PX-3 vs. PX-330

[octa]

 

Anyone tried both? I'm really on a budget & wondering if it's worth the extra $100 or so to get the px-3.

 

Mainly I'm looking for an 88-key weighted piano for practice at home with midi out. Occasionally I'll use it for gigs.

[Sven Golly]

Do you need built-in speakers? That'll potentially make the decision easier.

[AnotherScott]

Anyone tried both? I'm really on a budget & wondering if it's worth the extra $100 or so to get the px-3.

 

Mainly I'm looking for an 88-key weighted piano for practice at home with midi out. Occasionally I'll use it for gigs.

 

If you're on a budget and simply want "an 88-key weighted piano for practice at home with midi out" I'd get a Yamaha P-95 which is cheaper than either of them... and, IMO, a better sounding, better feeling piano.

 

Other than that, I think the PX3 is enormously better than the PX330, for things I care about, which may not be things you care about. It's EP, organ, and strings are much better. You can configure the stereo outs to instead function as a pair of mono assignable outs, which I find much more useful. The keys feel better. It weighs less. You can split the keyboard in such a way that you can keep playing left hand bass (or pad) while changing your right hand sound. If you may hook up another sound module to it, you can program it to send on different MIDI channels on either side of a split, and you can create presets that can combine internal and external sounds complete with patch changes, octave transpositions, and volume balance adjustments. The only thing is, as Sven alluded to, I do wish it had speakers (even though it would add some weight).

 

In short, for pro or semi-pro use, the PX-3 is in a whole other league. I really don't like the PX-330 at all, I bought it and returned it when it came out, but the PX-3 is a very nice piece.

[Ken Beaumont]

I think it depends mostly on whether you want good sounding EP's and organs. And what things you want out of a practice board.

The PX-330 also has built in rhythm and accompaniment. Also a 16 track recorder. It accepts 2GB SD memory. For me I use the recorder and drum machine a lot. So it was worth it, I don't gig with it.

 

The PX-3 has matte finished keys, better EP, Organ and more flexible midi options. Also the buttons show up much better on a dimly lit stage. And last but not least, tweakable effects.

 

P95 has a one track recorder, and much less variety of sounds and no rhythm and accompaniment. It does have 50 built in demo songs.

[octa]

thanks. I'm gonna go for the PX-3. The tweakable effects option sold me. . Also maybe I will incorporate it more into my rig than I originally thought. . I already have more stuff than the drummer so what's another keyboard?

[BratNZ]

Hmm.

Does that mean you can't change the main sound on the PX-330 without cancelling the split Scott?

 

The PX-330 can talk MIDI as well. What are it's limitations there? Can I connect sound modules to it to grab better organs, etc?

 

Since I don't gig with it would I be better off with the PX-330 and attach it a sound modules/computer for better sounds?

 

The only thing I really don't like about the 330 is the key feel; the PX-3 has a MUCH better feel.

The only thing I don't like about the PX-3 is that it's missing speakers; that's kind of essential at home without making things too ugly on the aesthetic front. ;-)

[AnotherScott]

Hmm.

Does that mean you can't change the main sound on the PX-330 without cancelling the split Scott?

Correct. Any sound change you make while a split is engaged only affects the left half of the split. Exactly the opposite of what you'd want most of the time. Usually on a split, your left hand stays constant (especially if you're covering bass), and your right hand needs to change sounds (i.e. call up something different for the bridge, or take a lead in an instrumental break, for example).

 

Hmm.

The PX-330 can talk MIDI as well. What are it's limitations there? Can I connect sound modules to it to grab better organs, etc?

Yes, you can do that. But in terms of connecting sound modules, simply calling up external sounds to layer as you describe is *all* you can do. Some things you can't do: Call up an external sound only for the upper (or lower) part of a split. Play that sound *instead* of (rather than in addition to) a built in sound. Shift the octave of the sound (so triggering external strings on the left doesn't necessarily only give you cellos). Adjust the volume of the external sound (so you can balance the external sound with the internal sound you're layering or splitting it with). Program buttons on the front panel so that different buttons will call up whatever sounds you want in the external module. Be able to call up a different internal sound without sending a patch change command to the external module. Control whether or not the sustain pedal affects the external sound (i.e. you may want the sustain pedal to work on part of the keyboard playing its internal piano, but not have it sustain the external organ). If your MIDI module is multi-timbral, you can trigger two of its sounds at once, over different areas of the keyboard. And more. The PX-330 simply isn't really a MIDI controller, a PX-3 is.

 

Some of those things can be worked around on the receiving end... like, if you didn't want external strings to sound like cellos on the bottom half of the keyboard, you could likely create a patch in your module itself that octave shifts the strings. But even in those instances where it could be done, programming all this stuff on the receiving end is a generally a whole lot more work. Especially on sound modules with their small front panels and correspondingly awkward editing interfaces. And some of these things often can't be addressed on the receiving end at all.

 

ADDED:

 

The only thing I don't like about the PX-3 is that it's missing speakers

As recently discussed in another thread, for some reason, unfortunately, there are almost no boards with speakers that have good MIDI control functions. Just like Casio, Roland and Yamaha make similar pianos where one version has speakers and the other version is a flexible MIDI controller (i.e. FP4 vs RD300, FP7 vs RD700, P155 vs CP33). Yamaha does make a piano with both features, the CP300, but if you are *ever* going to gig, it's a bear to move around.

 

If there were a lightweight MIDI controller with decent piano sound and speakers, I'd have bought it. Speakers are convenient so many times... bringing a board over to someone's house for a little "unplugged" rehearsal, playing a really small party or cocktail hour... it's a great thing to have.

 

I'm probably about to sell my PX3... if it had speakers, I'd probably keep it.

[Jim Alfredson]

Love both but the PX-3 is more versatile for stage use, especially with the ability to tweak sounds and DSP effects.

[LX88]

I would have top put a ditto on the P-95 option.

 

Also, Guitar Center often has the Yamaha CP-33 on sale in the 850 dollar range. That is one of my all time favorite DP's.

 

When I was looking at Casios last year, I managed to score a Roland RD 300GX at a Casio price. That can be another option.

 

 

[BratNZ]

Awesome. Thanks Scott.

 

As for LX88's comment, the P-95 costs the same as the PX-3 here so no comparison, really. (Both at $2000 NZD). I'm in Christchurch, NZ and feel very annoyed when I see what deals you guys can get in the States; even more so since our recent earthquakes. :-(

 

I REALLY like the PX-3's feel and MIDI abilities (now they've been explained to me); will now have to work on getting a pair of active speakers for it that she who must be consulted will approve of.

Won't be travelling with it much and if I did it would be to gigs and/or friends with amps so it looks like the better deal for me. I'd even take my speakers with me if I had too.

 

For that matter, I realise this is slightly offtopic but any advice on speakers/subs for home use? I have a largish (50 square metre) room for it to live in.

 

The feel of the keys is important to me; the PX-330's bed (or at least the one I've tried) feels quite inferior for the $300 NZD difference. It's not just the surface; the action feels lighter too. I play classical which is where the key feel is important (trills SUCK on most DPs at my price range) but also play all manner of styles.

 

So, that was a long way of saying that I'll be buying a PX-3. :-)