Stage piano - Casio PX5s, PX 560, Roland Juno DS or...?

[mike71]

Seems that getting a cheap upright piano is fading. I can't contact the seller...

Anyway I have plan #2 - getting a digital stage piano.

Yesterday I visited a shop and the dealer showed me three keyboards, Roland Juno-DS, Casio PX5s, Casio PX560. He shown me the Roland RD2000 too but was really out of budget.

The cheaper option is the PX5s, that is a more stage piano, and while hou can directly connect a sustain pedal and a sostenuto pedal switches, doesn't natively support an expression pedal. One could use an external midi pedal if required.
 
PX560 could use a pedal unit with 3 pedals but requires a dedicated stand for use them. Keyboard action is the same for both Casios

Rolands could use a portable three pedal unit.

My first impressions are that the Casios make a better piano sound than the Juno, but I liked a bit more the Juno keyboard and of course the RD2000 was better in both sound and key action(is a wood/plastic sandwich, like an acoustic).

But being a novice and using now a not-so-recent keyboard my feels on keys could be a bit skewed.

So, any experience on one of these pianos?
I need to have a portable keyboard anyway, because an upright can't be easily moved between weekend house and workday attic.

I know that an acoustic it's better, but an Entry level Yamaha upright it's 5 times the cost of the Casio PX5s. Actually the yamaha Silent upgrade is more than px560 cost.

Nice thing about PX5s and Juno DS is that they could run on alkaline batteries, so I can take one of these, a pair of headphone and practice almost everywhere without disturbing anyone

[mike71]

How I chhosed... Found a B-stock PX5s with a nice discount, so I decided with my wallet.
I have noticed that I I use it on an X-support the keys are noisy. On a wooden table they're quieter.
Maybe I could put a piece of MDF or plywood under it.

[hfmadopter]

How I chhosed... Found a B-stock PX5s with a nice discount, so I decided with my wallet.
I have noticed that I I use it on an X-support the keys are noisy. On a wooden table they're quieter.
Maybe I could put a piece of MDF or plywood under it.

I built the stand for my Kawai stage piano and stained it the same black that my grand piano is.It resides next to the grand piano. I used cabinet grade birch ply, it's designed much like the store bought ones but three times more rugged and more stable since I both glued and screwed it together. I built it so the key bed is pretty close to the height of the grands. I also built a real true music rest off the back of mine, I can go 4 sheets wide with music if I want to, though over the last couple of years I'm not working on other peoples music but put my small laptop on there resting on edge/ upright with my mixing program on the screen ( I only play VST's , I don't use the Kawai sound at all and really should invest in a VCP1)..

If you go to Lowes or HD they would probably cut you a piece of ply to put under your piano, then you would know. Or maybe some foam rubber between your piano and the X stand would work.

[pianoplunker]

Seems that getting a cheap upright piano is fading. I can't contact the seller...

Anyway I have plan #2 - getting a digital stage piano.

Yesterday I visited a shop and the dealer showed me three keyboards, Roland Juno-DS, Casio PX5s, Casio PX560. He shown me the Roland RD2000 too but was really out of budget.

The cheaper option is the PX5s, that is a more stage piano, and while hou can directly connect a sustain pedal and a sostenuto pedal switches, doesn't natively support an expression pedal. One could use an external midi pedal if required.
 
PX560 could use a pedal unit with 3 pedals but requires a dedicated stand for use them. Keyboard action is the same for both Casios

Rolands could use a portable three pedal unit.

My first impressions are that the Casios make a better piano sound than the Juno, but I liked a bit more the Juno keyboard and of course the RD2000 was better in both sound and key action(is a wood/plastic sandwich, like an acoustic).

But being a novice and using now a not-so-recent keyboard my feels on keys could be a bit skewed.

So, any experience on one of these pianos?
I need to have a portable keyboard anyway, because an upright can't be easily moved between weekend house and workday attic.

I know that an acoustic it's better, but an Entry level Yamaha upright it's 5 times the cost of the Casio PX5s. Actually the yamaha Silent upgrade is more than px560 cost.

Nice thing about PX5s and Juno DS is that they could run on alkaline batteries, so I can take one of these, a pair of headphone and practice almost everywhere without disturbing anyone

I found the Roland Juno to be intriguing the most to me. But more as a synthesizer/funky sound keyboard.  The battery capability is good it opens the possibility of using solar power if they can be recharged. That would be more impressive to go to the back woods with it if that were the case.

[mike71]

I found the Roland Juno to be intriguing the most to me. But more as a synthesizer/funky sound keyboard.  The battery capability is good it opens the possibility of using solar power if they can be recharged. That would be more impressive to go to the back woods with it if that were the case.

The keyboard action of the Juno-DS is the same of the FP-50 and the FA-08. Different capabilities and extra knobs.
The PX5s is in my opinion a double personality keyboard. You could use is as a stage piano and the piano sound is quite good. Or you could use it as a synthesiser in a DAW set-up. IT has some quirks because is not a workstation or an arranger keyboard, so it has an arpeggiator, and the sequencer is organized in phrases. And yes if you want a metronome you have to set a drum loop using the cowbell sound.

I think that Casio doesn't have a clear idea on how to do with it, maybe because is dual headed.
The newer Casio keyboards have more arranger features so are more suited for people that are using it at home and want an easy experience or they are more dogital console pianos.

[mike71]

If you go to Lowes or HD they would probably cut you a piece of ply to put under your piano, then you would know. Or maybe some foam rubber between your piano and the X stand would work.

Or I could go to IKEA and buy a piece of furniture like this, that is a piece of pine wood
https://www.ikea.com/it/it/catalog/products/00301989/#/70178778
and the infamous ADLIS legs
https://www.ikea.com/it/it/catalog/products/90217972/

IKEA hack Time, I suppose,