Casio Casiotone CT-S500 – 61-Key Touch-Responsive Portable Keyboard | 800 AiX Tones, DSP Effects, Bluetooth MIDI/Audio, 6-Track Recorder, USB, Line Outs, Casio Music Space App | Gig-Ready & Compact

I am a mostly a guitar player but wanted to add some keys to the gigs. I did my keyboard research for a month. And I did find the Yamaha raw piano sounds a bit better than the Casio, that is where it ends and why I picked the Casio. First off, its a much smaller footprint, not bulky! Easy to move around. The key action is very good and I don't like too many buttons. For use, I need a Piano, a Pipe Organ and a couple of other sounds such as Harmonica, Flute and Synth. No Bluetooth needed, no MIDI needed. I'm sure it does that just fine as well but I don't have a use for them. It connects directly to our PA, Stereo 1/4 jacks. The on board speakers are not that great but for learning and practice, fine. For jamming it's always goes to the PA. And it sounds GREAT thru the PA. There is a learning curve to use the controls, sub menus, knobs, DSP, programming and saving the different instrument sounds and tweaking for live use. But once you get it, it's easy to program and easy to switch modes. I use the USB port for powering a goose neck book lamp which comes in handy for darkened stages or nighttime use. All and all, it does the job.

I went in and tested this for keybed feel against the Yamaha PSR e473. Both are excellent but this one had the best feeling keys (for me). The slightly less wide format vs the 473 makes it more portable, and it has all the hardware outputs I need (excluding midi (it does do midi by USB)). It also blurs the line between synth and piano, while leaning towards piano (which is what I need). So I can apply effects almost like filters, and get a more organic sound (sometimes pianos make other synthetic instruments like horns sound too isolated, or "plucked". This blends sounds better. it is NOT a fully weighted piano like keybed, but it felt good. If you need a piano-piano look at Yamaha or others that try for more of the fully weighted feel. If you do the other stuff in DAWs software, and play a bit with synth, but mainly want a piano...this is good. If you like the feel and sound of this keyboard, but don't need the semi-sythesizer features get the Casio CT S400. If you want to do live/wedding/production stuff, you might want the Yamaha 473

A nice solid keyboard at a good price for a novice like me. Love the organ sounds. Still exploring the various sounds, and abilities of this keyboard. Large selection of tones, the ability to split the keyboard is a really nice feature. Take the time to look through the manual, it will be worth the effort.

This really helped my husband who has always been very musical and played the guitar for many years but his arthritis got so bad he couldn't make the guitar chords work but this Keyboard really inspired him to get back into his music.

If there are DJ sounds on this I haven't found them, but it's super convenient and easy to carry around. The only trouble is the power supply is unique, so the many plugs I have for my other keyboard won't work for this.

I’m not sure of my presets vs. registrations, loading presets would be hard during a song it seems like.

So let’s start by stating that I sold a $1,500 61 note Kurzweil keyboard due to a very tight space I was working with (drum room). I am usually the church’s keyboardist, however have recently started filling in on the drums. I still needed to have a keyboard to have music between songs and as needed for the pastor. I had already brought my sons Yamaha psr e373 up there and it was just slightly too large. I also brought the Kurzweil up there and it was way too large. I needed something with an extremely small footprint.I landed on the Yamaha mx49. I was impressed with the videos and reviews and what that keyboard had to offer. However, that keyboard cost $579 before tax.Of course I had second thoughts about “I wonder if I could find something cheaper”…Then comes me accidentally stumbling upon a YouTube video showing off the Casio CT-S500. WOW!!! The videos were just great. The sounds sounded very rich on the videos. It seemed to do everything I needed and if my measurements were correct it would just barely fit in the space I had!Then I come to Amazon and find it in a great bundle deal. Coming with the keyboard, a good sustain pedal, decent headphones, a nice keyboard bench, and a keyboard stand. After tax coming out to just under $520!!! Way less than the Yamaha and a ton of extras to come with it!So here’s the deal, the keyboard feels extremely well made. Very sturdy plastic housing, one of the best key beds I have played on in a 61 note keyboard. Obviously not weighted, but very responsive, and every bit as good as my $1,500 Kurzweil, and in my opinion better than my $1,700 Yamaha and SUPER QUIET! My wife loves it! No more listening to me beat on the keys at night when I am practicing in bed.Now on to the sounds, just superb. Obviously this is not a $3k to $5k keyboard. Don’t expect it to sound like one. Would I be afraid to take it out and play it live? No. Not even for a second. Most people who listen to live bands barely know what sounds the keyboardist is actually playing in a live set, let alone be able to tell the difference between this or a $5k board. So if you are looking for a $5k sound pass on this one. If you are looking for something that has a lot of really really good sounds that can get you by, this would fit the bill!I would have never in a million years have ever thought I would be writing a review for a Casio keyboard. They have not even been on my radar. Some people don’t want to be behind one because the name represents the more toy like or beginners type of keyboard. However that ended for me today. Casio will now be the first on my radar when I am in the market for a new keyboard. I have had many great keyboards over the years, and I would not hesitate to throw this right in the mix with my high end gear.You would think my review would end there, but I would lastly like to point out some of the other things I really like about this board.1) it’s got speakers and its battery powered, and very light weight with a carry handle!2) the knobs are large, placed in the best possible place, assignable, and you can clearly see what position they are in (even in dim lit areas) something I cannot say for my $1,700 Yamaha.3) 64 registration memory for quick recall of your favorite sounds, fx settings and even rhythm settings.4) large very clear and nicely lit display screen.5) rhythms that are not just thrown in there, but are actually usable. This is not advertised as an arranger, but it is very capable of helping you out in a bind if you need the keyboard to fill in for the whole band.6) the sheer amount of fx capabilities, and how easy it is to set them to a knob and have full control, it’s just unheard of in this price range.7) it has professional audio outputs. Trust me if you ever put this on a stage of any kind, you will want these. It also has the audio in which seems to be missing on even some higher end keyboards.8) it doesn’t just have 1 pedal input but 2! And on the second one, you can set it to adjust many different things. (Also not something you see on a board this cheap)9) of course there are some limitations to the midi, as it’s only a usb style and not the 5pin, but this board at this price includes Casio’s $80 Bluetooth adapter. If you take that adapter out of the price equation, that makes this board less than $300 delivered!!!10) I could keep going on, but I will stop on this one. This keyboard has 5 buttons right under the screen. These buttons can be set to do just about anything you could ever want them to do. On top of that, you can then save them and even have the keyboard bring that up as your desired home buttons. This is extremely important. (For those of you who are wondering why there is no dedicated transpose or octave shift on this keyboard… just fyi, these are settings that can be saved to those home buttons!) this is again not something you see on cheaper boards. It’s actually rare to see on most boards. Super, super cool and usable feature!All in all, Casio is moving up in the world of keyboards and if you pass this up because you are afraid of the name, I feel sorry for you, and all the joy you will miss by not taking a chance on Casio. There is just nothing like this keyboard in this price range, from any distributor that I know of. Pull the trigger and thank me later!