Casio PX-5S Stage Piano - SonicLAB Review

An interesting twist on the Stage Piano from Casio - with the Privia Pro PX-5S you get the 88 Key weighted keyboard - made from some sort of plastic that doesn't have the shine of an ivory feel, but certainly seems to play well and weighs a LOT less - at 24.47lbs so easily luggable - in fact I suspect your keyboard stand weighs almost the same.
Under the hood though we get a supercharged DSP and PCM sound set (AiR Sound Source) which gives you a reasonable piano and a ton of very playable electro mechanical patches.
In addition, there's the Hex Layer synth engine - this is what we got in the Casio XW-P1 too - each voice has up to 6 single oscillator layers - each with it's own multiwave source, multimode filter, pitch amp and filter envelopes too. Each layer can call upon up to 400 PCM waves including multisampled sound sets and plenty of synth waves. Stack em up and let them go!
In practice, you can create some pretty cool, complex voices - even without PWM and OSC sync.
Power With Control
The third major component is the MIDI Controller aspect - at the top level there are 99 stage patches - each of these has up to four Zones (key range, velocity split, or just layer). These can fire internal voices, external MIDI or external USB devices. There are also four assignable knobs, 6 faders, 2 footswitches too - these can all be routed to any zone/MIDI output. Sadly, there's no aftertouch though.
Setting up Zones is pretty simple to do, just a few button presses and browsing the voice categories (Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Strings/Brass, Guitar/Bass, Synth/Various, Drums, Hex Layer).
But deeper programming is where you get a bit bogged down in menu diving and repeated button pressing - it's all a bit 1990 to be honest and the unfamiliar nature of the Casio OS adds a little extra to the learning curve. Fortunately there's an editor for the Mac and PC, though it's not going to win any UI design awards, it's functional and certainly helps.
What is impressive though is the overall breadth of patches. Granted, perhaps the weakest point is the actual acoustic piano - which is a little disappointing seeing as it's a supposed to be a Stage Piano. But the sheer lushness that the 256 voice polyphony can deliver is not to be sniffed at.
The effects add a lot too with 4 simultaneous insert effects (Equalizer, Compressor, Limiter, Enhancer, Early Reflection, Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Tremolo, Auto Pan, Rotary, Drive Rotary, LFO Wah, Auto Wah, Distortion (w/ Amp Simulator), Pitch Shifter, Multi Chorus, Ring Mod, Delay, Piano effect), plus System Effects Reverb, Chorus and Delay - there are some wonderful pads and unique synth tones to be had, with plenty of real-time sculpting from the 4 knobs and 6 faders - they can be assigned all over the place so you should see great results if you get stuck in - though labels like DSP param 7 are not all that helpful.
One thing that cannot be overstated is the impact that having an 88 key controller has on your playing, it expands your technique and repertoire and I found that a lot of the sounds were very inspiring to play - the electro-mechanical voices - electric pianos , organs and clavs etc are of the kind that let you just stomp on the sustain pedal (included accessory) and let it ring out. When you start playing with the hex layers - you can have two in a single stage patch (only a mere 12 oscillators per note) it's easy to get lost in sound.
And I guess thats the thing - it's got a bit of an identity crisis - as a Stage Piano I might be looking for a really good basic piano - which the Casio doesn't have - it's okay, but not mind-blowing. As a synthesizer I might want a more featured voice structure (PWM and Sync, maybe a few more modulation options). To compensate, the Privia PX-5S just throws voices at the issue and in many cases succeeds.
Finally
It's got a lot of features, but they are quite random in many ways - if you want all of them then it's brilliant value for money at $999, but if you were hoping for more traditional set of sounds from a Stage Piano it might not be for you.
Available now: $999/£890/€966

[@kerzwhile]

Nick Deff touched on it. This is a very misunderstood powerhouse actually. To seamlessly incorporate an iOS device on the fly and it just works, while having that massive polyphony still available is very impressive! Nothing in this price range can come close to the feature set of the PX5s. I personally think the piano is excellent! But that is of course a subjective thing.. I'm sure Casio is still voicing this beast, and will continue to do so because it's architecture is so vast.. No pun intended there! ;)

[@johannbach2725]

What I love about this review is how he manages to turn an ordinary stage piano into a weird synth..love it!

[@Theawkwardblock]

I recommend listening to that opening bit with headphones if you didn't the first time. The swirling sound was awesome compared to the old school Casio I play now. Don't be fooled though, I LOVE THIS BRAND!

[@MIDIDesigner]

Great, balanced review as always! We've been following this keyboard's progress in the World (there's an FB group of passionate users), and the people who love it REALLY love it. Casio was kind enough to provide a rudimentary Privia PX-5S layouts for iPhone and iPad for MIDI Designer: mididesigner.com/qa/2549/call-for-layouts-casio-privia-px-5s Exciting times, these!

[@williamshaneblyth]

with a tinny amount of tweaking I can get fantastic piano synth pads and the like there are a lot of people tweaking and sharing their patches al the time. I sold my KronosX cause I ended up with a better sounding Piano pad patch so thats saying a lot and the keyed is fantastic on this unit. Better than a Nord Stage two

[@HughOKelly]

After watching the demo,would I buy one.........maybe But because I have one I can tell you this is the best light affordable keyboard around and the most fun.

[@ProficiencyMusic]

wow this is a great demo.......it looks like you can do anything with this thing

[@marike1100]

Was extremely close to buying this keyboard as it's good value, but went with a MOXF 8 for the more traditional keys, the MOTIF XF sounds, drum machines / patterns, and flash board slot.

[@zoellapetite]

pretty sure the resonance is sympathetic. IIRC, it uses something Casio is calling AIR technology. I should mention too there is a decent community for this board and one thing that wasn't mentioned is that you can download stage settings other people have created and have uploaded to a Casio music forum. There is a large number of good stage settings there and I think Casio's marketing guy who is responsible for a bunch of the default ones on the board is or has uploaded a bunch of new ones this month. One I heard a preview one is another Blade Runner inspired one as one Blade Runner inspired one already comes on the board and lets you play the main theme out of the box similar to the xw-p1 video on youtube. They say they called it a stage piano because the whole idea is you save a set of stage settings you need for any gig that lets you play various songs. There are uploaded stage settings people have created for Pink Floyd songs, Eurythmics songs etc etc etc. It's very easy to swap stage settings in and out of the board using a thumb stick. I bought this board last September and I am very happy with it and I still haven't scratched the surface of what it can do. It comes with a PC editor BTW so you can change the parameters very easily by plugging it into your pc if you don't want to fiddle with the knobs and buttons on the small lcd screen. There is also an ipad app though I don't have one myself. Personally I like the pianos on it, but I always add reverb/resonance and other effects. The knobs and sliders are there for fiddling and you find and create the piano you like.

[@SR1Records]

This thing is a sound designer's wet dream! lol.

[@Djpuzzle]

Really enjoyed the iPad integrated performance. Nice one.

[@RichardLondonSoundLab]

I was surprised that i really liked the feel on the new Casios. The sound of the piano is a little "eh" but, still it is very cool.

[@Synthematix]

I have the Casio XWP1, hell of a synth but VERY complicated, will take me about a year to master it

[@axs203]

Good job Casio. Mod Wheels Hoorah! Me wants. This keyboard came out a while back though....... When are manufacturers going to build keyboards that let us load our own piano sounds from SD card (and something the average person can afford)?

[@mmhcreates]

Still not yet, as far as I'm aware. But MPC have created a clever way of sampling vsts and synths.

[@MarctheDarc]

Very interesting piece of gear, but i hear what you mean with it not knowing exactly what it wants. The piano sounds aren't quite there to justify that part of it alone, and the controls are too fiddly for it to make it as a synth, despite the pretty good sound of it. But together it still kinda makes sense.

[@jokumvildmoosehawkfield3176]

Yes for a cheep price of synth this is a good synth. But there are many other synth's on the market who always will beat Casio Privia.

[@Philigrane5993]

Jacob, you are right. But considering the price it is the best on the market.

[@montazownianr1]

I will buy this thing only for control my Omnisphere Keyscape and Kontakt pianos :)

[@michaelgunterfonluhter4187]

Fantastish-prof-sounds-instrument!!

[@richardstevens1164]

I really want the Kurzweil PC3K8, but I may have to settle for this and get the other later or maybe Kurzweil will have something better later.

[@ge0rgeharris218]

Nick, you certainly are not a pianist but that's ok!! But you do a great job explaining one hell of alot of instruments!!! Thanks

[@gorillachilla]

i love casio classic make with a true reputation

[@OrangeJackson]

Can you add the lfo to just one of the hex layers? Say if you had a sound that had 6 layers. or does the lfo effect all the layers?

[@breakdownhouse]

Can those knobs and sliders be made to transmit sysex messages? to control settings on a keyboard workstation?

[@GabrielIwasaki]

How do you find the key feel compared to a keyboard like the Roland a88? Or maybe the Yamaha mo8 or mox8?

[@MikeRoePhonicsMusic]

Hi. I'm also wondering how it compares to the Roland A-88. Have you played on an A-88? If so, do you like the key action? Is it fast? I bought a Roland Juno DS88 recently and don't care for the key action (too slow and doesn't travel that far down.) I'm looking to replace my old Keystation Pro 88 controller.

[@GabrielIwasaki]

+MikeRoePhonicsMusic hi, I'm the end I went for the kawai VPC 1 and just COULDNT be happier! It has really replaced the need for me to get an actual acoustic piano and have done numerous recordings with it. And that is including a lot of classical music. If y9u want, you can check out my channel where I play a few Chopin pieces with this controller it is just great! And I have tried the A88, it feels (to my taste) better

[@makanamcdonald4769]

You mention that the piano settings sound okay, but not great. Which stage pianos would you suggest for better piano simulation, that are just as cheap and just as lightweight as the PX-5S?

[@EzyoMusic]

Makana McDonald So far the only possibilities I'm aware of live in the Yamaha P-255 price range... not cheap at all. :(

[@HighlandStudio91]

Where's the overview for the Privia PX-560??It's supposedly being released in October...what gives??

[@debu9374]

Picked up a used PX5s for $500 at Guitar Center

[@RhombusLabs]

Sure would like to see a new Casiotone for

[@seixid]

Thanks

[@mfb5642]

Piano sounds are only ok? That's disappointing. I can download better ones into it?

[@pcuimac]

This, an iPad and an Integra 7 and you need nothing else. ;)

[@mfb5642]

a drum machine...or a drummer.

[@mCKENIC]

Wow that is a lot of features and very nice sounds too! Thanks Nick! I would be more a one finger player type guy so I wonder if the XW-P1 would save space and cash - is the XW & Privia sound engine the same? Very interesting!

[@sonicstate]

sort of, but the DSP and ROM are more, the Hex layer stuff sounds much better in the PX-5S I would say.

[@mCKENIC]

sonicstate Thanks a million for the reply! The Hex layer stuff is very impressive indeed. Loved the darker piano tone and the filter sounded very useful too. Perhaps they will do a min version for us plink-plonkers :-)

[@Synthematix]

They are too similar in performance to compare, with the privia your paying more for a professional keybed and pianos

[@mCKENIC]

Synthematix Thanks indeed for the thoughts! Its an ongoing frustration that I am SO locked in to muscle memory with 6 strings and how they work, anything with keys is wasted on me. A desktop or rack version of the 5S would be wonderful! Its strange, I dont NEED one but the more I watch the SonicState vid - the more interested I am in it :-)

[@zongihangi11]

What is the difference between Casio Privia PX5S and Casio Privia PX5S Pro?

[@diogoqueiroz4726]

@@zongihangi11 não existe esses dois. Apenas um.

[@zongihangi11]

@@diogoqueiroz4726 Akkor nyilván ugyanazt nevezik kétféle képpen.

[@richardstevens8839]

Nick does this have a manual

[@michaelgunterfonluhter4187]

I`in sincere shok!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!! Vivat dears in japon in fantastish company - Casio!!! Yeah!!! Your real open me and people-big talants in big world =Real Real -very nice=Fantastish=instrument!!! I`in sincere in light joy for dear company in Casio and give god and for fantastish-future too!!!!!!!!! I`love you everybody in dear -in unicaln-in very tolerant in fantastish Japon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@krakou2]

1) he uses one in there

[@p3rrypm]

Sympathetic resonance requires the damper be removed from a note with a sympathetic tone... I’m assuming you used the pedal to test that, if not I don’t see how you could tell without holding down another key. Why wold Casio say it has it if it doesn’t? Maybe you did something wrong with your damper test.

[@williamshaneblyth]

Check my piano pad sound out you'll see this thing can sound amazing this is straight recorded to a usb stick no extra processing all PX5S soundcloud.com/shane-blyth/shaneinated-casiopx-5s-sound

[@pianoman42421]

With no dis-respect the piano sounds on this keyboard are terrible. They sound very unrealistic to me.

[@hubertmuda9873]

????

[@sorinbunea471]

14:06 Uhhhh

[@massimocolombo1261]

Ma uno che spiega in italiano no eh !??

[@asen80gmailcom]

Hi SonicState, I am looking at this thing vs. the PX 350, and the primary reason behind that is the polyphony - 128 (PX 350) vs. 256 (PX 5s)! So could you please suggest based on that factor alone - which way I should go? Also, are the organ and electric piano sounds significantly better on the PX 5s (compared to the PX 350)? Thanks a lot in advance! Cheers!