Casio Casiotone, 61-Key Portable Keyboard (CT-S200BK)

Product Information

The CT-S1 is a return to what Casio intended to create with the very first Casiotone keyboard: a simple instrument which looks as good as it sounds. In fact, one of our criticisms of the Lyric Creator app would be the number of presses it takes to go through the transfer process. It’d be great if Casio could streamline this a bit in an update. The 201 was supposed to be an instrument for everybody. Affordable and easy to use, Casio’s intention was to create a keyboardthat anyone would be able to learn with. Compared to other polyphonic synths at the time, the Casiotone was uniquely lightweight and inexpensive. Sure, it didn’t sound as iconic as a Prophet-5 – but that isn’t remotely what it was trying to do. So, to return to our previous question, who is the CT-S1000V designed for? Despite its vocal synthesis capabilities, this still looks and feels like a home keyboard, but we think it’ll be quirky enough to find a place in a few studios, too. However – as the line has continued over the last few years, Casio have begun to push the envelope more and more. Without losing sight of their roots, Casiotone keyboards have become increasingly feature-rich. Their most recent models wouldn’t be out of place in a professional studio!

Sound output is stereo, and although the speakers are closely spaced the quality is remarkably good for the price - a godsend for long-suffering parents! The only downside is that the mains power adapter is an optional extra. Still, your little ones will get up to 10 hours of continuous use from 6 AA rechargeable batteries. Which is probably plenty. This is a ground-breaking technology, which revolutionises the process of adding vocals to music. You only have to write your lyrics into Casio’s LyricCreator app, and then you can perform them on the keyboard – choosing from 100 different lyric tones! Harness the power of classic talkboxes and vocoders, or even create choral parts. Find out more about Casio Vocal Synthesis here.The CT-S1000V comes with a Bluetooth dongle, as well as all of the connections featured on the S500. First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best Casio keyboards on the market right now. If you require any further information relating to the Delivery service used, please call us at +44 (0)20 8208 9567.

Tempted by a Casiotone? Or want to explore the rest of our keyboards? Follow the links below to explore our full range. If the vocal stuff was all that the CT-S1000V had then you’d probably feel a little short-changed, but fortunately, it’s also an excellent portable keyboard. There’s a great variety of sounds, and while the keyboard action can sometimes feel a light to get the most out of them (when you're playing the electric pianos, for example), you’ve got everything you need. The CT-S400 is a big change from the previous models. The first three iterations of the modern Casiotone line added more and more features and sounds to the same body. The CT-S400 is a total redesign, body and all. The CT-S400, CT-S500, and CT-S1000V are pointed more towards intermediate players. Beginners will have a great time with them, but making the most of all of the features straight out of the box might require a bit of experience. These keyboards will appeal to both performers and producers, with elements like the sampler and voice synthesis engine offering particular creative versatility. The original Casiotone keyboards came in three distinct families, separated by the method of synthesis. [ citation needed]The CT-S400 uses Casio’s AiX Sound Source. AiX stands for Acoustic Intelligent Expression (sort of), and it combines high-performance EQ and DSP effects with carefully designed instrument noises. This results in highly expressive acoustic instrument noises with incredible clarity. Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides. It utilised “vowel-consonant” synthesis – a form of subtractive synthesis using filter patterns based on human speech tones. To select one of the 29 pre-set voices, you simply pressed the tone select button and then any of the white keys on the keyboard. This uncomplicated layout made the Casiotone extremely simple to navigate. The CT-S100 is the spiritual successor to the original Casiotone 201. It’s simple – basic, even – but it does what it does very well.