Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid Review

We rated the Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid a 9.5/10. This piano suits its somewhat niche audience very well. If you are after a grand piano, this instrument is an excellent contender when stacked against acoustic grands like Steinways. The hybrid technology is simply incomparable to other brands. Our favorite aspect of the instrument is its high-quality amplification system.

Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid Review: Overview

This model of Casio Celviano has a full-sized keyboard with graded hammer action, a 6-speaker amplification system, and onboard digital signal processing. This instrument is considered a professional-grade digital grand piano. 

According to Pianists’ Magazine, this instrument “Ticks all of the boxes”.  The Celviano line of pianos has been so successful that they have even premiered with the Berlin Philharmonic. The symphony welcomed the Celviano to the stage with the Mozart Concerto #23. You can read more about this premiere here.

The Celviano piano line was the direct result of a collaboration with renowned acoustic piano makers C. Bechstein and Casio. According to Sweetwater.com, this instrument is “An astute combination of innovative and traditional elements that raises the bar for today’s hybrid pianos.”

Celviano pianos have been around since the fall of 2015 when they released a piano that sought to recreate the action of a grand piano within a digital hybrid. The Celviano line of instruments boasts the same exact built as Bechstein’s acoustic grands and is also made of identical materials. C. Bechstein is a German piano company that was originally founded by piano(forte) maker Charles Bechstein in the mid-1800s, in Berlin.

According to Millers Music, Bechstein is rumored to have even more of a stable scale than the world-famous Steinway grands.  You can learn more about the differences between Bechsteins (acoustic) grands and Steinways in the article here. 

What is a Hybrid Piano?

A hybrid piano is an instrument that takes features from both digital pianos and acoustic pianos and combines them together. We think that the Celviano line is still the best hybrid piano line out there today.

Any piano that is comparable to a Steinway has to be a stunner, off the bat. Now, let us take a deeper look into this popular pro instrument’s features.

Features 

A Sturdy Built and Buttery Keys 

The Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid was made with Austrian Spruce keys and has a unique feeling action. According to Sweetwater.com, “A key press actuates the hammer along the same vertical path as a grand piano, with the same weighting and pivot points, resulting in true, uncompromising piano touch”.  As always, try it before you buy it. Sweetwater’s Indiana location is an excellent place to try out keyboard instruments. Then, you can have them shipped to you later from the site.

17 Tunings, Stretch Tuning

This instrument is set to standard tuning, but there are also a whopping 16 other options. The GP-310 also has 5 types of stretch tuning. According to the Wikipedia page on the topic, 

“Stretched tuning is a detail of musical tuning, applied to wire-stringed musical instruments, older, non-digital electric pianos, and some sample-based synthesizers based on these instruments, to accommodate the natural inharmonicity of their vibrating elements.” 

Stretch tuning in the context of a digital instrument means that the notes are adjusted to sound more true to the harmonic series. 

26 Stellar Tones

If you know Casio pianos, you’ve likely heard of the renowned Berlin Grand sound. 3 of the tones on this grand hybrid have been created from samples of world-renowned keyboard instruments. Plus, with the aIr sound engine at your fingertips, you will have almost 30 excellent samples, including the following pianos:

• Berlin Grand 
• Hamburg Grand
• Vienna Grand

You can listen to samples of these 3 tones on the Casio site here: https://www.casio.com/us/electronic-musical-instruments/product.GP-310BK/ 

Amplification System 

The 6-speakers in the Celviano pack a powerful punch. There are three sets of 2 speakers, all in different sizes.

• 6 Total Speakers:
• 6.3-inch speakers x 2
• 3.9-inch speakers x 2
• 2-inch speakers x 2
• Two of these speakers are 3-way. The speaker power measures: 30W x 2 + 20W x 2

Hammer Action

The Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid has something called a ‘natural grand hammer action keyboard’ which seeks to replicate the feeling of playing a grand. The hefty key feel is gorgeous. 

FX

The Celvianos feature the following effects:

• Brilliance
• Hall simulator
• DSP

While this model doesn’t include any reverbs, it does have a hall simulator and chorus. Both effects increase the (feel of) the size of the place you are playing in. The Casio Celviano GP-310 hybrid also has onboard DSP or digital signal processing.  According to Manual Libs, DSPs connect the output and the source of the sound together. DSPs are pre-assigned, which means that not all tones are compatible with them. 

Acoustic Simulator 

Casio pianos have always done an excellent job at acoustic simulations. The acoustic simulator inside of the Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid includes: 

• String resonance
• Damper resonance
• Damper noise
• Key on action noise
• Key off action noise
• Hammer response
• Lid simulator

If you aren’t familiar with acoustic simulators, here is what is important to know. Acoustic piano simulator engines help recreate sounds and timbres that you would hear in a real acoustic piano. The bumps and clunks of the keys and hammers moving are an important part of the experience- Especially if you are used to playing on (acoustic) grands rather than digital. Celvianos do a wonderful job at recreating the experience of playing a grand piano. 

Other Features

• Split function
• Duet and layer modes
• Headphone mode
• 15 Concert-play songs
• Backup for settings
• Flash memory

Specifications

• Piano Type: Console-style, professional digital grand 
• Weight: 173 lbs
• Dimensions: 
• Height: 39.7 inches
• Width: 56.4 inches
• Depth: 19.2 inches
• Number of Pedals: 3
• Half Pedal Function: Yes

Who Is It Suitable For?

The Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid is most suitable for professional pianists. We wouldn’t recommend this Casio for producers or composers, the Celviano line deserves a place on the stage.

Casio themselves markets the Celvianos as being most ideal for performers who often play impressionistic pieces. Producers will find this digital grand far too traditional, and composers may be disappointed that the piano only has 26 sounds to work with, depending on how large of a sound bank they are used to.  In addition to this, there is only one track for internal recording. However, neo-impressionistic composers will likely fall in love with this Celviano.

Casio Celviano: In Action

Let’s take listen to the Casio Celviano GP-310 in this excerpt of a Chopin piece.

This sound is the perfect balance of dainty highs and rich lows. 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• It has a very large amount of polyphony
• The newer EQ feature gives you even more control over your sound than previous models
• The instrument comes with several effects
• It has 5 kinds of touch sensitivity
• The 3 pedals are built-in and are of a high quality
• The hybrid style of the instrument saves both space and money
• The 26 tones were created with Bechstein grand pianos
• The keys are made of real wood, which gives it a more expensive and high-quality feel
• The instrument supports half-pedaling, which gives you more versatility
• There are two headphone jacks
• The three tones are realistic and are ideal for classical playing
• The instrument has a MIDI recorder
• The metronome has an adjustable volume level
• This instrument uses the aIR sound source, a well-known Casio feature

It’s hard not to like the GP-310. One of the biggest pros for me is the heft that comes with the real spruce keys.

Cons

• This instrument is pricey
• The internal MIDI recorder is only 1 track
• This model, in particular, can be hard to find due to the high demand
• It only comes in 2 colors: Black and white
• For those who are used to Steinways, they may not like the feel
• There is no reverb 
• 26 notes is a small sound bank for such an expensive instrument

Quick View 

Comparable Models

Casio Celviano GP-400

The GP-400 costs about $5,000. Unfortunately, this comparable instrument is no longer available at Sweetwater, but you can reference it and compare the features here.

Casio Celviano GP-510 

The GP-510 will set you back $6,229.99. 

Both the GP-400 and the GP-510 have some extra features when we compare them to the GP-310. They both have the same hammer action and 6-speaker system, though. Another instrument that is often compared the this Celviano is one of the Yamaha Clavinovas.

Yamaha Clavinova CLP-775: Digital Upright Piano with Bench

According to Sweetwater, this instrument is much lighter than the GP-310. However, at roughly $5,000, it also is significantly more expensive than the GP-310, which offers the best of both worlds.

Yamaha Avant-Grands 

Yamaha Avant-Grands are lovely, but many of them will set you back over $10,000. The N2 digital console has a stunning tactile response system, and on-board recording. 

Kawai Hybrid Pianos

If you are looking for a hybrid piano that is for a beginner, consider an instrument from the Kawai brand. 

Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid: Conclusion

In conclusion, this digital grand hybrid is a stunner that will suit the needs of many professional classical pianists. This instrument is simply unparalleled in both price and technology. I hope you have enjoyed this Casio Celviano GP-310 Review. Come back for more honest piano reviews soon!

References:

Stretched Tuning

Manual Libs DSP

10Expert Score

We rated the Casio Celviano GP-310 Grand Hybrid a 9.5/10. This piano suits its somewhat niche audience very well. If you are after a grand piano, this instrument is an excellent contender when stacked against acoustic grands like Steinways . The hybrid technology is simply incomperable to other brands. Our favorite aspect of the instrument is its high-quality amplification system.

PROS

• It has a very large amount of polyphony
• The newer EQ feature gives you even more control over your sound that previous models
• The instrument comes with several effects
• It has 5 kinds of touch sensitivity
• The 3 pedals are built-in and are of a high quality
• The hybrid style of the instrument saves both space and money
• The 26 tones were created with Bechstein grand pianos
• The keys are made of real wood, which gives it a more expensive and high-quality feel
• The instrument supports half-pedaling, which gives you more versatility
• There are two headphone jacks
• The three tones are realistic and are ideal for classical playing
• The instrument has a MIDI recorder
• The metronome has an adjustable volume level
• This instrument uses the aIR sound source, a well-known Casio feature

CONS

• This instrument is pricey
• The internal MIDI recorder is only 1 track
• This model, in particular, can be hard to find due to high demand
• It only comes in 2 colors: Black and white
• For those who are used to Steinways, they may not like the feel
• There is no reverb
• 26 notes is a small sound bank for such an expensive instrument