Casio Privia PX-S6000 Digital Piano

Product Overview:

Over the past several years, the somewhat niche category of professional all-in-one portable digital pianos has rapidly grown in popularity, pulling a large number of consumers away from the traditional stage piano category largely due to the presence of built-in speakers.

This category of musical instruments has been dominated by three companies – Roland, Yamaha and Kawai with the flagship models from their respective FP, P and ES series lineups making up a ‘Big 3’ for the category.

Many industry observers felt it odd that Casio did not have a dog in this fight, but with the release of the new Casio Privia PX-S6000, as well as the PX-S5000 and PX-S7000, this oddity can be put to rest.

The PX-S6000 is built to compete directly with the ‘Big 3’ consisting of the Roland FP-90X, Yamaha P-515 and Kawai ES-920, and essentially takes the general ethos of the PX-S3100 and transforms it into a bonafide professional quality instrument.

Casio’s new Smart Hybrid Hammer Action Keyboard with wooden hammer action keys, beloved AiR tone engine, and new Spatial Sound System with 4 full-range speakers, 350 sounds, tons of effects and control, plus a gorgeous gloss black with wood grain finish make for a very impressive range of highlights, especially when considering the slim, 32lb cabinet it’s all housed within.

Add in the fact that you have the option of operating the PX-S6000 with 8 AA batteries instead of having to plug it into a wall and suddenly the ‘Big 3’ just became a ‘Big 4.’

Piano Action:

If the PX-S6000 is truly going to compete with the Roland FP-90X, Yamaha P-515 and Kawai ES-920 a solid, pro-level action is an absolute must. Fortunately, Casio has delivered in this regard with their new Smart Hybrid Hammer Action Keyboard.

This new action features white keys of wood and resin, making this both a durable and highly authentic action to play.

The keytops feature simulated ebony and ivory surfaces, and they’ve managed to simulate the feeling of real hammers as would be used on an acoustic piano. Overall, the weighting, responsiveness and hammer repetition are all very good.

The keys are grade-weighted courtesy of Casio’s 88-Key Digital Scaling technology, and they’ve incorporated adjustable hammer response, Key-Off Response and a Key-Off Simulator.

Piano Sound:

Casio brings their acclaimed Multi-Dimensional Morphing AiR Sound Source to the mix here, which at first glance, may seem unremarkable given that this same fundamental sound engine is used in the PX-S3100. Not so fast… Casio also incorporates their new Spatial Sound System into the PX-S6000 which is able to extract much more out of the AiR sound engine than ever before.

The AiR Sound Source combines high-quality concert grand piano samples with advanced synthesis technology for effects like damper resonance and damper noise, resulting in a richly complex piano tone that’s also very dynamic across the range of the piano, and 256 notes of polyphony mean the processing power here is fierce.

The new Spatial Sound System combines four independently driven full-range speakers (32 watts of power)-, with a support system of carefully engineered rigid wood and resin to aid in projecting the sound.

Side Enhancing Diffusers are attached to the outward-facing speakers to produce a wider tone to help in producing the room-filling tone. Casio’s Surround Sound feature and Hall Simulator/Reverb tweaks return as well.

If that’s not enough, a new Piano Position function allows you to instantly adjust the Sound System depending on how the piano is positioned, i.e. on a stand, close to a wall, in the middle of a room or on a tabletop.

350 onboard preset tones, including specifically engineered electric pianos and synthesizers, provide a ton of versatility, and the quality here is easily studio worthy. A ton of synth effects, including 100 customizable DSP effects and real-time controls like a pitch bend wheel, exemplify the stage readiness of the PX-S6000.

Connectivity:

While not as extensive as a traditional stage piano, the PX-S6000 covers the important bases professionals will be looking for when it comes to connectivity.

Dual output jacks (L/MONO, R) ensure you won’t have to fiddle with adapters when connecting to an amp of external speakers, and the PX-S6000 also happens to be outfitted with a mic in jack with it’s own volume knob. This is a great add-on that will certainly be of benefit to some.

There’s of course also an input for a single pedal, the optional SP34 triple pedal unit and dual headphone jacks.

Casio also includes the WU-BT10 for free, and this gives the PX-S6000 Bluetooth MIDI and Bluetooth Audio. This allows you to stream music directly through the S6000’s advanced speaker system, and even use it as a wireless MIDI controller as part of a larger performance rig.

Notable Features:

All of the PX-S series pianos offer you the ability to run on battery power, but this is truly notable here with the PX-S6000 given the power and musical capabilities of the instrument. The other ‘Big 3’ pianos in this category from the other manufacturers do not offer this capability, so for some people, this feature alone will catapult the PX-S6000 to the top of their wishlist.

New Smart Hybrid Hammer Action Keyboard

New Spatial Sound System with 4x Speakers

• Multi-Dimensional AiR Sound Source
• 256 note polyphony
• Gloss Finish with Beautiful Wood Grain Siding
• 32 Watts of Amplifier Power
• 350 Built-in Sounds
• Bluetooth Audio & Midi
• Compatibility with the new Casio Music Space App
• 32 lbs
• Dual Headphone Jacks
• 2 ¼” line outputs (L/Mono, R)
• Metronome
• MIDI recorder & file playback
• Music stand
• Standard basic sustain pedal
• Optional SP-34 3-pedal unit add-on accessory