Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards How good is Casio CDP 100?

I am planning to buy a casio cdp 100 digital piano as its very much affordable (515 USD) with scaled hammer action.I am neither concerned about the range of instruments the piano having nor any other keyboard functions as i am working with a computer.

My primary concern is getting a piano kind of playing.so ;

1) Is it having a real piano experience? A piano like hammer action? So that when i start playing in a real piano i should not feel much difference. So what is your experience on this digital piano in this regard?

2) How is its piano tone? Does it having an inspiring piano tone? (i need only the piano tone)

3) If you are having a better suggestion than CDP 100 at the same price range (515 USD) please mention it.

Expecting your help.Much thanks in advance.

I believe the Casio PX-130 has better specifications.

James
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One more thing.Can i get a korg,yamaha,roland or any other brands with this price? i am not saying casio is bad. But some of my friends having troubles with their casio digital pianos.

The cheapest Yamaha is the P95.
The cheapest Korg is the SP170.

Neither Roland nor Kawai produce an instrument in this price range.

James
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thank you james. I am comparing the prices of these things in my region. So Yamaha p95,korg sp 170, and casio px 130 are your suggestions.which one is imitating a real piano with regard to hammer action? So that i am doing grade exams i need a real piano feel, nothing else. Please be generous to suggest one for me

I frequently read these types of threads on here, and when it comes to choosing between the P95 and PX-130 I believe slightly more people lean towards the P95 for action and sound.

I say slightly though, a lot of the times the best advice i've seen is to go and try them yourself really. They're both supposedly very similar.

None of these entry level models does a good work to mimic acoustic piano, I think.

The Casio CDP 100 is a popular keyboard for anyone wanting to use it with a computer. For the price, you get a reasonably good action assuming you like the Casio action. It has Midi In/Out jacks instead of USB midi. As a stand alone piano it has low polophony (32) but I doubt you will encounter any dropped notes using one voice. The piano sample is decent but that is subjective. By the way, the CDP-100 is now discontinued and replaced by the CDP-120. The PX-130 has better specifications but has USB Midi which somewhat limiting if you want to gig and use it to control other instruments. You have to have a computer. The P95 has a lighter action than Casio. You may prefer it. Where the P95 falls down in my opinion is the piano sample which is a single layer, but if you go into a computer it does not matter.

The CDP-120 now also has only USB MIDI, so the older one may be more desirable, if you can find it. The older model also has (IMO) a better Rhodes sound.


I'm still not 100% certain the P95 is only single layer, I thought it sounded like two but they may have just done a good job of tricking me. ;-) Regardless, though, I think the P95 sound plays more musically than the PX130... better sustain (the sound of held notes doesn't seem to fall so far so fast), I find the Casio kind of "plunky" by comparison, and also the Casio's notes (especially low ones) sound harsh with exaggerated brightness when hit at high velocity. But it is, as you say, a matter of opinion... my bigger point here is really just that "specs" like how many layers (i.e. Casio has 4) doesn't necessarily tell you much about whether you'll actually find the sound and feel musically satisfying. In fact, I think I'd take the "lesser" piano sounds of the CDP series over the PX-130's, even if they are, in some ways, less "authentic."

Scott,
Guitar Center is still selling the CDP-100. Apparently Casio will still make it if it is a large enough order. You are right about the CDP-120 having USB midi. This seems to be Casio's thinking on the cheaper product line. I agree with you that on certain notes Casio's 4 layer piano sample has some harshness although it is less noticible through good headphones than the cheap built in speakers. I think the quick decay is done to mask harshness and also to minimize looping. The quick decay in the upper octaves is especially undesireable. Although it is not documented, I am reasonably sure the P95 has a single layer sample and you are absolutely right that the number of layers does not matter if one likes the way it sounds.

I own a CDP-100. I keep it behind the desk at work. On breaks I pull the two front drawers out and place it there and play (it is very light and ideal for this.)

The action is actually very good. I can transition from it to my acoustic piano without missing a beat on Mozart, Beethoven, or popular music.

The sound is crap. It is very uninspiring sound. If you plug it into a computer and use Ivory of Pianoteq or something, it is probably the best hammer-action keyboard for the money.

It is easy to repair. Once I dropped it off the desk when I was trying to answer the phone and a bunch of keys jammed. I unscrewed the bottom, gave the stuck hammers a tug, and now it works as good as new.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but how exactly does software like Ivory work? Do you connect the piano to the PC and record a midi, then run it through the Ivory software and it improves the sound? Or do you play the piano while it's connected to your pc and the Ivory software improves it instantly so it plays through your speakers (as if you're doing it live)?

You load the piano software (Ivory/ Galaxy D etc) into a computer and use the keyboard to trigger the computer via midi (using either standard midi sockets or usb - all DPs have one or the other or both). The sound then comes through the computer. If you like, you can route it back into the digital piano's line inputs, but it's not essential to do so.

.....although you would normally have a high quality amp & speaker system of some sort.

kaldanis. It works in real time with no noticable latency. A cdp-100 plugged into Ivory it is better than practically any $2000 digital piano not connected to a software piano.

Soundwise it's better than any digital piano, including the $5000 V piano and the $15-20K AvantGrand N3.

The CDP-100 is ok. In this price range. Forget worrying about comparing. It's rock bottom price for a decent entry level DP. I think you might do better on your price?
I'm very happy with my setup. It's fine for learning. I can be obsessive about sound. I'm always considering better. By that I mean stepping up to a keyboard like an MP6 or better. That's about three times the price. Don't think I can get better sound.

thank you everyone