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My first impression of the GP 300 was pretty similar to Alex's take on the kiddie piano

I too was very disappointed -- the 300 seems very over sold; I went expecting something really good,
a cheaper N1...


However, it should be however compared with things in its own price range -not with higher end instruments from Kawai, Yamaha and Roland. The bouncing hammers are I think
a gimmick, which probably does not add much to the touch. It felt very light too me, like a low-end
upright not a grand.

They are perhaps trying to up-sell to previous Casio owners not used to acoustic actions.
I don't see it grabbing share from Kawai or Roland.

Sound was very hollow too, this was even a little shocking.

I am waiting to see a 500, perhaps it comes across better

IMO - the Celviano grand Hybrid is not really a hybrid. Just having wooden keys doesn't make it real piano action. You don't see Kawai calling MP11 a hybrid. I'd also read the specs about amplification. I believe my N2 has 12 separate amps, so saying the Casio has a better sound system would seem to me to be a stretch. Also consider the number of years that Casio has been producing pianos, then check out Yamaha and you might notice, they've been doing this for a few more years. Being a new company doesn't really matter. Hey look at Tesla automobiles. Casio isn't the Tesla of digital pianos. I rank them more like the KIA of DP's.

GP-500 Russian demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZWqb8g1m1M&

Casio Grand Hybrid | Celviano GP-500 | “Scenes”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvLIPey9s58

Last one, seems that reviews start to bloom:

Casio GP500 & GP300 Digital Piano - Unboxing and First Impressions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8oz42Dee2I

So I could spend some minutes with the GP300 today. They even had a model of the action like Kawai has for their DP. Compared to the Kawai GFII, the whole key of the GP300 is longer, but the part in front of the pivot point is shorter. I could not measure it, so no idea if it is really the full length of a Bechstein grand (even if baby grand).

The GP300 was priced at 2800EUR. The three grand pianos (Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna) are clearly different in character, so you need to check them all out.

The "bells and whistles" as in the selection of ambiance effects are abound and amazing. You can change things like distance of hammers from strings etc. as well.

String resonance seems to be implemented on about the level of Kawai PHI, so not to the level of Roland HP60x (and LX7/17 where this is the same), but its there for the keys it matters most.

The keys/keyboard surface I think I will need to take a second look at. Seemed a bit too "closed" to me.

Also, I am not sure they got the transition from dampened string to undampened string at the lower end exactly right. But would need to compare more.

But you get a good range from ppp to fff out it.

I am just a beginner and my observations should not carry too much weight, but I think Casio and Bechstein put themselves on the map in a place they have not been before. This is really good for the whole digital piano business and I am sure they will sell a good number.

I am quite puzzled. I received today the french magazine Diapason, in which there is a comparison of 12 digital pianos, including the casio GP 300 and 500. They gave 6 out of 6 for every aspect (sound, touch, nuances, pedals and finish), and gave respectively 4, 3, 5, 3 and 4 to these same aspects for the GP 300. They mention only one reviewer, so this is really odd given the specifications which are supposed to be exactly the same except for sound and finish (with added resonances for the 500). The reviewer said that the keyboard is extraordinary on the 500, while being a drawback for the 300. It seems rather strange.

The brown paper envelope enclosed with the GP 300 must have got lost in transit.

I just made the mistake of buying the electronic version. The reviews are single paragraphs. I don't know
how much time and effort went into them!

I would be very interested in seeing the difference
between the two casio models.

Hi

I missed the Keyboard Magazine Review:

http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/review-casio-celviano-grand-hybrid/55057

Hi, I did test and compare the GP300 this weekend for 3 hours. I´m played piano for 2 years and have a Casio AP 450 and seldom play on analog pianos. I play easier learning pieces. I mostly used headphones AKG NC490.

I compared the sound against a Yamaha N3 digital grand, NU1, 585, 575, etc. Roland 605, LX17. Casio cheaper variants and Rolands.

The N3 has more stable keys, with more resistance. The sound from the N3 is more expressive, complex and clearer.

LX17 has great base. Roland 605 have some problem with midrange sound, i prefer GP300. I like the keysurface on Roland, ebony/ivory simulation.

GP300 has nice feel when pressing to bottom, no fast stop, softer for fingers if you press hard, reminds me of real grand piano. Didnt like 585 och NU1 first, ok after a while.

GP300 have great pipeorgan in french hall sound, try Bach toccata.

GP300 have fast kling off on melody line when playing Satie Gymnopedie 1. The N3 nicer. Tried to manipulate settings without results.

GP300 sounds quality piano is like MP3 (192khz?) to WAV when played N3. Its a bit muddy compared to N3. But the sounds from the concerts is nice. Maybe GP300 is better with higher volume, didnt turn up that much.

GP300 hammers in corner of eye adds to feeling when playing, but dont look too close so you see the plastic.

Maybe you could say GP300 is a N3 played for x10 years. The keys are more moving and the sound is duller and not so clear. The GP300 has more metallic artificial sound than the N3, still it can be pretty expressive and complex.

I tried a cheaper Roland (140 something) and must say the sound was good in the headphones, though the keys and pedals were plastic.

Maybe this text can help someone, at least it helps my memory.

You think this is right?
Berlin = bechstein
Hamburg = steinway
Vinna = bösendorfer
Sampled.

Here the beste video demo of casio to date, I guess that Casio was waiting for the release of Gp500..


In your opinion... Gp300,sounds similarly to this demo or it doesn't sounds good?? The sound quality is really good? Principally I am talking about the speakers sounds not headphones

Sorry I forget to post the video xD

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9NmvtXWuMx8

New video just appeared...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D68CcAjTi4

plus a useful comparision (recording quality aside) of the 300 vs. 500

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCoefG0mHWU

And here, other video


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9NmvtXWuMx8

I have tryed the GP300 today and my first impression is good. Keybord is perfect for me. I am more demanding on the sound quality. I have an old FP9 Roland that has the perfect sound, very well balance on all the range, round and soft but clear enough in the same time. I try to find something equivalent for 5 years and may be I found it on this Casio Grand Hybrid. I am a little disappointed regarding the tone that change a lot according to the pressure ... may be more than on an accoustic piano. But it seems this can be change with parameters.
I found some new direct live record of the GP300 to hear how it sound using the speakers (no usb record). It sounds realistic to me ... what do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_yOxuUkfbE
and from the same artist ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4Hj2Ff8G8

I think it sounds pretty good from the speakers from the videos zzaj.

I would prefer the sustain length of the notes to be longer and that's a very common problem with almost all digital pianos which I was hoping they would have addressed in this but it doesn't appear to be that much better than the competitors (other than Roland's modelled sound).

I find the Avant Grand has the same problem with short sustain so I usually play at Reverb 20 (max setting, default is 5) to mask the issue. Even then it's not very long compared to most acoustics.

I wish I could try them, since I own the Avant Grand I would be able to compare them pretty closely in terms of sound and feel but unfortunately no one is getting them around me anytime soon it appears.

Have spent another day trying the 300/500 at length, and was viewing them as a serious alternative to an AG N1. I'm amazed at what Casio have achieved, even though I'm going to opt for the N1 now.

The Casios sound is excellent - note for note as good as the AGs, and even better in the tenor/base. If you attack the keys though, the sound takes on a slightly brittle timbre. You can get a very wide dynamic range, but coupled with a slightly light action, this makes controlled even playing quite difficult, with some notes jumping out at you. Switching from the N1 to the Casio, I found tenor/base notes standing out too much because I was automatically weighting them a bit more (playing the first few pages of Chopins Ballade 1).

Every now and again, I thought that a few notes were dropping out as if max polyphony had been reached, although I'm not sure the concept can be applied to modelled sound. I also measured the keyboard, and noted it was about half a centimetre less overall than the N1. (I was half hoping this might explain why I didn't feel so sure on the keyboard).

As others have noted, the sustain is a bit short, and there's little you can do about it. (Open string resonance on the 500 or reverb/damper resonance levels didn't help.)

Recording direct to .wav files worked well (wake up Yamaha), and all the usual electronic effects were there.

The 500 sounded no better to me than the 300 - although the Scenes functionality obviously had an effect. The big bonus on the 500 was the polyester finish, but to some this may not justify the differential.

The cabinets lacked quality I felt, and I didn't like the concertina fallboard.

I didn't much care for the gimmicky view of the "hammers". It didn't seem possible to close this lid, and if this had been an acoustic, the irregular hammer line would have called for some urgent regulation. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if this affects the accuracy of the action here as well...

However, for £2000, the 300 is definitely going to knock the competition around some. I would rate it quite clearly above the Lx17 and CA97 on sound and entertainment for instance.