Customer Reviews

Casio AP220 Celviano Digital Piano with Bench

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this digital piano because the one I had was out of date.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.

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.

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.

I purchased the Casio AP220 about one month ago. My granddaughter had been using a Casio keyboard to practice her lesson, but had reached the point where she needed pedals to continue. Based on what I found online and at local music stores, this piano seemed to be the best in its price range. The Yamaha YDP141 has a slightly better look; however, both pianos have the same sound quality. I purchased the piano for $719 at a local music store that was having a 10% off sale. They charged $25 for delivery and setup.

I got this digital piano when it was only $600 (WHAT A DEAL!) .. I was thinking about getting a used one as I had a really tight budget (I'm a student). First when I saw Casio AP220 50% off I thought it was refurbished or something (suspicious but I bought it anyway). Now I play beautiful classical pieces whenever I want without bothering other people. It feels like the real piano I used to play. I'm an intermediate-level player and this one is still okay for me. Anyway, that kind of deal is not going to come anytime soon because when I bought it, 50% off deal was gone in a couple of hours or so.

After moving to an apartment and giving up my grand, I needed a keyboard. The price was right on this one. It feels like a piano and the sound is pretty good, although when you play it at low volume, it sounds more artificial. It also does tricks that my piano wouldn't do-- built in metronome, recording and other things. I'm having fun with the "pipe organ" and "harpsichord". Its biggest drawback is that the functions are controlled by piano keys and the labels are faintly printed above the keys. I have to get off the bench, kneel, and peer at the board above the keys to figure out which key does what.

Great piano, the sound is fine. Action on the keys is about perfect.

Assembly instructions are in the back of the manual, which is probably the last place anyone would look for them. Not too hard to figure out without them (I did). There is a support that screws out underneath the pedals, be sure to unscrew it down to the floor.

Very glad I bought it, and I did a lot of research before hand.

I am very satisfied with the look, feel and sound. I could not have gotten a better Digital piano for the price. I love it and so does my family.

I purchased this piece from KraftMusic.com at 0130 a.m. Tuesday morning. When I tracked it, they said it would be in the area Friday, not delivered, but it would probably be delivered sometime the next week. It was delivered Thursday. I was very pleased. I took it out of the box and there was not a scratch on it; no damage at all. It was fairly easy to assemble (my wife read the instructions and helped me hold things and screw things in, we did it in about a half hour). It looks very nice in our living room. The keys are weighted, but I don't think they are weighted perfectly like a real acoustic (I don't know, it has been years since I've touched one). I've read some reviews that say the sound is a little muffled. Well, not having an acoustic to compare it to, I am ver pleased with the sound, and it's on carpet. You may want to put it against a wall because it's very top heavy. I have it cati-cornered on my wall, but there is a little gap. There is no wabble when playing, but it will shake if you bump it. I've also read that there is a thump when you press the keys. This is true, but it is not loud and does not affect the sound, especially with the volume all the way up. There is only one screw holding it in on each side, actually it's a wing nut, but it's very steardy on the stand. One more thing, I must agree with the other reviews, the bench is built like a tank. They could have dropped it from an airplane over my house fully assembled and there wouldn't have been so much as a scratch on it. It looks a feels like metal but I am convinced it is made of diamonds or something. Wink, just kidding. If your looking for a good digital piano for less than a grand, I highly recommend this piece.

bought at Guitar Center for $740. very happy with it sofar.
easy to assemble.
Cons: there a thumping sound when you strike down the keys but not noticable when the volume up more than half way
other than that great piano .
highly recommended if you have nomoney for the Yamaha.