Anyone have any experience with these new Casio digital pianos?

I was browsing through one of the music stores and and did a quick tinkle on the 330. That stopped me dead in my tracks. That's some piano sound for only $699. And I thought the keys made for a realistic piano feel, especially the bass notes. Very strong and resonant in the bass. Not to mention the weight....lighter than a slice of swiss cheese.

For $699 you can give them out as Xmas gifts. I'm seriously thinking of getting one of these for jobs where there are no pianos. But.....I still have the "Casio is only an entry level keyboard" mentality. It seems to me it might be time to recognize they're movers and shakers now.

What do you guys think?

Lucky, buy it

I have one of the older Casio PXr410s, it was the first board I bought for playing gigs. It's not bad and for playing just piano it's nice instrument. I will add imho, it can't hold a candle to that new 330 for it being used as a piano. Oh and the 410 weighed almost 37 pounds.

I sold a bunch of them, and I realized what a great price for a weighted keyboard with speakers.

So I bought one and brought it home.

Love the action, the piano sounds pretty good. It has some basic arranger functions and styles, good enough to practice with.

The on-board speakers are ok, nothing to brag about but for a practice piece its great.

Frank

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www.AudioworksCT.com

Frankie, this might not be relevant for most users of the 330, but does it have ON BASS...to put anther way, chord inversions?

Is the manual available on line?

Ian

Yes you can play fingered chords with the lowest note being the actual bass like on other good arrangers. "There are 3 different fingered modes (#3 being the bass inversion one), a casio chord single fingered mode and a full keyboard mode.
I have been showing and selling the 330 to all my pro piano customers and the response has been awsome! When I show them the dynamic range of the modern grand piano and the quick retriggering of notes on the same or adjacent keys, they are amazed. If I go over to a Yamaha P85 for example and play rapidly one key, it won't re-trigger unless you allow the key to come all the way to the top but not the PX330. It uses three sensors under each key allowing for this rapid style of play.

It's a winner!



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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

sorry, i posted twice!
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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566 www.kayesmusicscene.com

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 11-22-2009).]

Thank you George, for your infornmative reply

The PX-330...definitely a winner, especially with having bass inversion and 3 sensors under each key.

Other companies only have that latter feature on more expensive pianos, although, for most beginners, two sensors is perfectly fine.

It's only when you get very quick repetitions in the music that three sensors show their distinct advantage.

You can bet Yamaha's next P** will have three sensors...ahhhh....the benefits of competition.

Did you hear rumors of a new Casio arranger with 4 variations/style, with new tone generation similar to Korg's DNC and expected in the new year?

There must be something to them.

Ian

Am wondering if you can edit the styles, such as taking out various accompaniment parts so you can have just drums, bass and maybe guitar?

Also wondering if styles from other Casio keyboards can be used?

Yes, George, following on Scott's post, is there any style editing, such as part swapping (style assembly), or basic revoicing?

Ian

Yes, the Privia PX330 has the ability to make new styles (called rhythm editing) by assembling different parts from all the 180 built in style parts. This way you can make new styles with anywhere from 1 to several parts. I experimented by taking the basic pop1 style and using it's basic drum normal beat and then I added the bass part from a country style and added one more track from the funk guitar style. Now I had a new style with just these three tracks. You can create a new styles this way for all the intro, the normal, the variation and the ending parts of a style.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com