Restock Casio Privia PX575R 88-Key Digital Piano

I've owned this piano for about 4 months now and I am continuously impressed by its quality. I am not big on recording or mixing, so I can't really speak to those concerns. However, what really got me to buy it is the sound. It just simply sounds better than any other piano in the price range (and some much more expensive pianos). The organ sounds are incredible. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds like the music actually comes out of the device as opposed to two distant attached speakers. I chalk this up to the row of speakers that transition sound up the keybord. It is tremendous. Also, the ability to layer and split sounds comes in handy. Overall, I have been very pleased and I highly recommend it.

I have owned this board for over a year and think this keyboard may be one of Casio's best kept secrets. It offers a range of options not seen in this price range and it has some great sounding voices thanks to the ZPI sound chip. In my opinion this sounds better than the current PX-330, and has much better on board speakers than the 330. The major drawback to this board is the 32 note Polyphony although I have not had major issues with dropped notes. However, some patches layered together with accompaniment will cause sound to drop out. However, you can use the USB MIDI port to go into a computer. Casio recently released a Vista/Windows 7 driver which I can confirm works on Vista and Windows 7 32 bit O.S. The touch on this thing is fabulous, but a bit noisy. It offers the ability to edit some of the onboard patches and save them as setups in registration memory. The organ patches on this are very good and there are 9 digital drawbars so you can edit the organ sounds. It might not be a B3 but it is quite useable. There is DSP which enhances sound quality. You have drumkits to create your own drum loops and a six track recorder to lay down ideas. The Yahama YPG-635 has more polyphony, but does not offer the flexibility of the 575. I think this model will soon be phased out as it has been around for 3 years now. If you want something that offers good sound, and real value for your money, this is it.

I rated this awhile back (Dave) and I still stand by my review. I have not invested energy into the "USB" cable/driver issue because it DOES NOT interrupt my ability to record music to my computer. If anyone is looking to record with this device, I have 2 options. One, you can always take a 1/4" TRS cord (like a guitar cable) and plug into your recording interface and do it that way. Very cheap solution. No recording interface? Just add a 1/4" to 1/8" jack adapter and plug into your computer's sound card. Two, you can hook a condenser mic up to your built in speakers and record right from there. If you don't own a condenser mic, entry level mics start around $100, but sound great. The two options (Direct Input, and not) offer 2 different variations to tonal recording. The USB option that it offers would be nice to use, but it doesn't make this a bad keyboard to purchase. It's not a major issue, IMHO. My advice if you are hung up on the USB driver issue based on recording is that you should NOT be recording with a USB anyway... CONDENSER sounds rich and lush, not "electronic".

Bought keyboard 12-08 from Guitar Center, (GC is great!)even though they warned me of potential driver issues. I thought..how bad can it be? Certainly there is a USB driver fix out there. And now have been struggling trying to get a driver for a year. Am writing this review on 12-30-09. Believe it or not, there is NO Updated PC USB MIDI DRIVER for this unit, except an old 2004 XP buggy slow driver. The link for a Vista driver at Casio.com does not work, is a fake link, and after 10 phone calls and confusion among their staff, Casio USA Support admits that until Japan Corporate gets around to it (it's been 5 years since the last driver now) there will be no updated driver. I hoped that when I installed Windows 7 this month, it might use the old XP driver in compatibility mode...but to no avail...and Casio support now admits it will not work with Windows 7. Be aware that Casio International is not supporting drivers and is not servicing after the sale. I have great appreciation for Casio USA's phone technical team...they were kind and professional....but they can't make corporate in Japan give them a driver until customers stop buying. After days and hours of frustration trying everytyhing I know to get it to work, I wish I had bought an M-Audio Keyboard instead of 88 key Casio PX-575. In contrast, my My smaller 49 key M-Audio's keyboard is lightening fast to key response and has multiple drivers, including 64 bit versions for Vista and Windows 7. The M-audio usb is recognized immediately....by your computer. So....it is easy to use with ProTools. Word to the wise, beware of painfully slow response and compatibilitiy issues with Casio and your midi programs and equipment.

If you are going to use with usb to record, RUN AWAY from this unit. Casio does not support well..if at all after sale. After spending HOURS and DAYS searching for drivers to use with my PC based studio, I wished I had bought almost anything but a Casio. Plays okay, but just not suited for studio or recording on PC, because Casio does not create or update drivers for Vista or 7 or seem to care. They've had three or four years to create one for Vista. Someone (search the internet) has hacked a driver for the mac, not for Windows, and beware of buggy drivers. What's the use of selling and advertising a USB keyboard, if they don't provide software that will work with anything but an XP? Come on Casio!

I purchased this unit about 6 weeks ago. The deal they had going on at the time really drew me towards this unit and was my ultimate reason for buying it, but take note that the features made me consider it in the first place. I went into Guitar Center looking for 3 things: An exceptionally realistic piano sound, affordable to my price range and something my daughter (17 months old currently) would grow into when she is old enough to start with lessons. At first I thought it had "too much" for what I was trying to get out of it. I wanted to keep it simple with effects, and just get something with that sweet realistic piano tone. However, I am actually very pleased now that I have had time to get used to it. I have since been back to GC to play all the keyboards they stock (Fort Wayne, IN) and I still stand by my choice. Here are some features I have to review about. My music theory is in the advanced level, but it offers an on-screen mode that displays chord names when you play 3 notes or more. It will display the chord (Ex: Eb minor when striking the 1, minor 3, & 5) which is huge for anybody that is just starting to play and understand music. It also demonstrates advanced chord systems like augmented and diminished for the growing musician. I would rate it more than 5 stars for this feature if I could. The effects, which I considered it to have too many of, are lush and sound great. What I have come to enjoy is the "touch/feel" of the weighted keys. I rate it close with those of a real piano, but as somebody has mentioned, it does make a click sound that is barely audible when the volume is turned down. Another great feature I noticed is without a PA or amp, the built in speakers are better sounding than all other models in the same price range and resonate the punch of bass notes without sounding muffled. I wanted to have something that would also play well if I choose to gig in the future. It is quite heavy and is a downside (be prepared to purchase a hard shell case to lug this around if you want to protect it), but if you like the weight because of the �ۡ��̏tank�ۡ�ݕ�_ value, then this is a winner and would be perfect in a studio environment. The weight is coming in @ 36.8 lbs., approximately 10-15 lbs. heavier than the newer lightweight, but lesser optioned keyboards in the same price range or lower. The lack of MIDI in/out is my only complaint besides the weight, but it does offer options for a USB data cable transfer of information. With 2 head phone jacks (1/4�ۡ�ݕ�_) outputs, it allows multiple people (student/teacher) to listen to each other while others may be around in the same practice space. If you are a musician that gigs like myself, I look at this as an AMAZING option to run one output through one type of amp clean/bypass and another through a different one that has effects (delay/chorus) to create an unique sound while playing live or in the studio that doesn�ۡ���t compromise the sound of the beautifully clean sampled tones. I enjoy effects, but I originally went shopping for the �ۡ��̏REALISTIC SAMPLED TONE�ۡ�ݕ�_ of a piano. Let me tell you that this thing offers some very sweet sounding piano sounds�ۡ��_ and it actually offers different types like Grand, Soft Grand, Bright, and different variations of these. The DSP chip allows for some effects as well that are built in, but the options of alteration aren�ۡ���t what I am used to. In that sense, I�ۡ���ll use effects pedals to achieve this sound because it doesn�ۡ���t allow for effects like pixilation and Octavia. Overall, it's a great instrument and worth considering if these are things you desire as well. I hope this helps your decision making process.