Hi Tony, like you I also can't wait for you to get your hands on a Casio CT-S1 76 and do a review of it. I had a Roland Go-Piano 61 but I changed to a Casio CT-S1, 61 key version, after watching your review of the Casio. I found the Casio much nicer to play than the Roland, and I'm very happy with the sound too. I have a Yamaha DGX 670 at home, but I needed a more portable piano when I was asked to play hymns for a small church group who meet at a small, rented venue, and that's when I bought the Roland. Because of the size of the venue I was able to use the Roland, and then the Casio without any amplification, but just recently the group have moved to a new, larger venue, and I'm now thinking of changing to the new Casio CT-S1 76 because of it's more powerful speakers. The problem is I've just watched your review of the Korg Lanio, and now I'm thinking the Korg may be the best option. I think your preference would be the Korg, but I guess I'll just have to wait for your review of the 76 key Casio and then decide. Thanks for again the great reviews Tony.
I’m super curious about those speakers too; my local stores aren’t stocking them yet but if they do I’ll rent one for sure. So I can’t say for sure about these speakers vs the Liano, but I will definitely prefer the action on the Liano. Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
@@PianoTone I know you can't compare speakers until you've tried the new 76 key Casio, but I'm really interested to know how you compare the acoustic piano sound of the Liano with that of the 61 key Casio, as presumably it will be the same on the 76 key model? That's something I meant to ask you in my previous comment! Thanks Tony.
CT-S1 owner here. 100% agree with your comments. The lack of dedicated buttons for transpose / octave shift is particularly annoying on a 61-key board. I was hoping this new app would solve the user-interface issues for existing 61-key owners - but seems not. That’s a shame.
In all fairness I’m only going off Casios site - I don’t quite understand why the app would work with one and not the other given they’re the same internally. Once I can get my hands on one I’ll definitely be confirming if it works with the 76 (and I’ll try to test the app on a 61 as well just to confirm)
@@PianoTone USB audio interface that you would like to see in instruments - what advantages does it give? I like it if there are fewer wires. But they say that all instruments can already be connected to a PC and used as a midi keyboard, without additional equipment. Can you write what it is technically called, so that I can search in which instruments it is?
@@e0236 Almost all keyboards now can be used as a MIDI controller. A USB audio interface has nothing to do with MIDI. It means that in addition to sending MIDI (one-way) to a device, the keyboard ALSO sends audio data through the USB cable (and the audio data goes in BOTH directions). So you can record keyboard AUDIO on a device (phone, tablet etc) using just a USB cable. Examples: connect keyboard to a DAW like GarageBand on an iPad and record audio tracks as well as MIDI; or you can connect your keyboard directly to your phone and use the camera app to record a piano video using direct high quality audio. And, since the audio goes in BOTH directions, you can also stream audio from your device TO the keyboard. So you can play backing tracks, youtube videos etc and hear them through your keyboard, or you can send MIDI data TO the device, and the audio from the MIDI sounds that you normally only hear on the device will get sent back to the keyboard (so you hear your MIDI audio sounds ON the keyboard). It's a huge feature Yamaha has been including for years, Roland has finally started to, and Casio completely ignores this feature. Here is an example video showing how keyboards with a USB audio interface can be used to record a piano video. th-cam.com/video/J2M6NPiBAyc/w-d-xo.html Without a USB audio interface, to record audio, you need an external audio interface like a Focusrite Scarlett.
@@PianoTone If there is no USB audio interface, then when connecting a digital piano as a MIDI keyboard to a PC, the sound will only go through the PC speakers? And if there is an audio interface, the sound will go through the instrument speakers? For example, if I connect a Casio s1100 as a MIDI keyboard to a PC to play other timbres from the libraries, will the sound only come through the PC speakers, and the Casio s1100 speakers will be silent? Does the presence or absence of an audio interface affect the delay when connecting a digital piano as a MIDI keyboard? Thank you.
@@e0236 Yes, sound will only come out of the pc speakers with the 1100; with a Yamaha P125 or P-225, the sound will come out of both the pc and the piano. The USB audio interface doesn't send MIDI any faster than pianos without one, so any delay you have on your pc will be the same. If you send audio back to the 1100 using a cable from the pc headphone port back to the 1100's aux in, then you will get sound from the 1100 as well, but this will introduce MORE delay. Pianos with USB audio interface will send the audio back without much delay (but the MIDI is still the same)
this may be a bit off topic but i'm gonna ask anyway. Im planning to buy the CT-S1 to learn piano/keys. I wanna ask does the instument know if it is in battery power or ac power? Like I want to put batteries in and leave them there for convenience's sake but use the power adapter when there is a wall outlet or longer sessions. Kind of like how you use a laptop.
That’s an interesting question - to be honest I have no idea but would guess that if it’s connected to AC then it uses AC. Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Ct-s1 is a great option (the sounds are great, the portability is excellent) and also Ct-s1 with 76 keys. But the octave key width is shorter than piano (
The new Roland GO_Keys (just received it yesterday) does; as far as a good non weighted "pianistic" action with true full size keys the Liano is the best action (88 though not 61). For 61 the Alesis Recital is actually not bad (and not $$$). Sounds are just ok, but usable, but the keys are full size and the "semi-weighted" (I think it's actually spring) action is not bad. Thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
@@PianoTone Thank you! I think the Go-piano 61 was the best for portability and octave key width, but had a few cons (only 3 velocity curves, shallow keys, only 1/8'' headphone out). Korg Liano is bigger (88 keys), and like the Go-piano 61 has only headphones out 1/8'', the width of D key between the black keys is way bigger than "standard" (check th-cam.com/video/SXuoE5p3Z8E/w-d-xo.html at 7:10''). The piano sound of the Alesis recital 61 is worse than the Yamaha Np-12 and has only rca line outs. Perhaps the Go-keys 5 is a good option for busking-travelling pianists, but I think that the keyboard is the same of the Go-piano 61 (shallow). It has standard size left and right output jacks (the Go-keys 3 has only headphones out 1/8''), and dozens of usable sounds. The Casiotone Ct-s500 is also a good choice for portability, sounds, outputs jacks, but unfortunately like Yamaha Np-12 and Np-15 it has the narrower octave.... Maybe that some midi-controllers like M-audio Keystation 61 Mk3 or other from other brands have the "standard octave width of 165 mm"...in the future I hope that keyboard manufacturers will adopt a standard for the octave key width and key size for 61-key keyboards😄
Hi Tony. Since I do not have a home digital piano, I rented Casio CT-S1 today. By the way, did you see the video What Makes a Great Virtual Drawbar Organ? It it is good. You may be interested in it (if you did not see it).
Cool what do you think of the CT-S1? Shame the keys are skinny on that, because the action (for what it is/costs) is pretty good. What happened to your P-45? If you're talking about the Sweetwater video, yes I've seen that it's an awesome video!
@@PianoTone That is the one I was taking about. I do not and will not have a digital piano at home (at least not 88 key with weighted piano action). I will play 2-3 times a week on C7 grand piano and will just practice a bit at home on rented, cheap digital pianos till my Hammond arrives. I will learn to play on it (both Hammond and pipe organ) and practice on C7. Eventually I will start practicing on a pipe organ at church close by. I may buy MIDI controller if I find the one with an action comparable to XK-4 waterfall action. This is the current plan 😊 I have not tested Casio yet but I will soon
Here are my tests (and thoughts) of CT/S1. Action: Middle C (C4) - ~58g C# edge - >58g, middle ~>75g Not weighted To get the sound - ~75g Action is very springy (not for piano playing) but not very noisy (can be loud on the upstroke) but (after getting used to) will allow to practice classical piano pieces. Octave width:16.2cm; white key length 13.8cm
I use my CT-S1 primarily as a MIDI controller, so my wish list includes pitch bend and/or mod wheels (e.g., for soft synths). The key action on my CT-S1 is my absolute favorite non-hammer-action. It is responsive, expressive, and quiet. The extra keys and better speakers will be terrific improvements.
Casiotone’s latest offering, in my view, falls short of expectations, making the $349.99 price tag seem unjustified. As an owner of the original model, I found it to be a decent value for the price. However, this new iteration doesn’t quite measure up. In my experience with the original model, I found that many of the voices lacked an appealing sound quality, leading me to seldom use them. In fact, I found most of them to be quite displeasing. A prime example is the guitar voice, which is accompanied by an unpleasant pad effect. I’m baffled as to why Casio chose to include this effect, as it doesn’t resemble the sound of a real guitar at all. The pad effect makes playing chords sound terrible. I’m aware that Yamaha, for instance, has a far superior guitar voice that is actually usable. Just my two cents. In my opinion, Casio could have taken a page out of Yamaha’s book when designing this new model. They should have reintroduced weighted keys for a more authentic piano feel, eliminated the unnecessary guitar pads, and discarded most of the unappealing voices. Moreover, I believe a price range of $250 to $300 would have been more appropriate for such a product.
in summary Give us better speakers, better base, & key weighted action, & get ride of all those awful voices that hardly anyone ever uses at best in my opinion out of all 61 voices maybe 10 to 15 are useful voices. just my opinion.
Thanks for sharing all that! I totally agree, the "extra" voices (guitars, horns etc) on Yamahas are always way better than the competition. The 76 key CT-S1 looks to be priced in the exact same range as its competition from Yamaha (Piaggero) and Korg (Liano) - neither of which have weighted keys, but all 3 have some kind of "piano-like" action that's not as good as fully weighted, but is way better than synth action diving board keys (and keeps the weight down for portability) I think if Casio added weighted keys (and the cost associated with them) you basically have as CDP-S160 (I just reviewed that - it's their cheapest fully weighted action piano). The speaker upgrade does sound promising; I would really have liked to have seen a USB audio interface though (both the Yamaha and Korg have that); I know I always hope for LR line outs, but very few if any intro keyboards have those. Thanks again for sharing!
@@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow Can't really compare those directly - the 160 has Casio's most basic fully weighted key action and 88 true full size keys, the CT-S1 has 76 slightly narrower synth action keys (they do play a bit "pianistically" and feel almost semi-weighted, but they are still non weighted keys). The 160 has all the function key combinations labelled on the panel which is nice; the CT-S1 makes it easy to select the first 28 voices, but for any other voices or any settings changes you're looking up key combinations because nothing is labelled (hoping the new compatibility with Casio Music Space will address this). The CT-S1 has more (and maybe a bit better?) voices, and is super light and portable. They really aren't that comparable - one is a fully weighted piano the other is meant for super portability so it really depends what's more important to you.
if the da-convertors aren't good enough, then the output connectors shoudn't mean a dealbreaker. It's a Casio afterall... Don't expect to play a concert on a Casio. In a concert with other musicians noone will hear you. But at home it will be a nice piano.
I really appreciate your videos! The Yamaha DGX 670 is my main piano, but I've been looking into getting a more portable piano for playing outside and potentially gigging in the future. The three keyboards you've mentioned seem to be good options for that use case. I will miss having a pitch wheel though haha. In a perfect world I would spend a ton of money on a Yamaha DGX 670 but actually portable instead of 50 pounds, but if that doesn't exist these keyboards might be my best options.
They’re all good super portable options! Key action my favourite is the Liano, overall probably the Yamaha (easy layering), but they’re all awesome. Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
Hi Tony, like you I also can't wait for you to get your hands on a Casio CT-S1 76 and do a review of it. I had a Roland Go-Piano 61 but I changed to a Casio CT-S1, 61 key version, after watching your review of the Casio. I found the Casio much nicer to play than the Roland, and I'm very happy with the sound too. I have a Yamaha DGX 670 at home, but I needed a more portable piano when I was asked to play hymns for a small church group who meet at a small, rented venue, and that's when I bought the Roland. Because of the size of the venue I was able to use the Roland, and then the Casio without any amplification, but just recently the group have moved to a new, larger venue, and I'm now thinking of changing to the new Casio CT-S1 76 because of it's more powerful speakers. The problem is I've just watched your review of the Korg Lanio, and now I'm thinking the Korg may be the best option. I think your preference would be the Korg, but I guess I'll just have to wait for your review of the 76 key Casio and then decide. Thanks for again the great reviews Tony.
I’m super curious about those speakers too; my local stores aren’t stocking them yet but if they do I’ll rent one for sure. So I can’t say for sure about these speakers vs the Liano, but I will definitely prefer the action on the Liano.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
@@PianoTone I know you can't compare speakers until you've tried the new 76 key Casio, but I'm really interested to know how you compare the acoustic piano sound of the Liano with that of the 61 key Casio, as presumably it will be the same on the 76 key model? That's something I meant to ask you in my previous comment! Thanks Tony.
CT-S1 owner here. 100% agree with your comments. The lack of dedicated buttons for transpose / octave shift is particularly annoying on a 61-key board. I was hoping this new app would solve the user-interface issues for existing 61-key owners - but seems not. That’s a shame.
In all fairness I’m only going off Casios site - I don’t quite understand why the app would work with one and not the other given they’re the same internally. Once I can get my hands on one I’ll definitely be confirming if it works with the 76 (and I’ll try to test the app on a 61 as well just to confirm)
@@PianoTone USB audio interface that you would like to see in instruments - what advantages does it give? I like it if there are fewer wires. But they say that all instruments can already be connected to a PC and used as a midi keyboard, without additional equipment.
Can you write what it is technically called, so that I can search in which instruments it is?
@@e0236 Almost all keyboards now can be used as a MIDI controller. A USB audio interface has nothing to do with MIDI. It means that in addition to sending MIDI (one-way) to a device, the keyboard ALSO sends audio data through the USB cable (and the audio data goes in BOTH directions). So you can record keyboard AUDIO on a device (phone, tablet etc) using just a USB cable. Examples: connect keyboard to a DAW like GarageBand on an iPad and record audio tracks as well as MIDI; or you can connect your keyboard directly to your phone and use the camera app to record a piano video using direct high quality audio. And, since the audio goes in BOTH directions, you can also stream audio from your device TO the keyboard. So you can play backing tracks, youtube videos etc and hear them through your keyboard, or you can send MIDI data TO the device, and the audio from the MIDI sounds that you normally only hear on the device will get sent back to the keyboard (so you hear your MIDI audio sounds ON the keyboard). It's a huge feature Yamaha has been including for years, Roland has finally started to, and Casio completely ignores this feature. Here is an example video showing how keyboards with a USB audio interface can be used to record a piano video.
th-cam.com/video/J2M6NPiBAyc/w-d-xo.html
Without a USB audio interface, to record audio, you need an external audio interface like a Focusrite Scarlett.
@@PianoTone If there is no USB audio interface, then when connecting a digital piano as a MIDI keyboard to a PC, the sound will only go through the PC speakers? And if there is an audio interface, the sound will go through the instrument speakers?
For example, if I connect a Casio s1100 as a MIDI keyboard to a PC to play other timbres from the libraries, will the sound only come through the PC speakers, and the Casio s1100 speakers will be silent?
Does the presence or absence of an audio interface affect the delay when connecting a digital piano as a MIDI keyboard? Thank you.
@@e0236 Yes, sound will only come out of the pc speakers with the 1100; with a Yamaha P125 or P-225, the sound will come out of both the pc and the piano. The USB audio interface doesn't send MIDI any faster than pianos without one, so any delay you have on your pc will be the same.
If you send audio back to the 1100 using a cable from the pc headphone port back to the 1100's aux in, then you will get sound from the 1100 as well, but this will introduce MORE delay. Pianos with USB audio interface will send the audio back without much delay (but the MIDI is still the same)
this may be a bit off topic but i'm gonna ask anyway. Im planning to buy the CT-S1 to learn piano/keys. I wanna ask does the instument know if it is in battery power or ac power? Like I want to put batteries in and leave them there for convenience's sake but use the power adapter when there is a wall outlet or longer sessions. Kind of like how you use a laptop.
That’s an interesting question - to be honest I have no idea but would guess that if it’s connected to AC then it uses AC.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
@@PianoTone thanks for the prompt reply! I do wish Casio would update newer Ct-S1's with the remote controller feature.
Ct-s1 is a great option (the sounds are great, the portability is excellent) and also Ct-s1 with 76 keys. But the octave key width is shorter than piano (
The new Roland GO_Keys (just received it yesterday) does; as far as a good non weighted "pianistic" action with true full size keys the Liano is the best action (88 though not 61). For 61 the Alesis Recital is actually not bad (and not $$$). Sounds are just ok, but usable, but the keys are full size and the "semi-weighted" (I think it's actually spring) action is not bad.
Thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
@@PianoTone Thank you! I think the Go-piano 61 was the best for portability and octave key width, but had a few cons (only 3 velocity curves, shallow keys, only 1/8'' headphone out). Korg Liano is bigger (88 keys), and like the Go-piano 61 has only headphones out 1/8'', the width of D key between the black keys is way bigger than "standard" (check th-cam.com/video/SXuoE5p3Z8E/w-d-xo.html at 7:10''). The piano sound of the Alesis recital 61 is worse than the Yamaha Np-12 and has only rca line outs. Perhaps the Go-keys 5 is a good option for busking-travelling pianists, but I think that the keyboard is the same of the Go-piano 61 (shallow). It has standard size left and right output jacks (the Go-keys 3 has only headphones out 1/8''), and dozens of usable sounds. The Casiotone Ct-s500 is also a good choice for portability, sounds, outputs jacks, but unfortunately like Yamaha Np-12 and Np-15 it has the narrower octave.... Maybe that some midi-controllers like M-audio Keystation 61 Mk3 or other from other brands have the "standard octave width of 165 mm"...in the future I hope that keyboard manufacturers will adopt a standard for the octave key width and key size for 61-key keyboards😄
Hi Tony. Since I do not have a home digital piano, I rented Casio CT-S1 today. By the way, did you see the video What Makes a Great Virtual Drawbar Organ? It it is good. You may be interested in it (if you did not see it).
Cool what do you think of the CT-S1? Shame the keys are skinny on that, because the action (for what it is/costs) is pretty good. What happened to your P-45? If you're talking about the Sweetwater video, yes I've seen that it's an awesome video!
@@PianoTone That is the one I was taking about. I do not and will not have a digital piano at home (at least not 88 key with weighted piano action). I will play 2-3 times a week on C7 grand piano and will just practice a bit at home on rented, cheap digital pianos till my Hammond arrives. I will learn to play on it (both Hammond and pipe organ) and practice on C7. Eventually I will start practicing on a pipe organ at church close by.
I may buy MIDI controller if I find the one with an action comparable to XK-4 waterfall action.
This is the current plan 😊
I have not tested Casio yet but I will soon
Here are my tests (and thoughts) of CT/S1.
Action:
Middle C (C4) - ~58g
C# edge - >58g, middle ~>75g
Not weighted
To get the sound - ~75g
Action is very springy (not for piano playing) but not very noisy (can be loud on the upstroke) but (after getting used to) will allow to practice classical piano pieces.
Octave width:16.2cm; white key length 13.8cm
@@mfurman Thanks for sharing!
I use my CT-S1 primarily as a MIDI controller, so my wish list includes pitch bend and/or mod wheels (e.g., for soft synths). The key action on my CT-S1 is my absolute favorite non-hammer-action. It is responsive, expressive, and quiet. The extra keys and better speakers will be terrific improvements.
That sounds awesome thanks for sharing! And thanks for checking out the channel, feel free to subscribe
Casiotone’s latest offering, in my view, falls short of expectations, making the $349.99 price tag seem unjustified. As an owner of the original model, I found it to be a decent value for the price. However, this new iteration doesn’t quite measure up.
In my experience with the original model, I found that many of the voices lacked an appealing sound quality, leading me to seldom use them. In fact, I found most of them to be quite displeasing.
A prime example is the guitar voice, which is accompanied by an unpleasant pad effect. I’m baffled as to why Casio chose to include this effect, as it doesn’t resemble the sound of a real guitar at all. The pad effect makes playing chords sound terrible.
I’m aware that Yamaha, for instance, has a far superior guitar voice that is actually usable. Just my two cents.
In my opinion, Casio could have taken a page out of Yamaha’s book when designing this new model. They should have reintroduced weighted keys for a more authentic piano feel, eliminated the unnecessary guitar pads, and discarded most of the unappealing voices.
Moreover, I believe a price range of $250 to $300 would have been more appropriate for such a product.
in summary Give us better speakers, better base, & key weighted action, & get ride of all those awful voices that hardly anyone ever uses at best in my opinion out of all 61 voices maybe 10 to 15 are useful voices. just my opinion.
Thanks for sharing all that! I totally agree, the "extra" voices (guitars, horns etc) on Yamahas are always way better than the competition. The 76 key CT-S1 looks to be priced in the exact same range as its competition from Yamaha (Piaggero) and Korg (Liano) - neither of which have weighted keys, but all 3 have some kind of "piano-like" action that's not as good as fully weighted, but is way better than synth action diving board keys (and keeps the weight down for portability)
I think if Casio added weighted keys (and the cost associated with them) you basically have as CDP-S160 (I just reviewed that - it's their cheapest fully weighted action piano). The speaker upgrade does sound promising; I would really have liked to have seen a USB audio interface though (both the Yamaha and Korg have that); I know I always hope for LR line outs, but very few if any intro keyboards have those.
Thanks again for sharing!
@@PianoTone is the CDP-S160 any good compared with this new version?
@@Mr.PhatsVarietyVibesShow Can't really compare those directly - the 160 has Casio's most basic fully weighted key action and 88 true full size keys, the CT-S1 has 76 slightly narrower synth action keys (they do play a bit "pianistically" and feel almost semi-weighted, but they are still non weighted keys).
The 160 has all the function key combinations labelled on the panel which is nice; the CT-S1 makes it easy to select the first 28 voices, but for any other voices or any settings changes you're looking up key combinations because nothing is labelled (hoping the new compatibility with Casio Music Space will address this).
The CT-S1 has more (and maybe a bit better?) voices, and is super light and portable.
They really aren't that comparable - one is a fully weighted piano the other is meant for super portability so it really depends what's more important to you.
if the da-convertors aren't good enough, then the output connectors shoudn't mean a dealbreaker. It's a Casio afterall... Don't expect to play a concert on a Casio. In a concert with other musicians noone will hear you. But at home it will be a nice piano.
I’m looking forward to testing the bigger speakers out on the 76 key.
Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe
I really appreciate your videos! The Yamaha DGX 670 is my main piano, but I've been looking into getting a more portable piano for playing outside and potentially gigging in the future. The three keyboards you've mentioned seem to be good options for that use case. I will miss having a pitch wheel though haha. In a perfect world I would spend a ton of money on a Yamaha DGX 670 but actually portable instead of 50 pounds, but if that doesn't exist these keyboards might be my best options.
They’re all good super portable options! Key action my favourite is the Liano, overall probably the Yamaha (easy layering), but they’re all awesome. Thanks for checking out the channel feel free to subscribe