding any other effect on top?

If you’re primarily playing solo piano, you’ll never run into any issues. Piano plus a bassline and a drum beat shouldn’t be a problem, which is nice for one man jazz trio types. Polyphony limits will only really come into play when you start making multitrack recordings with multiple tracks playing chords or arpeggios. The second variation on some of the more dense accompaniment styles might steal a voice or two if you’re playing an active part with layers and splits on the main keyboard, but it’s not noticeable and for classical music, not an issue at all.

 

The effects don’t have any effect on Polyphony, it’s all handled via the DSP block which is separate from the tone generator.

 

6 hours ago, Dnnyboy said:

2-Is it true that the cdp s350 comes with the new AIX sound engine?

Yes, Mike confirmed this on the forums here in an earlier topic. The CDP-S350 is nearly identical to a CT-X800 save for the form factor and interface; the voice assignments for these two models are almost 1:1, even down to the program change and bank select numbers used to select each voice. The CT-X700/800 models have a more fully featured lesson mode as well.

 

The CDP-S350 even contains a few extra piano and EPiano tones brought over from the CT-X3000/X5000 to take advantage of the 88-key form factor.

 

For what it’s worth, the PX-S3000 does have some of the arranger tone samples from the AiX keyboards, like the expressive solo wind instruments (SolTrumpet and SolTenorSax are my favorites). The PX-S models definitely prioritized the piano sounds first and foremost, however, given that it’s built on the piano-centric AiR sound source and has that dedicated acoustic simulator on it for even more piano sound tweaking. You also get far more freedom to edit those tones through the knob assignments on the front panel, and you can save those edits to a Registration. The CDP-S350’s tone editing is pretty much limited to applying effects and adding layered or split tones.

 

You can technically edit the voices pretty extensively via external MIDI CC commands, but with two restrictions:

 

1) The external MIDI CC commands are recognized, but they do not actually affect the voices that are assigned to the keyboard. The keyboard voices (Upper1, Upper2, Lower) are not addressable via external MIDI messages. Only the voices that are used for the Song Recorder and User Song Player can be edited via MIDI, and you can’t play these voices on the keyboard itself.

 

2) You can’t save any of the edits you make over MIDI and recall them on the CDP-S350 itself like you can with a standard Registration. You must either send the MIDI messages every time you want to call up that edited voice, or save all the MIDI messages to an SMF file and load that into the keyboard so that the appropriate MIDI messages are sent out when you play that User Song file.

 

Either way, the PX-S3000 is way more convenient and powerful when it comes to editing and tweaking tones on the hardware itself. If you only plan to use the (wonderful) preset tones, you can go with the CDP-S350 without much worry.

 

6 hours ago, Dnnyboy said:

3-Is there a way to easily connect the cdp s350 to external amps or speakers?

Yes, there is an 1/8” combined headphone/output jack on the back panel you can use to connect it to external amps. Just make sure that your amp can handle stereo sources.

 

The PX-S3000 has better audio connectivity all around; two headphone jacks on the front panel, and a pair of dedicated full size 1/4” L/R line outs specifically meant for recording and amplification purposes. If you absolutely need to run the PX-S in mono (would not recommend, digital pianos really need stereo width to accurately emulate the characteristic sound of a Grand Piano) connecting a 1/4” instrument cable to ONLY the L/Mono jack in the back panel will automatically cause the PX-S to output in mono only. The CDP-S350 can only output in stereo and there is no way to control panning through the onboard interface, so that’s something to consider.

 

Another thing I haven’t seen mentioned thus far is User Rhythms, one of the few categories in which the CDP-S350 clearly outperforms the PX-S3000. The PX-S only allows you to work with the preset Rhythms, whereas the CDP-S350 has 10 User Rhythm slots where you can import whatever accompaniment styles you want. I’ve released an expansion pack of 40+ Rhythms for the CDP-S350 that you can download here on the forums, and if you want to make your own Rhythm styles, I’ve put together a reference manual walking you through that process as well. If you’re familiar with MIDI sequencing, it’s actually quite easy to get a hang of.

User Rhythms are also quite helpful for practicing and recording piano (like with my Metronome Rhythm pack) and they enable some cool workarounds for limitations like not being able to name your User Registrations.

[Dnnyboy]

Well sir I can definitelly say you more than answered my question so much so that I didnt even understand some of the techincal stuff you were telling me but if most of the people are as helpfull as you are here,then Im happy to be apart of this forum.Originally I was deciding between the casio cdp s350 px s3000 and roland fp 10 with the roland even being just 40 dollars more than the s350 in my country but after your guyses help I think as my first instrument Il have to get the s350 as I think the many features it has for that price is unmatched but,I will post more frequently if I have any other questions.

 

Thank you.

[Mauricio Grego]

On 7/24/2020 at 7:55 AM, Joe Muscara said:

you don't need those the CDP-S350 is a great choice as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either one unless som

 

I heard in a review video that the keys on the PX S 3000 are smaller than the standard piano keys. Can you confirm this? How much smaller are them? 

[Brad Saucier]

52 minutes ago, Mauricio Grego said:

 

I heard in a review video that the keys on the PX S 3000 are smaller than the standard piano keys. Can you confirm this? How much smaller are them? 

 

They are exactly the same size as standard piano keys.  Obviously the internal part of the keys can't be the same length as a real piano, but that part is hidden anyways.

[pianimal]

as an owner of the pxs3000 i'd like to chime in on the keys having noticeably different weights. specifically the claim is that the black keys have a different weighting  then the natural (white) keys which makes it awkward to play. as the admin mentioned, yes that claim is garbage. they do have slightly scientifically measurable different weightings, just like they do on a real piano with the different travel and key lengths and...it is not noticeable in any way for me. the only person with a real issue that i have found on line is one specific youtube piano reviewer who is being ocd in an elitist way, meaning he is an extremely advanced classically trained type player who i think is completely out of touch with what 99% of the market would experience or notice. i personally have always loved and owned several vintage upright piano's over the years and i'm  absolutely 100% satisfied and even thrilled with the action on the pxs3000. so yeah, my take as a piano player who owns the pxs3000 is the guy making a mountain out of a mole hill out of the action is a very gifted player who also happens to be a bit out of touch with the rest of us. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by pianimal

[vancouverdave]

For those who have used the px-s3000, how do you find navigating the controls?  I worry that having your tones, rhythms, effects, and banks all under the _same_ (modal) 'buttons' might lead to mishaps or awkward 'configuration-pauses' when performing live ...

 

As much as I'd love to have access to the DSP stuff, the two control knobs, and the expression pedal, I suspect I will prefer the traditional/tactile controls of the CDP-s350  (or hopefully the CDP-s360 if it comes to Canada?)

 

What do you think?  Are the s3000 controls something you can easily adapt to ?  I am not exactly a luddite, but I do appreciate a good user experience ....