Casio PX-100

Easy to use but once in a while my fingers hit a program button.
What do I mean? I mean the harpsichord button is one inch away from middle C!!!! I was raised on a Steinway and I LOVE this Casio action.

Listen all you SNOBS. I don't KNOW how they did it. I don't CARE how they did it. There is NO BETTER action on anything that plugs into electricity. Go try it, with your fingers and not your prejudice. Not on a three thousand dollar YAMAHA ROLAND KORG or KURZWEIL. Face it. It IS TRUE. I think the sound is very nice for the price but I use IVORY software anyway. Compare your beloved Yamaha piano to IVORY why don't you!!! Some people just can't bear the fact that this little miracle says CASIO on it.

It is very easy to go from very soft to very loud because this action is SUPERB. It only has a few sounds. No rock or jazz organ. Electric pianos are fine. Harpsichord will get you playing your Bach inventions. Strings are poor. But I say again, if this were pitched by one of the big boys as a controller only for the great action then all the pros would have one for the action only at about $2000.

Here we have some issues as the only outputs are 1/8th stereo.
Also your midi plug sticks out the side and it would be very easy to take a hit and sheer off.

no opinion

I am not the only whacko to say it. MANY folks are praising the feel of these little babies.

I?ve made little marks at the keys to use the corresponding functions when I have no manual, accessability of transpose function would be better with separate buttons. The volume knob is a bit lousy, a slider would be better.

For me the keys weight was too hard. I opened the inside of the instrument with about 50 screws. The weight of the metal sheets (that form the piano action of the keys) is originally around 30g, I?ve cut 5g from each of these 88 sheets - this works better for me.

Further, I use the instrument with external AND internal speaker - I had to modify one output jack to not switch of the internal speaker when plugging into a PA. (Easy task; for those who would prefer that too and have some knowledge on soldering)

Sounds are OK.
If you adjust the volume to maximum and play sounds very loud, the internal speakers tend to a litte bit of overdrive. Not worse but worth mentioning.

I think you can depend on it - besides the lousy 3.5mm jacks that will not be the friend of your sound engineer and probably soon subject to slack joints when using PA with your keyboard.

I won?t to see the supporters face looking at my modded PC-100 :-)

It?s worth its money and its a good thing to tinker around with.
When you need something to play on for choir rehersals - a very good choice!

I JUST BOUGHT A CASIO PREVIA PX300 AND HAVE USED IT ON 2 GIGS.
MY ONLY CONSIDERATION WAS WEIGHT [27 LBS.] THE OTHER MUSICIANS LIKED IT VERY MUCH.

ACCESSABILITY OF SOUNDS WHILE PLAYING IS DIFFICULT. VIRTUALLY ALL
CHANGES OF RHYTHM, SOUNDS ETC. REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE PUSH OF ONE BUTTON.

BUT....FOR A GOOD BASIC GIG KEYBOARD REQUIRING SOLID PIANO SOUNDS...ITS MORE THAN OK. VIBES SOUND IS EXCELLENT BUT REQUIRES PRIOR SETTING UP BEFORE PLAYING ANYTHING. NO SEPARATE BUTTON FOR IT.

KEYBOARD ACTION IS HEAVY BUT CAN BE REGULATED.
I LIKE A VERY HEAVY ACTION BUT I SET IT ON "2' AND THE CHANGE TO A LIGHTER WEIGHT WAS VERY PRONOUNCED.

I DON'T USE OTHER EFFECTS. BUT THEY ARE EASY TO USE.

NO OTHER CAPABILITIES AS LISTED ABOVE. IT DOES HAVE MIDI BUT I NEVER USE IT.

RECORDS 5200 NOTES.

FAIRLY EASY TO USE AFTER FAMILIARIZATION

WORKS WELL FOR EVERYTHING. NOT GREAT BUT WELL.
REACTS WELL TO PLAYING. PLAYED BOTH CLASSICAL AND JAZZ LAST NIGHT AND
WAS CONTENT WITH IT.

VELOCITY COULD BE BETTER BUT CONSIDERING ITS POLYPHONIC CAPABILITIES ITS OK.

FOR $600USA ITS A GOOD VALUE FOR AN OLDER MUSICIAN WHO CAN'T CARRY TO MUCH WEIGHT.

CAN LIVE WITH IT.

IT SEEMS DEPENABLE

I WOLD USE IT ON A GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP.

COMPANY SUPPORT WAS EXCELLENT. IT IS BRAND NEW BUT COMPANY EXPLAINED DATA I COULD NOT FIGURE OUT FROM THE MANUAL.

I WOULD BUY IT AGAIN IF IT WERE THE ONLY KB IN THE LOW WEIGHT CATEGORY.

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING 60 YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL.

I HAVE NO STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT IT EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT IS 27LBS.

I WISH IT HAD "1 BUTTON ACCESSABILITY" YOU NEED TO PRESS CONTROL AND HOLD IT DOWN WHILE PUSHING OTHER BUTTONS FOR EVERYTHING" WASTES TIME BETWEEN SEGUES. AS YOU PLAY YOU HAVE TO REALLY LOOK DOWN AT THE CONTROLS TO FIND THE SOUNDS AND OTHER ACCESSORIES. HARD TO MAKE QUICK
DECISIONS.

IT HELPS ME MAKE MUSIC. AGAIN IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU ARE USING IT FOR.

I'LL MAKE MONEY WITH THIS INSTRUMENT BECAUSE I DON'T NEED A ROADIE TO HELP ME TRANSPORT IT. THAT IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT. AESTHETIC PRINCIPLES HAVE TO BE PUT ON THE BACK BURNER.

I HAD A ROLAND FP5 BUT I ALSO HAD A HERNIA...IF YOU GET MY MESSAGE.
BEST PIANO I EVER USED BUT 65 LBS IN THE CASE.

I just needed a practice "piano" that had 88 full-size keys, decent hammer action, and didn't take up too much space in my cramped room. As far as i'm concerned, if the on/off button works and each key makes the proper sound, then i'd say it's pretty easy to use. The manual is done nicely with easy to read diagrams.

First thing's first: it makes absolutely NO SENSE WHATSOEVER to compare this to other keyboards that cost hundreds of dollars more. It boggles the mind why some people would complain about how a $500 keyboard doesn't measure up against a $1500 one. As I said earlier, I just needed a practice instrument and I don't see myself in need of extensive features; but if I ever did, all you need is common sense to know that you may need to spend more money.

Biggest thing you notice is the feel; very impressive. Sounds are acceptable. It's a $500 digital piano (not the real thing); what more could you ask for?

I'd have to comment on this after a year (i've only had it for 2 months)

I've never had to contact customer support.

I wanted something that wouldn't take too much space [check]... 88 full-size keys with good hammer action [check-plus]... and something that wouldn't put a massive dent in my wallet [check]. I wanted a perfect practice piano and I most definately found it.

Interface is not intuitive

Comparing Casio PX-100 and PX-300 with Yamaha P90 electric pianos.
(The author of this review is an average professional gigging pianist in jazz, folk and "whatever they pay for" music) as well as piano teacher with B.M.

With all this talk of the new Casio pianos having good sound: I just tested both PX-100 and PX-300 against Yamaha P90 using a pair of decent studio headphones.
The result: you get what you paid for.


1. The piano sounds on PX-100 and PX-300 are noticeably different: PX-100 is better, PX-300 is way more 'tiny', the high EQ are way overblown.

2. The first impression of the piano sound is quite OK. However that impression lasts only while you are playing forte. As soon as you try mezzo-piano the sound becomes very poor: toy-like tingling something, not even close to a piano sound. Needles to say, soft passages just sound horrible. Forget about playing Bill Evans - like ballads or classical pieces!

3. The Casio pianos have maximum 32-notes polyphony. What that means, that every time you play a fast passage on sustain pedal, as soon as you exceed 32-note limit (which happens very often in common jazz style arpeggio run on top of a nice chord) your sustained notes disappear and the overall sound dies.

Now, all of the above would be OK for an electric piano some 10 years ago. But for year 2005 professional instruments - that's nonsense.

Yamaha P-90 is way way better: You have quite impressive dynamical depth ( they clearly sampled at several dynamic points), 64-notes polyphony is enough for even elaborate sustained passages, and of course Yamaha's keyboard feel is the best in the industry. Yes, Yamaha P-90 costs $400 more and weights 10 lb. more then Casio. But for any serious pro pianist going for Casio is too much a compromise in quality.

And talking about 10 lb. weight difference: Sure I would love to lag 27 lb. instead of 37b . But lets think for a minute: Here we have the industry leader (Yamaha) with history of great engineering, who designed the much needed version of electric piano for gigging musicians : no frills very good quality and as light as possible. - Do you think that if it were possible to 'shave' another 10 lb. off without sacrificing quality, they wouldn't do it? - Obviously something important enough prevented Yamaha from reducing the weight more. And I suspect that that important factor is reliability. -And Yamaha is famous for reliability. My old Yamaha electric piano well survived through a few horrific drops/falls, which unfortunately is unavoidable reality in gigging life. Would you want to take chances with Casio 10 lb. lighter?

What would be a real nice thing is for Yamaha to come up with the new model (long time overdue), further improving the piano samples. After all, the price of computer memory (which is the main cost factor in sampling instruments) dropped dramatically since the P90 came out. Especially the well known problem with higher overtones needs to be addressed. Also adding small light-weight internal speakers is on the 'wish list' of many musicians, not as main means of delivering the sound, but as a basic monitoring/back-up which is quite important in the gigging life. And as far as 37 lb. - let's face it: the stage speakers are way heavier - they are the real weight-lifting problem.

Moshe Michael Feldman February, 2005. Boston
feldmanmusic@hotmail.com

Presets are fine for what I do on it.
The piano sound is good to me. Sure there are others that are better but get the price in to context!
Manual is very good.

64 note polyphony. I'd never know if a note was missed!
Keyboard was a little unusual initially , but I get that feeling whenever i try a new instrument. After a few hours i love using it! It has scaled hammer action effect. The engineers who worked this one out have really gone to town it really replicates the feel of a piano. Although it may be a bit more perfect than a real piano.

There are about 8 instruments all keyboard instruments except the strings option. The strings are good for layering. 2 tones can be layered.

Well yes. Its always there. Just kidding because I am not a performer.

No problems with it.

I would definitely buy it again. Though I may think about the PX300 which has more functions. But i probably wouldnt use them. It was better to have the good looking stand in the package rather than the extra functions.

I bought this primarily because it is light-weight. You can't find a decent digital piano that weighs less than this one does - 27 lbs. It is very easy to use, just plug in and play. The presets are ok, I use the grand piano, electric piano, vibes, and strings. I have gigged with it four times and have been satisfied. It's not great but has value. As you know, gigs can be upstairs, downstairs, anywhere they put you and this rig is light enough to carry anywhere. I'm not too crazy about the hidden functions on the piano keys themselves. You almost have to have the manual with you to use them, but I memorize the ones I need and just go with that.

Polyphony is 32 and is adequate. Keyboard action is acceptable - actually pretty darn good considering it's price tag. Effects are ok, I've used only the easiest to get to settings. Once again, if you want more effects you have to use the hidden functions on the keyboard. It has an onboard two track sequencer which could be useful for practicing, etc. Another good thing about it is that it has a built in music stand. Just saves another trip on load in/out.

Sounds are just ok. Not as good as Yamaha or Kurzweil or Roland. I use it for gigging in small clubs, restaurants, etc. and works well for jazz. Has adequate keyboard feel, weighted with scaled hammer action. Sound are probably the weakest part of the piano but when you realize that it weighs only 27 lbs and costs only $499, you can't beat it. In a studio, I would use something of a little higher quality like Yamaha or Kurzweil.

So far, so good. I suspect that it will last as long as I take care of it.

Haven't needed customer support.

Overall, I'm impressed. I wish Yamaha, Kurzweil, or Roland would produce a digital piano that is lightweight. As gigging baby-boomers, like myself, get older, we are always looking for less equipment to haul around. Love the light weight, decent action, and acceptable sounds. The volume knob needs some markings so you can see it in the dark - may have to use some white out to mark it. I have a Kurzweil PC88 (55 lbs), Yamaha P80 (37 lbs), Alesis QS8 (55 lbs) and am tired of lugging them around to gigs. Also have a Roland EP7II that is small and lightweight but has pretty light action on the keys. So this Casio is a nice addition.

Fairly basic digital piano, I was actually looking for a weighted 88-note MIDI controller and I stumbled across the PX100. It's very easy to use, although there are hidden functions; but as I said, I was looking for just a controller, the piano sounds are a bonus touch. Not too bad at the sound department, I only use the main piano sound and the digital piano presets. No editing, but there's layering and split function. The manual is quite inforamtive, includes chord charts, MIDI charts and all...

POly is 32, but it's OK, because I'm using it to control a piano plugin (Sampletank Piano). There's some reverbs and choruses to `enhance' the sound a bit - but I would use the piano sounds dry. I just like it that way. There's some sort of basic 2 track sequencer where you can record your playing and jam on top of it; but I wouldn't use it because I can get a lot more on software.

I like the touch on the keys - it has a scaled/graded weighted action, so it's like playing a real piano. I tried a lot of digital pianos and a lot of them in this price range felt plasticky. The touch is very responsive, not too light or heavy. Sometimes my wrists would sore after a few hours of session using my other keys (Korg X3, M-Audio Radium), probably because the keys are spring loaded. Not on the PX100. They bounce back quite naturally. I never thought Casio built this! The sounds are alright, too. It's got only 10 sounds to choose from, but that's OK because I already had tons of sounds from programs and plugins. I only use the main piano sound and the `rhodes' type sound. Quite responsive, the velocity can be adjustable, but it feels right out of the box.

I only have it for a while now and I use it for both studio work and at home. It's quite light so it's not hard to bring it anywhere. It's got this removable stands, to convert it from a home digital piano to a `stage piano' keyboard. I like it very much. I was skeptical at buying a Casio at first, but when I tried it I had to have this.

It's definitely worth more than I paid. I look thru a lot of keys out there in this price range and I found that the PX100 suited my needs. The Yamaha DGX500 was actually one of my choices, but it has TOO many features which I don't think I will use. And the keys are not weighted, there are just `piano-look alike'. The PX100 have a really clean, uncluttered look which has a `professional' touch on it, unlike some digipianos that has chord / notes signs on top of the keys and accompaniments. I just needed an 88-note weighted MIDI keyboard which at least 2 piano sounds... I got IT.