Casio PX-S3100 a different view on the action

Irmin

Thought this was interesting considering how the action has been trashed in other videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odbGon29rBQ

Deleted

Irmin Thought this was interesting considering how the action has been trashed in other videos.

It's just interesting to see, how he doesn't manage to play evenly on this action either. He just doesn't care.

HZPiano I tested the actions in the CDP-S100 and PX-Sxxxx models (all virtually the same to the touch). Unfortunately, they just really aren't very good. Maybe only the beginnerest of beginners can get by with it, or small kids, or people who do not primarily aim at piano playing but use these slabs more as arranger-like keyboards.

Especially beginners need a proper touch response to train their audio-motoric feedback system. Even an unweighted action with proper touch response will suffice here. A broken action will screw you up as a beginner.

However if serious piano playing is your main use, I'd encourage potential buyers to look at better options.

Even if the better option is a better instrument, which is not a piano. There is more to making music than just keys and sometimes "no piano" is better than "any piano", because then there money is money left to spend on something worthwhile, instead of wasting it on 88 key calculators. $500 buys you a lot of musical instrument with lots of things to learn.

HZPiano

Hello,

I tested the actions in the CDP-S100 and PX-Sxxxx models (all virtually the same to the touch). Unfortunately, they just really aren't very good.

Maybe only the beginnerest of beginners can get by with it, or small kids, or people who do not primarily aim at piano playing but use these slabs more as arranger-like keyboards.

However if serious piano playing is your main use, I'd encourage potential buyers to look at better options.

Cheers and happy careful purchases,

Del Vento

HZPiano I tested the actions in the CDP-S100 and PX-Sxxxx models (all virtually the same to the touch). Unfortunately, they just really aren't very good.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Nice to read them here (I think the piano under $500 thread would have been a better thread but a forum is not necessarily a well organized website 😉)

As somebody who gave up piano lessons as a kid (a thing which I greatly regretted) because my teacher of the time insisted that I practiced either on a real acoustic piano (which my family could not afford, period), or alternatively on a piece of paper where I was supposed to draw piano keys and "play" it on the kitchen table (!) I am particularly sensitive to an all-of-nothing approach. So, to anybody reading this, I say this instrument, or actually any instrument is better than nothing. The question is if there is anything else which is better in this price range, or anything else which is substantially better at a marginally more expensive price? I don't know the answer.

@HZPiano, have you ever tested the earlier PX-1xx models which, while certainly not best in absolute terms, where deemed "best in class" (since there was nothing else in that price range 🤣) and in any case "decent enough" for somebody who had only that money? The more expensive Kawai ES of the time where substantially more expensive (at almost 50% more) and only marginally better, so recommended if you could afford them, but don't sweat.

Same question in a different sauce: are the new Casio models worse then the old ones?

HZPiano

Hello,

Del Vento have you ever tested the earlier PX-1xx models

No, my testing was all in the fall of 2020, when I tried slabs in stores and had several brands and models at home for more thorough testing. With the sole purpose of finding the right piano MIDI controller to start my VI piano playing with. The actions and MIDI implementation were my main focal points.

So my remarks are solely for the models I mentioned.

Del Vento or alternatively on a piece of paper where I was supposed to draw piano keys and "play" it on the kitchen table (!)

Wow. Just wow.

Cheers and happy playing any instrument to your taste,

Del Vento (I think the piano under $500 thread would have been a better thread)

By the way I was just responding to the OP, so no choice in that matter 😉

Ralphiano

Count me as a Casio fan. My Casio approval is, however, price dependent.

My first piano was a Privia PX-310. It was already a couple of generations out of date when I bought it in 2015. It played well. It's sound left something to be desired. I remember purchasing midi cables and a midi analog to digital converter so I could plug it into my computer and begin my Pianoteq journey.

After a year or so, I decided I could benefit from an upgrade, and a Yamaha P105 entered my life. It turned out not to be a the upgrade I first thought it would be. The action was stiff and sluggish, though the sound was better than the Casio sound. I soon parted ways with the Yamaha and returned to Casio. But this time, I selected a modern, recent vintage, Privia PX-760. I paid $500 for it (it was a store return, substantially discounted).

The Privia PX-760 was the best bang-for-the-buck piano I had up to that point. It sounded better than my old PX-310, played well, and was very reliable. During the couple of years I had it, I had frequently business with a local church that had a Steinway D in one of its practice rooms. They were very friendly in letting me play it on the days I was there. I had no trouble adjusting to the action of the Steinway D. On the other hand, I was mesmerized by the dynamic range and fine control the Steinway offered. In this regard, the Casio was a far, distant, barely recognizable cousin to the Steinway. However, my Casio trained hands could play it without any disturbing struggles to compensate for the differences.

Sometime after I left the Privia PX-760 for my current Kawai VPC1, Casio introduced the PX-S1000 and PX=S3000. I played one at the local Guitar Center and was underwhelmed. I even thought it might have been a step backwards form the PX-760 I had loved so much. My memory is not too detailed about that trip, but i think I disliked both the action and the sound of the new offerings.

So, I am short on useful details about these newest Casios. But, I am quite comfortable saying that for someone Who is constrained to the under $1000 market, it would be wise to go look at the Casios. They have a history of serving that segment of the market very well.

HZPiano

Hello,

Ralphiano Count me as a Casio fan

I am more than casually interested in the Casio GP310/510 actions. There, my take on Casio is quite different and I suspect those are rather well executed.

Cheers and happy actions,

Del Vento

HZPiano delvento (I think the piano under $500 thread would have been a better thread)

By the way I was just responding to the OP, so no choice in that matter 😉

Yeah, that was just a comment regarding how organized the site would look to an outsider, not a criticism. You did the right thing.

Ralphiano Sometime after I left the Privia PX-760 for my current Kawai VPC1, Casio introduced the PX-S1000 and PX=S3000. I played one at the local Guitar Center and was underwhelmed. I even thought it might have been a step backwards form the PX-760 I had loved so much.

IIRC the old PX- series (not the new PX-S one of which I know nothing) all shared the same action. So if your recollection is correct, and if mine is too, then they did make a step backward 🤔