Deciding on which is the best touch-sensitive keyboard to buy could be a daunting task given the number of choices available. To make the best choice, you need to have a good understanding of the key features different models offer and see whether you need them or not. This article will provide you all the information you need to select the keyboard with touch-sensitive keys. In this article, we will present to you the best 5 touch sensitive keyboards on the market in 2020 – according to us.
 | 1. Best touch-sensitive keyboard with midi – Yamaha PSR E373 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard With over 622 amazing instrument voices, 11 articulation voices, and tons of other amazing features, this is an amazing keyboard]for beginners and intermediate players. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 2. Best cheap touch-sensitive keyboard – Casio CT-X700 61-Key Touch Sensitive Keyboard An inspiring keyboard for the growing player and enthusiast, packed with over 500 inspiring instrument voices and many other amazing features. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 3. Best semi-weighted 88 key touch-sensitive keyboard – Alesis Recital 88 Key Keyboard Tailored with amazing features to satisfy both the aspiring piano player and seasoned professional. | Buy on Amazon |
 | 4. Best 88-key touch-sensitive keyboard – RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano With 88 semi-weighted, full-sized, velocity-sensitive key, this is a perfect alternative for an actual grand piano. | Buy on Amazon |
| | 5. Best touch-sensitive keyboard for beginners – Roland GO:KEYS 61-key Music Creation Piano Keyboard Perfectly designed with inspiring and piano-learning-friendly features for the beginning piano player. | Buy on Amazon |
Best Touch-Sensitive Keyboards Reviewed
Best touch-sensitive keyboard with midi – Yamaha PSR E373 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard
PSR E373 is the newest model in Yamaha’s line of touch sensitive keyboards. Its predecessor PSR E363 has been rated high by keyboard hobbyists and professional players around the world. With multiple upgrades from its already impressive predecessor, PSR E373 is one of the best 61 key touch sensitive keyboards in 2021. The greatest update of PSR E373 is its grand piano voice. The default grand piano voice is recorded from Yamaha’s famous CFX concert grand piano. This is the same piano voice used by Yamaha’s high end flagship Clavinova piano that cost thousands of dollars. The quality of E373’s piano sound is unbeatable in the market for products at similar price points. The PSE is quite versatile as it can also be used in studio settings because of its midi functionality. Yamaha PSR E373 also provides more than 600 voices ranging from strings, guitars, organs to electric instruments and many more. Moreover, E373 also offers 11 Super Articulation Lite Voices which realistically captures the subtle nuances of acoustic instruments.
To make the playing more interesting, you could also layer two voices together or split your keyboard. With so many voice choices and styles to play with, you will never get bored with playing.
In addition to the great selection of voices, E373 also comes with 205 rhythms and styles. When you play along with the styles, you’ll sound like an entire band. Each style comes with an intro, ending and two variations. You can get a pretty polished accompaniment, just by playing simple chords in the left hand. If you like everything about Yamaha E373, but just want a few more keys, then Yamaha PSR-EW310 76-key Portable Keyboard is perfect for you. The two have the same feature. The only difference is that E310 has 76 keys.
Pros
- Beautiful and rich grand piano sound
- 622 instrument voices to choose from, 11 Super Articular Lite Voices
- 205 rhythms and styles
- Four levels of touch responses
- USB to host connection, which allows you to connect to a computer or a smartphone
Cons
- They sometimes sell the power adapters separately. Be sure to buy the bundle with a power adapter if you don’t have one at hand.
- Does not have bluetooth connectivity
Best cheap touch-sensitive keyboard – Casio CT-X700 61-Key Touch Sensitive Keyboard
The closest match to Yamaha E373 in the market as of today is the Casio CTX700. Both models are extremely popular beginner keyboards. Similar to Yamaha E373, Casio CTX700 offers an enormous selection of accompaniment styles. Casio CTX700 comes with 600 voices and 195 Rhythms. With so many options, you can play any style of music on this keyboard without using a band or an ensemble.
CTX700 provides 3 levels of touch sensitivity. It also allows you to turn off the touch response. When it comes to the actual feeling of the keys, Casio CTX700’s keys are stiffer than Yamaha E373 and also noisier. CTX700 also comes with a stereo ¼-inch out jack, a DC adapter jack, an ⅛-inch audio-in jack, and a sustain pedal jack. It also comes with USB to Host connectivity, which gives you a convenient way to connect to your computer or smartphone. It even has a smartphone or iPad tray on the face of the keyboard. CTX700 is priced at a slightly lower price than Yamaha E373. If you’re really tight on budget, you could go with Casio CTX700. Otherwise Yamaha E373 would be a much better option for the better voice quality.
Pros
- 61 full size touch sensitive keys
- Good sound quality with AiX sound source
- 3 types of touch response, touch off
- Optional battery power
- USB-MIDI port connections
- Light weighted at 9.5 lbs
- 600 high-quality sounds selection
- 195 Rhythms, accompaniments selection on intro, one ending and two variations
- Affordable price
- Layer and split voices
- 160 Built-in songs and lesson system
- 48 polyphonies
- AiX sound source
- 32 user registration presets
Cons
- Hiss sound when plugged into a noise system
- It doesn’t come with a stand
- Cannot adjust the volume of the layer mix
Best semi-weighted 88 key touch-sensitive keyboard – Alesis Recital 88 Key Keyboard
If you want to experience the feel of an actual grand piano, but cannot afford that, then this might be the best option for you. Although the Alesis Recital 88 Keys might not give you the exact feel of an actual grand piano, it still feels much more realistic and “grand piano-like” than many other touch sensitive electronic keyboards in the market. This is a huge electronic keyboard, as it boasts of 88 full-sized semi-weighted keys.
It comes with five voices (Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Synth, and Bass) and built-in effects like chorus and reverb. Also, it has two built-in twenty watts speakers that give you crystal-clear and large sound. For the connections, it has a ¼-inch sustain pedal input (no pedal included), ¼-inch stereo headphone output for remote/silent practice and stereo RCA outputs for you to connect your speakers and amplifiers. To take its functionality to an extra level, it comes with a power adapter or 6 D cell batteries (not included) to enable you to jam wherever you find yourself. It also features a lot of learning and educational materials.
Pros
- 88 keys
- Batteries that allow you to play anywhere
- Education features for beginners
- 128notes max polyphony
- Semi-weighted keys
- Lightweight at 15.7 lbs
- Allow you to adjust the touch responsiveness
- MIDI connection to laptop
- Good piano sounds, especially with the “reverb” effect
Cons
- Keys are only full size in width and not full size in length
- May set the volume to a low level by mistake
- Large noise of keys
- Limited choices of voices
- The sound on the higher octave is not realistic
- No sustain pedal included
- Resale value is low
Best 88-key touch-sensitive keyboard – RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano
Although not being quite a popular name in the keyboard world, RockJam still makes some very amazing pro-quality keyboards – amazing enough to compete with even some of the more popular brands and models. The major essence of getting a touch-sensitive keyboard is to have a more dynamic musical instrument, dynamic enough that it feels like an actual grand piano which responds to velocity and force. On a touch-sensitive keyboard, when you play soft, it sounds soft, and when you play loud, it sounds loud as opposed to an ordinary keyboard with pre-programmed velocity and dynamics.
The 88 semi-weighted, full-sized, and velocity-sensitive keys, the RockJam 88-keys feel almost the same as that of a grand piano. It is an amazing alternative for players who for need the feel of a grand piano but cannot get an actual grand piano for some reasons. Aside from having the feel and touch of a grand piano, it also comes with some modern features which include ten unique instrument voices. These instruments include, upright piano, grand piano, electric keyboard piano, synth, bass, strings, guitar, Hammond organ, percussion, and church organ. It also has a dedicated headphone input for those who prefer more isolated practice sessions.
Also, it has a USB input to enable you play along to your favourite songs. For the growing piano player, you also have exclusive access to educational contents on the “Simply Piano App” – this is available for both iOS and Android users. Needless being afraid of the production quality as RockJam is home to more tha one hundred years of manufacturing and design experience. To top it all up, this piano also comes with keynotes stickers and a sheet music stand. This is an amazing 88-key touch-sensitive piano for the beginner and pro piano player.
Pros
- Comes with everything you need to start learning and playing straight out of the box.
- Headphone input allows for private and undistracting rehearsal sessions.
- The keys and sensitivity feels is very close to that of an actual grand piano.
- The USB input takes piano playing to an entirely new level because you can easily play along to your favourite songs.
- Comes with exclusive access to educational materials on the Simply Piano App, which makes it a great option for beginners.
- Perfect for players of all levels.
- Lightweight design for ease of carriage.
- Sturdy and rigid enough for some careless handling – but not advised.
Cons
- The included music stand might not be of the best of quality.
- The battery life is not exactly superb.
- Not a perfect alternative for an actual grand piano as the width of the keys is slightly smaller than that of an actual grand piano.
Best touch-sensitive keyboard for beginners – Roland GO:KEYS 61-key Music Creation
At the beginning stages of learning to play the keyboard, it is important you keep things simple, fun, and engaging enough for a successful and productive keyboard learning experience. Roland is a popular name in the world of keyboards and similar electronic musical instruments. Over the years, the company has built a reputation as a major player in the electronic musical instrument world – especially electronic keyboards. The Roland GO is built specially for the beginner player who wishes to keep things as fun and engaging as possible.
Packed with over 500 professional quality sounds, loop mix that you can use to build songs by just playing notes on the keyboard, and bluetooth and midi for easy connectivity, this is an outstanding touch-sensitive keyboard for any beginner player. The Roland GO is all about simplicity and effectiveness; it is straightforward enough for even kids who have never had a touch sensitive keyboard before. If you are looking for that easy-to-use, modern, and nicely built touch sensitive keyboard for beginners, then the Roland GO might be the perfect touch-sensitive keyboard for you.
Best jam keyboard, easy to produce songs, a lot of scythe sounds
Pros
- Loop mix function
- A lot of sounds
- Easy to record and share your creation
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Super light weighted at 8 pounds
- 10 pads, including pitch bend, interesting ways to manipulate the sound
- Great stage grand piano sound
Cons
- Doesn’t come with a stand
- Cannot split voices
Buying Guide of touch sensitive keyboard
What is a touch sensitive keyboard?
The touch-sensitive feature of a keyboard allows the sound to vary based on how hard you hit the key. When you play harder, it will sound louder; when you play softer, the sound will be quieter.
The dynamics in the sound brought by touch-sensitive keys make your keyboard sound much closer to the acoustic piano. Through the touch-sensitive keys, you could pour more emotions into your music and make it sound more expressive.
Do I need a touch sensitive keyboard?
Anyone who is serious about learning keyboard, touch sensitive keys are almost must-have. The touch sensitive keys add so much quality and texture to the sound that even an amateur beginner player could immediately tell the difference. Personally, I think the touch-sensitive feature makes the keyboard more of an instrument than a toy.
Touch-sensitive keyboard allows you to start practicing dynamics and phrasing, which is an extremely important aspect of piano learning. Playing music without dynamics is like drawing only using black and white colors! The atmosphere, the emotion and the feelings are expressed as much in the dynamics as in the actual notes. When you’re practicing on a touch-sensitive keyboard, you do not just practice playing out the notes. You will also be able to practise changing the color of the music by varying the strength and speed of hitting the keys. You will get long-term benefits from such kind of practice when you advance to play acoustic piano in the future.
With these benefits, a touch-sensitive keyboard costs a bit more than a keyboard without this feature. I personally feel that the better sound offered by touch sensitive keyboard makes me enjoy playing music a lot more,and motivates me to practice more. So to me, the touch sensitive feature is an excellent investment if you plan to play your keyboard every day.
How much touch response should touch-sensitive keyboard have?
When you select a touch-sensitive keyboard, pay attention to the number of touch responses. The more level of touch responses, the more realistic the keyboard sounds. A decent touch-sensitive keyboard should have at least two levels of touch responses.
Some touch-sensitive keyboards also allow you to turn off the touch responses, which could be a useful practicing feature. You could first practice mastering playing the notes without the touch response first. Then adding the touch sensitivity to fine tune the dynamics of your playing.
How many keys should you go for?
Touch-sensitive keyboards usually come in 88 keys, 76 keys and 61 keys. A full-size keyboard has 88 keys. The 61-note and 76-note keyboard are probably sufficient for most recreational players.
The most common options on the market are 61 keys or 88 keys. I recommend you to select from these two types based on your need. The 61-note keyboard has the advantage of lighter weight and slightly cheaper price. If you are budget constrained or want your keyboard to be very portable, a 61-note keyboard could be a good choice. On the other hand, a 61-note keyboard does have some limitations. It has fewer notes in the bass area of the keyboard. If you plan to play left-hand bass heavily, an 88-note keyboard might be necessary for you.
How do touch-sensitive keyboards generate their tones?
Touch-sensitive keyboards use digital technology to turn acoustic instrument sounds into digital waveforms. When you’re playing the keyboard, basically you use the key to turn these digital waveforms back into the actual sound of the instrument.
In this process of turning sound into waveform and then into sound, there will be some loss of quality. This kind of loss is hard to quantify. But generally a high-quality keyboard preserves most of the sound quality and result in a pretty realistic voice. Brands such as Yamaha and Casio are well recognised in the keyboard community for its high sound qualities.
What is the maximum polyphony?
Maximum polyphony means the maximum number of sounds you could produce simultaneously on the keyboard. Generally, maximum polyphony of 12 is sufficient for typical usage. Most keyboards on the market would satisfy the polyphony needs.
How many number of voices?
One benefit of playing a digital keyboard over playing an acoustic piano is the freedom of trying out voices of other instruments. A lot of touch-sensitive keyboards on the market offer a wide range of voices such as piano, electric-piano, guitar, organ, strings, etc.
If you have a favourite voice and you want to play songs with it on your keyboard, be sure that the model you pick has it in the voice selection.
What is the difference between touch sensitive and weighted keys?
Weighted keys keyboard is a step up from touch-sensitive keyboard on imitating the acoustic piano playing experience. When you hit the keys with different strength and speed, the acoustic piano keys will respond with different levels of resistance.
Weighted-key keyboards (or digital pianos) capture this nuanced difference of key resistance when you hit keys with different dynamics. On the other hand, a touch-sensitive keyboard will always provide the same level of key resistance. Generally speaking, keyboards with weighted keys are also a lot more expensive than touch-sensitive keyboards. If you plan to transition into playing an acoustic piano in the future, a weighted key keyboard might be worth the money for you.
Our verdict
With every factor being taken into consideration, I have arrived at a conclusion. However, it is important to know that every touch-sensitive keyboard mentioned here has its own touch of uniqueness and each will fit different needs and different players. That being said, my first choice is the Alesis Recital 88 Key Keyboard. Apart from always being a big fan of the Alesis brand, this touch-sensitive keyboard [in my opinion] is the closest thing to an actual grand piano you can get in this price range. This touch-sensitive keyboard features lot of amazing features that makes it the perfect keyboard for beginner, intermediate, and even pro-level players. It is very versatile and nicely built.
Second on my list is the Yamaha PSR E373 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard. With over 622 unique voices to choose from and lots of other cool functions, Yamaha again proves that they are a major player in the keyboard world for a reason. The feel and touch of this keyboard, coupled with the beautiful and authentic grand piano sound and velocity sensitivity, makes this 61-key keyboard just the perfect keyboard for players looking for a cheaper alternative to an actual grand piano.
Last update on 2023-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
