Casio Privia PX-870BN 88-Key Digital Piano

Setup: a bit confusing as the rules were hard to follow. And yes, the “modesty panel” had holes drilled on the wrong side so I had to turn it 180 degrees and drill new holes. Not a huge deal but an inexcusable flaw nonetheless.

Key feel: simply superb. Easily replicates the real feel of playing a piano with levels of key depress: hard, medium, and light. I’m an intermediate player and find the Keyboard to be just what I need. Feels like real piano action! The keys have a nice finish as well.

Features: quite a number of useful features including recording, split or dual tone options, metronome, etc. Casio has a fantastic app that lets you control every setting from your smartphone and save presets etc. Too many features of the piano and app to go into now but there’s more then I’ll ever use.

Sound: The 40w sound system on the piano is pretty good at replicating the sound of a real piano, although of course if listened to on headphones or large external speakers, the sound will be even fuller. There are a ton of ways to tweak the sound of the piano tone which is a huge plus for me because I felt the preset piano to be a bit dull sounding. I can increase the brilliance, simulate the piano top being opened, adjust levels of string resonance, among many other things. This is truly a piano meant to allow a custom tone to suit your tastes. Overall I’m very happy with the sound- it’s pleasant and realistic, although I know that buying a more expensive digital piano will result in even more realistic sound.

Build quality: the piano is a deeper brown then the photos on Amazon show. It’s not as reddish, and it looks great. Sturdy music rest can old even very large three ring binders of music, although it’s probably not wide enough for people who use loose papers. The piano itself is sturdy and doesn’t wobble when pounding out intense passages.
Conclusion: I’m very happy with this digital piano especially because it was at the upper end of my budget. Highly recommend!

It finally arrived 106 days after ordering, and was worth the wait, although frustrating.

The box had cuts and gouged corners, (puro later) but there is an inner cardboard liner as tough as plywood so the piano was immaculate. It really is a 2 or 3 person assembly, but if you can build Ikea furniture you will not have any problems. Do yourself a favour and download the manual from the Casio website. The included assembly instructions in the box are nowhere as detailed as the online edition.

There are so many possible tweaks and adjustments that it will take a while to experiment, but right out of the box it has a deep balanced tonality, with good sustain if desired using the pedals. Having three pedals adds to the real acoustic piano feel. The keys are pseudo-ivory (textured) and have good action and tactile feedback.

One minor quibble which is purely aesthetic, the anti-tip front braces are bare metal and detract from the overall appearance of the piano. Since the anti-tip feet are optional if your piano will not be against a wall a snap-on plastic cover would have been a welcome addition.

Casio has come a long way from an old one I had 25 years ago. With the more recent pianos, I have to compare to the PX-870 is the Yamaha Arius 143 and my my old Roland HP-2 that I am replacing. While the Roland HP-2 is superior in construction and durability, it is also using older technology with dual sensors, a more linear sound sampling, and a 64 note polyphony, as compared to the 192 with the Yamaha, and 256 with the Casio with tri-sensor technology.

Some of the keys from the Roland were getting temperamental, but I have owned it for 17 years. Going from my Roland to the Yamaha was definitely a downgrade. I bought it used for $700 and it had never been played. I was disappointed with the sound from the speakers. The Roland sounds full and rich with 2×20 watt speakers the Yamaha’s 2×6 watt speakers. The lower notes had a mushy tone with both headphones and the flat and thin sounding speakers. That is my reason for giving the Casio PX-870 a try.

I was at first disappointed with the Casio sound and touch. The reviews made it sound so amazing, until I realized there were so many adjustments to be made. I don’t like the keys as function buttons with beeps, but with the chart, it wasn’t too complicated. I adjusted the hammer action delay, key touch, brightness, hammer sounds, string resonance, and lid simulator to my tastes. Then I started playing a few pieces (nothing complicated, I’m intermediate), and it started to grow on me. It actually felt and sounded like an acoustic piano. The lower notes had a ring to them with more varied harmonic overtones. The action is a bit noisier than the others, but it lended itself to the authentic piano experience of a hammer mechanism. The scaled key weight is more distinct as the low notes felt heavier to press than the high end. What really sets the Casio apart is expressiveness. I’m of the Russian School with whole arm playing. I use a harder key touch setting and the variations in color and depth of sound is actually possible. The Yamaha was frustrating because the tone difference was mostly soft to loud. With the Casio I can get a full bodied sound, a bright staccato, a lilting pianissimo, and a good legato without using the damper pedal. Granted, an acoustic piano has almost limitless color possibilities, but when I end one piece I play with f minor chord at pianissimo, the low f had a decay with harmonic overtones that was haunting. That was cool and those tones are present when using the headphones too. I found removing the backboard and used the wall itself as the soundboard made the sound clearer and less distorted.

I look how slim and compact it is and it almost doesn’t seem possible. My Roland and Yamaha are space hogs by comparison. Going back to my Roland, the aging technology became apparent. There is a sameness to the tones that’s a little too clean. The Yamaha now sounds awful and I need to get some external speakers. I also prefer the “ebony and ivory” keys of the Casio over the glossy keys of the Roland and Yamaha, especially when sweating after a long practice.

My final verdict is Casio has produced a great alternative to an acoustic piano because they put their money in the right areas even if tgry cut corners here and there. The pedals are smaller than standard and the bar is plastic which bends ever so slightly. The stand overall is solid and it does not wobble in any way. The other cut corners are that the lid has a cheap feel, and the functions use the keyboard with beeps as opposed to dedicated controls. Where it matters is the high quality sound sampling with an advanced audio chip, 256 note polyphonic notes, the tri-sensor accuracy, the graded hammer action with an adjustable delay, the string resonance adjustment, the 40 watt 4x sound projection speaker system with lid simulator, the hall simulator, and many other things I have yet to try-playing along with a pre-recorded orchestra the midi functions, and recording my playing.

I recommend this piano to anyone who lives in an apartment or small space. It is an enjoyable piano to learn on and play for the classically trained. Advanced students might find it limiting with the possible colors of an acoustic piano when playing composers like Schubert, Chopin and Debussy. It wasn’t made for concert pianists. It was made to be an enjoyable instrument to play for discerning amateurs.

It came well protected in a large box via UPS. The instructions for assembly could have been better, but it was pretty easy. The other thing of note is that it is so slim that you won’t be able to put things on it like music books (because of the lid speakers) or a small standing music lamp. You’ll need one that clips on.