Product Review - Casio Privia PX3

I must admit a pang of nostalgia when I discovered I’d be reviewing the PX3. I spent a large portion of my teenage years playing Casio keyboards. In the 1980s, Casio synths (like the almost-classic mini-keyed CZ101) significantly undercut the likes of Roland, Korg and Yamaha and, on paper at least, seemed more highly specified in some areas, but didn’t always come out on top for sheer sound quality. Predictably, too, programming was largely LCD-driven and labyrinthine, and construction quality aimed at something less than heavy duty. They unashamedly represented the entry-level end of the market, but then, if the trusty Casio was what you could afford, it would certainly do the job.

Back in the present, I wondered if the PX3 would be a case of history repeating itself. Typical street price is a mere fraction of some of the stage piano competition, and yet the spec-sheet and marketing blurb puts it very much in the big league. There’s an 88-note hammer-action ‘Ivory Touch’ keyboard. The 250 editable onboard sounds major on acoustic and electric pianos, with Acoustic Resonance modelling, and a ‘Linear Morphing’ system that is supposed to do with away with obvious sample-switching across the velocity range. Other sounds include plenty of mallet instruments, organs, strings, pads, guitars and an entire General MIDI sound set. Keyboard splits and layers can be set up to play internal sounds or trigger external MIDI modules (via USB or conventional 5-pin MIDI sockets), and there are 64 ‘registration’ memories for these kinds of setups. Effects include EQ, reverb and chorus that can be shared amongst the internal parts, and two multi-effects processors, which can be applied to specific individual parts. A pitch-bend wheel lurks to the left of the keyboard, and there are two assignable buttons for toggling effects and so on, as well as rear panel inputs for two switch-type pedals. Oh, and the whole thing weighs only 23.8lbs. With so much on offer, for so little, there’s got to be a catch, right?