If you’re thinking about buying a keyboard, the two brands that probably keep popping up are Casio and Yamaha. Yes, you’ve definitely heard about them, you might even know a little bit about them – but perhaps you cannot decide which one to buy.

1. Casio Keyboard Brand Images
2. Casio Keyboard Brand Identity
3. Target Casio Keyboard

Both brands have a solid reputation, as they are well-known in the music world, but in order to make a good purchase, the one that would fit your needs perfectly, you should have an in-depth knowledge about both types of keyboards.

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• CASIO's expo presentation will be rounded out by a revamping and extension of the keyboard line-up. The new instruments are called CTK-6250, CTK-4400, CTK-2400, LK-260 and LK-130. The XW-J1 DJ/VJ controller, DJ headphones XW-H1/2/3 and CDP models CDP-130BK/SR and CDP-230RBK/RSR are already available at selected retailers.
• 7/17/2013 11 We plan to revitalize the CASIO corporate brand by infusing it with the current G-Shock brand image 12. 7/17/2013 12 13. 7/17/2013 13 Revitalize CASIO’s previous brand image by adding color, energy, and style to capture brand’s new vision and personality, yet keeping it recognizable by maintaining its signature font 14.
• While CASIO gives particular attention to a combination of high sound quality, modern functions and excellent optics when it comes to its pianos, CASIO keyboards really excel in their compact format and immense flexibility, paired with an incomparable variety of functions.
• Casio Computer Co., Ltd. (カシオ計算機株式会社, Kashio Keisanki Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches.It was founded in 1946, and in 1957 introduced the world's first.

In this article, you will learn all there is to know about Casio and Yamaha keyboards, including their performances and advice on how to make the right choice when it comes to the actual purchase. So, without further ado, here is Casio vs Yamaha keyboard comparison.

Casio vs Yamaha Keyboard Comparison​

The Two Brands

Unfortunately, there is still a stereotype about Yamaha as the main manufacturer of keyboards, while Casio is considered a second-rate company in this industry. However, this has nothing to do with the truth.

The whole concept of Yamaha being the better brand may have been true three or four decades ago – but now the situation is completely different. The market is changing constantly and Casio keeps coming up with new keyboard series.

Some people tend to think that Casio is still making toy-like instruments, and that their products are sub-par compared to Yamaha’s. In reality,

Casio is making top-notch keyboards, which are just as good as Yamaha keyboards. Furthermore, in some aspects – Casio keyboards are even better. If this wasn’t true, Casio wouldn’t be seen as one of Yamaha’s main competitors.

The Problem of Choosing

If you’re an absolute beginner when it comes to keyboards, it’s going to be really hard to know which of the two brands would suit you the best.

The reason for this is that, throughout the years, both Casio and Yamaha have earned solid reputation as manufacturers or reliable piano keyboards. And it’s no wonder why these two names keep popping up in every keyboard search on the internet.

It’s practically impossible to compare every Casio model to every single Yamaha model, because that would virtually mean spending hundreds of hours in the process. What we can do is make a general analysis based on the most important aspects which define a quality keyboard.

Therefore, the best way would be to compare the two brands side-by-side. What does this mean? Well, it basically means that we should take into account these seven defining factors:

• Quality of sound and key action
• Price and affordability
• Reputation of the brand
• Variety of models
• Additional features
• Construction
• Design and visual appeal

By comparing these factors, you will be able to get a better picture of what each brand has to offer, and your choice will be much easier. So, let’s begin.

Quality of Sound and Key Action

Along with key action i.e. the quality of keys and their “responsiveness”, this is the most important factor for choosing a keyboard type. You can pay more and end up with poor sound quality; on the other hand, you can pay a small amount – but get yourself a great model with fantastic sound.

Overall, both brands are great when it comes to the quality of sound. For example, the now-famous Tri-Sensor keyboards by Casio, in their Privia line, are fantastic when it comes to the quality of sound they produce.

The keys are highly responsive, and because of the tri-sensor enhancement, the keyboard is able to pick up every intricate detail of a performance, which is automatically reflected in the audio output.

On the other hand, Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard is widely considered one of the best keyboards out there, with a fantastic quality of sound. There are also some other types of keyboards which have recently been developed, with excellent audio enhancements.

Although both brands have great products to offer, it’s safe to say that Yamaha is a little ahead in the race. So, in the category of sound quality and key action – Yamaha is the winner.

Price and Affordability

Nowadays, there are so many possibilities for buying a solid keyboard. In the past, you were somewhat limited by the products offered on the market, but that changed a long time ago. There are all kinds of manufacturers now, with products of great quality, good quality, but also – very poor quality.

However, since the buyer’s budget determines the purchase, all products eventually find their way to the customers. This is why major manufacturers, such as Yamaha and Casio, simply had to adjust to the market and manufacture quality products that can be sold at affordable prices.

In the category of price, it’s Casio that wins the points. Of course, there are many keyboards by Yamaha which are fairly inexpensive, but simply put –Casio has been more consistent in this regard.

A great number of Casio keyboards are affordable, which means that you don’t have to spend a fortune in order to buy a decent instrument.

If you’re on a very limited budget – let’s say, $500-700 – you will definitely find a quality product from Casio. So, if we’re talking about the price and affordability, Casio is definitely the brand to go with.

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Reputation of The Brand

Both Casio and Yamaha are recognizable, that’s for sure, but recognizably is not the same as reputation.

For example, you may instantly recognize two car brands when you see them, but you wouldn’t necessarily buy both of them, right? Reputation is extremely important, and it goes a long way. In fact, reputation is key for long-term success of a brand.

When it comes to manufacturing keyboards, both Casio and Yamaha are leaders in the industry, but Yamaha still has stronger reputation. Casio is going strong, no doubt about it, but Yamaha has been on the market much longer, and it doesn’t show signs of stopping.

In the category of reputation, Yamaha is definitely the stronger brand.

Variety of Models

It’s important to have a diverse line of products, so that different types of customers can find what they need. If a company sticks to only one type of product, it will soon find itself in a rut.

Yamaha has all kinds of keyboards, and the variety they offer is truly amazing. If we only count the different products, it’s clear that Yamaha has the upper hand, but there’s more to it than that. Casio may not have such diversity, but it has something else, which can be referred to as – deep focus.

This basically means that Casio decided to focus on having various keyboards in one single product line, which is the case in their Privia line. Here, you can find all kinds of keyboards, from portable digital pianos to stage pianos.

If we have to pick a winner in this category, Yamaha obviously has the greater variety of products, but we shouldn’t forget that Casio also has a lot to offer.

Additional Features

One of the main reasons why keyboards are so popular is because they have all kinds of additional features which help musicians improve their performance. But it’s not always easy to add different kinds of features to a keyboard type, and it’s precisely this that separates great companies from average ones.

Obviously, both Casio and Yamaha are amazing when it comes to additional features. Their keyboards have all kinds of extra options, such as sound effects, voices of all sorts and drum beats.

But we really have to hand it to Yamaha in this category. They probably have the best additional features of all keyboard manufacturers. For example, their Education Suite is a fantastic program for learning the piano. With it, you virtually have a piano teacher by your side, because you can build in into the instrument you’re playing, thus getting a full-stack learning experience.

If we add to this all the other digital enhancements on Yamaha’s best keyboards, it’s clear that, in this category, they beat Casio by a long shot.

Construction

It’s not only important whether your keyboard sounds good. Another very important feature is its construction i.e. the way it was built.

This means that a keyboard should be made of solid, long-lasting material, so that it can sustain bumps during transport. If you are in a band, it means that you would constantly ​move your keyboard​ around. This is why it’s essential that you have a well-constructed instrument.

When it comes to construction, both Yamaha and Casio are great. Their instruments are made of reliable materials, enabling them to sustain all kinds of “external shock”, such as bumps or drops. The two brands wouldn’t become what they are today if they didn’t manufacture high-quality products.

In this category, we can safely say that there is no winner, because both Yamaha and Casio invest a lot in the construction of their keyboards. Some keyboards may be more bulky than others, but that doesn’t really fall into this category – it’s more a matter of design. If you’re looking for a solid construction, you won’t make a mistake either way.

Design and Visual Appeal

Depending on what you need a keyboard for, you would want a specific kind of design for it. It’s not the same if you’re buying a keyboard for home-use and for playing professionally, in public.

This is precisely the reason why many smaller manufacturers cannot compete with Yamaha and Casio. Lesser known keyboards tend to have “child-like” design, and oftentimes – they look more like a toy than a real instrument.

But if a choice has to be made between Casio and Yamaha, in terms of design and visual appeal – Casio wins. In the last couple of years, it seems that Casio has been making an extra effort to come up with wonderful design solutions.

The models in Casio’s Privia series all have wonderful design. Models such as PX-160, PX-5S and PX-130 are the best examples of this. They are elegant and sleek, with just the right color hues –and they are free of unnecessary bits and pieces. Yamaha doesn’t seem to have anything of this type in the arsenal, although its products are more than well-designed.

However, with its Privia series, Casio wins in this category. Not only that these keyboards sound well, but they are also wonderful to look at – this is why Casio’s design is the way to go.

Final Thoughts

Now, let’s do a quick recap for both brands. This will give you a clearer picture, to see what both of them have to offer i.e. what their strong points are.

Why Yamaha Keyboards Are Good

• Affordable – excellent quality for a mid-range price
• Well-constructed and reliable – no fear of breakage
• They give a realistic tone in audio output – it benefits the music
• They have many additional features – you can enhance your playing

How About Casio Keyboards

• Affordable – they beat the competition in terms of price
• They come in a variety of series – you can choose plenty of models
• Excellent functionality and key action – it secures reliable playing
• They have the best design and visual appeal – they lead the field in terms of esthetics

Conclusion

As you can see from this side-by-side review, both Casio and Yamaha are reliable brands and leaders in the industry.

The problem is that you cannot get everything you want in one keyboard. In some categories, Yamaha is obviously much better, but in others – it’s Casio that wins. Therefore, the most important thing is to set your budget before even going into purchasing.

Then, think about what you want the keyboard for: if it is for home-use, for professional playing, etc. And finally, take into account the design.

Some people prefer having a nice-looking keyboard, even if it doesn’t have a lot of additional features. Others want a full-stack keyboard, and they don’t care much for the visual appeal.

All in all, whether you’re going for a Casio or a Yamaha keyboard, you won’t make a mistake – it all comes down to your personal preferences.

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Conducting a Brand Audit on Casio and Roland Keyboards
Introduction
The brand audit is useful for understanding a company’s brand performance, understanding the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, obtaining a sense of what the expectations of the customer are, and developing an idea of how the brand is situated vis-à-vis its competitors in the market. This paper provides a brand audit of Casio and Roland keyboards. These two brands are direct competitors of Slate, and so understanding where Casio and Roland stand in the marketplace brand-wise can help Slate to develop better its own brand strategy.
Casio
Brand Personality
The brand personality for Casio is short of astonishing: Casio is a well-regarded brand in its own right (Briones, 2019). However, what the brand is best known for is its watches—not its keyboards. When it comes to keyboards, the brand is considered serviceable—effective, efficient, and gets the job done. It does come with a range of keyboards on its line, though, and each one offers consumers something unique—so it is not a one-trick pony by any means and for that reason it receives respect from average users.
Brand Image
It is not a top-of-the line brand image that Casio has cultivated for itself when it comes to its keyboards. Its keyboards are practical units that have a little bit of something for everyone. They are not the Rolls Royce of keyboards nor are they trying to be. The embrace the practical and the image presented by the brand is one of solid engineering—but nothing breathtaking or that will get one to the moon.
BrBuy full paper
for $19.88 ⤓ and Identity
The Casio brand identity is known for having good products—but if one is looking for realism, consumers are more likely to turn to competitors, such as Yamaha or Roland (Atlanta Institute of Music and Media, 2018). As Janson (2018) points out, multinational companies like Casio have a difficult task developing a consistent brand identity across cultures and across products. Not being known just for keyboards or primarily for keyboards, Casio’s brand identity suffers for this reason. Its reputation is solid but the brand is better known for its watches.
Brand Differentiation
Casio sets itself apart from its competitors by offering a solid range of keyboard products while keeping them affordable for the average user and not trying to corner the top-tier market. It presents itself as the workhorse—not necessarily as the best product on the market in terms of creating a realistic effect. Those brands, such as Yamaha and Roland, that cater to the consumer seeking realism offer something different: a product that can reach those upper heights of sound. Casio aims to be a lower-level player for the most part though it does offer a few top shelf (or close to it) options. Most consumers attracted to the Casio brand, however, will do so simply because it is a familiar and trusted brand with other products. It differentiates simply by resting on the laurels of the brand.
Brand Positioning
There are not too many ways a keyboard is going to be able to stand out—but Casio is positioned to be the one that does because it makes its product available everywhere. One can purchase it on Amazon’s site, Walmart’s, Best Buy’s or virtually any other electronic retailer. It is not a specialty or niche product or manufacturer, so it can be found in every popular place where products of its kind are sold. It is positioned to appeal to the popular consumer.
Brand Communication
Brand communication is average for Casio, primarily because the company is just too well known for its other products and not so much for its keyboards, though they are ranked in second place just behind Yamaha’s by the Atlanta Institute of Music and Media (2019). This is really its main communication problem: Casio could score more points here if it exerted a little more effort on social media and used brand Influencers on YouTube to promote the brand (Bratu, 2019; Singh & Xue, 2017).
Brand Loyalty
Casio has been working on improving brand loyalty among consumers, which is why it has turned to Sprout Social to improve connections between the company and its consumers (Sprout Social, 2019). Sprout Social is helping Casio to have an improved social media presence and thus develop a stronger brand loyalty. Unfortunately for Casio, the keyboard brand has not necessarily benefited much from this strategy yet, mainly because the company is focusing on its core brands—like watches and other electronics.
Brand Equity (Including Financial Equity)
Casio generates over $10 million in revenues annually from its keyboard sales in England (Beioley, 2019). There is more of a market in the U.S., however, total market revenues for keyboards have been sliding since 2005 where they peaked at $232 million. Casio generates a sizeable portion of that share. The brand equity for the company’s keyboards is therefore sufficient but it is not the main driver of the company’s revenues—watches and calculators are.
Overview
Casio’s brand is strong in most markets. The factors that contribute to the brand’s strengths and weaknesses are the product put out to market (it will appeal to amateurs and to certain professionals who are loyal to the brand and are not looking for authentic piano sounds). Its overall brand identity wears well thanks to the company’s reputation for other electronic products. Casio competes with Roland essentially in the same market but Casio appeals to a different clientele while Roland appeals to consumers who want something unique and realistic-sounding in a keyboard. Consumers appreciate the Casio brand for its consistency and quality but they know they are not getting a top-shelf product and for the price they pay they are okay with that. Casio does not offer any sub-brands for its keyboard line-up.
Roland
Brand Personality
Roland has a brand personality that gets to the heart of what it means to be an authentic product—one that produces genuine affection in the consumer. For the consumer seeking a keyboard that will resonate and sound like a real grand piano, there is no better product. Thus, the Roland keyboard is like a true friend for consumers of this type. This gives the brand personality a lively, energetic, legitimate, and top-shelf quality—though, of course, this will not appeal to everyone.
Brand Image

Casio Keyboard Brand Images

Casio Keyboard Brand Identity

Roland’s brand image is such that it attracts customers for its quality products and the range of keyboards it offers, each with something special for the customer. Whether mobile or stationary, Roland has it covered. Whether amateur or professional, Roland is on top of that too. Above all Roland is focused on create a great-sounding product in all of its keyboards in the line-up (C Muse, 2019).
Brand Identity
Roland’s brand identity is situated in its ability to connect with users who want an authentic piano sound. Senner (2019) provides a rundown of the best Roland options for the serious musician. The best value product is the Juno DS-88. The best portable option is the Go61. The best synthesizer is the JDxi. The best for amateurs is the FP10. Thus among serious musicians and keyboardists it is generally recognized that Roland has something for everyone. In this sense it is much like Yamaha and Casio, but the sound quality of the Roland is what leaves these competitors behind.
Brand Differentiation
Again, it is the sound quality that differentiates Roland from the rest. No other competing product brand can offer the type of keyboard that one cannot tell from a genuine grand piano if one closes one’s eyes. That level of sound quality is quite hard to produce and Roland does it expertly and to the satisfaction of all of its consumers. Thus, what sets Roland apart from the rest of its class is simply the fact that it is a top-shelf brand that brings something the lower level products cannot match in terms of quality sound.
Brand Positioning
Roland has positioned itself to be the musician’s keyboard in a market full of products that are most likely to appeal to amateurs and enthusiasts. The keyboard itself is a lightweight, typically portable electronic instrument that can be taken on the road or propped up in one’s bedroom or basement. It is something fun and fashionable—but Roland is not primarily concerned with fun or fashion: it wants to deliver a product that musicians will want to purchase. That is why it aims to have distribution channels that can get its products into markets where musicians will want to buy them. It focuses on marketing itself in trade magazines and sponsoring clinics and conferences where musicians and technicians are likely to gather.
Brand Communication

Target Casio Keyboard

Roland uses its online blog for updating consumers about its latest products, such as its hammer-action flagship stage keyboard for touring professionals (Bybee, 2018). Its social media platform leaves something to be desired… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for 'Brand Audit: Roland vs. Casio Keyboards' Assignment:

“Brand-related terms to address in the paper:

1. communication
2. differentiation
3. equity
4. identity
5. image
6. loyalty
7. personality
8. positioning
9. elements
10. financial equity

“Brand Audit: Roland vs. Casio Keyboards.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2019, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/brand-audit/8853965. Accessed 1 Feb 2021.

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