PX150, PX350, PX750, PX850, new proprietary sound source, “AiR” (Acoustic and intelligent Resonator) 3 times the sample memory, 256 note polyphony, Ivory finish keys, ability to record 44.1khz to flash drive.

http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/casio-supercharges-the-privia-with-four-new-models/148998

Well, this is great news! I wonder if they've improved the build-quality of the keybeds as well....and if this new sound generation technology will carry over to the Celviano line, especially the AP-620!

I can't wait to try one....

Cheers,

K.

Hmm.. I might actually buy one of these. My piano teacher swears against Casio because she thinks they are "cheap foreign junk"..but I think they are making strides with the Privia line. I had my sights set on a Roland F-120 but I might give this stuff a shot.

[Casio is] cheap foreign junk

This is a really curious opinion because, unless you count the relatively rare Nord products, or the virtually defunct GEM keyboards, they are ALL Japanese: Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, Korg AND Casio. Is your teacher Japanese, by any chance. If not, this opinion doesn't seem to hold water. And if she is Japanese, why is Casio any different from the others?

In any case, this new range sounds like a very serious proposition - I look forward to trying them!

This is very encouraging news indeed. The sound engine for Casio pianos hasn't really been updated for a number of years, and its deficiencies were well-noted. If this update addresses the principal shortcomings of over-rapid decay and obvious stretching, it will go a long way towards making the Privia line truly competitive with the other contenders. The upgraded keyboard is welcome, too, particularly if it moves the feel more towards the recent offerings from Kawai and Roland.

Realistically, while the memory increase is welcome, I wonder whether it's sufficient to address both stretching and decay (not to mention looping). I seem to recall that Casios are generally stretched over groups of three or four notes, and so it's debatable whether a 3x memory allocation is going to do more than deal with a single issue - either stretching, or decay, or loop lengths. Of course, they may be employing some very sophisticated technology to eke out the available resources across the board, but I note that there is no mention of 88-key sampling. Still, the proof of the pudding...

The other interesting question is whether there will be a load of discounted PX130/5s available.
(Did a PX335 ever meet the light of day?)

Like the rest of you I think this is great news. Purely in terms of spec the new pianos will rival the (very much) more expensive stuff.

I wonder what the price will be however - some increase is to be expected and I would have thought quite justified given the improvement to the spec...

Graded hammer action
Simulated ivory
Decent (at least much improved) sample memory
New sound engine
Great polyphony

It all puts some of the £2000 stage pianos to shame.

Good luck to Casio.

Steve

The PX-150 can be purchased for an MSRP of $899.99, the PX-350 for an MSRP of $1,099.99 , the PX-750 for an MSRP of $1,099.99 and the black PX-850 for an MSRP of $1,499.99. For additional information regarding Casio’s Privia line of digital pianos, please visitwww.casiomusicgear.com

$1,499.99 eh? I want to see more information on these things. Casio's website only has the low end of the new pianos up right now.

Roland, Yamaha, Kawai, Korg AND Casio

Except funny enough I did not realise Roland and Korg were Japanese either until I really looked into it.

Simulated ivory

Why is this a good thing? I've always found pianos and keyboards to have slippery keys. TBH I'd prefer grippy keys. It may well be my inexperience but unless I hit them absolutely square on, I slip (this may well be related to the hand care thread I made as my hands are exceptionally smooth from constant washing).

Because it is less slippery than normal plastic.

justpin, regarding the slippery keys. Yes, you are right that standard keys found on the majority of acoustic pianos - including most grands produced in the last 60 years, I'd guess, can be quite slippery. But that is precisely because they are not made of ivory, but a kind of resin or plastic. Real ivory keys, which thankfully are no longer a legal or commercial option, had a better grip. Over the last couple of decades, piano manufacturers have increasingly been putting fake ivory plastic keys on their pianos to make them easier and more pleasant to play. For some reason, it seems that the proportion of digitals with ivory keys is far greater than that found on acoustic pianos, even new ones.

Regarding Roland and Korg - yeah, back in the 1970s, I had a vague idea that Korg was English - based in Cambridge, and that Roland was American. But no, they're as Japanese as Kawasaki. It's funny, but there doesn't seem to have been even one British synthesiser/ electronic keyboard manufacturer of note. Unless you count the great and glorious Mellotron, built in Birmingham out of parts for BSA motorbikes (or very similar).



Isn't that a darling? Was used for Court of the Crimson King, apparently. (And I'm thinking it would go nice in Melodial Works's 'messy old' studio

As for the mighty American companies: Moog, Oberheim, ARP, Rhodes, Hammond, Rogers - and more recently Sequential Circuits and Ensoniq......I don't think any of them are still going any more. Not as wholly US design and manufacturing companies, anyway. There is Alesis of course. They do some great, innovative things, but I don't think anyone would say their keyboards are up to much in terms of piano-like touch.

So thank God for the Japanese, would be my conclusion.

EMS

Oh yes. Wasn't that the synth in a suitcase? The Man From UNCLE solution?

Yep:



Between the two of them, dunno which looks better. But, as a Brit, my heart bursts with pride. Thinking outside the box - or at least different shaped boxes - that's what it's all about.

Hey, and here's the big brother:



....of course they didn't consider putting a keyboard on it - just shelves and drawers to keep things tidy. Far too snooty for anything as useful as a keyboard. (More British pride ).

Yes, Casio (along with virtually every other DP manufacturer) could really, really use something along the lines of a ~30x memory upgrade. But if they reduce the stretching, fix their decay profile, and throw in some decent sympathetic resonance, watch out!

Two (count 'em, two!) brownie points to the person who provides the first DPBSD MP3 stool sample!

No videos of the new pianos on you tube yet. Sounds like the same piano sample is being used with a new sound processor. Any opinions on Casio fixing the problems with their keybeds? What about the price hikes. All the new models will cost nearly 50 percent more than the current models. Are there enough improvements?

The Celvianos will probably get the same improvements as the Privias. Casio to date uses the same technology and action in both lines. It will be interesting to see where the pricing goes on the Celvianos. It looks to have doubled on the Privias.

It seems quite ridiculous that in 2012 musicians are still hoping that a new model of piano will have a decent sample memory. I'm still in the market for a DP but I am having trouble parting with my money when they generally still sound nothing like an acoustic piano.

Seriously, stop drip feeding the improvements in technology!

Tragically that is an early English Sandwich Toaster, from about Queen Anne, I'd say.

I completely agree with you.

However, Roland SN is fairly realistic sounding, with none of the compression artifacts you hear in Yamaha, Casio, Kawai, etc. Pretty good sympathetic resonance too.

+1 on that. its amazing that my iPhone has 13.6 GB of memory and we all go "oooohhh" over Nords onboard 500 MB. i know not all memory is the same. But this industry is dragging its feet on this issue. the Kronos seems to be breaking to the lead on this, if they can get the complete package together.

Correct, apples and oranges, except Nord oranges are red.

The iphone 4 has the most memory of any iPhone... 512 mb of volatile RAM. Nord has 500 mB (or whatever) of more expensive non-volatile RAM (using a kind of flash). Separately, the iPhone has 16 gb+ of offline storage (another kind of flash). The fact that iOS devices have so little real RAM is why apps run out of memory, even though there is plenty of free storage space.

Kronos leads on the idea of using SSD streaming for pianos, probably because Korg has been building on the Linux foundation since the 2005 OASYS.

It's all about their profits, which is completely understandable in many ways, and also why it will never change! Unless we start an Open Source Digital Piano Project. I'm going to go get a start on whittling my keys ;-)

This just appeared on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmFACTiuh7s

Cheers!

K.

great post.

go Kronos.

Thanks!

And is it me, or do the upper mid notes (that his right hand spends so much time on) sound kind of bangy, like the velocity curve is set too soft?

Sounds like a bright jangly attacky digital piano! Could be the patch/settings/recording though.