Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Did NAMM 2013 introduce something you gotta have?

I think I'm with anotherscott on this one. If the PX-5s has APs and EPs that are really musical, and a decent action, it would mean I don't have to spend $3k on a Nord, and would (once again) have a very lightweight gigging board that is physically compact. The VR-09 is interesting as a lightweight second-tier board that should have better organs than the XW-P1 (meaning I don't have to use a PC with VB3), but I haven't really heard a demo that shows off the basic sounds rather than all the frills.

The VPC looks great, but I still don't like using piano VSTs in outboard gear, with all the tinkering that has to be done.

Studiologic announced something (sort of) that could be interesting - the Numa Concert, with wooden keys and 1GB nine-layer piano samples that weighs 45lbs.

Wish I could justify a Vintage Vibe product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9k-NBb_a5k but skip past the first 90 seconds. Organs are at about 9 minutes. Yes, that should beat the XW. More sounds at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuV3CcioIIU I suspect that its rompler sounds will generally beat the XW, though maybe not the PX-5S.

I forgot the King Korg, which seems interesting but as always no aftertouch ; why the ...not ?!

Prophet is nice too ;-)

Scott,

Do you have an iPad?

Or will you draw upon the internal sound of the PX5S for the XKey?

Will this pretty much be your road gear aside from some sort of amplification?

I do have an iPad. I'm not sure what I'll do with the Xkey yet, I don't know whether I'll gig with it. But it just looks too cool not to have. ;-)

As for my gig rig, I have a bunch of stuff and switch things around, always looking for the closest-to-perfect setup (which also sometimes varies with the nature of the particular gig). I expect that the PX5S will be my go-to weighted 88. I'm not sure what my top board will usually be (and that may also vary with whether or not I bring a rack on some gigs). Every board is a compromise.

Not really.

Companies are still mostly stuck in the 90's if technology is concerned.

No leap forward in computer or tablet integration, we're still stuck with MIDI and < 128Mb sample sets with < 10 velocity layer and looping.

Still a lot of weird market segmentation going on where most devices seem like they somehow miss the mark on at least one essential feature. Also often quantity over quality.

If the pX-5S (a pretty decent instrument) is the biggest sensation of the NAMM then the whole sector is in a pretty sorry state indeed.

Yeah, this means that companies like Casio (for example) only care about raking in f*****g greenbacks into their big deep pockets, as it's all about sales. Looks like profit surpasses quality every time.

Definitely gotta have the PX-5s. It's really a rather unique combination of features - especially for this price range.

Casio didn't play it safe, and just do something like a cheap knock-off of a Nord or simply update the PX-3. I think they went out on a limb on this one, and from the sound of the demos ended up knocking the ball out of the park.

NAMM 2013 introduced nothing I just gotta have.
Besides... They already came out with the Justin Bieber singing toothbrush.

Toothbrush

When did Casio become a charity? I missed the announcement...

+1

Amen!

Hey I never faulted Casio for their business sense.

The PX-5S is a leap forward, it may not be technologically groundbreaking but it's definitely priced competitively.

This puts a lot of functionality into the hands of people who'd previously have to buy boards twice or three times the price.

It's just that if the PX-5S is such an unusual product with regards to price and features compared to the competition that it generates this much buzz and if its pretty much the only new board that somewhat shakes things up a little bit then it's a little sad.

This might sound like I want to belittle Casio for their success but you have to agree that its a pretty low hanging fruit when all your competition does is to rehash ancient technology.

It's not even that the competition wouldn't be able to do it (some may be not but in the majority they are quite capable) it's just that they are afraid that a great board would cannibalize their own high end sales.

This leads to all kinds of weird attempts of market segmentation that somehow cause most of their offerings to fall short in at least one critical area.

Want the best gigging board? Good look getting the best action or best samples.

Want the best action and one great set of samples? There's a $8000 cabinet style digital piano for that but good luck doing any DAW work with it, also it weighs a ton.

So probably the two most interesting devices are:

The PX-5S which single-handedly set a baseline price and standard for gigging keyboards that competitors either have to match on price and features or have to add features if they want to go 'over'. Which is great because that means that the competition won't be able to charge you twice or thrice that for less features.

ThHis will be a problem for Yamaha, Nord, Kawai etc. if it really is as great as it sounds. The PX-3 already showed that it can sell like hotcakes I'd expect the PX5-S to do even better.

The Kawai VPC which acknowledges the fact that manufacturers won't be able or willing to match the quality of commercial sample sets or DAWs in their boards and basically offers you one of the best piano actions on the market for a reasonable price but without built-in sounds you probably won't use anyway.

So for best in class stage and gigging features I now have the PX5-S at $1299. You'd have to get a Yamaha C90 or CP5 at nearly twice that to find a competing product that at least matches the featiure set of the PX5.

For 'best in class' piano experience I could now buy the VPC plus a small netbook and still only match the price of an MP10 and be well below any product that matches the VPC on the quality of the action.

That's great and all but it shows just how content and 'lazy' most other companies have become if all it took is taking mature technology and 'just' price it competitively (I'm using hyperbole not taking anything away from the work they put into it)

Anyone know what the px5s is gonna run for? and when will it be in stores?

+1! Ain't nothing like the real thing. Then the Kawai VPC1.

Did NAMM 2013 introduce something you gotta have?

Not in the least bit..

As I walked to the car, I felt pretty much reassured there's nothing better for me in the current electronic keyboard area then what I already have, based on what I saw and played



Yeah, I've been salivating over those Faziolis for years...

$1k

April

For home use, what would you recommend for audio. Would 5" monitors be good, or would you say a keyboard amp or something with a lot of bass?

Nigeth,

I see many of your points regarding the other manufactures not stepping up their game. Since I was just in the market for a stage piano I also feel your frustration, you either get good keys and crappy sounds or vise versa. It is bad business for sure. However from what I have listened to thus far from that Casio, the sounds are well, still Casio. They just don't seem organic to me. Of course I probably don't have the best ear, but they still need work IMO. With that said, it has a lot of features and will fill a niche probably geared more toward a beginner player. This is just my impression of it so far...

I would recommend a set of studio monitors. If size or cost is a concern many of the companies that sell 5" studio monitors also sell sub-woofers which you could add a later date. Otherwise I'd say save and get a set of 8" studio monitors.