Casio PX330 information needed

Thanks Luc,

It helps for me to know that the keyboard feel is enjoyable from someone who's had the instrument for a while. In the store, it seemed as though rapid note repeats like trills were easier than on my Studiologic VMK188+, although the Fatar's action is better overall. The PX330 is about half the weight.

I expected as much as far as the bass response. I find myself sometimes doing jams with acoustic guitar players, and i thought the volume might do in those circumstances, or in a pinch for a wedding ceremony, or the like, with a flautist or violinist.

Also, I like the fact that plugging in a single small amp doesn't defeat the internal speakers, so a player still gets 'some' stereo sound, because IMO mono for piano loses too much. I wonder if you or anyone else has an opinion on that.

Yes, as I get older the keyboards need to get lighter , and the Privias are a pleasant surprise.

It's hard to tell in a music store, but it seems as though the PX velocity response is better than on the similarly priced Yamahas, or maybe it just seems that way because the samples themselves are brighter in the first place.

[As an aside, why are music stores generally such miserable places to try out musical instruments? Many 88 note keyboards I try are hooked up mono (if they're hooked up at all), and VERY often there's no sustain/damper pedal attached. Weird sales ploy indeed.]

I have a PX-330 but I haven't used Pianoteq through it much at all yet. I do remember trying a Pianoteq electric piano, though, and it sounded good, however the main aspect that I noticed, after the PX-330's electric pianos, is the far superior sustain of Pianoteq, but that's not really testing the quality of the speakers.  Will comment on the acoustic Pianoteq sounds if/when I do some testing.

Greg.

I have a PX-330.. A fine, light lil critter... haven't tried with Pianoteq yet but should be fine... I have just been using an old GEM pRP7 mounted in a baby grand body and works well.

Casio is not bad for what it is for sure

I forgot about the keyboard response. It seems fine, and in the past I've looked at how the velocity values change with key press force,  and it seems that I'm able to achieve the full range from 1 to 127 in a natural, linear fashion.  Using the default settings on the PX-330, it is easier for me to reach 127 than it is on my Kawai MP9000 on it's default setting.
(I prefer the default response of the PX-330 to the default response of the MP9000)

Greg.

I agree - the PX-330 is very light, and that was one of the main reasons I bought it.

RE: the action, I think it has a lighter action than the MP9000. I never really get to play real pianos of any description,  except for very brief episodes in stores occasionally when I test things. ;^)  However, I think the MP9000 is probably a fair bit closer to the feel of a grand, however as someone who is more interested in playing, I suppose, pop/disco/funk style, I prefer the PX-330, and I wish I had bought something with an action like this a lot earlier.  Just for example, bashing out Supertramp chords never really felt right on the MP9000 - I had to really focus and it took a lot of energy - I felt like I was battling with the thing. (and it may well feel like that on a grand piano, too )
The PX is light and nimble - I can relax! (and it is graded, too, unlike the MP)

Greg.

Greg,

Well, you can't have everything, right! I generally just use a C3 patch in Pianoteq, and since it's easy to have Pianoteq respond to patch changes, I'd probably create a handful of similar patches in Pianoteq, each at a different volume (and a few with different reverb levels too).

Since digital pianos in general don't offer a lot of controller functions, something like a Korg Nanokontrol would be useful too. It's an ingenious little device, small, powered by USB.

Michael

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

(just to make myself totally clear - I think the internal sounds are a bit louder than Pianoteq is, when I have Pianoteq playing at approximately maximum signal level into the PX-330. This could partly be due to the PX-330's EQ, and EQing Pianoteq might help)

In the store there was a PX130 above a PX330. The sound I heard from the PX130 was WAY better with more presence and bass, and the only reason I can think of for that is that the PX130 was about 8-10 inches from the wall behind it, and the PX330 was close to 2 feet from the wall.

If I'm not mistaken, most of the sound on these instruments comes out the front, audience side. Good for the audience, not so good for us, unless we supplement the sound with an amp(s), which we'd probably do in most live situations anyway.

Personally, I'd prefer the speakers to be top facing, but this keyboard does so much, that this is a minor thing.

Well, I just bought a PX-330 today! I'm looking forward to unpacking it, and trying it out in a decent listening environment (home ), probably tomorrow, and I'll post back with an initial take then.

I didn't detect a difference between MIDI via USB or not... there is always some latency, it's inherent to MIDI and to any software instrument, including PianoTeq but the sound card has a dominant role in this latency, and it can be very, very small with good drivers.
BTW, you won't be able to use USB MIDI on a 64 bit platform, there are no drivers... yet? Blame Casio for this !

maybe that's because mine is a 320... but for the same reason as you (never internal + external sounds together)  I didn't care either ;-) And I've been using MIDI via USB recently for a dozen of performances without noticing any provblem...

Thanks for the tip Greg, I read it after I had already played for quite awhile, and I didn't notice sloppy timing, but I was pretty much just zoning out on what a cool instrument this is.

I checked out a number of things:

1) A/B-ed  it to my Studiologic VMK188plus as far as keyboard action and responsiveness with Pianoteq. The Casio reaches higher velocities easier with Pianoteq, a little too easy for me right now, meaning some velocity curve adjusting in Pianoteq. Both keyboards feel quite good to me. Initial impression is that I like the Fatar a bit more, it seems deeper, and I can dig in a bit more. This may entirely change with a new velocity curve. If possible I'd like to replace the Fatar, because it's electronics are flaky.

2) The main two piano sounds are excellent. I've been using Yamaha's almost exclusively for live digital piano sounds: Motif's, P60, P85, and at one point an S90es. The overall brightness of the Privia sound is a welcome change, and I'm thinking it will sound outstanding live.

3) I tried Luc's suggestion of using a single amp along with the internal speakers- it sounds terrific! This is just using a small Peavey KB1 amp with 20 watts RMS and weighing about 17 pounds at a low volume so things blend, emphasizing the bass.

4) I hooked up Pianoteq to the internal speakers of the Privia, going midi out to my netbook via USB (tried standard midi to USB also)  then using either netbook onboard sound or an E-mu 0204 external soundcard back into the Privia. They both sounded quite good through the Privia internal speakers, however Pianoteq didn't have as much bottom end as the internal sounds of the Privia. There was also low level ground noise from the speakers until I hooked up a hum eliminator in series, then sound was super clean. So, it's good to be aware that this type of hookup creates a ground loop (at least it did for me, whether using an AC adapter on the computer or not).

These are just first impressions, but I'm already loving this keyboard!

I'm glad you like it - thanks for the feedback.

I'm just thinking about the low end EQ issue.  It may be that in order to achieve a sound with the right amount of bass, the overall volume will have to decrease, and that could be an issue.  I.e, it's conceivable that the input to the PX-330 will clip unless the overall signal level is dropped, and hopefully it won't have to be reduced to such an extent that the overall volume is insufficient.

Greg.

Greg,

I believe you're right, and there's a limit to what the low wattage  internal speakers are capable of, especially with bass, but the inputs, surprisingly, seem to be pretty hot.

It was interesting for sure, and not so common for me either: yesterday I was playing piano (a real one...) with a singer for covers of french artist Claude Nougaro; much more difficult, believe me! Maurice Vander is a terrific pianist, listen to "une voix, dix doigts", you'll see what I mean ! ;-)

Michael - just curious - have you been able to boost the bass enough?  It seems that if the internal sounds are being EQ'd for the internal speakers, that this EQ is not being applied to the line in. It would have been ideal if there had been an option to apply the same EQ to the line in, although admittedly that's a rather subtle detail for a keyboard of this style and price.

Greg.

I did some more listening, and you're really stretching my abilities now. I simply don't know. All I know is that when I switch to headphones, the sound is fuller with more bass, and generally a lot better, as you'd expect.

Greg.

I'm quite sure that the Casio amps + speakers system is not "neutral", and that they deliberately removed some low-end to be able to get more level, there are some laws of physics you can't avoid: more low = less level, more level = less low, that's so simple ;-)