Creativity and contributions are its success mantra of Casio. Their mission of rendering the best class of pianos for their clients is evident through the innovative products they launch from time to time. The CGP-700 brings in Casio’s 35 years of expertise in consumer electronic goods into its unique construction, functions, and music authenticity. Let us discuss this extraordinary piano here and learn how it gives tough competition to its rivals in terms of build quality and functions.
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Casio CGP-700 Review 2024
CGP stands for Compact Grand Piano and this series of pianos from Casio features an exceptional sound system, record-breaking technology, and extraordinary keyboard action. This piano is undoubtedly meant for beginners and professionals and serves as a promising instrument for the modern digital piano era.
| Features | Rating |
| Performance and sounds | 9.5 |
| Connectivity | 9.1 |
| Build Quality | 8.8 |
| Value for money | 9.5 |
Top Specifications of the CGP-700
- Intuitive color touchscreen display
- Six speaker system
- 88 fully weighted keys with Tri-sensor scaled hammer action II
- Exceptional and world-class piano sounds
- 128 note polyphony, 220 rhythms, and 550 tones
- Lightweight and portable piano
- Awesome connectivity features
- 16-track MIDI recorder
- 200 music accompaniments with 305 music presets
Pros & Cons of Casio CGP-700
What’s Best in Casio CGP-700?
- Brilliant sound quality with awesome effects and speaker system
- Intuitive color touchscreen
- 17-track MIDI recorder
- Classroom and duet modes- ideal for music learning
- Excellent value for money with 1+2 years of replacement warranty
What’s Lacking in Casio CGP-700?
- The piano sounds are not great as it does not make use of the AiR technology
- The stand is not very sturdy
Check out: Best Digital Pianos for Intermediate players
The First Look of CGP-700 – Its External Design
The CGP700 as the name suggests is a compact piano that comes with a wooden stand and provisions to fix a triple pedal stand, which you may have to get separately. The piano undoubtedly looks professional and is available only in black color. It is constructed of solid matte plastic which gives it a beautiful look and a glossy matte finish.
There is something unique about its stand, apart from being its physical support, it also serves as its speaker system. Yes, two large speakers are built into its stand apart from the four speakers in the piano. But you can also remove the piano from its stand if you wish to transport it for your gig performances.
You can also turn the keyboard stand outwards, to face the audience for excellent sound amplification for your stage performances. The keyboard weighs 56.7 pounds with the stand and just 26 pounds without it, making it easy for you to lift and carry it for your stage shows. Also, the piano is just 52” long and 11.5” in depth and thus occupies very little space in your apartment. It comprises of a 5.3” touchscreen, which is an impressive addition for the piano at this price point.
Its control panel is elegant and is easy to navigate with just 27 buttons, helping the pianist to quickly select the effects, tones, and rhythms and also change the settings with just a finger touch.
The Keyboard
All of the pianos of Casio that are priced under $2000 are equipped with Scaled hammer action and this 88 fully weighted keyboard is no exception. The keys make use of spring-less hammer action, resonating the tunes of a grand acoustic piano exactly. Each of the keys has three electronic sensors to detect the velocity of the keystrokes. This feature is available even with the entry-level pianos from Casio and seems to help with faster note repetition and flawless playing.
All of the keys are simulated with Ivory and Ebony keytops and feature a matte textured surface. Thus, they help with a confident grip and help absorb moisture when the fingers get excessively sweaty. The keys are sensitive to touch and resonate the way you handle them. You can decide to switch off this touch sensitivity feature to help the piano produce the same level of volume irrespective of how you handle the keys.
The Sound System and its Speakers
Contrary to the AiR sound technology that was present with the other pianos from Casio, the CGP700 features a Multi-Expressive integrated sound processor. The MXi offers a different package of sound effects, styles, and rhythms and is perhaps not much sophisticated as that of the AiR.
The CGP700 makes use of the stereo samples of the 9-foot concert grand piano and thus you need not worry about the quality of the sounds. Apart from this, it also offers 550 instrument sounds from guitars, pianos, strings, organs, brasses, etc. There is tremendous room for creativity as this single instrument is capable of producing such diverse sounds.
There are also various sound effects that you can make use of, to curate your music creation. You can mix and match its 16 choruses, 17 reverbs, adjusting brilliance, and 6 delay types that are bound to your piano skills. You can alter the reverbs to rooms, stadiums, and halls to manipulate the sound output, and to match the instrument to the places you are actually playing at.
The pitch bend wheel, on the left corner of the piano, can be used to alter the note pitch and create some cool effects such as choking, vibrato, etc.
Speakers: Coming to the speakers of the CGP-700, the instrument features a huge 40W speaker system to produce powerful and rich sounds. Four speakers (2x6W) are on the instrument and two on the stand (2x14W). This piano can be loud enough to fill a big living room and these sounds can be very clear even at the maximum volume.
Check out: Best Sounding Digital Pianos: Top 10 Most Realistic Pianos
Sound Recording and Playback Features
- Play modes: You can use the CGP-700 to play music in two different modes. By choosing the dual-mode or the layering mode, you can get any of the two 550 built-in sounds to play layered on top of each other at the same time. You can also adjust their volume balance to get one sound more prominent than the other. Get ready to create some unique and classic combinations with your instrument.
There is also a split mode where you can divide the piano into two sections to play two different sounds at the same time. Wise pianist combines the sounds of the piano with that of a string instrument to create split layered sounds. And in the duet play mode, the keyboard can be divided into two equal halves with each one behaving like an independent instrument.
- Sound recording in MIDI format: This is the best way to record one’s performances, namely the keypress, touch pressure, etc., and is very compatible to edit the parameters even after completing the entire recording. This piano is capable of storing and recording up to 100 MIDI songs in the internal memory of the piano. Each of your song recordings consists of up to 16 tracks and you can incorporate different instruments to create a masterpiece.
- Sound recording in Audio format: You can make use of the audio recorder feature to record your tones and you can also alter your performance after completing the recording. The audio file is recorded in the WAV format and can be transferred to the USB drive for further use.
- Transpose and tuning features: You can shift the pitch of the keyboard in semitone steps with the help of the transpose function. With this function, you can hear the song in a different key, without having to change the fingering.
- Tuning and Octave shift: By making use of this function you can shift the pitch of the song in octave units. By making use of the tuning function, you can adjust the tuning of the piano in 0.1Hz steps.
- Accompaniment function: By harnessing this function, you can get the 200 rhythms to accompany your performance with a backing band.
Connectivity Features
On the front panel of the piano, there are two stereo jacks that help to connect two pairs of headphones at the same time. When the headphones are activated, the speakers shut down automatically. The CGP-700 is equipped with two types of USB terminals. The USB type-A helps connect the USB stick to the piano to exchange music files and data. You can also use this port to transfer the MIDI files from the piano to the flash drive.
The USB type B port helps in connecting the piano with the computer to exchange files and data. You can also make use of third-party software and app to expand the music recording, composing, and editing features of the CGP-700. There is standard Line jacks that connects the piano with the amplifiers or the external audio system such as mixers or speakers.
There is a damper jack to connect with the sustain pedal and there is also an audio-in stereo mini-jack to connect the piano with other smart devices like smartphones, tablets, etc.
Alternatives of Casio CGP-700
Here are a few alternatives to the Casio CGP-700 that will suit similar skill levels and budgets.
Final Verdict
In short, the Casio CGP-700 is a versatile and delightful musical instrument. It works as an excellent piano for your home and also for your gig performances. It packs in a lot of sounds, beautiful effects, and other unique features to add to your performances for guaranteed appreciation. It is a must to buy an instrument for anybody looking for flawless on-stage performance and practicing new levels in Piano.
