Casio Privia PX-350 review
In some of my other reviews I have spoken about the need to accurately distinguish between the type of digital pianos or keyboards that are out there on the market, as you need to be perfectly clear on what it is you’re actually spending your money on. I also touched on the fact that this is sometimes made a very difficult process because of the many hybrid machines that blur the lines of what actually makes up a digital piano or keyboard, because it basically can do everything.
Piano Buying Guide
Below, please enjoy the interactive guide that was created to make your piano purchase easier. Compare the Casio Privia PX-350 to the best pianos and keyboards in its class:
| Photo | Model |
|---|---|
 | Casio PX-S1100 |
 | Alesis Prestige Artist |
 | Casio CDP-S360 |
 | Yamaha P-515 |
 | Casio PX-870 |
 | Korg LP-180 |
 | Casio PX-770 |
Casio PX350 review: Keyboard with Great Value
The Casio Privia PX-350 is one of the machines that contributes to this unclear climate. It is a wonderfully built machine that delivers in almost every single area from tone variety and selection, to overall design and structure, to connectivity and most importantly, price. In my search for the overall best digital piano I would have to say that this particular Privia firmly cements its place as a top contender for that spot. I’ve even found a number of reviews online and specifically Amazon.com which label it as the “best keyboard value on the market today.”
The Privia PX-350 showcases a lot of its market value in the fact that it can used as both a digital piano and a digital keyboard. Many models of pianos usually cater to one category or the other, and the few that cover both categories jack up the price to unreasonable amounts. The PX-350 is a very serviceable digital piano in that it comes with an industry level keybed hammer action system and full length 88 keys, but it also serves as a keyboard with its wide range of tones, rhythms, and special features.
Below, please take a look at some of our favorite digital pianos and see how well they compare to the Casio PX-350 (or PX-360, which has recently replaced the PX-350):
| BEST SELLERS |
|---|
| 1) Yamaha P-515 |
| 2) Casio PX-S3100 |
| 3) Casio PX-870 |
| 4) Roland FP-E50 |
| 5) Roland FP-30X |
Continuing the Tradition of a Privia
Casio’s line of Privia digital pianos are some of the better known digital pianos on the market. They stand out from other digital pianos because of the quality of production that is mixed with the professional look and capability. Simply put, Privia’s wow a lot of people because they have everything that they’re looking for and they don’t blow a gaping how in your wallet. You will, however, have to spend a little bit more when purchasing a Privia, as most of their models come in at the $600 to $1200 range. In my humble opinion, I believe making the decision to buy a Privia will still be more than worth it in the end.
The PX-350 has a very simplistic design, with a keybed that takes up most of the area of the piano, and a slim lined control interface that combines buttons for every category and a compact display screen. The piano can be purchased in one of two colors: a sleek, matte black finish that is complemented by the ebony and ivory texture of the keys, and a professional white finish that gives the piano a more daring look. This Privia also has the optional accessories of a custom built compatible stand in the Casio CS-67, which comes in a matching matte black or white color, and a three pedal unit in the Casio SP-33, which also comes in matching matte black or white.
Without the stand and pedal unit the piano weighs in at about twenty five pounds, which I think is a wonderful size and weight for a machine of this caliber. Many high end digital pianos are packed with so much stuff that they end up weighing 40 and even over 60 pounds, which can really become a pain if you’re a musician looking to travel with your piano. The PX-350 has pretty standard measurements for an 88 key digital piano with about fifty two inches of length and eleven inches of width, which means there should be no problems fitting this machine into any home, studio, or stage setting.
Awesome Selection of Tones
The PX-350 comes with 250 different built in tones. These tones are helpfully divided into different categories, or song banks, which can be easily accessed from one of the corresponding buttons on the control interface. Of course, the sound most users will be drawn to will be the grand piano sounds, which are none other than fantastic. Casio sometimes gets a bad rap for creating toy-like and beginner friendly products, but they do a good job of including their highest end sounds here on this Privia. The grand piano sounds just like a real piano, and with the addition of some quality connections and amplified speakers you could fool just about any audience.
The sounds on the Casio Privia PX-350 are backed by Casio’s proprietary sound source “AiR”, which stands for Acoustic and Intelligent Resonator. This particular tone generation system works hard to match up exactly the right piano sample with the touch and rhythm of the user’s playing. The AiR system also works in conjunction with Casio’s innovative Damper Resonance simulator, which replicates the action of a damper pedal affecting all 88 piano strings.
In a real piano those strings would be struck by the hammer action of a real key, and this Privia does well to mimic that action with Casio’s redesigned 88-note Tri-Sensor scaled hammer action keybed. This keybed has ebony and ivory textured keys which make the user feel like he is sitting at a real acoustic piano, while the action of the hammers further adds to the realism with a heavier weighting towards the bass and a lighter weighting towards the treble. Also 128 notes of maximum polyphony is a strong boost for the keys and voices to work with, as the machine will be able to sustain whatever you can throw at it.
This Privia model comes with great connectivity, sporting a handy USB class compliant connection that will support connection to external computers, tablets, and also serve as a potent MIDI connection to other MIDI devices. The piano also comes with both a LINE IN and LINE OUT, along with two quarter inch headphone jacks suitable for duets and private student-teacher practice sessions. All in all, you really shouldn’t be able to find a better deal than the PX-350 on the market, especially at the tantalizing price of under $800.
- Please note that the Casio PX-350 has been replaced by the Casio PX-360, which we reviewed here.
Also, be sure to come back to our website for more fantastic piano reviews!
In addition, here are a few key features of this piano:
- 88 keys that have 3 sensors per key
- Piano features Scaled Hammer Action
- This piano also has Tri-sensor Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard II
- In addition, the PX-350 has Max. Polyphony – 128
- 250 Built-in Tones
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