Casio PX-160 vs Yamaha P-115: Which Piano Is Best?
In this article, we’re going to directly compare and review the Casio PX-160 against the Yamaha P-115. Both of these digital keyboard pianos are fantastic in quality, sound, and style. They are also both quite affordable, coming at roughly $499 and $599, respectively.
For the past couple of years, these portable pianos have been highly rated as top of the line products for beginners looking to learn the piano and musicians who are wanting to further their skills as an artist.
But is one more suited for you than the other? We’ll explore this question in-depth in this article. And, to better help you, we’ve created an interactive table below which allows you to compare the Casio PX-160 to the Yamaha P-115 (as well as other popular digital pianos) based on everything from price range to key features.
| Photo | Model |
|---|---|
 | Casio PX-S1100 |
 | Alesis Prestige Artist |
 | Casio CDP-S360 |
 | Yamaha P-515 |
 | Casio PX-870 |
 | Korg LP-180 |
 | Casio PX-770 |
Examining the Casio PX-160
The PX-160 is part of the Privia Series, which is a line of budget digital pianos manufactured by Casio back in 2003. In fact, Casio created the Privia Series for the competition of top brands such as Yamaha, Roland, and Kawai.
At the time, all of these companies were competing for the greatest in convenient digital piano manufacturing. Casio focused on creating a machine that would be fantastic for beginners, but could also be easily moved from place to place. Giving you a massive grand piano sound with a compact body style.
Below, please take a moment to view some of the best-selling digital pianos currently available for sale online:
| BEST SELLERS |
|---|
| 1) Yamaha P-515 |
| 2) Casio PX-S3100 |
| 3) Casio PX-870 |
| 4) Roland FP-E50 |
| 5) Roland FP-30X |
Looking at the Keys
Casio introduced the PX-160 in 2015 as the successor to the PX-150. With amazing feel and attention to detail, they gave the PX-160 great improvements. Its biggest attraction, however, was the enhanced sound for the price. It comes complete with a 88-key Tri-Sensor Scaled Hammer Action keybed, which makes the attempt to simulate the feel of an acoustic piano at a very affordable price.
This is one of the PX-160’s biggest attractions to beginners, since they want to start learning on professional equipment. This machine provides them with the ability to learn on a cheaper instrument but feel as if they are playing on something that’s much more robust and expensive.
And it certainly has worked to a degree.
Looking at the Sound
Which brings us to the overall sounds of the machine. The PX-160 comes integrated with what is known as a smooth ‘AiR Sound’. “AiR” represents Acoustic and intelligent Resonator and is a huge part of what gives this machine its original piano sound. The resonator is crucial to emulating certain details of the piano sound that you normally would not be able to get in a beginner’s instrument.
Another selling point to the Casio PX-160 is, in fact, the three-year warranty. This is a massive part of the package that most users don’t think about. While the Casio digital keyboard is a very strong piece of technology, it is not indestructible. The warranty is a massive contributor to keeping your keyboard maintained. Most warranties will only take care of parts and maybe labor. With Casio, you can trust that your entire product will be replaced, even in the worst of events.
As with any warranty, it of course behooves you to read the fine print.
There are many different player modes and functions to the PX-160. For example, beginners rave over what’s called the Lesson function. It comes equipped with sixty demo songs where you can learn music by splitting up your hands. It teaches you how to play with one hand while slowly making you more comfortable playing with both. This is a fantastic feature for anyone trying to learn the piano.
The digital keyboard also has an incredible body style, making it very easy to transport. It has a sleek design, giving you many more options for storage. With a total weight of 25.5 pounds, the digital keyboard is an ideal instrument for artists on the go or for users trying to set up in their living space.
Yamaha P-115
Yamaha introduced a completely new line of digital keyboards in the late 90’s as being more portable and easier to handle called, The P Series. The widely used P-Series, to this day, proves itself a legendary line of digital keyboards. It upholds a legacy of quality, ability and realism with sleek body styles on the outside and unmatched piano tone orchestrated by Yamaha’s acclaimed sound engineering professionals.
Graded Action Keyboard
One of the more memorable products from that series is the Yamaha P-115. Rated as a great digital piano for intermediate level players, this piano has certainly made an impact. The P-115 had been manufactured to replace its high-end predecessor, the Yamaha P-105.
The P-115 has a full functioning 88-key graded action keyboard with incredible CF sound engineering. It was created to reproduce the sounds of the beautiful 9′ CFIIIS concert grand piano.
One of the first noticeable features of the digital piano is the key action. As it is more of an entry-level machine on the weighted key system scale, for the price you are paying, you are still getting a miraculous and quite professional feel for less than $1,000. Which is the overall goal when searching for a decent digital piano.
Sound and Connectivity
The CF Sound engine represents years of hard work and dedication in the piano making industry. It’s combined with superb sampling technology and high-end expertise giving you everything you need to push high quality sound. The P-115 is infused with the Pure CF sound engine to beautifully reproduce the all beautiful sounds of the grand piano
Compared to the Casio PX-160, which only has a Polyphony count of 128 maximum, the P-115 supports a surprising 192 Polyphony keyboard. It also brings seventeen different instruments to the table for many different playing styles and options. Therefore, the P-115, for your more experienced users, offers a wide range of musicality. Hook it up to your iPad or iPhone for even greater control over your music and achieve flawless connectivity using the controller app associated with this product.
The P-115 also has many different piano sound options, such as the grand piano, bright piano, Wurlitzer, and rock organ. It comes with an Accompanist setting that allows the user to play a chord in a certain style while the piano acts as a dual player. This frees up your extra hand to create fuller and more profound melodies. This is an excellent feature for live performances and artists using the P-115 for any type of music production.
Another great feature for sound is the control in volume and touch sensitivity settings. You can use these settings to adjust the playing styles to your needs and produce a response that is vastly similar to the grand piano. It is more of a realistic tone than a digital one.
An additional component to the P-115 would be the AUX out functionality. This allows the user to connect via AUX cable to an amplifier or speaker system for live performance. The ¼-inch jack will connect without totally canceling out the build in speaker system. This produces quite an amazing and powerful sound when performing in front of a crowd. The sounds have rich full bass and clean treble that resonate through the audience giving you unforgettable results.
Conclusion
When trying to decide what to buy between these two fantastic models, you really just need to ask yourself one question: Which digital piano is most suited for my particular skill level? And after reviewing these two pianos, I feel that the Casio PX-160 is a better digital piano for beginners. The PX-160 provides the opportunity to get yourself familiar with playing a digital piano without sacrificing the quality of sound and functionality. You can learn how to play the piano with its assisted learning techniques and find out what fits you as a musician.
The P-115 is geared more towards experienced players at an intermediate level. Giving you more functionality and effects along with more rhythm samples. You can use both machines for live performances and practice as we have stated, but from what we have gathered, the P-115 is a little higher end form of 88-key digital piano (which makes sense, of course, as it’s approximately $100 more in cost).
The P-115 is an ideal instrument once you have learned how to navigate your way around a digital piano. It also provides multiple ways of connectivity for tech savvy artists to get them from their living room to the stage with little to no hassle. So, if you are looking for a little more bang for your buck, the P-115 is quite possibly your answer.
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