On March 30th, 2010, Casio officially announced the release of the Casio PX-3 to celebrate its 30th year producing digital pianos. That’s impressive. You already know that this is a big deal then. Casio literally designed the Privia PX-3 to be the best portable digital piano. To clarify, most of the stunning digital piano tend to be pretty heavy because of all the weighted keys, features, etc. The Casio PX-3, on the other hand, only weighs an amazing 23.81 pounds. Yea, I know. Awesome.
So what did I think after trying it out?
The Casio PX-3 is for:
- Beginner to intermediate level players
- People who like to play the piano as a hobby
- People with a budget less than $1000
- People who perform in multiple locations
- As always, people in the music production industry
The Casio PX-3 includes:
- Casio Privia PX-3
- Music rest
- Sustain pedal
- Owner’s manual
- Power supply
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Casio PX-3 Video Sample:
Click here for more information on the Casio PX-3
Casio PX-3: Feel and Sound
Some Casio models have a bad reputation. The keys might loosen up and wobble from side to side. It can end up “latching” onto the other keys. Other times, the gaps between the keys aren’t uniformly divided. Some gaps are wider than others. Sounds bad, right?
These were a thing of the past. Casio has taken the necessary measures to work on these issues. The Casio PX-3 especially should not have this problem. Simply put, it uses the Ivory Touch Matte keys. What does that mean? Well, lets just say that no other model has ever used ivory keys at such a low price. They do not wobble. The keys do not latch onto other keys. They’re just better overall. They feel more authentic and less plastic. The Casio PX-3 manages to capture a realistic simulation of the acoustic piano without somehow sacrificing weight and portability.
The sound of the pianos aren’t different from the cheaper Casio PX-330 model. Why should you bother with the PX-3 then? Well, there are numerous advantages (like the ivory touch keys). The Casio PX-3 comes with 4 sampling layers, which allows the player to have more control over his/her music.
It has built-in sound editing functions so you can somewhat alter the piano sounds to your preference. This feature is generally only seen in more expensive models. To put it simply, the piano sound is “good” for its price but it also comes with a few editing features. That’s nice, but it may not sound that impressive to some. Well, the truly impressive part of this piano comes from the sound quality of some of the other voices. If you’re looking for something more than just the piano, you will find amazing organs, strings, electric pianos, etc., which you can also edit. The Casio PX-3 does have a good piano, but it has a much more stunning library of other sounds.
Casio PX-3: Portabilty and Durability
There’s not much to say except that the Casio PX-3 manages to achieve all these cool features (like the ivory touch keys, impressive 250 sounds, etc.) while also making it portable (23.81 pounds). That’s the other notabel feature. It’s not just that the Casio PX-3 has this impressive library of instruments. It’s not just that they feel impressive. It’s that they manage to do this while also making it portable. You can take it to church, school, rehearsals, and much more.
Durability might have been an issue for some older Casio models. I’ve personally spoken with the marketing director of Casio, who said that they have fixed these problems.
Casio PX-3: Other Features
The Casio PX-3 shines when it comes to its versatility. This is what makes it a bargain for its price. Lets start with some basic aspects.
This digital piano comes with 16 acoustic piano sounds (classical, jazz, etc.). If you don’t like the default grand piano, you can always change it to one of the other pianos. This tends to happen a lot for any digital piano so I always suggest trying the other ones out. In this instance, you have 15 other choices!
I also mentioned that it has 250 sounds, which include the organs, chorus, electric piano to name a few. You basically have control of an entire array of instruments with just one digital piano. In other words, you can be your own band…if you wanted.
One problem is that it does not have built-in speakers. They were sacrificed for portability. Well, it’s not a problem for people that have headphones or external speakers (like me). Actually, I prefer not to use the built-in speakers, but it can be a problem for some. At the same time though, a lot of stage instruments don’t have built-in speakers and this is a stage piano.
There are two headphone outputs so that you can share your experience with a friend or possibly a teacher. If your parents (or roommates) want a quiet house but you want to learn to play the piano, you and the teacher can always use separate headphones to listen to the music.
It has a cool LCD display screen to make things more user-friendly.
The 128-note polyphony allows you to play complex compositions without having notes “disappear”.
Now, for the cool part.
You can pan two layered or split sounds. In other words, you can have one sound coming from the left and the other from the right. You can then do other things like sending a bass guitar sound separately to a bass amp. You can have the volume pedal affect one side and not the other.
You can assign certain performance functions to two buttons (like turning glide on/off, adding modulation, etc.).
You can play two different sounds with your left and right hand and then change the sound on one hand while still continuing to play with the other hand.
Other Reviewers’ Thoughts
- “I’ve owned a number of weighted digital pianos from Korg to Yamaha to Casio Privia and Celviano models since the 80′s. This piano is amazing.”
- “The best digital piano you can buy for the money.”
- “Best value for the home studio: It has great features and sound.”
- “This is the best bang for the buck keyboard I have ever owned.”
Conclusion
As you can see from my personal review and other people’s reviews, the Casio PX-3 is a great choice. It’s an especially great choice for those at an intermediate level. Beautiful feel. Beautiful sound. Great features. It just has all the tools and features necessary to make a great digital piano.
UPDATE: Amazon is selling it at an amazing $699.00 right now, which is an absolute steal! Every other place is at least $100 more expensive.
Where can I find it cheapest?
| Price | Buy Now | Other |
|---|---|---|
| $699.97 |  |
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| $799.99 |  |
- Free shipping - Free M-Audio Oxygen 25 |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Are the samples the same ones used in the PX-130? I have the Px-130 and haven’t detected any sample looping or anything… (but maybe I just don’t listen close enough?)
Yes, I believe their acoustic piano sounds are derived from the same sampling sets. The PX-130, PX-330, and PX3 all have short sampling loops, which doesn’t mean that the digital pianos themselves are bad. It just means that the slow compositions are not as great as the fast ones.