Casio AP220 Celviano Digital Piano with Bench

by Casio

Product Features

• New Linear Morphing AiF sound source
• New 3-sensor hammer action
• New 2 x 8 watt speaker system
• USB terminal, 16 tones

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 58.8 x 18.5 x 22.8 inches ; 83 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 132.9 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B003BVJ7S6
• Item model number: AP220
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,668 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #48 in Musical Instruments > Keyboards > Electronic Keyboards > Digital Pianos
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 16, 2004

Product Description

The Celviano line of pianos has been refined for those who demand an authentic grand piano experience. The new AP-220’s traditional design houses new stereo grand piano sounds and redesigned keyboard action. Utilizing a new tri-sensor spring-less 88 note scaled hammer action, every nuance and detail of your performance is captured. A new 4 layer stereo grand piano sound delivers a natural, expressive and dynamic piano experience.

The AP-220 features a total of 16 built-in tones, with the ability to layer two sounds or split the keyboard to allow a bass sound in the left hand. It has a built-in library of 60 songs that can be practiced at any tempo utilizing the dual headphone outputs or the internal speaker system. With 128 notes of polyphony, USB MIDI, Duet Mode and more, Celviano’s advanced technology and sound will make the AP-220 the perfect addition to any home.

State-of-the-art high-end digital pianos: the newly developed sound source – Linear Morphing AiF – offers the entire spectrum of authentic grand piano tones from Pianissimo to Fortissimo without abrupt changes to the sound during the transitions. The touch and note replay behavior for the scaled hammer action keyboards has been improved. The new “Tri-Sensor” concept makes even the most complex and demanding playing techniques possible. Developing virtuosos. Virtuoso playing.

Specifications

• Keyboard: 88 keys, weighted scaled hammer action, Tri-Sensor keys
• Touch Response: 3 Sensitivity levels / Off
• Sound Source : 4 level stereo samples, Linear Morphing System
• Acoustic Resonance: Yes
• Polyphony (max): 128
• Tones: 16
• Reverb: 4 types
• Chorus: 4 types
• Brilliance: Yes
• Layer/Split: Yes
• Registration Memory: Yes
• Duet Mode: Yes
• Preset Songs: 60
• Metronome: Beats: 0,2,3,4,5,6 Tempo Range: 20 to 255
• Transpose: 25 Steps -12 / +12 semi tones
• Tuning Control: A4=440Hz +/- 99 cents (variable)
• Temperament: equal temperament + 16 scales
• Recorder: 2 Tracks / 1 Song
• USB Storage (to PC): Yes
• Speakers: 4.7” x 2”
• Amplifier: 8W + 8W

Terminals

• USB: Yes
• Pedals: Damper, Soft, Sostenuto
• Headphones: 2

Included Accessories

• AC Adaptor: AD-12
• Pedals (Damper, Soft, Sostenuto): Yes
• Bench: Yes
• Music Stand: Yes
• Score Book: Yes

Dimensions and Weight

• Unit size w/stand: 54.9” (W) x 16.8” (D) x 32.9” (H)
• Unit weight w/stand: 82.7 lbs.
• Boxed size: 58.7” (W) x 22.6” D) x 19.2” (H)
• Boxed weight: 121.3 lbs.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent budget digital piano. November 9, 2011

By Sixfootnine

We were on a tight budget when we bought this a couple of years ago, at Costco for CDN$799. Our son was 4, and we were getting ready to enrol him in lessons. I did not play piano growing up, but I can play many other instruments, and have played professionally in bars for 23 years.

My main goals were to get something that would:
1) approximate the feel of a real piano.
= does a very good job. The weighted keys respond nicely to speed and pressure. You can play loud or soft, with no buzz. There is some mild 'clunking' on some of the keys, but I've noticed that on real pianos. I would NOT say that the touch is the SAME as a real piano, but it's close.
2) approximate the sound of a real piano.
= I think the sound is excellent. One of the only ways I notice a difference is that it's so homogeneous in volume and tone and tuning that it couldn't be real. It's also great to be able to say to my son "Can you turn that down a bit, please? We're trying to talk." or "Turn it up! We can barely hear you!" If I focus, I think I can imagine the slightest synthetic quality to the tone, but I'll take that over wonky individual natural notes (especially at the high end of the keyboard) and paying $100 per year or whatever it is for someone to tune a cheap second-hand acoustic piano. Once again, playing with headphones is a great option for me, and probably for my son some years down the road.
3) have a couple of 'toys' on it to interest my son, but not so many that he'd be distracted from learning to play.
= Casio has struck a great balance here. There is NO LCD or other type of screen. You have lights, buttons, and keys. The buttons for changing the instrument voice are simple to use, and that's what my son does play with. There are 16 instrument voices, including 2 organs, 2 strings, choir, 2 grand pianos, 2 electric pianos, honky-tonk piano, bright piano, vibes, harpsichord, synthesizer, upright bass and bass with ride cymbal. They all sound great, and my son likes to experiment making his own tunes with the spooky sound of the organ or harpsichord, the ethereal synths, or gentle strings. There's a built-in metronome, and a recording function that lets you use right and left hand recording. You can also split the keyboard into two instruments, so you can play a jazzy piano riff on the right and acoustic bass with ride cymbal on the left. There are more toys than we've bothered to figure out in a couple of years, and I can say that the AP220 encourages playing music rather than playing with buttons. There is a built in library of about 50 wonderful famous classical piano pieces, which have been beautifully interpreted using Midi and stored in the piano's memory. It's not hard playing all 50 in a row with an autoplay function, but it would have been nice to have a 'pause' or 'start at # and then continue' option. If you stop it to answer the phone or something, you have to start over at the beginning again. And yes, I do just listen to the piano play it's library sometimes. You can also learn these library songs with the accompanying book of scores, complete with finger numbering on the notes, and you can slow it down or focus on either hand.
4) be maintenance free.
= it looks okay, and we're not embarrassed to have it in our living room. It's dark brown, so needs dusting. That's it! No tuning, no worries about humidity, etc. Turns on and off very quickly. Plenty loud enough, or quiet enough, per your needs. I was pleasantly surprised by the bench. It's solid steel in the legs which attach firmly to the seat. It has held up like new despite being abused by my kid who insists on rocking it forward on two legs. It also holds my 230lbs (I'm 6'9") without a creak.
5) be easy to play at night when others are sleeping (I'm learning, too). Headphones - 2 jacks (one for a teacher, or output to bigger speakers).
6) interface with a computer for recording.
= I also bought an audio interface ($30?) to hook it up to my laptop. Now I can have the piano play any midi I download (name any tune, symphony, concerto, etc., and you can find it in midi on the web). You can do that for free. Or if you want to do some really cool recording, check out Mixcraft 5, and you can increase your instrument voices from 12 to hundreds, and be more selective about which midi tracks play or are muted. Mixcraft allows you to record and mix any number of tracks, using real input (guitar or microphone) or virtual instrument (midi). I've only scratched the surface here, but the Celviano is a fine midi interface.

To sum up, I'm extremely happy with the purchase for the amount of money we spent. My son's piano teacher says he'll need an acoustic piano sometime, but then again, she's very happy with his progress in his lessons, and his 'touch' doesn't seem to have suffered because of our inability to buy an expensive acoustic or digital piano at this time.

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Piano for the Price! July 11, 2010

By Edward Weiss

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this digital piano because the one I had was out of date. And because I teach piano online and needed something that sounded like a real piano. Well, I wasn't disappointed. The difference between the old Roland and this new Casio is like night and day!

The touch is fantastic. The piano sound is fantastic. And since I really only need the piano sound, that was of primary importance to me.

If you've been wary of buying this because of the 'Casio' name, put your worries to rest. Casio is to digital pianos as to what Samsung now is to television. They're now poised to become the #1 resource.

My recommendation? Buy it before the price goes up.

UPDATE...

It's been more than a year since I purchased this piano. Still sounds great, still works perfectly, and I still highly recommend it.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great digital piano for apartment living March 24, 2011

By lisibug

Amazon Verified Purchase

I missed playing piano since moving into my new apartment, but wanted something that would give me the experience of playing on an acoustic piano - weighted keys, and a more substantial, 'furniture-y' appearance than just a keyboard. This piano was a fantastic deal, with lots of features and the very necessary headphone capability for apartment living. Most importantly, the sound of the piano is very good, even coming from past experiences on grand pianos - it sounds like an acoustic upright. The resonance of the higher notes is better than that of the much lower, but it's not very noticeable when playing.

Came with clear instructions. Assembly took two people and over 30 minutes. Once assembled, however, it's difficult to move the piano, so keep that in mind when you're getting it set up. Also, the included bench is built like a rock but is still comfortable.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this purchase. I'm not sure what other extra features you get for the Celviano 420 versus the 220 beyond ivory-type keys, but for my part I'm very satisfied with the 220 and am glad I didn't spend the extra money.