In 2021, Casio took the portable keyboard world by storm with their ridiculously popular CT-S1. The CT-S1 had everything beginners to casual performers had been asking for. Great sounds with a best-in-class key action packaged with ultra portability in mind and priced no more than a family steak dinner in a fancy restaurant. However, the CT-S1 had an Achilles heel. For a piano centric keyboard, it had just 61 keys which is limiting for keyboard repertoire and not having dedicated octave shift buttons didn’t help. Fast forward 3 years later, the Gods at Casio have finally bestowed upon us the CT-S1-76 which is an improved version of the CT-S1 with 76 keys. What has been improved apart from having more keys? Is it still a tremendous value for money? Is the CT-S1-76 now a perfect keyboard for pianists who need an instrument they can travel with? To find out, I bought one at full price with my own money to run it through its paces so that you can make a better buying decision. Let’s get started.
Key Action
The CT-S1-76 retains the excellent key action from the CT-S1. These 76 box-style keys with 4 levels of touch sensitivity are well designed giving the response of a semi-weighted action. The velocity curve is well programmed with a controlled linear response. This design is the best compromise over fully weighted keys, which makes a keyboard many times heavier and thus compromising portability. The keys are lightly textured for better grip but the white key pivots are still too short - a common complaint with the CT-S1. I found it challenging playing near the pivots and had to adjust my playing style accordingly. Nonetheless, these are the best 76 keys you can tuck under your arm in a package weighing just 5kg.
Sound Quality
The CT-S11 had 61 tones mapped to the 61 keys of the keyboard and I was expecting Casio to at least increase the onboard sounds to 76, matching the number of keys on the CT-S1-76. Unfortunately, the CT-S1-76 has the exact same 61 sounds as the CT-S1. Thankfully, these 61 tones are Casio’s most usable, rich, thick, warm and high quality bread & butter AIX sound samples. The CT-S1 did not have a keyboard split feature and it continues to elude us on the 76-key which is really a shame as the wider key range is perfect for playing different sounds on the left and right side of the keyboard. Casio lost the opportunity to raise note polyphony. It remains at 64 which may be an issue for sustained passages with dual voice layers. The onboard speakers on the 76 get more than twice the amplification versus the 61 - 13 watts versus a mere 5 watts on the CT-S1. The 76 also gets Casio’s proprietary horizontal bass reflex system, lifting the lower frequencies with a punchier bass. I struggled to get sufficient sound volume with my CT-S1 and had to use external amplification but the significantly more powerful CT-S1-76 sounded great on its own. If you don’t mind paying a little more, my preferred similarly priced keyboard with hundreds of sounds, rhythms and effects with expansion capability can be found here
User Interface
One of the gripes many had with the CT-S1 is the user interface. Casio sacrificed function over form for a minimalist design to cater to the hipster crowd. Selecting specific sounds was a hit and miss affair as I had to carry a chart listing the tone assigned to each key on the keyboard. Many commonly used features by keyboardists such as transpose and octave shifts didn’t have dedicated buttons and couldn’t be triggered on the fly. Turning on and off dual voices, adjusting the volume mix of layers and specifying the amount of reverb was painfully clumsy and you’ll need to refer to a printed chart. Thankfully, we get 7 user memory slots to store our favorite presets and combinations. Casio tried to alleviate this pain point with the Casio Music Space app but that meant your iPad or smartphone had to be tethered to your keyboard via a legacy micro-USB cable if you didn’t shell out an eye-watering $80 for a wireless Bluetooth module. It is also unfortunate that this app is not compatible with the technically identical CT-S1.
Features, Functionality & Build Quality
At $349, the Casio CT-S1-76 carries a staggering 60% price premium over the $219 CT-S1 and for that you get better speakers, 15 more keys and compatibility with Casio Music Space app for easier sound selection and settings. I’m disappointed that Casio didn't upgrade the flimsy 3.5mm audio outputs with a pair of more robust stereo ¼” and the legacy micro-USB port should really be a USB-C. The optional $80 wireless Bluetooth MIDI & audio module should have been integrated into the keyboard like what every manufacturer has done. Didn’t Casio get the memo that the red color CT-S1 was the most striking and popular among the 3 available colors? Unfortunately, the CT-S1-76 is only available in white or black. Just like the CT-S1, the 76 has a 3.5mm headphones jack and the USB port transmits and receives both MIDI and digital audio saving you the need to buy an audio interface if you need to send digital audio to your music production software. Due to the larger speakers, you’ll need 8 “AA” batteries instead of 6 on the CT-S1 if you don’t use the included power adaptor. You can find out the full specifications and the best price for this together with my recommended digital pianos, keyboards, and music-learning app right here.
Conclusion
For the 60% price premium over the CT-S1, I would have expected Casio to improve on the multiple frustrations users had. If the 76-keys was priced at under $300, the extra 15 keys, more powerful speakers and ultra-portability for a mere 1.5lbs weight penalty over the 61 is a no-brainer. Nonetheless, do consider the similarly priced 76-key Yamaha NP-35 and the 88-key ultraportable Korg Liano which I have reviewed right here.
You can find out the full specifications and the best price for this together with my recommended digital pianos, keyboards, and music-learning app right here.
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