Casio PX350 vs Yamaha P155

Hi,

I am thinking of entering the world of piano for the 1st time and was thinking about purchasing a digital piano (price range of ~$1,000). I've been doing a lot of research over the weekend, including reading forums and the digital piano buying guide that people are frequently directed to.

I know nothing about the piano and have been taking lessons for the acoustic guitar for the past 8 months. I played clarinet in middle school many years ago. That about sums up my musical experience. What I'm looking for is a compact digital piano that I could use to learn piano. This piano will stay at my house and be used with either the onboard speakers or my headphones. Space is an important consideration, so compactness is definitely an advantage.

I am currently considering the Casio PX350 and the Yamaha P155. This past weekend, I went to the store to compare the 2 models and, while I liked both, I did like the feel of the P155 slightly more--now whether it is worth $200 more is something I'm not sure about. By sheer virtue of price and features, the Casio seems like the right purchase for me, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything with regard to the pros or cons of these 2 somewhat comparable DPs.

Is there anything the Casio can't do, that the Yamaha can?

I am also not opposed to the idea of buying used, but it seems the choices are pretty limited on Craigslist. A lot of these models seem old and I feel I may be better off purchasing a newer instrument with a warranty. Despite that, here's what is out there: 2 Rolands, a MP60 ($800)and HP103 ($1k); a Yamaha CLP 560 ($350), and a Korg TR-88 ($750). Any of these worth considering over the PX350 or P155?

Thanks!

Sound like a Yamaha. ;-)

Really, it's just a matter of whether you really prefer the sound (or feel) of the Yamaha. If not, the Casio has a lot more features, for less money.

What did you like about the Yamaha action over casio? Did you try changing the touch settings on the casio to lighter or heavier?

The Casio has more on it than the Yahama. If you think you will use the extra sounds, accompaniment, and on board sequencer it offers more for less money The most important thing is which piano appeals to you as far as the key action. Casio has made a bold attempt to attract buyers with a new action with simulated ivory texture. The P-155 is often mentioned on this forum. It is a solid choice. But you can also consider the P-105 and the Casio PX-150 which are basic models if you don't want all the bells and whistles of the PX-350 and save some money.

You sound alot like myself. Im in the same boat. I started out thinking I was going to by an entry level model piano for around 500 or 600 bucks.

I was urged by a few to raise my bar a bit and also go find some to play with. I went to a guitar center and played a few different yamaha's p35, p105 and one of the others that I cant recall the model. I also got to play the Casio but these were last years models I think. The 130 and 330. The store had one of the newer casio's but a customer had broke it so I could feel the key with its new touch but not play it. I wasnt sure if I liked the texture or not haha.

I did like the yamaha a tad bit better. This could be because I was playing old verse new or because I was a bit bashful and didnt really want to touch them to much so I mostly looked at them.

I later went and found a real piano shop and got to play some really high end digital pianos. Im talking 20k or higher yamaha's. These blew me away (as they should at that price). I also got to play w/ kawai.

This is what put me in the bind im in now. I fell inlove w/ the feel and sound of the kawai. It was breath taking (to me this is). Issue is I dont have the budget for one, atleast not yet. So im searching for a kawai I can afford. Or a piano that gives me that same feeling when I play it.

My point in all this is I guess go out and find the one that "feels" the best to you. I was shocked how much I liked the kawai I played. If I can get my budget to the 1500 to 2000 range I will pick a kawai in a heart beat.

Right now im searching for something in my price range like yours of 1000 that fits the bill.

Oh also don't get me wrong, im not saying forget the idea of px350 or the p155. I was meaning simply of them find out which you like best. What ever blows your hair back.

From what I read the world really likes the px350 and the px850. So im going to go search for some to play myself.

Maybe the Kawai ES3 is what youa re looking for. Pretty good piano at that price level.

Mmm...budget creep gets a lot of us.

I will have a look at it. I talked to a music dealer and he had a suggestion of an mp6, sense I don't need speakers I have some nice monitors I can use.

He said he has a used one they took in at trade that is in almost perfect condition aside from a scratch on the right back side of it. I was given a quote of 1100 for it. So im that is something I am looking into.

I don't want to hijack this thread to be about me. Back on subject. I am reading up a bit on the p155. Seems like a pretty nice though I cant comment as I havn't got a chance to play or see one in person.

Thank you to those who have offered their thoughts/advice.

@gatsbee13: It's really hard to describe why I like the Yamaha action better, maybe it was a bit more fluid and firmer--I liked how my fingers rolled off and on to the keys a bit more than the Casio. This feeling may or may not be that significant given that I know absolutely nothing about playing the piano. I did try messing with the touch settings on both models a bit, but it didn't seem like a HUGE difference among the hard/soft/medium settings. I'm sure someone who plays piano would be able to tell the difference more than I could.

@galaxy4t: I have considered the PX150, but I kind of like the variety of sounds that come with the PX350, which I may not need now, but may be fun to play around with in the future. $200 difference in price seems worth it for better speakers and more sounds.

@4g63mr: Glad to hear I am not the only one who is undecided. I think I may go back to GC this weekend and play around with them some more. I brought my good headphones last weekend and banged on all those keys like a darn fool--if you're self conscious, headphones may help you with that. As far as upping my budget, I don't feel like that's something I feel comfortable with. Maybe that will change in the future, but right now, I think I would rather sink a considerable amount like that ($2,000+) into a used boutique guitar than a digital piano that will depreciate and become less technologically viable as the years go by.

Agree with you that $200 more isn't a huge amount to pay for more things you may wind up using. I would spend more time evaluating those extra sounds to make sure you will be happy with them. Not everyone thinks the extra sounds on the PX-350 are that great. Just remember, you can also plug into a computer for extra sounds and that software synths are of much higher quality.

Thanks for that extra bit of info! I was wondering if using sounds via computer was an option--I'll have to look into that a bit more and see if my 2009 MBP can handle that. One question though: if you use computer software for additional voices, then does the sound output from the computer to speakers, or can you output the sound back into the built-in DP speakers? If the sound has to be output back into speakers, do the built-in speakers on the DP still work?

When you connect your piano to your computer, the sound comes from the computer speakers. Of course, you can channel the sound of a computer through powered monitors. Some on here run the sound into a stereo receiver, but others use headphones. Invest in a good pair of headphones as you will probably use them so you do not disturb others. I think you can run the sound to the audio input of the PX-350 and it will come out of your piano's speakers. The PX-150 does not have audio in.

Ah, ok--thanks!

Get the yamaha p155. Casio PX350 suffers from some quality / QC issue which is very annoying. Yamaha p155 is rock solid. And the feeling of keys is still worse than yamaha's old GH key. The sound is not as good as Casio's but you can alway connect to your laptop and pianoteq or something.

Again to show how subjective this all is... you prefer the P155 action and the PX350 sound... I prefer the PX350 action and the P155 sound!

Ok, I purchased the PX350, after a lot of thought.

The Yamaha may have slightly better build quality, but the PX350 just seemed a better value, given what it includes in software and hardware. For me, being a complete newb, the difference in feel between the 2 seemed marginal at best. It seems like a lot of pros are using this unit, so if it's good enough for them, it should do for me as well. Hopefully I won't get a unit vibration issues--I will report back here when it arrives next week.

My thanks to those who offered their thoughts!

Late to the party, but this was a simple, yet big consideration for me: http://youtu.be/UrM7TzRVWhI

I assume that the Yamahas have improved since but so has the PX350. (But I don't know if the Yamahas have finally switched to multi-sampling in that pricerange yet)

The P155 has always had multilevel sampling and is a far better instrument than either piano in that video. Now the P105, the replacement for the P95 piano in that video, also has multilevel sampling. So that video isn't relevant in the Casio/Yamaha decision now.

It was quite a drag, though, that the P85 and P95 had only one sampled layer. Yuck. As you point out, it's also true that Casio has revamped its offerings. So basically it's a completely new question than the maker of that video presents.

Congrats on the PX350. I just placed an order last night for an PX150. I chose the PX150 over the 350 mostly because I didn't need the extra's it has.

Keep us posted on your thoughts or give a review. I would be interested in hearing a review from someone that is a newbie like my self.

You made a great point. I mean this on two levels.
A. You have guys that are established pianist that can play on these DP's that will understand, feel, and know how to make use of dynamics in such machines.
B. You have guys like myself that, while I understand technically what it means to have multilevel sampling, I don't play well enough to make use of it and honestly cant tell it is there. So guys like me go w/ feel and whatever sounds best to us.

It is designed so that hitting a key more gently not only makes it quieter, but also changes the timbre to sound softer (and vice versa)... but multisampling is not the only way to get that effect, nor does more multisampling (more layers) always sound better than a piano with less. And in fact, while gvfarns apparently disagrees, personally, I found the single layer Yamaha P95 to sound better overall than the 4-layer PX-330. So this gets back to what I always say... choose based on what your ears and fingers tell you, not what the spec sheet tells you.

I couldn't agree more. That was more my point B. To me, I understand it. I don't play well enough to make use of it. So I buy on what "I" think feels and sounds best when im playing, err poking, in my case at the keys.

I wouldn't necessary say I disagree with you on this one. I'd have to play them side by side to really agree. Basically I don't think much of either piano from the video, so it's hard to say which I like "better."

In general a multi-layer piano will sound and respond better than a single-layer version of the same piano. But that ceteris paribus condition is not met here. And as you point out, Yamaha does some kind of processing to add a little flavor to the timbre as velocity goes up. Good points.

I have played both the Yamaha and Casio and have decided that the PX150 is for me. I have also considered buying the Bluthner Digital Model One sample libraries after careful listening. Three quick questions.

Is it absolutely necessary to use this through a computer? If so, can headphones be plugged into the keyboard headphone out? Would a lowly netbook be powerful enough for this endeavor?

Piano libraries can ONLY be run on a computer.
A lowly netbook might not be adequate.
And even if it were the screen is too small for some of the library applications.

I would say pass on the netbook. Computers have gotten faster and more capable so that capability isn't much of a problem for VST's, but netbooks are kind of the exception. Think of them like Pentium III's or something. They work, but there's a huge difference between them and what we normally call a computer or laptop.

I'm pretty sure I've heard people complaining about netbooks not being able to drive their VST's. I recall that I tried using mine with TruePianos, Pianissimo, and PianoTeq when I was first testing the VST waters and the netbook was far from up to the task.

Maybe one of the newer ones with an AMD APU, like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230365

Put an SSD in it!

I received my Casio PX350 last night, as well as the stand and pedal unit for the piano. I am a bit sad to say that this piano has the same vibration issues that others have mentioned here on the forum. The vibration issue is not horrible, but I can see how it could be a bit of a nuisance. I'll have to play around with it a bit more tonight and let you know what keys are causing the vibration, but there are definitely at least 2 keys and the left speaker that cause some sort of vibration around the left speaker when the volume is at a moderate or high level, when played in the Grand Concert setting. Last night, I was on the fence about returning it, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, given that I could potentially still end up with a unit that has the same vibration (or worse). It would be nice if Casio could look into this and offer a DIY fix that owners could do in their own home.

I will report back later tonight with further details.

sumognat, I bought PX-350 also, never heard any buzzing, but I was aware of that issue so looked at it carefully.

Last night after rehearsal (on which I had to carry my dp) I got back, turned on this morning and heard the buzz... I knew there was no chance that I hit it somewhere during the transport so started to look around.

I found out that buzzing was coming from AC cord, it was vibrating and hitting case of the piano I moved it a bit and ALL IS FINE NOW. No buzzing at all. And for the piano itself: it's simply great (for a newbie like me ).

Hi Trigg,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts--I will check to make sure the AC cord isn't causing it, but it definitely appears to be vibration inside the piano, under the left speaker. Regardless, I will check to make sure.

I do agree with you, despite this, that it is a very nicely put together piano (including the stand and pedals) at a good price--especially for a newbie like me, too.

Re the buzzing, if it only happens on certain notes, that suggests some sort of volume resonance in the machine. Acoustically, resonances are caused by reflections of the waves inside the volume. The way to fix that is to change the conditions at the boundaries (to make them harder/softer, more rigid/less rigid, etc...) I had a similar problem with my Yamaha P250. Certain notes would cause this horrible ringing sound that just grated on my nerves. I found that simply loosening the screws holding the side that was ringing greatly reduced the problem (presumably it made the boundaries less rigid). Had that not worked I would have tried wedging some thin rubber dam in as shim to reduce the vibration. Now I'm quite happy with the sound. I don't know if this is something that might work with the casio or not, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

It is not the wire or some other out of box things cause the vibration issue. I put my px 350 on the carpet, it still makes buzzing sound from the left speaker for the same notes.

It is quite related to temperature and humidy. In some rainy and cold weather, the buzzing note will shift downwards or disappear completely, but some higher key start to buzz the right speaker. But in sunny day, the left speaker start to buzz again.

I have returned my PX 350 two times and they finally admit the defect and don't bother any further return/