Has anyone seen the Casio PX575r? It might be the perfect keyboard for me. From what I've read it seems to be like a Wk3300 with a 88 key piano action. I think it has speakers and an input for a mic. I can't find anything about output jacks. Are there any jacks to input into a PA? Also it seems to have two pedal jacks a sustain and one that says selectable. Can it be programed to start and stop styles/midi files?

montana,
I sell the Privia PX575R and yes it is the WK3300 with an 88 key hammer weighted action. There is no line output jacks but a stereo headphone/output connection. You can use a cable that has a ring, ring, tip 1/4" connector on one side and two 1/4" ring, tip cables on the other side and plug it into a stereo mixer, etc. for outputing sound. It does have a mic input with built in echo/reverb effect. Any thing else you would like to know about this Casio?
It's a very popular piece in my store and if you would like........I can sell you one!
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California www.kayesmusicscene.com

George,

I know this is quite a vague question, but what is your overall view of the Casio brand of keyboards/digital pianos at the minute?

I presume you rate them quite high by your comments, and the fact you have them in your store. But just thought I could get a general vibe from you.

Many thanks.

As many of you know, I sell Yamaha, Korg, Roland, Ketron and Casio keyboards. In the portable digital piano market I am very high on Casio's build quality, sound of Acoustic Piano and other sounds for the price one pays for these models. And, as a big plus, the size and weight make them really popular for giging musicians whom only care about a few good sounds and perhaps a split bass and an option for a couple of pedals and some stereo outputs. Yamaha has some models like the CP33 and P140s, but their prices are 2 and 3 times more than the Casio Privia line.

When it comes to arranger styles onboard, the Yamaha YPG625 wins in this catagory, but Yamaha has made this keyboard rather large and a bit awkward to carry to a gig.

Casio's 76 note models have been far outselling my Yamaha models because of their features, including a virtual drawbar organ with leslie slow and fast speeds, a programmable synth section and a host of other great features when playing back midifiles and wanting to edit the tracks while playing. The Yamaha's just can't do nearly as much until you get into the PSR3000 and Tyros catagory.

The negative of Casio is a total lack of dealer and I presume consumer support, however, I have a So. California sales rep who is a friend and he really helps me out when necessary. Say I have a keyboard which breaks (fortunately not very often). I just call him up, he has Casio send me a call tag to return it and I just give the customer a new keyboard. He is also as knowledgable as I am and so he can be a help to me regarding technical questions when I need help.

Honestly, I find Casio and Yamaha at all the big box stores including Costco, Target, BestBuy and all the others. At least Casio doesn't change the model numbers and they offer certain models only through their music dealer network. What Yamaha does is change the model numbers and at least they offer us the ability to give the survival kits, even though the price is a little higher, with a 3 year warranty, a dust cover, a bench and two DVD's, 1 a video instruction manual on how to use the model keybaord purchased and one with software for educational and recording purposes.
Actually, I'm high on both these brands when it comes to the $200.00 to $800.00 digital keyboard/piano models.
I do sell more Casio because right now they offer 5 models which are all selling really well. The WK8000, Privia PX110, PX310, PX575 and the PX700. Price range from $499 with stand to $799.00 with stand.
Yamaha basically has 2 models with 88 keys, the YPG525 and the YPG625. The 525 is a non weighted keyboard and in my opinion not as good a value because unlike the Casio which sells their unweighted model for $499, the Yamaha is $629, which is too close to the $779 price for the weighted version (which I have told the folks at Yamaha my opinion).
I hope this helps
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California www.kayesmusicscene.com

Do the Casio pianos have any of the following features?

Able to play styles with only bass and drums?
A music finder database feature?
Realtime control of orchestration of the style?

Doc-Z

You can play bass and drums only by simply turning off all the other tracks. You can curser through each track and either turn off or change volumes, pannings, octaves, effects and sounds and then you can save these as a registration memory. This can be done in real time while the style is playing.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene

George, your comments have been extremely helpful. Thank you.

I am newly involved in the retail business, and have already met with Yamaha and Roland reps. Yamaha in particular impress me, with their strength of brand name and their product.

But I must admit to being intrigued by Casio. I am in the process of meeting a Casio rep within the next couple of weeks, so I will definitely take your comments on board.

All the best
Stein67

Stein,
where is your retail business?
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Many miles away from your good self George.....I'm in Ireland!!