Yamaha NP12 or Casio CT-X700?

[Aimee4]

Hello! I have been reading forums and watching piano reviews to find an inexpensive piano keyboard for the past week. I am not attempting to learn the piano, I just want something I can plug my earbuds into and play casually. I narrowed it down to the Yamaha NP12 and the Casio CT-X700, but do not know which to pick. A lot of the videos I watched mentioned all the settings it has, but I am not interested in those functions I do not understand, and only care for the primary grand piano sound. Many forums have said that the Yamaha is better quality, but they also mention that the Casio has an AiX Sound Source that beats it. Which one should I buy?

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

The Yamaha NP12 is the starter digital piano where the Casio CT X700 is the starter Arranger keyboard in the CT X range, a direct competitor in the Yamaha Arranger series would be the Yamaha PSR E363. Hence the models you are considering are in different target user sectors and it is why the inbuilt features are very different.

Both have pretty good piano sounds and a similar in price so making a decision between them based on your criteria is difficult but purely from a future proofing angle the Casio would be what I would suggest you buy, purely that it is the most flexible should your criteria change as your playing ability improves. You could then make use of the Casio features where with the Yamaha you could be looking at a new keyboard.

 

[anotherscott]

There are plenty of youtube videos where you can listen to their piano sounds and see which you prefer. I wouldn't assume that Casio's sound engine can create a better piano sound than Yamaha's. Follow your ears. The other big variable (if all you're using it for is the piano sound) is the action. I haven't played these exact models, but based on playing other Yamaha NP models and other low-cost Casio models, I suspect the Yamaha keys are likely to feel better for piano than the Casio's.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I was going to say that if it were me choosing between those two models for myself, I would probably go with the Casio CT-X700 because of its larger number of tones and better overall flexibility as far as the various categories or "families" of different types of tones. But your criteria as to what you're looking for (namely, acoustic piano tones) are different than mine (a broad spectrum of acoustical and electronic instrument tones, especially synth tones that can be modified by the user).

However, if I already had a general-purpose keyboard that I were happy with, and were looking for a keyboard to use primarily for the quality of its acoustic piano tones, of those two models I would probably go with the Yamaha NP-12-- except I would try to increase my budget a little bit and go with the Yamaha NP-32 instead, because it has a slightly wider keyboard (76 keys) and a slightly better keybed ("Graded Soft Touch," whatever that means).

 

[anotherscott]

and a slightly better keybed ("Graded Soft Touch," whatever that means).

it means that the keys offer a bit more resistance toward the bottom, and less resistance toward the top, to try to better emulate the gradedness of a real piano. It's understandable that they don't bother on a 61, where most of the keys toward either end of an 88 don't exist in the first place.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I know about "graded" keybeds, but what I meant is that I don't know how "Graded Soft Touch" is different than Yamaha's other "graded" keybeds, such as their "Graded Hammer Standard." It appears that their "Graded Soft Touch" keybeds are used on the less expensive models, such as the discontinued DGX-230/YPG-235, ax well as on the somewhat more expensive DGX-530/YPG-535. As best as I can tell from searching on the internet, the "Graded Soft Touch" has a lighter feel than the "Graded Hammer Standard."

 

[Biggles]

When I was looking for a DP in one showroom they had a Korg B2N which is their entry level DP with what they call a lighter natural touch keybed (NH), next to it was a D1 which Korg calls their real weighted Hammer action (RH3).

There are Korg’s competitors to the Yamaha NP and P series DP’s.

In this case there was a marked difference in feel, the NH action of the B2N is supposedly graded but with a lighter action which I found as very synth like, yes there is grading and it works, it does lacks feel if compared to a higher end DP. There is a marked difference in action between the B2N and the RH3 action of the D1 which has a much heavier graded action. Switching back and forth between the two was interesting.

I moved on to another showroom where I tried the Casio S1000/3000 and Yamaha P125 and both these makes had keybeds which felt better and had a more responsive feel than the either of the Korg’s, this despite the critiques that have been made agains the new Casio S action.

This showroom also had a Casio X3000 on display which I had a uick play of and it is certainly an impressive keyboard for the cost and I would certainly pick one over the equivalent Yamaha everyday. The piano voices were good and similar to the S1000/3000 in tone but slightly richer.

To my ears the Yamaha models did have the better piano voices compared to the Casio’s, but not by much.

For a newbie keybed feel should not be much of an issue, the Yamaha having limited onboard features and whilst the Op says they are not important the simple metronome adjustments for practice is far easier to adjust with the Casio.

 

[anotherscott]

I know about "graded" keybeds, but what I meant is that I don't know how "Graded Soft Touch" is different than Yamaha's other "graded" keybeds, such as their "Graded Hammer Standard."

Ah. Although both are graded, Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) is a hammer action. Graded Soft Touch is a non-hammer, unweighted action. Now you may be wondering, if there are no weights and no hammers (so essentially a synth-stye action, despite the piano-shaped keys), how do they give some keys more resistance than others? The answer is in the rubber contacts under the keys. Thinner or thicker rubber contacts create a feeling of more or less resistance as you depress the keys to the bottom.

 

[Aimee4]

Thank you all for your help and advice! Based on your replies and watching more reviews and demonstrations on Youtube, I have decided to buy the Casio CT-X700.

 

[Biggles]

Good news

Gary (Happyrat) posted this thread a while ago

What to do when you first get the piano out of the box.

www.keyboardforums.com

Do watch it and any more that Jack does in what looks like a series,he demonstrates that you can make music very easily.

It is the mastering of it that takes time and effort

Enjoy and do keep us up to date on your progress.