A lot of times, when we are wanting to buy a digital piano, the biggest hurdle is in trying to determine what kind of piano they need. In this article, we will show You, what Casio CDP- 135 has to offer.
For a beginner player, with no experience, the piano should have enough features to help people learn without the process feeling too difficult, advanced, or expensive. For someone that known how to play, but just wants to keep their skills sharp, they want a digital piano that meets their specific needs as well.
In this Casio CDP-135 review, I’m going to show you why I think Casio CDP-135 is a great digital piano to fit a variety of different needs pianists might have- especially if they’re on a relatively tight budget.
Product description of Casio CDP- 135
When pianists are playing on a digital piano, they ideally want it to simulate the feel of a grand piano. No one is going to forget that they are playing on a genuine grand piano while using their $300 portable instrument, but the technology built inside the CDP-135 is quite good at making you feel that is indeed the case.
Casio CDP-135 is a solid choice for a beginner as far as the price-quality ratio goes, especially if buyers have a limited budget. CDP-135 costs $300 which is an incredible price for a quality piano that has plenty to offer. Casio CDP 135 is quite compact and lightweight despite having big speakers and full size 88 keys.
Layout and design
As Casio CDP- 135 is an entry level keyboard, Casio has done a wonderful job in keeping the layout to minimum and only focuses on what is required to be focused upon. Minimal layout doesn’t mean less functions for this digital piano, on the contrary. Minimal layout creates less uncertainty, which is really beneficial for beginners.
This piano is also very portable, as it clocks in at only 23.8 pounds. It’s size is more or less what you’d expect for 88 keys, as the CDP-135 is 52 inches wide, 11.25 inches deep, and 5 inches high. Casio CDP- 135 comes in 1 colour, which is black with matte finish.
Keys
The Keys of Casio CDP 135 are the best part of the entire keyboard. It has 88 keys like a standard acoustic piano feels firm and natural. I can very confidently say that Casio has done a wonderful job in mimicking the grand piano experience when it comes to keys of CDP 135. Keys are also Velocity Sensitive (Touch Response) and the pianist is allowed to control the responsiveness up to 3 levels or can completely turn it off when required.
Casio CDP-135 uses spring less mechanism to mimic the weighted keys experience. Also, the scaled hammer action makes the keys lighter on the right-hand side (High Notes) and gradually increases towards the left (Low Notes).
Sound quality
Casio CDP series uses AHL (Acoustic & Highly-compressed Large-waveform) technology as its sound source. The sound can be categorized as standard with mellow and bright expression in the tones. Casio CDP- 135 also has a harpsichord, strings, pipe organ (perfect for wedding or traditional celebration), jazz organ and other instrumental sounds. Digital piano also has Rhodes sounds, a feeling, that I have not heard of in pianos in this price range.
Speakers
Casio CDP- 135 has 16-watt stereo speakers, which will provide you with a fairly rich tone for the cost. These speakers are solid enough for a $300 digital piano. These are not the best of the best on the market but the speakers pick up low frequencies and low octaves, so there will be noticed that the sound comes across as being a bit more clean and precise and less muddy.
The speakers themselves are located on the top of the piano—one on the left side and one on the right. There is an ability to plug the CDP-135 into an amp if the pianist is inclined therefore there is nothing to worry about the onboard speakers, as your music will have a lot more bite to it thanks to the added amplification.
Hall simulator effect
Casio CDP- 135 has a hall simulator effect. The Hall simulator effect is an exclusive effect that can only be found on Casio Digital Pianos and is only available on very few models. The effect comes useful when you form a solid base in understanding Acoustic and its characteristics. What Hall Simulator Effect does is that it generates special acoustic characteristics and simulates sound effects. It may feel like you are sitting in a concert hall and other venues. In short, It allows you to understand your music from an audience perspective. It comes really handy in understanding and analyzing your music from a different perspective and further refine it.
Metronome
Casio CDP- 135 has a metronome, which is always incredibly helpful for a beginner. Using the metronome, pianists can adjust time signatures and tempo. It will help learn better how to play a piece accurately and in a rhythm.
Connectivity options
The CDP-135 comes with a USB port on the back, so you’ll be able to very easily plug the piano directly. Theres also possible to plug into your computer so you can use it as a MIDI controller.
Downsides of the Casio DCP- 135
One of the downsides that the CDP-135 has is that it doesn’t possess an LCD screen. It means that, as while using the Casio CDP-135 to change different settings and select or deselect certain features. The pianists never fully know if they’re setting the right thing at the right time until they start playing the piano.
One downside, it should be noted, is that there’s no recording functionality on the CDP-135.
Now, to be fair, a lot of this becomes a muscle memory thing- just like playing the piano. Over time, players are getting a feeling for what they’re doing. When a player is first starting on the CDP-135, they might find it challenging to have to push down on the “Function” button to cycle through and select different features.
Also the keyboard doesn’t light up when the pianist selects certain buttons or features. And so, the fact that there’s no LCD screen along with the reality that there are no light-up features. That confirms pianist selections within the instrument, pushing the right buttons can become a pretty daunting task. Of course, this can easily be corrected, but if the pianist is a gigging musician, it could be somewhat problematic to be on stage and have to be concerned that they have selected the incorrect function in between performances.
What do people say about Casio DCP- 135?
Amazon review
Image: Amazon review Casio CDP- 135
Image: Amazon review Casio CDP- 135 pt2
Youtube review
Image: YouTube review Casio CDP- 135 pt3
Image: YouTube review Casio CDP-135 pt4
VERDICT: Casio CDP-135 is a solid choice as far as the price-quality ratio goes. Especially if buyers has a limited budget. CDP-135 is a great digital piano to fit a variety of different needs pianists might have. If you are a newbie or a hobby pianist and need a decent digital piano with natural feel, good sound in a budget. Friendly price tag than Casio CDP- 135 might be a good option to CDP- 135 is quite compact and lightweight despite having big speakers and full size 88 keys. Digital piano minimal layout creates less uncertainty, which is really beneficial for beginners. Casio CDP- 135 has a metronome, which is incredibly helpful for adjusting tempo. The CDP-135 piano also comes with a USB port on the back. Therefore it will very easily plug the piano directly into your computer or use it as a MIDI controller.
One downside, it should be noted, is that there’s no recording functionality on the CDP-135. Also, the keyboard doesn’t light up when the pianist selects certain buttons or features. And so, the fact that there’s no LCD screen along with the reality that there are no light-up features. That confirms pianist selections within the instrument, pushing the right buttons can become a pretty daunting task.
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