Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards PX-5S : Anyone gigged it yet?

I am interested in buying a PX-5S for the gigs only. I have been using my ES7, which is great, but i rather keep it at home full time instead of the pubs. Im looking for something light around $1,000US and can do it all - PX5S looks like an obvious choice. I was wonder if anyone can tell me how they like it in a live situation with a band. How is the sound, functionality, etc. I know the PX5S can be a little complicated only because it is so configurable which is why I am asking for thoughts in a live situation. God help me if I mess up in front of a drunken crowd ;-)

I am going to GC this weekend to try and maybe buy. Any feedback or tips would be much appreciated.

If they are drunken, they won't notice ;-)

So true.

I've done some solo gigs. The board is light-weight but solid. As far as setting up the patchs for your gigs: I wouldn't say it's complicated - you just need to have your patches (or "stage settings" lined up - like any other board. The sound is clean and can really cover any sound you need. There are several guys that gig with bands in the FB group - reviews have been very positive - link to the group is in my sig if you want to come over.

It was 15% off last weekend. See if they will honor that discount if you decide to buy. Pre-Mitt Romney GC had sales going so often it was a given that the sale price was the price available everyday. I have heard of many people able to get a sale price after a sale even though the rules changed so give it a shot.

Pre-Mitt Romney GC?

Mitt Romney was the founder of Bain Capital who bought Guitar Center in 2007.

There are some interesting links if you care to look it up.

Rock Star in the Fender forum outlines this quite well.

http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=73007

DAVID

What may make it a bit complicated is that what you describe there isn't what you necessarily have to do with "any other board," especially many of the boards typically discussed on this forum which are (naturally) more piano than synth. (I guess that relates to what Mike Martin said somewhere about Casio being unsure for a while as to whether this would even be released with the Privia name, i.e. whether they even wanted the market to see it as a "piano" rather than as a "synth" as it kind of straddles the genres.) While many boards do allow you to set up your own "stage settings", I think it is often easier than it is on the PX-5S to ignore that facility even if it has it, and just do patch selection with the dedicated, labeled instrument buttons.

For example, on the PX-310, while you can create "registrations" (a more limited version of the PX-5S "stage settings), even without using them, you can easily call up 12 common tones, layer them by hitting two at once, or split them by hitting one, the split button, and then the other. The PX-5S does not have that kind of straight digital piano simplicity... but it is far more capable.

Hopefully not off topic...
I'm considering the PX-5S as a replacement for light gigging (twice a week in "friendly" environments). BUT... all of the controls on the PX-5S seem very flimsy. The mod and pitch wheels and the rotary controls seem very cheap. Add to this that fact that the key contacts my Keystation 88es wore out after a couple of years of medium/light use. I don't want to invest in a keyboard that won't go the distance.

Any thoughts experience with PX-5S reliability?

With my KS 88es out of commission, I pulled out one of my ancient Alesis QuadraSynth 76-key keyboards to use as a controller. It has been beaten to death over the years. The display is dead and two keys are snapped out but the keybed still responds like the day I bought it. The response from every note is even from top to bottom. I'm looking for a weighted controller or digital piano (gotta have pitch and mod wheels, though) that will be dependable.

Just curious, what does the reliability of a Keystation have to do with the reliability of a Privia? Casio has been making keyboards for well over 30 years. In the US we back the Privia with a 3 year warranty. As for the knobs / sliders they're nearly identical to what has been used on our XW-series. I dare you to find someone that has broken them.

The Facebook group mentioned above has many guys that have been gigging with the PX-5S, some of which have been gigging and touring with the PX-3 for years. Come over and ask them.

The knobs and sliders do not seem cheap or flimsy to me. They are sturdy and have a nice drag. I wondered whether they would be loose/slide and turn too easily. The sliders are relatively small in scale I wondered if they would max out and minimize too quickly but they have a drag/resistance that feels solid and enables precise incremental adjustments.

Have you actually tried them? and where?

I am in the UK and the PX-5S is not here yet but the XW-P1 seemed OK for knobs and sliders when I tried it for quite an extended period.

I have used a PX-3 for over two years now with absolutely no reliability problems.

I was fortunate to receive my PX5S when the first shipment hit the US, and I've done a half dozen gigs with it so far.
I was previously using a PX3 and didn't have the first problem in two years of use. i think the PX5S is comparable in build quality and don't expect any issues. The PX5S is a much more advanced keyboard, and I'm really enjoying the sound and feel of the keyboard. With the built in USB connectivity, I'm able to connect my Ipad to both the PX5S and XWP1 to manage my patch settings on the fly (using an app called "Set List Manager"). The sound quality and programming depth of the PX5S is amazing for a board at this price level, and a weight of 24 pounds makes this ideal if you play a lot of one night gigs. Don

Sorry if I came off dissing the PX-5S which was not my intention. I wrote my post in disgust over my failing Keystation 88es and came on too strong. I currently have 4 keyboards that failed in one way or another, even though I'm very careful with them.

So thank you for the responses. The answers provided are good feedback on the reliability of the controls on the PX-5S.