Review of Casio CTK-7000
Let me declare at onset that this article is going to be a lengthy one and there is no way that I can finish writing this article in one sitting and upload it. Hence I will do the next best thing – update the article in increments as and when I finish a piece of R&D. And you my dear readers are invited to revisit the article from time to time to receive an update or better still, Update Me!
There are a lot of similarities between the Casio CTK-6000, CTK-7000, WK-6500 and WK-7500. Hence a lot of information presented in this article will apply to a large extent to the other keyboards too. For a comparison of similarities and difference, please refer to my article – Quick Comparison of Casio WK-7500, CTK-7000, WK-6500 and CTK-6000
Demonstration:
The Casio CTK-7000 features 5 demo songs. The demo songs are fair in quality. While song no. 2 is very melodic and presents outstanding piano sounds, rest of the songs are a let down in terms of really exploiting the power of the keyboard. There is absolutely no coverage for Organ sounds (a strength of CTK-7000 and WK-7500), DSP Effects (new in CTK-6000 and above), new arpeggio patterns etc. Enjoy the demos, but trust me when I tell you that the keyboards are capable of much better.
Indian Rhythm Samples:
- No. 22 – Bhangra
- No. 23 – Dadra
- No. 24 – Garba
- No. 25 – Keharwa
- No. 26 – Dandiya
- No. 27 – Teen Taal
- No. 28 – Bhajan
- No. 29 – Rupak
- No. 30 – Indian Pop 1
- No. 31 – Indian Pop 2
Note: The rhythms begin with Synchronized Intro, Proceed to Normal mode, then Fill-1 leads rhythm to Variation mode. Fill-2 brings rhythm back to Normal, then Accompaniment is turned off for at-least 1 measure, then accompaniment is turned back on and rhythm stops with Synchronized Ending.
Latest Casio Keyboards
- Casio CTK7500: [amazonproduct=B004KJPVYW]
- Casio CTK7000: [amazonproduct=B004KJQQZ0]
- Casio CTK6500: [amazonproduct=B004KJWQXQ]
- Casio CTK6000: [amazonproduct=B004KJPTCG]
- Casio CTK5000: [amazonproduct=B001FSJC28]
Latest Yamaha Keyboards
- Yamaha PSR-E423: [amazonproduct=B003JMEUD4]
- Yamaha PSR-E333: [amazonproduct=B004WV29Q6]
- Yamaha PSR-S910: [amazonproduct=B00305AG42]
- Yamaha PSR-S710: [amazonproduct=B002ZJ505O]
- Yamaha PSR-S550B: [amazonproduct=B001QVHW2Q]
Dear Mr. Rajib,
please explain as I could not understand the following specs mentioned in your comparison review.
CTK 7000 CTK 6000
– Percussion Second / Third –
– Click On / Off –
please explain the functionality of modulation key (positioned over Pitch Bend wheel). This the first time I have seen modulation swaitch…In Yamaha, Korg it is seperate wheel and in Roland it is clubbed with pitch bender stick itself (4way movement). In both the case it is very easy to add the modulation/ vibrato effect along with pitch bend for Flute or sax playing. I am really at loss to understand how one can operate both in CTK 6000/ 7000.
Sorry to disturb you…..
Regards,
Hi Dear Roy,
The Rotating Speaker effect, Second and Third harmonic progression and key clicks are described here in this Wiki article. The Casio CTK 7000 attempts to simulate this. Of these, the rotating speakers effect is very characteristic and easily noticeable.
Most keyboards implement modulation function via a mod wheel. Rotating the mod wheel introduces a vibrato effect to the sound. More the rotation, more the vibrato. On keyboards, such as Roland / Korg, the mod wheel effect is achieved by the Y-axis of a 4 way joystick (x axis does pitch wheel effect). According to MIDI specifications, Modulation effect values range from 0 – 127. Hence mod wheels are generally not spring loaded and must be returned manually to base position (value = 0). On the Roland/Korg, due to possibility of minus values from the joystick, the synthesizer intelligently maps the minus Y values as 0 to 127 of the expression controller (or any other assignable controller). This has an interesting effect – pushing the joystick up, results in vibrato. pushing the joystick down changes the expression of the sound. Sound may appear to be muted/softened. On synthesizer sounds, -Y values change values of oscillators and effects such as phasing/sweeping are introduced. On guitar sounds on the Korg PA50, -Y values introduce harmonics in to the sound.
On the Casio CTK-7000, the modulation button triggers the modulation effect at a perdetermined value (user configurable). So if I am holding a note, I can introduce vibrato in it, just by pressing the modulation button a little later into the note and releasing the button a little before I let go of the note. Depending on the tempo of the song, I must configure the rate of vibrato assigned to the mod button in advance or it defaults to the value of 63. I think the Mod button on the CTK 7000 is assignable to another MIDI controller function, but I have not gotten around to figuring that out yet.
HTH
Dear Mr. Rajib,
hats off to you…really impressive technical know-how you have described. because of your help now it is quite clear…..
Please confirm if i am wrong,,,,as per your words, during a performance on CTK 7000/ 6000 we can not change the modulation range as it has to be defined from the function setup..Isn’t it??
Let me tell you frankly these are the things I do not like at all in my Casio 5000 also.. all the play variations like touch response on-off/ harmony/ arpeggiator change have to be performed from the deep down function menu…..where as in Yamaha there are seperate keys for all these functions.
btw you have said that you do not have formal training in keyboard…..then how did you gather so much knowledge about it??? It’s really awesome……
Dear Roy:
Yup, the Casio CTK 7000 modulation button value has to be set in advance. It is more of a trigger than a mod slider. While touch response etc. have to be switched off in menu (even more complicated in CTK 7000 than in 5000), harmony/arpeggio can indeed be turned on/off with a press of a button on both the keyboards. In my experience, touch response has not been too much of a problem for me since I am used to the feel of a touch response keyboard.
Though I have no formal training in keyboard playback, I can playback pretty well by the ear. I more of an audio technology enthusiast and in this regard I have done my share of futzing.
And yes! I got a brief window of opportunity to fiddle with a Korg PA50. What a keyboard!! My review of CTK 7000 will pit the keyboard against the PA50. While the PA50 clearly wins, the CTK 7000 has it’s day in the sun too and this will become evident.
Regards
BTW have you fiddled Korg PA50??
hi rajib
howz your new toy ctk7000???
i ordered new ctk7000 in scorpios and the adapter would’nt fit into the port..so i returned it..
Hi Vijay,
Sorry to hear that the adaptor supplied with your Casio keyboard wouldn’t fit the port. This is surprising, because when I bought my keyboard, the adapter was inside sealed package in the keyboard box (which was sealed too). The whole thing fitted together perfectly.
Never mind, if you are keen on the Casio (or any other keyboard), you can also contact Servo-tronics (Erramanzil, Hyderabad).
HTH
Dear Mr. Rajib,
In my CTK5000 also, the adapter has been sealed and packed inside the keyboard box and I have checked from Casio website also that it is the suggested adapter. So there is no point of Mismatch…..
Really surprising!!!!
Dear Mr. Rajib,
one odd question….from the picture of CTK 7000 I assume that there is only one variation/ fill-in/ intro/ ending for each of the rhythms….is it true???? I believe in PA50 there are 4 variations/ fill-ins and 2 intros/ endings……
hello rajib…can you tell what kind of memory to buy for ctk7000 the exact shape and dimensions….thank you..
Dear Manoj,
The CTK-7000 accepts standard SD Cards from 2GB – 32GB. Note that 2GB cards are absolutely minimum. I tried 1GB cards and they were not accepted by the keyboard.
HTH
REPEAT QUERY
Dear Mr. Rajib,
one odd question….from the picture of CTK 7000 I assume that there is only one variation/ fill-in/ intro/ ending for each of the rhythms….is it true???? I believe in PA50 there are 4 variations/ fill-ins and 2 intros/ endings……
Hi Dear Roy,
I am sorry if I missed your earlier question. You are right, the Casio CTK-7000 only features 1 of Normal style/Fill-in and Variation/Fill-in. The Korg PA50 offers 4 variations and corresponding fill-ins. The Korg styles are also user customizable. The Casio CTK-7000 is also user customisable in the styles department but the manual made it look complicated.
Since I bought the keyboard, I have not had much time to tinker with it and hence the promised comprehensive review is delayed.
HTH
Hi Rajib,
I finally got the 6000 from Scorpious for 14.6k. I didn’t bargain but now I think I should have, especially considering the fact that I had to spend Rs. 1000 on the conveyance (I had to go there twice, they wanted 2k advance). I stay in BITS-PIlani campus near Shamirpet.
I mentioned your name there and the person instantly recognized it. I told him you’d given me their number.
Hi SSJ4GoGeta,
Thanks for building my rep with the store. 🙂
and thanks for the 419Eater link.
BTW, heartiest congratulations on your purchase. You got it at a good price. Amazon now lists it at $200. Adding the import duty (30%) and shipping ($100), it would have come at exactly the same price and lots of headaches.
Regards
Hi Rajib,
I would like to purchase CTK-6000 for practice session. I have two queries:
1. Whether we can play indian, tabla beats via user rhythm or SD-card?
2. Is there midi option in this keyboard to connect with another keyboard?
Kindly suggest… Since i want to practice songs with Indian or tabla styles too for practice.
Hi Rajib,
Do you have any idea about used korg pa-50 keyboard?
Dear Joshua,
I had access to a Korg PA-50 (not PA-50SD) for a short time and I fell in love with the quality of the tones, styles, overall professional features.
The Korg PA-50 is an excellent stage keyboard and it is loaded with features that support a great live performance (for ex: a fade-out button).
What I did not like about the Korg was that there were hardly any Indian tones (except Sitar and Shenai) and Indian styles. While there are no expansion options for the tones, the Korg does support creation of styles on a computer and loading them on the Korg’s internal memory. The keyboard I had, had some Indian styles created and pre-loaded by Bajaao.com
HTH
Hi Rajib,
A kind reminder on the below query:
I would like to purchase CTK-6000 for practice session. I have two queries:
1. Whether we can play indian, tabla beats via user rhythm or SD-card?
2. Is there midi option in this keyboard to connect with another keyboard?
Kindly suggest… Since i want to practice songs with Indian or tabla styles too for practice
Hi Joshua,
The CTK-6000 comes with a predefined set of Indian rhythms. While a rhythm editor allows you to edit these, the operation is limited to turning rhythm parts on/off, changing instrumentation etc. The CTK-7000 comes with a full-fledged rhythm editor and entirely new rhythms maybe composed and saved on the keyboard. The user created rhythms maybe saved on SD Card and loaded for playback.
Both keyboards support playback of SMF/MID files from SD Card. Hence if you can create a MIDI file on the computer of an Indian rhythm (use combination of Bank Select, MSB, LSB parameters to select the Indian percussion tones), you can transfer the MID file from the computer to the keyboard using the SD Card and play the rhythm. You can also change the tempo of MID files.
Both keyboards do not support saving of MP3/WAV files to SDCard and then playing back; hence you cannot use the SD Card as an audio-jukebox. Both keyboards support connecting an MP3 player (Audio-in) and listening to the audio of the player through the keyboard’s speakers. This may prove to be useful too. Though you cannot alter the playback sounds on the CTK-6000. On the CTK-7000, you can apply DSP effects to the audio-in sound.
Bottom-line: I would advise you to create MIDI files of Indian rhythms on the computer and load them on the keyboard using the SD Card and play them.
The CTK-6000 comes with a USB port that supports MIDI In/Out data. Unfortunately, the USB specifications do not allow two devices to be connected directly. They must pass their data through a controller. While dedicated USB-MIDI Controllers are available (take the keystrokes from a keyboard via USB and pass them onto multiple sound-generators), USB to MIDI (5-pin) connection cables are also available.
You can also use a computer as a go-between. The MIDI editing software can be configured to receive MIDI data from one keyboard (MIDI-Out of Input device) and send it to another keyboard (MIDI-In of Output device). Normally, this has the effect of passing the MIDI messages from one keyboard to another; bypassing the sound-generator chip of your computer’s sound-card. Also note that MIDI-Through function is not supported by USB MIDI.
HTH
Hi Rajib,
Thanks for the awesome reply.
I already own yamaha psr s500 in my church and i have indian and tabla beats in my pendrive to play in that. As i told in earler mail, that i am planning to buy Casio ctk 6000 just for practice session, Please could you clarify this:
If the beats played in yamaha(i.e. .sty extension) can be converted to casio extension(i.e. .AC7) and can be played via card on Casio CTK-6000, whether those tabla beats will work? Thanks for your patience in advance.
Hi Joshua,
Unfortunately the Yamaha style files are not compatible with Casio rhythm files. Perhaps you can use a program like ‘EMC Styleworks’ to convert the Yamaha styles into MID and then use a Casio program to convert MID to AC7.
HTH
Hi Rajib,
Thank you so much for your valuable reply.. Please can you send me the web link where i can get these converters?
Hi Rajib,
Thank you so much for your valuable reply.. Please can you send me the web link where i can get these converters?
A kind reminder pls..
Dear Joshua,
EMC Styleworks official pages are here:
http://www.emc-musicsoftware.de/eng-shop/eng-dscstw.htm
http://www.stylediskwarehouse.com/styleworks.htm
http://www.emc-musicsoftware.com/
HTH
Hi Rajib, Hope you are doing well.
I have contacted you through this blog before for clarifying some doubts about Yamaha and Casio entry level 61-key keyboards in general.
I saw demonstration videos on youtube and other reviews about the new Casio CTK 7000. It seems to be much much cheaper @ Rs. 22,000/ – as compared to its Yamaha counterparts, the S-series 550, 650, 750 etc. I would like to know whether the price difference really shows on the performance and the overall quality of tones and rhythms and other features of the two brands.
I myself have a 2004 PSR 290 keyboard with limited features but have a UX-16 midi cable (purchased for Rs. 36000/- ) and a Nuendo 3 software installed on my Acer latptop powered by Windows XP.
I am not a professional or even an amateur player, but do enjoy playing the keyboard and when in mood, trying some new tunes and improvisations of songs, chords and ragas. Please tell me which of the two brands would be advisable for me to purchase.
From what i read about Casio ctk 7000 it seems ok for me with its rich features for a low price. Your suggestions are welcome.
Also, I dont know why Yamaha S series (550, ….through 990) keyboards are still not considered as full-fledged professional keyboards like Tyros and other Korg and Roland instruments.
Hope i havent bothered you too much.
Thanks in advance
Raghu
Dear Raghu,
Our reader ‘Dear Roy’ has posted a fairly comprehensive feedback on your query too. I request you to go through it.
w.r.t. Casio CTK-7000, I can confirm that it is a very good keyboard at the price-point it is being offered. There is already an article on my blog that lists the feature of the CTK-7000 in a table. Perhaps today I will be able to post further details of the keyboard.
HTH
Dear Mr. Rajib,
Regarding Mr. Raghu Menon’s enquiry, I want to share some info with all of you..
Following is a lucid classification of available keyboards in the market (Input from http://www.keyboardforums.com).
1. Arranger : Are easily recognized by styles on board. It means there are hundreds of accompaniment rhythms you can play along to. These keyboards usually start at a very cheap price and offer no sound customization (or almost none). On the other hand… there are professional arranger keyboards that cost a small fortune that offer a wider range of styles, sound customization, sampling etc., but most of them go into the cheap section.
Examples:
Yamaha: PSR e223~e412/s550~S3000/ Tyros1/2/3…
Korg: Pa50/Pa80/Pa500/Pa800/Pa2x…
Roland: E09/E50, EXR series/ Va series/Prelude…
2. Work Station : As the name itself says – you get a lot of “work” done by this type of keyboard. Do not get fooled by some manufacturers claiming the keyboard is a workstation (Like Roland GW series). Real workstations DO NOT have styles on board.
So what do you get? Well, there’s really tons of workstations as well. From entry level up to flagships – they offer the same thing – Lots and lots of sound customization and sound manipulation.
Examples:
Yamaha: Motif/ES/XS/XF, MO, EX5…
Korg: Trinity, Triton, TR, M3, M50, n364, X50…
Roland: Juno series*, Fantom/X/G…
* Not all Junos have full workstation features
Synthesiser : Tends to be “old school” keyboard work stations – offering real synth sounds like leads, saws, and pads. They usually have tons of real time control knobs to control the synth waves inside and don’t have any (or very few) of the standard sounds (like pianos, organs, guitars etc). If you’re into MOOG sounds, heavy leads… maybe get one – or a RADIAS expansion card for your M3. These keyboards rely on raw waves and analog synthesis.
Examples:
Roland V-synth, Roland GAIA, Roland SH201, Korg RADIAS, Korg Poly, Minimoog…
Hybrid Variations : It’s not a very accurate term but I don’t know how to call it. These are the type of keyboards that have specifications of other two types. For example Yamaha’s S series of workstations. What you get is actually a stage piano oriented workstation. Yamaha S90ES is basically identical to the MotifES8 but it has more piano sounds, a bit different controls, but no graded hammer action keys.
There’s the Yamaha MM6 which is a hybrid Workstation/Arranger. It has most of its internal sounds taken from the original Motif, some basic sound editing options, and yet – it has accompaniment styles you can play along with.
Roland also has a similar cross-breed in a form of the GW series. Sounds taken from the Fantom workstation line combined with styles you can play along with. Even though this might seem like a good thing (having 2 different things in the same keyboard) it actually means the keyboard lacks lots of features from both worlds – very good for beginners though.
Examples:
Yamaha MM6/8, Yamaha S90ES (high-end gear), Yamaha S90XS (high-end gear), Roland
GW7, Roland GW8..
Midi keyboard : No sounds – only keys. That’s about it. You use them to control other sources of sound – being that your keyboard, a module or software in your PC.
Examples:
M-audio Axiom/Keystation, Yamaha KX series, Korg Kontrol49, Roland PCR series…
========================================
We are all aware that to create a music composition one needs to develop two parts i.e. LEAD and ACCOMPANIMENT. During
composing a song, the Vocal goes to LEAD and during an instrumental various instruments takes the role of LEAD, be it string
Equipmets like Guitar, Violin, Chello/ Wind Instruments like Flute or Sax/ Reed Instrument like Accordian, Organ, Piano. It
all depend on the country or origin and on the genre of the music…..
Deciding about the types of keyboard the above mentioned theory comes handy…
Arrangers focus on the complete accompaniment solution. So rhythms, styles, no. of READILY available voices or sounds and
accompaniment controller functions like Intro/ variation/ Fill-In are higher in numbers. Style/ Rhythm editors and
arpeggiators are also important for these keyboard. The higher the cost the more are the nos. of all these feature which
implies the more available memory. Synthesiser facility for creating/ modifying voices or sounds may or may not be available
based on the price….Music is ready made piece here. We need to do some cut & paste only.
In workstation one need to develop from the scratch because it is more than a versatile sound generator. It can design/ develop or reprogram any available sound patch and can modify it..But like arranger it would not give readymade solution…Moreover it can offer professional level sound engineering and sound recording support and solution also. Just for example in Yamaha Motif there are eight knobs & eight faders which can control eight elements of a single sound sample. As a result from a single tone you can develop expression to power of 8, 8 and 8. In addition to that there are AFTERTOUCH and other Expression control modules also. It has a VOCODER function which can synthesise realtime human voice input. So its all about the ever expanding limits. Definitely workstations have high memory capacity but more important is sound generating oscillator controls and one stop music solution. One needs to have money-minting machine to purchases these.
To me Synthesiser means Yamaha DX7 with no style and with logic gate/ oscillator diagrams only. When I was teenager I thought one need to pass BE in electrical engineering to play these. These are very good for live playing and studio recording but offers very little for using as a overall sound engineering control device. Offers very little memory functions.
========================================
As Mr. Menon wants to know the capabilities of Casio CTK-7000 vis-a-vis the price differences with all other keyboards I just to want to inform him that even in their website Casio did mention CTK-7000 as HIGH-GRADE KEYBOARD only. I request him to just search for Bert Smorenberg and Yamaha Motif in Youtube and to see the all videos. He can see the videos of Tyros also..Then it will be pretty clear that the type of features available in Motif or in Tyros are not at all present in CTK..He can see the video of yamaha Stagea ELS (which comes under Hybrid Variation of Stage Organ) video with Yuki Wada to understand how to create complete orchestra with a single instrument.
I personally purchased CTK-5000 as an accompaniment keyboard but after 3 months I changed it to Yamaha PSR E423. It is not that CTK-5000 in inferior in sound quality or in features but playing a complete music with various variation/ option is difficult compared to E423. But some tones are better in Casio….
I am sorry that after playing both CTK 5000 and E423 I feel my obedience towards YAMAHA.
Waiting for your kind reply.
Thanks & Best Regards,
Dear Mr. Rajib,
I am again supporting you in reference to CTK-7000 price compared to its features. The features available in Yamaha and other pro keyboards are too technical and offers little for the user until they are into professional music playing.
CTK-7000 offers all features which are essential for a music enthusiast amateur needs to get maximum efficiency from his keyboard at the best possible price.
Thanks..
Mr. Rajib,
waiting for your comprehensive review on CTK 7000.
it seems that you are fully occupied.
anyway,,please take your time…We can wait for the interesting review.
Rgds,
My experienced review of the Casio CTK6000:
Let me begin by saying I’ve played Rolands, Korgs, and Yamahas since the mid 80s. Never thought of touching a Casio until a friend said to give it try – I always looked at Casio as the cheap dollar wrist watches and calculators we used to buy years ago.
I unboxed this keyboard yesterday morning and hooked it up – I was absolutely floored at the piano patches I started playing right away! After some editing these piano patches are (I’m almost embarrassed to say) just as pronounced and refined as my Yamaha Motif!
A couple negatives: It only accepts MIDI files from a smart card; and the sequencer is realtime, not step. But for the amount paid and the quality of sounds, this keyboard is quite a bargain.
Hear hear.
I am considering purchasing the CTK7000 but i need to know if those sliders can be assigned to like Cut off and Res, Attack, Decay, Release, etc. i want to be able to have those Parameters for real time movement. can this key do this
Dear Reg,
The sliders on the CTK-7000 are not assignable.
In the Mixer settings, the sliders can be used to quickly set parameters like Tone, Volume etc.; the sliders are not assignable for real-time controls.
The Modulation button and another button on the Drawbar panel can be reassigned, but these buttons act more like triggers than sliders.
HTH
a message had came to my mobile . where we should call to whome & where should collect the money
Dear Lilly,
Please ignore such SMS messages. They are designed to steal your hard earned money.
Regards
dear sir,How can i edit smf songs in casio ctk 6000’s sd card on keyboard?
When i am recording in ctk 6000’s sequencer,i c’nt start where i was stoped! it’s start from bigning.Why?
Hi Rajib, can the drawbars on the Casio CTK 7000 but used to control the Native Instruments B4 II? If so how can I do that?
Hello Mr Rajib…..Firstly congrats on your new purchase…..Hoping that u have infinite creative fun with your new casio keyboard…….I am planning to upgrade from my yamaha psr550 arranger to a korg….I observed that you tried out the Korg PA50…..I am inclined towards korg an this is why i am looking for your review of the same……..ur views would be helpfull…..thanx….
Hi Rajib and all person in this blog,I’m bimo from Indonesia,I’m not good in grammar and write in english,I’m so sorry of difficult word and wrong Grammar Write,comparing casio ctk 5000/ctk 7000 vs MOTIF/Tyros/PA 50/PA 500/PSR S910 or S710 IT’S not fair comparation (vs not fair) in forum discuss solfegio.com coparation is not apple vs apple,because in Price,Class and Generation NOT FAIR COMPARATION,casio is low end keyb class in Amazing Feature like Premium keyb,in price ex : CTK 7000 in my country price is US$ 434 (rate) in rupiah is Rp.4.200.000 (rate),yamaha : ex S710 is $ 825 (rate) in rupiah is Rp 8.150.000,it’s not fair comparation (vs) in pricing and yamaha,Roland or korg Have large ROM casio it’s not PCM ROM,ex Roland E60 iS 512 MB ROM,and Korg PA50SD is 32 MB ROM,compare fair for casio is PSR E 413/E 423 or roland e09,thanks…
dear sir,
i have to buy a keyaord.i am so confused between ctk 7000 and yamaha psr i 425..al functions of ctk 7000 not work proprly on the real time as i listen frm others.plz tel can i buy ctk 7000 or yamha psr i 425.m on the practice stage.
await ur suggestion..
Dear Surjeet,
Working with any machine is a matter of getting used to it.
When computer operating system changed from MS-DOS to Windows 3, I cursed it because everything was so much more cumbersome. Regretfully, the situation did not improve as Windows 3 became Windows 95, Windows 95 became Windows XP and now Windows XP has become Windows 7. With each new version, I have had to invest time to learn the new method of working. Some things were improved and some things had become more painful.
Maybe the Yamaha is more convenient to operate on stage, maybe the Casio is more convenient. In my opinion, this depends on the artist. If you are willing to work your way around the device’s limitations and exploit it’s strengths, the eventual brand of your keyboard will not matter.
I suggest that you draw up a small checklist of operations that you do on stage. Now visit any keyboard store in your area and check out how convenient/inconvenient it is to perform the operation on the keyboard you are testing.
HTH
Dear Sir,
I am a student of music in France and I want to go into music composition.
Previously, I had a Yamaha PSR E313 that I resolded because it couldn’t store the registration parameters, which meant that you lost all your data when you pu the power off.
So now I want to buy a new keyboard as soon as possible. I considered the Yamaha PSR E423 (just one level up the E313 more sounds, some better quality sounds like pino, saxophone, flute.. what Yamaha calls Cool, Sweet and Live sounds), possibility to memorize the registrations, more styles including oriental styles…
Then I read somre reviews about the Casio CTK 6000 and 700, and WK 6500 and 7500, and I am considering buyng one of those.
What is crucial for me is the sound quality. As I intend to make “classical” orchestrations of pieces that I wrote for the piano, the acoustics souns need to be fairly realistic and of pleasant qualitéy. For isntance, I like very much the Yamaha grand piano sounds, but I find that the strings are always a disaster (I spek here of the entry-level range of keyboard, I guess that if you are able to addord a PSR S550 or a Motif, the sounds are quite decent).
So my question is : what is the value of the new Casio range of keyaboards as far as the sounds are concerned ? Are they pleasant ? Are they realistic ?
Also, itis said somewhere on this forum that the CTK 6000 sequencer is only a recording sequencer, not a step sequencer, but according to the user guide you can edit the sequences step by step. I am getting confused with this issue.
Another thing : if I buy one of the Casio’s, is there a great tone-quality difference between the CTK 6000/WK 6500 vs. the CTK 7000/CTK 7500 ? I don’t mind the CTK 6000/WK 6500 having less polyphony, less features, … but I’d rather pay more money in orther to get better soun quality.
N.B.: the CTK 7000/ WK 7500 have, among other things, the added feature of the drawbar orga. I am not a darwbar organ specialist, so this is not a key feature for me, but I do need some organ parts for my compositions. So, in your opinion, are the organ sounds of the CTK 6000/WK 6500 valuable ?
One last thing : I’d like to know whether the rythms/styles editing facilities are an issue, i.e. whether the limited rythms/styles editing facilities of the CTK 6000/WK 6500 are sufficient for rythm/style personalisation, or whether I should rather go for the more expensive/more capable CTK 7000/WK 7500 to get full styles customatisation ?
I also considered buying a second-hand Yamaha PSR S550, what do you think of this keyboard ? It looked very professional to me and on the Internet video demos, the sounds do sound gorgeous.
Thank you very mcuh for giving your advice.
Dear Vinciane,
That’s a lot of questions. I have answers for a few and no answers for quite a few others.
The Yamaha PSR-E423 / Casio CTK-6000/7000 feature non-volatile registration setups. So your settings stay even if power is completely removed from the keyboard.
The Yamaha PSR-E423 features some really beautiful synth & wind instruments but falls quite short when it comes to sounds like Pianos & Strings. The guitars section on the Yamaha is quite good too. Since your requirement is classical, I think you will enjoy the Casio sounds quite a bit.
There is no difference between the sound quality in the CTK-6000/6500/7000/7500 series. The CTK-6000 features slightly less number of mutations of some tones and does not feature audio-recording and drawbar organs.
Since you mentioned that drawbar organ feature is not critical (and IMHO, due to the numerous Organ sounds provided by Casio, the drawbar organ parameters are not essential), you can easily go in for the CTK-6000.
W.r.t. style-editing, the CTK-6000 allows customization of the existing styles in terms of turning parts on/off and changing the instrumentation. The styles thus modified are stored as user styles. The CTK-7000 on the other hand allows creation of styles from scratch.
W.r.t. Sequencing, both the keyboards are identical in their sequencing capabilities. Do they support step-sequencing? I do not know. I guess I will have to read the manual and try it out on my CTK-7000 to confirm to you.
The Casio keyboards feature a massive range of styles and an entire section devoted to just Piano-rhythms. Great for playing along with classical compositions. When I tried out the Yamaha PSR-I425 (similar to E423), I felt that the Yamaha keyboards had edge in the styles department since the Yamaha styles are accented and do not sound flat. They are great for playing along with popular tunes.
Before you go in for a Casio keyboard, please beware that Yamaha keyboards are considered superior to Casio due to build quality. In my testing of the PSR I-425, I found that these perceptions are incorrect. However, this continues to be a big selling point for Yamaha keyboards in India to students.
IMHO, as a student of classical music with emphasis on sound quality of traditional instruments, you should consider a digital piano instead of a portable-keyboard or a synth. A basic Casio portable piano is priced the same as CTK-7000 and it features semi-weighted keys. For a little more investment, you can acquire either a Yamaha or a Casio digital piano with graded-hammer-action keys and pedal support.
If you are limited by budget, consider buying a CTK-6500 or CTK-7500. You will get 8 octaves of superior sound quality and terrific value for money. Consider going in for a Casio CTK-6000/7000 only if you did not like the Yamaha PSR-E423 for some reason.
I generally do not prefer going in for second-hand devices unless I know that I am getting them at a distress sale and they are practically new. In fact, before I purchased the CTK-7000, I had purchased a used Korg PA50 in good condition. I only let go of it because I am more of a technician than a musician and the CTK-7000 has far more futzing potential.
If you are considering the Yamaha PSR-550, you should also consider the Roland E-06 and the Korg PA-50SD. Both these keyboards offer better technologies and sounds (at price lower than the Yamaha) and have a far higher reputation than the Yamaha.
HTH
Dear Mr. Rajib,
Do u still have the 2nd hand Korg PA50??? Want to sell the same?? Please advise the price you want so that I can think of purchasing the same….Pls advise your email ID..
Thanks & Best Regards.
Sorry Dear Roy. The keyboard is long gone into the hands of a musician who is more talented than me by several million order of magnitude. 🙂
Dear sir,
I would like to know if there is a tone-quality difference between the WK-6500 and the WK-3800. Which is better? Does one has more functions or effects than the other?
Can you customize the modulation by the wk-6500?
regards
Dear Juan,
The WK-6500 uses new AHL sounds that are more realistic and have good depth. That said, the WK-3800 is actually a better keyboard because of the full-feature Mod-wheel and arranging features.
The mod-button depth (value) can be configured on the WK-6500 but it is a trigger rather than a wheel. So the onset of the Mod function is sudden and not gradual.
HTH
Hello Rajib,
How are you doing? thanks for the great review on Casio CTK7000.
I am Prasanna from Bangalore, I was planning to buy a good keyboard, I have these models in my mind Yamaha e423, i425, Casio ctk6000, ctk7000 and Roland e09. Today I had been with my friends to have a demo and try the keyboards.
1. I had a demo of Roland e09 and the sounds / speakers was awesome and also the keys. No keyboards are comparable to this is the best (except Korg) but this Roland E09 was price around 27,000… out of budget.
2. I had demo of Casio CTK 6000, and the sounds / speakers are terrible to be frank did not like much and moved to the next model.
3. i had demo of Yamaha i425, the Indian sounds was quite good and not to that extent, and keys and sounds / speakers were good. So after I asked for a demo of Yamaha e423, the shop guy told me that it is all the same as i425 except the Indian sounds.
4. lastly I had demo with Casio CTK7000 and first impression the sound was very good comparing all the above (except the Roland e09 nothing can beat this) but did not thought of checking this keyboard (CTK7000) for more features but my friends started playing it and it was sounding very good and later I tried and this has many features comparing all the above keyboards which I had shortlisted. so we kept checking in detail of this keyboard and thought to purchase this model by next week as I thought to make some research on internet and found your website with amazing information (thanks for that). Also this keyboard nice comparing CTK6000.
Kindly help me on this, basically I do not have much hopes on Casio as many of the people from my institute / friends recommend to buy a Yamaha branded only, but after playing this CASIO CTK7000 I really liked it but at some point of my mind I am still thinking of Yamaha (professionals prefer) (brand like apple 😉 ) so if you can tell me that CASIO CTK7000 is really a good product and better than Yamaha e423 as I want more features and most important the best sound quality and soft keys, please suggest me which I can buy as u are good technician and you own this CTK7000. Also if you can tell me I can play the MP3 / WAV songs in this keyboard by transferring through SD card or USB.
Kindly help me on this and let me know which I can buy.
Thank a lot in Advance…..
S. Prasanna Kumar
Dear Prasanna,
The Yamaha dealer is right that the difference between PSR E-413/423 and I-425 is only in the few Indian tones and styles.
I am sorry that you did not quite like the Casio CTK-6000 since it is a very good keyboard too. The Casio CTK-7000 is miles ahead of the Yamaha PSR-I425 in sounds, features and pricing. After saying this, I will acknowledge that the Yamaha PSR-I425 synth sounds and Controller knobs are to die for and unfortunately the Casio CTK-7000 does not come anywhere near it.
If you ask my opinion, in the end you should opt for the Yamaha since you have a subconscious preference for the brand. There’s no point in listing the technical superiority of the Casio keyboard since if you are not happy with it, no music can be made.
After-all, concert Pianists are perfectly happy with a single tone coming from their instruments – The Grand Piano, but they want that sound to be perfect.
HTH
Hi rajib,
Thanks for your suggestion, i forgot to mention in last comment, when i compared in showroom finally with both yamaha and casio i liked the CASIO CTK7000 sound, its clear and perfect than Yamaha, since you are using the same Casio CTK7000 and also you have experience with yamaha keyboards and also with casio, if you could tell me your experience on both brands it will be nice, also many people says that Casio released the CTK7000 recently and its very improved not like the old basic keyboards they were manufacturing earlier.
I can change my mind to CASIO only if knowledge and experience people (like you) are recommending.
Thanks…
Hello, i’m having a problem finding a casio wk~1200 keyboard power module for purchase can you help?
Dear Patrick,
The WK-1200 uses a 12V Power adaptor. You should be able to easily purchase a genuine Casio adaptor from Amazon or many other reputed electronics store.
Do keep in mind that:
The adaptor must have the exact same voltage as recommended
The adaptor must supply/.exceed the current recommended. For ex: buy a 2A (2000mA) adapter if your keyboard requires a 1500mA adapter.
The polarity should match. Typically, the inside socket is the Plus terminal while the out part of the power connector is the Negative terminal. Get them swapped can result in extreme damage to keyboard.
The plug of the power adapter should work with the keyboard with smooth action.
In case you have too much difficulty in sourcing the adapter, note that ANY adaptor supplying 12V is a potential candidate. Game machine adapters, Wireless Router adapters are typical examples of power adapters that are compatible with the keyboard. Make sure that the adapters are supplying DC current. Wireless Router adapters tend to supply AC current. In such case, the adapter may have to be opened up for installing a Bridge Rectifier.
HTH
Dear Patrick,
The WK-1200 requires a 12V DC Power Adapter capable of delivering up-to 1500mA of current. The Casio part for this is AD12. You should be able to easily find power adapters that feature this specific which is in use by other electronic items in your house.
For further technical info, you can download the Casio WK-1200 Service manual from:
https://rapidshare.com/files/282042850/casio_wk-1200__ET_.pdf
http://elektrotanya.com/casio_wk-1200.pdf/download.html
HTH
Hello Rajib,
I was wondering why you did not reply to my comment, anyways i am planning to buy E423 or i425 by this sunday, still confused with these two models, if you can suggest which is the best it will be helpful to compare.
Thank you,
Dear Prasanna,
You are asking me to choose between a Yamaha keyboard and a Casio keyboard for you.
As I have pointed out in my article, I cannot choose for you – you have to choose for yourself. I can only highlight the good/bad of the equipment I encounter.
I personally own a Casio CTK-7000 and a Casio CTK-4000. So that should indicate to you what my preference is. I will request you to test the keyboards by yourself before making YOUR decision.
HTH
Dear Prasanna,
If you are in India, I suggest you buy the PSR I425. It is an ‘India only’ model and features some Indian tones and styles. You will find these tones very useful. Of-course, it has all the basic tones that feature in PSR E423 too! So you are really not gonna miss anything.
HTH
Dear Rajib,
Thank you for yout answers to all my questions.
I do not want to buy a digital piano because I want to buy something light that I can carry around. Besides, I already have a (not very good I’m afraid) upright piano and I can play on the (much better) grand piano of a friend a few times a week and the few times I tried a digital piano I hated the key action – I’d rather go for the real thing (acoustic piano) ; if I buy an electronic keyboard I’d rather go for the light synth keys.
This said, I tried a PSR E423 and I didn’t like some of its features – for instance, the very light amplification system (2x 2,5 watts – this is not much) and the key action (I found it had not much response). I had the feeling it is more an expensive toy than a “real” keyboard.
As far as the Casio’s are concerned, I read some reveiws who said that the newer models (CTK 6000 and 7000, WK 6500 and 7500) have not a very stisfying key action when compared with taht of older Casio keyboards, so this might be a drawback. Since you have played the WK 7500, what do you think of this?
I am also considering still another option : for the time being, there is a reseller in Europe selling some Casio’s WK 3800 at a bargain price – less than 200 euros (I am sorry, I havn’t the faintiest idea of what this makes in Indian money ; to give you an idea, here the Yamaha E423 costs around 300 euros and the Casio WK 7500, between 4500 and 500 euros).
So I was wondering what you thought of this keyboard, I guess it was an high-end keyboard of the brand only a few years ago, it has got 76 keys, sound editing capabilities, 6 tracks sequencing (step and real time) and one can edit the rythms with a Casio software on a Windows computer.
So what do you think of the sounds of the WK 3800 as compared with the Yamaha E423, and with the high-end Casio series CTK 6000/7000 – WK 6500/7500?
Since the price is so low, I am considering buying this keyboard, using it durint a few months and reselling it, this would give me more time to try other keyboards and choose a better, more expensive one.
Thank you for all the time you spend on this website and for the useful advices you are giving to us keyboard players 🙂
Vinciane
Hi Vinciane,
If you did not like the feel of the Yamaha PSR keys, you are going to absolutely hate the Casio keys. Traditionally Casio keys have been soft and without too much reflex. While this suits beginners very well, it makes it near impossible for experience players to render fast pieces on it.
Sound quality wise, I love the Casio CTK-7000 sounds. Very realistic and the on-board mixer allows you to get their levels just right. I have seen quite a few demonstrations on Youtube where experienced players are rendering jazz / piano pieces on it. So hopefully, they found the key-response good enough. I love the Casio sounds over the Yamaha most of the time, but the Yamaha PSR E423 still beats the Casio in the Synth-tones and Styles department.
The CTK-7000/WK-7500 series are really not a replacement for the WK-3500 series. The WK-3500 has some real-time controls and sound options (mod wheel, sophisticated tone editor) that the new Casio keyboards are missing. So if you are offered a WK-3500 at 200 euros, I would say go for it! Its a steal!! If it at the same price of WK-7500, go for the WK-7500 instead. It has on-board audio recording, USB support, SD Card support, newer and better sounds.
If you are quite bothered about key-action, you can also consider a dedicated MIDI keyboard from M-Audio or Roland. These have terrific key-action, but require a soft-synth or a hardware-synth-module.
HTH
Hi Rajib,
What would you recommend for a 41 year old who wants to start playing a keyboard (and perhaps take lessons too)? Any place you’d suggest in Delhi which knows its musical instruments and can help me choose wisely? thanks.
Dear Vikas,
Depending on your budget, you could opt for learner keyboards from Casio (CTK-2100, CTK-3000) or Yamaha (PSR-E223) or go for mid-range keyboards from Casio (CTK-4000, CTK-5000) or Yamaha (PSR-E323).
Casio CTK-6000/7000 and Yamaha PSR-I425 are priced above Rs. 15K and you should opt for them only if you intend to pursue music with Trinity College type of education.
At Delhi, there are plenty of places to buy electronic keyboards; Raj Musicals in one of them.
HTH
Thanks Rajib.
Dear Rajib,
The confusion quotient just went up today evening 🙂 I visited Raj Musicals and spent quite some time going through demos and trying the keyboards for myself (a few taps, that’s all given my zero knowledge of music playing).
A couple of points:
1. The piano sounded slightly better and more ‘realistic’ on the PSR-I425 than the CTK-5000. Cannot say it with full confidence but seems like it. However, the Casio keyboard seemed more user-friendly, feature packed and kind of suitable. Hence the uncertainty in choosing.
2. I am basically interested in leaning to play the piano more than anything else. I was once told that I should start with a keyboard and then graduate later to a piano. Is that the way to go?
Keeping these in mind, what would you advise to go for?
thanks
Dear Vikas,
Think of learning the Electronic Keyboard (Trinity College Course: EKB) as learning a 2-wheeler and learning the Grand Piano (Trinity College Course: GP) as learning the 4-wheeler.
Both are hard to learn and you don’t need to know how to drive a 2-wheeler to drive a 4-wheeler. In fact 2-wheeler drivers graduating to 4-wheelers make worse drivers due to their tendency to sway all over the road!
Learning the Grand Piano requires the knowledge additional piano techniques such as damper, sustain pedals, the feel of heavy keys and reliance on rhythm/timing being provided by left-hand keys. If you are serious about learning Piano and taking up some kind of certification for it, I suggest you do not buy a Portable keyboard since it will be more of a distraction. Focus on an electronic Piano from Casio / Yamaha / Roland / Nord.
If you would rather learn to play with full accompaniment that is provided by an electronic keyboard (auto-accompaniment, sound layers etc.), then go for the Yamaha PSR-I425.
HTH
Hello Rajib,
Thank you very much for tour advice and help.
Since I am unfortunately really short on money for the time being and since I needed very badly a keyboard for my musical training, I decided to buy a second-hand Yamaha PSR E413. I will then play on this keyboard during a few months, until I’ll have more money and more information about better keyboards like the Casio CTK 7000/WK 7500, or the Yamaha PSR S550 (or S660, the new model that was shown during the Summer NAMM show). Hopefully. the local music store will have these keyboards in stock in the fall and I will have the opportunity to try them -I find it very difficult to choose a keyboard without putting your hands onto it. and unfortunately I am living in a small place in France, and even in the nearest town (which is not big either) you don’t have the large choice of keyboards that is available in India or even in Paris, France.
The PSR E413 is due to come next week, when I will have put my hands on it, I’ll tell you what I think of it.
By the way : I know that on the E413 (as on the E423 and E425), there is a place in memory to upload personal styles from a computer. Do you have any idea if there is some software either to modify the inboard styles or to create new styles from scratch on the computer? This would really be handy!
Have a nice day
Dear Vinciane,
The Yamaha keyboards support user styles and user MIDI files for playing along. Most of these files are basic MIDI files. There are software tools available on the net that allow you to put together custom MIDI files into a user-style.
Try searching for ‘yamaha style editor’ or ‘yamaha midi to style’. Check this website (appears in google search results): http://www.jososoft.dk/yamaha/software.htm
HTH
Thanks once again!
Its good that Rajib and many friends here are sharing their valuable knowledge. But the most satisfying buy would be the one that sonically, economically(in whatever order ;)appeals to you and not others. You could choose Roland E09, Korg PA50SD , Yamaha PSR S550(S650 will be available by end of this year) or Casio (WK-7500/CTK-7000). Out of this Roland E-09 and Casio WK-7500 would be comparable in price while others are at the higher than these two.
I have a PSR S500. Will upgrade to either of Roland E09/Casio WK7500. Both are awesome keyboards and have their strengths.
I play by ear and am keen to learn the keys formally. I am leaning towards the Wk-7500.
One more thing would be the fact that most great musicians end up making even a so called beginner keyboard sound like a pro(at least to the level the machine can take !!!)So till the time I reach there no matter how long 😉 I wouldn`t be trying out the Ketron Audya5, Korg Pa3X, Yamaha Tyros 4 or whatever equivalent available at the time 🙂
Wishing every one the best of musical enjoyment !!!!!!!!!
Warm Regards,
Jez
Dear Jez,
Thanks for a nice updates post and your best wishes to my readers.
Regards
Rajib, are you still planning to continue your review of the ctk 7000?
Hi Morris,
My apologies for the incomplete article on the blog. I will try and complete the article on this weekend.
Thanks for visiting!
Sir,
i want to know if Casio CTK 7000 has the facility of locking the rhythm style in the registration bank as such..
please do reply…..
Dear Anamika,
The answer to your question is yes. In fact I created a Registration setting to check and the following info was saved:
– Layer 1 tone Right side of Split
– Layer 2 tone Right side of Split
– Layer 1 tone Left side of Split
– Split Point
– Volumes and Pan levels of individual tones (in Mixer)
– Rhythm Style
– Rhythm Tempo
– Chord fingering (Full range, Casio Chord 1 … …)
– Arpeggiator Type
– Pitch Bend range
HTH
hello rajib
I want to no is their any possibility to use different six tones in registration bank without changing rhythm style while playing a song in
casio ctk 7000…. plz reply..
Dear Manas,
The current rhythm settings are stored with registration bank. So to have six settings in the bank where only the tone changes, you will actually have to program the banks six times keeping the rhythm same.
Rhythm settings saved in bank don’t save the current variation (normal / variation). I also noticed that as I changed banks (containing the same rhythm but different tones), the rhythm seemed to pause momentarily breaking the beat. So one will need to exercise care when changing banks that contain the same rhythm.
HTH
sir,
I have Yamaha PSR 1100 and just like in that where i have the facility to lock a rhythm while changing even the registration banks while playing a song continuously… I actually want to know if the rhythm can be kept the same while selecting the tone from other registration banks… i want to thank you for replying my queries earlier… please do reply about this….
Dear Anamika,
I have no idea about the Yamaha PSR 1100. Perhaps another reader with the device can do the R&D and reply.
Regards
dear rajibi
i want to know that is their any transpose facility in yamaha
mm6 synthesiser…
plz reply
Dear rajibi
I am confused between Roland E 09 and Casio CTK 7000. Please advise. Also advise if there are other options in the same budget range of the above mentioned two. Thanks.
Dear rajibi
I am confused between Roland E
09 and Casio CTK 7000. Please
advise which one would be a better option. I am familiar with workstations but I am not sure if casio’s tones are as good as roland’s. I must come down to one unregrettable choice. So please help me sooner. Also advise if there are
other options in the same
budget range of the above
mentioned two. Thanks.
please reply soon!
Mr. Gounmag,,
Please go through the COMPLETE details Mr. Rajib is providing in all his blogs related to Musical Keyboards. I hope easily you can get the ideas…
Just for your info, CTK7000 is the most high-end workstation available now-a-days from CASIO and E-09 is the entry-level arranger from ROLAND. Within this price range you can get Yamaha PSR E423 & PSR I-425 arragers. If you can stretch your budget Yamaha PSR S-550 is there.
Somebody likes the CASIO tone and the key resopnse while some likes ROLAND or YAMAHA. So this is personal choice based on your use.
Hope this helps….
Dear Mr. Rajib, sorry for my intrusion….
Regards,
Dear Roy
@Goumang: I hope you have found some answers to your questions by reading the blog articles and the comments in it.
@DearRoy: Your intrusion is most welcome 🙂
hello Rajib sir,
i m Jinal from gujarat, i m learning keyboard, i have purchased casio ctk 810in, its very nice keyboard, i wants to know that how can i connect it to computer and transfer bank registration data and other data………..
i try lot on my pc, it have windows xp, but only i able to install casio midi drivers and install SMF converter…when i connect keyboard to pc its displaying nothing in pc, please help me and suggest some midi transfer applications for it….
Thank you…..
Dear Jinal,
The Casio CTK-810IN is fully compatible with MIDI applications.
There are many MIDI editors available. Try Anvil Studio to start with. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Editors-Recorders/Anvil-Studio.shtml
These software can receive MIDI notes from the keyboard and save them layer by layer and also send the MIDI notes to the keyboard so that the keyboard can play them automatically.
HTH
i m very thank full to you rajib ji…..i have tried the application whitch u suggested…and its works fine…other thing i wants to know that can i replace tones ane rythams in this keyboard.? All tones are nice and i m setisfied with it…but just asking…
Dear Jinal,
Your Casio CTK-5000 is quite unique in a way that you can store up-to 10 user ‘Sampled’ tones and rhythms on it. For example, you can record the sound of a dog bark, assign it to a ‘User instrument’ and then play dog bark sounds on the keyboard keys.
The predefined tones cannot be modified or replaced. The predefined rhythms can be modified (instrumentation change, parts on/off) and saved as user-rhythms.
HTH
thanks
sir, thanks for ur replying,
i have another quary that how to save recorded performance in casio ctk 810in?????
this keyboard have facility that we can record our playing, but i havent find any way that can it store that anywhere in sd card or pc…
Dewar Jinal,
as per Casio’s website (http://www.casio-intl.com/emi/model/specification/?code=CTK-810IN) you can record and save your performances on the SD Card in the Casio SMF format.
Note that SD Cards of maximum capacity 2GB only are supported in the CTK-810IN. For more information on the SD Card menu, please refer to the manual.
HTH
Hi Rajib and to all contributors to this blog,
Initially, I was thinking of buying a Yamaha PSRS910 when i’d seen an old man, who has less knowledge on playing keyboard, played the PSRS910 using the single finger accompaniment.
Then I come across to this blog where Rajib posted his review on the Casio CTK-7000. From then on, I kept on visiting this site, since July 2011, to read all the reviews and inquiries posted. Due to limited budget and reading all the reviews, I decided to buy the CTK7000.
Btw, I am already 50years old but since I was a child playing a keyboard is my obsession, however due to financial difficulty I have no way of studying how to play a keyboard.
Just 2-weeks ago, I bought the CTK7000. Reading the manual and tinkering the keyboard trying to understand what is written on the manual. As a first timer to touch a keyboard I find it difficult to understand the manual and afraid that I may spoil the keyboard if I made a mistake in the settings. Will I spoil the keyboard if wrong setting is made?
In the demonstration I’ve seen in the youtube, changing from one rythm to the other is done by pressing one button, without stopping the music. How is it possible in the CTK7000? I mean how to set it? Say for example, first I want to play cha-cha-cha music, then I will shift to tango, to waltz then to pop music.
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance,
romeo
Dear Romeo,
Congrats on your purchase. You have acquired a pretty powerful instrument and you are gonna have tons of fun with it.
As with all complicated electronic equipment, an occasional trip to the manual is compulsory.
For starters, let me assure you that you cannot spoil the keyboard by changing the settings to something incorrect/incompatible. In the worst case scenario, all you have to do is activate the ‘Factory Reset’ option from the menu and your keyboard settings will be restored to what you received from the factory. All customizations and settings will be lost and they will be overwritten with Casio’s official settings.
To quickly switch between different instruments and rhythms styles by pressing just one button, you can use the ‘Registration Banks’. For simplicity, let me explain it as you can store custom settings for 16 songs and for each song, you can store 6 different tone-rhythm combination (a total of 16 x 6 = 96) combinations.
You can try the factory default registration banks by pressing any of the buttons number ‘1 to 6’ in the area marked registration banks. As you switch between the banks, you can see that the instrument and rhythm will change appropriately. Press the ‘Bank’ button to switch to the next song and then you can press buttons number 1 to 6 again for entirely different settings.
HTH
HI rajib sir,
want to ask you that , CTK 7000 can be use as MIDI controller?
so that it can be connect with music composing sofwares lyk, FL studio, Nuendo..atc
rite now i m having M-Audio Key rig… connected to my nuendo 4…. bt hav a doubt abt CASIO 7000.
so jus let me know abt this …so that i can but CTK 7000…
Dear Shashwat,
The CTK-7000 is fully compatible with MIDI applications and can be used as MIDI input/Output device.
In fact, you can use the Keyrig to input data and redirect it to the Casio for output in realtime. All you need is Nuendo in between acting as the router.
HTH
rajib sir,
thanks for ur support….evn i also want to ask u that …..wat shud i do for my dell inspiron that it dnt have any soundcard sopporting to my nuendo 4… wats the alternatve for soolving this problem..
pls suggest me the cheapest way 2 solve this ….
Dear Shashwat,
It is unlikely that your Dell Inspiron has a soundcard that is not supported by Nuendo.
Most onboard Hi-def audio today is provided by Codec based soundcards such as Realtek. These soundcards show up as distinct devices for input and output. For ex: Realtek Hidef output and Realtek Hidef Input.
You must select the devices appropriately.
When you connect the Casio keyboard to your laptop, it will show up as MIDI controller / USB audio device. In Nuendo’s preferences, you should select the Casio keyboard as the MIDI output (not audio output).
In case you are just not able to make the onboard audio work, you could purchase an external PC-Card / USB based dedicated audio hardware such as Creative Lab’s X-Fi Soundblaster Notebook Soundcard.
HTH
hello sir,
Is casio ctk 7000 comes with indian tones and rythams just like ctk 810in?
And in gujarat where can i found it and how much its cost? I m nearby surat city…
Thank u..
Dear Jinal,
The Casio CTK-7000 comes with a very large array of Indian instruments, much larger than the CTK-810IN.
To find a Casio dealer near your place of residence, I suggest that you call JustDial and ask them for dealers of musical instruments who stock the Casio CTK-7000.
In fact, this is the route I used to find dealers in Hyderabad and I negotiated over the phone before visiting the shop to make my purchase.
HTH
thanks…
Dear Rajib, i hope you are doing well. I am having problems with a CTK 7000 as a controller just with the sustain function. It works well with playing, modulation and pitch bend. When it comes to the sustain pedal it just doesnt work in my DAW. Do you have any suggestion to fix the problem? Best regards,
Hernando
Dear Hernando,
I do not have a Sustain pedal connected to my keyboard, hence I cannot cross-check this and troubleshoot.
I feel that (assuming that Sustain pedal is working normally on the keyboard):
– Either the DAW is not recognising the sustain pedal messages: In this case, can you try a few alternate MIDI software? There are a few MIDI diagnostic software available too which simply show you the messages being sent/received from the keyboard on the PC
– The keyboard is failing to send Sustain messages to the PC. This will be a more serious issue. If at all there is an option in the menu to enable all message sending then the issue maybe solvable. If not, it has to be considered as a hardware design defect and the issue should be raised with Casio.
Can someone else please verify this? If you do, please do publish details of your Sustain Pedal’s make/model.
HTH
Dear Mr. Hernando,
can u pls clarify the problem while using sustain pedal?? i understand that you are using your keyboard as midi controller…then u must have sustain pedal connected to sustain port and midi cable to midi port. now if you press sustain pedal while playing and recording through midi software then you are not getting the sustain effect ….is it the problem you are facing now?? just disconnect the midi chord and play like stand alone keyboard with and without pressing sustain pedal…..if you can not find sustain effect then there might be the problem in either sustain pedal itself or in cable/ jack connection. but if you can distinguish the different sustain effect then the problem might be reverse polarity of sustain pedal…it can be solved very easily.
pls tell us the midi software you are using…..if all the above does not solve the problem then follow Mr. Rajib’s advice i.e. to contact CASIO service…..what sustain pedal r u using???
Dear Mr. Rajib, have you tried to use your CTK7000 in MIDI setup?? If yes then please share your experience with us so that we can learn from your valuable experience.
Rgds,
Hi Rajib, between ctk 5000 and ctk 7000, which one is better assuming they cost the same?
thanks
rgds
Dear Wong,
The CTK 7000 is far more desirable than the CTK 5000.
Regards
Hi Rajib, thanks for the prompt reply. I typed the wrong thing in my earlier questions, I had meant to compare ctk5000 with ctk6000 really since they both look to have similar specs. I am no musician, and just trying to buy something for my kids that will last a bit. thanks!
Dear Wong,
You are right that there is little difference between the CTK 5000 and the CTK 6000. In fact, with the CTK 5000’s sampling feature, it is has a higher fun factor than the CTK 6000.
The CTK 6000 on the other hand features improved audio quality, slightly improved notes recording and editing and better styling.
If you are buying a keyboard for your kids, I will suggest that you either go for the CTK 5000 or any other model in the Casio LK (lighted keyboard) series.
HTH
Thanks Rajib. I have put an order in for the CTK 5000.
sub: query regarding freeze option
i rajib. im from vijayawada. i have planned to purchase yamaha e 423. but after watching the demo of ctk 7000 i was so impressed.
but one thing i want to clarify my self is “freeze option”. is it available. should we have to register tone and voice. cant we register only voice such that variety of voices can be played with single rythm with variation in tempo. i owned ctk 810IN. the problem with that is when we select next button in the registration memory the tempo in not staying constant. so finally i ask u that is there any option like freeze in ctk 7000
Dear Srikanth,
The ‘freeze’ feature is called ‘Registration Memory’ on Casio keyboards. On the CTK-7000, the registration memory not only saves the current Tone number, but the current rhythm as well.
So if you save Setup #1 with X tone and Y rhythm, then change the tone to A (keeping the rhythm same) and save it as Setup #2, you should be able to switch between two tones without change in the rhythm.
HTH
thank you
hi. im srikanth again.
can u please tell the quality of mic in. did u check it.
can we perform singling and playing the keyboard at the same time ?
Dear Srikant,
The CTK-7000 supports unbalanced microphones (microphones that do not require external power and only feature a single-pin type output).
However, do not use the cheap Karaoke mics available in the market. The voltage output of these mics is simply too low. A higher quality uni-directional mic from Ahuja should give you much better output. If you can afford a ‘Shure’, then nothing like it.
You can not only sing while playing the keyboard (your voice is input into the keyboard, mixed with the keyboard sounds and output from keyboard), you can also record the entire performance in real-time on the SD Card.
HTH
thank you for ur kind reply. very soon im going to buy this machine.can u help me where can i get this with best price.i stay in vijayawad.
Dear Srikanth,
Unless you know any particular shop in your city (or get a recommendation), I suggest you try Justdial. You can negotiate the best price over the phone and then drop-in to purchase. This is what I did to buy my keyboard at Hyderabad.
HTH
Dear Rajib
I have been reading this blog for a while now (I own a Casio CTK 7000) and I am very pleased with it, but I have some questions that I have searched the net for and yet to find a solution. If you or anyone reading this could help that would be great :0)
Firstly I am learning keyboard and I have been trying to create backing tracks of rhythm so I can concentrate on getting my timing correct with the melody.
To do this I have been creating my own Music Preset and Step inputting the chords. However there are a few drawbacks with this method
1) There seems to be no way of determining in the preset chords for intro, normal , variation etc, they all have to be input chronologically? If this is possible I would assign intro chords to intro, verse chords to normal, chorus chords to variation etc
I know you could make a seperate music preset for each section of song but thought that would be defeating the object eg Verse – Preset 1 Chorus – Preset 2 Bridge – Preset 3 etc
2) Is there no way to input say the chords for the verse and make the preset loop through these chords a set number of times?
3) I cant seem to be able to copy a block of chords and paste them, i have to input the same chords again. e.g say i wanted Am/F/G x4 I would have to enter each individual chord rather than copying Am/F/G and pasting it 3 times?
4) Can you save music presets to individual Registration banks? eg Preset 1 [1-1], preset 2 [1-2] etc?
5) Whenever you try to save a Music Preset it always seems to go to save slot 001, it never remembers the music preset you are working on. Have to manually remember and change the dial to match
I am not sure whether music preset is the best way to achieve what i want and that maybe song sequencer or pattern sequencer is where i should be inputting chords
6) On the pattern sequencer, how can you increase the number of measures from the default one measure?
7) If I record playback from my iPod as audio through keyboard, can I use this as samples in songs?
Any help/feedback/tips would be greatly appreciated regarding any if these queries.
Cheers
Graeme
I checked the prices for the ctk keyboards in bangalore, and find that those are about 2k more than other cities…eg compared with raj musicals,..for ctk 5000 ..it says 11.5 k, while blr price is 14 k….can someone please throw light….I asked furtado, they say they are quoting the box price…its a bit urgent for me, so eagerly waiting for your replies
Dear Biswajit,
Have you enquired at Reliance Digital? Their pricing is fair and uniform.
HTH
Does anyone know the price of ctk 5k, 6k in blr?
I need to know what program I can use to convert wav files on my memory card to something that I can load into the casio wk 6500. I have some nice organ sounds store on a memory card but the casio will not read it. Any suggestions?
Hi Organ Girl2!
Unfortunately the WK-6500 is not a sampling synthesizer and cannot use sample wave data. As a matter of fact, neither is the Casio WK-7500.
What you need is a Sampling Workstation, but let me warn you – they don’t come cheap.
Another workaround would be to use a computer/laptop. There are plenty of Sampler VST Soft-Instruments available that allow you to load your choice of Samples audio (in WAV form) and play them through the computer’s audio output. Your Casio WK-6500 will act as the MIDI controller sending note data to the computer which in turn will play the notes using the audio samples you have loaded. In fact, many of the samplers also allow loading of more than one sample to be played back simultaneously.
You will need a VST host program unless the sampler software you are using is a dedicated program.
Look here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_sampler
HTH
I checked many shops in Blr,including Tata croma(they had two basic casio kbds) but not reliance digital…..and found the least price to be 12.8k(from veena musicals..btw they are almost 100 years old in this trade..was glad to know that)….and went for it..i own it now ad quite pleased so far…however..while doing teh sampling from my cell phone,i noticed that the sampled audio when played thru the keys is quite poor in quality unless the external device outputs in full volume…arpeggio stuff..i had seen better demos/videos..but what i heard was not upto the mark..maybe i did not select the right option for the available arpeggio patterns
Dear Biswajit,
The Audio-in port on the Casio CTK-5000 expects source audio at Line-level. Headphone out works quite well too, though it is recommended that you do not play the audio source at full-volume as you sample the audio. Start with 25-50% volume (on the audio player) and then increase it till the CTK-5000 audio sample is loud but clear (no distortion, grunge, overload etc.).
HTH
Can u plz tell how to import yamaha styles in casio ctk 7000…… is its not possible…. plz tell me ne other way around.
Dear Deepam,
Yamaha styles cannot be imported into CTK-7000. However if you have MIDI files of the styles, there maybe ways of importing them into the CTK-7000 and using them either as custom rhythms or simply in the MIDI player of the keyboard and playing along with it.
HTH
hello sir…
how r u ?
how about the tone editing function in ctk 7000 ? is it works perfectly and can we make tones as we like with its parameters ?
Dear Jinal,
The tone-editing function on the CTK-7000 is limited to controlling a little bit of Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release curves and applying DSP effects. It is not like a synthesizer where you have control right down to the basic Wave pattern that is used to produce the sound.
HTH
thank u sir……..
the other thing i want to share & wants to know that last night on 30/11/2011 i took my casio ctk 810in to the stage for marrige songs playing for first time…other person have korg X5D…i noticed that ctk 810in have no more sound output from its jacks and i m playing only chords but i think its sounds well but on stage output is low…..
so my question is that have the ctk 7000 high output sound from its R-L(mono) jack more than ctk 810in and same as korg ?
thanks…
Dear Jinal,
The amount of current being transmitted from Headphones-out and Line-out sockets of keyboard is standard to prevent burning out of equipment.
Quite possibly the problem on the stage was caused by the amount of amplication offered to your keyboard vs. the Korg.
HTH
thanks boss
means the amount of current is standard and same for all musical instruments for headphone out and line out……….i got it……thanks…….
Hey Rajib,
I came across your blog while searching on net and I found it pretty useful. I noticed that you have replied to almost every person who asked for a query. Thumbs up for that first.
I am going to buy a new keyboard. I have a budget of up to 16k. I have not learned to play keyboard from a musical class or something but my friend had taught me for some days and I became very much interested in this lovely instrument. Although I have not taken classes for playing a keyboard I can manage to play any song that I have listened. Yea it takes time to play the correct tones but I somehow manage to play at least some part of the song. I wanted to know whats the difference between Casio ctk 5000 and ctk 6000 and which is better? If there are any drawbacks of 6000 over 5000 then tell me that also. I would love to have many options to play with.
Thank you. Waiting for reply
Dear Mayur,
Apologies for the rather late reply. I got tied up with personal works and the blog got ignored.
If you have not already picked up a suitable instrument, based on the discussion on my blog the CTK-5000 seems to be more feature rich than the CTK-6000.
In fact the CTK-6000 while providing better quality sounds, actually lags behind the CTK-5000 in fun factors like ‘Sampling’.
That said, my personal preference too would be for a CTK-5000 over a CTK-6000.
HTH
Thanks Rajib for your reply.. I had made a choice to take the ctk-5000 and seems that it was right. I would probably take it in coming week. Will ask you any doubts if I found any while using the instrument. Thanks and Happy new Year..
Can you please tell me which is the best among ctk 5k, 6k and 7k. Thanks in advance
The CTK-7000 is best among the lot. The CTK-5000 should be your next choice.
Nice blog – I think the world needs it 🙂
I have a CTK-7000, and I have songs saved to the SD card. Using the Data Manager, I’m saving CMS format files to my PC (Vista). I read I can make WAV files from the Casio, but I can’t find in its users guide nor in the Data Manager users guide how to do this. Any ideas? They’d be much appreciated. (Looking all over the web and haven’t found one clear answer for this.)
Kevin, can you try the ‘Audio Record’ button when the CMS file is being played on the keyboard?
Recently I was tinkering around on my CTK-7000 and pressing the Audio Record button twice initiates recording of my performance in audio format.
राजीब जी नमस्कार, आशा है आप सानन्द होंगे। मेरी भी एक समस्या केविन की तरह ही है। मैंने 4 GB के SDHC कार्ड पर अपने Casio CTK 7000 में अपनी कुछ ग़ज़लें रिकार्ड की, पर जब मैं उसे अपने लैपटाप पर आडियो के रूप में लाना चाहता हूँ तो ऐसा नही हो रहा है। कार्ड को ओपन करने पर MUSICDAT नामक फाइल दिख रही है पर खुलती नही है और मेरा कार्ड 640 MB तक दिखा रहा है । इस फाइल को कैसे खोलूं ? कृपया मेरा मार्गदर्शन करें।
– प्रसन्न वदन चतुर्वेदी
आदरणीय चतुर्वेदी जी,
Casio keyboards अपनी files DAT फॉर्म में save करते हैं. आप Casio Data Manager के इस्तेमाल से DAT को WAV में बदल सकते हैं.
यहाँ से download कीजिये: http://support.casio.com/download.php?cid=008&pid=340&rgn=5
Thanks rajib ji,
I have downloaded my own ghazal and bhajan on my blog http://www.pbchaturvedi.blogspot.com with the help of data manager.
Way To Go Chaturvedi ji! Terrific!!
To
Rajib Ghosh
m planning to buy a keyboard for me as i want to learn.So which brand and model you going to suggest me as a beginners and also for my future use.Please give your valuable advise.
Dear Deepak,
I do not have any preferences towards keyboards that are purchased for learning. You could learn to play keyboards on Rs. 3000/- machine and you can also do it on a Rs. 30000/- machine.
For starters, fix your budget. Ask your teacher, what make/model does he recommend (most probably a Yamaha I-425). If you can afford it, go for what your teacher recommends.
HTH
quero comprar o yamaha psrs710 e quero saber se vcs enviam para o brasill e qual o preço do frete
Hi,
I really love you blog, very informative and detailed indeed.
I have doubt in mind regarding buying a new keyboard.
I have a budget of 30 k and I’m confused If I should buy either CTK-7000, WK-7500 or Roland E-09?
My focus is on being able to record or compose and have good sound quality. I think for the price Casio offers much more as compared to Roland, yet Roland has great potential in terms of quality of sounds and tones but lacks other features. Should I buy Roland for my purpose or Casio?
A reply would be very helpful.
Thanks and Regards
Dear Mehul,
If you are considering stage performance, then rule out the Casio. Also, if you intend to perform songs that require fast fingering, you may want to avoid the Casio. For both of these, I recommend a Yamaha or a Roland keyboard.
If you are into composing, composing using a computer, consider the Casio CTK-7000 or the WK-7500 (the 76-key version of the CTK-7000). These keyboards offer very decent quality sounds, ample polyphony and simple computer connectivity. With the money left-over from this purchase, you will even be able to buy additional hardware such as a basic mixer (to record audio / physical instruments) and have a better quality studio setup.
HTH
Hi Rajib
I am a keyboad player of western taste , most of the instrument i like is piano.I had checked the demos of casio wk7500 sounds good and realistic.How about the indian tones of it.I have psr e403 planning to change my keyboard. worried about the keys of casio are they good and reliable. or should igod for psr s550 b as i am lack of budget so please sugest me.
Dear Robert,
The Indian tones on the CTK-7000/WK-7500 are pretty good. I like the Sitar, Harmonium. Not a big fan of the Bansuri.
Keys wise, Yamaha users absolutely hate the Casio keyboards. From experience, I can tell you that Casio keys are slightly mushy and not as springy as live-fast players would like them to be.
HTH
Thanks Rajiv
You mean to say the key of wk7500 are not good for fast playing that is only the drawback right.
rest all i liked the features of it.tone editing ,rhy editing and specially many piano flavours which u will not get in any model.
So should i go for wk7500 , or 7600 .
Regards
Dear Robert,
I cannot judge if the Casio keys are good or not since I am not an expert keyboard player. Friends of mine (who are musicians by profession) swear by Yamaha keys and Yamaha live performance features.
Then again, there are plenty of videos on Youtube where professionals are playing Casio keys rapidly.
May I suggest that you get a feel if the keys on the Casio CTK series of keyboards and see if it will work for you. While in India, the WK-7500 may not be on Demo, CTK-5000 / CTK-6300 certainly are.
The WK-7600 is the revised version of the WK-7500 with minor feature upgrades. Hopefully the price difference is not much because features-wise, it is not much of an upgrade.
HTH
hi Sir
I want to start keyboard lesson soon ( hunting for the’right’ teacher now). i kind of zeroed in on 4 products. Need your advice on which is better for a starter and which wont require a replacement for advanced lessons immediately. Yamaha PSR E333, Yamaha PSR E233, Casio CTK 4200, CTK 5000. I have filtered based on the budget , though on checking out at store Yamaha sounded better. Price wise e233 and ctk 4200 falls around 10k and ctk 5000 and psr 3 33 around 14k.
Hi sir
Just got info from a whole seller and he stated that ctk 5000 is having issues with mother board with the latest batch. he asked to wait till 2014 for the fresh pieces to come. rather he suggested ctk 6300in. So please advice on ctk 6300in also. Again i dont want to focus much on indian tones and rather want to learn old piano classics of Beethovan, etc. I learn ctk 7000 is a good piece but a bit off the budget for me.
Dear PianoNovice,
It sounds like your dealer is trying to push the CTK-6300IN over the CTK-5000. The CTK-5000 does not have any know issues with manufacturing. In any case, Casio warranties the keyboard and will repair the keyboard for free.
The CTK-6300IN is more or less the same as CTK-7000. The Piano tones are the same.
If you are keen on expert Piano playback with Western pieces, why not consider an investment in a Digital Piano? Casio makes some budget priced ones. Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Korg make more expensive and expressive models.
If torn between the CTK-5000 and CTK-6300IN over Piano sounds, I will recommend the CTK-6300IN due to it’s higher realism. The CTK-6000 also has the same sound source as the CTK-6300IN and should be slightly cheaper.
HTH
Thanks a lot for your comments. Sorry again to pester you 😀 . How about the model Casio 810in?
Dear PianoNovice,
The CTK-810IN is a pretty dated keyboard. The CTK-5000 is a much better deal in terms of sound quality and features.
If you are constrained by budget, then go for the 810IN; it was a superhit model for quite long.
HTH
sir I have an I455 … but did I purchase ctk 7000 or not… is the tone quality of ctk 7000 is better than 455 .. I m a live performer with band.. I want to know about tone quality of casio 7000…. plz reply
sir I have an yamaha i455 and I want to change it so tell me that d sound quality of casio ctk7000 is better than i425 or i455 .. I m a live performer with band.. tone quality is must for me.. advice me….. is the tone quality is world class not like toy type keyboards….. plz soon sir
Dear Ankit,
I have recorded the Indian tones from my CTK-7000 and uploaded them in the article for your preview.
You can check out some samples of the Indian Rhythms present on the Casio CTK-7000 here: http://www.rajib.com/review-of-casio-ctk-7000/616/
HTH
sir iwant to know that I do jagran and sai sandhya is casio is best for that than yamaha i455 b cos there is no dsp in my yamaha is the tones r better on casio .. can I change yamaha to casio …
Dear Ankit,
Generally speaking, Yamaha keyboards are better suited for live performers. They have enough buttons and intuitive controls to change parameters during a performance with least effort.
Yamaha I455 indeed has DSPs. The two rotary knobs that are present above the second octave, are DSP effect controllers. They give you real-time control over the DSP effects which Casio CTK / WK series keyboards do not.
Tones wise, it is really a matter of personal preference. I doubt if audience present at a live-performance session will even notice or care the tonal superiority of a keyboard. More often than not, the cheap speakers in use at the venue can reduce a $3000 Korg to a $30 toy sold on the streets.
As noted repeatedly in the blog, there are some tones where the Casio is clearly superior and some tones which are simply awesome on the Yamaha.
HTH
राजीव जी नमस्कार,
आशा है आप अच्छे होंगे | मैंने भी लगभग आप के साथ ही CASIO CTK 7000 लिया था या यूं कही कि भारत में आते ही इसे ले लिया था| इस सम्बन्ध में आपसे पहले भी बात हुई थी | मैं इसमें रिकार्डिग भी करता हूँ जो मेरे ब्लॉग या यू-ट्यूब पर भी है (PLZ visit once http://www.pbchaturvedi.blogspot.in) | लेकिन मै अच्छी रिकार्डिग करना चाहता हूँ| इसके लिए क्या प्रयोग करूं ? फिलहाल मेरे पास एक पुराना philips SECMDO90 DYNAMIC MICROPHONE है जिससे मैंने ये रिकार्ड किया है| क्या मुझे किसी अच्छे माइक्रोफोन की आवश्यकता है? या मैं कम्प्यूटर से आडियो इंटरफेस की मदद से रिकार्ड करूं? क्या वहां यह माइक्रोफोन काम आयेगा या दूसरा लेना पड़ेगा ? कौन सी रिकार्डिग बेहतर होगी ?
Dear Chaturvedi ji,
If you want to take your recording to a new high, here are a few suggestions:
1. To improve voice recording quality, switch to Condenser Microphones. These microphones have much better sensitivity and capture a wider range of frequencies. However, these mics also require 48V Phantom power and hence they must be connected to a Mixer that can supply such power.
At the lower end, Ahuja makes condenser mics and basic Mixers (setup cost = Rs.6K-10K). At the mid end, Behringer makes mics and mixers (setup cost = Rs. 10k – 20k) and at the upper end, you can consider Shure Mics with Yamaha mixers (setup cost = Rs. 50k – 100K).
You can also try innovative products such as “Blue” USB microphones that connect to a computer and delivery digital audio to the computer.
2. You may want to include more musicians to your performance. For this, you will certainly need a mixer. You can either opt for M-Audio 2-channel mixers or 4 – 12 channel mixers available in the market from Rs.5K onwards.
The musicians maybe recorded live (as a mixed track for vocals, keyboards, instruments etc.) or recorded one at a time on the computer and then mixed on the computer.
3. You may consider using a multi-track recorder software on the computer. When combined with the equipment mentioned in (1) and (2), you would have setup a complete home-studio. All you will need to do next is devise ways to reduce noise in your recordings.
If you are recording audio on the computer, consider investing in a Creative / Asus sound card instead of using the onboard soundchip of the motherboard. The Creative soundcards are able to handle Audio-clipping (input signal too high) much more gracefully than the onboard soundcard.
HTH
sir,
i am doing grade 2.i am using ctk7000 keyboard.i will use keyboard for worship in stage & learning too.which is best for this.somebody told yamaha & roland is best.shall i switch to psr i455 or roland E09IN.ur opinion on rolandE09in? pls suggest
Dear Dhivagar,
If you are happy with the ctk7000, then by all mean please continue with it.
Between the Roland E09 and the Yamaha I455, think the Yamaha is a better keyboard with a host of new features.
Hth
Hi, Rajib
Can u help me how put the yamaha sty files to CTK 7200, and also how to retain the rhythm if the registration changes i mean any freeze function like yamaha i455.
The Yamaha STY files are not compatible with Casio. Not without considerable rever-engineering like 1) Convert STY to MIDI. 2) Edit MIDI for Casio patches 3) Convert MIDI to Casio format.
Casio’s registration bank records the rhythm that is currently playing. So if you want to retain the same rhythm across two registrations, you will have to ensure that the same rhythm is set during setting of keyboard parameters. The Yamaha’s are much more stage friendly than Casio.
Hi Rajib
I’m 35 years old and wanted to learn Keyboard. Which keyboard should I use to start keeping in mind that same should not be obsolete in next 4-5 years. I can spent approx 20K (+/- 3K).
Kindly help me.
Don’t try and hang on to electronics. They become obsolete and automatically suffer from deterioration over time. My recommendation is stick to the recommendation that your music teacher makes. God willing, you will become a terrific keyboard player and will buy many many keyboards in the future.
Thanks Rajib, as expected and indicated by you in this forum somewhere, my music teacher suggested me to go for Yamaha and I bought PSR I425. Not experienced but quiet happy. Sitar, Harmonium & Tabla sound seems better. Thanks for your suggestion.
Hello Rajib,
I’ve just bought my CTK7000.. I have been using yamaha and korg keyboards since i started playing the piano.. Now, I am not quite satisfied with how the piano sounds on my new board.. The piano sound is not as dynamic as those in yamaha keyboards.. Is there a way for me to download new and “better” piano sound and load it onto my ctk7000? I don’t want to give up too soon on this keyboard.. I like most of its features.. But if I can’t get it to sound to my liking, I might have to sell and buy a yamaha.. Im hoping you can help me.. Thank you so much..
Unfortunately the Casio CTK-7000 does not have user-loadable sounds or a sampling function. You can however use the keyboard as MIDI input to a Software Synth and get access to even higher quality Piano sounds.
hi,rajib, this is anupam ray. can u tell if there is any sus/hold pedl polarity change option in CTK 7300in?
Hi Rajib,
Is there any way I can play the in-built sounds/instruments of CTK7000 connected to my computer using another MIDI keyboard or computer keyboard?
Rajiv Deo
The Casio CTK-7000 is a MIDI Input and Output device. If you have a MIDI keyboard connected to your computer, you can use a MIDI / Audio Recorder software to setup the MIDI routing. The MIDI Input device could be a MIDI Keyboard. You can also convert your computer keyboard to a MIDI event generator using a project like VMPK (http://vmpk.sourceforge.net/). The MIDI output device should be set to the Casio CTK-7000.
Thank Rajib for your reply. My actual specific question was regarding, how do I generate Harmonium 2 sound specific to CTK7000 from a computer? If I send MIDI OUT, my experience is by default the sound generated is of Piano unless I send MIDI parameters before. I am able to change the instruments on CTK7000 but have not found out how to use the internal soundbank of CTK7000?
BTW, I opened my CTK7000 and found that CTK7000 is actually well documented AT-5.
Please share if you have done any research on using the internal CTK7000 Instruments.
Hi mr rajib ghosh,
I have owned CTK7300IN. I want to know if we can connect a condenser microphone into the ctk7300IN without phantom power? Will ot sounds good? Need your kind suggestion.
Thanks