Casio has moved forward in the electric keyboard market during the last decade.
Maybe it’s because of the huge market competition with the other keyboard brands, but anyway, this is fair a trade for the customer who wants some incentive to decide what electric keyboard ensures the best cost-effective ratio.
In this review we are going to talk about the feel, sound and sensibility this keyboard has to offer.
The PX-860 is the product that Casio has released into the new millennium, featuring a lot of great and practical functions that help the player and the student.
It has plenty of awesome features and also looks great. It is worth a try at your local musical store.
Contents
Feel
Having 88 full-weighted hammer-action keys that answer as beautifully as these, there is not much to think about to make up your mind. Its elegant design and smooth look go well with the sophisticated touch of the keys.
The pianist is absolutely free to play as he wishes and will feel the touch of a cutting-edge acoustic piano. There are many pianos out there trying to compete on prices with the PX-860.
You will feel like touching real ebony or ivory keys, which will answer well to an accurate performance of even a maestoso playing.
Casio features a Tri-Sensor system sensitive to the nuance produced by high-level pianists and a graded hammer action that lets the lower notes feel heavier than the upper-end notes.
In general, an equilibrated key feel is accomplished in this piano. The result of this make even the pickiest pianists feel free to perform their musical inspiration without restrictions.
Sound
Having such a large range of built-in tones and a piano sound comparable to cutting-edge grand pianos, this keyboard has caught the real acoustic piano sound and varied strings voices that enrich the layer feature in this model.
The stereo morphing AIR sound system has an increased memory storage and is proud of having three times the memory space of former models. That is translated into a more authentic sound performed on the device.
Casio has added much more authenticity into its electronic sounds in the last years and the AIR sound system has turned its sample trait into a library of real instrument voices.
Features
Casio gave up on useless gadgets and got into more helpful functions in the device. The optional additions tend more to improve and personalize the sound and touch of the piano. With reverb, chorus and shining adjustments, you have plenty of options to produce your ideal sound.
The triple-pedal kit allows you to perform virtuoso sections implying half pedaling without exertion.
With 18 built-in sounds along with the split and layering features, you have a wide range of playing options and a recording feature provides variety in the creation process.
The PX-860 has also an USB port that allows you to connect your piano to notation and recording programs.
It has a lot of great features such as split, layer, and even tuning and a metronome function.
Reverb, chorus and shining effects offer a wide range of sounds for creating the ideal playing and the blend of these functions gives players the freedom to add delicacy to their performances.
Technical Specifications of the PX-860
- Size: 54” by 14” by 12”
- Weight: 80Lbs
- Keyboard: 88 full-weighted keys
- Three Pedals (damper, sostenuto and soft)
- Source: Stereo AIR morphing sound system
- 18 inbuilt voices
- Polyphony: 256 notes
- Speakers: Two 20W speakers
- Effects: Four chorus, four reverbs, shine from -3 to +3
- Metronome
- Tuning and Transpose
- Songs: 60 preset songs, space left for 10 user songs
- Recorder: 5000 notes or 99 songs, convertible to WAV files
- Layer and Split Features
PROS
Above all, its affordability is the star of the show. Costing only about $1000 this product stands out among other $1000 priced top electric keyboards.
It has a smooth and elegant design and a pretty finish with a glossy case. It could seem fancier than it really is.
To add icing on the cake, the ebony black and ivory white keys have a charming touch to play over and over again with a sophisticated feel.
Sound-wise has the biggest challenger among the plethora of digital voices in the market. I can rate it as one of my all-time-fav for the general tone precision. The tones on this piano are much more beautiful than many others I tried.
Casio Privia PX-860 Digital Home Piano
Check the Casio Privia PX-860 Digital Home Piano on Amazon!
The keys have an amazing ebony and ivory feel and their answer is soft and coherent throughout the tone scale.
The playing experience on this piano gives the accurate sounds of an authentic instrument like the nuance of the touch or the multilevel resonance of smart pedals.
CONS
Though Casio has enhanced the realistic sound of its keyboard tones, they cannot be equated with other high-level electric keyboard manufacturers.
But besides that, almost everything else in this product is great. It is more or less what I would expect from an electric piano at this price.
Maybe other tiny drawback is that the recorder only has space for 5,000 chords. This can be a bit restrictive for pianists who tend to play long musical pieces. But it is a minor issue for all the great musical traits this product has to offer.
If I forcedly had to point out another drawback, it would be the limited features on the PX-860. But I would be a whiner if do that.
Sentence
Having an amazing feel, sound and polyphony, this keyboard gives the customer the possibility to experience the real thing. The concert dignity of a cutting-edge keyboard has really been decreasing in cost. And after Casio’s long-term persistence to release the best at a portion of its price, it looks like they finally made it.
At first sight, this model seems to belong to a high-class brand. And when it is uncovered and you touch it and play it, it provides all that you were expecting from it.
I hope that this product is able to put an end to the bad reputation Casio had in the last years since it is a shocking sample of a product that provides quality at a really affordable cost.
