Casio PX-870 - REVIEW | 2021 Digital Piano | LOWER PRICE HERE

2.The sustain pedal decay time has dramatically improved so that when you hold down the sustain-damper pedal you will hear more sustain volume and noticeably more sustain decay time than ever before and when that happens you get a more organic & natural piano sound particularly when playing legato and using more sustain pedaling. The notes of the piano sound mix together more evenly and produce a smoother and more balanced tonal expression across the entire 88 keys that was not able to be achieved on the previous models.

3.The speaker projection system has changed on the PX-870. The former models had a hinged lid where part of the lid could be propped up so the piano sound could come out of the piano top. That was a very good idea but the down-side was that with the lid propped open, you could not rest any music, music lamp, or any other items on the piano top because they would fall off. Casio designed a new speaker projection system that allows the piano sound to come up and out of the piano top without the need of a lid. 

4.The synthetic ivory white keys have been re-textured with a new material that brings the touch/feel of the keys even closer to that of the popular natural ivory acoustic pianos of past years...a noticeable improvement with a smoother feel.

5.The headphone listening experience has been improved over the previous models with new "headphone mode" with improved electronics that creates a more realistic stereo listening environment when using any good stereo headphones.

6.A Volume Sync system has been added to the PX-870 which allows the piano to have better low frequency response when playing the piano at lower volumes which is a good thing. This type of electronics has been available in digital pianos before but not in this price range.

7.The cabinet has been upgraded to look better with fewer seams in the case as compared with the previous model and the control panel buttons have been re-positioned to the left side of the keyboard to make the piano look simpler in design and less cluttered than before. Also the physical cabinet assembly process is more intuitive than on the previous model with cabinet parts able to be connected more easily.

Be aware that no digital piano in this price range actually feels exactly like a real acoustic piano, but this one comes pretty close and for most people, including more advanced players, you can take your music pretty far on this new piano. Also th new synthetic ivory and ebony key-tops have been improved and are much smoother with a better tactile feel than ever before and I noticed this right away when I played it. The synthetic ivory and ebony keys also help with absorption of moisture from your fingers so that the piano is more enjoyable to play if you're the type of person who has sweatier fingers.

Hall Simulation Effects

Another interesting feature Casio has created is their new reverb settings call Hall Simulation effects which gives the stereo acoustic piano sound more spacious effects such as you would hear in a large concert hall or church where there is natural echo that occurs when playing an instrument. There is a variety of different "Hall Effects" you can choose from and they really are impressive because you don't normally find this kind of feature on a digital piano in this price range. It adds to the sonic presence of the acoustic piano sounds and can make the piano more enjoyable to play. I have heard these kinds of effects before in other higher priced digital instruments and they can add to the realism of piano playing, but these effects are not always necessary or appropriate especially with some pop or jazz. But overall it does make a huge difference

256 note polyphony

A big advantage not offered on other digital pianos in this price range is the 256-note polyphony piano sound processing technology.  More polyphony note processing power helps to keep notes from electronically dropping out when playing difficult & musically complex passages along with being able to layer two sounds together and using the damper pedal without note dropout when playing multiple notes together at the same time. Also, like many name brand digital pianos including Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland, the PX-870 offers the "half-damper" pedal sustain feature with pedal resonance effect which helps recreate the real acoustic piano pedaling  damper/sustain sound for more intermediate to advanced piano music. 

For those students and recreational players who are at a more beginner skill level, they will have something to grow into instead of grow out of, and because of this your piano teacher (assuming you have one) will be happy too.

Greater Dynamic Range

The PX-870 is upgraded in big noticeable ways over its competition such as Yamaha in this price range. Although no digital piano that I know of actually sounds exactly like a real acoustic grand piano (I play real acoustic grand pianos and know what I'm talking about), the new PX-870 gives you the definite impression that you are playing a real acoustic piano more than other brands and models do in this price range in my opinion. The dynamic range tonal change when playing the keys softly or with greater force is noticeably wider than Yamaha and allows for a greater range of musical expression. 

This is especially important if you are taking lessons from a good teacher or you are at a higher playing skill level. The sonic quality of the Casio's new piano sound especially going through its new speaker projection system in the top of the piano is very impressive across the entire keyboard and is something which can be enjoyed no matter what type of music you play.  If you are able to spend more money and/or are at a higher playing skill level (or want to be), then there are certainly other digital pianos to consider in a higher price range.

Concert Play CD Quality Song Library

Casio has included in the new PX-870 another popular feature from the prior model PX-860 which is a music library called "concert play" which consists of 10 orchestra classical songs (plus more you can download from an internet site) which you can play along with using the piano sounds from the piano. The 10 songs are in an audio wav format (recorded from an actual live orchestra) and it sounds just like a real recording of the instruments as you would have on a regular CD. The 10 songs are standard classical music and although they are fun to play along with and do sound good, you would need to be able to read music (or play by ear) and play along at the song skill level so that you could interact with the music properly. You can slow down the songs a bit which is helpful for learning, mute either right or left hand sound to play-along with and also do a few other things with the orchestra accompaniment which are helpful for learning. It's a very cool feature and sounds good but there are only the 10 built-in songs available which are all in the classical category. The PX-870 also has 60 built-in well known classical piano songs that you can play along with using the new Chordana app and also displays the sheet music to those songs. You pretty much have to know how to read music at a bit more advanced sight reading level for those songs to play them accurately, but you can also just play along by ear and have some fun doing it that way.

Wav file & MIDI Recording

Another impressive feature that Casio has included in the PX-870 is "wav file" audio recording like they had in the previous model. This features allows you to record yourself as an audio recording (CD quality) and save it to a USB flashdrive in the piano. Then you can take that recording in the flashdrive and play it back on the piano and also plug the flash drive into your computer and play it back there. You can also email that song to your friends and relatives so they can hear it on their computer just as you played it. Nice feature to impress your friends and relatives and you can convert that file to MP3 on your computer for posting on social media sites. Beyond that, you can import that music into computer music programs for music education, composing, song arranging, etc for further musical interaction. 

Another very useful recording and playback feature is the 2-track left & right hand MIDI recorder. This feature enables the student of player to record their left and right hand parts independently from each other and then you can play either part back and play the other part live along with it. This is just like a teacher would do it playing one hand while the student plays the other hand. 

Now you can do the same thing all by yourself by playing back your recorded part while playing back the other hand "live" at the same time along with being able to slow down playback tempo while practicing your parts...very cool and great for students.

Audio Projection System

As I mentioned earlier, the new Casio PX-870 "piano top" audio projection system is a very innovative feature not found on any digital piano I know of under $1100 (see pic on left). The piano sounds can rise out of the top of the piano at all times through a special top speaker system with sound coming through a speaker grill at the top back portion of the cabinet going the length of the piano top (see left pic)  rather than be on a hinged lid like the previous model. This allows for a continual projection of the piano coming out of the piano like a grand piano would do through its open lid. The downside of the previous model hinged lid is that you needed to prop it open on an angle and then could not rest anything on the top of the piano like a music lamp, sheet music, or other objects because they would fall off. Also the extra sound could only be heard by the "player" and not coming up into the room. In my opinion this new sound projection speaker system gives the player and listener a more realistic piano playing and listening experience. 

The internal 40 watt 4-speaker sound system with projection ports simulates the "open lid" of a baby grand with the top opened up. The overall sound on this model can be quite loud and resonate so there is no need to attach external speakers to this piano in my opinion and the volume and quality of sound from the piano will easily fill up a big room.

Hardware and software functionality features

Other features of this new piano include split & layering of instrument tones, an adjustable speed digital metronome for rhythm & timing training, key touch sensitivity adjustments to personalize your playing, duet keyboard function allowing for two people to play at the same time, and other useful features including two stereo headphone jacks for two pairs of headphones so you and another person can have private practice. One thing I was a bit disappointed about on the PX-870 is that it does not have audio line output jacks. This type of connectivity can be important if you want to connect your piano to an external sound system through dual mono outputs to send the stereo signal out that way. On the PX-870 you instead can connect from the piano to an external sound system via one of the stereo headphone output jacks so it can work that way. On most digital pianos if you connect in that fashion then once you are plugged into the headphone jack then the internal speakers of the piano shut off which can be quite inconvenient. However, Casio has wisely included a special speaker output mode on the PX-870 that you can activate which will keep the internal speakers on even if a headphone jack is being used...and that's pretty cool. 

The control panel and buttons are set off to the left side of the keyboard to minimize the buttons and give the piano a "cleaner, less cluttered appearance which is nice and you can make sound and function selections on the control panel, using the function button while pressing a designated function from the keys on the keyboard, or using the proprietary Casio Chordana app from the color touch screen of your tablet device and being able to control all of the functions intuitively that way which I mention again below.

PX-870 focuses on Piano Playing

It is important to note that the PX-870 piano does not have built-in drum rhythms, automatic chords, music styles, hundreds of instrument sounds, multi-track General MIDI song playback, LCD display screen, or other so-called "bells & whistles" that can possibly take away from a true piano playing experience. The PX-870 is focused primarily on the piano playing and is a very impressive piano for its price, especially as compared to any other digital piano brand or model near this price range, whether you are a beginner student or more advanced player. If you want some additional interactive features for the PX-870 you can easily connect to an iPad (iOS device) and experience some very cool piano educational & fun music technology that way which both adults and children will enjoy. 

I use that feature (iPad apps) all the time in my teaching studio and my students love it and it helps motivates them to want to "practice" more often and that's normally a challenge for many students to do:).

More Chordana App features

Speaking of educational apps, as I mentioned earlier, Casio has their own extensive iOS and Android app for the PX-870 digital piano called Chordana Play which, for the first time in the Casio company history, allows users of their newest digital pianos, including the PX-870 to control many of the most popular features in their new digital piano directly from a mobile or tablet device connected to the USB output of their digital piano. Until now on Casio digital pianos, controlling the sounds, built-in songs, and digital features such as layering, recording, etc had to be done from the piano control panel exclusively. Although this is a good way to do it overall for many of their functions, there are some features that are not as as intuitive to use and this is true for the other digital piano brands as well. So Casio has PX-870 features that can be directly and remotely controlled from your tablet or mobile device using that app's very cool user interface from your device color touch screen along with other features in the app such as educational games, sheet music, and a number of other things that exist in Chordana Play app. Having this new controller app along with what you can do on the piano without the app makes this new PX-870 fairly unbeatable in my opinion, especially given its lower price under $1100.

Final thoughts!

The PX-870 digital piano has a big piano sound for its price range which can replace a regular upright piano along with enough digital features to make the learning and piano playing experience fun and gratifying for most people seeking a quality instrument in a low price range under $1100. Speaking of low prices, in the distant past I would have also recommended that people consider buying a good used acoustic or digital piano instead of a new one because good new digital pianos used to be a lot more money than they are now. However, the new digital pianos in 2021 like the Casio PX-870 are so improved and relatively inexpensive that it makes buying a used acoustic or digital piano almost a non-issue in my opinion.

Plus, you take a risk when you buy an older used piano because it is purchased "as is" and you get no factory warranty plus acoustic pianos constantly go out of tune and you cannot play them quietly (no volume control and always loud) nor is there a headphone jack for private play on a regular acoustic piano. There are also always risks in buying anything used including older used digital pianos because there are no guarantees they will work properly. So do yourself a favor, if you are looking to keep the price near the $1000 price range for a digital piano, in my experienced opinion the Casio PX-870 is a clear winner in this price range for a furniture cabinet piano that is reliable and comes with a long 3 year factory warranty for parts & labor. 

It has resonant piano sound, responsive piano weighted key action, good pedaling functions, and enough extra interactive features to keep you busy for a long time. So unless you are motivated to to go into a higher price range to get an upgraded digital piano beyond what the Casio PX-870 offers, then for the money the PX-870 in our opinion is the way to go. 

If you want more info on new digital pianos and even LOWER PRICES than Amazon or internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.