I'm ready to bang my head against the wall. So far I love the PX-350 until I tried to follow the manual to load songs from the CD on my beginner piano course and play them on the PX-350 for playing along.

I've made sure the files were 44.1/16 WAV format. I formatted the USB device. I have tried putting the files into the PLAY folder and the AUDIO folder. The piano will not recognize the files. (Reads 'no file' on the display)

Any help from someone who has this figured out would be appreciated.

Rick

According to page 48 of the manual, files have to be in the format TAKEXX.WAV for you to be able to play them on the PX-350. XX stands for 01-99 (and every number in between.) So be sure your filenames are following these rules. TAKE01.WAV, TAKE56.WAV, and TAKE89.WAV, would all be legal filenames, while TAKE123.WAV, and TAKEB5.WAV would not be legal.

I have not felt a need for using filenames with XX higher than 99, I usually just record a few songs on my PX-5S, which has similar filename rules, may play them once or twice on the piano, then copy them to my computer and delete the originals from the USB drive.

Why does this seem so complicated? The machine should take anything thrown at it. I dunno if mine will; never tried that . . .

TheodorN, perhaps I have not made myself clear. I am not trying to record my playing a piece on the piano. I am loading songs from a CD onto the thumb drive. I've been following the instructions on page E-52 "Playing Back A Song On A USB Flash Drive". Thank you for your effort though. I suppose I could try to go in the drive and rename a song or two and see if the piano recognizes it, but that would seem crazy to have to do that. The manual states that any commercially available song data may be loaded on to the Digital Piano using a computer or USB Flash Drive.

I suppose my next step is to attempt to connect the DP directly to the computer and see what happens. I've tried going through the "User Song" instructions on page E-25. It reads "No Data". It is all just too difficult for what should be a simple operation.

peterws, if you can figure it out... please, let me in on the secret.

OK, just named three song files TAKE01.WAV, TAKE02.WAV, and TAKE03.WAV. Placed in the AUDIO folder.

User Songs operation: No Data
Function/Audio Record operation: No File

Place those three TAKE files and seven more non-altered file name WAV files into MUSICLIB.

User Songs operation: No Data
Function/Audio Record operation: No File

I'm going back to reading the manual again with a magnifying glass and a few cups of coffee. This shouldn't be that difficult. I guess I ought to try a new USB flash drive as well, though my computer reads it easily enough.

Jeez!

Elvistown, you may also wish to try formatting your USB stick on the Casio itself, then copying the audio files to it on your computer.

Kind regards,
James
x

Elvistown,
This might a be a place for some more infos
http://www.casiomusicforums.com/

HTH

Elvistown, what I said (and the manual) applies exactly to songs from an external source, but at the same time for files recorded to the USB drive, same rules apply to both. However, now that you've renamed the files exactly as prescribed in the manual, and the problem is still there, I don't know what can be wrong.

One thing you can do, maybe far fetched, is to check the file information of a played song or part of song, you've recorded on the USB drive, by playing your PX-350, that is to say, a file that you CAN play back on the piano.

In VLC media player, there is an option called Codec information or something like that, which you can use to view this information. If you have a PC (with Windows) you can right click the files and then click the tab Details, to view detailed file information about a WAV file - or any file for that matter.

Then check the file information of a song from our CD, that you CAN'T play on your piano, and see how these two songs (playable and not playable) compare.

This discussion has made me curious to check if I can play a WAV file on my PX-5S, not recorded by the piano itself. There may be some subtle differences between files from external sources, and audio files recorded on the PX-5S (or PX-350) themselves.

Lastly, I second lophiomys' suggestion to ask on the Casio forums, they are very helpful there, and some members from PianoWorld can also be found there.

Yes, I am on the Casio forums. I have formatted the USB on the DP. Confirmed it is FAT32 and after formatting the USB does display the correct folders according to the manual.

One thing that concerns me is that when I insert the USB drive there is no "Media Mounting" or "****" message on the display. The manual clearly states there should be.

I guess I'll try a different USB or connect directly to the computer. It shouldn't be this hard.

I really do appreciate all of your efforts in attempting to help me. I know that you don't have to and that you are going out of your way to be helpful. Many thanks.

It has been a while since I transferred anything or played around with the USB thumb stick on My Casio, while it is a AP-450 I expect they are probably the same across the board, but for me it worked no problem but the instructions in the manual were a bit ambiguous in places, and I hasten to add incorrect with some of the button presses in the recording section too, but it may be correct in the latest version of the manuals.

First of all, I would do what James says and format the thumb drive on the Casio to ensure you get the right filesystem so the Casio can read it, IIRC when you do the format on the Casio it will create those folders for you.

The other way around, if you format a USB thumb stick in windows it is likely that by default it will format to the latest NTFS file system type, and it may be the case that the Casio will not be able to read it at all. It may well be the case that the piano requires the older FAT32 filesystem type or an older version of NTFS ( which windows can format to, but you must tell it to ). Formatting on the Casio just avoids that complication.

When you have done the format on the Casio have a look in windows and see if those folders are there, if not the problem may be the thumb drive itself being incompatible or something like that, for whatever reason.

If the thumb drive has an older filesytem on the thumb drive perhaps it is possible the Casio has an issue initiating creating a filesystem on there when you try to format and fails. You could wipe the whole thing in windows first and delete any partitions on there, so effectively the thumb stick is like as if it came out of the shop starting anew, it should work then almost certainly ... I would think.

edit: sorry I didn't spot you last post for some reason you already go it to FAT32, I need to waky waky up

I have a PX-350, and I'll work on this problem this morning (Pacific Daylight Time).

One thing I remember:

. . . A "User Song" is a strange beast.

I have played-back .WAV files successfully. As I remember, the instructions in the manual, _when I followed them exactly_, worked.

It's pointless to say "You shouldn't have to name them TAKEnn.WAV" -- that's "arguing the toss". It would be nice if the PX-350 had a full-scale file-system browser for the USB thumb drive, using its tiny two-line display --

. . . but it doesn't.

More later . . .

. Charles

OK, that would be great. One question. When I renamed the files, I capitalized the extension on some, but it was a hassle and so I left the .wav extension in lower case in some of them. So... to recap:

I have cleaned and formatted the 4gb USB Flash Drive according to instructions in the manual. A check on the info indicates the USB is formatted to FAT32 and includes all the folders that the manual says should be there.

I have placed both TAKEXX.WAV and TAKEXX.wav files in the PLAY A folder. I also have some files in the AUDIO folder.

I have attempted to play the files using both the User Songs operation and the Function/Audio Recorder operation described in the manual. So far, no luck.

That is where I stand right now. No clue how to go forward with the USB. I suppose my next tack will be to connect the computer to the DP, but I am seriously tired of this right now. I need a break. I am NOT HAPPY with CASIO at this moment.

To me, it sounds like it's possible that you only copy and pasted the cd file from your cd and did not actually download the wav from the cd to your computer.

Well, emenelton, when I checked the file (Get Info), it shows an actual wav file. So, yeah, I thought of that. But I THINK I'm doing that correctly.

When you said you renamed them including the extension it raised a red flag.
Get info means you're on a mac correct.
When you put a cd into a mac it asks you if you want to download or import the tracks on the cd and you respond yes. It puts them into your ITunes folder under imported. Your 'get info' should also list the size as ~56mb or whatever, not ~12kb -

If the above coincides with your experience then you should see if you can record to the USB drive and/or (both) try another USB Stick.

What I did:

1. Format a thumb drive in the PX-350 (I did that long ago) -- that puts an "AUDIO" directory (and several others) on the drive.

2. Move the thumb drive to my PC.

3. Use Audacity to put a WAV file named "TRACK14.WAV" into the "AUDIO" directory on the thumb drive. 44.1 kHz / 16 bits WAV recording (de-compressed from an MP3 file).

Now, follow the instructions in the PX-350 manual, page E-27 ("Playing Back Audio Data stored on a USB Flash Drive"). Note -- this "audio file" is _not_ a "User Song" !!!

1a. Put the thumb drive into the PX-350.

1b. Press "Audio Recorder", and wait a few seconds.

2. Hold "Function" button,
. . press "Audio Recorder" button,
. . . then release "Function" button.

. . . a "Play Setting" ( = File Selection) screen appears on the PX-350;

3. Use the up-arrow / down-arrow keys on the PX-350 to scroll through the list, till I get to "14"

4. Press the "EXIT" button (it's in the "Registration" group on the PX-350 panel)

5. Use the "Play / Stop" button ( = "Start/Stop" button) to start / stop playback of TAKE14.WAV . The "Volume" knob controls playback volume.

I could play the PX-350 keyboard along with the WAV file.

So, for me, there's no problem. But the instructions on E-27 aren't "intuitive", by any stretch of the imagination.

. Charles

Just chiming in to confirm I had no problem playing *.wav files on my PX-5S, one I recorded myself, one of the Yamaha Clavinova Bösendorfer samples, pv88 posted recently, and lastly a performance from Dave Horne (also a member on PW.)

All files turned out to have the same codec, PCM S16 LE (s16l) - including this info because there are different audio codecs around, even when the file ending is the same. Not likely that this is the issue here, though you never can know.

Just a thought, maybe one of you guys with a PX-whatever can send the OP a wav file that you know works? or provide a link for him to download it? It might help him diagnose whether the problem is with the file or with the thumb drive/formatting.

These are two of the files I played, first the one from Dave Horne, then the Yamaha Clavinova performance. Just be careful, the CLP-585 recording is very loud, turn the volume down first (if the file plays.)

http://members.home.nl/davehorne/mp3/CheekToCheek.wav

https://app.box.com/s/85w0sme9pddio6r2l4d5op9gdkzzd7xv

I am having similar issues on the PX350, however, I finally got the file to play after naming it properly, but it ONLY plays back one second or the first beat of it then stops. Anyone else know why?

I just bought two new thumb drives. I will follow the steps outlined by Charles Cohen and see what results I get.

I will also load on one of the drives the files from the links provided.

Thank you all so much. Wish me luck. I'll report my results as soon as I can.

Rick

Hope this works out for you Elvistown. Thought I'd post this link below from the Casio forums, might also be of help to jaketanner. It seems lot of PX-350 users have this problem, whether it's some fault of the device or poor instructions in the manual, I don't know.

The thread on CMF touches on an issue that has come up here also, that recording a song (MIDI?) and recording audio, are two different things, with different recording methods. Anyway, hope I'm not confusing anyone even more, here is the thread for those interested.

http://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/6914-frustrated-with-my-privia-px350/

OK, I have been able to play audio twice! I still haven't quite deciphered how I got to where I got, but it is possible and I think I can play around to find the correct sequencing of buttons.

New issue. When I play the audio file it is LOUD! I have to turn the volume very low. Now I cannot hear the piano it is so low.

Is my piano volume too low? Even all the way to max volume, this piano is not very loud. Help.

Back to perusing the manual. Maybe it is set for a low max volume and I need to change the programming? Or maybe I can change the audio file volume level setting before it gets to the speakers?

Damn this is HARD!

My thoughts exactly. IMO this is ridiculous. Are the Yahamas this bad?

No, just mildly frustrating!<G> It's like childbirth -- you'll hardly remember the pain after a few years.

The problem with unbalanced levels - the recording is loud, but the piano is soft:

Run the WAV file into Audacity (or some other recording / editing software), and use a "Normalize" function (or a "global volume control", or something like it) to reduce the audio level _of the whole WAV file_. A 10 dB reduction will help; a 20 dB reduction will make it pretty soft.

Then re-save it (as a WAV file), and you should be OK.

Think of it this way:

The PX-350 "Volume" control sets the level of the _loudest possible sound_ coming out of the DP. That's "0 dB". Everything else is softer -- a "pp" keystroke is probably about -30 to -40 dB, compared to it.

Commercially-processed recordings run peaks, for each track, near (but never above) 0 dB -- _loud_, even if it's a single singer, or a soft guitar solo. [There are good reasons for that, but it's a long discussion.]

So to get them playing through the PX-350 at _reasonable_ volume (vis-a-vis normal piano playing), you have to reduce the overall level of the recording.

If the PX-350 were a bit smarter, it would have a menu setting that controlled the WAV-file playback volume --

. . . but it doesn't, as far as I can see.

An interesting thing I just discovered:

. . . When you're in "WAV-file playback" mode, with the "Audio Recorder"
. . . button lit up,

. . . the "Function" button doesn't work, and you can't adjust
. . . menu settings.

Weird . . .

. Charles

PS -- Your tale of woe reinforces one of my biases:

. . . Everybody with a DP needs a small mixer, so they can run several
. . . program sources into their speakers or headphones.

OK, back from group lessons (I'm learning some things, but I am learning more, faster with the Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Beginner book) which is at the store from where I purchased the PX350M. I brought a USB drive and played Audio files through their PX350. So... the machine acts exactly the same. So it is me, not the machine. The volume was just as loud. The sales manager couldn't play the files without my help but we did find a volume control on the menu. Didn't have time to figure out if it controls the Audio Playback volume, but it seemed to look as if it would. I'll investigate that further. But I have Audacity and so may go that route to reduce volume as it would most likely be easier than the Casio.

I'm still unsure exactly how I found the Play function, but I can get to it easier now and will nail it down shortly.

I'm having fun learning piano. This little problem has been frustrating but hasn't discouraged me from playing piano.

If you figure that out, I think it would make your life much easier than the Audacity route.

If you figure it out, _please_ tell the rest of us!

Thanks --

. charles

I have not done a lot of this - plugging in external sources for accompaniment - but the little I have done of that sort, makes me agree with this conclusion!

I think the problem is that when running audio files (*.wav, *.mp3, *.wma or whatever) through a digital piano, the sound engine thereof doesn't process the sound at all, at least not in entry-level DPs. If I'm not mistaken, Kawai James said the Kawai CA95 did process audio files fed to it, but the CA65 did not. Even the CA65 sells at three times the price of a PX-350, and the CA95 at probably four times the price tag of the Casio - though this may vary depending on country.

So maybe we can't expect the PX-350 to be able to do very much audio processing, it's not a workstation after all. What I've done in this aspect, is to have Synthesia plugged in, and make it play the right hand while I practise the left, or the other way around. It works well, both sources are about the same volume. The PX-350 has accompaniment styles, which the PX-5S does not have, so why not use that feature?

Apart from this, I second Charles' suggestions to process the audio files in Audacity or something similar, to get the volume levels down (permanently, though you can always keep the originals.) I noticed immediately how much louder the CFX/Bösendorfer sound file from the CLP-585 piano was, than the other file. I couldn't help wondering if the sound engine of the Yamaha CLP-585 were so powerful, or if pv88 had the volume turned up in the recording on purpose.

TheodorN, this only affects audio connected to the instrument's Line In connectors. MP3/WAV audio played back from USB is a separate case, and is processed by the instrument's sound hardware.

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks for clarifying this James, in the case of the Kawais CA65/95. It is obviously an important and desired feature to be able to control the volume of an incoming audio file, without affecting the volume of what is being played (on the keys, by the piano player, at the same time the audio file is playing.)

The question remains whether that can be done in the Casio PX-350.

Posted this second comment in wrong thread, no deletion possible, so just editing it out.

If you have the files named correctly and in the correct folder and the Privia still won't see it, there is probably an issue with the way the wav file was rendered. I would try using a different DAW or utility to render the wav file.

Couple other things:

I made a chart for keeping track of songs I recorded on the flashdrive to keep track of the "Take" numbers. You are all welcome to it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/amwn3aqnroen8mc/TAKE%20NUMBER.pdf?dl=0

The last thing I will add: The USB drive is super handy for recording -- it's my favorite feature on the PX-5S, but for playback I find it much, MUCH easier just to use the audio in and use an iPhone (or any other media player). Much less cumbersome, you can make playlists, see the titles. It all equals to more time playing and less time making files.

As an added bonus to using this method to play backing tracks, you can record both the backing track and your playing onto the USB drive. If you play round robin this way, you can actually multitrack (but without control over the levels once they are recorded). Hope this makes sense.

OK I was able to reduce the LayerBas volume by -20. It did not affect the volume of the audio track.

So.... I took one file to Audacity and reduced the dB level on the Equalization function to -24. That seemed to solve the problem.

Now, off to do that to 64 more tracks. PITA.

Completed the editing on Audacity for all 65 accompaniment songs. Works like a charm now. A lot of trouble to get done what I wanted to do, but is done now and I'm good for the length of time to work through this Alfred's Self Taught book. I also had to do this for the CD on the group lesson book. Same process. Played loud as heck but I could edit it down just like the other CD files and works just the same.

So I think this is a flaw in the Casio product. The volume level of the USB files played should be able to be changed by the DP processor system. If one wants to accompany the song files played, it is essential.

Surely there is a way to regulate playback volume of these files from the DP. I'm going to keep asking and working on this issue. But there is a way around it.

Finally, one more issue. Getting the correct sequence of buttons pushed is easy to remember. What is not easy is having the DP respond the same way each time. Perhaps I am being too impatient. But I find that sometimes the buttons don't respond the same way each time. What I have found is that I have to make sure the Audio Record button indicator is lit up solid red..... not flashing.... not off... lit continuously red. Then I can get to the Audio Play screen. What it boils down to is that I wanted the PX350 because it can do so many things. Well, maybe too many! :-) I know I will slowly learn how to use many of the features, but it gets complicated for an old luddite like me.

Great job processing the files, not the easiest workaround, but you got it done! Now, make sure to have copies of the new lower audio files, it wouldn't be much fun to have to go through this process all over again.

I agree with you it would be great to be able to control the volume of the incoming audio files on the PX-350/5S pianos.

The manual is _really bad_ at documenting the "states" (a technical term for "light off", "light flashing", "light on") that the Audio Recorder can be in, and how to get from one to another, and what effect those "states" have on the rest of the PX-350 functions.

But you're absolutely right:

. . . You have to let the PX-350 _stabilize_,
. . . before you press any more buttons.

Congratulations on winning the battle with Audacity! I really like it. It's way easier than using a multi-track analog recorder, with a splicing block and special Mylar tape. [Is my age showing?<g>]

. Charles

Not sure about the 350, but on the PX-5S you control the volume of USB drive playback by adjusting the AUDIO VOLUME in the Stage Setting edit. You can also assign this control to a knob or slider and save it on a per Stage Setting basis (not a global setting).

It's still beyond me though why people go though all the trouble of converting files, renaming them, and then having to track them all by TAKE #s, when it's so much easier just using a phone or other audio player to provide backing tracks. Using an iPhone,iPod, etc. allows you to make playlists, gives you easy global volume control and lets you see the song titles --- all without having to convert or rename the files.

Well, the one advantage is being able to practice with the accompaniment using headphones. I thought of just using my phone or the computer system which is in my music room. But to use headphones while playing and listening requires me to have the sounds coming from the same device.

All you need to do is use the line in on the Privia. Get one of these cables (1/8" stereo to dual 1/4" "Y" cable") and the sound coming from the Privia will be a mix of the piano and recording:



On the PX-5S you can either use ^^^ that ^^^ cable or a 1/8" to 1/8" stereo cable.

Thanks Scott, I can confirm it works, asked on the Facebook page. The procedure is SYS SETTING -> Sound Generator -> Audio Volume. I agree with you, I hardly ever play along to the USB drive, and hardly ever to external devices for that matter. I might however start using the USB drive for that purpose henceforth, knowing now how easy it is. It has it's advantages that the music is coming from one source, eliminating the need for a mixer, or two sound outputs, like a speaker and headphones, or ear plugs beneath round-ear headphones.

Again, using the line-in jacks (or audio in on the PX-5S) will make it so all the sound is coming from the Privia without the need for a mixer. They're not just there for decorations.

On the PX-5S, you have the dual 1/4" inch line-ins and the 1/8" stereo in so you can double the fun. For instance, I can run another synth into the line ins and then an iPad into the audio in. When I plug headphones into the PX-5S all the sounds ---- the PX-5S, the additional synth and the ipad -- will all come from the PX-5S headphone or line out jacks with no need for a mixer.

I see, plugging a smartphone/PC/tablet...through the Line-ins (or Audio in) is more convenient, then you can control the volume of incoming audio files from there (and no need to rename or process the files.) Something to think about for Elvistown, the PX-350 has Line-in jacks as well.

Exactly - and it also frees up the USB drive to record your performance with the external backing tracks.

The line-in option seems like it would be a winner. I'm trying that first thing in the morning! It would certainly be MUCH easier.

Thanks!

Tried playing, first with my primitive MP3-player, then my computer, through the Audio In in both cases. The sound quality was not as good as through the USB. I don't have cables to go through the Line In jacks for this, so the few times (if any) I'll be playing to accompaniment files, I'll use the USB stick.