The privilege of owning a grand piano if you are a music lover, composer, piano student or professional pianist is rare since they are huge and costly. However, you can find a great alternative in an 88 key digital piano with a true to authentic acoustic grand piano playing sound option. One such standout is the Casio CGP 700 digital piano, as two of its most boasted features include weighted keys and high-quality grand piano sound samples.
What Is the Casio CGP 700 Digital Piano?
CGP stands for "Compact Grand Piano", which stresses the pride of the authentic grand piano sound and feel of the Casio CGP 700 Digital Piano. The design of this digital compact grand piano is professional and sleek with a modern black solid matte plastic body. The keyboard by itself, weighs only 26 pounds, which makes it easy to move and carry from home to rehearsal spaces or gig locations. However, the stand is a bonus as it includes the Casio CGP 700's built-in speaker system.
The Casio CGP 700 piano has four keyboard speakers, but the two large additional speakers built into the stand give this little compact grand piano a huge boost. On the other hand, if you face the sturdy piano stand outwards, the speakers have enough volume amplification that you do not need additional external amplified help for small to medium performance spaces. With the full set-up in place, the Casio CGP 700 kit weighs in at just under 57 pounds, but the depth of the keyboard and stand is only 11.5 inches, which makes its slim design ideal for tight spaces.
Standout Smart Connectivity Design of the Casio CGP 700
You can listen to yourself play without disturbing others by connecting the included headphones into the audio input jack. You can take it a step further by connecting the audio input jack to a laptop's headphone output jack with an included cable to allow you to follow along with audio instructions from the computer while you play. Another handy connectivity feature of the Casio CGP 700 the USB port. If you connect the compact digital piano to a laptop using the USB port, you can generate sheet music for your own compositions using the appropriate software and also follow along with online tutorials and exercises.
Product Specs
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The Casio CGP 700 features 88 fully weighted keys true to size of a full-sized piano. The keys are designed with a graded hammer effect, meaning the lower register keys have a heavier feel and the higher register keys are lighter. The keys have a matte finish which keeps them from becoming slippery underneath tired or sweaty fingertips and provides a truer to acoustic piano feel. The keys on the Casio CGP 700 are also touch-sensitive, which allows for the musician to play softly or with medium or heavy intensity for a diverse dynamic musical experience.
The Casio CGP 700 has a MXi (Multi-Expressive Integrated) sound processor, which plays a large variety of music sounds, rhythms and sound effects. The MXi sound processor feature is not as advanced as the AiR sound engine of the Casio PX-360 when it comes to the truest of grand piano authentic sound quality. It does offer 550 varietal instrument sounds to choose from. There are 17 reverb options, 16 choruses and 6 different types of delay effects to choose from.
What Else Can It Do?
The Casio CGP 700 has 128 polyphony notes. You can choose from a dual mode, split mode and duet play mode. If you want to record and playback your performances or rehearsals and practice, you can choose between Midi or Audio recording features. If you need to match the pitch of another instrument, you have complete control of the tuning, octave shift and transpose functions of the Casio CGP 700 digital piano. There are also accompaniment features, one touch preset features and auto harmonizing capabilities. All of these features are accessible through easy to follow buttons and a full color touchscreen.
Pricing
The Casio CGP 700 can be purchased with just the keyboard and stand alone, or with a bundle package, which offers the best bargain and value. The bundle
includes the digital compact grand piano, piano stand with built-in speakers, Alfred's Teach Yourself Piano book, CD and DVD, the Casio SP33 Triple Pedal Board, the piano bench, Stagg Pro Headphones, Dual 1/4" to RCA Cable and 1/8" Mini Cable and a total music source polishing cloth. The complete bundle is available from $$ to $$ depending where you find it and the piano also ranges from $$ to $$$
How It Compares
We picked a few similar products to the Casio CGP 700 available on the market to see how they compare.
Casio CGP 700 Digital Piano
No products found.
Ease of Use (Four Stars)
Assembly Time (Three Stars)
Design Quality (Three Stars)
Warranty (Four Stars)
PROS
CONS
Casio Privia PX-870 Digital Piano
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The Casio Privia PX-870 is similar to the Casio CGP 700 in many ways, but is considered a bit better when it comes to the sound quality. The bundle comes with the piano, stand, sustain pedal, headphones and bench. This digital piano is also a full size 88 key with weighted scaled hammer action tri-sensor keys. The design of the key bed and the sensor action is what creates a more authentic acoustic piano sound.
The multi dimensional AiR sound processor, hammer response simulator and string resonance simulator make this one of the most favored digital pianos in its category. The Proline sustain pedal also places this digital piano a head above the CGP 700. The stand can be adjusted to suit whichever height works best for play and performance.
Another bundle option includes a furniture style stand, three pedal system, furniture style bench, instructional book with DVD and CD, music rest and polishing cloth. The Casio Privia PX-870 has over 550 tones and sounds with a special effects system. It also has a color touchscreen for navigating the various phase options. The standout feature on this Casio model is the authentic acoustic piano touch and sound.
Ease of Use (Four Stars)
Assembly Time (Three Stars)
Design Quality (Four Stars)
Warranty (Four Stars)
PROS
CONS
Yamaha DGX650WH Digital Piano
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The Yamaha DGX650WH digital piano is a full size 88 key weighted action compact piano that offers many similar features to the Casio keyboards. The grand piano sound offered with this model is a PureCF live recording sample from Yamaha's CFIIIS concert grand piano. This Yamaha version has an AUX line input for connectivity option to mobile devices, mixers, other keyboards, external speakers and computers.
The DGX650WH has 128 polyphony capability and weighted GHS action keys with a heavier touch feel on the lower keys and a lighter touch feel on the higher keys for an authentic acoustic piano like experience. The Yamaha DGX650WH also features the "You Are the Artist" Series professionally arranged songs to play along with.
Ease of Use (Four Stars)
Assembly Time (Three Stars)
Design Quality (Three Stars)
Warranty (Four Stars)
PROS
CONS
Yamaha DGX-660 Digital Piano
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This Yamaha DGX-660 digital piano is a step up from the DGX-550. The two pianos share many of the same features, but this version includes a microphone input to allow the performer to sing along. You can also hear your vocals transfixed through digital effects and played out through the built-in amplified speaker system. You can also record and share your rehearsals and performances by hooking up your digital piano to a USB compatible device. Another new feature with this Yamaha update is the truer to acoustic piano experience damper resonance pedal that digitally reproduces the vibration effects of true to life strings on real grand pianos.
If you want to read music and play along with and sing along with your favorite built-in music selections, you can easily read the music and lyrics on the game changing LCD score and lyric display. You can also download additional music with the connection of a USB compatible device from Yamaha MusicSoft. In addition, you can compose your own scores and view them on the LCD display screen. Special sound effect options include reverb, chorus, delay and equalizer.
Ease of Use (Three and a Half Stars)
Assembly Time (Three and a Half Stars)
Design Quality (Four Stars)
Warranty (Four Stars)
PROS
CONS
Conclusion
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In conclusion, the Casio CGP 700 digital piano gets four out of five stars. It is a pretty impressive package for under a thousand bucks and offers a terrific play option for both home or stage play. The standout features include the 40 watt built-in stereo amp, the hammer action weighted keys with touch-sensitivity and the slim attractive design.
The stand can be a little rickety on thick carpets and the piano is missing an expression pedal jack and modulation control. The touchscreen is pretty but could run a little smoother as well. The grand piano sound is more realistic on other models, but overall, the Casio CGP is a great purchase for piano players and performers.
Featured image source: pexels
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