Alesis Coda Pro Review

The Alesis Coda Pro is an 88-key digital piano with a touch, response, and feel close enough to those of an actual grand. This unit packs a really rich sound as well as a huge array for features which helps the piano deliver on a versatile performance.

It’s super affordable and portable like most Alesis keyboards. But it is also a full sized instrument so students should find great learning benefits from this model. Plus, it is very easy to use and work with which is a very encouraging feature in pianos for the beginner.

If you’re looking to check out the Alesis Coda Pro, then you should continue reading this review. You’ll see our opinion on what we love about the keyboard and other areas we think Alesis could have done better.

Stay with us.

Our rating: (4.3 / 5)

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A Highlight Of The Alesis Coda Pro Specs And Features

Features Of The Alesis Coda Pro

Portability

Measuring at 59 x 19 x 9 inches, the Alesis Coda Pro is a compact unit that you can easily set up or store anywhere. This piano will fit into any space conveniently, whether on that little table in your dorm, or in your bedroom.

And weighing at 27 pounds, it’s obvious to see that this unit is lightweight and will be exceptionally breezy to move around.

But in spite of all its compactness and portability, this still comes with loads of features. So, it’s definitely not a toy. It’s good enough to be used whenever you need a quality, portable keyboard that doesn’t cost much too.

Full Sized Keyboard

The Alesis Coda Pro is a full sized keyboard and comes with 88 velocity sensitive keys. It also comes with a hammer action too which is quite impressive considering how lightweight this unit is. It does not give the ultimate authentic response or feel, but it does decently well all the same.

Now, since this is a full sized keyboard, you will be able to play all kinds of pieces – whether simple or complex with relative ease.

Furthermore, the keys are velocity sensitive, so they give varying levels of response when played like a grand. This also lends some authenticity to the response this keyboard gives. So, altogether, the Alesis Coda Pro is a playable unit.

Sound

The instrument voices as found on the Alesis Coda Pro are developed by AIR and SONiVOX which are two world-class software developers. And there are about 20 built-in voices packed into this guy. Are we totally impressed with this?

Well, that’s a definite no for us. The Alesis Coda Pro could have come with more voices even at this price point. There are loads of other similarly priced keyboards that feature a much higher number of voices. So, for us, 20 isn’t ideal.

Beginners might be cool with this at first but as they begin to advance in their playing skills, they will need more. Instrument voices are supposed to add color and beauty to your performances. And you’d have to agree that with 20 voices alone, you’ll soon run out of ideas.

Anyway, some of the voices on the Alesis Pro Coda include: electric piano, organs, harpsichord, and grand pianos.

Alright, besides the voices, we will also check out the accompaniments. Thankfully, there are about 50 accompaniment patterns. This also helps to keep your performance interesting. These accompaniments are actually drawn from various music genres including Jazz Pub, Slow Rock and other genres.

Read more review: Alesis Melody 61 Review

Polyphony

The Alesis Coda Pro comes with a max polyphony of 64 which is decent at best. Of course, we’ve seen worse at 32 notes. But we’ve also seen better at 128, 196 and 256. Granted, you’ll mostly find 192 and 256 polyphonies in more expensive models. But like we said, 64 is decent.

It should do for most players at the beginning level but no higher. There are certain complex pieces you just can’t play with a 64-note polyphony. But as a beginner, you’ll hardly have anything to do with such pieces just yet.

So, being an entry-level keyboard, you could say that the polyphony is okay.

Layer And Split Modes

These modes are always appreciated in any digital piano as they not only make play more exciting, they also offer learning benefits.

The split mode, for instance. This mode allows you to divide the keyboard into two separate parts. And then on each part, you can play a different instrument on each part. So, on the one part, you can have drums playing and then on the other, you can have piano playing.

Layering makes things very interesting too. You can combine all kinds of instrument voices to create a unique sound that is your own. Although, there are just 20 voices, the layering mode could help you make things a little more interesting.

Preset Songs

Preset songs are especially important to any beginner in a digital piano. And this is because preset songs afford you the opportunity to put in some practice in order to sharpen your skills. Great news! The Alesis Coda Pro comes with about 60 of them. That is, about 60 demo songs for you to practice with.

It’s also great to know that Alesis pricked these songs, not just from one genre, but from different genres. So, you’re not just improving on your skills, you’re also getting more versatile with the styles of music you can play.

These demo songs cover nearly everything from blues to rock to pop!

Speakers

The Alesis Coda Pro comes with speakers that are decent at best. We mean they should work for practice, but if you’re going to be performing to an audience, it’s best to think of external speakers or an amp.

But if you’re not playing for an audience and you just need this for practice, the built-in speakers should do. They are not awesome but they will suffice.

Sound Effects

There are all kinds of effects on the Alesis Coda Pro. It’s all hum drum here, to be honest. There’s nothing new or out of the box. That’s not to say that the effects are not great, though, because they are.

You’ll find the usual reverb which adds presence and body to your sound. This way you can deliver on a more powerful and much richer sound.

Then there’s the chorus which simulates the sound of several instruments playing as on. This effect makes your sound much fuller by simulating the sounds of other instruments as you play.

And, of course, there’s the EQ as well. You can use this to adjust the mids, the highs, and the lows, depending on the prevailing situation.

Altogether, these effects help you to deliver on your most expressive sound possible. They are pretty great and we have no qualms with them.

Connectivity

The USB MIDI port helps you to connect your piano to your computer system. So, if you need to access some more plugins or maybe your music production software, the Alesis Coda Pro offers a seamless connection through the USB MIDI port.

There’s the aux input as well with which you can connect to other external sound sources. For instance, if you want to connect to a drum machine, the aux in is your guy.

And then there’s the Aux output with which you can connect your piano to a mixer or a recorder. And let’s not forget that you can also achieve a silent practice with the Alesis Coda Pro. Yes, there is a headphones jack as well on the back panel where you can connect a pair of headphones.

Lastly, there’s also a port for your sustain pedal (which is included in the box) as well.

Pros Of Alesis Coda Pro

Cons Of Alesis Coda Pro

What’s In The Box?

Conclusion

The Alesis Coda Pro is a great entry-level keyboard with loads of features that will greatly benefit the beginning pianist. Of course, it comes with its limitations. But at this price point, we will say you can easily overlook them.

And since this is a very portable unit, it doesn’t matter when or where you need to use your keyboard. This keyboard can come with you conveniently anywhere at all.

So, in the end, the Alesis Coda Pro is a pretty good keyboard even though it’s definitely not the best in the market. But for the money, this makes a pretty great piano choice.