A very well handled response James! Really appreciate the way you manage your own content and communicate with everybody. Not to further stir the pot, and if you end up deleting this comment I can understand why, but you probably know that Richard Formidoni was also a product and marketing specialist/manager at Korg before he joined Casio, and we often see him demoing Korg products not only by Korg also for other well-known American music stores like Kraft Music and Sweetwater. It's his livelihood to promote all the positive aspects of any products he's given to handle. Although Casio is perhaps an equally successful company and have had ventures in developing electronic/digital instruments, their portfolio and market share is no where near Korg. And with Casio's music stuff for a good part not being taken seriously, it's understandable that they employed a really well-known product demonstrator like Rich to prop up their reputation. But I didn't think it would go this way.
I stated in the video that I thought Rich was a good guy and I didn't feel anyone should take what was said by either party personally. Rich, I believe, was just doing his job and candidly, I was as well. As I have said before I believe that Casio now stands in a fork in the road and I hope they decide to challenge the market to make some really great instruments. This could really have been quite a competitive instrument, and even the action's other flaw with the fulcrum is a bit more forgiveable, in my opinion. They could use all of this to their advantage and I think Rich could help them lead the way.
@@ThePianoforever Hello James I love your videos and reviews basically because you are passionate and honest in your comments. I don’t know why Rich don’t talk with Casio about this big issue, however I hope every week new reviews from you because I’d like to buy a digital piano to back in my lessons after a lot of time , please would be possible to do some review about the keyboard hammer action from some workstation like Yamaha modx 8, korg Kronos 88, etc perhaps is not your area but could be a great comparative at least to a lot people that want to buy a workstation with this kind of keyboard. Sorry for my English because I’m Argentinian. Regards. Guillermo
That is not necessary as you can see on their site how it is inside: music.casio.com/en/products/digital_pianos/privia/#tech As you can see, it is quite complex.
The Casio salesman's comment about not discussing the action reminded me of a cartoon in one of the audio magazines years ago. A guy is setting up a large new speaker and spots a label on the back that says "Do not open - danger of shock." So of course he pulls the back off the big cabinet, only to find a single tiny little speaker and another label that says "Told you you'd be shocked!"
Love the irony. I saw a cartoon of a suggestion box that was overflowing and a suggestion that was poked half way into the slot that read "suggestion; "box needs emptying"
I'm actually laughing out loud right now - Casio have now disabled comments on their video because they were getting a lot of negative comments about their response to you - after claiming that you delete all comments that 'don't support your agenda'... the irony is too perfect.
Instead of posting 'he's a liar!', they should go like 'dang, that's the kind of fella we need to give us feedback to help and improve our product, create an even better reputation and ultimately sell more pianos'. Just a guy giving his opinion... realizing he might be subjective, so additionally approaches it with objective and highly regarded testing methods! Some companies and people always get so defensive. Like, chill, it wasn't an attack. Nobody's going 'hey, what can we find to hate on in life today?!', that would be miserable. That's the beauty of your channel, James! You really give us a fair rundown of every thing that's out there, so we can draw our own conclusions for what suits us best.
I'm sure Casio already knew about this, the engineers are salty about it, but management decided that the properly weighted keys are too expensive to make / not worth some kind of tradeoff to them, and vetoed the decision. 99% of these "they should hire this critic" cases are actually either "they know and just dont care" or "quality control sucks and they dont care"
It seems Casio wasn't very happy with my assessment of the PX-S3000 I bought a couple months ago to review, and in a recent livestream of theirs they mentioned me and defended their product. Let's take a listen to what they have to say. ua-cam.com/video/O3Pmk3Kwk6Y/v-deo.html Also, here's the other two videos regarding this instrument: Hype or Truth: The Casio PX-S3000 ua-cam.com/video/p7xHgXFEJUE/v-deo.html Casio's Flawed Piano Action: Update PX-S3000 PX-S1000 ua-cam.com/video/OB9tqkPKdeU/v-deo.html
If they do watch your video. Thats a awesome thing. You are not only help the viewers pick the most suitable products for them and encourage manufacturer fixing the flaws on their products in the future. Even they don't admit 😂
It is sad a big brand like Casio deprecating your expertise, but it is only understandable if you take into account that you showed a fatal flaw in one of its products: one that renders this product as a big, expensive toy. A lot of its customers will be forced to look for other products, or if they have already bought the product they will feel disappointed or even worse, cheated. If you think that people buy brands because they represent a quality control and good design, then it follows that they feel threatened in that intangible that is their credibility. Hope you are well and hope Casio redesigns its digital pianos in the future. I understand what they are trying to protect, but also hope they learn from its mistakes.
The truth is aching. They made fulcrum too short and reduced weighting of black keys to make them even "pressable". Casio is not gonna like you anymore but your reviews are one of the best, truly from a pianist perspective. BTW I can see P515 underneath. Please check it's downweight, I'm very curious for your measurement.
Let me see, who do I trust more, a big corporate company who have never made an acoustic piano, OR a guy who has been playing piano since 5 years old, and has played virtually every make of acoustic, digital and electronic organs as well as harpsichord,s and an whole bunch of other instruments?.. Hmmm , I think I would trust you more James, it’s kind of unprofessional and off putting to hear Casio,s response. I have worn their watches and used their calculators for years, I even had a little keyboard and had great fun with it, but come on guys man up and do the right thing!
I agree with james 100%, but for casio to man up, it would probably mean a recall of all flawed units or at least a redesign, which is a financial toll they might not want to take. Although the impact on their reputation and respect as a company would probably be worse if they choose to continue with this action. I would amend the problem if i were casio
I truly cannot believe that their point is basically "the way everyone has always measured keys shouldn't apply to us." It's an intellectually dishonest response at really every level. And I'm a Casio owner (although less likely to stay one now when it's time to upgrade).
Hey yall (Matthew and CJ). I am a Casio owner as well. I have a PX-5s, two PX-160's, CTK-4400, and a WK-7600. Although I've had these keyboards collectively around 5-6(ish) years, I've never had problems with them. I always was a fan of Casio boards because of their affordability, but I guess that comes at the cost of honesty. I will NEVER buy another Casio product. Not even a watch or calculator.
"It's an intellectually dishonest response" I could not agree more, for a few seconds he sounded exactly like a flat earther, denying facts and trying but failing miserably to show he knows what he's talking about.
JPS you’re the best. This seems like a cover up from Casio to try to dismiss an error they know they’ve made. Shame on them. I have always preferred Yamahas and this blatant cover up from Casio ensures I will NEVER buy their product. Thank you for your hard work.
Your response is FIRE! Even the Thunder Gods are agreeing with you, haha! Seriously, bravo on the response! And thank you for logically breaking it down.
I would like to see the inside of the Casio. Would be interesting if there is good reason why casio builds it in this way or if its just a miss calculation.
@@mrparts I guess the point here is the lighter and thinner design has resulted in a much more significant compromise in the feel/playability than most other digital pianos, and a lot of people find that level of compromise unacceptable.
@@FulvioGa Thanks for the link. As far as I can see in the pictures, the levers for black and white keys are the same on the side of the weight. On the side where the weight levers are moved by the keys, they ones for the black and white keys are of different lengths to accommodate the longer white key and shorter black key. If this is true, the lever on the black keys would only have to be shortened by a few millimeters on the side where the lever touches the key. Then both keys could have the same weight. In addition to the weight, you also have to take into account the moment of inertia. However, this can only be determined dynamically or mathematically. And by the way the moment of inertia of all the different levers in a grand piano action is the reason why it is physically impossible to recreate a grand piano action with only the key and one additional lever. You can get close like the Kawai Grand Feel. But you will have a gap.
If you like music, you might want to check out my second channel "Milan Recording Studios". Feel free to subscribe and hit the bell icon if you want to! ua-cam.com/channels/u1LrpmWwK1ztTvIayRar9w.html
This is why I love your review videos and trust them so much. You are clearly not afraid to state things honestly, even if or when the things you say aren't complimentary to the manufacturer. For these reasons, I value your opinions over those stated in reviews on other channels. Plus, I would love seeing the internals for a digital piano, so, I hope you choose to do the video you talked about, where you take this Casio apart.
Did you hear that thunder in the background, James? The Casio gods are angry. Be thou ware... Seriously, though, their energy should be spent in admitting the problem, addressing the problem and thus making a much more salable product. Even if we bought their argument that there is nothing wrong with the action and it is perfect -- well, is it the white keys' whose action is perfect or, is it the black keys' whose action is perfect? Answer THAT one, Casio!
It seems they have completely ignored that you "noticed" the unevenness of playing BEFORE you got out the weights. You "felt" the issue while playing. The weights simply helped us visualize it.
Casio is a big company, so they would do anything before admitting that they made a mistake. The probable reason why they might have overlooked this issue could be something you mentioned in one of your videos (I think it was regarding the Roland Fp30), Casio doesn't make acoustic pianos, only keyboards. Yamaha, for example, makes both acoustic and digital pianos, so they have experience and knowledge about acoustic pianos and they can use that knowledge to make better digital pianos. Anyway, we appreciate your honesty, James. Keep it up
I disagree about the reason. Casio's been making digital pianos for quite a while now, and they made better actions before, actually i don't think any of their previous actions had this issue (even really old ones). Most likely they got over excited about making the slimmest piano (maybe too much marketing pressure idk...) and had to compromise A LOT. Of course they don't want it to be called "flawed" for that... Most other brands like roland, korg, nord, etc. don't make acustic pianos either and i don't think anyone found this issue in those other "non acustic piano maker" brands. Anyways, yeah, that seems like a big issue they should fix instead of justify, and i wouldn't "upgrade" from my px-350 to the s series, nor buy one if i was in the market...
@@federicoborchez2635 I have owned a couple of Casio keyboards and they didn't have a great action anyway. But the reason I gave was just an opinion, it could be anything else. And sure Roland, Korg and Nord don't have this issue in any of their keyboards (as far as I know) but they have some other issues. Of course they are great companies, but I don't think the result of their products will be the same as the result that companies like Yamaha or Kawai can obtain.
I have been following your reviews very closely as I am thinking of upgrading my digital piano. I was thinking of getting the Privia PX-S1000 - I was almost sold on it until I saw your review. So I actually emailed Casio to ask whether they plan to fix this problem. This is the response I got (unable to paste screenshot of the email from Casio in UA-cam comments): "Dear Adwait, Thank you for Choosing Casio. We are glad to hear about your interest in the PXS1000 keyboard. Now in terms of the black keys being lighter than the white keys that is now the piano is designed. If you are interested in buying this keyboard and it is available on the website you can go ahead and purchase it" So they made a statement saying that's how the Piano is designed. It was surprising to see in the Casio live stream that they think its not even an issue now :(
Yes, well, I suppose you could honestly claim that nothing was overlooked if you actually intended the crappy features to be there. Mission accomplished, I guess?
Wow, talk about self-justification! No keyboardist wants to play a keyboard that has different weight for the black keys. You would never be able to control dynamics.
@@emlynjessen2957 ? it have different weight but so much people like the action, she is good enough for playing and from portable view is casio cpd100 or px1000/3000 for me a good choice. yes only @ home i buy a Yamaha or Roland or Kawai, i have a Kawai MP7 and it is Big and Heavy and the Keyboard is for Home learning to loud... Yamaha is also not quite and here come Casio into the Game...
The comment section was turning against them after this video. Typical corporate damage control behavior. I wouldn't be surprised if they deleted the video and re-uploaded it to reset the like / dislike counter next.
This has the feel of a corporate response going into damage limitation mode. It shouldn't be necessary for you to take apart a keyboard you bought with your own money. It would have been nice to see Casio invite you up to their premises (once out of lockdown) to talk over the issue. Sit you at a bench with their engineers. Make a coffee. Have a chat. Work with you rather than try to counter. I think I would see that kind of response from Yamaha or, in other instrument families, Backun. It would be interesting to hear if they do this.
Graham don’t hold your breath :) James is probably a little blip to them on their radar. I’m sure a bazillion people will run and buy Casio just for its name and never look at any review. Sad but true.
I'm no specialist but i believe the action is so compact (short) they have to make the end of the black key lighter. Imaginary numbers to explain my point: 40g on the end = 50-60g in the middle of the key 50g on the end = 60-70g in the middle of the key, They chose to have a lighter black key to compensate for the action that is simply too short, minimizing the drawbacks of it. Thank you for your work!
@@FulvioGa Looks pretty simple to me. As is the solution... Tear away the white keys hammers and lighten them up with a bench grinder... Would make a great HOW TO - video... and the end condition couldn't be much worse than the original.
Casio is dealing with this issue in the worst possible way. Instead, to address the problem and try to fix it at the source (I.E. update the keyboard action and release a version 2.0 for both PxX-S1000 and 3000),Casio is instead focusing on false advertising, false statements of a clearly flawed product and on top of that is trying to discredit someone just because it has the courage and the honesty to inform everyone about it. This is not acceptable and is going to damage the image of Casio in the digital piano world. And it is a real shame because I think Casio digital pianos are very good products with amazing potential for the future. But what they are doing with the PX-S 3000 and 1000 is bringing Casio 100 steps back. Keep it up with your amazing work James. You are doing right.
Unfortunately, sometimes it is impossible to try an action before purchasing one. I live in Mexico, far away from any dealer that might carry a digital piano that I am interested in. I am forced to purchase online and even then, many dealer or manufacturer restrictions prohibit shipping to Mexico. I am forced to trust UA-cam reviews of various actions and make my decisions based on the manufacturers reputation and UA-cam reviews. For that reason, I am leaning toward Kawais.
Hello James, I'm an old musician from way back who enjoys your videos. I'm also a math teacher with a specialisation in physics, so I thought I would offer the following reflection on this video: I'm fairly sure you will find that the keyboard under review is just a result of the physics of levers. Somewhere inside, presumably from a spring or weighted mechanism of some kind, a force pushes the keys upward. The pressing-force required to begin to move the key downward is inversely proportional to the distance from the fulcrum. Suppose that you have an imaginary ultra-compact keyboard, where the fulcrum of the black keys is exactly at the back of the part you can see. Halfway along the key, the halfway-force would be twice the tip-force because 2 is the inverse (reciprocal) of 1/2. This is an increase of 100% !!. Similarly, at 1/10 of the keylength from the fulcrum you would need a pressing-force that is 10 times the tip-force. This is an increase of 900% !! In other words, the increase in pressing-force, as you move along the key from the tip, is large. Things get better the further you are away from the fulcrum: If the "back" of the black key is one keylength away from the fulcrum then the halfway-force is about 33% more than the tip-force (a grand piano). At two keylengths it is down to only 20% more (a big grand piano?). If the keys are really just short levers, where do you weight them to feel like a normal piano? If you choose the tip, the key may be unplayable half way along. If you choose the halfway point, the tip of the key has to feel light by comparison. It seems to me that a very compact keyboard simply has to be "light" at the tips of short keys, just in order to be playable.
Rich - The action is not flawed at all. Mike(? Forgot the name. Man in corner) - Every portable digital piano has a sacrifice. Rich is saying there's not a problem. Mike is saying the problem is acceptable. Which is it?
Lots of debating the science of measuring and how people are handling comments sections...but my two cents as a super amateur keyboard player and PXS1000 owner...he’s totally right, the weight on black keys and white keys are different and different enough that it’s challenging to keep your attack/volume even between keys, and even precise timing is an issue, the harder to press keys hit the slightest moment later. It’s not horrible or unplayable, but it’s real and noticeable even to a hobbyist. Which is a bummer because like he explained in this video just about everything else about it is super fantastic. I bought mine through the mail and didn’t want to deal with a return, and don’t want to lose value reselling, so I’m sticking with it, but would have picked out a different keyboard if I had a chance to A/B them looking for this issue ahead of time.
With the short keys overall, they had to compromise. By making the black keys lighter, the AVERAGE weight of the black keys may actually be the same as the white keys. (Too light at the end and too heavy at the back). But to the player, it isn’t a usable feel. Bottom line is that you can’t make a proper feeling keyboard with keys that are that short. Casio learned this the hard way.
I totally love my s3000. ... and I'm not payed by casio and I'm not a bot ;) ...your point is valid and I enjoy your videos, but for me the pxs3k was the only piano in my music store, that I fell in love with. I love the keys, the sound and I have absolute no problem with the action (I`m playing on "light1"). Just wanted to say that ;) Cheers, mate!
Here's something interesting for you to try: hold the Casio keyboard upside-down. The resistive force of the keys to being pressed down comes from one of two sources (or possibly both but that's rare on inexpensive instruments): weights or springs. If you turn the keyboard upside-down and the keys are all pressed "down" (meaning toward the base of the keyboard), the force comes from weights. If that does not happen, the force comes from springs. If it's from springs, the fact they're making such a fuss is particularly ridiculous, because changing to different springs is trivial and could be done with almost no redesign work on the instrument. If the force comes from weights, fixing the problem may be harder.
What Casio doesn't want to divulge is that the black keys act as a secondary input to their calculator add-on that they will be releasing at NAMM 2021. Imagine, a piano and calculator all in one 88 key-bed? I'M JUST KIDDING!!!! But seriously, as someone who is a self-taught and in the process of buying a piano, I enjoy your insight and opinion on the various digital piano's you review and after watching about 80% of them I can clearly confirm that your reviews are not biased in any way. They clearly reflect the perspective of one who has played a whole spectrum of piano's and in no way are you trying to trash any maker or brand. Keep up the good work James!
It's really fantastic to see someone like yourself picking apart these keyboards because lesser pianists wouldn't necessarily notice these things. I also think the information you give out is a great benefit to all. I can't wait to see the keyboard in bits!. Excellent Video, Keep up the good work.
The reason the black keys are lighter is BECAUSE they are heavy near the back. If they increase the weight, then the action nearer the fulcrum might become unplayable.
Dear James, I am turning 68 years old this year and have been playing since I was 14. Back in my day the Hammond organ with Leslies was the instrument of choice. Many gigs required a team for movers. On a few occasions, a well mic'd piano would suffice. I moved onto a fender Rhodes which I had Harold Rhodes and Steve Woodyard custom regulate for me. It was a time of working 6 nights a week. Outside of my 1925 Krakuer grand and so many practice pianos at Berklee in Boston, at least it somewhat felt like a piano. But, it was the sound of the 70's, so who cared. The Rhodes was the suitcase model and I had young muscles at the time, so I didn't mind throwing it into my big Chevy. Then came the 80's and 90's and tons of wedding gigs on every weekend. Well, I must have purchased every and anything that was portable. In came the Yamaha DX-7. Gosh, I hated that keyboard's action, especially being a pianist and also from my Hammond days, I broke a few keys "gliding" (less waterfall action) and fisting on that DX-7. Wedding gigs were a challenge because many times I had to go from room to room where the cocktail hour and ceremony were in different rooms. I think I use to bring a small Casio and additional amp.for some of those gigs. Alas, many of us older musicians had to put up with bad action just to "stay" within the "hip" sound at the time. I have had many other rigs since for performing and when I was in the film business, Lord knows I had walls of MIDI modules, sequencers, Pro-Tools, Synclaviers, etc. Gosh...I wish there were guys like you around back then. I think you are doing a wonderful service for younger guys and us old farts. For instance, I had to give up my Krakauer (I inherited that piano from my uncle who was a concert pianist) when I moved into smaller home. I settled on a Yamaha CVP 609 for my small home. I like what it does and the action is good, but like any keyboard that is NOT mechanically resembling a grand piano, the "classical" pianist in me has to compromise. I still do some composing for music libraries and film, of course the Yamaha comes in handy for that and I use it to trigger my Pro-Tools and Cubase stuff. Once again, I appreciate your blogs and, FYI, I always though Casio should stick to making toy pianos. Sincerely, Jerry Larosa www.jerrylarosa.com
Refreshing to hear such thorough thoughtful honest reviews. I gig with an old S90 XS and its been flawless for 12 years but its getting bit heavy for my old back. I'm looking at something new and lighter and you are the first place i look. I'm no pianist, but no way would I buy a casio now after the way they acted in this matter. I'll stick with the yams for sure! Great work! And thank you!
Try the lighter models of Yamaha and Kawai. Both brands offer very good portable pianos with great sound and actions. While the sound is very much a question of personal taste, I'd rate Kawai slightly over Yamaha when it comes to the action. Still, you can't go wrong with any of both. They both have many years of experience with building real pianos.
I appreciate good, honest debate on issues or supposed issues. I value your opinions on this channel as it played a significant part in my decision to purchase a Kawai MP11se.
Thanks James, I was about to pull the trigger on a PX-S1000 from Thomann. After watching this and then going off to watch their video I have changed my mind. Even if they had fixed the issue. I also notice they criticise you for moderating the comments on your channel, yet they have disabled comments on their video. Speaks volumes about the companies attitude. I'm off to buy a Yamaha P125B
Man I totally LOVED this review. I saw your video of trying out a red Casio privia pxs1000 a while back and from that day I was saving up for one and now by watching this video I've made the decision not to. I absolutely appreciate your honesty and I know what's it to you where I or anyone spends their money but you sir have done such a great service by helping me or I don't know how many others make a better decision. Of course if key action is not someone's no 1 priority then by all means this keyboard is a great buy but a digital piano not having a good action means you're buying a car that looks beautiful and has all the features one would need but the drive of the car isn't smooth. That ain't right. MUCH MUCH LOVE for your beautiful work sir. Keep it up
The black keys are obviously lighter than the white keys, i got the casio s3000 played for the first time and immediately realized that, as a new piano player i did a research to see if acoustic pianos feel that way. I remember seeing the grams weight test video before playing the s3000, and after i played it, i watched the video again and that made a lot more sense. Every time i would play a chord that has the white and black keys, i would end up always playing the black key alone first because it was lighter.
If you think incorrect weight is strange, check out Yamaha's (now quite old) DGX-505. They reduced the width of the piano keyboard by about 3%. They didn't remove any keys, they just reduced the width of each key by 3%, and thus cut about 2 inches from the width of the entire keyboard. When I asked them, they said that they don't shrink any keyboards like this anymore. Though I could never get a good explanation for why the keyboard is at 97% scale. It will throw you off considerably when practicing, as it requires adjustments to muscle memory.
I'm a viewer from Taiwan. Thanks for your honesty and sense of justice. This world really needs more people just like you. I bought a 3000 in this January before knowing this serious issue. However, thanks to its beautiful and compact design, I still love it and it looks so good in my narrow bedroom.
Since most sounds have been relegated to hard drives these days, all these keyboard manufacturers need to do is make a good action on their keyboard controllers. They (for the most part) are all failing dismally at this... Some keyboard companies are adding functions and layers and layers of complexity to their controllers such that you need to read an 800 page PDF to figure out how to get the pitch bend wheel to work. Losing the sound market share has hurt the keyboard industry considerably. Most people just want good keys and that is it. The sooner keyboard manufacturers figure this out the better. Keyboard action is paramount when it comes to a controller these days and you are right to point out these apparent differences. The tip of the key is where the finger calibrates the pressure necessary to push a key further in on the board. I am glad you are uncompromising on your assessment of these boards. These weight differences and keys being hard to push are not minor issues.
Yes indeed, I do! :D I can't answer every single one sadly, I get hundreds a day. I'm a lot more likely to answer them on new videos and very likely to respond on my second channel Milan Recording Studios since it's small. :) Glad you enjoy the content!
It’s mind-boggling to me that you’re only 20. As someone who’s 2 years older than you are, I really feel like I have to step up my game haha. Thanks and stay awesome!
Great update as always and what was an interesting topic before has become even more interesting now that Casio is responding. I currently own a lower end Casio model and found this channel because I was looking to upgrade to either a PX-S1000 or PX-S3000. The key action was my primary concern followed by the piano sample quality and finally the built-in speaker quality. Your honest review and analysis of the key action was a big help in my decision making process. I'm looking at Kawai and Yamaha models now. For sure pull that baby apart! Would love to see how their action works and how hard of a fix this would actually be for the next release. Hopefully they consider your feedback as it sounds like they aren't far off from having a good keyboard in this price range with some simple tweaks.
Great video, as a Casio owner, I felt disappointed with their response towards what is a genuine concern. I was planning to upgrade to a higher specification product later in the year which would have been another Casio, but this whole saga has put me off and I will be looking at alternatives. Casio missed a trick here, they could have invited you to help offset the issues they face, but instead elected to make themselves look 'high and mighty', not in my opinion a good attribute, and one that does not demonstrate the degree of strategic awareness and customer care one would expect.
I subscribed out of respect for your in-depth, honest reviews. I congratulate you for not letting companies push you around or influence your honest assessment of their products. Shame on Casio for not providing a professional, quality response to your evaluation. I guess their low quality response is an accurate reflection of their products.
I will get my PX-S1000 tomorrow and cant wait for it. Now im a bit disappointed if I made the right choice. As a beginner, would I even notice this difference?
This is the CASIOGATE ;-) I learn a lot from your videos. Great job! They lost me as a client for using these aggressive unethical tactics trying to discredit you. I wonder if what you tried at NAMM was an improved only-for-show version. Terrible!
You are absolutely fantastic James. I'm really impressed that you read every comment. And you respond also to a lot of them. And that is an extraordinary thing by popular UA-camrs like you are! Continue in what you are doing, you are really helping people when choosing their piano and me also! I am almost decided to go for Yamaha P-515 and I am really looking forward to your review of this wonderful instrument. Thank you very much ❤️👍
Not in the market for a digital keyboard (as I purchased the Yamaha P-125 recently) but I find this story fascinating! Love your independent honest professional reviews and commentary. Keep up the good work sir!
How did I end up here? UA-cam has sent me here for some reason. I’m not even upset. I like your whole vibe. I’ll be spending more time with your videos. Clearly the Casio guys don’t know anything about the Streisand effect because it’s precisely because they tried to discredit your video that new eyes are being drawn to the situation. Really though, I think the folks at Casio are still sore that $2 and one of their watches wasn’t enough to get John Candy a room for the night back in 1987.
A review I would like to see from you: Casio Privia Pro PX 560, an older model. Very cool piano workstation, everybody says. I really like your response, while also showing how the Casio salesman couldn't properly rebut your assessment in any other way than putting you down.
Since the fulcrum is so close to the end of the keys, perhaps the making the black keys have a lighter touch is by design. Since many black keys are always played closer to the fulcrum, it might make sense to design them to be lighter and easier to play closer to the fulcrum than the white keys, which are nearly always played farther away from the fulcrum. What doesn't make sense is Casio's defense. If it was by design, why not admit it and explain the reasoning. If it wasn't by design, then it's a flaw.
Your response to their response, I feel is very professionally handled. You have pointed out the pros and cons of each digital piano reviewed fairly in my opinion. I don't understand when companies defend themselves against, or reject methods that professional technicians use. The music store here actually pointed this out as well so you aren't the first to mention it either. You can also search for many UA-cam videos that talk about key weights or watching piano tuners using the same weights you demonstrated with. It was a fair test. Thanks for making complete non-biased videos. I am looking into a digital piano for myself and it has been really hard to find feedback that hasn't been sponsored in some way or another, or that compared more than two brands by the same person. For myself I am leaning towards the Roland FP30 or even the FP10 because for me all I want is a digital piano I can play with headphones that feels most like a real piano. Your series has been fantastic.
Interesting comparison - James, a talented pianist who has a long track record of being sincere and knowledgeable, and two salesmen who sound like they were hawking vacuum cleaners and used cars last week. I'm not a pianist, but my brother is, and I won't print what he said about Casio keyboards. (He has a rather nice 12' Steinway in his music room.) He thought about getting a Casio for his kids to learn on, but one playing was all it took to let them learn on the Steinway. No sense in learning on an instrument that just doesn't feel right. In fairness, he didn't really like the actions on any of the electronic pianos, but his opinion of Casio's product was pretty low. Backstory - he's an electrical engineer, and worked on projects for both Steinway and Gulbransen Organ many decades ago (and Fender, too!)
Thank you for this. I bought this piano about 4 weeks ago, via GearTree/Amazon, sight unseen/unplayed, because I love my 14 year old Casio Privia PX-s310, but needed a new key board as my old one was fading. I immediately did notice the difference in the keys. The Sound wasn't as rich either. On top of that up to 10 Rhythm sounds were defective and not working. I made several attempts to contact Casio several times, but due to the Pandemic they were short staffed and could only give brief comments. I REALLY tried to like this, but with the above mentioned items, I'll be returning it to Amazon before my return window expires. I really wanted to like it!! I'll definitely wait until my local music stores opens back up before buying another digital piano. Your video was so helpful!!!!
James, after all this you're probably soured on Casio, but I'd be very interested in your opinion of the Casio PX-560, an older stage piano with a different action.
Casio makes some very nice products as well and I do plan on reviewing more of their keyboards in the future. The types and models I have yet to decide on.
(At the risk of taking a joke to seriously): It's not really like that though. Apple fairly soon accepted that there was a problem despite that flippant comment from Jobs. They gave everyone a free workaround (the bumper case), and also re-designed it for the next model.
I second the weight discrepancy on this product, having owned it for about 2 years now. Always felt something is hindering my normal flow of playing and maintaining my timing. And to add to it, my piano lost sound in the headphones jacks on the front, last year sometime. No falls, no trauma to the instrument. The product is out of warranty and some Casio service center wants me to ship it to NY for repairs. I am in CA. A local repair shop has quoted about $200 in repairs. My S3000 is up for sale on FB marketplace.
Btw, great response to Casio! The whole reason they are defending their side is somebody consciously made that design decision and now it's somewhat disgraceful for them to admit such a decision was made at the design level by some top architect at Casio. Had it been a manufacturing defect they might have opened recalls and replacements...and I would have been fronting that line!
Breaking the keyboard down for an internal analysis would be amazing. ESPECIALLY, if you teamed up with a reputable/authoritative piano technician/builder!
Thanks for your thorough and honest assessments of the many instruments (acoustic and digital) you have played. Companies have a hard time admitting that they have erred or may have erred in the execution of a product. Your comment about this company needing a very experienced pianist to test their prototypes before a design goes into production is very much on point.
It seems to be like this: if the weight is identical at the end of the key, the black keys might be to heavy closer to the pivot point. The question is: where does the average piano player press a black key? At this point the keys should have the same weight. Shure, it would be way better, if the keys would have nearly the same weight wherever you press them, but if that's not possible, with the slick design...: What's the best solution?
Returned my PX S3000 immediately after i bought it 1 year back. Had faulty keys with weird sounds, a couple even with touch-sensitive issues. Besides, speakers were tinny and had little to provide the bass side of Piano sounds. I own a Kawai CN39 now.
Yes, open it up and have a professional piano repairman or two there with you. You would not be the first person to do such on youtube [pedals, amps... you name it, it has been done and stil is]; and that piece of gear is yours. You can do whatever you so wish with it. Sadly, Casio is not the only company that seems to have fallen into this kind of rethoric.
Hey James! Love your videos, thorough and so fun to listen to! I'll be buying a Yamaha. It's a mucccch cheaper one (px125) but I was deliberating between these two companies. I have chosen my "compromise" with my money. big shout out from Israel !
Isn't Casio shooting themselves in the foot here. Up till now I kind of figured they (Casio) probably make great gear, and occasionally, like most, make some mistakes. I think it was interesting to see you show one such mistake. But now Casio says "oh no, that thing that was shown there, that is how our products are made on purpose!".
I posted a response comment sharing your sentiment (and some words) just moments before reading yours. Casio will be walking with a limp for a while because or their reaction.
I think it was really designed like this on purpose. They mentioned some compromises are sometime required. They should owe it up to tell everyone that is the trade-off for the compact/slim design. This thing is most likely meant for beginner. For someone like me, I probably can't tell the difference. But with advance player like James, it won't pass the test.
I have been a piano tuner/technician since 1975, and I always check on James' UA-cam Channel before I purchase any piano... Great critique(s) and honest appraisal by an actual pianist vs. just a salesman or paid representative.
Interesting. If they really wanted to dispute your findings, they could just show the 'proper' way that they check the weight to show that there is no difference. They just opted to say your way is wrong. My guess is they probably made the weights that way intentionally for whatever reason (which they don't want to talk about) and with the product already released, they just want to stick with it. Can't really fault them for that. I will also bet that some engineers at Casio are probably saying "I knew someone would notice that". lol. If there next keyboard has this anomaly removed, you can take that as an acknowledgement of the issue. BTW, I like the kind of 'A Few Good Men' moment there with them knowing that comments are moderated when they never left a comment. How could they know? Good stuff.
I think this video explains your take on things very fairly. I had a bad experience with a Casio Privia 160, which had a horribly noisy keyboard; I spoke to Casio, even emailed them a sound recording of the terribly clunky thing, and they offered me precisely no help. So I went to a showroom and tried another example of the same model - and found it had the same, unbearably loud keyboard. I had to take a considerable loss on a brand new instrument in order to get the Yamaha 125 that I didn't buy originally because it was quite a lot more expensive than the Privia. Lesson learned, twice over.
I would like to see the inside of the Casio. Is there any good reason why Casio builds it in this way? Or its just a bad design work? The fact is, Casio will never admit it. Because it'd force the company to make a great recall in various countries.
I doubt a recall would be a consideration, but admitting a flaw would greatly inhibit future sales of the 1000 and 3000 models, and potentially new models. Casio shot themselves in the foot by defending these models in the manner they chose. In this case, saying/doing nothing would have been a better choice.
A word of support from New Zealand. I've followed your channel (including this issue) for some time, and have always found your reviews well-considered and mostly positive, so when you point out a problem I pay attention. In this case, I think you picked up a subtle issue that many other reviewers without your delicate touch have missed (along with many who have purchased this product). That's not to say their reviews aren't also valid, and if you don't want this instrument for playing or teaching classical piano, its other good points may outweigh this bad one. I won't bother commenting on Casio's reaction, since others have done so very effectively! Please keep up your great work.
A very well handled response James! Really appreciate the way you manage your own content and communicate with everybody.
Not to further stir the pot, and if you end up deleting this comment I can understand why, but you probably know that Richard Formidoni was also a product and marketing specialist/manager at Korg before he joined Casio, and we often see him demoing Korg products not only by Korg also for other well-known American music stores like Kraft Music and Sweetwater. It's his livelihood to promote all the positive aspects of any products he's given to handle. Although Casio is perhaps an equally successful company and have had ventures in developing electronic/digital instruments, their portfolio and market share is no where near Korg. And with Casio's music stuff for a good part not being taken seriously, it's understandable that they employed a really well-known product demonstrator like Rich to prop up their reputation. But I didn't think it would go this way.
I stated in the video that I thought Rich was a good guy and I didn't feel anyone should take what was said by either party personally. Rich, I believe, was just doing his job and candidly, I was as well. As I have said before I believe that Casio now stands in a fork in the road and I hope they decide to challenge the market to make some really great instruments. This could really have been quite a competitive instrument, and even the action's other flaw with the fulcrum is a bit more forgiveable, in my opinion. They could use all of this to their advantage and I think Rich could help them lead the way.
ThePianoforever I agree. They definitely have potential and they’ve also been winning some blind tests, hopefully they can do even better
@@ThePianoforever Hello James I love your videos and reviews basically because you are passionate and honest in your comments. I don’t know why Rich don’t talk with Casio about this big issue, however I hope every week new reviews from you because I’d like to buy a digital piano to back in my lessons after a lot of time , please would be possible to do some review about the keyboard hammer action from some workstation like Yamaha modx 8, korg Kronos 88, etc perhaps is not your area but could be a great comparative at least to a lot people that want to buy a workstation with this kind of keyboard. Sorry for my English because I’m Argentinian. Regards.
Guillermo
I am planning on expanding my series to include a great deal more instruments and should include workstations in the future.
Guiye Ledesma I agree! And no worries your English is really good! Quizá mejor que mi español
PLEASE take it apart.
liam Or buy the 1000 and take that apart cos it’s cheaper :-)
I'll second that...
Yes, show us what it hides inside!
That is not necessary as you can see on their site how it is inside: music.casio.com/en/products/digital_pianos/privia/#tech
As you can see, it is quite complex.
@@FulvioGa Good catch. Lots of detail there. Looks like they had to modify the action to accommodate the smaller size.
The Casio salesman's comment about not discussing the action reminded me of a cartoon in one of the audio magazines years ago. A guy is setting up a large new speaker and spots a label on the back that says "Do not open - danger of shock." So of course he pulls the back off the big cabinet, only to find a single tiny little speaker and another label that says "Told you you'd be shocked!"
ProFriend 😂
@@ammoalamo6485 Remember those Bose 901s that sounded horrible unless you used the special equalizer that came with them?
Doug Browning That’s quite different, Bose never claimed they would sound the same without the active EQ.
that cartoon really hit the nail on the head, dang
Love the irony.
I saw a cartoon of a suggestion box that was overflowing and a suggestion that was poked half way into the slot that read "suggestion; "box needs emptying"
I'm actually laughing out loud right now - Casio have now disabled comments on their video because they were getting a lot of negative comments about their response to you - after claiming that you delete all comments that 'don't support your agenda'... the irony is too perfect.
Seriously, that's almost embarrassing... Be true to your word and your customer.
Instead of posting 'he's a liar!', they should go like 'dang, that's the kind of fella we need to give us feedback to help and improve our product, create an even better reputation and ultimately sell more pianos'.
Just a guy giving his opinion... realizing he might be subjective, so additionally approaches it with objective and highly regarded testing methods! Some companies and people always get so defensive. Like, chill, it wasn't an attack. Nobody's going 'hey, what can we find to hate on in life today?!', that would be miserable.
That's the beauty of your channel, James! You really give us a fair rundown of every thing that's out there, so we can draw our own conclusions for what suits us best.
I'm sure Casio already knew about this, the engineers are salty about it, but management decided that the properly weighted keys are too expensive to make / not worth some kind of tradeoff to them, and vetoed the decision. 99% of these "they should hire this critic" cases are actually either "they know and just dont care" or "quality control sucks and they dont care"
It seems Casio wasn't very happy with my assessment of the PX-S3000 I bought a couple months ago to review, and in a recent livestream of theirs they mentioned me and defended their product. Let's take a listen to what they have to say.
ua-cam.com/video/O3Pmk3Kwk6Y/v-deo.html
Also, here's the other two videos regarding this instrument:
Hype or Truth: The Casio PX-S3000
ua-cam.com/video/p7xHgXFEJUE/v-deo.html
Casio's Flawed Piano Action: Update PX-S3000 PX-S1000
ua-cam.com/video/OB9tqkPKdeU/v-deo.html
Now let's look at the bright side , they actually gave publicity to ur channel . I am sure ppl checking out ur videos will surely sub 👊
If they do watch your video. Thats a awesome thing. You are not only help the viewers pick the most suitable products for them and encourage manufacturer fixing the flaws on their products in the future. Even they don't admit 😂
What the
@@pranavjayaprakasanut Streisand effect. I certainly did not know about the 'bad' review before. Now I know.
It is sad a big brand like Casio deprecating your expertise, but it is only understandable if you take into account that you showed a fatal flaw in one of its products: one that renders this product as a big, expensive toy.
A lot of its customers will be forced to look for other products, or if they have already bought the product they will feel disappointed or even worse, cheated. If you think that people buy brands because they represent a quality control and good design, then it follows that they feel threatened in that intangible that is their credibility.
Hope you are well and hope Casio redesigns its digital pianos in the future. I understand what they are trying to protect, but also hope they learn from its mistakes.
The truth is aching. They made fulcrum too short and reduced weighting of black keys to make them even "pressable". Casio is not gonna like you anymore but your reviews are one of the best, truly from a pianist perspective.
BTW I can see P515 underneath. Please check it's downweight, I'm very curious for your measurement.
It ain't like he's getting sponsor by Casio. They can join that Australian dude in the dislike bucket.
P515 has probably the heaviest downweight on the market but many people actually like that. It must be about 70 grams if I remember correctly.
Faster key return does not hinder skill development or learning progress.
After a few weeks of ownership, I returned my P515. The keys just felt too stiff and heavy. It sounded great, though.
It sounds to me like they could probably be made heavier while still being pressable. Equal weights at the end wouldn't stop that.
Mad respect. The amount of detail you go into regarding the issues and Casio's responses is great
Let me see, who do I trust more, a big corporate company who have never made an acoustic piano, OR a guy who has been playing piano since 5 years old, and has played virtually every make of acoustic, digital and electronic organs as well as harpsichord,s and an whole bunch of other instruments?.. Hmmm , I think I would trust you more James, it’s kind of unprofessional and off putting to hear Casio,s response. I have worn their watches and used their calculators for years, I even had a little keyboard and had great fun with it, but come on guys man up and do the right thing!
Neither Formidoni nor Martin (Casio"s faces} has the pianistic formation of this guy. Period.
I agree with james 100%, but for casio to man up, it would probably mean a recall of all flawed units or at least a redesign, which is a financial toll they might not want to take. Although the impact on their reputation and respect as a company would probably be worse if they choose to continue with this action. I would amend the problem if i were casio
I truly cannot believe that their point is basically "the way everyone has always measured keys shouldn't apply to us." It's an intellectually dishonest response at really every level. And I'm a Casio owner (although less likely to stay one now when it's time to upgrade).
Yeah. I have a px-160, after 4 years it has 2 bad keys. Is that normal?
Hey yall (Matthew and CJ). I am a Casio owner as well. I have a PX-5s, two PX-160's, CTK-4400, and a WK-7600. Although I've had these keyboards collectively around 5-6(ish) years, I've never had problems with them. I always was a fan of Casio boards because of their affordability, but I guess that comes at the cost of honesty. I will NEVER buy another Casio product. Not even a watch or calculator.
@@mister-amazing Not normal at all. That's ridiculous and I would be mad.
"It's an intellectually dishonest response" I could not agree more, for a few seconds he sounded exactly like a flat earther, denying facts and trying but failing miserably to show he knows what he's talking about.
Particulator yes and with a little yes man in his corner who can’t have an opinion but just agrees to everything Casio says.
JPS you’re the best. This seems like a cover up from Casio to try to dismiss an error they know they’ve made. Shame on them.
I have always preferred Yamahas and this blatant cover up from Casio ensures I will NEVER buy their product.
Thank you for your hard work.
Your response is FIRE! Even the Thunder Gods are agreeing with you, haha! Seriously, bravo on the response! And thank you for logically breaking it down.
I would like to see the inside of the Casio. Would be interesting if there is good reason why casio builds it in this way or if its just a miss calculation.
Here you are: music.casio.com/en/products/digital_pianos/privia/#tech
@@mrparts I guess the point here is the lighter and thinner design has resulted in a much more significant compromise in the feel/playability than most other digital pianos, and a lot of people find that level of compromise unacceptable.
@@FulvioGa Thanks for the link. As far as I can see in the pictures, the levers for black and white keys are the same on the side of the weight. On the side where the weight levers are moved by the keys, they ones for the black and white keys are of different lengths to accommodate the longer white key and shorter black key.
If this is true, the lever on the black keys would only have to be shortened by a few millimeters on the side where the lever touches the key. Then both keys could have the same weight.
In addition to the weight, you also have to take into account the moment of inertia. However, this can only be determined dynamically or mathematically. And by the way the moment of inertia of all the different levers in a grand piano action is the reason why it is physically impossible to recreate a grand piano action with only the key and one additional lever. You can get close like the Kawai Grand Feel. But you will have a gap.
If you like music, you might want to check out my second channel "Milan Recording Studios". Feel free to subscribe and hit the bell icon if you want to!
ua-cam.com/channels/u1LrpmWwK1ztTvIayRar9w.html
This is why I love your review videos and trust them so much. You are clearly not afraid to state things honestly, even if or when the things you say aren't complimentary to the manufacturer. For these reasons, I value your opinions over those stated in reviews on other channels.
Plus, I would love seeing the internals for a digital piano, so, I hope you choose to do the video you talked about, where you take this Casio apart.
It's only a proof that you're doing a good job here ;)
Did you hear that thunder in the background, James? The Casio gods are angry. Be thou ware... Seriously, though, their energy should be spent in admitting the problem, addressing the problem and thus making a much more salable product. Even if we bought their argument that there is nothing wrong with the action and it is perfect -- well, is it the white keys' whose action is perfect or, is it the black keys' whose action is perfect? Answer THAT one, Casio!
Hahaha, I was going to make this exact comment!
Casio's weather-control division is prepping for a counter-strike
It seems they have completely ignored that you "noticed" the unevenness of playing BEFORE you got out the weights. You "felt" the issue while playing. The weights simply helped us visualize it.
Casio is a big company, so they would do anything before admitting that they made a mistake. The probable reason why they might have overlooked this issue could be something you mentioned in one of your videos (I think it was regarding the Roland Fp30), Casio doesn't make acoustic pianos, only keyboards. Yamaha, for example, makes both acoustic and digital pianos, so they have experience and knowledge about acoustic pianos and they can use that knowledge to make better digital pianos.
Anyway, we appreciate your honesty, James. Keep it up
I disagree about the reason. Casio's been making digital pianos for quite a while now, and they made better actions before, actually i don't think any of their previous actions had this issue (even really old ones). Most likely they got over excited about making the slimmest piano (maybe too much marketing pressure idk...) and had to compromise A LOT. Of course they don't want it to be called "flawed" for that...
Most other brands like roland, korg, nord, etc. don't make acustic pianos either and i don't think anyone found this issue in those other "non acustic piano maker" brands.
Anyways, yeah, that seems like a big issue they should fix instead of justify, and i wouldn't "upgrade" from my px-350 to the s series, nor buy one if i was in the market...
@@federicoborchez2635 Nord buys action from Kawai and Fatar they don't make it as this needs lots of know how.
@@federicoborchez2635 I have owned a couple of Casio keyboards and they didn't have a great action anyway. But the reason I gave was just an opinion, it could be anything else.
And sure Roland, Korg and Nord don't have this issue in any of their keyboards (as far as I know) but they have some other issues. Of course they are great companies, but I don't think the result of their products will be the same as the result that companies like Yamaha or Kawai can obtain.
I appreciate your honesty, it's a big part of why I watch your channel.
Refreshing.
I have been following your reviews very closely as I am thinking of upgrading my digital piano. I was thinking of getting the Privia PX-S1000 - I was almost sold on it until I saw your review. So I actually emailed Casio to ask whether they plan to fix this problem. This is the response I got (unable to paste screenshot of the email from Casio in UA-cam comments):
"Dear Adwait,
Thank you for Choosing Casio.
We are glad to hear about your interest in the PXS1000 keyboard. Now in terms of the black keys being lighter than the white keys that is now the piano is designed. If you are interested in buying this keyboard and it is available on the website you can go ahead and purchase it"
So they made a statement saying that's how the Piano is designed. It was surprising to see in the Casio live stream that they think its not even an issue now :(
Could you forward that email to the following address? aloveofmusic.com/Contact.html
Yes, well, I suppose you could honestly claim that nothing was overlooked if you actually intended the crappy features to be there. Mission accomplished, I guess?
ThePianoforever Sent!
Wow, talk about self-justification! No keyboardist wants to play a keyboard that has different weight for the black keys. You would never be able to control dynamics.
@@emlynjessen2957 ? it have different weight but so much people like the action, she is good enough for playing and from portable view is casio cpd100 or px1000/3000 for me a good choice. yes only @ home i buy a Yamaha or Roland or Kawai, i have a Kawai MP7 and it is Big and Heavy and the Keyboard is for Home learning to loud... Yamaha is also not quite and here come Casio into the Game...
Some of your best work! Stay strong and let’s have a look at those internals.
Casio have turned off the comments section on their youtube page 'Casio Music Gear' its hilarious.
The comment section was turning against them after this video. Typical corporate damage control behavior.
I wouldn't be surprised if they deleted the video and re-uploaded it to reset the like / dislike counter next.
James, thank you very much for your honest and unbiased reviews. We support you and need you to keep like this!
This has the feel of a corporate response going into damage limitation mode. It shouldn't be necessary for you to take apart a keyboard you bought with your own money. It would have been nice to see Casio invite you up to their premises (once out of lockdown) to talk over the issue. Sit you at a bench with their engineers. Make a coffee. Have a chat. Work with you rather than try to counter. I think I would see that kind of response from Yamaha or, in other instrument families, Backun. It would be interesting to hear if they do this.
Graham don’t hold your breath :) James is probably a little blip to them on their radar. I’m sure a bazillion people will run and buy Casio just for its name and never look at any review. Sad but true.
I'm not so sure about that @@HeCoversMe. He's a big enough blip to cause a public response. Which is cool to see.
I'm no specialist but i believe the action is so compact (short) they have to make the end of the black key lighter. Imaginary numbers to explain my point:
40g on the end = 50-60g in the middle of the key
50g on the end = 60-70g in the middle of the key,
They chose to have a lighter black key to compensate for the action that is simply too short, minimizing the drawbacks of it.
Thank you for your work!
The relationship should be linear. It is a physical lever.
That action is quite complex: www.worldpianonews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Casio-Privia-PX-S1000-action_Post.jpg
@@FulvioGa Looks pretty simple to me. As is the solution... Tear away the white keys hammers and lighten them up with a bench grinder... Would make a great HOW TO - video... and the end condition couldn't be much worse than the original.
Casio is dealing with this issue in the worst possible way.
Instead, to address the problem and try to fix it at the source (I.E. update the keyboard action and release a version 2.0 for both PxX-S1000 and 3000),Casio is instead focusing on false advertising, false statements of a clearly flawed product and on top of that is trying to discredit someone just because it has the courage and the honesty to inform everyone about it.
This is not acceptable and is going to damage the image of Casio in the digital piano world. And it is a real shame because I think Casio digital pianos are very good products with amazing potential for the future. But what they are doing with the PX-S 3000 and 1000 is bringing Casio 100 steps back.
Keep it up with your amazing work James. You are doing right.
No one wants to admit their mistake, especially it is a million dollar mistake.
I noticed the Casio music gear channel has their comments completely turned off for their video response now.
Nobody should buy any keyboard regardless of good or bad reviews before going to a store and trying it for themselves. We appreciate your reviews!
Unfortunately, sometimes it is impossible to try an action before purchasing one. I live in Mexico, far away from any dealer that might carry a digital piano that I am interested in. I am forced to purchase online and even then, many dealer or manufacturer restrictions prohibit shipping to Mexico. I am forced to trust UA-cam reviews of various actions and make my decisions based on the manufacturers reputation and UA-cam reviews. For that reason, I am leaning toward Kawais.
Unfortunately that is not an option if you are a complete beginner.
Hello James,
I'm an old musician from way back who enjoys your videos. I'm also a math teacher with a specialisation in physics, so I thought I would offer the following reflection on this video:
I'm fairly sure you will find that the keyboard under review is just a result of the physics of levers. Somewhere inside, presumably from a spring or weighted mechanism of some kind, a force pushes the keys upward. The pressing-force required to begin to move the key downward is inversely proportional to the distance from the fulcrum.
Suppose that you have an imaginary ultra-compact keyboard, where the fulcrum of the black keys is exactly at the back of the part you can see. Halfway along the key, the halfway-force would be twice the tip-force because 2 is the inverse (reciprocal) of 1/2. This is an increase of 100% !!. Similarly, at 1/10 of the keylength from the fulcrum you would need a pressing-force that is 10 times the tip-force. This is an increase of 900% !! In other words, the increase in pressing-force, as you move along the key from the tip, is large.
Things get better the further you are away from the fulcrum: If the "back" of the black key is one keylength away from the fulcrum then the halfway-force is about 33% more than the tip-force (a grand piano). At two keylengths it is down to only 20% more (a big grand piano?).
If the keys are really just short levers, where do you weight them to feel like a normal piano? If you choose the tip, the key may be unplayable half way along. If you choose the halfway point, the tip of the key has to feel light by comparison. It seems to me that a very compact keyboard simply has to be "light" at the tips of short keys, just in order to be playable.
so many words to say "buy another piano" :D
Good to see this unbiased video, and it couldn’t hurt if you open the thing, it probably will explain a thing or two. Keep up the good work!
Your videos are always accurate and knowledgeable and I look to your videos for thoughts about keyboards for my piano students. Keep it up!
Rich - The action is not flawed at all.
Mike(? Forgot the name. Man in corner) - Every portable digital piano has a sacrifice.
Rich is saying there's not a problem. Mike is saying the problem is acceptable. Which is it?
That is Mike Martin, big wig of Casio Marketing.....Rich's boss.
Lots of debating the science of measuring and how people are handling comments sections...but my two cents as a super amateur keyboard player and PXS1000 owner...he’s totally right, the weight on black keys and white keys are different and different enough that it’s challenging to keep your attack/volume even between keys, and even precise timing is an issue, the harder to press keys hit the slightest moment later. It’s not horrible or unplayable, but it’s real and noticeable even to a hobbyist. Which is a bummer because like he explained in this video just about everything else about it is super fantastic. I bought mine through the mail and didn’t want to deal with a return, and don’t want to lose value reselling, so I’m sticking with it, but would have picked out a different keyboard if I had a chance to A/B them looking for this issue ahead of time.
With the short keys overall, they had to compromise. By making the black keys lighter, the AVERAGE weight of the black keys may actually be the same as the white keys. (Too light at the end and too heavy at the back). But to the player, it isn’t a usable feel. Bottom line is that you can’t make a proper feeling keyboard with keys that are that short. Casio learned this the hard way.
I totally love my s3000. ... and I'm not payed by casio and I'm not a bot ;) ...your point is valid and I enjoy your videos, but for me the pxs3k was the only piano in my music store, that I fell in love with. I love the keys, the sound and I have absolute no problem with the action (I`m playing on "light1"). Just wanted to say that ;) Cheers, mate!
People puts too much emphasis on other people's reviews instead of trying for themselves.
Here's something interesting for you to try: hold the Casio keyboard upside-down.
The resistive force of the keys to being pressed down comes from one of two sources (or possibly both but that's rare on inexpensive instruments): weights or springs. If you turn the keyboard upside-down and the keys are all pressed "down" (meaning toward the base of the keyboard), the force comes from weights. If that does not happen, the force comes from springs.
If it's from springs, the fact they're making such a fuss is particularly ridiculous, because changing to different springs is trivial and could be done with almost no redesign work on the instrument. If the force comes from weights, fixing the problem may be harder.
moi01887 the problem is the length from the key tip to the fulcrum. Not springs or weights.
What Casio doesn't want to divulge is that the black keys act as a secondary input to their calculator add-on that they will be releasing at NAMM 2021. Imagine, a piano and calculator all in one 88 key-bed? I'M JUST KIDDING!!!! But seriously, as someone who is a self-taught and in the process of buying a piano, I enjoy your insight and opinion on the various digital piano's you review and after watching about 80% of them I can clearly confirm that your reviews are not biased in any way. They clearly reflect the perspective of one who has played a whole spectrum of piano's and in no way are you trying to trash any maker or brand. Keep up the good work James!
It's really fantastic to see someone like yourself picking apart these keyboards because lesser pianists wouldn't necessarily notice these things.
I also think the information you give out is a great benefit to all.
I can't wait to see the keyboard in bits!.
Excellent Video, Keep up the good work.
The reason the black keys are lighter is BECAUSE they are heavy near the back.
If they increase the weight, then the action nearer the fulcrum might become unplayable.
Dear James, I am turning 68 years old this year and have been playing since I was 14. Back in my day the Hammond organ with Leslies was the instrument of choice. Many gigs required a team for movers. On a few occasions, a well mic'd piano would suffice. I moved onto a fender Rhodes which I had Harold Rhodes and Steve Woodyard custom regulate for me. It was a time of working 6 nights a week. Outside of my 1925 Krakuer grand and so many practice pianos at Berklee in Boston, at least it somewhat felt like a piano. But, it was the sound of the 70's, so who cared. The Rhodes was the suitcase model and I had young muscles at the time, so I didn't mind throwing it into my big Chevy. Then came the 80's and 90's and tons of wedding gigs on every weekend. Well, I must have purchased every and anything that was portable. In came the Yamaha DX-7. Gosh, I hated that keyboard's action, especially being a pianist and also from my Hammond days, I broke a few keys "gliding" (less waterfall action) and fisting on that DX-7. Wedding gigs were a challenge because many times I had to go from room to room where the cocktail hour and ceremony were in different rooms. I think I use to bring a small Casio and additional amp.for some of those gigs. Alas, many of us older musicians had to put up with bad action just to "stay" within the "hip" sound at the time. I have had many other rigs since for performing and when I was in the film business, Lord knows I had walls of MIDI modules, sequencers, Pro-Tools, Synclaviers, etc. Gosh...I wish there were guys like you around back then. I think you are doing a wonderful service for younger guys and us old farts. For instance, I had to give up my Krakauer (I inherited that piano from my uncle who was a concert pianist) when I moved into smaller home. I settled on a Yamaha CVP 609 for my small home. I like what it does and the action is good, but like any keyboard that is NOT mechanically resembling a grand piano, the "classical" pianist in me has to compromise. I still do some composing for music libraries and film, of course the Yamaha comes in handy for that and I use it to trigger my Pro-Tools and Cubase stuff. Once again, I appreciate your blogs and, FYI, I always though Casio should stick to making toy pianos. Sincerely, Jerry Larosa www.jerrylarosa.com
Refreshing to hear such thorough thoughtful honest reviews. I gig with an old S90 XS and its been flawless for 12 years but its getting bit heavy for my old back. I'm looking at something new and lighter and you are the first place i look. I'm no pianist, but no way would I buy a casio now after the way they acted in this matter. I'll stick with the yams for sure! Great work! And thank you!
Try the lighter models of Yamaha and Kawai. Both brands offer very good portable pianos with great sound and actions. While the sound is very much a question of personal taste, I'd rate Kawai slightly over Yamaha when it comes to the action. Still, you can't go wrong with any of both. They both have many years of experience with building real pianos.
I love how professional you are in your responses. Very mature. Good job!
I really enjoy your videos, buddy.
Come on, Use a screw driver, Take it a part!!! Do it now!! Shame on Casio for there answer.
And donate the carcass to Hydraulic Press Chanel!
@@Zohnorg hahahaha *mike drop*
I appreciate good, honest debate on issues or supposed issues. I value your opinions on this channel as it played a significant part in my decision to purchase a Kawai MP11se.
Thanks James, I was about to pull the trigger on a PX-S1000 from Thomann. After watching this and then going off to watch their video I have changed my mind. Even if they had fixed the issue. I also notice they criticise you for moderating the comments on your channel, yet they have disabled comments on their video. Speaks volumes about the companies attitude. I'm off to buy a Yamaha P125B
Man I totally LOVED this review. I saw your video of trying out a red Casio privia pxs1000 a while back and from that day I was saving up for one and now by watching this video I've made the decision not to. I absolutely appreciate your honesty and I know what's it to you where I or anyone spends their money but you sir have done such a great service by helping me or I don't know how many others make a better decision. Of course if key action is not someone's no 1 priority then by all means this keyboard is a great buy but a digital piano not having a good action means you're buying a car that looks beautiful and has all the features one would need but the drive of the car isn't smooth. That ain't right.
MUCH MUCH LOVE for your beautiful work sir. Keep it up
The black keys are obviously lighter than the white keys, i got the casio s3000 played for the first time and immediately realized that, as a new piano player i did a research to see if acoustic pianos feel that way. I remember seeing the grams weight test video before playing the s3000, and after i played it, i watched the video again and that made a lot more sense. Every time i would play a chord that has the white and black keys, i would end up always playing the black key alone first because it was lighter.
If you think incorrect weight is strange, check out Yamaha's (now quite old) DGX-505. They reduced the width of the piano keyboard by about 3%. They didn't remove any keys, they just reduced the width of each key by 3%, and thus cut about 2 inches from the width of the entire keyboard.
When I asked them, they said that they don't shrink any keyboards like this anymore. Though I could never get a good explanation for why the keyboard is at 97% scale. It will throw you off considerably when practicing, as it requires adjustments to muscle memory.
I'm a viewer from Taiwan.
Thanks for your honesty and sense of justice. This world really needs more people just like you.
I bought a 3000 in this January before knowing this serious issue. However, thanks to its beautiful and compact design, I still love it and it looks so good in my narrow bedroom.
Since most sounds have been relegated to hard drives these days, all these keyboard manufacturers need to do is make a good action on their keyboard controllers. They (for the most part) are all failing dismally at this... Some keyboard companies are adding functions and layers and layers of complexity to their controllers such that you need to read an 800 page PDF to figure out how to get the pitch bend wheel to work. Losing the sound market share has hurt the keyboard industry considerably. Most people just want good keys and that is it. The sooner keyboard manufacturers figure this out the better. Keyboard action is paramount when it comes to a controller these days and you are right to point out these apparent differences. The tip of the key is where the finger calibrates the pressure necessary to push a key further in on the board. I am glad you are uncompromising on your assessment of these boards. These weight differences and keys being hard to push are not minor issues.
Do you really read every single one of the comments? Wow... i gotta say, you're amazing, keep up the good work, I love your content !
Yes indeed, I do! :D I can't answer every single one sadly, I get hundreds a day. I'm a lot more likely to answer them on new videos and very likely to respond on my second channel Milan Recording Studios since it's small. :) Glad you enjoy the content!
Keep keeping it real! The unbiased nature of your reviews is appreciated.
It’s mind-boggling to me that you’re only 20. As someone who’s 2 years older than you are, I really feel like I have to step up my game haha. Thanks and stay awesome!
Great update as always and what was an interesting topic before has become even more interesting now that Casio is responding. I currently own a lower end Casio model and found this channel because I was looking to upgrade to either a PX-S1000 or PX-S3000. The key action was my primary concern followed by the piano sample quality and finally the built-in speaker quality. Your honest review and analysis of the key action was a big help in my decision making process. I'm looking at Kawai and Yamaha models now.
For sure pull that baby apart! Would love to see how their action works and how hard of a fix this would actually be for the next release. Hopefully they consider your feedback as it sounds like they aren't far off from having a good keyboard in this price range with some simple tweaks.
Great video, as a Casio owner, I felt disappointed with their response towards what is a genuine concern. I was planning to upgrade to a higher specification product later in the year which would have been another Casio, but this whole saga has put me off and I will be looking at alternatives. Casio missed a trick here, they could have invited you to help offset the issues they face, but instead elected to make themselves look 'high and mighty', not in my opinion a good attribute, and one that does not demonstrate the degree of strategic awareness and customer care one would expect.
This review prevented me to make a huge mistake, thank you.
Ps, please take it apart, I'm just curious now.
I subscribed out of respect for your in-depth, honest reviews. I congratulate you for not letting companies push you around or influence your honest assessment of their products. Shame on Casio for not providing a professional, quality response to your evaluation. I guess their low quality response is an accurate reflection of their products.
I will get my PX-S1000 tomorrow and cant wait for it. Now im a bit disappointed if I made the right choice. As a beginner, would I even notice this difference?
This is the CASIOGATE ;-)
I learn a lot from your videos. Great job! They lost me as a client for using these aggressive unethical tactics trying to discredit you. I wonder if what you tried at NAMM was an improved only-for-show version. Terrible!
Thank you for your effort and dedication which is very useful for all fans.
I was about to buy a PX-S1000, but when i saw ur video i changed my mind... and i just bought a Yamaha P 125 instead last week.Thanks again.
You are absolutely fantastic James. I'm really impressed that you read every comment. And you respond also to a lot of them. And that is an extraordinary thing by popular UA-camrs like you are! Continue in what you are doing, you are really helping people when choosing their piano and me also! I am almost decided to go for Yamaha P-515 and I am really looking forward to your review of this wonderful instrument. Thank you very much ❤️👍
this video should be retitled "actual footage of the Casio murder"
I've been waiting for an in depth P-515 review from you and I think I just spotted it! If you are making one I'm really looking forward to it.
Well-said, James !!! I have a lot of respect for your honesty and your strength of character ! The folks at Casio could learn a lot from you !
They don't want to learn.Their response proved that.
I commend you for the reviews and the follow up video from Casio's Q&A.
It's Awesome!
Keep going man.
Software engineers: "It's not a bug it's a feature."
Piano engineers: "It's not a flaw it's a design choice."
Not in the market for a digital keyboard (as I purchased the Yamaha P-125 recently) but I find this story fascinating! Love your independent honest professional reviews and commentary. Keep up the good work sir!
How did I end up here? UA-cam has sent me here for some reason. I’m not even upset. I like your whole vibe. I’ll be spending more time with your videos. Clearly the Casio guys don’t know anything about the Streisand effect because it’s precisely because they tried to discredit your video that new eyes are being drawn to the situation. Really though, I think the folks at Casio are still sore that $2 and one of their watches wasn’t enough to get John Candy a room for the night back in 1987.
A review I would like to see from you: Casio Privia Pro PX 560, an older model. Very cool piano workstation, everybody says.
I really like your response, while also showing how the Casio salesman couldn't properly rebut your assessment in any other way than putting you down.
Since the fulcrum is so close to the end of the keys, perhaps the making the black keys have a lighter touch is by design. Since many black keys are always played closer to the fulcrum, it might make sense to design them to be lighter and easier to play closer to the fulcrum than the white keys, which are nearly always played farther away from the fulcrum. What doesn't make sense is Casio's defense. If it was by design, why not admit it and explain the reasoning. If it wasn't by design, then it's a flaw.
Your response to their response, I feel is very professionally handled. You have pointed out the pros and cons of each digital piano reviewed fairly in my opinion. I don't understand when companies defend themselves against, or reject methods that professional technicians use. The music store here actually pointed this out as well so you aren't the first to mention it either. You can also search for many UA-cam videos that talk about key weights or watching piano tuners using the same weights you demonstrated with. It was a fair test.
Thanks for making complete non-biased videos. I am looking into a digital piano for myself and it has been really hard to find feedback that hasn't been sponsored in some way or another, or that compared more than two brands by the same person. For myself I am leaning towards the Roland FP30 or even the FP10 because for me all I want is a digital piano I can play with headphones that feels most like a real piano. Your series has been fantastic.
Interesting comparison - James, a talented pianist who has a long track record of being sincere and knowledgeable, and two salesmen who sound like they were hawking vacuum cleaners and used cars last week. I'm not a pianist, but my brother is, and I won't print what he said about Casio keyboards. (He has a rather nice 12' Steinway in his music room.) He thought about getting a Casio for his kids to learn on, but one playing was all it took to let them learn on the Steinway. No sense in learning on an instrument that just doesn't feel right. In fairness, he didn't really like the actions on any of the electronic pianos, but his opinion of Casio's product was pretty low. Backstory - he's an electrical engineer, and worked on projects for both Steinway and Gulbransen Organ many decades ago (and Fender, too!)
Thank you for this. I bought this piano about 4 weeks ago, via GearTree/Amazon, sight unseen/unplayed, because I love my 14 year old Casio Privia PX-s310, but needed a new key board as my old one was fading. I immediately did notice the difference in the keys. The Sound wasn't as rich either. On top of that up to 10 Rhythm sounds were defective and not working. I made several attempts to contact Casio several times, but due to the Pandemic they were short staffed and could only give brief comments. I REALLY tried to like this, but with the above mentioned items, I'll be returning it to Amazon before my return window expires. I really wanted to like it!! I'll definitely wait until my local music stores opens back up before buying another digital piano. Your video was so helpful!!!!
I love the pxs-3000 except for the action, so definitely hope Casio improve the action in the next version.
They've already modified their action three times since 2003. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privia
James, after all this you're probably soured on Casio, but I'd be very interested in your opinion of the Casio PX-560, an older stage piano with a different action.
Casio makes some very nice products as well and I do plan on reviewing more of their keyboards in the future. The types and models I have yet to decide on.
Take it apart!!
That is not necessary as you can see on their web site how it is inside: music.casio.com/en/products/digital_pianos/privia/#tech
Good on ya mate nice, this is the first time I've seen your channel and I like it
Every keyboard and piano I have ever owned has been Casio. Their response here has lost my respect and my business. If you make a mistake, own it.
WOW!!! That was some intense thunder... Nice going, you never miss a beat in your review
..
Louder than you think as our studio is very well insulated.
I can imagine... very good video♪
Casio's version of Apple's "people hold their phone the wrong way "
(At the risk of taking a joke to seriously): It's not really like that though. Apple fairly soon accepted that there was a problem despite that flippant comment from Jobs. They gave everyone a free workaround (the bumper case), and also re-designed it for the next model.
I second the weight discrepancy on this product, having owned it for about 2 years now. Always felt something is hindering my normal flow of playing and maintaining my timing. And to add to it, my piano lost sound in the headphones jacks on the front, last year sometime. No falls, no trauma to the instrument. The product is out of warranty and some Casio service center wants me to ship it to NY for repairs. I am in CA. A local repair shop has quoted about $200 in repairs. My S3000 is up for sale on FB marketplace.
Btw, great response to Casio! The whole reason they are defending their side is somebody consciously made that design decision and now it's somewhat disgraceful for them to admit such a decision was made at the design level by some top architect at Casio. Had it been a manufacturing defect they might have opened recalls and replacements...and I would have been fronting that line!
"Every portable piano has a sacrifice in some way."
"The action is not flawed at all."
-Casio folks not even agreeing with themselves
Thank you for your reviews. I am looking to buy an instrument and your reviews are highly appreciated
Open the Casio!
Let´s see!
I'm writing this comment to support you. You did the right thing to speak up about this issue, you should be proud of yourself!
Breaking the keyboard down for an internal analysis would be amazing. ESPECIALLY, if you teamed up with a reputable/authoritative piano technician/builder!
Thanks for your thorough and honest assessments of the many instruments (acoustic and digital) you have played. Companies have a hard time admitting that they have erred or may have erred in the execution of a product. Your comment about this company needing a very experienced pianist to test their prototypes before a design goes into production is very much on point.
It seems to be like this: if the weight is identical at the end of the key, the black keys might be to heavy closer to the pivot point. The question is: where does the average piano player press a black key? At this point the keys should have the same weight. Shure, it would be way better, if the keys would have nearly the same weight wherever you press them, but if that's not possible, with the slick design...: What's the best solution?
Returned my PX S3000 immediately after i bought it 1 year back. Had faulty keys with weird sounds, a couple even with touch-sensitive issues. Besides, speakers were tinny and had little to provide the bass side of Piano sounds.
I own a Kawai CN39 now.
Yes, open it up and have a professional piano repairman or two there with you.
You would not be the first person to do such on youtube [pedals, amps... you name it, it has been done and stil is]; and that piece of gear is yours. You can do whatever you so wish with it.
Sadly, Casio is not the only company that seems to have fallen into this kind of rethoric.
Hey James!
Love your videos, thorough and so fun to listen to!
I'll be buying a Yamaha.
It's a mucccch cheaper one (px125) but I was deliberating between these two companies.
I have chosen my "compromise" with my money.
big shout out from Israel !
Isn't Casio shooting themselves in the foot here. Up till now I kind of figured they (Casio) probably make great gear, and occasionally, like most, make some mistakes. I think it was interesting to see you show one such mistake. But now Casio says "oh no, that thing that was shown there, that is how our products are made on purpose!".
I posted a response comment sharing your sentiment (and some words) just moments before reading yours. Casio will be walking with a limp for a while because or their reaction.
I think it was really designed like this on purpose. They mentioned some compromises are sometime required. They should owe it up to tell everyone that is the trade-off for the compact/slim design. This thing is most likely meant for beginner. For someone like me, I probably can't tell the difference. But with advance player like James, it won't pass the test.
@@chipbug Excellent point.
I have been a piano tuner/technician since 1975, and I always check on James' UA-cam Channel before I purchase any piano... Great critique(s) and honest appraisal by an actual pianist vs. just a salesman or paid representative.
Thank you.
Interesting. If they really wanted to dispute your findings, they could just show the 'proper' way that they check the weight to show that there is no difference. They just opted to say your way is wrong. My guess is they probably made the weights that way intentionally for whatever reason (which they don't want to talk about) and with the product already released, they just want to stick with it. Can't really fault them for that. I will also bet that some engineers at Casio are probably saying "I knew someone would notice that". lol. If there next keyboard has this anomaly removed, you can take that as an acknowledgement of the issue. BTW, I like the kind of 'A Few Good Men' moment there with them knowing that comments are moderated when they never left a comment. How could they know? Good stuff.
I think this video explains your take on things very fairly. I had a bad experience with a Casio Privia 160, which had a horribly noisy keyboard; I spoke to Casio, even emailed them a sound recording of the terribly clunky thing, and they offered me precisely no help. So I went to a showroom and tried another example of the same model - and found it had the same, unbearably loud keyboard. I had to take a considerable loss on a brand new instrument in order to get the Yamaha 125 that I didn't buy originally because it was quite a lot more expensive than the Privia. Lesson learned, twice over.
I would like to see the inside of the Casio. Is there any good reason why Casio builds it in this way? Or its just a bad design work?
The fact is, Casio will never admit it. Because it'd force the company to make a great recall in various countries.
I doubt a recall would be a consideration, but admitting a flaw would greatly inhibit future sales of the 1000 and 3000 models, and potentially new models. Casio shot themselves in the foot by defending these models in the manner they chose. In this case, saying/doing nothing would have been a better choice.
A word of support from New Zealand. I've followed your channel (including this issue) for some time, and have always found your reviews well-considered and mostly positive, so when you point out a problem I pay attention. In this case, I think you picked up a subtle issue that many other reviewers without your delicate touch have missed (along with many who have purchased this product). That's not to say their reviews aren't also valid, and if you don't want this instrument for playing or teaching classical piano, its other good points may outweigh this bad one.
I won't bother commenting on Casio's reaction, since others have done so very effectively! Please keep up your great work.