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Asked this in another post, but thought to ask it here as well. What 3rd party pedals work with the new Privia's? I was thinking of getting the M-Audio sp2 as it has half-pedaling and polarity switch. But are there any others that are good? Any 2 or 3 pedal units out there that work with Privia? Thanks!

Just a little heads up about the Australian warranty (5 years). I decided to actually read the little warranty slip that came with my PX-330. To my shock, it said 12 months!! Fortunately, though, everyone has assured me that the piano does in fact have a 5 year warranty, however the accessories only have a 12 month warranty.
I have obtained a "Casio EMI Australian Consumer Warranty" document from the distributor. The retailer has also agreed to write on the receipt that I have a 5 year warranty, and I will be taking that precaution as well.

I have urged the distributor to address this shortcoming in their documentation. It was a nasty shock which I would rather not have had.

EDIT: I have now spoken directly to Casio, and they said that the aforementioned document should have been packed with the piano. The warranty slip that I did receive is the standard slip from Japan.

Greg.

If I remember correctly, Yamaha pedals have opposite polarity to Casio's, so don't buy one of those. Roland make a couple of nice pedals, particularly the DP10. I don't think you can use third party multi-pedal units with the PX-130.

Greg, thanks for following that up and letting us know.

My PX-330 has a weak headphone output. It cannot drive either my HD-570 or AKG601 sets with sufficient level. It can drive my multimedia headphones loud enough though.

I do not have this problem with my Kawai MP9000.

No, I am not surprised about this.

Greg.

Greg, I'm in the process of chasing down a mixer right now so I can take the audio from both the Casio and and the computer and feed both to my headphones. It's basically so I can more easily play along with DVDs and CDs (at the moment I need to play with one ear off) however it would also solve your problem if you used either an external mixer or even a simple headphone amp and fed it from the 6.5 mm audio outputs.

Pete

Thanks Pete, yes, I have an external headphone amp and it is fine. (I just use the headphone output of my integrated hi-fi amp, which has PLENTY of drive)

Greg.

Btw I am not pooh-poohing my Casio - I really LOVE it for what it is. I am just making observations.

Greg.

My headphone outputs must have the extra oompf that yours are missing, I'm sure you could strap someone in, turn the volume up and use it as a torture device.

My _understanding_ is that half pedalling will only work using Casio's 3 pedal array, I don't believe you will get it if you simply plug a 3rd party pedal into the standard pedal input.

It depends on the headphones. My multimedia headset can go quite loud. (but still not as loud as yours seems to) What headphones are you using, exactly? Mind you, I appreciate that you might have better hearing than me.
Do you also have the PX-330, or do you have another model?

RE: the pedal - that was my understanding too.

Greg.

I've got some Stagg ones that are ridiculously loud, I think its these ones:
http://rockingrooster.co.uk/productStaggSHP1200HHeadphones-8.99.html
although I can't work out how you wear them as they don't seem to be adjustable.
I've tried round the neck and that doesn't work either.

Then I've got some over ear Sony headphones that must be about 20-25 years old, (can't tell you the model number from here) and they seem very good to me.

Thanks. Those Staggs are only 32 ohms, so they will be easier to drive than either of my good quality sets (64 ohms for the HD570, 120 ohms for the AKG 601s). It appears that my multimedia headset is also 32 ohms, probably. (they're an old set of Verbatims, and the closest model I can see on their website is 32 ohms)

Greg.

Btw, I remember that when I got the HD-570s, they produced less volume for a given volume setting on my amp than my previous set, which were the HD-465. I see that the HD-465 also had an impedance of 32 ohms. ;^) (I hated those HD-465s though! They're in the bin now)

Greg.

Actually, assuming you're driving the headphones with a pretty conventional solid-state amplifier (as all DPs do), then the impedance is largely immaterial. How loud the headphones will sound is basically a function of their sensitivity, in this case the sound pressure level per milliwatt of input power. The sensitivity level can vary markedly between different headphone models and types, the HD-570, at 97dB is quite an inefficient model when compared to the the HD-465 at 110dB

Ok. I just thought that there was SOME correlation between impedance and sound level, because the high impedance headphones require a higher voltage to drive them. Not all headphone amps have sufficient voltage swing to drive them. Is this not correct?

Just as an example, the K601s have a sensitivity of 101dB, which is a bit better than the HD570s (97dB). However, the HD570s sound louder to me than the K601s. I suggest that this could be due to the fact that the Casio simply doesn't have sufficient voltage swing to drive the higher impedance K601s.

I've decided that the sound level using the HD570 is JUST enough to be comfortable. I'd prefer it to go a bit louder though. The level with the K601s is not enough for me. (this is probably partly due to the fact that the K601s do not emphasise the bass like the HD570s do)

Greg.

Extract from http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/17179/please-explain-headphone-sensitivity :

"The sensitivity rating is usually for 1 milliwatt POWER input to the phones and a corresponding sound pressure level (SPL) output (USUALLY 102 to 106 dB SPL output for moderate to high sensitivity rated phones).

However, connecting different sets of phones with the same 1 milliwatt to SPL output sensitivity rating to the same headphones amplifier output may, or may not give corresponding equal or loud enough SPL operation!

The impedance (the ohms rating of the phones voice coil) determines how much audio 'voltage' needs be applied to get that '1 milliwatt' or more power into the phone's motor circuit.

For example: A low 16 to 45 ohm headphone (low ohms impedance that's typical for Sony headphones) will easily get to operate for many milliwatts for providing close to live loudness on battery powered portable equipment that typically output only .5-1.5 volts RMS volts output.

A 65 to 600 ohms phones set impedance (higher ohms typical of Sennheiser, Beyer, & AKG headphones). will require a higher headphones amplifier output voltage signal to get the same milliwatts into the phones voice coil for providing equal loudness.

Most of these higher impedance phones require connection to a headphone amp circuit that has ability to drive at least 2-6 Volts RMS to get reasonable loudness for phones listening. Not the type of headphone to use on most portable powered deck's with low voltage phones outputs. These high ohms phones really need a an AC powered amplifier's headphone jack or even direct connection to 10 watt or more power amp's speaker outputs for realistic (loud) listening. There are headphone amps available for this purpose and some are battery powered with at least (1 or 2) 9 volt batteries, the minimum supply needed for higher impedance phones to work at reasonable loudness.

Bottom line: Phones sensitivity is only a measure of the ability to play loud enough only if comparing phones with about the same ohms impedance that are being driven by the same headphone amplifier.

Best before buying is to try out the phones on the exact equipment you to use while playing typical sounds of interest."

Yes there is a correlation, but not really in this context. Firstly, the 3 headphones you quoted are not especially high impedance. Of course "high" is a relative term, but to me (and I'd suggest many others from this field) that means 300 or possibly even 600 ohms impedance. 120 isn't especially high, and if you're having trouble driving them with the Casio then I'm in a world of doo-doo, because I have a new pair of HD-650s that I will no doubt also want to use on this and they're 300 ohms!!!!

The other thing is that the sensitivity is given at a specific power level. What that means is that for a lower impedance headphone, less voltage is required to achieve the same amount of power. This will be seen as a different setting on the volume control, and that may cause some to draw a false conclusion.

I have yet to pull the PX apart to see how they drive this stage, but normally most mains powered amps are capable of enough peak-to-peak voltage to drive high impedance headphones to quite high sound pressure levels. However I'll certainly post if it has trouble driving a high impedance load.

Pete

Edit: Greg, we posted at the same time but I'm not quite sure what the point was you were trying to make by that cut and paste. Google is a terrific tool, but the search results need to be considered in context. That article was really comparing a very different situation to here. Firstly, they were addressing purchasers of headphones who may possibly be considering using them on devices such as iPods etc, that simply cannot generate the p-p voltages required to drive high impedance headphones to high SPL. Secondly, at the end of the day, this is an acoustic piano we're trying to replicate, not the front row of a Black Sabbath concert. Just how loud do you want a piano to sound?

Of course a lower impedance will require less voltage - Power = V^2/R! ;^)

Btw, the PX-330 is not mains powered, really - it runs off 12V DC.
(yes, the plugpack is of course "mains powered")

I will be curious to see how you go with your HD650s. I will be VERY surprised if they are loud enough for you.

Greg.

Btw, I am glad it is 12V DC, because that may allow it to be battery operated. I've measured the power - despite being rated at 18W, it typically only draws a few watts, and that's the AC input power to the plugpack, too, with speakers going.

Greg.

Pete,
re: your EDIT:, I posted the cut & paste because I felt that it was strongly supporting the point I was trying to make: the impedance of the headphones matters as well as the efficiency/sensitivity. ;^)

Just tried a set of very cheap ear buds: VERY VERY loud, but no bass or treble - terrible fidelity.

Greg.