This Just In......PX-5S

[PianoManChuck]

..and hopefully the PX-6 will have half-pedaling and 73 key version.

Casio might be looking at what happens with the Roland RD-64 and how well it sells. If enough demand exists, I think Casio will build one.

I'm seriously looking for a 73/76 key version also. Whoever builds the nicest one under $1200 with integrated controller features between Casio, Yamaha or Kawaii will get my hard-earned dollars.

 

I've been moving my PX-5s around constantly all summer. When an 88 is this small and easy to carry, there's no need to compromise with a reduced keybed anymore. This thing fits anywhere.

 

Every time I'm stuck playing piano on a 73 or 76, my left pinkie hurts like hell the next morning from constantly trying to hit keys that simply aren't there. I want those low E's, D's and C's, and I would imagine that there would be times when you guys would appreciate the fact that they are there too.

EXACTLY! Besides, the way the PX5 is laid out, you'd have to eliminate some features and/or redesign the case as everything above all the 88 keys on the panel is in use. Maybe if they eliminated the battery compartment they could offer a smaller keybed... but that defeats one of the major draws of this board.

[Charleston]

there's no need to compromise with a reduced keybed anymore. This thing fits anywhere.

 

Except for those of us that don't have the same needs as you, have different space requirements, setups, etc.. 52 inches (+ length of case) doesn't change, regardless of the weight.

 

Maybe if they eliminated the battery compartment they could offer a smaller keybed... but that defeats one of the major draws of this board.

 

Not everyone sees that as a draw whatsoever. I always carry multiple power supplies.

[uncledunc]

....

 

I agree with everything you say uncledunc, that's why I want one. However, I agree more with kilf......

 

The fact is not so much that they're overpriced in the U.K., it's more the disparity in prices compared to the U.S.

 

Looking at the big picture, how much do you pay for health care in the UK? $400 per month for an 80/20 policy with a $10k per year deductible? I think you're coming out ahead, my friend. You pay more for your keyboards, but you pay less to stay alive.

[Six-string-man]

....

 

I agree with everything you say uncledunc, that's why I want one. However, I agree more with kilf......

 

The fact is not so much that they're overpriced in the U.K., it's more the disparity in prices compared to the U.S.

 

Looking at the big picture, how much do you pay for health care in the UK? $400 per month for an 80/20 policy with a $10k per year deductible? I think you're coming out ahead, my friend. You pay more for your keyboards, but you pay less to stay alive.

 

 

 

 

"Last time I was in England, almost everything was 50% more expensive than in the States. Gas, food, hotels, etc."

 

(quote from mate stubb earlier in the thread)

 

We are so overpriced in this country, that Japanese car manufacturers refer to the U.K. as "Treasure Island" because they make so much profit per car over here. When the Ford Probe was on sale, it was 230% dearer over here than it was in the States. We pay a minimum of $15 for a newly released c.d. I could go on.....

 

But to answer your question, we pay 10% of our gross salary for health care, + $11 every time we get a prescription for drugs from the drugstore. This does not include dental.

 

I will be in Colorado next month, so am looking forward to eating and sleeping and buying petrol cheaply!

[PianoManChuck]

But to answer your question, we pay 10% of our gross salary for health care, + $11 every time we get a prescription for drugs from the drugstore. This does not include dental.

I wish I paid that! I'm self-employed so I'm not part of a large corporate "group plan"... I pay much more than that... plus higher co-pays (up to $130 per Rx, though most generics are $10 to $30), and ridiculous co-pays for lab work. I could take a week-long vacation for less than a 1-night hospital stay (don't even get me started about the time I was in a motorcycle accident and had a 1-week hospital stay!). Many people in the U.S. work for companies just to get free health care.

Bottom line... I'd gladly pay more for my musical equipment than for health care. And getting older doesn't make health care any cheaper.

[Six-string-man]

But to answer your question, we pay 10% of our gross salary for health care, + $11 every time we get a prescription for drugs from the drugstore. This does not include dental.

I wish I paid that! I'm self-employed so I'm not part of a large corporate "group plan"... I pay much more than that... plus higher co-pays (up to $130 per Rx, though most generics are $10 to $30), and ridiculous co-pays for lab work. I could take a week-long vacation for less than a 1-night hospital stay (don't even get me started about the time I was in a motorcycle accident and had a 1-week hospital stay!). Many people in the U.S. work for companies just to get free health care.

Bottom line... I'd gladly pay more for my musical equipment than for health care. And getting older doesn't make health care any cheaper.

 

The thing is Chuck, it's not just musical instruments, it seems to be 90% of things (less healthcare of course..... )

[PianoManChuck]

The thing is Chuck, it's not just musical instruments, it seems to be 90% of things (less healthcare of course..... )

Yeah, I know you guys pay a fortune in taxes over in the UK... We actually have it pretty good that way here in the US, although many still complain. But at least you get health care for your tax dollars. Most folks in the US have no clue how good they have it in comparison to other parts of the world.

 

Getting back on subject... no matter what price you pay for your musical gear, it serves many purposes: creativity, gratification, skill development, performance and other things that you simply can't put a price on.

[HammondDave]

You usually get what you pay for.... And musical gear is not an exception...

[ksoper]

I finally had a chance to play a PX-5S at the Nashville Guitar Center on Tuesday night. (Mike was surprised that they not only had one, but that it was hooked up.) I monitored with Futuresonics Atrios ear buds. It was on a wall rack and the floor space where the sustain pedal would have lived was blocked by a large road case. That was unfortunate but not insurmountable.

 

The first thing I did was pick it up off the rack. Yup--really light, light enough for this old back. I felt around the edges for grip points...fit and finish were excellent. Several folks spoke about the "plasticy" feel. Yes, it's plastic, but I didn't get the feeling that it was flimsy at all. In fact, the wheels and sliders had very firm, smooth responses.

 

I loved the action in the 350 and found the PX-5S to be just as enjoyable to play. The finger-to-ear connection was strong, and after getting used to the landscape it was easy to get lost in the sound and just have fun. To me the PX-5S is a great digital piano experience.

 

It took just a moment to figure out the bank/preset configuration, and I worked through all of them quickly. When I first played the 350 it was through Casio's big QSC K-whatever rig with subs, and it was appropriately huge. Through the Atrios it was a smaller sound and I could hear the details. Although the factory presets are very good (some of them stellar) I could see myself wanting to try the new factory presets and begin rolling my own. The APs and EPs are very strong. The organs needed tweaking and might be passable in the context of a band setting. I didn't spend a lot of time with strings/brass/clav, though the one pop brass patch I played was full and punchy, again perfect for a band setting.

 

It was the hex layer patches where I really got lost--in a good way. Now, I don't usually write dance music and wouldn't have much use for a combination drum/bass/lead/pad kind of preset, but damn, these are nice--and inspiring. It was a hoot to noodle over the patterns. The synth engine in the 5S is warm and creamy, with some CS-80-ish colors. The Deckard patch was spot on...was that yours, Mike?

 

I forgot to play the demo songs...probably should've as I didn't even begin to scratch the surface of what the 5S can do. An action this good with all the controller options and great sounds for $999? Yes, I want one.

 

Great work, Mike, and everybody at Casio. You have stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park.

 

[Mike Martin]

Ken,

So glad you were able to play one and thanks for sharing your first impressions. The store count is expanding...but some old habbits die hard and it seems some employees just assume that it has built in speakers because it says Casio.

 

The Hex Layer / synth side of the PX-5S is remarkable and we are only scratching the surface. The filters are warm and rich. I had it next to a new dedicated VA product recently although it has some capabilities that are unique I was able to make some sounds on the PX-5S that were indistinguishable from the other product.

 

About two week ago I got lost for several hours in synths and arpeggios. It is easy to forget that this product is first and foremost a stage piano. The sound I made that night is called "Carried Away", I need to get an audio demo of that up soon.

 

Yes, I made the Deckard's lead Stage Setting. On the bottom half of the screen the tone it originally said "electric sheep" for the tone on zone one. I don't think the team in Tokyo understood the reference and renamed it.

[Joe Muscara]

Yes, I made the Deckard's lead Stage Setting. On the bottom half of the screen the tone it originally said "electric sheep" for the tone on zone one. I don't think the team in Tokyo understood the reference and renamed it.

That was in 1.0, wasn't it? I think I remember seeing that.

 

Bummer about the name change.

[Mike Martin]

I think I emailed you a picture. I was laughing about it at the time and shared it with a few people.. This was pre-v1.00.

[ksoper]

Electric sheep...awesome.

[DulceLabs.com]

I will say the most pleasant surprise of the PX-5S is just how deep the synth section really is. I reverse engineered some of Mike's hexlayers to see how he put them together and was very impressed how he blended the waves and tones to make the final sound.

 

The other cool thing is how you can completely change the character of the sound with a twist or two of the knobs, so each sound can make 5 or 6 others by tweaking the filters.

[Pa Gherkin]

I'd greatly appreciate a little help here. I'm sure the solution will make me curse my own obtuseness. Wanted to save my current stage settings before doing the firmware update. I saved all of my PX5S contents to a FAT32 formatted usb stick. Everything seemed to save fine. When I go to load a stage setting I get a message saying Error No File Press Exit. What am I missing here? BTW,I haven't updated yet or screwed up any of the stage settings I want to keep.

[DulceLabs.com]

I'd greatly appreciate a little help here. I'm sure the solution will make me curse my own obtuseness. Wanted to save my current stage settings before doing the firmware update. I saved all of my PX5S contents to a FAT32 formatted usb stick. Everything seemed to save fine. When I go to load a stage setting I get a message saying Error No File Press Exit. What am I missing here? BTW,I haven't updated yet or screwed up any of the stage settings I want to keep.

 

Did you make a folder called MUSICDAT and put the files in there?

[Pa Gherkin]

No,and I'm embarrassed to say I don't know how to do that.

[Mike Martin]

Format the drive on the PX-5S, it will create the folder.

[DulceLabs.com]

No problem. Put the drive into your computer. Go to my computer and select the flash drive by clicking on it. When it opens,

RIGHT click anywhere in the open file and select NEW FOLDER. Name it MUSICDAT... should be set. Let me know if you need more help.

 

You can also use the PX-5S to make the folder by formatting it in the PX-5S: Put flash drive in the PX-5S. Press AND HOLD the MEDIA buttton. Scroll down to FORMAT. Press ENTER, Press YES. NOTE: This will erase everything on the drive.

 

You should also join our Facebook group. Questions get answered real quick over there

 

EDIT: Mike you are too fast.. WOW.

[Pa Gherkin]

Keyz2401 and Mike,Thank you so much. Guys like you make this forum great. I'll check out the Facebook group. I'm just an old school piano and organ guy and sometimes my tech chops render themselves a little outdated. Thanks again.

[Pa Gherkin]

Ok,I have saved all but it seems that I have to save stage settings one by one in order to load them back in. In other words,any stage settings I want to preserve outside of the instrument's internal memory,I have to save one at a time,at least that's how it's working right now. Do I understand correctly? Thanks for your help and patience. I assure you once I get this I'll have it forever. I can still program the hell out of several Roland and Korg workstations from days of yore.

[Mike Martin]

Yes, you should save them one at a time. The Data Editor allows you to quickly and easily drag these to your computer for backup.

[JeffLearman]

I got a chance to spend a bit of quality time with one at GC, using my Direct Sound headhpones to minimize background noise.

 

I like the piano. The Rhodes, not so much, though it is useful; just not the Rhodes sound I like. Not a problem since I'd use NE2's for gigs, and probably good enough for rehearsal.

 

Not sure whether the organ would be good enough for rehearsal. I doubt the one I tried was upgraded to latest presets (not sure if there's a way to tell). But in all organs with percussion, they made the typical ROMPler mistake that percussion triggers independently per note (as though it's sampled with the note). That's not a killer since I usually don't use percussion. But the 8880 00000 tone didn't quite cut it. It's good enough for someone who plays a lot of rock with a little organ tossed in, but not for standout parts. Not that I expected it. Also, didn't care for the Leslie sim. Again, this isn't what I'd get this keyboard for, but it would be nice to have sounds good enough for rehearsal. I suppose the PX5S organ isn't any worse than the NE2's acoustic piano.

 

I was not blown away by the string sounds, but I need to spend more time with them. However, for the price, I was very satisfied with this board, overall, and especially the piano.

 

I thought the keys felt like they were trying too hard to imitate ebony and ivory, and the result felt artificial. However, after spending time on the PS-5S, I moved to a Yamaha MOX8, which is my other main candidate (for a board to put below my NE2). My fingers stuck to the plastic keys! I hadn't realized how humid it was in the shop. I immediately *really* appreciated how good the PX-5S keys felt, especially since I live in a hot humid climate and often have to use baby powder during gigs. Who cares about "somewhat artificial feeling!" From a purely functional standpoint, they were way, way better. Top marks, really.

 

It's also noteworthy that the best alternative costs 50% more, even though it's on sale (normally 70% more).

 

If the PX-5S had mono key assignment mode, I think my decision would be made. As it is, the keyboard I'm replacing does still work (albeit with a couple dodgy keys), and so I'm waiting since who knows what the future might bring.

 

Between the PX-5S and MOX8, I liked the PX-5S piano better but the MOX8's Rhodes better. PX-5S Wurlie was better (the goodbye stranger preset rocks). I suspect some fiddling with amp models could improve the organ tone. I prefer the control layout on the PX-5S, and much prefer sliders to knobs. Both have the controller and zoning features I'd need.

 

The PX-5S feels more rugged than the MOX8. I liked the U-channel beams I saw underneath, adding rigidity with minimal weight. I like the compact shape of the PX-5S.

[Mike Martin]

Jeff,

I think some of the downloadable Rhodes presets we have are more what you're looking for. If and when there is another firmware update I'd like to make some changes in that department.

 

Thanks for checking it out!

[Joe Muscara]

I agree with Mike. There are some very cool Rhodes available for the PX-5S, and even if you can't find one that's 100% what you want, chances are you can tweak a close one until it is.

[wmp]

Mine had its maiden voyage yeaterday at my favorite anual muso party. It's something I couldn't have done with 110 pounds of Kurzweil in a flight case. My Element is in the shop and I'm driving a Camry. Plus I had to park a few blocks away. It was an easy one trip roll with seat, pedals, cables, and my trusty old double braced ironing board. Played about five hours with I forget how many bands. Played almost all pianos 0-0 and 7-0. Had a blast. Kicked ass and took lots of names. Met several more fine players for the files, lots of new side man opportunities, and a couple of DJs from WERS (Emerson) and WMFO (Tufts). This party has always been good when schedules, the weather, and the stars line up so I get to play and play with good players. A five hour fix of that was desperately needed after a very lumpy spring with few gigs.

 

The PX-5S was a blast to play. All things considered It probably paid for itself yesterday.

 

[Outkaster]

Wayne I saw Jon Tuckers (Tucktronix) on Saturday. I couldn't believe how light it was.

[Rusty Mike]

I managed to play one as well this weekend. I got a chance to visit the new Sam Ash in NYC (OT: say what you will about missing the 48th street stores - the new place is a much better facility. Lot's of working stuff on display, very clean, much better atmosphere to actually play some instruments).

 

Like Jeff, I was initially not impressed with the textured keys, but did get used to them. The keyboard itself I found to be very playable, expressive, resistive enough but not fatiguing. I didn't have a lot of time, but spent about 20 minutes with it, mostly running through the presets and diddling with the sliders and knobs. I focused mostly on the acoustic pianos and tine electrics, but did look through a couple of the hex layer synths.

 

The acoustics are pretty good out of the box. I found the Dolce piano to be the most usable to me, as it had the nicest sustain and seemed to be the most rounded sound for traditional jazz playing. The others were good as well, although I'm not a fan of bright rock, piano/pad/string layers or over-processed contemporary piano sounds, I understand they have their place. They were all very well done.

 

With regard to the Rhodes patches, I agree that the factory presents don't live up to their potential. I've been playing an Electro 3HP, and I really like the rawness and transparency of the Rhodes samples. To me, they come closest to having a real Rhodes that can be tweaked to my needs. The factory patches in the PX-5S are still a bit artificial and overdone to me, but the SoundCloud samples of Jim's patches tell me there is big untapped potential here.

 

I ran through the amp models on the sliders, and some of them were very nice. A lot of variety here. I'm sure a bit of programming time can results in some real sweet spot patches.

 

The hex layers are deep. I spent only a few minutes in a couple of programs, but really like how alive they sound, and the real time controls open up some vast expressiveness.

 

The biggest drawback to me is the inability to connect a controller pedal, which is essential for playing organ, pads or strings. I guess the workarounds are an inline volume pedal or something involving MIDI controls, both of which introduce their own issues.

 

Given my short time with the instrument, I'd say it's a powerhouse for the money.

[tucktronix]

Wayne I saw Jon Tuckers (Tucktronix) on Saturday. I couldn't believe how lite it was.

 

Yep, light as a featha!!

 

I had put the PX-5S through its paces during last weekend's "gig-a-thon"(5 gigs), had 3 gigs with 3 different bands during a local community fest last Sat. Using an S80 would've added years to my age, LOL! Needless to say, the PX-5S delivered!! Received a ton of compliments over how well it sounded. The brass sounds(which were a source of concern when I first looked into getting one).. the pianos, of course.. the feel of the keys and the expressiveness.. all-in-all, the playing experience was quite refreshing.

 

I will have to say this, I see a lot of comments regarding organ patches. Maybe it's just me, but I personally find playing organ on weighted keys undesirable. Organ sounds are a non-factor for me... I have a CX3/Vent, and it's well worth the extra schlep for me

[Outkaster]

Yes we also had a friend whose Nord C1 shit the bed over the weekend and had to play a stage. He struggled trying to play organ sounds on a weighted board.