Casio CDP 135 Review: Is it a really good one?
When we buy digital pianos many times, the biggest obstacle is to see exactly what you need your piano to do.
You need a piano that has enough functionality to help you learn without the method sounding too complex, up-to - date, or costly because you are a complete novice, without any experience.
And you want a digital piano that meets those specific needs if you are someone that knows how to play but wants to keep their skills sharp.
I'll show you in this Casio CDP-135 review, why I think it's a great digital piano that fits a range of different needs , especially if you have a relatively tight budget.
And to help you find out which digital piano is ideal for your needs, take a look at our interactive guide below, that allows you to compare Casio CDP-135 with other famous pianos on the market directly.
You need a piano that has enough functionality to help you learn without the method sounding too complex, up-to - date, or costly because you are a complete novice, without any experience.
And you want a digital piano that meets those specific needs if you are someone that knows how to play but wants to keep their skills sharp.
I'll show you in this Casio CDP-135 review, why I think it's a great digital piano that fits a range of different needs , especially if you have a relatively tight budget.
And to help you find out which digital piano is ideal for your needs, take a look at our interactive guide below, that allows you to compare Casio CDP-135 with other famous pianos on the market directly.
Who is Casio CDP-135 expected to use?
The Casio CDP-135 is a strong digital piano for beginners and costs around $300. I would also say that it's a good secondary piano if you only want to do a piano or if you're a person who learned a piano 10 or 20 years ago and are trying to slowly relieve yourself into the prospect of consistent performance.
The CDP-135 is only a digital piano at the outset, but this instrument is not dismissed. There is already a lot to come.
The weighted and graded keys in the CDP-135 are 88. Weighted keys are always expected these days, but the value of weighted and graded keys is still important to note.
You ideally want to simulate the feeling of a grand piano when you play a digital piano. None will forget that they play a true grand piano with their portable instrument at 300 dollars, yet the technology built within the CDP-135 makes you feel that's true.
Grading keys are, naturally, always great to view on a digital piano because the keys feel louder at the bottom and need less strength to press and play on the upper part of the keybed.
Well, the keys here are definitely not wood — after all, you don't buy a baby grand. But they feel good to their touch and the weighted, graded keyboard is a testament to that.
The piano is still really compact as it's only 23.8 pounds of clocks. The CDP 135 has about 52 inches broad and 11.25 inches deep and 5 inches high, and it is larger than you'd expect of 88 keys.
You will have a power supplier with this piano when you open the box, but unfortunately you will have to purchase those accessories separately if you want a padded bench to sit on or to put on the CDP-135 stand.
CDP-135 's impressive features
The Casip CDP-135 offers some pretty good features despite only costing around $300.
First, on this instrument, you get 10 voices. You can deal with three piano electric tones, three grand piano soundings, chords, clays, organ pieces, vibraphones and many more, just not an whole amount of sound.
You do get a metronome with this piano that also supports someone who is a novice amazingly. The metronome allows you to adjust time signatures and speeds to help you learn how to play a part accurately and at rhythm.
The CDP-135 is also fitted with customizable reverb and chorus and transposing ability to play with many keys. You have 10 different reverbs and 5 different choirs to play with.
In general, 15 different effects can be enjoyed from the CDP-135. See the review of Fire Inside Music for more detail.
Speakers and vibrations
The CDP-135 speakers are ... all right. Strong enough — remember, it's a piano for 300 bucks and not 1,300 bucks. You get a 16 watt stereo that gives you a relatively rich tone for your money.
Although not the best on the market, the speakers collect low frequencies and small octaves so the sound is a bit cleaner, more precise and less sloppy.
Tops of the piano – on the left and on the right – are the speakers themselves. If you're so inclined, you do have the option to plug the CDP 135 into an device. If you do, you do not need to think about the speakers on board because the extra amplification do give your music even more flavor.
It is also important to remember that this piano has 64 notes of ... decent polyphony. Again, strong enough, this piano's price point, but nothing awesome. We spoke about polyphony a lot of times, but essentially 64 polyphony notes say, without hearing any note decay, that you can play 64 notes at once.
64 notes may be okay if you are a novice. But when you begin to mature, with 128, 192, or even 256 polyphony notes, you may want something.
However, I think the CDP-135, especially when you're on a budget, is certainly a good start.
The Hall effect feature is an interesting feature that we see a lot on digital pianos and it's certainly here on the CDP-135. These features essentially make you feel like you are playing in a concert hall (or other unique venues). If you have always dreamt of playing in front of a live audience, but have no idea how that sounds if you are on the stage, make sure you know how the concert hall sounds.
Tools for networking
The CDP-135 has a USB ports on the back, allowing you to connect the piano directly to your computer as a MIDI controller very easily.
It should be noted that one drawback is that the CDP-135 does not have recording functionality. So if you hoped that your masterpiece could be recorded and exported to your friends or family, that is not something that you will be able to do with the CDP-135.
Casio CDP-135 Other downsides
One of the drawbacks of my view is that the CDP-135 does not have an LCD screen, as opposed to the Casio CDP-240, that is not subject to this issue. And this means that you never realize if you're setting up the right thing at the right time before you start playing piano while you use the CDP-135 to adjust different parameters and pick or unselect those functions.
But fair, a great deal is like playing the piano, a muscle memory. Over time, what you're doing gives you a feeling. However, if you launch the CDP-135 first, it can be difficult to click the "Task" button to navigate through and pick various apps.
In addition, if you select certain buttons or certain functions, the keyboard does not light up. So, if you combine the fact that no lightup features confirm your selections inside the instrument without an LCD screen, then you will find it a bit cumbersome to navigate all the possibilities inside the CDP-135.
For examples, you may assume you have chosen a string or an organ voice, but you have actually chosen a harpsichord. Of course, you can quickly fix that, but it might be very daunting to be on stage if you're a gig guitarist and you've picked the wrong role between shows.
Settlement
Overall, the Casio CDP-135 remains one of today's best digital pianos for money. It's not all you ever dreamed of, but it's a very good digital piano for beginners for about 300 dollars. I think it's perfect for someone who is back after years away to the piano art form.
It is also good for someone who possesses a more robust piano, but who is looking for a lighter and cheaper tool to play or to practice with in their homes or studios.
You may find that the CDp-135 is the instrument to you if you 're looking for a really good 88-key, weighted key digital piano that costs less than $500.
The Casio CDP-135 is a strong digital piano for beginners and costs around $300. I would also say that it's a good secondary piano if you only want to do a piano or if you're a person who learned a piano 10 or 20 years ago and are trying to slowly relieve yourself into the prospect of consistent performance.
The CDP-135 is only a digital piano at the outset, but this instrument is not dismissed. There is already a lot to come.
The weighted and graded keys in the CDP-135 are 88. Weighted keys are always expected these days, but the value of weighted and graded keys is still important to note.
You ideally want to simulate the feeling of a grand piano when you play a digital piano. None will forget that they play a true grand piano with their portable instrument at 300 dollars, yet the technology built within the CDP-135 makes you feel that's true.
Grading keys are, naturally, always great to view on a digital piano because the keys feel louder at the bottom and need less strength to press and play on the upper part of the keybed.
Well, the keys here are definitely not wood — after all, you don't buy a baby grand. But they feel good to their touch and the weighted, graded keyboard is a testament to that.
The piano is still really compact as it's only 23.8 pounds of clocks. The CDP 135 has about 52 inches broad and 11.25 inches deep and 5 inches high, and it is larger than you'd expect of 88 keys.
You will have a power supplier with this piano when you open the box, but unfortunately you will have to purchase those accessories separately if you want a padded bench to sit on or to put on the CDP-135 stand.
CDP-135 's impressive features
The Casip CDP-135 offers some pretty good features despite only costing around $300.
First, on this instrument, you get 10 voices. You can deal with three piano electric tones, three grand piano soundings, chords, clays, organ pieces, vibraphones and many more, just not an whole amount of sound.
You do get a metronome with this piano that also supports someone who is a novice amazingly. The metronome allows you to adjust time signatures and speeds to help you learn how to play a part accurately and at rhythm.
The CDP-135 is also fitted with customizable reverb and chorus and transposing ability to play with many keys. You have 10 different reverbs and 5 different choirs to play with.
In general, 15 different effects can be enjoyed from the CDP-135. See the review of Fire Inside Music for more detail.
Speakers and vibrations
The CDP-135 speakers are ... all right. Strong enough — remember, it's a piano for 300 bucks and not 1,300 bucks. You get a 16 watt stereo that gives you a relatively rich tone for your money.
Although not the best on the market, the speakers collect low frequencies and small octaves so the sound is a bit cleaner, more precise and less sloppy.
Tops of the piano – on the left and on the right – are the speakers themselves. If you're so inclined, you do have the option to plug the CDP 135 into an device. If you do, you do not need to think about the speakers on board because the extra amplification do give your music even more flavor.
It is also important to remember that this piano has 64 notes of ... decent polyphony. Again, strong enough, this piano's price point, but nothing awesome. We spoke about polyphony a lot of times, but essentially 64 polyphony notes say, without hearing any note decay, that you can play 64 notes at once.
64 notes may be okay if you are a novice. But when you begin to mature, with 128, 192, or even 256 polyphony notes, you may want something.
However, I think the CDP-135, especially when you're on a budget, is certainly a good start.
The Hall effect feature is an interesting feature that we see a lot on digital pianos and it's certainly here on the CDP-135. These features essentially make you feel like you are playing in a concert hall (or other unique venues). If you have always dreamt of playing in front of a live audience, but have no idea how that sounds if you are on the stage, make sure you know how the concert hall sounds.
Tools for networking
The CDP-135 has a USB ports on the back, allowing you to connect the piano directly to your computer as a MIDI controller very easily.
It should be noted that one drawback is that the CDP-135 does not have recording functionality. So if you hoped that your masterpiece could be recorded and exported to your friends or family, that is not something that you will be able to do with the CDP-135.
Casio CDP-135 Other downsides
One of the drawbacks of my view is that the CDP-135 does not have an LCD screen, as opposed to the Casio CDP-240, that is not subject to this issue. And this means that you never realize if you're setting up the right thing at the right time before you start playing piano while you use the CDP-135 to adjust different parameters and pick or unselect those functions.
But fair, a great deal is like playing the piano, a muscle memory. Over time, what you're doing gives you a feeling. However, if you launch the CDP-135 first, it can be difficult to click the "Task" button to navigate through and pick various apps.
In addition, if you select certain buttons or certain functions, the keyboard does not light up. So, if you combine the fact that no lightup features confirm your selections inside the instrument without an LCD screen, then you will find it a bit cumbersome to navigate all the possibilities inside the CDP-135.
For examples, you may assume you have chosen a string or an organ voice, but you have actually chosen a harpsichord. Of course, you can quickly fix that, but it might be very daunting to be on stage if you're a gig guitarist and you've picked the wrong role between shows.
Settlement
Overall, the Casio CDP-135 remains one of today's best digital pianos for money. It's not all you ever dreamed of, but it's a very good digital piano for beginners for about 300 dollars. I think it's perfect for someone who is back after years away to the piano art form.
It is also good for someone who possesses a more robust piano, but who is looking for a lighter and cheaper tool to play or to practice with in their homes or studios.
You may find that the CDp-135 is the instrument to you if you 're looking for a really good 88-key, weighted key digital piano that costs less than $500.