CasioCasiotone CT-S1 – 61-Key Touch-Sensitive Retro Keyboard | Sleek, Portable Design for Beginners to Pros | Stereo Grand Piano + 60 AiX Tones | USB-MIDI Connectivity | Black

I've had this Casio for 6 months now, and have learned how to play piano/keyboards on it....and have no intention of upgrading anytime soon, because this thing is great! It's just what I had been looking for- just a simple basic electric piano/organ, without all of the endless nonsense that all the other ones seem to have...and most important of all, the piano and organ voices sound GREAT! I don't need accompaniment, and rhythms, and 600 voices, and all of that crap.With this, there's not too much to distract you or get in the way- yet it odes have a ton of useful features, such as octave shift. I love that it is not festooned with dozens of buttons and displays. You access the additional features by pressing a program button and then hitting one of the 61 piano keys. Every key does something different; and every key also turns on another voice (in conjunction with a different button)- but the beauty is, to look at it, it's just a simple, clean keyboard with only a few buttons. Playing this thing is addictive!The one thing I dislike, isn't the product itself, but the manual- or rather, lack thereof. It comes with only a cheesy fold-out, small-print basic starters guide, and you have to access the actual manual online-which wouldn't be a big deal, as really, you can just turn it on and play...easy-peasy...but the thing is, to access the features which are controlled by the piano keys, you have to refernce a chart, so that you know which key does what; and also which key implements which voice, as there are no markings on the unit or the keys.Don't let that dissuade you from buying, as this is the best keyboard you find for anywhere near this price...but it would be nice if it had come with a proper booklet style manual- or at least a decent quality chart showing which key controls what.

I own a top flight acoustic piano and professional digital keyboards. I searched everywhere for a portable, super light-weight keyboard that I could carry on when flying/traveling to use for practicing and composition. The Casio CT-S1 fits the bill well, with a few very minor nits.This keyboard weighs in at less than 10 lbs. yet is very well built and 'feels' sturdy and solid. It's physically impossible to have weighted or semi-weighted keys on a 10 pound instrument, but the key bed is otherwise very good. The keys are nearly full-size, have a matte finish and a good touch sensitive response.The body of the keyboard is well constructed and does not feel fragile. The 'retro', minimalist look of the instrument with the cloth covered panel across the top is easy on the eyes. There is a built-in handle which allows carrying around your house or hotel with ease. It comes with a external power supply, but also runs on batteries. I sprung for a set of AA rechargeable batteries, worth the investment. Nit #1: You'll need to purchase a sustain pedal - not included.There is a very good and wide range of sounds, most important of which are decent acoustic piano, electric piano and organ voices. A nice feature is a set of physical buttons and a volume knob across the front panel. There are dozens of additional sound and tone controls accessible via the function button and the piano keys. Nit #2: I would like to have dedicated buttons for the most used functions: transpose, octave shift and reverb.The built-in speakers are very serviceable. There are 1/8" inch stereo IN and stereo OUT connectors, so I carry a couple of 1/8" stereo patch cables for connecting my Klipsch Groove bluetooth speaker (sounds great), tablets, phone, etc. The USB MIDI interface is ideal for for writing or transcribing music.Nit #3: The Casio case for this instrument, when available, has an awkward design (load from the end ??), and has questionable padding for travel. Casio would do well to make available a decent, well fitting, padded case - even at half the cost of the keyboard, it would be worth it. I scoured the retail world for days to found a good quality, padded, but otherwise snug fitting case for airline carry on, but a case designed for this unit would be better.This instrument is an excellent value.

Casio has made great improvements with the sound quality of entry levelkeyboards over the years. I’ve always considered them to be budget keyboards but the sound quality is truly professional. After watching videos and reading reviews, I decided to get the CT-S1 and have not been disappointed. I love how easy it is to use this keyboard. It was a breeze to set up and the midi adaptor (separate purchase) is great for connecting to other apps (I use an iOS tablet) to record/compose songs. The included slide in music/device stand is well made and overall the keyboard has a lovely modern aesthetic look. It is the perfect size for beginner players and/pr those with smaller living spaces that want a solid keyboard. The Casio Music Space App is nice as well and provides the option to stream music from Spotify and Apple. One can also play along with simulated environments. There is nothing like playing beginner ABC songs and hearing a roaring crowd in the background…LOL!