Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards My PX-350 thoughts so far.

Full Disclosure:

I'm not a professional.
I'm not an intermediate.

I'm basic, by basic I mean, Leila Fletcher Book 2, think Lazy Pony. If you don't know what Lazy Pony is, you're missing out on its complete uberness.

The good:

I like the key action, I feel it will do us well.

My wife heard the girls and I playing on it, so she wanted to start to see if she liked trying. This is not something she has ever done before in the last 6 months.

I handed her our youngest's Bastien Primer. She had to stop after awhile because her fingers were sore from pushing the keys down for so long.

I consider that a sign of a keyboard that good for resistance.

The kids love:

- The tones
- The pitch wheel
- The USB recordings.
- The Sustain pedal. Keep in mind, we never had one before, so "oooh, the note goes on forever!".

We all love the feel of the ivory surface finish. My oldest commented on it without me mentioning the differences. So, yes, it's noticeable and in our home, it's liked.

Update: Okay, I'm in love with the song recorder on the board itself. The ability to record what you play and then replay it back is just, pure awesome fun.

I'm sure it's a common function, however, since this is my first real keyboard, it's new to me.

The not so good:

I come from a lineage, where my Father would pause VHS players to see how clear the images were. I'm trying to hold that part back. You should know this upfront.

- We all knew the speakers were weak on this. However, I thought coming from a CTK-2080 that the PX-350 speakers would blow the CTK away. I'm still not sure if they actually do. While the CTK has only 2w and the PX has 8w, the PX isn't making me sit there and go "Wow!". The further you are away from the unit, the better the speakers sound.

My wife on the other hand says the sound is fine and she likes it. So, I'm not sure if this is my purist side coming out or not.

- I'm coming from a Casio AHL device. I'm not sure if AiR is an improvement or not. My basis for this, and please correct me, is comparison of the Grand Piano sounds. Grand Piano Classic (the default PX preset) sounds muffled or subdued while playing my crowning achievement song. On the other-hand, the Grand Piano Bright sounds far more reasonable. The CTK's default present is clearer to me. I'm not saying better, I'm saying clearer.

The ugly:

I've got to return mine. When I got it home, the first thing I noticed is that the taped box-lid could be seen through. I could see the top of the keys (in it's protective foam).

The sustain cable was loose.

And far worse, there is a rattle when pressing the lowest A/A# keys. I'm not talking the much discussed thump, I can live with that, but an audible rattle like something mechanical is loose.

My end thoughts:

I'm a newbie. I will not discuss how awesome this keyboard is for playing Chopin or Bach, but what I have discussed are my thoughts so far.

I like this keyboard, I want this keyboard, I just let my expectations get hyped by the demo songs you see out there by the professionals.

The bad key means it needs to get returned and swapped with a new one. Which makes me somewhat depressed.

ShiverMeTimbres
That sucks about the bad quality control on your unit. Hopefully the replacement will come quickly and set things right. Hope that you and your family get many years of enjoyment from your new piano. Also, nice review!

Warm Regards

I've heard enough about QC problems with the Casios that I am not interested in purchasing a DP from them. Good luck straightening yours out.

I had no QC issues with my PX-350. That sort of thing can happen and does happen with all manufacturers.

The 350 is a good board, especially at its price point.

Thanks fizikisto.

In terms of Quality Control issues, we cannot be sure where this particular unit had a problem. Could have been right from the manufacturer, or it could have been somewhere in between.

Something that struck me as "hmmms", when I opened it up and after watching this unboxing video before it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gbgPu6CJE4

There was no film on the panel. So, I'm wondering if might of been a prior return.

"There was no film on the panel. So, I'm wondering if might of been a prior return."

Others here will be able to confirm this. But it`s looking very much like the packaging has been opened. Collect evidence for this, like torn or over strained cardboard etc, then take it back.

I think placement of the instrument is a factor here. The space and material on an adjacent wall and maybe even the floor can help or hinder sound quality. When I added a 2nd tier and keyboard with the PX-350 on the bottom the boxed in acoustics were murder on the sound but I usually don't use the built in speakers anyway.

Don't dwell on the need to exchange the keyboard. If possible look at it carefully while you are at the store. Just do it and get on with enjoying the piano.

Some stores open and inspect everything. They might not catch something in the process of inspecting it. Hopefully there is a window to easily exchange things at this one.

Yeah, I'm sure the replacement will be fine. If they can't replace, then unfortunately, I will just need to return it outright.

I returned 2 of them. I really wanted to be happy with them but was not. Poor quality. Key action and piano sound was nice. Not loud enough. Uneven height and space between keys. What a joke. My thought is it was a rushed project and they were forced to cut corners where they could get away with it.
Its fine to right anything into specs but amplifying $4 speakers 8 watts is not going to do much.
I would encourage you not to be overly optimistic if you decide to get another one.

Shiver - YMMV, of course. So for the other side of the story, I can report that the PX-150 I bought recently was perfect out-of-the-box. In fact, the key action was better than expected when compared to the demo at GC (which is perhaps pounded upon unmercifully day in and day out).

I'm well aware of the performance compromises in my Casio. But QC issues? None.

I'm not deterred from them yet. After spending a full night and day with it, I'm happy with the model. The rattling key needs to be addressed and I will do that.

I've sat with both my kids while we practiced their lessons and am satisfied that this model will do the job.

Now, if I have the same problems Possum has, well, maybe I'd start looking for alternatives.

From a recent post on casiomusicforums.com :



. Charles

It's not. It's a sign that your wife's keyboard technique is so bad that it's injuring her! There's tension, and there's TENSION, and she has the second one.

If she wants to play, I suggest that she take lessons _soon_, before bad habits develop. Most teachers will catch, and correct, whatever she's doing wrong.

. Charles

PS -- if you were joking, I apologize for this post. But I wasn't sure.

I just tried the "Grand Piano Bright", and my first reaction:

. . . . OUCH!

Over many years, acoustic pianos can develop really hard hammers, and a very bright, harsh tone. That's what I hear in that sound. And some people would use it, in rock/pop music, to cut through a band.

I also tried to play softly -- no dice! I'm pretty sure that the 'Rock Piano' has a different relationship between key velocity and loudness than 'Grand Piano Concert'. I suspect "Grand Piano Bright" is set up the same way:

. . . You don't have to hit the keys very hard, to play loudly.

It may be what you're used to, but I don't like it at all.

There's another possibility:

. . . You're not hitting the keys hard enough.

The tone of the "GdPiano Concert" gets _considerably_ brighter as you go from "p" to "FF". It's not just a change in volume, but a change in tone quality.

So, if you're playing softly, you won't get much "presence" (or high-frequency components) in the sound. That's how an acoustic piano behaves, but it's _not_ how your old keyboard acts. So the sound (and the effect of changing tone quality, when you hit the keys harder) is probably unfamiliar to you.

The PX-350 menu has a "Brilliance" setting. If you want a little more brightness to your sound, use the "Grand Piano Concert" or "Grand Piano Studio", and raise the "Brilliance" setting.

. Charles

PS -- this is a situation where headphones might change your judgement. It will be an interesting experiment.

Yeah when I got my PX-150, I actually thought the sound was too bright -- so I turned down the brilliance (hence making it more muffled or subdued). I guess this just comes to different people's taste. In fact I was considering returning it because some of the upper register notes sounded too shrill to me (wasn't sure if it was a speaker issue or not). However, changing the brilliance setting to be more mellow cleared up that problem; I prefer a mellow Steinway sound.

In addition to increasing the brilliance setting, you can also try changing the touch response to 1 (i.e. sensitive) and decreasing the volume if need be. Changing the touch response to 1 basically means that it'll think any keypress is louder (not in terms of volume but in terms of how hard the hammer strikes the strings for an acoustic), and hence use the brighter tones for each key (the tone is brighter the louder it is, just like with an acoustic piano). That may or may not work for you though depending on how sensitive you really want it to be.

Sorry about the QC issue. I hope it wasn't really because it was a refurbished or used model. FWIW when I got my PX-150, there was a tape strip along the bottom of the keys keeping them all together during shipping; I don't know if there is one for the PX-350, but that's also something that you could check.

My PX-350 came with a strip of tape along the fronts of the keys.

. Charles

I called them up and explained the scenario and the problem with the keys. He indicated that it sounds like it had already been opened.

He instructed me to keep the PX350 I have while they get another one brought it (a couple days or so) and we can swap it out.

My daughter's words: "If we don't use that key, why worry about it?"

Nope, I'm very serious. Thanks for catching that, I'll talk her into taking a couple lessons with me.

I'm glad you'll get a new piano, hope that one will be OK. Kids have a way of solving the problems we face!

Soooooo sweet.

I love when kids comment on the world without any pretense.