Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Casio New PX 130, PX 330, PX 730 Reviews

I like the way you think!

Limavlady, I agree about the different trade-offs, I bought the YPG specifically for the educational stuff, it has more songs even than the Casio, I think although not all are preloaded, they are on a disc and I transferred them. With that tho' I had to print out the songbook.

So the thing with the Casio, and I'm betting the P130 is the same as my old CTK, SOME of the pieces are actual transcriptions of scores, and some are simplified versions.

Does the P130 have a good size display for the score? The CTK doesn't have the notes but does have the keyboard and the hand icon, so it works...I really haven't used the feature that much, even tho' I'm working on a Bach Invention that's in there, and I don't use that feature much on the YPG either.

Nikalette, Don't think the 130 has an lcd display at all. the one on the 330 seems to basically show both the voice and the rhythm being used and lets you then toggle between the two when choosing options. On the 130 there are no rhythms and very few voices so they probably figured just keep it simple and let you go by the red light indicators on the panel. So that's what the 'score book' is about with the 130.

You're making me feel better by saying you didn't use the song feature that much. The 50 songs that came with the yamaha DGX-300 i've had i haven't used all that much either although the 20 or so classical pieces are pretty nice and also with an included music book; I just have preferred getting actual sheet music for even some of the pieces included on it.

the PX 130 does NOT have an LCD display. Scorebook is nice and fat though (not that I can play any of it at the moment, good for reading study? XD)

lima, if you're really planning to return that, take note you might have to pay return shipping. Something around 26 lbs with those dimensions will not be cheap. I don't think so, anyhow.

But from another point of view, its $500+, and that being your $500+ money, you won't be abusing a return policy. Trust me, you're not going to even hurt MF a teeny bit. So do what you need to for you to be satisfied. They give you over a month to try out, so I'm sure you'll know by then. Hope you enjoy it like I do mine!

Limavady-Just curious what you don't like about the sounds your 330 has. Can you elaborate? Does the 330 offer the ability to edit the sound patches and to save them in registration memory. I believe the PX-320 had this. I guess you haven't messed with the 16 channel sequencer yet, but the thought of being able to score your own songs seems intriguing. Does the LCD display show any of the notes you play or is it just rhythm and tone information?

well i almost feel a little guilty for whining so much about the 330 especially after having had it such a short time because i'm really starting to dig it alot; might be partly i'm getting a feel for the weighted keys which i had not played before and now almost similar to getting a better guitar my ability at being able to play seems to be increased just because of the better quality and realistic (weighted) keys.

galaxy4t....I haven't tried all that many but wasn't too crazy about the harpsichord and that group of sounds for instance. i then did try some of the electric piano sounds and they were actually pretty nice though. The 330 does have an extensive registration memory cabability to save your sound patches. No, haven't played with the recorder yet and although i will of course i started to wonder how many tracks i could dub without making a muddled mess; i mean how many piano overdubs can anyone do without it sounding weird? On the other hand with all the different sounds this should be alot of fun to experiment with. The display does not show a music staff/ what notes you're playing; it usually shows what tone you're on and then below that the rhythm it's set to; and so far i've noticed it will go to another screen when you want to transpose showing of course the + or - you've chosen and also it's used for showing the metronome setting if you want to change time signatures on that; triggered initially by holding down the metronome button like on other keyboards. There may be more info screens it's used for but those i've seen so far.

Btw, manual for PX-330 is now available on the Casio website and it has all the functionality and displays if you want to check them in advance.

I've been trying to find the owners manual for the 330 and haven't been able to.

I just read the PX 330 owner's manual online and it has an option for practice hands separate. Also you can download songs to practice to.

At the very back of the manual there is a list of preset songs.
Is it possible there are some built in demo songs you can practice with?

Manuals can be downloaded from this address:

http://support.casio.com/manuallist.php?rgn=5&cid=008

Nilalette:
My PX-575 has three demo songs loaded that can be played along with, although, there doesn't seem to be a way to lower the volume when the demo songs play as I can with accompaniment which has a setting for volume. You can however, play along, it's just the demo song is louder than whatever voice you are trying to play along with.

Thanks for the link to the manual.

Mike Martin, the marketing director for Casio, posts on the musicplayer.com web site.

New video from Musik-Schmidt for the PX 330

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjpX9Etxwtc

Short translation: Piano Sounds=super, Keyboard=super, case, notesholder & pedal= poor quality, same for sounds except piano, e-piano and bass

If you know other reviews from Olaf, you can see he enjoys playing the PX-330. He said overall "Great sounds, polyphony & keyboard, and thats the most important thing if you are looking for a DP, if you are looking for other sounds than piano sounds you should probably look for a keyboard"

Hi guys, Mike Martin from Casio posted an answer on the "other" new PX thread that's been up for a few months, so that might be a place to post questions on features.

How do you like the stand that came with it? I'm debating getting an X stand or the one that goes with it. And how do you like the carrying case?

When you get Garage Band would you post your reaction? I have a PC but I want to know just in case.

Oops, I wanted to edit my entry but it seems I pressed the wrong thread so this is now posted on 2 threads. My apologies! I got confused because the titles of the 2 threads about the new Casios are so similar!

I just came back from the mall and the Casio showroom. I'm friends with the Casio salesguy and he let me try out the new models and even gave me the only(!) brochure in the store. I was surprised they already have the new PX-730 on display and that's what I tried out. (I was expecting new models to come slowly in my country). The changes aren't drastic enough to warrant an upgrade for someone who owns the previous generation's DP, but the improvements are nice. Some highlights:

- I thought the keys felt more responsive and less sluggish. The first few weeks that I owned my PX-720, I thought the keys were somewhat sluggish, but I don't notice that anymore nowadays (I guess I adapted?).

- The heavy key weight was still there, but somehow they felt easier to press in the PX-730. I think the key return is also a tad faster.

- It has a USB port which is a feature I wish my PX-720 had.

- The first thing I noticed was that the keys vibrate. They don't in the PX-720 because the speakers are detached below the keyboard and the feeling was weird at the start. Actually I'm not sure where the speakers for the PX-730 are located.

- I thought the tone was good but nothing to rave about. I can't compare it with the older one because it was noisy at the mall. The electronic piano setting is horrible IMO.

- According to the brochure, the PX-830, Celviano AP-220, AP-420, and AP-620 are coming soon. (But they weren't in the store yet).

- The PX-830 has an interesting cover which opens up and doubles as a music rack (at least that's what it looks like from the pictures). I'd get the PX-830 just for that - the music rack runs the whole length of the piano so you can place a lot of sheet music there! I'm not a fan of the PX-720/730 music rack which looks really cool but is too short and flimsy. The PX-830's music rack seems thicker and sturdier.

- One thing I found interesting was that the Celviano AP series now come with a piano bench! Piano benches are also listed as accessories in the "Privia Optional Accessories" page. I'm definitely going to get one


I'm planning to get another DP for weekend and holiday practice at home and was thinking of getting a Clavinova but now I'm considering the new Casios as well. The price points and features just can't be beat! I just think I'd feel a bit weird if I had both the PX-720 and PX-730 Maybe I should spring for the PX-830 or a Celviano instead.

Just got my PX330. First of all, it has two defective keys in the top octave and a half. They are halfway pressed down. How did this get out of the warehouse?

Anyway, I called Music 123 right away, but told them I wanted to try it briefly to decide if I'm going to replace it or just return it for a refund.

So, I just played it and did a side by side comparison with the YPG 635, which only has stereo sampling versus the 4 layer sampling of the PX. Through the built in speakers, the YPG is much better to my ears. It's a warmer richer sound, but doesn't have the volume of the PX. Through headphones, the PX sounds much better than on speakers, but I still slightly prefer the YPG.

Both have 2 good piano sounds. The touch on the YPG is much lighter, and it feels more graded to me, the difference in the bass weight being more noticeable. I like the high and low notes much better, while I thought the PX did a little better mid range.

As far as the rest of the sounds, the YPG is way, way better in terms of quantity and quality. It has many more voices. The PX has an organ voice and then an option for picking 3 "shades". The YPG has many organ voices, same with electric piano and all the rest.


So I'm sending back the PX. The portability is fantastic, I can easily carry the PX, the UPS guy had it tucked under one arm. It's got the outputs for audio. The set up is more convenient, with the 2 headphone jacks on the side instead of the back, and the music stand is way closer, so I could read music more easily than on the YPG.

Which is more realistic compared to an acoustic? I can't say for sure, but I think the decay is slightly more like an acoustic on the YPG and on speakers it sounds more "real." Ultimately, that's not that important to me right now.

I haven't messed with the recording capabilities. I paid $539 for the PX and $739 for the YPG, including stand and a free bench.

So for me, there aren't enough advantages to keeping the PX, since I'm not ready to be playing gigs yet. I might have kept it longer to play with it, but given the 2 broken keys, it'll go straight back.

At least I feel really good about my YPG purchase now, the only drawbacks being the heaviness at 39 lbs v. 25 lbs and the lack of "real" audio outputs.

I had seen a short video demonstration (a NAMM show in the Yamaha section) of the YPG-635 when it first came out and the tech demonstrating it stated that more than half of the YPG's total wave rom was dedicated to its Grand Piano sound so I can understand that it would be a very decent sounding sample. I think it might have sounded as good or better than my Roland FP-4 piano sound -- which costs almost twice as much as the YPG. You probably can't go wrong with keeping it unless you want to pay 5 times as much for a lot of furniture (CLP, HP, etc.) without a great improvement in sound.

Well, I'm not interested in furniture, it was really the portability and the audio outputs I wanted, and a music stand closer to my poor eyes, which are really decorative rather than functional.

I do think the PX is a really good option, but I'm spoiled by the huge selection of voices on the YPG, I don't know how they turned out so well, You haven't played scales until you play them with choral voices, it just cracks me up.

Bummer Nikalette,
Was the box damaged at all in the area where the keys are? Maybe it happened in shipment?