Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Casio Privia PX-3/PX-150 vs. M-Audio Oxygen 88 as controller

Hi,

I'm looking for a midi controller for playing piano VIs, but a nice stage
piano will do fine too. So I've checked out Casio Privia models.

In the US, the pricing is
PX-150: $599, PX-3S: $699, PX-330: $699, PX-350: $799

In Europe, the pricing is:
PX-3: € 499, PX-330: € 599, PX-150: € 699, PX-350: € 849

In the US, the PX-150 is cheaper than the PX-3/PX-3S, opposite to Europea pricing.
Wondering why that is.

The price for an M-Audio Oxygen 88 is 100 Euros cheaper than the PX-3.
Is its action comparable to the PX-3? Is the action of the new PX-150 better
than the PX-3's? Don't care much about the internal sounds of the Privias,
because I'm going to use VIs anyhow.

What sucks about the PX-3 is that you can't just buy the pedal board without
the stand. The M-Audio seems more flexible that way. Wondering if the
Roland RPU-3 pedal board is compatible with the M-Audio, that would be great.

The upcoming Roland A-88 seems nice too, but at € 839 is seems expensive.
I've already excluded the Akai MPK 88 because of its bad reviews (rattling and
loud keys) -- spec wise, it was my first choice.

Sorry for the long prelude... My main question is if the M-Audio Oxygen 88 has
a comparably good keybed/action as the PX-3, so I could save 100 Euros.

Thanks
Andrej

I haven't personally played it and it doesn't get a lot of discussion here, but the last time I heard, the M-audio didn't get real good reviews.

The PX-150 has a new action that has been getting pretty good reviews here. Of course, some of that could be the euphoria of a new product, but based on what I'm reading, it seems that the action is noticeably better than the old casio action. Whether it's worth the extra money, of course, depends on your budget and how picky you are about your actions. Since the M-audio is even on your list I'm assuming you are not terribly picky.

I went and played the Privia. Of all the "lower" priced Digital pianos I liked the privias feel and action the best. The only other Digital piano I liked the action of better would be a Kawai.

I just placed an order for the PX 150 w/ matching stand and tri pedals today. I will give a full review when it arrives.

I think the PX-150 action is markedly better than the PX-3 action. However, as a MIDI controller, the PX-3 has numerous advantages, including a pitch bend wheel, a modulation button, standard MIDI ports (in addition to the USB that the PX-150 has), the ability to split the keyboard (transmit on different MIDI channels on different parts of the keyboard), the ability to create presets ("registrations") that include sending out MIDI Program Change and other commands to attached devices, etc.

@gvfarns: I'm a beginner, so I'm not picky yet. But I don't want to buy something that I will regret in a few months.

@4g63mr: Did you play the PX-3 as well? If so, how did it compare to the PX-150? (Just action and feel, not sounds etc.)

@anotherscott: Maybe I should wait a little to see if Casio releases an upgrade to the PX-3 based on the new X50 Privias. I'm not in a rush...

Thank you guys for the quick replies. This forum is great!

The only other px they had aside from the newer ones was a px 330. None of the other models in that sam ash I went to.

If your a newbie or beginner like myself I would say find a sam ash or guitar center and go give them a try. I really liked the Feel of the new privias. The only DP's I liked more cost ALOT. So for me I didn't want to spend that much on a first piano. So I went for my 2nd option.

Do you have budget set?

@4g63mr

My budget is around 500 Euros. Another option is the new Yamaha P-35, but it does not support 3 pedals.
I just found a store near by that may have a lot of the keyboards in stock, will check it out tomorrow.