UPDATED REVIEW – Feb 1, 2024 – Casio PXS5000, PXS6000, PXS7000 REVIEW | Digital Piano Comparison
| LOWER PRICES HERE | Newer 2024 Casio Privia PXS Portable Digital Piano models. All new technology, key actions, piano sounds, and new cabinet designs with a contemporary/retro appearance.
Casio is a Japanese digital piano and technology products company from Tokyo, Japan and has been producing some very impressive digital pianos for about 40 years or so, which is a long time. They have been competitive with their digital pianos against the other top name digital piano companies for many years. Based on my long time experience with their piano & keyboard products, Casio always seems to find a way to keep pushing up the “technology bar” in digital pianos with their innovative features. (click on pics for larger view)
CASIO PX-S SERIES
A few years ago Casio introduced their a new series of compact portable digital pianos called the PX-S series. They started with the PX-S1000 and PX-S3000 and then more recently came out with the upgraded replacement models called PX-S1100 at $699 and PX-S3100 at $879 which, in my opinion, are impressive instruments for their lower prices and playing capabilities, and I have played them many times. However, Casio has now
added 3 additional “Privia” PX-S models in a higher price range that are more advanced in a number of ways over the lower priced models and I have played them extensively. I will be talking about those 3 new models in this review.
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PX-S5000, PX-S6000, PX-S7000 PRICES & INTRODUCTION
Casio PX-S7000 “Harmonious Mustard”
UPDATED REVIEW – Feb 1, 2024 – The new Casio digital piano models are called the Privia PXS5000 priced at $1199, the Privia PXS6000 priced at $1799, and the top of the line Privia PXS7000 priced at $2499 (black or white color) and $2699 price for the retro “harmonious mustard” color. The “harmonious mustard” color is also know as yellow-gold. The PX-S7000, S6000, and S5000 are now available in the US and are already becoming very popular. There are a number of differences among these 3 models and it will depend on your price range and musical needs as to which one you will want to get. There is a $600 difference from the PX-S5000 to the PX-S6000 and a $700 difference from the PX-S6000 to the PX-S7000. So you’ll need to climb the “price ladder” to move up within these 3 new models.
*If you would like to see a comparison chart that I have put together of the specifications among these 3 models, please go to the bottom of this page where you will find it.
**Also, much of this review is focused on the PXS7000 and PXS6000 because they have so many features. However, I have a good “overview” of the popular lower priced PXS5000 almost 1/2 way down in this comparison review as well as more info on it throughout this review in the various sections including key action, piano sound, etc.
KEY ACTION
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| Casio newly designed “hybrid” wood key action |
The specific feature that ties these 3 models together is a brand new key action that Casio developed specifically for these models which they have never had before. It’s a hybrid key action that combines resin along with actual solid spruce wood (which you can see on outside of the white keys) that offers more key stability, a better tactile feel, and a more responsive key action movement. All three of these pianos have this new key action which has a completely new key action movement design, and that’s the reason I have grouped all of these models together.
It’s not often that a digital piano company will come out with a new key action they have never had before. After playing on this new key action for many days and hours, I believe this new “hybrid” super responsive key action can hold up to and surpass many competitive models in playing all types of music including more serious classical music. On the lower priced PX-S3100 and PX-1100 that have been out for a while, the key action in those models is much different in terms of design and construction.
Although the compact key action in those lower priced models is enjoyable to play in a recreational way, they don’t come close to the new higher priced PX-S5000, PX-S6000, or PX-S7000 key action in terms of more authentic “feel & response.”.
Key action is by far the most important part of any piano, whether it’s acoustic pianos or digital pianos. You don’t want the key action to be heavy and you don’t want it to be too light. It needs to be balanced from the front to back of the key, it needs to have proper up-weight and down-weight movement, and you want it to as accurate as possible for its price range.
Based on my measurements of the key movement weight on “middle C and C#” of this new Casio hybrid key action, the static “down-weight” (aka: touch weight) is approx 56 grams when pressing down on the key from resting position. The up-weight on that same key is about 37 grams of upward force when the key is returning to resting position. The middle C# key had approx 48 grams of down-weight (touch weight) force and the up-weight return force was approx 34 grams.
These measurements are taken with fingers playing near the front of those keys. The black C# key is lighter than the white middle C key as are the other keys in relative terms, but that’s OK and it feels good to play.
I would rather have that black keys be lighter as opposed to heavier than the white keys and I have found that in a number of other brands I have played over the years, the black keys can be quite a bit heavier than the white keys, and that is not good. So overall this new key action is responsive and very comfortable to play, and comfort is very important.
As you move your fingers further up the keys when playing, then the down-weight and up-weight force increase incrementally for each key, which is fairly normal. Just so you know, many fine acoustic large size Concert Grand Pianos like a Yamaha, Fazioli, etc, normally will have an average touch-weight measurement on “middle C” at about 55 grams of finger force needed, which is how much force it takes from your fingers to begin the key movement and get the key to go down with a lighter touch.
This statistic, along with a proper upweight force measurement allows for a comfortable and responsive playing experience on real concert grand pianos and good digital pianos.
This means the Casio keys are pretty much “on point” with comfortable piano playing so that you won’t experience hand, wrist, and finger fatigue as you might on other brands of digital pianos in these price ranges. Some of those other digital pianos require 85 to 90 grams of touch force from the fingers which makes for a very heavy key movement which most people do not like. This is a very important factor in all piano key actions along with quieter key movement. Casio really got it right this time and I think most people will be very impressed. There will always be a few “detractors” out there (that’s typical of all digital pianos), but overall I really do enjoy playing this new key action.
SIMULATED IVORY & EBONY KEY TOPS
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| Simulated Ivory & Ebony key tops |
When it comes to how the piano keys feel when your fingers touch them, many key actions on various digital piano now have simulated ivory and also ebony key tops which try to simulate what acoustic piano keys used to feel like many decades ago. Acoustic piano key tops use to have real ivory and real ebony material on the tops of the black & white keys many decades ago. There was once a time when elephant ivory and wood from ebony trees were legal to import and use on real pianos. But that is not the case any more.
Organic ivory and ebony had special properties that could give a slight texture on the keys to have a more no-slip tactile playing experience along with the added benefit of helping to absorb sweat from your fingers while you played the keys.
Casio has used different simulated key tops over the last years on different digital piano models and the simulated texture on those keys, along with the color, were pretty good. But…this time Casio came up with a new design and material for the simulated ivory & ebony key tops, and now they are much smoother, less textured, have more of a real ivory and ebony color, and seem to come closer to the real thing. I noticed this right away when playing the keys on the this PX-S key action and I believe Casio got it right this time. But ultimately, you’ll need to be the judge of that. ?
THE ACOUSTIC PIANO SOUND ON PX-S5000, PX-S6000, PX-S7000
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| Steinway Grand |
As far as the actual acoustic piano sound goes in these 3 new models, which is the 2nd most important feature in any piano, the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000 are nearly identical in that way with their stereo “Hamburg” (German) grand piano sound which has great dynamic tonal range, lots of resonation, and impressive in these price ranges. The reason this sound is called “Hamburg” (PriviaGR HG) is because long ago the Steinway grand piano company got their origins in Hamburg Germany founded by the Steinway family. The name of the founder is Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, later known by the name Henry Steinway.
Many years later Steinway founded and opened a US manufacturing facility in Queens, New York for the purpose of building Steinway pianos for the US domestic market. The US Steinway pianos were somewhat different than the German Steinway pianos for a number of different reasons, but yet were both German and New York Steinway Grand pianos were prestigious hand-made pianos sought out by families and performers who wanted the best possible piano playing experience in those price ranges.
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| Casio PX-S6000 |
So with that being said, the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000 has the piano sound of the German Steinway version and the PX-S7000 has that sound and 2 more grand piano sound samples which talk about next.
The PX-S5000 German Steinway grand piano sound is more upgraded and realistic as compared to the lower priced portable digital pianos that I have talked about in other reviews. Also, the 2 main features that differentiate the PX-S5000 at $1199 from the lower priced entry-level Casio PX-S1100 at $699 is definitely the upgraded wood hybrid key action and acoustic piano sound engine. Both of those things are the main reasons why you would want to get a PX-S5000 as opposed to spending less money, especially if the piano playing experience is important to you.
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| Bechstein German concert grand piano |
The PX-S7000 has additional acoustic piano sounds as compared to the 5000 and 6000 along with more tonal resonation elements. The 2 additional grand piano sound samples grand pianos include the USA New York Steinway grand piano sample (PriviaGR NY), as we have already discussed, and the German Bechstein grand piano sample (PriviaGR BN) from Berlin, Germany, both of which are exclusive to Casio. Most people in the US do not know who Bechstein piano company is. That company is very famous across Europe and other parts of the world and was founded by Carl Bechstein in 1853 in Berlin, Germany. His grand pianos were exceptionally beautiful in appearance and sound and used by kings and queens, prestigious families, and concert halls in Europe, and this is still true today.
In fact, the Bechstein grand pianos are so good and so famous across Europe that not only do classical concert piano performers enjoy playing the Bechstein grand pianos, but so do many musicians that you might not think would likely play them because they have other famous grand pianos that are available to them. As examples, the Bechstein concert grand at London’s Trident Studios,
over a century old and much sought-after for its sound, became one of
the most frequently recorded instruments in rock history.
over a century old and much sought-after for its sound, became one of
the most frequently recorded instruments in rock history.
The Bechstein grand piano can
be heard on albums such as The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” or Elton John’s “Your Song,” George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” as well as Queen’s “Seven Seas of Rhye,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Nilsson’s “Without You,” and many, many others who are more contemporary “rock musicians.” So the Bechstein “sound” covers all the bases but is also especially great for classical pianists. The Bechstein grand piano sound can only be found on just one portable digital piano out of all the brands and models available out there…and that’s the Casio PX-S7000.
be heard on albums such as The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” or Elton John’s “Your Song,” George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” as well as Queen’s “Seven Seas of Rhye,” Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” Nilsson’s “Without You,” and many, many others who are more contemporary “rock musicians.” So the Bechstein “sound” covers all the bases but is also especially great for classical pianists. The Bechstein grand piano sound can only be found on just one portable digital piano out of all the brands and models available out there…and that’s the Casio PX-S7000.
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| Bechstein grand piano from Berlin, Germany |
Those 2 additional acoustic grand piano brands (NY Steinway & Bechstein) have distinct grand piano sounds to them that are different than what you would find in other brands and different than the European German Steinway Grand Piano sound. The New York Steinway sound is somewhat brighter than the European Steinway with a more “metallic” resonant sound whereas the European Steinway is a bit more mellow and melodic. The Bechstein grand piano sound is by far the “classical,” at least it is to me. Beautiful tone and and a bit more on the mellow and “warmer” side of tone, even as compared to the European (German) Steinway sound.
So with regard to the acoustic piano sounds in the PX-S7000, they offer more variety of acoustic grand piano sound than in the PX-S6000 or PX-S5000 along with those additional tonal resonances than the 5000 and 6000 do not have. These 3 different pianos will give you more grand piano “personalities” and additional musical colors to express yourself musically, depending on the music you are playing.
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| Berlin piano sound – Mellow |
In additional to the 3 grand piano sound samples in the PX-S7000, each one of them have 2 “variations” each which are “preset” within its piano sound library. So, in a way, there are actually 9 preset acoustic piano sounds in the PX-S7000. Those variations include a brighter/clearer version of that piano sound (Brt) and also a mellow/muted version (Mlw). So if you want to increase the brightness and clarity of any of the 3 piano sound samples, then there is a preset version of that piano sound that is brighter and sharper and you just simply choose it from the control panel. On the other hand, if you want a more mellow version of that piano sound (either Hamburg, Yew York, or Berlin grand), then you use the mellow setting of that sound and you’ll get a more muted and softer tone in that piano sound sample
The audio wav file demo that I did here (above) is of the “Bright” Bechstein Grand Piano from Germany with me playing this music that I wrote (called: Loving You Every Day Forever) “live” on the PX-S7000 along with a slight bit of effects editing I did within the piano. I uploaded this song file to SoundCloud so that you could hear and control it better. I am using that Bechstein bright grand piano sound along with layering a special choir/synth tone on it at different times in the song.
This song was played and recorded directly to the .wav file recorder in the piano and then saved onto a USB thumb-drive plugged into the piano. There is no actual audio recording equipment…just the recorder in the piano. Simple to do and gives you the actual audio sound from the PX-S7000. Hope you enjoy.
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| Hamburg grand piano – Bright |
You can do the same things to the piano sound on the PX-S6000. Although it just has the one German Hamburg (Steinway) grand piano sound as in the PX-S7000, that sound is very good and very enjoyable to play. But if you want the brighter/sharper version or a more mellow version of that sound, then that model has that capability with the same settings as in the PX-S7000. Sometimes I personally like the brighter or mellower versions of those piano sounds depending on the music I am playing. However, it is a fairly subjective sort of thing…but at least it is there and easy to use in case you want it. So, if you are wanting to get the best piano playing sound experience with more variety, then the PX-S7000 would be worth the extra money in that way.
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| New York Steinway Grand |
By the way, the reason Casio (and some other digital piano companies) cannot use the actual acoustic grand piano company brand name to describe their piano sounds in their digital piano is because they are not allowed to do that. Otherwise those digital piano makers would have to get an agreement in writing from that acoustic grand piano company and also likely pay them a lot of money for the rights to use their official piano brand name in their digital pianos. So…the remedy is to say something like PriviaGr BN which stands for GR (Grand) and BN which stands for Berlin. NY stands for Steinway New York. Then you, the piano shopper has to figure that out for yourself what they mean. Now that I have told you it should be easier!
If an acoustic piano company also makes digital pianos like Yamaha and Kawai do, and they also they own the brand name (like Yamaha & Kawai do), then those piano companies can do what they want and put their brand name on their digital pianos. So as an example, Yamaha owns Yamaha acoustic grand pianos, but they also own the Bosendorfer Grand piano company of Vienna, Austria. So that means that Yamaha can use the full Yamaha and Bosendorfer brand names on their digital pianos if they want to do that. But…Casio, Roland, and Korg (the other top digital piano companies), cannot do that (use the other brand names) because they don’t make acoustic pianos or own those names.
Also, this means that Yamaha (or Kawai because they build their own acoustic pianos) would never use any Steinway or Bechstein grand piano sounds in their Yamaha digital pianos (let alone their names) because those companies (Steinway and Bechstein) are “competitors” of Yamaha & Kawai acoustic pianos. So as good as Steinway is, or Bechstein is, or Fazioli from Italy is, or any other grand piano brand is, you’ll never see Yamaha or Kawai use those competitors sounds or names in their digital pianos. It’s all very political sometimes.
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| Steinway Hamburg (HG), German grand piano |
However, companies like Casio, who do not manufacture or produce acoustic grand pianos, can put whatever piano brand sounds they want to in their digital pianos such as Steinway or Bechstein (they still can’t actually use those piano names) because they (Casio) do not compete with any acoustic piano company. Korg is the same way and they have Steinway, Bosendorfer, and Yamaha piano sounds in their pro and home pianos but they just use the names (German, Italian, American, Japanese and those country initials (G, A, I, J, etc), for whatever piano sounds they use, and then you have to “guess” what those initials mean (but I just told you).
There is also the “quality” of those piano sounds and how natural and organic they sound in the digital pianos. Some digital piano companies do a noticeably better job than others with their sampling and digital technology in producing those sounds, and in the PX-S7000 Casio has done an especially good job with the German Steinway grand piano sound and the Bechstein German grand piano sound, in my opinion, based on my playing experience with this PX-S7000 model. It definitely shows in the natural resonances and piano sound dynamics, among other things, in these new models.
The musical expression you can get out of these piano sounds for the PXS5000, PXS6000, but especially the PX-S7000, is really impressive…very smooth and expressive and full of life from playing the keys softly to very loud and anywhere in-between.
MORE PIANOS!
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| PX-S Tone Category Menu |
So if that wasn’t enough acoustic piano variety for you, the Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 offer even more! They PX-S7000 has 2 additional piano sound categories called “Best Hit” pianos and also “Various Pianos.” The PX-S6000 does not have “Best Hit’s” pianos but it does have the “Various Pianos” category. Both additional piano categories take the existing main piano samples (1 for the PXS6000 and 3 for the PX-S7000) and then the pro pianists and musicians at Casio have modified them with the internal special effects to create more piano sounds that you can use for other types of piano playing and music. Those “new” piano sounds are patterned after actual popular songs and playing situations and some of those new piano sounds have been used by popular bands and groups for their songs heard on the radio, in videos, etc.
Beyond that, these additional pianos can be used for specific types of music like Stage piano, Ballad piano, Graceful piano, Crisp piano, etc. Then there are pianos called “Human Piano,” “Clock Piano,” “Your Piano,” “Insane Piano,” “Thousand Piano,” “Piano Like You,” etc for the Hit’s pianos in the PX-S7000. There are many others in addition to what I listed. The benefit to having these additional piano sounds is that it gives you a huge variety to choose from and those sounds have already been created & tweaked by the Casio factory musicians and sound designers so that you don’t have to figure out how to do it yourself.
You can also do all sorts of piano sound editing on the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 and experiment with all those features to come up with your own custom sounds. But…with the addition of these preset factory made piano sound setups, you just simply select the sound you want from the vast piano sound library and then you have it…instantly. I will say that many of these additional acoustic piano sounds are very good and quite usable in all kinds of music. However, a few of these “custom” sounds are just OK and not great, or at least are not piano sounds I would use. But that’s normal and I am not going to like everything they have.
Regardless, there is something for every musical taste on these new PX-S 6000 and 7000 models when it comes to the acoustic piano sounds. I have never run into this much variety of these types of piano sounds before when it comes to a portable self-contained digital piano. So when it comes to the primary instrument sound that most everyone wants and will use, which is the piano sound, Casio has definitely outdone themselves, and everyone else for that matter with regard to variety of piano sounds they offer.
ELTON JOHN YAMAHA GRAND PIANO – AUDIO DEMO
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I did a pure “audio recording” from the PX-S7000 using its “audio wav file recorder” and then saving this demo to a USB flash drive in the piano. I uploaded this piano demo to the “Sound Cloud” site so you can hear what this piano actually sounds like as if you were in front of it. It shows off the Elton John Yamaha Grand Piano sound that you can get on the PX-S7000 if you know how to set the piano up that way.
PEDALS
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| Casio SP3 sustain pedal |
All pianos have pedals. Some of them come with one basic plastic sustain pedal, others come with one upgraded metal piano style sustain pedal, some have optional triple pedal units, and some come with a triple pedal unit. With regard to the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000, they come with a basic small black Casio square sustain pedal called the SP3. You can purchase for an additional charge an upgraded piano style sustain pedal, or a an even more upgraded single metal piano style continuous controller sustain pedal that can also trigger a half-damper effect (variable sustain).
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| Casio optional SP20 single metal pedal – non continuous |
Beyond the single pedals you can get the Casio triple pedal unit for both the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000 that sits independently on the floor and does not attach to any stand. The Casio triple pedal unit (SP34) is $119 internet price and it also triggers the half-damper sustain effect (with the right sustain pedal) that real pianos would have. The PX-S7000 has a triple pedal unit that comes with it and securely attaches to it’s proprietary metal support bars. It also triggers the half-damper effect (variable sustain control). However, if for some reason you did not want to have the PX-S7000 on its 4-legged stand and instead you wanted to place it on a single metal stand, then you can do that and plug in a single piano style sustain pedal and use it that way.
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| Expression-volume pedal |
Both the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 can also take a variable expression-volume pedal which would allow you to have more flexibility in controlling volume and expression of non-piano instrument sounds like organs and sustaining tones such as strings, synth, etc. Organs, for example, have a volume pedal on them so an expression pedal on the PX-S6000 & 7000 could duplicate that experience. You would use the expression pedal like a gas pedal on a vehicle. The further you press it down, the more (gas/volume) you get.
You would need to purchase an optional expression pedal such as the Roland EV-5 (set minimum volume to 0), or the Kurzweil CC-1, or Fatar VP-25, VP-26. There are also other expression pedals available. Casio does not make an expression pedal, but you can find them at music stores or on-line.
So you have a choice of a number of different pedal configurations and experiences for the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000. You can also have the PX-S expression pedal or assignable single sustain pedal plugged in and operational at the same time with the triple pedal unit. So that’s a pretty cool feature.
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| PX-S7000 piano on stand with pedals |
The PX-S7000 is physically altogether different with regard to its triple pedal unit as compared with the other PX-S models. The triple pedal unit for the PX-S7000 has a different chassis that the optional SP34 triple pedal that you would use for the PX-S5000 and 6000. The PX-S7000 triple pedal attaches directly to the metal support bars (at the bottom) that attach to the top side of the stand and come down from the stand to the floor. Once you attach the triple pedal unit to the support bars, those pedals are locked in place, are very stable and secure, and don’t come off easily unless you unscrew them from the bars.
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| PX-S7000 white triple pedal unit & optional PX-S5000 & 6000 black triple pedal unit (SP34) |
The PX-S7000 triple pedal not only looks great attached to the metal support tubes (lyre), but they are designed differently as compared to the other PX-S models and their optional SP34 triple pedal unit. The chassis (housing) on the PX-S7000 pedals is not as deep so it can fit over that bottom part of the tubing, but the physical pedals are longer than the pedals on the optional SP34 unit and they are shaped more like real acoustic piano peals. The physical pedal itself measures about 3 3/4″ long whereas the individual pedals on the optional triple pedal unit for the PX-S5000 and 6000 measure about 2 1/2″ long.
There is more pedal surface for the feet on the PX-S7000 triple pedal unit and less surface for the other 2 models on that optional SP34 triple pedal unit. The width of the PX-S7000 is also a bit wider for more foot control. Beyond that, the PX-S7000 pedals have more “pedal travel” distance along with having more resistance to pressing down the pedals. The pedal height on the PX-S7000 is 2 1/4″ vs only 1 1/2″ for the SP34 pedals.
So the PX-S7000 triple pedal unit really feels more like a grand piano in all those ways as opposed to the optional SP34 for the PXS6000 and PXS5000 which have less pedal travel distance and are are lighter and less resistant when pressing those pedals down, along with being smaller.
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| PX-S7000 pedal thumbscrew leveler supports |
If that wasn’t enough, the PX-S7000 pedals also have special pedal leveler supports underneath the right and left pedal. The supports are actually thumbscrews than can extend downward to level out the pedal chassis should it be sitting on an uneven floor or on thicker carpet. These 2 thumbscrew supports can independently raise the pedal chassis upwards a bit on either the right or left side pedals, or both. This is so the adjustable pedal supports can better support the pedal chassis as you are pushing down the pedals with your feet. This is a small feature, but it shows how detailed Casio was in designing the triple pedal structure of the PX-S7000.
So even those aspects of pedal length, size, and movement on the PX-S7000 are upgraded and noticeably more realistic. This is very helpful when using the triple pedal unit on this model and wanting the best responsive pedaling experience for all 3 pedals, especially if you are a bit more advanced in your piano playing skills. The Casio PX-S7000 pedals are even a bit longer and more secure than on other brands of portable digital pianos in these price ranges. The optional Casio SP34 triple pedal unit for the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000 does get the job done and is fine. But the PX-S7000 pedals are definitely superior.
INSTRUMENT TONES, SOUND EFFECTS, RHYTHMS
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| Casio PX-S5000 control panel lighted buttons |
The PX-S5000 has 23 instrument sounds including acoustic pianos, electric pianos, strings, choirs, harpsichords, organs, and generally the more popular standard tones. There are no special sound EFX and specialty instruments such as synth tones, horns, drums, voices, guitars, etc that you would find on the PX-S6000 & S7000. The sound library in the PX-S5000 is minimal and has just 6 lighted touch sensor buttons. But it does the job and also offers sound layering, splitting, and a sufficient variety of the sounds most people use when focusing on playing piano music with some added primary sounds (the strings, organs, choirs, electric pianos, harpsichord, etc), and they do sound good.
On the other hand, the PX-S6000 & PX-S7000 go way beyond the PX-S5000 by offering 350 sounds for the PX-S6000 and 400 sounds for the PX-S7000. The 7000 has more acoustic & electric piano sounds and a few more non piano sounds as compared to the 6000. So the 7000 is the winner when it comes to the additional piano sounds.
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| PX-S6000 & 7000 tone category menu |
As far as how to access all those sounds, it is done digitally as opposed to having specific tone category buttons on the control panel for all those sounds like other digital pianos do. So if you want to see all of the actual sound/tone categories in the PX-S6000 & 7000, you need to go into the digital sound category menu by pressing the enter button on the control panel. Once you do that then the tone categories will come up in the display screen showing you 5 category selections. There are 5 pages of these sound categories and you can see each page by pressing the navigation ring. Once you find the sound category you want, then you press the enter button to see the list instrument sounds inside that category.
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| Casio PX-S6000 & PX-S7000 tone category menu |
The sound categories include the following: Grand Pianos, Best Hit Pianos, Various Pianos, Classic Electric Piano 1, Classic Electric Piano 2, Clavi, Harpsichord, Vibraphone, Organ 1, Organ 2, String Ensemble, Synth Pad, Choir, Guitar, Bass, Solo Strings, Brass, Reed, Pipe, Synth Lead, GM tones 1, GM tones2, and Drum Set. Within those categories there are either 350 sounds for the PX-S6000 or 400 sounds for the PX-S7000.
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| PX-S6000 & PX-S7000 control panel category buttons |
Also, on both 6000 & 7000 models there are 3 basic sound category lighted buttons on the control panel which include Piano, E Piano, and Others. These 3 buttons can give you a quick starting point to access sounds directly from the top control panel rather than go into display screen menus. Those 3 sound access buttons can be very useful and it is good that Casio included that feature on these models rather than always needing to go into menus. You could then access all the sounds within the sound categories by using the digital “Touch Ring” which I talk about later in this review.
With regard to the authenticity and realism of all those 350 to 400 sounds, let’s just say that many are very good but some are just average and some below average as compared to other digital pianos I have played. That’s fairly typical as far as realism goes when there are so many sounds in one model. The pro stage digital pianos from popular keyboard companies like Korg who have their Kronos, Nautilus, and Krome models which focus on the instrumental and special EFX sounds, are much better than what Casio has to offer in that way, but those models can be deficient in other ways and are typically much higher priced stage digital piano workstations. This can be true for other digital piano companies as well.
Some of the sounds I don’t like as much in the PX-S6000 and 7000 include the traditional Pipe Organ and French Horn, for examples. The Pipe Organ sound is really not very usable in my opinion because it has a octave lower bass sound in it which is somewhat distorted (on purpose), and in big cathedrals that sound actually happens on the huge Pipe Organs. But when that sound is translated to a digital piano like this one, it just doesn’t sound good and does not work well for church music in my opinion. There is a Chapel Organ sound which is much better and sounds good as a normal church organ sound, but is a bit too bright for an actual chapel organ sound as far as I am concerned. But still fine overall.
The French Horn sound is in mono and not in stereo, as are some other horn, reed, and woodwind sounds, and it just sounds a bit plain and somewhat uninspiring by itself. Nevertheless, you can tell it’s a French Horn sound, but it’s just not great. However, when you layer that French Horn with the Stereo String symphony tone, then that layer really sounds great with those 2 sounds together complimenting each other.
Also, I did enjoy playing and hearing the 80’s Oberheim keyboard synth sound that exactly recreates the synth sound from the song called “Jump” by Van Halen. That was very cool. But don’t expect every sound in the PX-S6000 or 700 to have an outrageously stellar sound, because they are not all great.
But as far as a good mix of sounds (especially the high quality acoustic & electric piano sounds) with the general instrument sound libraries offered on the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, overall they are very enjoyable and good to have. They offer a lot of playing variety and are mostly usable and do work well especially well when you layer or split those sounds. Plus, you can modify them with editing reverb, brightness, and other aspects of the sound.
Also, be aware that when you split instrument tones and put one sound on the left hand a another sound on the right hand, on the PX-S6000 and 7000 you can add a 2nd right hand sound to first one. In other words, you can layer 2 instrument tones together for the right hand and have a different sound for the left hand. Most digital pianos can only do one sound for the right hand when using the split function. Also, you can determine where on the PX-S6000 & 7000 keyboard you want to have the split point to separate the left hand from the right hand. The PX-S5000 can only do a basic split and only have bass sound for the left hand.
“PRO PLAYER” SOUNDS FOR
PX-S6000 & PX-S7000
When it comes to portable digital pianos, a lot of different people with different playing skill levels will own these pianos. But when it comes to those “pro players” out there who have more advanced playing skills and also may have need for a larger variety of really good instrument sounds, those people can be a lot more “picky” when it comes to the sound and effects libraries in these types of digital pianos.
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| PX-S6000 with optional custom black stand & optional triple pedal unit |
In other words, can these sounds and effects hold up to their high expectations and musical needs when it comes to those pro digital piano & keyboard players out there?
With regard to the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, my answer is…yes. If you are more of a beginner or intermediate piano player and perhaps mainly want to focus on the “piano playing experience” of these models, then you won’t really need all that they can do. But if you are a pro player then you will not be disappointed overall with the piano playing experience or the additional digital features.
While beginners and lower intermediate player don’t require much in terms of instrument sounds in a digital piano, it can be very different for a pro or advanced player who play a variety of musical genres with different instruments in them…particularly rhythmic music.
Here’s an example of what I mean. Vintage electric piano sounds have been and still are very popular with the pro player crowd. They like those older sounding “Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes, and Yamaha DX7 electric/digital pianos sounds of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, etc, along with special effects to enhance those particular sounds. Non pro players are usually not very picky or needy when it comes to those sounds. So having maybe a few different electric pianos sounds, a few reverb variations, and a couple of chorus effect variations may be enough.
But in the PX-S7000 for example, there are 50 electric piano sound variations for every possible genre of music you can think of. Along with those 50 different factory preset tones, there are also 17 preset reverb/hall effects and 12 chorus effects to choose from to enhance those electric piano sounds. The “e piano” sound possibilities are endless. On top of that, what Casio has to offer on these models are exceptional when it comes to the authenticity of those electric piano sounds.
These electric pianos are excellent and also have impressive dynamic velocity tonal changes in each sound depending on how hard or easy you are striking the keys, which is how the older mechanical/organic original instruments used to behave. In other words, each sound changes character and personality as you are playing the keys with different velocities. You can actually hear all those changes which makes those 50 electric piano sounds a lot more interesting and dynamic.
I personally love many of those electric pianos sounds of the past years and you can also hear them in famous songs over the years. The sound of those electric pianos in those songs been recreated in the Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 so that you can instantly have those sounds without trying to recreate them yourself. They sound great, are in stereo, have all the necessary special effects built in like impressive pro reverbs, pro chorus effects, phaser and tremolo effects, and so on.
So when it comes to the electric piano sound library, not only is there a huge variety of them, they are also very good and much better than Casio has ever offered on any previous portable digital piano. The PX-S6000 has 30 electric pianos sounds and the PX-S7000 has 50 of them! If you don’t find something you like within those vast amount of electric pianos sounds, then you aren’t trying!
USB AUDIO WAV FILE RECORDING
ORGAN SOUNDS
If that wasn’t enough, the pro players also want and need other categories of instrument sounds. Another one are the pro organ tones. I am not talking about pipe organs or church organs. I am talking about “stage organs” for jazz, pop, rock, etc. Gospel music would also be included in this mix. There were (and still are) many vintage pro organs being played by pro players out there including the famous Hammond B3.
The PX-S7000/6000 offers not just 2 or 3 of these organs sounds like many other digital pianos have, but they offer 22 pro organ sounds in every style and set-up include simulated rotary (Leslie) speaker effects for fast & slow speed (the pro’s know what I am talking about). These sounds are very, very good and you can combine them with special reverb effects as well. Plus, you can assign a controller button on the left side of the keyboard to control the rotary speaker speed…either fast or slow with a touch of the button while you are playing. So when it comes to great organ sounds, these 2 models have them and in abundance.
BASS SOUNDS
Beyond these 2 pro sound categories, there are also the bass sounds. Bass is frequently used when you are splitting the keyboard with a bass sound on the left side and a different sound on the right side. Usually there are 1, 2, or 3 bass sounds on many portable digital pianos. But on the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 there are 15 bass sounds and they are all very good. There are upright bass tones, bass guitar tones, synth bass tones, and so on. On top of that, they are dynamically sensitive depending on how hard (or soft) you play the keys. You can hear the strings “buzzing/vibrating” like you do on a real upright bass. You can also hear them bending a bit depending on playing velocity.
On the electric bass you can hear it “slap” depending on how you are striking the keys. On upright bass or synth bass you can hear extra organic playing resonances and noise depending on how you strike the keys. These sounds are very interactive can create an atmosphere of realism in ways other digital pianos do not have.
GUITAR SOUNDS
Guitar sounds are also really good including acoustic steel string guitars, nylon string, and electric. Even the classical nylon string guitars have certain string buzzes and note off noises that you would find in real acoustic guitars. I should know because I have played guitar for many years and over 15 of them in my guitar collection, some of them with very famous names. So when it comes to guitar sounds, I know them very well and am very picky. When you combine some chorus and reverb effects from the pro effects sound library on these pianos, then the guitar experience (especially acoustic guitars) is very good, and they are in stereo sound mode.
OTHER SOUND CATEGORIES for PXS6000 & 7000
There are also 10 string symphony tones, 16 brass sounds, 23 lead sounds, 20 synth sounds, 4 impressive classical & baroque harpsichord sounds, and 10 stereo drum kit sounds. It’s pretty amazing with regard to the quantity and quality of these sounds. In the past most people would have gravitated to the more well known digital piano names like Roland and Yamaha for instance when it comes to pro portable digital pianos. But at this point in a number of ways, I believe Casio may have taken the lead. That may come as a surprise to many pro players who have not played Casio portable digital pianos before (or lately), but this time Casio has crossed over the line to the “pro side” of things. I certainly think so.
GENERAL MIDI SOUND SET AND PLAYBACK for PXS6000 & 7000
“General MIDI” is a feature that has been around for many, many years in digital pianos. MIDI is an acronym that means “Musical Instrument Digital Interface.” MIDI allows you to connect a musical device like a digital piano or keyboard to an external device like a computer or tablet. The connection can either be with a traditional MIDI cable for much older digital pianos or a USB cable for the newer ones. You can also connect to external devices with Bluetooth wireless MIDI on digital pianos with that feature such as these new PXS models.
The purpose of this MIDI connection is to be able for your digital piano to utilize apps or programs from the external devices to enhance your musical playing experience in many different ways. It’s almost limitless. GENERAL MIDI is actually a set of instrument sounds and effects within specific digital pianos & keyboards (that have that feature) which allow you to play recorded GENERAL MIDI (GM) song files using the GENERAL MIDI format. In other words, you get to play songs that you like in the GM format which you can find on the internet.
There are thousands of GM recorded song files out there from all types of famous music. Some of those songs are free, some cost money, and depending on the digital piano you have, you can just play and record them yourself and then play them back on your digital piano. Typically you would save or load those songs onto a USB thumb-drive for storage and play them back from there.
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| USB Thumb drive in Casio PX-S7000 |
If the digital piano you own has the special GM library of sounds which include a minimum of 128 tones, then your digital piano can play back GENERAL MIDI songs through a USB thumb-drive and the song playback feature on your digital piano. Because those songs are GM songs, you can manually change tempo on them and slow them down or speed them up to help you sing along as well as play along with them in real time to learn that song or piece of music. You can also digitally transpose that GM song to any key to get it into your vocal range…pretty cool stuff.
GENERAL MIDI song files are easy to get or purchase on the internet and then you download them to your computer and save them off to a USB thumb-drive. In the case of the Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, you just put that thumb-drive in the back of the piano and load them into the memory of the piano. At that point you can select whatever song you want that is on that flash-drive through the piano control panel & display screen, press the song play button on the piano, and then that song will play through the internal speakers of the piano.
Sometimes those GENERAL MIDI (GM) song files sound really good, other times they are just OK, and other times not so good. It just depends on how it got recorded, the arrangement of that song, and the particular digital piano that is playing it back. Not all digital pianos with the GENERAL MIDI sound set do a good job with those songs.
Overall I think the PX-S6000 and S7000 do a very good job with the realism of these songs and sounds and it’s a very useful to have which many digital pianos do not. At the very least what you hear from this feature can be very entertaining and if the song has lyrics and you want to sing along and it’s not in your vocal range (too high or too low), then as I mentioned earlier, you can easily adjust the key and be able to sing it higher or lower.
GENERAL MIDI VIDEO DEMO’S
The video above demonstrates the GENERAL MIDI sound set and playback feature on the PX-S7000 and this would be the same for the PX-S6000. There are 2 famous (partial) movie theme songs that you will hear demonstrating these GM sounds on the new PXS piano. This video recording is being done only through my phone speakers and coming out of the internal piano speakers since I don’t use “pro recording or playback equipment” for my video demos. Enjoy!
The above General MIDI demo is on the PX-S7000 although it would be the same for the PX-S6000 as I mentioned for the 1st GM demo video. These are 2 of my favorite Latin Pop rhythmic songs that you may recognize in this demo. Even though I only used my phone recorder to record this demo, it should still give you an idea of the instruments and things these 2 Casio PXS modals can do.
Please excuse the lower quality audio with limited bass response as you are listening to these MIDI song files. My phone capabilities can only do so much. All the instruments you hear are resident in the piano and can be controlled for volume, tempo, and transposition key for learning or just enjoyment. I will say these songs sound MUCH better in person. ?
STEREO PANNING & MUSICIAN PLAY for PXS6000 & PXS7000
By the way, there are also very capable and impressive “panning” effects in these PX-S6000 and 7000 models. “Panning” is a somewhat technical term that is actually really easy to explain. It means, where the musicians are sitting when they are facing you. In other words, imagine 4 or more musicians playing different instruments and singing and they are sitting or standing in front of you on stage. One musician is maybe playing the acoustic guitar, another is playing the upright bass, and then there are a few string players playing altogether in a sustaining background.
Then we add another person or two who are singing through a microphone. When those musicians are up on stage, some of them are standing or sitting on the right side, some on the left side, some in the middle, or in-between different positions. When they play and sing their music you then hear that music in “stereo” or multi audio positions coming out at you, depending on where those musicians are. Maybe you hear the guitar coming from the right side, the bass player coming from the left side, the string players in-between them. Plus there is a drummer and that drummer plays in the middle behind them all.
Then you add the vocalist(s) and where they are standing and how you hear all of that. In digital piano and keyboard audio terms, this setup is called “panning.” Typically many digital pianos do not have controls to adjust the sound positions of each instrument including any vocals. They all just are in a normal stereo field through the speakers. That’s fine, but not completely realistic. In the PX-S6000 and 7000 you can determine where the sound is positioned for (in this case) the guitar player, the bass player, the strings players, and the singer (vocalist). There is a feature called “Pan” in the mixer section of the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 piano control menu.
You just go to those controls and adjust the actual sound position of those instruments (and vocals if you are singing) and where those sound come out of the speakers of the piano. You can customize those positions and put them in any position you want to depending on how you want those sounds to come out of the piano. You can edit and adjust two right hand parts, one left hand part, and the vocal (singing) part. If you are using the “drummer” then that part always comes out of a center position. It’s very easy to do, it’s intuitive and you can even do it while you are playing and singing. It’s amazing how real it can sound in this way…just like changing their positions on stage and moving them around.
DRUM RHYTHMS for PXS6000 & PXS7000
Besides the 350 to 400 instrument sounds in the 6000 and 7000 models, Casio also included a drum rhythm pattern and metronome library of 20 basic drum accompaniments of various time signatures like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, etc. along with metronome timings These drum rhythm patterns give you rhythm accompaniments (like a real drummer might play) to help you with your timing while making it more fun to play songs that would incorporate a drummer such as rock, jazz, Latin, waltz, and other music styles. You can start these rhythms from the control panel start button, as well as assign the stop function to an optional single pedal. You can also control the tempo of that drum rhythm from slow to fast. However, these drum rhythms are fairly basic, although they are useful. All of the rhythms are in stereo (which is nice) and a few of them sound pretty good while some of them are just OK, and a few of the others are not very realistic.
The drum rhythms are there to help you with rhythm & timing training and also to liven things up a bit for your playing. However, there are no drum intros, fills, variations, or endings once you start it up. So overall, it’s good to have them but they are basic. Please don’t purchase the PX-S6000 or PX-S7000 for their drum rhythm styles and features because they are limited, and even though some are enjoyable to use, a few just don’t sound good (I expected that). Nevertheless, these models do enough great things with all the other functions and features they have. ??
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| Drum Beats app |
However, if you should want to improve on these drum rhythms, you can get additional drum rhythm patterns from external drum apps using an iPhone or iPad. There are a few good apps out there with many convincing drum rhythm patterns and sounds and you can get those drums to come through the PX-S6000 or 7000 internal speaker system via Bluetooth wireless audio streaming, as well as on the PX-S5000 and that model does not any internal drum rhythms. So there are alternatives to the Casio drum rhythms by using external device apps (iOS platform is best) to get more or better rhythms. The internal metronome timing system in the PX-S models is good and also useful.
REGISTRATION MEMORIES for PXS6000 & PXS7000
When it comes to all these instrument sounds, layering, splitting, effects, drum rhythms, sound editing, and mixing them all together to get exactly what you want, all of that takes time to do. Once you have figured out what you want, it would be very nice to save those combinations so that you do not have to recreate them again. Some digital pianos have “registration memories” in them that are blank digital memories so that you can save your sound editing and combinations in those memories. Once you save them then you can instantly recall your “custom setups” (as they are called) and have them ready to go whenever you want or need them.
Registration memories are very useful to have and can be important for pro players (or even recreational players) who are playing live at an event and need to quickly make custom setting changes on their digital piano. The registration memories allow you to do that and it is something that I use quite often when I am in that situation. Even when I am in my home studio I use registrations memories to quickly get to my custom presets so that I don’t have to recreate them every time I would want “that sound.”
Here’s an example: for instance, maybe I would want a piano sound in the right hand layered with an electric piano sound one octave higher, and then digitally split the keyboard with that layered sound on the right hand with a different sound on the left hand, such as an electric or bass guitar. Beyond those combinations, maybe I would want to add some specialty reverb sounds and chorus effect on my electric piano along with bumping up the transposed key buy 1/2 step. In addition to all that perhaps I would want to add a drum rhythm to all of that and then change panning settings, etc.
All of that takes time to put together, and when I am done putting those functions all together then I can just save the whole thing into one of the registration memories and then recall it when I need it. This saves a lot of time. In the Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 there are 96 registration memory “slots” where you can save your customer setups…and that’s a very big amount of memories! There are 24 banks and in each bank you can save 4 custom setups = 96 total registrations. Way more than in other portable digital pianos that have a registration memory feature. You can also name each one of those saved setups so that you can recall it more easily. On the PX-S 6000 and 7000 they are easy to save, fairly easy to recall. and a very useful feature and one that is important to have for many people.
ASSIGNABLE “FUNCTION” TOUCH SENSOR BUTTONS for PXS6000 & PXS7000
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| “F” controller functions |
Another very interesting and useful feature in both the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 are the “Function” touch sensor buttons, otherwise known as the “F” buttons. I have not seen this feature on any other digital piano from any other brand. Typically digital pianos have many dedicated buttons on their digital pianos to control a variety of features such as layer, split, transpose, mixer, registrations, songs, effects, microphone, etc.
Due to the fact that Casio obviously decided to design these 2 models with fewer buttons, there needed to be a quick way to access the many features and functions without having so many buttons on the piano and also trying to reduce having to go into the menu as often and searching around for things. These “F” touch sensor buttons are on the control panel labeled F1 – F4. When you touch one of those digital button sensors, that button number corresponds to the “F” numbers in the display screen.
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| assigning a function in the F2 button |
As an example, if you touch “F1” (from the 1st image in this section) then that would take you directly to the F1 function that is in the screen which in this case is the “Transpose” function in the top image above in this section. If you press the F2 lighted button then you would get the “Mixer” function (see above image) and be able to adjust the settings in the mixer. As in all cases on the PX-S6000 and 7000, you make your adjustments by using the lighted “touch ring” controller on the panel of the piano. You get 4 “F” settings per page. There are 14 factory preset F pages along with 16 user assignable pages where you can input any one of a whopping 33 functions per “F.”
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| assigning a function in the F4 button |
In other words, on F1 you can assign any one of 33 functions, on F2 you can assign any one of the same 33 functions, and so on through F4. The 1-4 “F” functions per assignable page would be 4 (per page) x16 (user pages) = 64 pages of 4 memory functions that you assigned to them, plus the 14 pages of factory functions at 4 per page giving you a total of 30 pages with 4 functions assigned per page for a total of 120 functions that are accessed from the front panel lighted touch sensors F1 through F4. Does that make sense?
It took me a little while to figure out, but once you do then you can come up with your own custom assignable functions (you can also name any of them if you wish) for all those pages and that could be useful to you for quick access of the functions you would use the most rather than go searching for all of them in the menu and finally finding it. This “F” assignable function feature is fairly intuitive once you start using it.
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| assigning a transpose function in the F1 button |
Another example is having the “transpose” function as one of the “F” functions. On the first photo in this section you can see that the “transpose” feature is assigned to “F1.” So all you have to do is touch the “F1” lighted sensor button and it takes you to the transpose feature and then you can quickly change the key and transpose the song you’re playing. It’s kind of like having a dedicated transpose button only in this case you have assigned the transpose feature to whatever “F” button you want to. Does that make sense? Then to change the key you use the lighted touch ring on the panel to make that quick change.
Anyway, having 30 function pages at 4 functions per page accessed from the control panel of the piano for a total of 120 functions does make sense. It allows for the Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 to be usable and functional without being confusing…especially when there are so many different functions and features within these 2 models. So quicker access of features is the “key” to success on these 2 models.
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| lighted touch ring with enter and exit |
You add all of these “F” functions to the 96 registration memories for your custom sound setups, and you get a gigantic boatload of assignable memories to hold just about anything you want to. You can the recall and get to them easily and access them from the lighted touch ring on the control panel..
LIVE INSTRUMENT SOUND & PANNING – VIDEO DEMO
The video above is one I did to briefly demonstrate what the PX-S7000 sounds like when you are simultaneously using 2 sounds on the right hand (dynamic nylon string & Mellow Strings), one sound on the left hand (upright bass), and one drum rhythm (eight beat) to make it more fun. There is also some “panning” going on as well. The demo song is one I just made up on the spot for demo purposes only while doing the video on my phone. I am playing in the basic key of C…definitely nothing fancy. This should hopefully give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
CASIO PX-S5000 OVERVIEW
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| Casio PX-S5000 |
With regard to the PX-S5000, it retains the upgraded hybrid wood key action, the Steinway Stereo grand piano sound, the Bluetooth features, and a few cool features and functions of the other 2 higher priced models. The digital features in the PX-S5000 are more basic than the other 2 PX-S models that I am reviewing here. For many people the PX-S5000 will be more than enough if you want that new Casio hybrid wood key action along with a very good stereo acoustic piano sound with the primary functions and features that many people will want and use.
The compact and lightweight footprint of the PX-S5000 is also a big “draw” for a lot of people who have a small space or will be carrying it around often. The all glossy black top look of the PX-S5000 with its flush top mounted imbedded touch-sensor lighted “buttons” gives it an elegant appearance no matter where you put it. However, the PX-S6000 and 7000 are also compact & lightweight at just 7 lbs more than the PX-S5000.
There is a chart at the bottom of this page that compares all 3 models together so that you can quickly see the major differences among all 3 models and then decide if you want to put out an extra $600 to move up from a PX-S5000 at $1199 to a PX-S6000 at $1799. I can tell you from experience that if you are looking at this making a purchase for the “long term,” then I would try to increase your budget and go for the PX-S6000 because you can do so many more musical things on it. Plus, the PX-S6000 sounds better with a 32 watt, 4-channel, 4 speaker internal audio system.
The Casio PX-S5000 has a more limited, but still impressive sound library of 23 primary instrument sounds whereas the PX-S6000 has 350 instrument tones. The PX-S5000 has very nice imbedded and lighted touch buttons for smooth and quick navigation, but the PX-S6000 has a noticeably upgraded navigation system for quicker and more intuitive control over the features within that model. The piano polyphony memory on the PX-S5000 is 192-notes (which is very good and more than enough for people who are mainly playing piano) as compared to the PX-S6000 at 256 notes, which is even better. The digital recorder-player system in the PX-S5000 is very useful especially for practicing you music and being able to hear what you are doing.
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| PX-S5000 with optional stand and triple pedal unit |
The Casio PX-S5000 (with optional stand & triple pedal unit – above) will rise to the occasion and be a great digital piano for those people who do not have the budget to go up to the PX-S6000 or who primarily want to focus on “playing piano” and don’t think they need the other PX-S6000 features including the better internal audio system. Since the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 are more alike with each other, those 2 models are the ones that I am mostly focusing on in this review.
But again, if you mainly want to play piano with the impressive hybrid wood (white keys) key-action, acoustic grand piano sound, responsive pedaling with long sustain-decay time, and a number of usable features including Bluetooth audio and MIDI wireless streaming, then I would highly recommend this model. With the other useable instrument sounds in this model, a 3D internal stereo sound system, and the fact it has an optional furniture stand available along with a triple pedal unit for full piano playing, then in my opinion the Casio PX-S5000 is very difficult to beat in this price range. Plus…you can use regular batteries to power up this instrument and play it anywhere you want to without needing to plug it into a power source…and that’s a very cool feature.
CASIO PX-S6000 & PX-S7000 CABINET COMPARISON
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| Casio PX-S6000 |
As for the PX-S6000, what makes this new model especially different from the top of the line PX-S7000 is the cabinet color design on the PX-S6000 which is exclusive to that model. The PX-S7000 does not have that cabinet color design and the black 4-legged stand. Also, the PX-S6000 does not include the proprietary 4-legged CS-90 stand or the regular triple pedal unit at the $1799 price. The PX-S7000 comes with the designer stand and designer triple pedal and supports (lyre) at the $2499 price for black or white color cabinet.
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| Casio PX-S6000 with optional black stand & triple pedal unit |
The interesting thing about the PX-S6000 is that you can still get an optional 4-leg black designer stand (CS90P) and a regular triple pedal unit (like the PX-S7000) as options. But by the time you do that and order those accessories as options for the PX-S6000, you are only $130 away from the price of the PX-S7000 that already comes with the designer stand and triple pedal unit.
Since the PX-S7000 has more sounds and features than the PX-S6000, if you’ll be wanting the designer stand and triple pedal unit, then apart from cabinet color design on the PX-S6000 (and efx controller knobs on the PXS6000 which may be important for you), the PX-S7000 makes more “dollars & sense.”
***SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER – PURCHASE THE OPTIONAL $450 CS-90P BLACK 4-LEGGED DESIGNER STAND FOR THE PXS-6000 AT JUST $99! (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST). ASK US ABOUT THIS UNADVERTISED OFFER AND HOW TO SAVE $401 ON THIS STAND. THIS OFFER MAKES THE PX-S6000 A GREAT BUY! ***
But…if you just want the piano/keyboard portion of the PX-S6000 and not the proprietary $450 Casio CS-90P stand, and you really like the cabinet color and functionality of the PX-S6000, then you can save some money by purchasing a regular metal z-stand (average price about $100) or x-stand ($40 to $75) on amazon to get a basic portable stand. A basic sustain pedal comes with these 3 models but you may want to upgrade to better single pedal for about $20 to $30 on the PX-S5000 and PX-S6000 or get the regular Casio triple pedal unit for another $120. But that would be up to you.
ADVANTAGES OF PX-S7000
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| Casio PX-S7000 |
So what is it about the top model PX-S7000, other than appearance, that make it more desirable than the PX-S6000, especially for the extra cost at $2499 for the black or white model, and $2699 for the “harmonious mustard” aka: yellow-gold color? The PX-S7000 does come with a stand and triple pedal unit as a package, so that’s part of the extra cost. The PX-S6000 is priced at $1799 for the piano only. The PX-S7000 has the same key action, same internal speaker system, same overall design, and very similar functions as compared to the PX-S6000. So then what are the biggest differences in those 2 models? Well…here are the answers to that question:
1. The PX-S7000 has additional piano sound samples (with additional organic tonal resonance elements) and 3 different primary grand piano sounds as opposed to one primary grand piano sound sample in the PX-S6000. So if you will be focusing more on the “piano playing experience,” then the PX-S7000 is the better choice assuming you will want to go up to that price range.
2. The PX-S7000 has internal flash memory for digital audio recording storage as opposed to no flash memory on the PX-S6000 or any other Casio model. This means you can record in pure audio (not just midi) on the PX-S7000 and be able to do it and store it without the need of an external USB thumb-drive. This is a very cool feature. The PXS6000 can also record audio but you would need to save it onto a USB flash drive.
3. There are more instrument sounds in the PX-S7000 compared to the PX-S6000 including a lot more pro quality electric piano sounds along with more acoustic piano sounds. This can be of benefit to those musicians who might use this model in a professional way for gigs or recording and they want more of those vintage electric piano sounds along with a few more non-piano instruments over the PX-S6000.
4. There are a few other differences that are lower on the list and I won’t mention them here. But the most obvious difference between the 2 models is the visual appearance with the included simulated wooden stand and triple pedal lyre/pedal supports. The PX-S7000 is really known as the “designer” model because it comes in black, white, or harmonious mustard aka: yellow-gold, with custom accessories. The custom stand and triple pedal lyre is included in the price.
For the black color PXS7000 piano, the stand is in a very attractive simulated natural-wood medium brown, the stand for the white PX-S7000 is in a simulated light natural wood grain color and is very attractive, and for the yellow-gold piano the stand is in a light wood color.
The things that I mentioned that make the PX-S7000 “stand out” are definitely not the only differences between it and the PX-S6000…but in my opinion they are the “main differences.” Also, besides the custom color stand that is included with the PX-S7000, a custom color triple pedal unit is included as I mentioned.
For the black PX-S7000 piano it’s a black triple pedal unit chassis. For the “harmonious mustard” color (aka: yellow-gold) piano, it’s a custom yellow-gold triple pedal chassis. And for the white PX-S7000 it’s a white triple pedal unit chassis. Beyond the pedal unit itself is the pedal support bars in custom colors that attach to the underside of the piano and come down in a pedal lyre fashion to support and keep the triple pedal unit in place.
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| Casio black PX-S7000 with medium brown woodgrain 4-leg designer stand & triple pedal lyre |
This pedal design and support configuration not only gives the triple pedal unit more support and keeps it in place for proper pedaling position, but it just looks better and gives the PX-S7000 more of a custom design as opposed to the PX-S6000. The PX-S6000 itself comes in black with a unique woodgrain trim on the front and sides, so it is also a designer style digital piano that looks great.
However, although the optional stand for the PX-S6000 is the same construction and design of the PX-S7000 stand, it is only available in black for the PX-S6000, which for many people will be fine and actually preferable. However, the optional stand has an internet price of $450 (which I already mentioned) which obviously is a lot of money for a stand, but it is a custom designed stand and a very good one.
BATTERY POWER!
One other thing that I find quite useful on all three models that you won’t find on other pro quality portable digital pianos in this price range. These 3 new digital pianos can all work on battery power including the lower priced PX-S5000. That’s right, regular battery power so that you won’t need a regular source of electric power if you don’t want it or simply don’t have it available. The PX-S7000 and PX-S6000 take 8 AA batteries and can be powered by those batteries for up to 4 hours. The PX-S5000 takes 6 AA batteries and is also powered for up to 4 hours.
Battery power is a very cool feature and it also allows you to play outdoors where there might not be any power, or indoors for the same reason, or for situations where perhaps you lose power and then you can use the battery power for back-up. Maybe you are having a “pool party” like we do here in Phoenix, Arizona during our long hot summers and you want to have some outdoor entertainment using a portable digital piano like the PX-S6000 or 7000. Perhaps you don’t have outdoor power outlets or don’t want to use them because of safety reasons. I don’t know of any other major digital piano brand in this price range between $1000 and $2500 that offers battery power in their premium portable digital pianos.
USER INTERFACE & NAVIGATION for PXS6000 & PXS7000
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| PX-S7000 Control panel – user interface |
When it comes to using the functions and features of these 3 digital pianos, the PX-S5000 is fairly easy to use because that model is more basic. It has 23 main sounds, some editing control along with layering and splitting 2 sounds, and some some more basic, but adequate recording. The embedded lighted navigation buttons are also minimal but are intuitive and relatively easy to use. The control panel is smooth with one volume knob, and looks like a cell phone or tablet screen when the power is off. It is the only digital piano under $1500 with such a minimal user interface that also looks great
But when it comes to the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, that’s an entirely different story. Both of those models can do many things, as I have already discussed. But unlike other portable digital pianos that can do many things and have many buttons, sliders, and knobs, these 2 models are mostly “menu driven” and not “button driven.”
On the left side of the top display screen is a flush mounted power button. You just touch and hold that small button to power up the piano. Next there is a large but low profile master volume knob. It looks sleek and elegant although I suppose the master volume control could also have been embedded and lit up, but Casio decided to design a physical knob which works fine and looks cool. are 7 buttons. To the right side of that volume know are 2 rows of touch buttons. The 3 top buttons are for start/stop, record, and the master function control which allows you to get into all of the internal navigation menus.
Just below the 3 top buttons are 4 preset and assignable function buttons that allow you quick access to many of the more popular and useable functions in these 2 models (PX-S6000 and PX-S7000). These 4 function buttons offer direct access and on & off controls for layering and splitting sounds, starting the internal metronome and programming it as well, access to special effects, drum rhythms, and most every feature within these 2 pianos. You can scroll through multiple pages of these functions and have your 4 favorite functions up at any one time but you can quickly change that page to other function pages to quickly access those functions.
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| PXS6000 & PXS7000 Function menu categories |
The lighted “master function” button on the control panel gets you into the internal menus to see all of the features and functions within the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000. I personal found that you mostly do not need to read the owners manual if you just go into the function category screen and simply go through each function category to see what that category has inside of it and then just try them out to see what they do.
This could take a while but I highly recommend it because you cannot hurt the piano doing that and it’s really helpful to experiment with all the features that way because it will help you to get real-time experience with how they work and what they do. But…if you get a bit confused or cannot quite figure out a particular feature by “trial & error,” then go ahead and refer to the owners manual and you should be able to figure it out that way. ?
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| Navigation lighted touch ring |
The actual “navigation of the internal features including all 400 instrument sounds, effects, editing controls, and everything else is done by the special embedded proprietary lighted touch ring along with the enter & exit touch buttons. Unlike most digital pianos, there are no panel buttons for all the instrument and effects sounds in these models. You either get into those sound categories through the master function button which leads you into the internal sound category menu or you can access all the the instrument sounds through the 3 lighted embedded control buttons on the right side of the display screen.
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| Control panel sound buttons |
In other words, there is direct panel panel access to sounds from 3 buttons (piano, electric piano, and others) or you can go into all sound categories for the 400 internal sounds using the internal menus. But, you don’t have all the typical buttons on the top control panel like you would on all the other portable digital pianos out there. Once you get used to this new operation system that Casio has designed and you play around with it, then you’ll see it goes pretty fast and becomes more intuitive the more you use it. It utilizes new user technology in a way that does make sense once you play around with it for a bit.
But if you just “look at” the control panel on the PX-S6000 and 7000 and think you are just going to quickly and intuitively navigate from those minimalistic touch buttons and touch ring like you might on more traditional digital pianos with many more hardware buttons and sliders, then you’ll soon discover that this is not “your Father’s” digital piano and maybe not even your “older brother’s” digital piano. The PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 are way beyond that. The new operating system (OS) is sleek and simple but does a lot and can move quickly too…particularly when you use the (assignable) function buttons and the touch ring.
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| Casio PX-S7000 & PX-S6000 digital touch ring |
With regard to this new embedded digital “touch ring” that no other digital piano brand has, you can either turn (you are physically not turning anything) the digital touch ring with your finger (left or right) or touching the interior area of ring or touch the ring itself to navigate the internal menus or sounds up & down as well as left & right. Once you get used to it you’ll wonder how anyone ever lived without it when it comes to navigation using a multi-function digital piano like the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000.
When it comes to finding a feature, or particularly an instrument sound you want on the PX-S6000 or PX-S7000 and you need to get to it quickly, this touch ring allows you to navigate to that sound or effect by “dialing” or “turning” to it. What I mean by this is that you can go from sound #1 to (as an example) sound number 325 by quickly turning the digital touch ring with your finger in a clockwise rotation so that you can quickly go through the list of sounds until to get to #325. You just stop at the number/sound you want and then that sound comes up and you get it.
PXS7000 PANEL CONTROL BUTTONS & WHEEL
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| PX-S7000 controllers |
Many digital pianos do not have (what are know as) controller buttons and pitch bend wheels on them. These types of “extra” controls on digital pianos and keyboards are usually found on stage keyboards or used in recording studios. These buttons (and wheel) are generally assignable to various features in the digital piano that you want to quickly access to either control a specific sound in the piano, to add effects to that sound, to turn that sound or function on or off, to bend a sound, or to control functions and features within the piano by pressing one of these buttons rather than go into the internal menu.
ARPEGGIATOR FEATURE
The PX-S6000 and 7000 (not the PX-S5000) have a feature called an “arpeggiator” which allows you to have automatic arpeggios. This means that you can hold down any chord or notes on the keyboard and the notes or or the whole chord will play in any order and in nearly any pattern you can think of. In other words, it’s like you are playing notes up & down on the keyboard manually back and forth like a pro player would do, but instead of you needing to be a pro player with advanced skills to play like that, the arpeggio feature can do that for you while you just hold down any chord.
You can set the speed and the type of repeating note pattern that you want, and the piano does the rest and just automatically plays a note or rhythmic pattern, and it makes you sound way better than you really are and is definitely fun to use. You can use any of the 350/400 sounds in the PXS for the sounds and even layer them together to be played in note patterns or have one be sustaining and the other layered sound play the patterns. The sounds, effects, and patterns are really a lot of fun and definitely can be incorporated into any style of music.
Once you start using this arpeggio feature you’ll likely start wanting to use it more and more because it’s fun and becomes somewhat “addictive”…but in a good way. It also helps you understand what arpeggios actually sound like and how you can incorporate them in your music from classical, to pop, to jazz, Latin, and anything else you can think of. There is a huge library of 50 types of arpeggiator using different sounds and styles.
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The arpeggio demo recording above was done directly on the piano using its audio wav file recorder and then uploaded to Soundcloud. This is an example of the arpeggiator patterns and rhythmic movement from the PX-S7000/PXS6000. I played these layered sounds and music live on the piano but the arpeggiator was set up for the rhythmic movement of the piano chords while the strings continued to be sustained…a great combination. I was playing and holding down the chords while the arpeggiator was moving the piano. I was not moving the piano chords up & down. It was being done by the arpeggiator.
This audio recording above is another example of the PX-S6000 and 7000 arpeggio feature. But this time I am using synth sounds and individual note arpeggios done by the PXS arpeggiator. This one sounds pretty cool and it was fun to do. I hope you like it.
Finally, with regard to the arpeggio feature, this one I played and recorded (above) live on the PX-S7000/6000 is a recognizable baroque harpsichord demo. I am demonstrating the very cool note pattern I used for the pro harpsichord sound along with being able to play and sustain stereo string symphony chords behind the harpsichord arpeggio pattern. There is no way I could have done this otherwise in real time.
It was all because of the arpeggio moving notes that I can apply up to any 3 sounds (including a split sound) that I choose from the 400 sounds in the sound library. I make them do whatever I want including adding effects, changing octaves, and adjusting tempo to how I want to play it. I am not doing any of the harpsichord moving notes in this demo that I played.
Those harpsichord notes move off the chords I am playing and at the tempo that I choose for those moving notes…the moving notes are following me along with how and where I play the chords. But I do have to pay attention to the speed of the arpeggio that I set. It is so much fun to use these things and lets me play music in a way I have only dreamed of doing “live.” Otherwise I would have had to do it in a recording studio using separate recording tracks. But in this case it’s easy and does not require much in the way of being a good player.
PXS7000 DIGITAL & ASSIGNABLE CONTROLLER BUTTONS
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| PX-S7000 flush mounted control buttons |
To activate the arpeggio feature you can just assign the arpeggio start & stop function to one of those flush mounted exp/control buttons (above) and then you can quickly turn it on or off. You can also assign the layer or split functions to the control buttons to turn those on of off, along with many other features that can be controlled by those buttons for quick access. If you are not needing to use those buttons then you don’t have to. But it is not difficult to use them and assign whatever feature you need to more quickly access, including arpeggios. None of these features are available on the PX-S5000.
PITCH BEND WHEEL & CONTROLLER KNOBS
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| Pitch bend wheel |
The physical lighted “wheel” you see under those buttons on the left side of the keyboard can bend the pitch of any sound for a more realistic rendition of the instrument. You can bend the sound up or down for a clarinet, violin, sax, guitar, or whatever instrument sound that you like and that will provide a more realistic rendition of that sound. You just move the wheel up (forward) or down (backwards) to bend the note you’re playing and you can determine how far the note will bend and what you want to do with the special wheel. Also, just like the buttons, the wheel lights up and actually changes to a different color as you move the wheel forward and then changes to a completely different color when you move the wheel backwards. It works good, it’s fun, it does make many instrument sounds more realistic, and it’s visually very cool.
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| Casio PX-S6000 controller knobs |
On the PX-S6000, that model does not have the 2 top left side flush mounted buttons, but instead has 2 smaller low profile knobs. You can assign various features and functions to those 2 controller knobs and those knobs can turn either left or right to control the amount or intensity of that feature or effect such as reverb, chorus, brightness, speed, etc. This is a very handy real-time feature that is useful for pro players who need immediate variable control over a particular feature.
The PX-S7000 also has variable control, but only through the proprietary “Casio Music Space” app from the touch screen of your phone or tablet. Using an external device like that to control those functions works well but it is not nearly as convenient as built in knobs. My guess is that Casio thought the PX-S7000 model that comes with the designer stand and triple pedal at $2499 would not be used as much in the “pro world” but more so in the home setting.
In that scenario you would not really need those variable controller knobs whereas with the PX-S6000, which comes alone as a portable model at a lower price of $1799, more pro players or people who want immediate access to those features might want that model. The PX-S5000 doesn’t have any knobs or pitch bend wheel because it really does not need those things due to its much more basic internal sound and function set.
HARDWARE CONNECTIVITY
All digital pianos have some sort of hardware connectivity. Some of that connectivity is fairly minimal and some digital pianos give you a very good variety of connections and ports that can be very useful to your musical enjoyment of that instrument. The PX-S5000, 6000, and 7000 all have impressive connectivity within their price ranges. The PX-S6000 and 7000 have the same connectivity because they are very similar to each other with sharing many of the same features. The PX-S5000 is more basic with just its 23 instrument sounds, basic recording, and no General MIDI features and no microphone feature.
So when it comes to good connectivity, the PX-S6000 and 7000 offer more variety than the PX-S5000. The connection ports on the PX-S5000, PX-S6000 & PX-S7000 include 1/4″ line outputs so that you can connect to an external speaker system, bass subwoofer, or stereo monitors. I really like connecting these models to larger stereo monitors for a fuller, beefier, and more resonant sound experience. But other people may not need or care to do that.
There is also a 1/4″ microphone (audio) input on the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 with separate volume control so that you can input a microphone (or other audio device) into the piano and use its internal speaker system to sing or talk through the piano itself and then also being able to control the volume of your microphone. This is a “1st” for Casio on any of their portable models in having a proprietary input and hardware volume control for a mic. As with most digital pianos these days there is a USB port for all 3 models to connect these pianos to an external device for MIDI connectivity such as with a tablet or phone.
There is also 2 connector ports for pedals on all 3 models. One port allows you to connect to the Casio proprietary triple pedal unit for full control over pedal functions, and the other pedal output allows you to plug in either a variable expression volume control pedal or a single sustain pedal for people who only want or need to use one sustain pedal.
On the far back left side of the piano is a port for connecting either a USB thumb drive for loading MIDI or audio songs into thePX-S5000, PX-S6000 or S7000, or you can use that same port for connecting the Casio proprietary Bluetooth dongle so that you can have wireless connectivity for MIDI or audio streaming connection. Bluetooth audio streaming allows you to stream music directly from your external device into the piano speakers system, or you can connect your piano wirelessly to your external device for a wireless MIDI connection. However you cannot do both at the same time.
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| Casio WU-BT10 Bluetooth dongle |
It is also good to know that just like all other digital pianos and keyboards out there, Bluetooth wireless connectivity does not work for headphones or earbuds. This is because of the inherent signal (sound) latency/delay that occurs when connecting wireless headphones or earbuds and playing music on a digital piano at the same time. It just doesn’t work yet due to the current state of general Bluetooth technology. So…you’ll need to use wired headphones or earbuds to practice privately and silently. Also, a wired connection is typically a more secure connection. Speaking of headphones, there is one 1/4″ stereo headphone jack and one stereo mini jack for 2 sets of headphones, depending on the connector size you have for your headphones.
MICROPHONE INPUT & EFFECTS
Having a dedicated microphone input on portable digital pianos in this price range is a very nice feature and something that Casio has rarely offered. With regard to the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, there is a 1/4″ mic input on the back of either model along with a variable volume control (I mentioned this earlier) to adjust mic volume in real time. So now you can just plug in and talk or sing through any wired mic with a 1/4″ input and your voice will come out of the internal speakers of the piano and it actually sounds surprisingly good and can get fairly loud. This new feature works very well, and if that’s all the microphone feature did then it might be enough for a lot of people. The mic input feature is not available on the PX-S5000.
However, Casio has added a number of different microphone settings to the microphone system so that you can customize your voice to have it sound exactly the way you want for the type of room you are in and the type of music you are singing, or even the way you might be speaking. There are custom EQ settings to adjust any microphone to your voice so that you can add lower or higher frequencies to the sound, depending on what you need. There are many people who will appreciate this feature.
Beyond the many different EQ setting possibilities, there are also 25 factory setups to give you instant mic settings for a variety of vocal tonal sounds. You can just dial in the custom factory presets and come up with all sorts of things for the type of music or speaking that you are doing. This includes having digital delays, phasers, chorus, and so many more setups that will make it nearly impossible to run out of settings for your vocal needs.
These vocal effects sound quite professional and there are so many ways to easily customize them that there are literally hundreds of variations you can come up with when you need and want to use a microphone to add to your playing experience. You can also save these setups in registration memories so that you can easily recall them later when you need them.
Finally, when using any microphone, a good reverb system is necessary to have to give your voice some room “ambience” so that the voice does not sound plain and dry. Recording studios and pro gigging musicians use professional reverb systems when singers are using mics for recording or live performance. The PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 models have a very impressive internal reverb system and you can run the microphone sound through that reverb system and not only control the type of reverb you are using but also how much of that reverb effect you are using. You can also mix that vocal reverb with all the other impressive vocal effects I previously mentioned which then gives you unlimited possibilities when using any wired microphone.
In other words, this mic system is not your average “plug it in and sing” and that’s it. It is way more than that and something that goes beyond any self contained portable digital piano that has come out before from any of the major brands. Casio definitely went “above and beyond” with regard to these mic settings and all the customizing you can do to get your mic settings “dialed in” perfectly.
SONG RECORDING AND PLAYBACK FEATURES
Most digital piano have the capability of recording your music when you are playing. Those recorders can be simple 1-track, one song recorders all the way up to multi-track, multi song recorders. Once you have recorded your song then you can play it back on that digital piano and perhaps even store the song for future use. In the Casio PX-S5000, the recorder-playback system in that model is more basic, although still enough for many people) and has 2 different recorder functions.
It allows you to record 2 tracks (left & right hand independently ) in the MIDI format or a 1 track (left & right hand together) wav file audio recording. This model can play back audio wav file recordings but cannot playback MP3 audio files. You can save your recordings to a USB flash drive (plugged into the back of the piano) for later recall. On the PX-S5000 you can save one song internally in the piano.
The recording system in the PX-S5000 works good, records nicely, and sounds good upon playback. You can adjust speed/tempo of the playback as well as volume and the playback is useful for enabling you to listen to your song and see how you are doing in your playing skills and if you played the song correctly. The S5000 records whatever keys your are playing at up to 25 minutes per song in stereo and you can save up to 99 songs in USB memory.
The PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 have many of the same features as in the PX-S5000 with a 2-track MIDI recorder with up to 25 minutes of recording per song and up to 99 songs that can be saved in a flash drive. However, there are many upgraded recorder and playback features with the ability to store up to 5 MIDI 2-track songs in the piano and not only be able to playback stereo audio wav file recordings, but also playback stereo MP3 audio recordings as well. For instance, iTunes are MP3 stereo audio files so you can playback iTunes on the both the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000.
A big additional benefit to the PX-S7000 is the ability of that model to record and save up to 99 songs internally in the piano itself rather than need to have a USB flash-drive plugged in and then offload the songs to the flash drive. The internal digital memory in the PX-S7000 makes it convenient to record and store all your stereo audio wav files (CD quality) song files and play back both wav and MP3 audio recordings/song straight from the piano. This is a very cool feature and rarely found in other digital pianos.
A further and important benefit to the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 audio wav file recorder is that it can record your voice when singing and/or speaking into an attached microphone. You can record your voice separately or play a song and sing at the same time, just like the professionals do. You could also play and have someone else do the singing.
You can utilize all those microphone settings and effects in the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 when singing and the audio recorder will record of those things as well. Then you can save all that into memory for playing back and even save it to a USB flash-drive and transfer that recording to your computer and save it there. If you really want to you can record 3 different instrument sounds on the PXS along with a drum rhythm track and your vocals all at the same time.
If you play that recording back on the PXS then you can also play “live” over the top of your recording (with different sounds) and then you really sound like a multi-piece band! It a great “tool/feature” for musicians as well as for playing recreationally at home. I also highly recommend additional monitors connected to the piano to enhance the overall sound as I discuss in the info below. The PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 is the way to go if you are especially interested in the vocal-microphone features.
Oh yeah, lest I forget, the PX-S 6000/7000 also has a vocal mute/cancel function which will mute (or cancel) the vocal track of a wav/MP3 audio song if the vocal part was recorded on the center channel of that song, which many of them are. In other words, if you want to sing live along with the song accompaniment but don’t want to hear the original vocal track of that song, you can mute it out with the “center channel cancel” function. It doesn’t really totally cancel that vocal track, but it will bring down the volume of that vocal so that you don’t hear it very much and then you can sing live along with the rest of that song…like you are are the lead singer. It’s actually pretty cool to have that as part of the playback features.
INTERNAL SPEAKER SYSTEMS
The internal speaker systems in digital pianos can be very important depending on where the piano is located and what you’ll need in terms of external sound. In the case of the PX-S5000, there are 2 amplifiers t 16 watts total going through 2 speakers. In the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 there are 4 amplifiers at 32 watts total going through 4 speakers. Beyond the physical nature of the components and their amplification, there is also some digital 3D technology you can apply to your piano sound that gives the impression of a “surround sound” effect along with being able to positionally optimize the sound based on where you have the piano located such as next a wall, in the center of a room, on a table, etc.
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| Front speaker slots and piano top |
So when it comes to the internal speaker system and the things you can do digitally to enhance the sound, Casio did a very good job given the smaller cabinet space of these new models. However, on the higher priced PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, unlike most other digital pianos in these price ranges, Casio does not use top mounted speaker systems that physically position the speakers coming up and out of their pianos. With this mind, even though I found the power and volume of these models to be sufficient for most applications, I did also find them to be a bit “muffled” in their sound simply because the top of the cabinet covered up the speakers.
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| Back speaker grill cloth |
Instead of speakers pointing up and projecting out of the top of the piano, Casio has the speakers projecting sound out of the back of the pianos through the speaker grill cloth as well as through small slots in the hard top of the cabinet just above the backs of the keys. Overall I like the sound through the internal speaker system for general playing, and having a 4-channel internal sound system in the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 is very good. When you have the piano up against a wall then you’ll get bounce back of your sound going out from behind the piano and hitting the wall and then coming back towards you, which is a good thing. So that’s a good position for the piano to be placed, in my opinion.
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| stereo headphones |
Nevertheless, when I used a good pair of stereo headphones playing these models, I enjoyed those acoustic piano sounds better because they were clearer and had more bass response than with the internal speaker system. With regard to bass response and a full, bossier sound from their internal sound systems, based on my playing experience with them, these models are probably good for most people…but not great as far as bass frequencies go. In these price ranges I have heard better bass response and clarity from other portable digital pianos with built-in speaker systems.
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| Casio PX-S7000 white – power on |
But, there is a good reason for this. It has to do with the very compact and lightweight cabinet size and design of these PX-S models.
With a very compact digital piano and a hard top design there is usually a “compromise” somewhere, and that has typically been the internal sound system. The Casio PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 cabinets only measure approximately 52.5″ x 9.5″ and the front of the piano is only 2.5″ high and the back is just 4″ high. Compare those measurements with a very popular competitive brand portable digital piano for under $2000 (that I won’t mention here) with cabinet measurements of 52.5″ x 14″ with the front of the piano measuring 3.5″ high and the back measuring 5.5″ high.These larger measurements on a few other digital pianos enables the internal speaker system to potentially produce more bass tones and also have more clarity depending on speaker output position. A slightly larger cabinet size in a portable digital piano will also allow for additional interior speaker system enhancements such as bass ports and speaker box enclosures which can produce noticeably deeper and more resonant bass frequencies for your piano sounds and other sounds. These added internal speaker system features also can, but don’t always add a bit more weight to the piano cabinet.
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| Casio PX-S7000 white – power off |
The hard top on these new Casio models, especially on the PX-S6000 and 7000, give these models a much more elegant (some people might call it “sexy”) and uncluttered appearance, especially with the power off and nothing lit up. And when the PX-S6000 and 7000 are powered on with their impressive control panel interface, even more-so! The cabinets look great because of that feature along with the invisible embedded touch-sensor buttons…a really outstanding design to be sure. But…even with this more elegant appearance on these new models there can be be compromise, and that is the case here with the sound being unable to come up through the top of the piano and therefore being a bit more muffled on the inside, although there are 4 speakers pointing the sound through the back and through the front.
One way to get more clarity from the internal speaker system is to use the “brighter version” of the acoustic piano sounds which does increase clarity and enables the sound to “cut through” and be heard more clearly. There is also an overall brightness control for the entire piano which can be easily modified to customize your sound experience. As far as bass response, I think it’s still pretty good overall, particularly for the more compact cabinet size.
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| powered audio sub woofer |
But if you really want a bigger, bassier sound then you’ll want to get an additional small powered subwoofer (above). Or you can get 2 stereo monitors and put them on the floor under the piano (below), or even on a raised area. You can get a good smaller size powered subwoofer for under $150 to $200 or 2 good smaller size powered monitors for under $400.
The image above shows what it should look like if you decide to get a couple of good powered monitors and put them under the PX-S7000 or PX-S6000 (with stand). This setup will make the PX-S7000 or PX-S6000 sound like a real big acoustic grand piano in your room. It will sound to most people like you purchased a grand piano instead of a portable digital piano…it’s that good when you do this!
If you are spending about $2500 on this PX-S7000 model or $1800 on the PX-S6000…what’s another $350 to $400 to get a pair of good (black or white) monitors at that point to make these pianos sound really awesome? I recommend it! (you can definitely do a better job than I did of hiding the extra speaker cables:) ?
IS THE CASIO PX-S7000 THE BETTER BUY OVER THE PX-S6000?
If the support bars were available for the PX-S6000 (they are not), then my best guess is they would be at least $100 in cost. If you add that all up then the price of the PX-S6000 “all-in” would be about the same cost as the PX-S7000 with everything already included in the PX-S7000. With this in mind, other than the piano color itself and 2 physical controller knobs on the PX-S6000 vs digital controls on the PX-S7000 (using the Casio app on an external device), the PX-S7000 is the better buy for all the reasons already stated, unless you really don’t want that designer stand and connected triple pedal unit of the PX-S7000…and you don’t want to be in that $2500 price range.
IS THE CASIO PX-S6000 THE BETTER BUY OVER THE PX-S7000?
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| Casio PX-S6000 |
The PXS6000 is definitely the better buy over the PXS7000 if you don’t want or need that special $450 Casio designer stand and you want a more portable triple pedal unit. The PX-S6000 is a great instrument and is at a much lower price than the PX-S7000. In my opinion the most obvious advantage to the PX-S6000 is that you don’t have to go up to the $2500 price range to get an impressive playing experience. At $1799 for the PX-S6000, if you get a reasonably good stand ($30 to $150) and pedal ($40 to $120), and want to keep the price lower for the entire package, then that package still brings in at about $1900 as opposed to $2500 for the PX-S7000.
So if you need to be under $2000 for an impressive portable digital piano with a quality metal stand & quality single pedal, then the PX-S6000 is the winner. Also, other good reasons to go for the S6000 is if you prefer the PX-S6000 for it’s proprietary black with brown woodgrain trim color along with its 2 physical controller knobs on the left top side panel for real-time EFX control. Real-time (sweepable) knobs allow you to instantly control the amount and intensity of efx you might need to apply to sounds such as reverb, chorus, phaser, flanger, brightness, etc. These 2 knobs are located on the left side of the piano and are quick & easy to use.
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| PX-S6000 “real time” knobs |
The PX-S7000 does not have those knob controls, although you can do a similar thing (but it’s not really the same) on the PX-S7000 when using the Casio Music Space app on an external device like a phone or tablet. But using that app on a device takes a lot more time to do and use and requires extra setup.
If you don’t think you’ll need the additional acoustic piano sounds (and extra features) of the PX-S7000 (the PXS6000 already has a good selection of acoustic piano sounds) and you really like and want those knobs (and you like that cabinet design and color), then the PX-S6000 makes more sense at its lower price. Plus, the one primary acoustic piano sound (with additional variations) in the PX-S6000 is already so good in my opinion, you may not need any more. Also, you can create your own custom acoustic piano sounds with the acoustic simulator system and other effects and then save those sounds (and effects) in the registration memories.
If you still want the custom Casio 4-leg simulated wood stand and triple pedal unit for the PX-S6000, then you can still do that and get the optional Casio 4-leg black custom stand at $450. The optional triple pedal at $119 would sit on the floor under the PX-S6000 piano but would not have any supports (pedal lyre) for it like on the PX-S7000, but that should still work fine.
CASIO MUSIC SPACE APP
All three models (5000, 6000, 7000) can use the proprietary “Casio Music Space “app to control the piano functions from the color touch screen of your iOS or android device. There are so many things this app can allow you to do and it’s very intuitive so that you can access the many functions and features of the PXS without necessarily having to use the user interface on the piano itself. It even allows you to smoothly change playback tempo of audio files without affecting the sound or key. I have used the Casio Music Space app many times and it works well, graphics are great, looks good, easy to understand (overall), and a real benefit to owning one of these new models. You can also connect your external device (iPhone, iPad, Android) to the PXS models via the Casio Bluetooth wireless MIDI connection.
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| Casio Music Space tone categories – Piano HG Grand |
A few of the interactive features of this Music Space app are the ability to give you an intuitive list of all the instrument sounds in the PX-S 7000 and select them from the app rather than from the control panel of the PX-S5000, PX-S6000, or PX-S7000. This interactive sound list is more important on the PX-S6000 and 7000 because there are so many instrument sounds and effects in those 2 models. The instrument list is easy to find, it’s comprehensive, and easy to navigate. I like it a lot and actually prefer to use the Casio Music Space app for most of the features within those PXS models.
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| Acoustic piano selections |
Once you select your instrument sound/tone category, then you open it up to see all of the instruments in that category, and the Casio Music Space app clearly shows you those selections. You just touch the one you want on your external device and that sound is instantly changed and heard in the Casio piano. The list of some of the tone categories on the left side show you other sound categories that are available so you can just touch one of those category names and then select from the instruments within that category. Very easy and useful.
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| Instrument layer and split controls in Casio Music Space
The PX-S7000 allows you to layer any 2 sounds together as well as set up a split of 1 sound on the left hand and up to 2 sounds on the right hand. It’s a bit more tedious to do that using the control panel of the PX-S models, but doing it using the Casio Music Space app makes that set up super easy…even a 5 year old could do it. The graphics on the app are very visual and point out what virtual buttons you need to press and also how to select the particular instrument sounds you want for the specific parts of the keyboard. You can also visually see and control where you want your left and hand hand to separate in the split mode.
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| Keyboard touch response and transpose feature |
If you wanted to quickly change the keyboard touch response to be more customized to your fingers then you can do that with the app. If wanted to select a different key than what the music is in because you may want to sing with it and get the song into a better key for your voice, then you can quickly and intuitively transpose the song into any key that you want. If you want to put the piano into a training mode called “duet,” you can also do that from the app.
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| PX-S5000, 6000, 7000 acoustic simulator app controls |
These PXS digital pianos also have the ability to let you customize the piano sounds in these models. You can change the organic aspects of the piano sounds including different resonances and noises. The piano sounds already come from the factory the way they are, set up in a certain way. But…maybe your ears might like those piano sounds modified a bit so that they are even more pleasing to you. Rather than use the control panel of the piano to do those things, you can get to those controls more intuitively through the Casio Music Space app.
You can see those piano editing features laid out neatly in the app and you can adjust the intensity of those organic elements (resonance, noises) by just changing their “number.” A higher number is more, and a lower number is less. You just experiment with it until it sounds good to you. You won’t mess up the piano because it will default back to factory settings if you want it that way. The PX-S7000 pianos have more natural piano resonances and app controls as compared to the PX-S6000 or PX-S5000.
But both models utilize the Casio Music Space app in some impressive ways and it’s easy to find the features and functions you are looking for through the app “Remote Controller” section. Be aware that the app does not have the ability to control all functions in the pianos, but it can do many of them.
CASIO MUSIC SPACE APP – LIVE CONCERT SIMULATOR
The Casio Music Space app also has some fun features in it that are not in the pianos. One of these “fun features” is the “Live Concert Simulator” that has images and live sounds from various venues and locations which can immerse you into those environments and give you the sense that you are really there. You simply play music that goes with those venues or environments and it can enhance your enjoyment of the music you are playing. You can use any sounds or features in the piano that you like to get your music more in line with those venues or environments.
Those environments are also interactive with you music. As an example, if you are playing in the Classical Concert Hall, you have an audience who is clapping and talking and when you play your music, depending on how loud or forceful you are playing it or visa-versa, your music will trigger a response from the audience, just like a real audience. It’s like you are really there.
How about a Rain Forest? There’s even a rain forest environment where you can play your music, just like you were there. You will hear gentle rain, hard rain, thunder, lightning, insects, etc, and it all reacts to your playing depending on how you are playing it. You can also add in some momentary special sound effects by pressing touch buttons on the app in your tablet. It really does sound great and it’s definitely fun to us. The rain is also relaxing, especially if you are playing softer and more gentle music.
CASIO LIVE CONCERT SIMULATOR – VIDEO DEMO
Here is a short demonstration video (above) of a few of the various Concert and natural environments from the Casio Music Space app and what they sound like. You can control volume of these background simulators, play live music while a simulator is on, as well as play pre-recorded music within those environments such as you favorite music from imported files. There is also a feature in the Casio Music Space app that allows you to remove the vocal track of a prerecorded song that has vocals (singing) in it so that you can sing the vocal track live with the music! Pretty cool, and it works.
THE PX-7000 AT NIGHT!
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| Casio PX-S7000 at night
So what does the Casio PX-S7000 look like at night, specifically in the white cabinet? Well…it looks pretty cool and possibly like the control center of an aircraft of some type. You can easily see and read the button controls, user display screen, and also see the pitch lighted bend wheel and control buttons on the left side. So you can actually play this model in the dark and still be able to use it…as long as you don’t necessarily have to look at the keys when you play!
 The user display screen is also easy to see at night, and with the lighted digital touch ring you can easily change settings, sounds, and features and maneuver to where you need to be. Not all digital pianos have lighted buttons, especially in this way, so this can be a very useful feature. Both the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 have illuminated touch buttons and display screen on the front panel. However, the PX-S6000 does not have the illuminated left side pitch bend wheel or control knobs or buttons.
 When it comes to how these pianos look in the dark, the PX-S7000 is most the impressive followed by the PX-S6000 and then the PX-S5000. Some people will not care how these pianos look in the dark but some people will. Regardless, these illuminated buttons, screens and wheels function well, the illuminated makes their controls and functions easier to see, and it make you look like a musician on stage. ?
MEASUREMENTS & WEIGHT OF PX-S7000, S6000, S5000 PIANO AND ACCESSORIES All of the Casio PX-S models come with some nice accessories including the Bluetooth adapter, a sustain pedal, power supply, and a music rack. However, the music rack for the PX-S5000 is a more basic black metal & plastic rack which is actually nice and very useable. But the music rack for the PX-S6000 & S7000 is the upgraded larger custom acrylic music rack with a unique design to better support sheet music for those models. That music rack is really attractive, is more functional for your music, and in my opinion adds more value to those 2 models.
The measurements of that music rack/desk are 21″ wide x 2.5″ deep x 7″ high. Also, since the music rack/desk leans back a bit, you’ll need to allow for approx 1″ more depth (or so) for the piano beyond the depth of the stand so that the music rack doesn’t get squished up against a wall behind it.
 Beyond that music rack, the unique “retro” simulated wood stand that comes with the PX-S7000 is really cool. It is not only attractive and unusual, but it is solid & sturdy. Not everyone will like this style stand (CS90) because some people like the more traditional digital piano stands like other brands and models have. Nevertheless, I personally like it very much and it comes standard with the PX-S7000 (along with the color matched grand piano pedal lyre) and the stand is in different colors depending on the color of the PX-S7000 piano cabinet.
 On the PX-S6000 that fancy “4-leg” stand comes as an option (CS90) and is only available in black, which is fine and looks good because the piano is mostly black with some simulated brown woodgrain trim. However, as I have mentioned before, the optional “retro stand” is $450 so it’s not cheap. Nevertheless, I have personally inspected and assembled that stand and it is actually pretty amazing with regard to design, finish, and stability.
***SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER – PURCHASE THE OPTIONAL $450 CS-90P BLACK 4-LEGGED DESIGNER STAND FOR THE PXS-6000 AT JUST $99! (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST). ASK US ABOUT THIS UNADVERTISED OFFER AND HOW TO SAVE $401 ON THIS STAND. THIS OFFER MAKES THE PX-S6000 A GREAT BUY! ***
 This is not a normal everyday stand for looks or construction. It is mechanically precise, assembles fairly easily (but takes time), and the simulated wood-grain legs look great…very much like wood but is actually a “vinyl wrap.” But the material on the legs looks very real and should last for many, many years. The stand “footprint” measures 49″ wide x 17″ deep because the legs need to stick out to give it stability. However, the piano itself measures 53″ wide x 9.5″ deep. So you’ll need to allow for the measurements of the stand on the PX-S7000 when looking for a suitable place to put it in your space, home, or studio.
The height of the piano attached to that proprietary 4-leg stand (for both the S7000 & S6000) from the floor to the keyboard is approx 29″ high.
The weight of the PX-S6000 and S7000 is 32 lbs each for the piano alone. When you add the optional 4-leg stand (and music rest) to the PX-S6000 the weight is approx 51 lbs. The PX-S7000 already incls that stand and music rest plus the special proprietary triple pedal unit and metal pedal support bars. When you add all that weight together you get a total PX-S7000 weight of approx 64 lbs. The weight of the PX-S5000 for the piano alone is 25 lbs and when you add its optional stand furniture stand and music rack, that total weight is 51 lbs.
 For the PX-S7000 stand and optional CS-90P stand for the PX-S6000, there is even individual adjustable “leg levelers” under each leg of that 4-leg stand so that you can adjust the level/height of each leg if the stand happens to be sitting on an uneven floor. So with regard to the legs of that stand, Casio has pretty much though of everything including how far out they sit, the balance of the piano once it’s attached to the stand, as well as to how the piano secures to the stand. So the real question is…is this unique “retro” stand worth the $450 it would cost to buy it for the PX-S6000? I think the answer is “yes.”
 In my opinion this special stand is just too intricate, sturdy, and visually appealing to be done at a cheap price. It comes with the PX-S7000 and is optional for the PX-S6000 and only comes in black for that model. The PX-S5000 takes the more traditional Casio CS68 stand at $159 (image above). I like the optional stand for the PX-S5000 and it works good, but it is nothing like the stand for the PX-S6000 or PX-S7000.
 There is a very cool “key cover” that is included with the PX-S7000. It is a soft but thicker gray material that is a custom made cover which fits nicely over the keys when the piano is not in use. This cover is not available for the PX-S6000 or PX-S5000. It looks great on the PX-S7000 and does a good job keeping dust off the piano while it is not in use. It’s just another perk for the PX-S7000 and it’s a nice one. It even has a custom leather strap riveted to the front of that key cover and it has the “Privia” logo on it. Even this detail is impressive and the people at Casio must have taken some time to think all of this through in a good way. Very impressive.
CUSTOM CC7 STOOLS Casio is supposedly going to offer an optional padded adjustable stool for the PX-S7000. It will be available in 2 colors including light and dark brown to match the 4-leg piano stands of the PX-S7000. There is no word from Casio yet on cost or availability. I would not be surprised if the cost of the stool was close to or over $200, but we’ll have to wait and see. Those stools would look great with the PX-S7000’s but they may not be as practical as a longer traditional bench as far as sitting, comfort, and music storage. Once I get to sit on one then I’ll let you know.
FACTORY WARRANTY Casio has a 3-year total factory warranty on these 3 models which covers parts & labor. As far as factory warranties go, this one is actually pretty good. It’s fairly rare these days to run into issues on these “better” digital piano brands and Casio does a has good job overall in building reliable product. Should you have an issue with one of these pianos then they are lightweight and easy to take to a service tech should it ever need service. Based on my experience with the Casio company and their products, they do a good job “standing behind them.” But they should last a very long time without issues.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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| PX-S7000 cabinet color choices |
With the new and improved internal speaker system on the new PX-S6000 and PX-S7000 with 4 amplifiers producing 32 watts of power going into 4 speakers along with new spatial sound technology the sound output is very good, although it could use a better bass system, as I have previously mentioned. Both the PX-S6000 and 7000 have many more instrument sounds as compared to the PX-S5000, and the new and improved Casio wood & resin reinforced fast-response key action in all 3 models is impressive. along with all the other cool things these models do, and they look great too. Casio is finally in the game for portable digital pianos in this price range with the other guys including Yamaha, Kawai, Roland, and Korg.
So my recommendation for someone wanting to go for the PX-S6000 is to do it if you really like the way it looks, you feel you need the controller knobs, you don’t mind less features than you’ll find on the PX-S7000, and especially because of the lower $1799 price as compared to the $2499 price of the PX-S7000 ($2699 for the harmonious mustard color). The main reasons to go for the PX-S7000 would be because they look great in their designer cabinets with designer accessories (stands & pedals) and they have the upgraded acoustic piano sounds, which in my opinion is very important.
The PX-S6000 acoustic piano sound sample is still great, but the PX-S7000 is definitely upgraded when it comes to the actual piano sounds. The PX-S5000 is obviously more basic but it still retains the main Steinway acoustic piano sound as in the PX-S6000, the impressive (hybrid) key action, responsive pedaling, and it is 7 lbs lighter than the PX-S6000, and it’s lower price of $1199 is compelling. As I mentioned earlier…it just depends what is most important to you and what your budget is!
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| PX-S7000 mustard – with stand & pedals attached |
It was just a matter of time until Casio did something in this $1000 to $2500 price range when it comes to a more professional quality portable digital piano that beginners through advanced players can appreciate. It will definitely make this “space” more competitive and I believe Casio will come out on top with these models in many cases, depending on what you want, what you need, and your musical goals and playing experience.
Also, Casio has produced generally reliable products with good, strong factory warranties, just like the “other guys” out there so I am expecting that these new models will come out strong and be reliable for many, many years of ownership. Casio is a respected company worldwide and they have proven themselves through the years with producing impressive digital pianos and keyboards and I have played most of them. So I do have a lot of experience with this brand and their products and definitely recommend them, especially these new models.
One more thing. I know there are some people out there, especially some of the “pro’s,” who don’t normally associate the name “Casio” with pro keyboards or pro digital pianos. That’s understandable and I used to be the same way lots of years ago. This is because the names Roland, Korg, Yamaha, and a couple of others have been the mainstays of the pro stage performers and musicians for many years.
Those pro musicians or advanced players who play gigs, who perform in concert, or who do recording at recording studios will be impressed with these new pianos once they get the chance to play them. Casio has always been well regarded by the general public for their products but the pro musician people who are a bit harder to please will also be impressed with all 3 of these new models.
In the final analysis, in my opinion, no longer will Casio be thought of by these “snooty” pro players (I’m a pro player but I’m not “snooty”:) as just a company which makes lower price home digital pianos and keyboards that are good for the “masses,” but not necessarily good enough for the professionals. Once the pro players out there get a chance to play these new models (especially the 6000 & 7000), they will quickly become believers in my opinion…just like me.
Casio PX-S7000 full size view
These new digital piano models are built for everyone no matter what your piano playing skill level may be and no matter what style of music you like. From serious classical piano music to jazz, pop, rock, country, Latin, or whatever style of music you enjoy, there is something for everyone. I also believe these new models can hold up to anything else out there right now in their respective price ranges and even surpass them in a number of ways.
Finally, it’s good to know these 3 new models, especially the PX-S6000 and PX-S7000, do a lot more things and have many more features than what I have talked about in this review. I have tried to hit upon the most important things in this review. Some of these many additional features can be very useful depending on what you are doing with your music, your actual musical goals, and your playing experience….and also whether you are playing your music in a recreational way, or as a student, or in some professional way.
COMPARISON SPECIFICATION CHART
To help you better understand some of the important primary differences in these 3 new models, here’s a chart below which includes the PX-S5000 at $1199, PX-S6000 at $1799, and PX-S7000 (with accessories) at $2499 ($2699 for the “harmonious mustard” color – aka: yellow-gold finish). The chart shows the main features of these 3 new models, but there are many more functions and features beyond what is mentioned in the chart. This would include a digital mixer, assignable control functions, and lots of useable connectivity ports, along with some cool features from the proprietary Casio Music Space app that are not already built into these pianos. IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS CHART ON A CELL PHONE DEVICE, PLEASE USE THE HORIZONTAL POSITION.
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FEATURES |
PX-S5000 |
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PX-S7000 |
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Key action |
hybrid wood & resin simulated ivory & ebony keytops |
hybrid wood & resin simulated ivory & ebony keytops |
hybrid wood & resin simulated ivory & ebony keytops |
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Total Sounds |
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yes |
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none |
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Audio recorder/player |
yes, wav recording. MP3 & wav playback |
yes, wav recording. MP3 & wav playback |
yes, wav recording. MP3 & wav playback with internal flash memory |
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yes/comes with optional stand |
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acrylic music rest |
no/only basic black music rest |
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By the way, here’s a demo video (below) by an accomplished pianist playing the new PX-S7000. He is doing a demo on how the PX-S7000 sounds and plays as a piano only with no other functions…just playing piano. I was personally impressed by this performance so I thought you’d like to see it too. Check it out on YouTube below and be sure to listen through a good set of monitors or quality stereo headphones:
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts or Amazon, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
Great comprehensive review, Tim! Can you beat Sweetwater’s$2499 price for the 7000?
With internal audio recording you mean the PX s7000 has a built-in audio interface and the PX s6000 hasn't? Also I like the PX s6000 more, i like the knobs instead using an external app to access these functions. I would like to see a video about the PX s7000 using modulation and virtual knobs function.
The PX-S7000 does not have USB audio streaming. It can record audio files internally without the need for a USB thumb drive or any other interface hardware, etc. This is not normally the case for most portable self-contained digital pianos
If you want info on pricing, discounts, and other related info for these models or other digital pianos, then please email me directly and I will respond and give you that info. Thank you.
I like the PX s6000 more because it has physical knobs instead using an external app like the third model. Also by internal audio memory you mean the pxs7000 has a built-in in audio interface can be use to transfer audio from the keyboard? Does pxs6000 has this? Thank you
What connectivity do those models offer? Midi in out through / bluetooth/ usb ?
Great review! How does the extra down force required towards the back of the keys compare to other digital pianos with longer keys or to an acoustic piano? One of the main concerns about these pianos seems to be the extremely short keys.
Also, do you think the extra 7 lbs of weight on the 6000/7000 versus the 5000 is entirely due to the speakers and amps or is the build quality better (a thicker more rigid enclosure, for example)? I can't imagine that the extra digital features add any significant amount of weight.
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see our review for the latest updates on connectivity
There seems to be no extra down-weight on the black keys towards the back of the key as compared to the fronts of the keys. Black keys are very balanced. The down-weight force on the white keys, being longer than the black keys, does increase towards the backs of the keys, which is expected. The keys are still playable but a bit firmer in touch near the very backs of the white keys than other portable digital pianos. Upright and grand acoustic pianos have very long keys…typically twice the length of most portable digital piano key actions in all price ranges.
But the overall down-weight and up-weight on all keys in the new PXS models is more playable and more comfortable than many other digital pianos in other brands. There is always a bit of compromise when designing a compact size digital piano, but in this case I give Casio an "A" in what they have been able to accomplish with this new key action. Pro players I know who have played the new key action on these Casio PXS models really like it, as do I, especially considering the compact cabinet size.
The extra weight in the 6000 & 7000 cabinet has do to cabinet structure and internal speaker system. The cabinet on those 2 models had to be designed in a different way so that it could support that special new 4-leg stand that Casio developed. The PSX5000 does not use that new proprietary 4-leg stand.
Amazing review. Thanks so much for writing it. Been looking to replace my Roland FP-80 for several years (52 lbs + 25 case). Looks like the PX-S7000 is going to be great replacement.
Thank you for your comment. As with all brands of new digital pianos, we can help you get them for less money in the USA incl the new Casio PX-S5000, S6000, and S7000. Check with us for availability and lower price. The PX-S7000 is currently available to us.
Thank you for your very detailed reviews. I am looking for a digital piano that would develop proper finger strength and playing technique. Would you say that playing and practicing on either the Kawai ES90 or PX S-6000 would do a good job of proper finger technique and finger development?
Hi Tim, thanks for the review.
Would you mind sharing the settings you used to recreate the "Yamaha Grand Piano" sound?
I would like to play around with it myself.
i am also interested for the settings to recreate the Yamaha sound? could you tell us?
I resent this review. I just bought and fell in love with an FP90x. But now I want the PXS7000!!!
Kudos to Tim Praskins! I subscribed to your YT also.
What is the wait time for these pianos?
We happen to have access to the PXS5000, S6000, and S7000 models right now in very limited quantity for people in the US. Immediate shipment, brand new, and also at lower prices too.
Thank you for this extremely detailed comparison test of the three Casio Privias. Some of the best I have read about them. Great!
I currently have the PX-S1000 and am considering an upgrade. Actually, I would prefer to upgrade to the PX-S7000. However, I have very tight space constraints. So I need to know beforehand how much more space it will take up in depth (with score stand).
At best, can you put a PX-S7000/6000 with music holder against the wall and measure how many cm or inches are to the front edge of the piano body?
Thanks!
A bit late to the party, but I had exactly the same issue (very limited space) as you, but ended up buying the PX-S6000 anyway. For anyone reading this and wondering the same: with rest, it's 35.5cm (14'') deep, but you could probably squeeze another 0.5cm away if you push gently against the music rest. Anyway, for me, it's the perfect size, and I'm very happy with my purchase!
Thank you for the review. Is it possible to attach CS90 stand to PX-S5000? are there any "holes" for attaching any such legs?
The chassis (structure) of the PXS5000 will only fit the Casio CS68 stand. The CS90 stand for the PXS6000 and PXS7000 will not work on the PXS5000.
On the 7000 in splint mode can you adjust the volume independently for each split?
Yes, on both the PXS7000 and PXS6000 you can independently adjust volumes for any 2 sounds in split mode.