Casio Privia PX-350M
The original Privia was the answer to many pianists’
prayers: the first (and for some time the only) serious 88-key
digital piano at an unprecedented price and weighing only 25
pounds. This made it a catalyst for increased competition in
the under-a-grand piano market: 128-voice polyphony graded
and weighted keyboard actions, and ample supplemental
sounds are pretty standard these days. What does Casio
do to up the ante? For the latest Privia, the PX-350M, they
plunged their resources into a piano playing experience so
improved... it’s astonishing.
Piano Sound and Feel
Compared to the previous flagship Privia (the PX-330), Casio
has tripled the sample size of the main piano sound. They’ve
also adjusted the key sensors such that there’s a lot more
going on than what you may be used to from a digital stage
piano. For one, the keys transmit high-resolution MIDI to
the internal sound engine (as well as any external software
that can interpret it), so instead of 127 possible velocity
values, there are 16,256.
On a graded keyboard, the hammers are (or seem to be)
heavier and slower in the lower range, just like on a real
piano, and they get gradually lighter as you ascend. The PX-
350M has this, and also something called Hammer Response,
an algorithm that accounts for the time it takes for the
heavier hammers to hit the strings at a given MIDI velocity.
Also, the key surfaces have a prominent texture that gives
your fingers grip, wicks away moisture, and makes it hard to
go back to stage pianos that don’t have it.
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The PX-350M has sustain resonance, which simulates the
sound of all the strings vibrating in sympathy with actually-
played notes when the damper pedal is down. Check out
presets like “Grand Piano Dolce,” which dials in resonance
like you would reverb or chorus. The effect is magical.
Casio also touts AIR (Acoustic and Intelligent Resonator),
their digital strategy for interpolating between the four
velocity-switched sample levels. It works. You get smoother
dynamics, finer control, and longer samples with barely
noticeable loops. Slam down an octave near the bottom and
it growls away for what seems like forever.
Bottom line: You have to engage the same level of mental
and kinesthetic concentration that you would if playing an
acoustic grand. Once you do, you have a very expressive
instrument at your fingertips.
Other Sounds and Features
What Casio didn’t do was tamper with the already robust
feature array of the previous deluxe Privia, the PX-330. For
the Rs. 8000 bump up from the PX-160 (which features the
same piano sound), you get 250 sounds, a 17-track sequencer
that records and plays MIDI files via driver-free USB2,
a programmable drum machine with 180 rhythms, auto-
accompaniment, and auto-harmony—the latter two with a
bit of cheese factor but darned fun nonetheless.
There are cushy Rhodes simulations, a nasty little Wurly
that’s the go-to EP on anything funky, Clavs that cut, and a
serviceable smattering of organs. New in the PX-350M are a
super-wide stereo string patch and some ballsy drum sounds.
The bass/piano splits (with both acoustic and electric