First impressions of the Casio PX-135

[marino]

Ok, so for a bunch of reasons I don't need to go into here, I found myself for the last few months without a suitable piano-like instrument to practice on evenings/nighs. Since my schedule is increasingly tight, practice time during the proper hours is rarer than ever... in short, I found myself in need of a digital piano.

Plus, I felt like in these troubled times, I deserved a little Christmas gift...

 

Yes, I have *three* weighted master keyboards , all Fatar/Studiologic stuff: two Studio 2001s and a VMK176 plus. But neither has enough resistance and response to give me some satisfaction while practicing. And I had a mute built inside my Yamaha G2 grand piano, but that doesn't totally kill the loudness.

 

Only problem: I'm *seriously* broke. Purchase of any new keyboard is out of discussion. What to do? I decided for an attack strategy. I just went to The Big Music Store, and said:

- How many students have I sent to you in the last couple of months to purchase stuff?

- .......

- I'll tell you: Five. Now I need a cheap DP for myself. How much for a PX-135?

- Uh, 499 euros...

- Ridiculous. Give me a smash discount, or I'll send my students somewhere else. Also, I need a financement, with the tiniest possible installments and zero interest.

 

The guy, probably too shocked to react, gave me exactly what I asked. He also included a piano-style damper pedal. I can't disclose the exact deal I got, but it was extremely good. So I'm now the owner of a PX-135, and I must say it's a nice instrument. Here are my first-hand impressions:

 

First thing you notice is how professionally this DP is packaged. The whole thing is very solid, rationally thought, and doesn't add much to the overall weight. What a contrast with the awful package my VMK176 came in.

After having cursed over external PSUs for the umpteenth time, I found a bunch of small manuals, written in all languages known to man *except* Italian. Grumble.

A pleasant surprise was to find a 240-page music book with 60 masterworks of the piano literature, in very good revisions. These same 60 pieces are memorized in sequenced form into the machine as demos. Great.

 

THE PIANO SOUNDS. Well, I owned a CDP-100 for a while a few years ago, and I sold it after just a couple of months because even for practice, the piano sound was just too awful to my ears. This one is on a whole different level; much warmer, well balanced, not over-compressed, with smooth dynamics. Still a bit synthetic for my ears - but still, a really usable multisample for the purpose I intended. I found that the second preset, "Classic", suited my playing very well.

 

THE ACTION. An improvement on the early Privias as well IMO. There's less back-bouncing and less pushing up on fingers. This translates in improved playing ease, and a certain 'forgiveness', the lack of which has always been, in my opinion, one of the major drawbacks of digital pianos. Especially on Yamaha DPs (with the possible exception of the CP1/5/50), I has always been forced to play in a 'cleaner', more precise way than on an acoustic, and that affected my playing a lot. On this latest Casio action, I can relax a bit more, and follow the flow of the phrasing rather than worrying about extreme precision.... a very good thing. Still, it offers enough resistance and hammer-type response to make practicing on it useful.

 

THE "OTHER" SOUNDS. Well, um... frankly, nothing especially noteworthy. Uniform medium-quality stuff, especially when you add chorus. The pure Rhodes from the CDP-100 is not here, and no Clavinet in sight also. The harpsichod has way too much release noise. You can layer two sounds, control their balance, split the keyboard, with a decent double bass sample for your left hand, layered (or not, your choice) with a ride cymbal... yawn.

One exception is the Jazz Organ preset, nice and biting, with a realistic percussion sound, which is, however, polyphonic. Oh well.

 

THE OPERATING SYSTEM. I have to give a big thumbs down to this. You dont even get a two-digit display. Most operations are accomplished with the dreaded "Function key + keyboard key" system, which I hated on my old RD-300 already. Most functions are labeled along the keyboard - but some important ones aren't, like effect quantity/type and key transpose. Which is crazy, since there's no reason for it.

What's even crazier, you don't get to know which preset you're playing! There's no visual feedback for this, not even a tiny LED. Urgh.

Also, the effects are not optimized for every single sound. The PX-135 wakes up on powerup with a gentle reverb suitable for the piano sounds, and nothing else. The 'alternate' sounds, on the other hand, would benefit of a splash of chorus almost without exception - but you have to set it manually. In other words, the various programs aren't associated with particular effect settings: The latest manual setting you set remains for every new preset you choose. This is going to affect the judgement of those sounds by less than expert users.

To top all this, theres no MIDI out! Just USB. Its 2012 already. No MIDI out. Maybe a sign of the end of the world...

 

CONSTRUCTION. I like the overall feel of this instrument. Clean, robust, lightweight. It does have that "industrial" plasticky feel, and it lacks warmth perhaps - but it does transmit a sense of reliability, which is important in a musical instrument. Needless to say, I appreciate its extreme portability a lot.

The music stand is sturdy, and the piano-style pedal feels solid and doesn't move, thanks to the corrugated rubber on the bottom. There's even support for a three-pedal system, with a *continuous* damper pedal. What more could one ask?

 

CONCLUSIONS. Well, what can I say, I needed this instrument for a specific purpose, and I find that it will not disappoint me. The action is good enough to practice on (Im not speaking about practicing all the nuances of a classical piece here), the piano sound is satisfying, it weights 12 kg., the price is right, and the price *I* paid for it is even lower.

The other sounds are just so-so, and the OS tries to save to the last dime... but theres no much stuff in there at all, so its not a big deal after all.

 

In fact, after having played it for a while, Im thinking about bringing it to gigs. I wouldnt take it to a real jazz trio gig but for those wallpaper corporate gigs, it could very well be enough.

 

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

I don't know why MIDI-over-USB is cheaper than just plain MIDI, but that seems to be the way things are going.

 

Thanks for the review Carlo, and I hope you enjoy your Christmas present!

[AnotherScott]

The pure Rhodes from the CDP-100 is not here

I miss that sound from all the newer/"better" Casios. It was also in my old PX-500L. Another great EP sounds was the "60s E. Piano" sound on the PX-310. It's frustrating when replacement models lose great aspects of their predecessors. (A problem not unique to Casio.)

[David Loving]

the '60's ep is on my px330 - that's the one I use. I have played a px130 and I like its first rhodes sound, too. Is the px135 the new one for 2012?

[B3bluesman59]

Another great EP sound was the "60s E. Piano" sound on the PX-310.

________________________________________________________________

It is on my PX3....also on the WK 7500. If you like playing that Ray Charles "What'd I Say" sound the 60s E. Piano tone is the real deal.

[marino]

Is the px135 the new one for 2012?

Yeah, the PX-135 is the replacement for the 130. I don't think the 'pure' Rhodes sound from the CDP-100 was on the 130 either. I have made a direct comparison between that sound and a Mark II Stage 73, and they were remarkably similar.

 

 

[CEB]

Congratulations. It is great when a plan comes together.

[marino]

I've checked the preset names, and the third EP is called " '60 piano", so I guess it's similar to the one in the 310. It's a very slightly saturated sound. It's not however, the one I liked from the CDP-100, which was a very pure Rhodes tone.

 

 

[Dana.]

I recently purchased the CDP-120 (the successor to the CDP-100) but I'm going to sell it. I just don't enjoy playing Casio's heavy weighted actions.

 

FYI, the Rhodes sound on it is terrible.

[marino]

Yeah, I had played the CDP-120 in the store before deciding on the PX-135, and the piano sounds were just bad, though an improvement on the CDP-100. The pianos on the 135 are much better. The heaviness of the action, however, suites me well enough; nothing to do with a Kawai MP8 action, but good enough for some late-hour practice. However, I am a diehard pianist, so YMMV.

 

About the Rhodes sounds... I wouldn't record with them, but remember that we're talking about the lowest price range of DPs here, at least those with a full hammer-action keybed. For a casual gig or a quick reharsal, they could work.

However, I didn't bother to check the EPs on the CDP-120, so they could very well be of lower quality.

 

Also, check the chorus assignement. As I said in my report above, chorus is not automatically assigned to the sounds which could benefit from it - in practice, all "alternate" sounds. If the CDP-120 behaves the same, try assigning chorus manually to the EPs; it should help quite a bit.

 

 

 

 

[marino]

After having played the PX-135 for a few days, I'd like to add a final 'ergonomic' consideration: Given that most functions are performed with a "Function key + keyboard key" combination - Not only some of the functions are not labeled along the keys; what *is* there is just about unreadable in every light condition except very bright, direct light. Playing this thing onstage would be highly problematic.

 

 

[JeffLearman]

Thanks, Marino! It doesn't look like this is available in the US yet, and the only price I saw was just over $1000. Hopefully that price isn't reflective of what it will cost when it's available everywhere.

[David Loving]

My 330 needs some white dots at appropriate spots to function in darker venues.

[Dana.]

Playing this thing onstage would be highly problematic.

If all you're doing is playing piano... :idk

[Mike Martin]

Thanks, Marino! It doesn't look like this is available in the US yet, and the only price I saw was just over $1000. Hopefully that price isn't reflective of what it will cost when it's available everywhere.

 

The PX-135 is not available in the US yet and it may be some time before it is. Note that the PX-135 is identical to the PX-130 with the exception of two additional piano voices one very bright and one quite dark.

 

-Mike Martin

Casio America Inc.

[Ken Beaumont]

My PX-330 is fine for just piano. The other sounds are pretty weak anyway! The only issue I had was the volume control is close to the rhythm buttons. Its too easy to accidentally brush it reaching for the volume. Its really annoying, I put a piece of reflective tape above the button. Haven't hit it since.

[David Loving]

all you have to do is hit it once - you won't hit it again!

[marino]

Note that the PX-135 is identical to the PX-130 with the exception of two additional piano voices one very bright and one quite dark.

Ah so - thanks Mike for the clarification. It strikes me as a bit weird the idea of making a whole new instrument with just a couple of more sounds, but I guess there has been enough demand for those sounds for Casio to act like that.

 

Playing this thing onstage would be highly problematic.

If all you're doing is playing piano... :idk

At the risk of restating the obvious... If I'm going to bring the PX-135 onstage, I might need other sounds. For example, switching from piano with just a touch of reverb, to EP with a robust dose of chorus, to strings with much reverb and just a tad of chorus - and vice versa. That would be quite ackward on the 135.

 

 

[David Loving]

yes, but it's a good practice piano!

[Dana.]

At the risk of restating the obvious... If I'm going to bring the PX-135 onstage, I might need other sounds. For example, switching from piano with just a touch of reverb, to EP with a robust dose of chorus, to strings with much reverb and just a tad of chorus - and vice versa. That would be quite ackward on the 135.

 

Personally, if I were to use a PX-135 on stage -- and it's clearly designed for home use -- the only internal sound I would use is the piano; if I needed other sounds, I would supplement it with a laptop. YMMV.

[marino]

yes, but it's a good practice piano!

:thu:

 

 

[bhodaway10]

I don't know why MIDI-over-USB is cheaper than just plain MIDI, but that seems to be the way things are going.

 

This nearly burned me on a session. I was hired to do some tracking and he asked me to bring in a full 88 keyboard as he only had a small synth. When I got there he expected me to midi my keyboard and the privia doesn't have standard jacks. We nearly scratched the session but I told him the casio USB drivers were pretty much plug and play. Needless to say it worked flawlessly!

 

[Lord_Nord]

I would go to the Yamaha P- series before I ever put any money towards a Casio. I mean....it's Casio... Need I say more? Plus the Yamaha P-series keyboards have pretty luscious piano and strings sounds, and decent action IMHO.

[Joe Muscara]

I would go to the Yamaha P- series before I ever put any money towards a Casio. I mean....it's Casio... Need I say more?

[MonksDream]

I would go to the Yamaha P- series before I ever put any money towards a Casio. I mean....it's Casio... Need I say more?

I take it you haven't played a Casio DP recently. If marino, one of the most respected pianists on this forum, and other knowledgeable people here play them and recommend them they might be worth another look.

[Lord_Nord]

I would go to the Yamaha P- series before I ever put any money towards a Casio. I mean....it's Casio... Need I say more?

I take it you haven't played a Casio DP recently. If marino, one of the most respected pianists on this forum, and other knowledgeable people here play them and recommend them they might be worth another look.

 

Yes you are correct...the last Casio I played was a Privia about 2 years ago...and it was alright for practice but nothing more. Basically none of the sounds besides piano were even usable at all. From the looks of demo videos for the PX-135, it seems to be similar.

 

And while I haven't seen Casio on any big stages recently...actually EVER, I suppose I was a little quick to jump to conclusions before testing out new gear myself. That being said, my first keyboard ever was a Casio...so I guess I wouldn't be where I am today without it.

[CEB]

I didn't like the sound of the previous generation of Privias on long sustained notes. Fast stuff sounded fine. The newest generation which I tried about 3 weeks ago sounds much better to me. The weight is very nice.

 

I played some Proline Casio boards in the day. (CZ-1000 and a CZ-1). I think the biggest mistake the company did was not to adopt a rebranding strategy. I think if they would have marketed the proline stuff under a completely different name beginning in the 80s the proline products would have been more successful.

[Ken Beaumont]

Depends on your definition of big stage.

 

Josh Charles is a privia endorser http://joshcharlesmusic.com

 

Our own B3-er plays a PX-330 on tour with Janiva Magness

 

[video:youtube]

[Joe Muscara]

Don't forget our own Steve LeBlanc on stage with Jason Bonham's Led Zep Experience.

[David Loving]

I have three dp's [Yamaha CP33, Kurzweil PC1X, and a PX330] and gig regularly with my PX330. Ever since I got the privia about a year and a half ago, it is the dp I take with me. It's a fine board IMO. If the PX135 could drive an amp through the headphone jack, I would not hesitate to use one at a gig.