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Yeah you're right, I guess that makes me feel better. I just feel like the amount of force I'm exerting on the key is not low enough for it to be silent (i.e. the same amount of force on an acoustic would sound). I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Ok so I ordered the Casio PX 320. Originally I wanted the 330, but of course to my misfortune, not a single online shop had it in. Only one place had it for sale but it would take significant time before it would even come to their storage so.

Not a single shop either had the Casio PX 730 as well, which was my 2nd option so I went for the 320. I think it actually ended up being more expensive as well, having to buy legs seperate. Oh well, been paid and all so nothing I can do :p maybe i should have just went for the 130 as well, maybe it would have been better.

Anyways what is the major differences between the 330 and 320, they don't look all that different to me but somehow I wish I could have grabbed the 330 instead. I guess ill be fine!

In short is there any really significant differences from the 320 and 330 that ill miss out on or is it just some minor annoyances? I've already sort of asked before but, I'm still slightly unsure.

Hi, I'm new here - found this great thread researching DPs to buy for my 10 y/o son (thank you all for participating!!!)

Decided on the Casio PX-330, and got one from Guitar Center...
Out of the box, the keys were held with the blue tape - the 5 leftmost (lowest) keys were lower than the others and would not return. One of those had no sound at all, and another one thunked loudley when it returned. So, I returned it, and got another one. On this one, the 2nd lowest "b" clinks loudly when it returns.

Are we just doubly unlucky? At this point, I am questioning the quality of Casio. I did call customer service - my rep told me they did not know of any problems with the keys. I have some doubt here, as similar key problems were noted in a number of reviews. To tell you the truth, I would have felt better about the whole thing, and Casio, if they acknowledged a problem, and told me they were fixing it.

I would appreciate any thoughts about the reputation of Casio's quality, and opinions as whether I ought to try a third one. (I am sort-of inclined to do this, as I spent weeks making this decision in the first place, and I can be patient to get what I want.)

Thanks so much!!!

I got a PX130 last week. Fresh out of the box, absolutely nothing is wrong.

I got my px 130 on monday. Had the blue tape holding the keys down. Everything worked fine,except for one problem the shipping company put a hole in the box and it chipped one the C# keys. Had to ship it back and get replacement now.

I actually went to a guitar center yesterday to test the px130 and px330 (they don't have the px730 or 830 yet here in the US) the sound was a bit muffled compared to he other pianos there but for it's price, I felt it was a good deal. I was just about to get it when I found out while playing the px330 that it had a clicking problem on the C above middle C. when you press and hold it, it is normal but when you quickly let go of it, it makes this clicking sound as it returns to it's normal position. it is quite annoying. this made me change my decision. as a result, I left there with nothing. so the clicking problem still persists even in these new privias

Got the PX330 last week. Great keyboard but if you are looking for a "true" piano sound, you maybe disappointed. I knew what I was getting and what I needed. The piano sound is ok. There are some fantastic sounds though. I am not crazy about the sustain effect. Love the rhythms.
I tell ya, got my acoustic grand 2 weeks ago and this a week ago. Guess what gets played way way more.....PX330.

I just purchased the PX-130 & i'm very impressed. There is some clacking noise, but nothing like the yamaha YPG-535 that i took back. The action is really good & for the most part i'm happy with the all the sounds that it gives me. And for the price point it just can't be beaten. Sure if I had the $$ i would have bought the Yamaha P155, but that's way out of my budget.

You prefer playing the PX-330 to an acoustic grand?

...really?

So my new PX 130 arrived last week. 659 euros with CS 67 stand and SP-32 pedals from a net store. No problems with quality - delivery by UPS.

As I tested the mechanics against Yamaha P-85 and P-155 (and other brands) in the store, I decided to go with the PX130 because those Yammies were not considerably better or better at all and they were 1,5 and 2 times the price.

Feel & mechanics:
The keys in this px 130 made some clunky sounds in the beginning, but playing it for a while made those sounds go away. The keys do make a plastic kind of sound, but if playing with normal volume they can't really be heard. Not great mechanics, but a lot better than the DPs in the past.

It doesn't feel like playing a real piano, but playing with Pianoteq and adjusting the sound of the "hammer noise" gives a nice realistic feeling like playing a real piano. So it's not all about the "feel" of the keys as you can trick your brain with sounds as well.

Sound:
Not great, but ok to play. Pianoteq or other software really adds value. For that you need decent hardware though so if you really want good sounds as well and you do not have a powerful computer - double the budget and consider again to buy another piano. If you want to compose and record music - make the investment to the hardware and this px 130 will do fine.

Overall grade 6/10:
So I am somewhat satisfied with this purchase for now, but as I have played some Yamaha grands and I used to own a real piano for more than 10 years can't really say that this PX 130 is anywhere close to the feel or sound by itself. Not waste of money, but doesn't bring a "wow" feeling either without spending a lot of time configuring Pianoteq. With Pianoteq grade 8/10.

So, I finally had the chance to try the PX330.

I really didn't like it and prefer my PX310.

I wasn't particularly impressed with the sound. This could possibly change if I tried it with headphones or through better speakers.

The action feels like a major step backwards to me. Quite frankly, I prefer almost all the Yamaha actions to the new Privia action. That is not the case with my PX310 or most of the other Privia models I've tried up to this new generation.

Guess I won't be upgrading any time soon.

Rich

Got my wife the PX 330 off ebay for $575 this week. She loves it and it sounds good on it's own, but when I hooked it up to my Bose system it sounds awesome. I was at the Nashville Guitar Center a few hours ago and they are having a presidents weekend sale and have the PX 130 for $399 and the PX 330 for $550.

BIG kudos to Casio for putting the same triple-sensor action in the complete line-up, rather than reserving the best action for the top models. I haven't yet tried one of these models - I am very curious indeed, especially regarding the action. Assuming the action is good (which appears to be the case), I think it would be good if Casio could also produce some MIDI controllers with the same action.

Greg.

I know where you're coming from, Rich. I used to have the PX-310, and sometimes wish I still had it. The ZPI chip seemed to do a very good job of generating pleasant-sounding tones. The action was pretty good, if slightly noisy, and the whole seemed like a very well designed package at a bargain price. However, it did have latency issues and the main piano sound lacked some dynamics.

When I "upgraded" to the 320, I was quickly disappointed. Even though the 128-polyphony and new piano tones were an improvement, the action gave me wrist-ache and there was something less pleasing about the AIF tone generation that I could never quite put my finger on.

So now I have the 330. It's definitely better than the 320 and is a much more sophisticated instrument than its predecessors, but... There is still something about the AIF chip that robs the sounds of life. It almost seems that, in their eagerness to stay up with the competition, technically, the designers failed to pay as much attention to the more subjective elements. The short decay is irritating and the quality of sound processing is not yet up to Yamaha/Roland. In a band context, the 310 blended very well and garnered praise from very surprised band members. I wouldn't use the 330 in a band. That said, I do think that it's possible to play the grand piano patches with much greater expression than on previous Privias and so, as a practice piano, it does a very good job. I just wish they had not gone backwards in terms of speaker quality, and had put more into the EPs.

I thought the same thing about the sound when I compared the PX-575 to the PX-320/120. To my ears,the sound was better on the PX-575, but I wasn't sure why. I thought it might be the ZPI chip and or the speakers as the case on the older Privias was larger and the sound is good from the internal speakers. When I played the 320, it just didn't have the same sound presence. I noticed the bass wasn't as good and it lacked the punch the older Privias had in midrange. This is understandable as Casio made the package lighter with more connectivity options, thus the tradeoff.
As for the PX-330, the piano voice is better especially the dynamic range. I agree the sustain is somewhat weak in the octaves above middle C, but thought it was acceptable. Thinking back to the Demo Mike Martin did with the PX-130 it sounds very good through the audio interface he used. I also think the action is improved over the older privias, and that strip of felt has helped quiet the key clack quite a bit when the keys return. The PX-575 is the only remaining Privia with the older sound chip, and action. I would think it's days are numbered as this model is over 3 years old and is due for a revamp. The PX-330 has less sounds, but more connectivity options and a better piano sample with more dynamic range. I can't think of anything as versatil for the money.

I bought a px330 on Monday, rehearsed with it Monday night for about 2.5 hours and played a 4 hour gig with it Tuesday night. Both bands liked the sound. These comments are subject to the "discount rule" of mine that says when making a judgment don't do it within about 30 days of using the thing for the first time. Even so, I must say the PX330 is a bargain and is really good for the use I need it for - club gigs. All I need it for is piano, and as a controller for a Nord electro2/61. I may never even experiment with the other features, which are many. I would have bought a px130 if it had 1/4" line outs, and midi. I just need a decent piano. I like the feel of the keyboard and the action suits me fine. I used Modern Piano and LA Piano most of the night. These patches seem to have a bite to them that is good for playing in a small group - cuts through. The action is super for playing the nord rhodes patches. I ran the nord through a speakeasy ama122 amp. I will always use the nord this way henceforth. The ama122 really soups up the electro organ and rhodes. I was playing mono, not stereo. I never have the stage room, nor the bone structure [can't heft too much because of a hip problem] to play stereo, and frankly, I like the sound. The gig was OK, except we had a sub on bass, which sent the train down a siding or two, but no harm. Load in and load out is wonderful with a 25 lb. piano! I read the Keyboard Magazine and harmony central user reviews before buying the board, and I think they are spot-on. I am glad I bought this board, and recommend it. Another benefit is that I have completely lost any yearning for any new keyboards that weigh more than this one, including the new Yamaha stuff, which I am sure are wonderful. All the other boards I have feel like they are made out of uranium compared to the PX330. It sounds good, looks good and is the perfect tool for my jobs!

I've now tried a PX-130, to see whether it's tri-sensor action would elevate me into repetition nirvana. It did not, and my current keyboard (a very old Kawai MP9000) is faster, IMHO. It probably ought to be faster, because it weighs about three times as much. Nevertheless, I liked the overall feel of the Casio quite a lot - it's good to get a nice action in such an extremely light package.

As a sanity check I tried a repetition test on an acoustic upright to compare it with the Casio - the acoustic didn't skip a beat. (I only tried middle C though)

Greg.

I believe, the 3-sensor principle is not for repetition speed.

It is made for repetition depth. That means, you can play repetions where the key is not fully released, fast, but with reduced volume.

It should have the same effect as the repetition mechanic of an acoustic grand piano.
Its a feature made for classical music, not a feature for boogie woogie or jerry lee lewis style ;-)

A normal keyboard -as my Kawai AWA grand pro- will not reliably produce a sound, if you do this.

Unfortunately I had not opportunity to test this myself, but thats what I believe.

Peter

Yes, I understand that, however I thought that would translate into repetition speed - the key does not have to travel up as far, which then results in an increase in repetition speed.
I was aware that the reptitions using the third sensor may be softer, but I simply could not detect anything special at all when doing the two-finger reptition test. If an acoustic upright (i.e not even a grand) could keep up with me I think it is highly unlikely that I was doing unusually rapid repeats.

I also tried a Ketron (never heard of them before!), and it seemed faster than the Casio, HOWEVER, the first two or three reps would often not work, which was rather strange. Once I got it going, though, it was fast.

EDIT: It is difficult for me to play single handed repeats (i.e using the rotating 3-2-1 fingered method) on my Kawai, so I will go back and see whether the Casio is any better at this more typical repeating method. Maybe you're right - the Casio may allow me to play with less finger travel, thus increasing my repetition speed in this more common situation.

Greg.

I believe the test should be done with one finger and releasing the key no more than 50%.

Repetition with more than one finger that is fast and loud repetion. The subject to test here is fast and soft (low-keyed) repetition as it occurs in classial solo piano playing.

BTW, if you go to the webpage of Seiler -that is a german high quality piano manufacturer recently bought by Yamaha- ,they specify the repetition rate for all their pianos. For almost all pianos (upright and grand), they specify a rate of 400 per minute. Because a digital has less mass to move it could be faster - theoretically.

So the speed doesnt need testing -it is the softness combined with speed that needs testing.

With a 2-sensor system, this is not possible. If a repetition is fast it will automatically be loud. So I dont believe, Kawai supports this. They use a lot of wood, but to implement this feature you need brain, not wood ;-)

Not that I know that for sure, but that is what I understand about it.


Anyway, thanks for sharing the experience. I hope that I can test it at weekend.
I would wish the px330 had the Ivory touch feature, but honestly, I dont know yet if this makes a big difference.

best,

Peter