Which Casio products best compete against GO:PIANO and GO:KEYS?

[AlenK]

Roland GO:PIANO and GO:KEYS are very low cost keyboards. The GO:PIANO is available in 88-key and 61-key versions but here I am speaking only of the latter. The GO:PIANO has hammer-action keys or at least semi-weighted facimiles (of real piano keys) while it seems the keys of the GO:KEYS are probably much like Casio's CT-X line. 

 

These two products are attractive to certain people because of low cost. Low cost is where Casio plays. So, which Casio products are best positioned against them?

 

 

 

[Shad0wfax]

Despite the GO:piano 88 has been recently released, the original 61-key Go:piano and Go:keys were launched abround year ago. Neither of the models have weighted keys; I'm not sure even if the Go:piano 88 has semi-weighted keys. The closest product would be the Yamaha's NP series (NP-12 and NP-32) for the Go:piano. Roland's cheapest weighted piano is the FP-10, which would be comparable to Yamaha's P-series and the Casio CDP-S100.

Regarding the Go:keys, it's a quite specific product. It's neither a synthesizer nor an arranger (at least in the classic sense of the word). It has good sounds and AFAIK it uses the same synthesis engine as the Juno-DS and shares many of its sounds, but they're not editable at all.

[AlenK]

Thanks for the correction. I hadn't realized they were that old (I should have payed more attention) and got confused by the 88-key GO:PIANO model, which as you say really was new his year. I have edited the post accordingly. 

 

Regarding the keys, Roland strongly implies that the GO:PIANO models "feel" like real pianos. It's central to their marketing. From Roland's online ad copy:

 

Quote

It's frustrating to learn piano on a keyboard that doesn’t feel like the real thing. Unlike typical portable keyboards that have lightweight synthesizer-type keys, GO:PIANO’s 61 full-size keys provide playing feel and expressive touch inspired by the keyboards on acoustic grand pianos. This helps to support your developing technique and ensure a smooth transition if you choose to play a larger keyboard in the future.

 

I have obviously never touched them but that would be an outstandingly outrageous claim if they did not feel different than unweighted keys. That's why I said "at least semi-weighted facimiles." But based on what you say I stroked out the "hammer-action keys" above, which is too suggestive. Maybe I should not be surprised that Roland would make an outstandingly outrageous claim.

 

I am curious now how those keys feel. My local music stores do not carry GO:PIANO (otherwise I would have known about them) so I cannot try. Has anyone here played one?

[roncist]

I have the Roland Go.Piano and the Yamaha NP12 (as travel keyboard), and my son who normally plays a stage piano with hammer action (Roland FP 4) prefers the NP12 from the feel of the keys. The Roland GO:Piano is more compact.  If you go deep into the keyboard with your fingers you sometimes accidentally get to the touch sensor controls and start a metronome or something similar. I like the sound of the GO:Piano very much. But the new "illuminated touch sensor controls" of the Casio PX S1000 and S3000 reminded me a lot of the GO:Piano. I don't think these touch sensor controls are ideal for controlling the rhythms of an arranger. Since my son plays the piano very well, we now have the Yamaha P121 with hammer action and 73 keys on our travels to relatives. A 73/76 keyboard version of the Casio PX 160 with 9-10kg and 1.1 meter length would be great. But when testing a PX 160 I didn't like the Ivory Touch keys. The surface seems too rough to me. Currently I like to play the Casio MZ X300 at home because of its good handling and great speakers. The Roland GO:Piano is the lightest and shortest that can fit into a keyboard bag that is usually sold for 49 key keys (less than 90 cm). To the GO:piano (and the GO:keys) I doesn't like the missing split and dual function.  There are only a few ready split and dual sounds. The Yamaha NP-12 is more flexible here. I also like the light arranger casio CTK 6200 because of its direct sound category buttons and pitch bending. With the Casio CTX-Line there is the only one the Casio CTX 5000 with direct sound category buttons. The CTK 6200 also has more speaker power (2 x 6W). the Roland GO:Piano and the Yamaha NP 12 have only 2 x 2.5 Watt. This is often too little for me when playing in the family circle. The larger Yamaha NP 32 with 76 keys has 2 x 6 watt speakers, but is then again almost as wide as an 88 key keyboard with hammer mechanism. However, they are very difficult to stow in the boot of a car if the whole family has to go.

 

That's just my point of view and others have different priorities.

 

[AlenK]

Thanks for the comparative observations. How does the GO:PIANO's action compare to, say, your CTK-6200, which has completely un-weighted keys (but if like the XW synths, is a little bit different than the typical synth-action keyboard)? Is Roland shading the truth?   

[roncist]

In my opinion, the Roland GO.Piano keybed is better than the keybed of the CTK 6200 and XW-P1 keyboard, which I also have and like. The GO.Piano keyboard is an unweighted keyboard, but is more valuable. The stroke of the keys is about 1 cm and you can also trigger the sound perfect when sliding between the black keys. The keys - especially the black ones - are more angular, like on a real piano - (on the NP 12 the black keys are rounded - about 0.9 cm wide - you can find on the most homekeyboards and synths). The black keys of the Go piano are exactly 1 cm wide. The slightly wider black keys of the Roland Go Piano are unknown to me on other keyboards. I don't have any problems with it. The Go Piano keyboard is slightly roughened/grained. The Yamaha NP-12 I mentioned also has the softer rounded black keys, which are slightly narrower.  In my opinion, the Go Piano keyboard is quieter in the case.  This is better than the CTK 6200 and XW-P1 keyboards. So, for me the Roland GO:Piano keybed looks more as a piano keybed, very valueable, but it is unweighted. And the sounds are very good.
Here a Video i like

 

 

 

[AlenK]

At 4m50s....scat voices. Oh the horror.  😨 

[sslyutov]

Thanks, I was looking for an opinion of people owning GO, NP and Casio synths.

Very rational commentary. 

 

I was going to get GO(or NP) as a travel companion but instead, got IK Multimedia Keys 49.

It has returning policy like 2 months. I have tried every piece of the software(there is a lot of software to install for it) on Windows and iOS platforms and still returned it. The lagging on Windows is huge, the keybed is a joke.

 

At least now GO gets at the top of the list (side by side with Korg Kross 2).

[roncist]

At the moment my son is working with a software "Image-Line FL Studio Producer Edition" together with a 49 keys keyboard with his own sounds, the "Korg Trition Taktile 49". He often prefers the Korg Triton sounds and plays them and records them via the audio inputs (USB to notebook). The Korg Triton tactile 49 keyboard is also good and costs about 340 EUR.

 

some video Links to the korg´s

 

 

 

 

[Saxifraga]

The Keybed of GO:Key and GO:Piano(61) are the same and much better than anything Casio has in their arranger line of instruments. The Casio keybeds are the weakest link in all their products. I would love to change my MZ-X 500 keybed for one from Rolands GO series.

[AlenK]

2 hours ago, Saxifraga said:

The Keybed of GO:Key and GO:Piano(61) are the same and much better than anything Casio has in their arranger line of instruments.

 

They are the same? You base that on playing them side-by-side? I ask because even that video review I posted claims they feel different. Referring to the GO:KEYS, at around 4m12s he claims that it feels slightly less weighted than the other. Did he merely smoke something for medicinal purposes before recording that? 

[Saxifraga]

I tested them at Justmusic in Berlin. They were on the wall above each other. Couldn't find a difference. Felt pretty awesome, esp. for that marginal price. Of course they cut corners in other places, like no modulation wheels and no knobs.

[Jokeyman123]

I love marketing ad people. Action "inspired by" means what exactly? This is misleading to beginners who may not know  the difference between a true weighted hammer action instrument and one that isn't. How about key length-also critical to getting your fingers and hands in the right place. Anyone who has learned a piece on short keys especially with many chromatic notes, then switch to a full-length keyboard with full-length keys, there is a noticeable difference.  I'm sure the Rolands are fine instruments but if one is a beginner on piano, this is not the way to start your technique with an action "inspired by" a grand piano unless you switch over reasonably soon to a real piano action unless you intend to develop organ technique as some pros do for church work or jazz organ. Fats Waller did both piano and organ one of the first I've read about in the 20th century anyway. 

 

 I taught youngest children to adult students-if you learn to play on any kind of spring-action instrument, you will have a very difficult time adapting your technique to a weighted action anything, and you may have to start all over with whatever repertoire you learned. If that is not important to you as a musician fine, not everyone needs to or wants to develop piano skills and playing technique,  but I fault the manufacturers if they are not clear which is which. Do not try to fool people into thinking these are a fine substitute for learning piano. Theory yes, any keyboard can help with that but playing technique only to a certain point. The youngest students can nail down those piano keys, with some physical limitations, I always was careful to not overwork the youngest students on the real pianos and the digital piano counterparts but surprising how much natural playing technique was there with the right technique even with the heavier keys-little kids loved to pound on the pianos!   Regardless of manufacturer, just be honest about your product, is it so hard to do?  

[sslyutov]

Agreed about the importance of the size of the keys.

Switching from a light keyboard to weighted one is easy(subjective) and pleasant.

Switching from weighted one to lighter keys is not as comfortable.

All those GO, NP, Taktile, Kross, and more are not subjects for being the main keyboard. It is just nice to have something maneuverable under your hand.