Introduction to the Casio PX-860

If there is one thing we can all celebrate from the stiff competition in digital keyboard’s arena is how it has made each brand to go beyond its comfort zone in ensuring that they deliver quality products. No company can take its fan base for granted anymore. Additionally, all companies have been forced to invest further in research and technology in an attempt of coming up with new features and devices to attract more customers. I can imagine this is a nightmare to the companies but for us consumers, this is perhaps the best moment we’ve ever had. This is so because we don’t just have a wide variety to choose from but we also have a huge group of really brilliant machines which can make choosing one from them an impossible affair.

Casio has been around for years and they are one of the most popular and reputable brands in the market. They have given us incredible machines in the past but is the PX-860 one of their success stories? The Casio PX-860 takes over from where the PX-850 left off. Casio PX-850 was quite a remarkable machine and hence it’ll be really interesting to see whether its replacement can match its greatness.

Here is everything you need to know about the Casio PX-860 to help you make an informed decision on whether to buy it or not.

First Impressions

The Casio PX-860 has various similarities with its predecessor and looks is one of them. It looks just like the PX-850 with very little differences that most users won’t even notice. This isn’t really a bad deal because the PX-850 was a good-looking keyboard but owners of the PX-850 who were looking for a fresh upgrade will be a bit disappointed.

The Casio PX-860 carries on the Casio culture of making instruments with a modern appearance and a classic feel. The keyboard is pretty slim with a generally stunning appearance. We would also like to point out that the keyboard comes in three different colors: an elegant black wood tone finishes, an executive oak tone finish and an insanely gorgeous white wood tone finish. Whichever of the keyboard you select we are sure that it will perfectly blend with your décor adding an extra taste of beauty. We are certain that you will find it rather difficult choosing between these colors.

Sound

Looks can only take you so far but without the right technical features, a keyboard is doomed to fail. Fortunately, Casio has been around for long enough to know that quality sounds are a dream for every keyboardist out there. In this particular piano, Casio has gone out of their way to ensure that they could use every technology and resource within their grasp to deliver excellent sounds and we are glad about the results.

The Casio PX-860 gets a chance to outshine its predecessor when you start trying out the sounds provided. As we had already pointed out, the PX-850 and PX-860 look almost exactly the same but once you sit down and start trying out the various sounds you start to realize just how brilliant the 860 has been made improving on what 850 offered. In fact, the PX-860 has been compared to the Casio PX-5S which is arguably the best sounding digital piano Casio have ever made. Experts even went as far as claiming that the PX-5S was the closest thing to acoustic pianos that any digital keyboard has ever gotten. To be compared to such a legendary keyboard is no joke. Credit to the PX-860 though because it does indeed come with some brilliant sounds that will overwhelm your taste buds with rich resonance and melodies.

The keyboard also comes with a hall simulation feature that allows the user to create a simulation of the sound they’d get if they were playing in a concert hall, stadium or in a cathedral setting. Before you say that other digital keyboards also have a similar feature we’d like you to really understand that the effect and immersive nature of this keyboard should in no way be compared to a mere echo effect. The hall simulation feature delivers a clear and realistic effect that very few digital keyboards out there can match.

The keyboard has a classic appearance but this does not in any way mean that it’s only ideal for making classics or old melodies. The keyboard comes with quite a huge variety of sounds including some of the latest sounds. This ensures that its users are never left behind when it comes to keeping up with the ever-changing taste of music fans.

We would also like to point out that the keyboard has some rather powerful speakers meaning that you won’t need to invest in an external system unless you are planning on using it in a gig, studio or in a big audience setting. For home and most other purposes, the four inbuilt speakers of the keyboard will be very comfortable to deliver loud sounds with extreme clarity.

However, in the sounds department, there are several limitations that you need to be aware of. The keyboard, for instance, comes with 10 classic tracks that you can play along. This is easy and an enjoyable experienced to seasoned pianists but intermediate or beginners this could be a bit too difficult to follow. To solve this problem, the keyboard allows you to use the playback setting in slowing down the tracks so that you can follow them with more ease.

Additionally, having just 10 inbuilt recordings doesn’t feel like enough. The good news is that you can use the various connectors available to use the keyboard with your computer, mobile device and other smartphone apps. This way, you can find more music to practice and have fun with.

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Touch

The Casio PX-860 comes with a keyboard lid in a design similar to that of a grand piano. Below the lid are ebony and ivory keys with an exquisite feel. The keys are designed to feel like the classic machine the PX-860 is meant to be while also mimicking the feel of an acoustic piano. Of course, the keyboard doesn’t have the exact touch and feel of acoustic instruments but neither do any of the digital keyboards in the market. Casio has worked hard within the limitations of making a budget-friendly digital piano to deliver a touch response which brings us even closer to a grand piano. Therefore, advancing from this piano to an acoustic one will be a lot easier.

You can also customize this keyboard to fit your preferences in terms of touch sensitivity. This way you can edit the keyboard to match with the playing style you are feeling at any particular moment. You can also edit this sensitivity to match with your playing speed for a more thrilling performance.

The keyboard also comes with a duet mode that splits the keyboard into two equal parts allowing you to play alongside another person. This feature proves very useful especially for intermediate players who still need assistance from a tutor.

Casio PX-860 Specs

• Dimensions: width 1367; depth, 299; height 837mm
• Weight: 35.5kg
• 88key, tri-sensor scaled hammer action keyboard
• Three touch sensitivity options (you can also turn them off)
• 256-notes polyphony
• 10 inbuilt tones ranging from grand pianos to Electric pianos, harpsichord, strings, pipe organs, Elec organ to jazz organ among others
• Split/layer capability
• Effects: 4 hall simulators, 4 choruses, brilliance, and DSP
• Song expansion: 10 songs maximum
• Tempo range: 20 – 255
• Transpose: -12 – 0 – +12
• Tuning: 415.5 – 440.0 – 469.5 Hz
• Beats 0 – 9
• Three pedals: damper, soft and sostenuto
• Recorder: 2 tracks or 1 song
• Auto power off
• Slide keyboard cover
• Two 20W amplifiers
• Two 12cm and two 5cm speakers
• Connectors: USB (type A and B), two standard stereo headphone jack, line out and 24V DC external power

Final Words

All of the industry leaders have been struggling to make a keyboard housing features and qualities of an acoustic piano at an affordable price. This has for long been nothing but a wish but in recent years, we have seen major strides made towards this objective. The Casio PX-860 is one of the recent instruments that bring the acoustic experience even closer to a normal pianist with nothing but the passion for music and a slightly tight budget. With this best digital piano, you will get some of the best features digital keyboards to have to offer. The Casio PX-860 is without a doubt a decent option for pianists of all skill levels and it’ll help you meet the expectations of you and everyone around whenever it is called upon.

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