Casio CDP-100 88-Note Weighted Hammer Action Digital Piano Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased a used version of this based off the previous reviews. I definitely agree the weighted keyboard has a nice feel to it (this is coming from someone who's used acoustic pianos in the past) and the keyboard itself is very slim & not too heavy...easy to carry around.
What was really disappointing was the sound...it sounds a little masked, not sharp/crisp. I'm not very picky, I just wanted a full keyboard to practice on, but this was something that bothered me. I actually was able compare it to a Casio WK-200 (which is a cheaper keyboard) & surprisingly the CDP-100 sounded worse than it's cheaper counterpart.
I brushed off someone's previous comment about the sound because I figured it couldn't be that bad. It is that bad, so take this into consideration if you're planning to purchase.


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M-Audio ProKeys Premium Stage Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)The Piano sound is truly the best sound you can find for even under $1000, and this is only $500.
Thats the good news.
The other sounds are ok, the organ sounds being the worst, and the electric piano being the best non-piano sounds. The worst part (and the reason i wouldnt buy it again) is the touch. If you plan on just pounding out chords, itll be fine, but if you play classical, jazz, or even most pop-styles that require a bit of touch, you will hate this piano. They say it is "Hammer-Action" but really they should be called "way-over-weighted". These are the heaviest keys i have ever played, and I wish i would have played it before i bought it online.

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The ProKeys 88 is the premium digital stage piano that doubles as a great MIDI controller. It's loaded with large, realistic samples 14 world-class instruments in all, including split/layer capabilities. We paired those great sounds with an 88-key hammer-action keyboard, delivering a realistic feel to satisfy the most demanding pro. The ProKeys 88 is also a great master controller keyboard, including a built-in USB MIDI interface for easy direct connection to your PC or Mac, MIDI In and Out jacks to communicate with other MIDI gear, pitch and modulation wheels, sequencer controls and more. ProKeys 88 pulls out all the stops in creating the ultimate playing experience in an affordable digital stage piano.


Ultra-Realistic Piano Our goal in designing the ProKeys 88 was to create an extremely musical and realistic piano experience. The caliber of a digital piano is greatly influenced by the quality and the size of the samples, so we started by giving the ProKeys 88 a generous amount of memory. Then, rather than dividing it up amongst a bunch of sounds you're not likely to use, we focused on the 14 sounds that are the bread and butter for many keyboardists--paying special attention to the stereo grand piano.

More Than a Stage Piano The ProKeys 88 delivers all the staple keyboard sounds needed by many musicians. Its flagship stereo grand is supplemented by an alternate grand designed to really cut through in popular music. The ProKeys 88 has electric pianos covered too. And the Clavinet brings one word to mind: "funky." Acoustic and electric basses give you the option of layering a ride cymbal for jazz tunes. Vibes, ensemble strings and an inspiring warm, lush synth pad round out a great sonic palette for the gigging keyboardist.
88-Key Hammer Action Of course, a realistic digital stage piano must have a full 88 keys that are properly weighted. The ProKeys 88's full-range clavier features hammer action that feels just like the real thing. It features three velocity curves tailored to different touches, as well as a fixed velocity for synth work.
Splits and Layers The ProKeys 88 keyboard also features split and layer capabilities. Put a bass in your left hand and keys in your right. Chord with an organ while playing a piano lead. Layer lush strings over a piano. You can even have a split and layer simultaneously for a total of three sounds at once.
Control Your DAW When it comes to communicating with the outside world, most digital stage pianos offer little more than a MIDI jack. In sharp contrast, the ProKeys 88 inherits much from M-Audio's years of experience pioneering mobile MIDI controllers. It incorporates a full USB MIDI interface that communicates with your PC or Mac via a single, simple USB connection--perfect for recording with virtually all MIDI sequencer software on the market. (The instrument features class compliancy with Windows XP and Mac OS X without installation of additional drivers.) You can even control your sequencer remotely via front-panel Start, Stop and Tempo buttons.
MIDI In and Out jacks allow full communication with all standard MIDI gear as well. The ProKeys 88 also features performance controls that are rare on digital stage pianos, including pitch wheel, modulation wheel, two footswitch inputs, and expression pedal input. The three different ranges available via the ProKeys 88's combined split and layer functions can each transmit on a separate MIDI channel as well. You also get dedicated front-panel buttons for program change, channel, bank MSB, bank LSB and local on/off.
Built-in Effects There's no need to mess around with additional gear to add basic effects to your ProKeys 88. On-board EQ lets you easily tweak the tone on the fly. You also get three different built-in reverb spaces that simulate different acoustic environments. Chorus fattens up sounds like the electric pianos and basses. And what's a vintage Wurlitzer electric piano without tremolo? Experiment with different effects on the ProKeys 88 to create signature sounds of your own.
Full Pedal Complement Every digital piano has a sustain pedal jack. But what about the sostenuto pedal (the middle pedal on an acoustic piano)? ProKeys 88 has it. There's also an expression pedal for foot-control of volume. And all three of these pedals serve as MIDI controllers for outboard gear as well.
Headphones and Pro Audio Outputs Ever need to practice privately? ProKeys 88 includes a 1/4-inch stereo headphone jack so you can play without anyone else hearing you--at home or at a sound check. Of course, it wouldn't be an M-Audio product without high-fidelity 1/4-inch unbalanced audio output with specs like 20Hz-20kHz frequency response and 108dB dynamic range.
What's in the Box ProKeys 88, Software Driver CD (drivers and applications), USB cable, Printed User Manual, Power supply (12V DC), Sustain Pedal

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Yamaha P155 Contemporary Piano with Mahogany Top Board, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently did an exhaustive review of the digital piano world as I am trying to teach my children to play the piano. Accoustic pianos are not a choice due to the size, weight, cost, and tuning requirements. I love the idea of a piano that is always in tune (and can move if we move), but I wanted to be sure I was teaching my kids in a way that they could easily play a grand piano if presented with one. The biggest concern is muscle memory, and making sure their fingers are used to the feel of a real key.
Roland makes some of the top-of-the-line pianos, but they also come with a high cost. I am sure the sound might be a bit better, but I could not justify the expense. I tried out some of the higher-end Yamaha pianos, and while I was impressed, still was shocked at the cost. The P85 was the lowest cost Yamaha piano I tried that seemed it could be good for teaching. It sounded nice, feature the weighted keys with "graded hammer standard" (GHS), and was reasonably portable. However, I felt the P85 keys were a little hard to push with a little too much return. I had a higher-end Yamaha nearby (non-portable) and found the keys much better. The store also had a grand piano, and the higher-end Yamaha was much closer than the P85.
With a little research, I discovered that the high-end Yamaha pianos (the ones that cost $2k and up) use "graded hammer effect" (GHE), a step up from GHS. Since the discontinuation of the P-140, the P-155 is the least expensive piano to support GHE. It also has 128 note polyphony, 14 voices with 4 tonal varieties, and support for a sustain pedal (you only need 1 pedal for most playing).
What are the downsides to the P-155? Some other digital pianos have far more voices, more recording capability, and louder speakers. The P-140 only had 6-watt speakers. This was improved with the P-155 (12W speakers), but it is still not the best.
For the class of piano that this is, the improvements do not justify the price upgrade from the P-140 to the P-155, but if you are just starting out, there's no better piano for the price. And if you can get a good used deal on a P-140, it will be just as good.

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Yamaha S70XS Synthesizer, 76-Note Balanced Hammer-Weighted Action Review

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(More customer reviews)The s70xs and the s90xs are the same internally so what I write here applies to both.
I own this keyboard (s70xs). The much vaunted s6 piano sound suffers from awful harmonics on the C#1, D1 and D#1 keys. My previous keyboard (EX7) sounded fine through my Roland KC350 keyboard amp. The harmonics on these keys when played through the same amp sound terrible, totally unusable in a live situation in my opinion. Through headphones it sounds 'OK', not great but more bearable.
The piano sounds also sound dull and muffled in my (and many others) opinion.
It also drops notes like crazy when played reasonably fast, even with a single voice like a piano selected. It also drops drum hits as well if you have a drum track playing in the same situation. I don't think this is a polyphony issue, it simply does not work as it should (others have reported the same issue). Again, this makes is unusable in a live situation. It's not so great just playing at home either!
Small screen size is not that much of an issue but they way some information is not displayed when it would make sense to do so makes some aspects of using it more time consuming than it needs to be but otherwise it is usable.
Manuals are typical Yamaha which means pretty terrible as far as actually trying to use them to do anything 'real' but I suspect that issue is not limited to this keyboard, my EX7 manuals are just as bad.
Cannot use a modified voice in a performance without saving it first. Makes it harder to just 'try out' different settings in a mix.
Other than that the keyboard is great so it's a shame that the above issues with the harmonics and dropped notes make what should be a great keyboard into something that should be avoided.
My recommendation. Do not buy this keyboard.

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Casio PX830 Privia Digital Piano, Black Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this for my daughter who's learning piano and yearning for a "real" one. This sounds and feels like a grand. The parts were packaged and padded securely. It arrived safe and sound even though there was a rip and a hole in the box.
Took me a while to put everything together. The instructions were detailed enough, but it was not in the first page of the manual, so you have to look for it, and read everything first before you start. During assembly, I found that most screws on the piano body were not sufficiently fastened, a few were almost ready to fall out! That didn't incite any confidence in its assembly work. And, the unit did not have a sticker with serial number, nor was one on the box! Can't explain why.
But overall, it plays well, sounds good. And let's hope it doesn't break down! If not for the issues above I would have given it a five stars.
A couple more things. The black wood was faux wood particle board, and looked cheap. I couldn't tell from the photos, and had expected gloss black (like a real piano). Also, even with the lid/cover down, the keys are still exposed on the front side. Instead of having a narrow folding board to cover the front side (again, like many real pianos), it gives you a little stopper to put in the middle so the cover board won't warp. I have to say, this can only make it look "cheap". Not sure if I was expecting too much.

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Yamaha MM6 Music Synthesizer Review

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(More customer reviews)i love this keyboard. its very portable. it has all the input and output options. the noises are very cool and i love it. to see this in action and me playing it: [...]

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Yamaha PSRS550B 61 Key Arranger Workstation Keyboard Review

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(More customer reviews)Nice board but has no MIDI IN/OUT.
How can this be considered a workstation
if it can not be connect connected to a computer
which would allow the use of any common DAW.
Had to pay $12.00 return shipping back to Electric Guitar

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Casio AP620 Celviano Digital Piano (with Bench) Review

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(More customer reviews)We purchased our AP-620 from a local music store about a month ago. Our sons have been taking lessons for a few years now and don't seem to be loosing interest in continuing with it, so we decided tho upgrade from the cheapo $100 electronic keyboard we had to something closer to a real piano. We also wanted something that would look nice in our living room.
They compared the feel of the Celviano AP-420's keyboard to the comparable Yamaha digital piano. While both were nice, they prefered the lighter feel of the Celviano to the somewhat heavier key action on the Yamaha.
We decided to go with the AP-620 because while I'm not a musician, I am a tech/gadget person. For the extra $300, I liked all of the other instruments/sounds, rhythms, SD slot, having dedicated buttons for the features rather than holding down a function button and pressing a key on the keyboard, LCD screen, and more powerful amplifier. I also preferred the black of the AP-620 over the brown of the AP-420. However, the key action and standard piano sounds are identical between the 420 and the 620.
Assembly was pretty straight-forward, and took about 1.5 hours taking a leisurely approach and having the kids help. The keyboard portion comes full assembled, and you just need a screwdriver to assemble the stand and bench. The stand is made from the typical particle board w/wood vaneer that most furniture is made from today, with some metal crossbeams to add support and secure the front legs. Given the materials, the quality was high, with no warping or sepatation of the vaneer from the wood, no noticable gaps once the stand was assembled, as well as being quite sturdy once everything was screwed down.
The bench is all metal, with an easily adjustable height for the seat portion. This was a nice extra, as it really helps to enforce a more correct posture than the lightweight, non-adjustable folding bench we had before.
The sound of this digital piano is light-years better than the inexpensive keyboard we had before - to my untrained ear it is indistiguisable from a real piano. It is much more pleasant to listen to the kids practicing on it instead of the old keyboard which made everything sound like a bad ringtone. It makes the investment in lessons more worthwhile that they can actually practice the more nuanced parts of playing the piano rather than just getting the right notes.
Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase, and we've seen nearly a doubling in the amount of practice or just learning new songs since we've moved up to this full sized piano with a keyboard that actually feels like a real piano keyboard, as well as sounding like a real piano.
I'll also upload some pictures that show the unassembled stand, the expansion ports underneath the piano, the piano itself, and the contols for all of its features.

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Yamaha P155S Contemporary Piano with Cherry Top Board, Silver Review

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(More customer reviews)We got this piano for our daughter.
it sounds great and it looks good too.

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Yamaha CP33 Stage Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)Nice upgrade from my Yamaha P90.
I purchaed this piano for the piano sound and feel. Any additional instruments or features that come with it are a bonus. The acoustic bass, strings and jazz organ sounds are done very well also.
While nothing replaces the feel of a real piano, this keyboard comes very, very close and the lighter touch on the higher keys really takes you there.
I only wish that the power transformer was inside of the piano instead of requiring a wall wart (transformer).
If you want a great piano sound and feel get this keyboard. If you want speakers to go with it as well as some more sounds, look into the CP300, but then you will need to add $1000, 30 more pounds and a deeper frame.

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Yamaha DGX230 76 Full-Sized Piano Style Keys, 489 Instrument Voices Review

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(More customer reviews)I now own two these. One I leave at my band's practice site, the other I keep at home and then take with me for performances. At $200 there's no sense hauling the practice instrument back and forth. Of course, it's not a professional keyboard and will rate sneers from real keyboardists. But for my purposes providing chording and some embellishments for a couple of local bands, it works just fine . . . especially great sound for the "rock organ" setting . . . and I also use the violin voice for country songs and the various saxophone voices on occasion. I have no idea about the other features of the keyboard as a learning device . . . but for an inexpensive, good-sounding, sturdy and dependable keyboard, it's great.

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Yamaha YDP161 Digital Piano with Bench Review

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(More customer reviews)I am absolute newbie with sight-reading experience from my former choir signing days! I wanted to learn to play a piano but did not want the tuning and expense of owning the real McCoy and then find i didn't want to play it. Especially living in an apartment there were the neighbors to consider as well as the premium floor space. Then I came upon the digital piano and this form solved all my problems in one quiet swoop. You get what you pay for, so do some research on your must have and budget. I just knew that i wanted a brand name in the world of music so the yamaha was a given. Now I was deciding between the 161 and the 141, both new models released on 2010. I finally went with the 161 for the better hammer action and that it offered the 128 notes polyphony. These might be minor issues for you, but my passion to learn made me decide that rather than upgrade later, I would splash out a little bit more now and have the piano for a lot longer. If you live in an apartment like me, the bigger speaker offered by the 161 was not a huge selling point as I practice most of time with the head phones. Only when I wanted to show piece a well practiced piece do I unplug the headphones. The size of this piano is awesome and compact in depth and with the 88 keys, you have the grand piano sound without taking up a lot of space.
Other features include a metronome than can adjust for different time signature like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, etc; 50 preset songs were you can mute either the right or left hand and you can practice with it (this is really for the intermediate player, but nice to look foreword to! The piano defaults to the grand piano output, but you can switch to outputs that include the organ sound, harpsichord, strings. Also nice are the options to set various digital reverb ranging from hall, room, stage or off, which is the default setting. You could also manually set the reverb effect, which is worth doing as it does change the output quite considerably.
The piano also records up to two tracks, which for a beginner is a great way to learn which part of the score that you need to practice the timing a bit more!
The 161 has two headphone plug INS to allow for a second listener. There is midi that allows you to record more of your own music onto a computer (for composition) or you can down load music to the piano too.
The weights of the keys are superb and I am loving the experience, the sound and the accessibility the digital format offer me.
For the price it is reasonable. It is worth shopping around for competitive bundles. I did not end up buying my piano here. But I am so happy with my experience that I really highly recommend this model for beginners who are looking to progress to play full scores. For beginners, I recommend the Alfred's adult all in one course. It is by far the best series out there. For a novice in the world of music theory, My husband is really impressed with the progress that I have made in less than one week.
For those who have wanted to fulfill a dream, don't hesitate any more, this is the best option and you will love yourself for buying it. Happy playing.
Update: September 2010: Try the piano and keyboard software! it is another fabulous tool for those who are teaching themselves to play the paino. It is a great supplement to the Alfred's all in one adult course. read my review on the software. I even more happy with the purchase of this piano!

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Yamaha DGX640C Digital Piano, Cherry Review

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(More customer reviews)First off, I'm not sure why the other reviewer gave this product only a 3/5 rating... admitting he is not a pianist and is unfamiliar with pianos in general, I hope other potentials buyers do not read his review as an expert opinion.
As a working and studying musician, I have spent a lot of time around acoustic and electronic pianos of many types/brands. I'll admit, I've never been a huge fan of some Yamaha grands, but this product was impressively different. The hammer action of the weighted keys is much fuller than other electronic keyboards I've played, the speakers are very clear and pretty powerful, and the stand and pedal set is a great compliment to the instrument! And aside from the piano sounds, the other instruments are pretty great and fun. The range of possible applications of this instrument is huge!
Also as a composer, I love the USB ports that allow you to hook up to your computer. I can input notes into my notation software with the simple press of the appropriate key, which is very helpful when creating large/long pieces.
One thing to think about when considering an electric piano is that no synthetic piano will be the same as an acoustic. While some instruments -like this one, the Yamaha DGX-640- come close, nothing can replace the feel and response of a real piano. So the best advice I can offer is to, if you can, go to a store somewhere and experience the difference for yourself. Even though it can't replicate the feel of an acoustic 100%, it doesn't mean that you can't still find a quality product.
I recommend this piano to anyone! And with it's wide range of possibilities there's room for a lot of fun and productivity.

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M-Audio Prokeys Sono 88 Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought it for my wife,alas it didn't work.I suppose, because it was packed not enough secure and also it has very light weight and therefore fragile.I 've sent it back and had my money back but not the shipment money

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Yamaha YDP160 Arius YDP-160 Digital Piano Review

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(More customer reviews)A year ago, I was looking for an inexpensive digital piano. After sampling several options at places like Guitar Center and the like, I reduced my choices to three: the YDP-160 and Casio's PX800 and AP200. Despite costing a lot more, I went with the Yamaha.
After almost daily (OK, nightly) use, I can say in full confidence that I'm happy with the choice I made.
Unlike the Casios, the Yamaha piano is sturdy. Unlike the Casios, the key action is very realistic and the sound generation excellent, with nice and well rounded warmth and color. Yes, it's not a real, mechanical piano, but when you play it it feels very natural.
The only downside I can think of is the output power, which, at 2x20W(?), is not enough to fill a large room. It's more than OK for the kid's practice and I'm using the headphones when playing so this is not an issue.
If you're no ready to spend the money on a Clavinova (or even an upright) but want a good-sounding, quality digital piano, look no further.


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Yamaha YDPS31 Arius Console Piano with Folding Key Cover, 3-Pedal Cabinet Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had the digital piano for about 1 year already and still loving it. Totally converted to a believer in digital piano. Even though it is in the lower end of the line, it doens't feel that way. The weighted keys have a real acoustic piano feel to it, and it is very sensitive to touch. The sounds are beautiful. It actually sounds better and feel better than the 15 year old acoustic piano that I had when I started learning piano as a kid. The most beautiful part of it is that I can play it in the middle of the night without waking anyone up.

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Drawing on over a hundred years of experience and craftsmanship in making world class acoustic pianos, Yamaha's YDPS31 Arius digital piano offers an exceptionally natural key touch that virtually replicates that of an actual grand piano. It features a Graded Hammer Standard keyboard with realistic matte black finish key tops, and a damper pedal that includes an authentic Half Damper effect, giving you nuanced expressive control over the sustained sound--far more realistic than a simple on/off footswitch.
The Yamaha YDPS31 digital piano. Click here for a larger image.

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M-Audio Prokeys Sono 61 Review

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(More customer reviews)I got the ProKeys Sono to use during a temp, out-of-town work stint and wanted something I could play by itself (that has its own on-board sounds) and also use to drive the Reason and Sonar software synths on my laptop.
Well, after many months of testing (through real use) I have to say it passed with flying colors (or 'colours' for our 'Commonwealth' friends).
Keyboard features include:
- 61 note keyboard with a very playable semi-weighted action somewhere between synth and hammer keyboards (well, based on the synth and hammer action keyboards I've played)
- 5 higher quality built-in sounds (grand piano, bright piano, electric piano, organ, clav)
- A set of lower quality (but still fairly usable in my book) General MIDI sounds
- 3 Adjustable settings for how the keyboard responds to velocity
- 2 stereo line-ins (RCA jacks) for getting audio into your computer to record
- 1 XLR jack for plugging in a mic
- 1 quarter inch instrument jack
- 2 quarter inch headphone jacks
- 2 quarter inch outs for monitoring the sounds coming out of the computer as well as the built-in sounds from the keyboard
I've mostly used ASIO4ALL drivers prior to buying this keyboard, which gave pretty decent performance and acceptably low latency (the delay between hitting a key on the hardware keyboard controller and hearing any software synth sounds from the computer) for playing. Happily, the ASIO driver for the ProKeys Sono delivered even LOWER latency than the ASIO4ALL drivers I had been using.
So, with the decent construction quality, the playability of the keyboard, and the better driver performance, I admit I'm quite happy with the thing. I also occasionally used the line inputs to record from an external hardware synth module, and had no problems. Some people might whine as the resolution is only 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, but having worked with way-noisy cassette 4-tracks as a teen, CD quality is still fine by me.
The one thing I didn't ever test was plugging a microphone into the thing. I had a Samson G Track USB Microphone (which I've also reviewed on Amazon) and used that exclusively for vocals while I was on the road. Therefore I can't comment on the amp quality.
Lastly, when I just felt like playing a bit, it was nice to tinkle around on the piano without having to turn on the laptop. The piano sound quality is VERY playable, with the only drawback being the 20-note polyphony for the 5 high-quality sounds (the General MIDI sounds have 40 note polyphony).
Negatives? No LCD or LED display for helping change/configure MIDI settings, or selecting the General MIDI sounds. It's workable without the display, but it would definitely help to see the values you've entered. And because of that drawback, the ProKeys Sono really is best mostly for playing soft synths, not controlling a whole soft recording environment
Summary:
Great option for driving soft syths with the added bonus of some on-board sounds and also serving as a PC/laptop audio interface. If you want more hands-on sliders and buttons for controlling your software synths and recording software, I'd go with a different option, but for the niche this keyboard is trying to fill, it does a pretty good job. Though it's probably only a 4-star rating for overall performance, the fact I had ZERO problems using it with my computer (which is RARE nowadays) bumps it up to "barely a 5".


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