Casio PX-5S Stage Piano - SonicLAB Review

[@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! ;)

[@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!

[@johannbach2725]

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

[@Jason75913]

Because it is already a synth.

[@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.

[@Djpuzzle]

Really enjoyed the iPad integrated performance. Nice one.

[@ProficiencyMusic]

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

[@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

[@debu9374]

Picked up a used PX5s for $500 at Guitar Center

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@Synthematix]

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

[@SR1Records]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@michaelgunterfonluhter4187]

Fantastish-prof-sounds-instrument!!

[@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.

[@gorillachilla]

i love casio classic make with a true reputation

[@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

[@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.

[@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

[@HighlandStudio91]

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

[@breakdownhouse]

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

[@mfb5642]

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

[@montazownianr1]

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

[@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?

[@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. :(

[@richardstevens8839]

Nick does this have a manual

[@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 :-)

[@RhombusLabs]

Sure would like to see a new Casiotone for

[@seixid]

Thanks

[@pcuimac]

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

[@mfb5642]

a drum machine...or a drummer.

[@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

[@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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@massimocolombo1261]

Ma uno che spiega in italiano no eh !??