Casio PX350 Reviews

“It blew the opposition away”

Casio PX350 from the maker of cheap horrible watches? Well the facia design fared no better than their watches and the array of buttons was not intuitive. But at least the piano comes with a display in plain English so I knew what was happening. Again like Roland, headphone sockets on the rear and when I picked up the piano – it was so light, I was beginning to hate this piano already. Thought I may as well try this ‘toy’ just for the sake of it… and ended up placing an order!

Whilst not as good as the Roland, the Casio keyboard came a close 2nd in feel. Sound thru the built in speakers couldn’t compete with the Roland or Kawai, but thru headphones? in my opinion it blew the opposition away. (I only used a few piano sounds). Not that I’ll use it much but I did try some accompaniments and again was shocked, I expected rubbish. What I actually heard was the equal of, if not better than any other piano I tried. And the store’s January special offer deal also included a double X stand, headphones and 3yr warranty.

Yes the Roland is the better piano and if the display model had been for sale as the salesman first thought, I’d have taken it. But it wasn’t, the price was £1100 so decision, could I justify Roland’s FP-4F £500 premium over the Casio? In my opinion, certainly not. The only downside is I’ll have to buy a 3rd party sustain pedal because as with Yamaha’s P105, the PX350 is bundled with Casio’s cheap and nasty plastic offering. Why go to the trouble of producing a keyboard which is supposed to emulate an acoustic, introduce the A.I.R. sound engine which is supposed to make it sound like an acoustic, and bundle it with a Toys-R-Us sustain pedal?

Review by Ron Martin

 

“Didn’t like the sound at all”

I tried the new Casio PX-350 before getting the Roland and didn’t like the sound at all. Sounded like different pianos in the different octaves. Good value if you don’t care about the sound quality.

Review by P. Johnson, Canada

 

“After a week, I’m still having a great time playing it”

I bought a Casio PX-350.

Reasons:

Nice feeling weighted keyboard;
Good piano voices (through headphones or outboard loudspeakers)
Good set of “non-piano” voices, including the full General MIDI library.
Compact size and light weight (for an 88-key weighted action — it’s still an armful!),

I’m still exploring the auto-accompaniment feature – it’s very rich. After a week, I’m still having a great time playing it.

The closest contender was the Yamaha P155, but it was more expensive and has a much smaller voice library. Nice keyboard, though.

Review by Charles Cohen, Richmond, BC

 

“This Privia performs quite well”

I bought a white Casio Privia PX350 : a complete unit with stand and three pedal bar.

Main reasons, then:
-Keyboard feel, that I heard to be more than acceptable for tis price range
-Midi features, USB host , Midi record&play rythms, voices
-Decent piano sound
-Form factor: easily moveable, easy assembly-dissassembly of the stand.

First impressions have confirmed all my thoughts (and desires). This Privia performs quite well, key feel looks similar to more expensive Yamahas and Rolands I tested (i’m not an expert at all), and sound is more than decent to me.

Main “defects” of this model:

– Internal speakers : crappy sound , (not so importat to me, as I have it connected to an HiFi system
– Key “rebound” (common to this type of keyboards as far as I tested, but a bit uncomfortable to me)

Review by Jose Martin

 

“I’ve purchased a Casio Privia PX-350”

My main criteria were:

1.    I felt I actually needed to play a good selection of keyboards, and this shop had the best range locally that I could find. I wouldn’t wish to buy without playing.
2.    Re the instrument itself (in order of importance)
1.    It had to have the full 88 keys
2.    It had to be really portable (e.g. I have used the Yamaha DGX 620, which calls itself a portable grand piano, but only if you have an assistance).
3.    It had to have a good range of organ and harpsichord voices, preferably also strings as well as a good piano sound.
4.    It had to have a good number of memories, for ease of use during performance
5.    It had to have dual and split voice capability
6.    Ideally keys would have been fully weighted, but there didn’t seem to be one that met the first five points (especially the weight of the instrument), so I had to compromise on this.
7.    Ideally a good visual display of what’s selected, so as to check before playing
8.    Tuning control is an added bonus, in case I’m playing continuo with an orchestra that doesn’t play at A440.
9.    Ideally I would have liked three pedals, but Musicroom said to have this I would have to have the full wooden stand
10.    If speakers were inadequate, it had to have line out for improved amplification
11.    The shop only had a demo model in stock, so I haven’t actually got it home yet.

Review by Donovan Brown, Brighton

 

“I’m quite happy with it”

The PX-350 is most interesting.
So far, I’ve found one glitch in the “damper-off” handling of one piano voice.
Aside from that, I’m quite happy with it (after a few hours of fiddling).

Review by Charles Cohen, Richmond, BC, Canada

 

“These are customer reviews from actual owners of this piano.
The most recent review is at the top of this page “, Graham Howard, Piano Advisor

Send me an email if you have any questions or need advice: grahamhoward@ukpianos.co.uk
Or call 020 8367 5107

 

>> For Casio PX350 information, specifications and prices, click here