🎹 Casio PX S3100 vs Roland FP30X | Digital Piano Review & Comparison 🎹 

I’m at the point that I don’t really care about the comparison, I just like to hear Stu play!

I have the PXS3100 and absolutely adore it! Has everything, does everything, sounds great

Excellent Stu, as per usual. Fun playing and mad skillz. Got me smiling when you went to town on the pianos on the Casio. :)

Great comparison. Thank you!

Love the overhead view! 😀

@Merriam Music that's great! I'll wate for the reviews🎹🎶

Thanks this was an excellent comparison. Definitely some things for me to re-think.

Thanks for your reviews (and performing!). They have been very valuable to me in learning about these models. There is no store in my area where I can try out keyboards personally. They keyboard action is one of the most important features. I purchased a Kawai ES110 last year and have been very pleased with it, especially the sound. One thing I'm not crazy about is how the key bounce after being released. This makes playing repeated notes a challenge, but I deal with it. When you review key action it would be great if you show key action after a key is released. Thanks!

Very helpful

Dude. You are such an amazing player! 😎❤🎹

Absolutely outstanding comparison. It can hardly be done better. After this comparison there are enough arguments for anyone to prefer one of those great pianos. For me it was love on first playing when I had the opportunity to try out the px3100 in a store. Great piano. I didn't regret buying it.

I'm sure this video will help lots of people 🙂Great job guys!

Thanks for pointing out what can be set without an app! I have a 30 year old Roland piano, imagine if I needed to keep a 90s Nokia alive just to be able to change my piano's settings. Plus a vendor could remove older pianos from the app forcing you to buy a newer model.

The FP30X was/is such a great deal. High end PHA-4 action found on much more expensive Roland pianos with ''that Roland sound''. The speakers are not the best, but sufficient enough and when using the headphones you do get the full Roland sound quality right into your ears. The FP10X would be even better deal.

Great Review as ever :)

Exelent video. Thanks a lot!! Just one question important for acoustic players. Is there any difference between the pedals?

USB AUDIOs main use is to allow you to play iPad or iPhone external sounds ie the Vb3 organ on iOS is cheap and amazing.

Stu I purchased the Roland RD88 partially based on your review of the playability, and you were dead on in your review, I REALLY enjoy playing this keyboard and enjoy the sounds as well and it makes a good controller and live keyboard for gigging. As for the FP30X, the lack of sounds and capabilities and way you access things with no real menu turned me against it. Thank you for what you do. PS, I'm a naturalized expat from Montreal. PS PS, my dad's favorite newspaper headline in Canada. Page 1, "Canadien's Win World Cup". Page 2 "World Ends"

Thq bro 💗💢👍

31:23 is when I knew that the roland is the one I wanted ! thanks

Good Lord... This man is a monster pianist. Thank you for the info. Greetings from Mexico ❤.

I uploaded 3 videos in my channel specifically designed to show the most unexpected results regarding amplifiers, watts, and speakers: 1) Video 1: Shows a 10" subwoofer being powered by as little power as a coin battery! It also shows the subwoofer playing a fairly deep 60 Hz tone with only 0.3 watts. 2) Video 2: Shows the Yamaha PSS-F30 battery-operated toy keyboard powering the subwoofer all by itself! The PSS-F30 making a powerful bass with its tiny 1.4-watt amplifier. 3) Video 3: Shows the subwoofer being moved fairly strong with a WATCH BATTERY! It also shows the smallest Bluetooth speaker I could find on Amazon driving the large subwoofer and making it shake! Yes, the smallest Bluetooth speaker on Amazon can rock your home with bass, all by itself, with just the tiniest amplifier. My goal is to show the reality when it comes to amplifiers, bass, watts, and speakers. Digital pianos use less than 1 watt per amplifier channel when playing anything. More like 0.5 watts per channel. Even less. It is very easy to prove this claim using actual tests. Even professional loudspeaker companies like QSC, Yamaha, JBL, etc., have to use the available tricks in the audio industry to rate their amplifiers and speakers, because people make decisions on what they believe, not the truth. For example, they advertise "Peak Power" and "Program Power" in big numbers in their products, even on the specs... the continuous power is typically shown in professional products, but in parenthesis after the "wow" numbers. Example: a QSC K.12.2 is advertised to have "class-leading 2000W amplifier"... but the fuses show it can only consume 200 watts... the 2000 watts is what the amp can do in milliseconds, not real power. And this is from one of the most prestigious speaker companies... what can you expect from other companies? Regarding the FP30X vs PX-S3100: neither one has a "speaker box" in the sense of a dedicated speaker enclosure. The speakers on the FP30X are mounted on the bottom and all the sound leaks through the keys! This is an excellent design for piano tones actually. Don't believe it? Then cover your FP30X keys with a thick blanket and play a built-in song: the sound will be quiet and muted, as the separation between the keys allows sound to reach your ears - an important source of indirect sound. Same with the Casio, but the Roland has a better speaker design: larger baffle area (the whole bottom) and more volume inside the case, hence the better bass. In addition, Roland uses paper-cone drivers, which have higher sensitivity than the polypropylene/mica cones on the Casio. By the way, paper cones can be very expensive and found in audiophile speakers costing several thousand dollars. Mentioning the "Roland 11 watts vs Casio 8 watts" amplifier rated output is completely useless. Those numbers mean nothing in practice: neither piano ever produces more than 1-2 watts going to the speakers. Music is not very demanding. Amplifiers are rated based on a different type of test: - Basically, you take a purely resistive load and play a pure sine wave of a certain frequency, then quote a number. Unless the amplifier is quoted with continuous power, range of frequencies tested, and total harmonic distortion, the number means nothing. It could be cited with 10% THD, or being Program Power or Peak, or PMPO, or any of the other types of power that a manufacturer can decide to cite. - Music does not tax an amplifier much. Playing piano is a picnic for an amplifier. Even bass-heavy music can be produced with just a couple of watts. The "11 watts" or "8 watts" means this: a) Take the amplifier, feed it a 1 kHz (or some other frequency) using a pure sine wave. b) Apply a purely resistive load of a specified fixed impedance (let's say, a 4-ohm or 8-ohm load). c) Drive it to an "acceptable" distortion level. The human ear cannot detect less than 2% THD. Hope for the best from the manufacturer, as they can decide to test their amp at 10% THD. d) Give people a number of watts, preferably "Peak Power" or "Program Power" measurements, which are typically 2 times (Program), 4 times (Peak), or even more times the continuous power. Just make the number inflated, big, unrealistic, but legal. Speakers are not purely resistive loads due to the inductance generated when moving, therefore their impedance can change dramatically. The speaker box also changes the impedance. This means less current flowing from the amplifier if the impedance rises dramatically (which it does in real life when playing music). Meaning, music is not that demanding of a load, compared to a low-impedance resistive load --which is what is used to measure amps. The issue with "headroom" watts for "dynamic power" needs its own discussion, and it can be shown that it has also its deceptive side. I hope this comment puts this "amplifier/watts/speaker" issue in perspective. In the end, the best we can do is go to a piano store and test the digital piano in person. If it sounds good for you, then that's all you need to know.

Excellent pianiste !

Supr info 💗💢👍

It is my impression that Casio is never intended for classical pianists or to learn classical repertoire. The short pivot point and the uneven weight between black and white keys are the reasons. On the other hand, the Roland action is better for classical pianists IMO. To me, the key and action resemble the ones found in Steinway & Sons pianos.

Hi Merriam music, i'm just confuse about what piano will i buy this month. If you can give me a suggestion betweet Casio privia Px s3100 or Roland FP30x, or Yamaha CK 88 *sorry for out of topic*, which one you'll choose for music gigs? thanks!

Is the Casio px-s3100 in the League as the Yamaha DGX 670 and Roland FP - E 50 ?if so, can you do a review on all three of them. Thanks

Was hoping for an ES120 review haha! They must be really hard to get a hold of right now🎹🎶

So did I hear correct that the px-s3100 does not have the ability to connect to DAW software through USB? I assume it could via line out to an interface though. Secondly if you had to recommend one of these for a “family piano” with a dad who may do some recording, a mom who just wants a piano and two young kids that will need to learn, which would you recommend and why?

I think Roland fp60x vs Px-s6000 could be a great video comparison.

Hi, and thanks a lot for the review! Could you please clarify with connecting PX S3100 to PC and using it in a DAW. Why is it not possible? There is a USB connection so any DAW is supposed to recoginze it as a midi input controller. Am I missing smth? 38:00 - two-way flow. But midi input should work on both. Or is it only about BT audio? TY

There is a complaint that the Black Keys on the S3100 is 10 grams lighter than the white keys that is WAY TOO LIGHT , the Roland does not have such a pronounced difference of 10 grams probably almost the same as white keys? can you comment.

I am hoping the PX-S3100 will drop price for the Christmas. All the other competing models have lowered prices but not the PX-S3100 😑

Hello! I can't decide between the Casio PX S3100 and the Roland FP 30 X. I like the sound and keyboard better in the FP30X, but it is heavy and oversized, and I like the P XS 3100 for its portability, appearance and functionality (but there are many unflattering reviews about it). I'm an aspiring pianist, and I really like experimenting with timbres. Please help me decide on an option. P.s.: sorry for my English)

Which piano sounds louder: the Roland FP90X with 60 watts amplifier power or the Kawai KDP75 with 18 watts? 😃I have played both in person and I would say they are approximately the same loudness in real life. But what I think it is interesting is the rationale of why. By the way, this is also similar if you replace the KDP75 with a similarly "underpowered" model. This is what happens: 1) First, the FP90X has 30 watts per channel, but 25 watts go to the 12 cm x 8 cm woofer and 5 watts to the tweeter. This means you can't just add 25 + 5 = 30 watts. You basically have 25 watts. The tweeter will be producing the high frequencies, which gives you the upper harmonics. But the meat of the sound is the 25 watt amplifier/woofer. The sensitivity of the speaker will be measured by the woofer's output at 1 kHz, which is powered by the 25 watt amplifier. So, you have 25 watts amplifier. The other 5 watts are to "embellish" the sound and give its proper sonic character, but not relevant for the calculation of volume to a reasonable degree. 2) Both the FP90X and the KDP75 have similar woofers: 12 cm x 8 cm. That doesn't mean they have the same electromechanical parameters, but let's assume that's the case, to make a calculation. 3) Let's assume the 12 cm x 8 cm speakers are identical in both instruments, and let's also assume a possible sensitivity value of 90 dB per speaker (1 watt) 4) Doubling the power increases the volume by 3 dB Then you get, per speaker channel: 1 watt = 90 dB 2 watts = 93 dB 4 watts = 96 dB 8 watts = 99 dB This is it for the Kawai KDP75 since it has only 9 watts per channel. But since there are two speakers, the volume is increased by 3 dB, so the final number is: 102 dB. That is VERY LOUD. Let's keep going: 16 watts = 102 db The Roland FP90X doesn't get to the next level of 32 watts per channel. The 25 watts would give it about 1.5 dB more, so you get about 103.5 dB. For both speakers, you get 106.5 dB. So, you get about 4.5 dB more on the Roland, which is not a lot more. In fact, 3 dB is considered to be very little increase in volume. The thing is that you have, for the amplifier power, a geometric sequence with first term 1 and common ratio 2: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512... In other words, you get very little improvement (3 dB) with each doubling of the power, and there is no relevant difference between close numbers after the first few. For example, a 512-watt amplifier would sound almost as loud as a 256-watt amplifier (only 3 dB louder). If 1000 watts are producing, let's say, 120 dB, then 2000 watts would only get you to 123 dB. This is why speaker sensitivity and size are more relevant. The Kawai KDP75 also has a very large MDF board on the bottom (where the speakers are located, facing down). This means the speaker is also the "wall of sound" that the Kawai makes with that board, not just the tiny oval speakers. The FP90X also has its share of surface size for the speakers, which is carried out by the upper case. That also explains why the Roland FP30X is more powerful than the Casio PX-S3100. The Casio has the slimmest surface for the speakers, which limits its lower range. Their insistence in having the slimmest design has its price, sound-wise. Everything comes into play, it is not just which keyboard has the biggest amplifier. Audiophile speaker company Oswalds Mill Audio uses very large baffles on their already huge speakers to be able to project the sound. Digital piano companies put a large cardboard wall behind their pianos, and it is not just for advertisement. It also plays an acoustic role, particularly if they are going to be in the middle of the room with no wall around that helps to reinforce the sound.

Is it true that the FP-30X has clunky keys sounds when you press them when the piano is turned off? Is it a noisy keyboard?

I'm becoming quite knowledgeable in the matter of keyboards, can tell what to expect from Roland action and Casio portability, the only thing that can surprise me now is what Stu will arrange / improvise :-) --- Hi Stu & Crew. Acoustically this is the best spot and console in the background gives the feeling that i'm participating in some remote studio session (that serves me as a material for editing practice) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8QrfQcUSoAI.html Red & Blue effect lights on the speakers seems so obvious, so fitting :-) That's the playground for experiments. Soft boxes on Stu's face, and some play in the background. --- Now some grumbling. Meticulously centered frame, perfectly symmetrical, fueled by a little and well controlled obsession is the staple of the great cinema. If you watch carefully Mad Max Fury Road you will notice that every cut shows the action in the center of the screen, you never need to look for the most important piece of the frame. Wes Anderson prays to the gods of symmetry (watch The Grand Budapest Hotel) It is something, that when it's there, you don't see it, it's just right. If it's not there, often you can't tell what is wrong, but subconsciously it bothers you (it bothers me :-) Greatness lays in the last, most difficult 1% In the camera preview settings, there should be a "crosshair" in the center of the screen. Roland is slightly too high, Casio is to low, try to split screen in half with the bottom edge of the instrument, and try not to cut left or right side of the instrument. The same apply to the main frame, speakers on both sides should be visible symmetrically (cut from the frame identically). I know that it takes time, but details are of the great importance, especially if you want to present your work to the tens of thousands of viewers. If you want hundreds of thousands to watch your work work and applause, you need to be called Perfection ;-)

I think Yamaha dropped USB audio from the P-125a. And the newest Kawai ES120 does not have it either. Sorry to dash your hope that this will become the industry standard.

Ciao Stu, questi confronti sono molto interessanti così sono andato in negozio e li ho confrontati side by side. Queste sono le mie impressioni. Roland fp 30x: -------- Ha una dinamica impressionante che batte qualsiasi pianoforte anche di fascia più alta, davvero stupefacente! i pianissimi e i fortissimi vengono riprodotti in maniera eccellente. 5 stelle! . La tastiera è di ottimo livello in fatto di pesatura e suonabilità. Il pianoforte va però amplificato con monitors e impianto PA per poter sentire meglio le frequenze basse. Casio px s3100-------- suona davvero bene per le mie orecchie e forse anche un tantino meglio del fratello minore px s1100 (ma devo ripetere il confronto perchè mi ero concentrato sul suono del FP 30x) lo trovo equilibrato dal punto di vista tonale nell' intero spettro. La tastiera è rapida e suonabilissima, come per il Roland se vuoi i bassi devi collegarlo ad un impianto PA e monitors per ottenere il meglio. Questo comunque accade per qualsiasi pianoforte digitale portatile dove lo spazio per alloggiare gli speakers è limitato. Il confronto è avvenuta usando una cuffia dalla risposta piatta da 14 hz fino a 500 hz con un calo di due db intorno ai 550hz. La scelta fra questi due pianoforti è davvero difficile! un saluto dall'Italia.

Thanks for the review from Ukraine

Does the Casio 3100 have any rotary effects for organ ? Like similar to a Leslie amp

CDPS360 vs XE20?

Can someone please help me? I have the yamaha dgx670 but I'm not happy. I can only play loud or soft. There's not a lot of variety in how hard or soft you press the keys. What should I buy instead if you want more variety in how loud the sound is when playing classical piano?

Earthquake at 25:38? 😄

Nice hair Stu

I dont know what you use to compress sound but it sounds terrible...please do raw test

someone said that the keys might be thinner ... either that ... or stickier...

The PX S3100 seems to attract fingerprints easily. What does everyone think about this?

Dolphin Dance 4:18

Купил Roland FP-30X. Начинаю с нуля осваивать фортепиано.

Even if Casio pxs 3100 has another price range much higher than Roland fp30x one, this last has a better acoustic piano voices, expecially the 1!!! For me Roland is winner in this comparison!!! 👍👍👏👏👏👏🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

Disrecpectful playing! Do it more, please🙏