Casio CDP-S110BKC5 Full Weighted Hammer Action Digital Piano

Description

• Casio CDP-S110BKC5 digital piano with 88 fully weighted keys
• Scaled Hammer Action II (graded)
• Ebony and ivory textured keys
• 10 high quality sounds including dynamic concert grand piano
• Includes sustain pedal and built-in metronome
• Includes free downloadable music scores and backing tracks (including Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, Coldplay and more)
• 64 note polyphony

Casio CDP-S110BKC5 digital piano review

I was really excited to get my hands on the Casio CDP-S110BKC5 digital piano for two main reasons – the price looks incredible. To be able to buy a digital piano with the full 88 weighted keys for less than £300 is just astonishing. Secondly, I was keen to find out how it felt to play bearing in mind this model has what’s called a Scaled Hammer Action II. This isn’t something you would get for this price, so I wanted to find out how they’d managed to include all of this for such a great price.

I will explain what the hammer action does further down, so please read on full my full review.

Sound

After playing for just a few seconds on this piano I instantly noticed that the quality of the sound was good for something of this price. Before you continue reading this post it is always worth noting that I base my reviews on price and value for money. I have played hundreds of very expensive pianos and keyboards over the years, so I have a good understanding of what to expect for a certain price point. This piano is less than £300 so you are of course not going to get something which sounds like a Steinway grand. But, and this is a big but – the sound did shock me quite a bit.

So with my expectations set fairly low along with the price, I was expecting to hear a slightly duller sound and a little ping that you get with cheaper digital pianos. What I mean by ‘ping’ is that the quality of the sound and the speakers on lower end models struggle to maintain the richness you get with expensive models and real acoustic pianos. But this wasn’t apparent on the Casio CDP-S110.

The sound was rich, earthy and bassy – but also nice and bright at the top. I would definitely be very pleased if I spent around £285 and got this kind of sound. It amazes me how every year the newer models get better and better. Don’t forget, this is a sample from a real live concert grand piano, which means you are getting as good as you can get for the speakers provided.

Anyway, don’t take my word for it – here’s how it sounds:

Touch and feel

One of the reasons why I wanted to review the Casio CDP-S110BKC5 piano was the fact that it advertised Scaled Hammer Action II technology. This is essentially a form of graded hammer effect, which means that the keys are heavier at the bottom and lighter at the top. For the beginner players out there this may not seem like much, but I can assure you it really does feel great. Although this may not be something you initially notice when you first play, after a few months you will really start to reap the benefits the more advanced you get.

I just can’t get over the price and what this has to offer as far as sound and the feel when I play. For less than £300 you also get an ebony and ivory texture and feel. If this wasn’t present I would not be missing it, even on something which was thousands of pounds. So the fact that it has this feature just goes to show how thoughtful Casio are being with this model. If they wanted to blow their rivals out of the water, I think they may just have done that!

Features

Like most modern digital pianos you don’t just get a concert grand piano sample, you also get additional voices – strings, organs, electric pianos, and so on. These additional features are not always wanted or needed by the player, but come as standard with pretty much every digital piano you buy nowadays. But are they worth it and will you use them?

I personally like to use the additional sounds on my own digital piano. I love to use draw organ, jazz organ, electric piano and strings. If you’ve read any of my other reviews you may notice that I like to layer piano with strings for a nice ballad effect. So if you are wondering whether or not these extra voices are worth it, then it really depends on the player. They come anyway and do sound really good on this model, so why not give them a try if you get the chance and let me know.

The Casio CDP-S110 also comes with a sustain pedal and built-in metronome. These are nice little touches and would be really important for any pianists – no matter what level. If you are unfamiliar with what a sustain pedal does, it basically holds any notes you play so the sound continues. The sound will end once you release your foot from the pedal. This allows for smoother playing and will become an essential part of your playing after just a few months.

The metronome is a great little feature because it’s easier to use this one than to have to buy one or use an app on your phone. The simple things like this do go a long way!

With this piano you also get to download some sheet music for free, which is worth quite a lot of money when you add it up. Music from these artists – Alicia Keys, Ray Charles, and Coldplay – are usually quite expensive. Again, if the S110 didn’t come with this I wouldn’t miss it or care – but it does. Another great add-on to what already offers amazing value for money.

Price

I’ve touched upon the price a few times already so you can see that I think it’s great value. But why? Well, for me there are three reasons why you should give serious consideration to buying this piano. First of all it has the full 88 keys you’d find on a real acoustic piano. So this means you could by this digital piano brand new for less than £300 and it would be suitable for any purpose. So if you were buying this for your child for them to study the ABRSM grade exams, or even for yourself as an adult learner, this piano would be perfect. You would not need to upgrade it at all, unless you wanted to spend more money after a few years. It would literally be good for life!

Most parents worry about buying a piano for their children or even for themselves because of the cost and the possibility that they may have to spend more and upgrade within a couple of years. This isn’t the case with this piano because it already has everything an acoustic does and much more.

The second reason to buy this piano is because of the graded hammer effect. It feels so nice to have this little feature and would help you to build up the right muscle memory for if you were to play on a real acoustic – maybe in a piano exam. The overall touch and feel is excellent and is extremely realistic. The weight to the keys is perfect and makes such a difference to any player.

The final reason to buy the Casio CDP-S110BKC5 is because of the sound. It does sound great, and even though it’s less than £300 I would happily pit this against models in the thousands. The Casio CDP-S110 really is a fantastic digital piano, and the price is just one of the many reasons to give it serious consideration!