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(More customer reviews)I purchased this Casio portable keyboard to replace a Yamaha instrument that had apparently gotten fried inside from having used the wrong AC power adapter. Not to mention that my very old Casio MT240 has either mysteriously disappeared from my house, or, more likely, has been stashed away so well that I can't find it. After searching for the missing keyboard for several weeks without any luck, I decided that I needed to buy another keyboard, since it bothered me that I had no portable instrument to take to picnics, nursing homes, Christmas gatherings, and otherwise perform on the go.
The Casio CTK720 is a very basic keyboard, primarily designed for a beginner. However, there are plenty of features to satisfy the intermediate player and the keyboard hobbyist, such as myself. It has 61 full-size keys; 32-note polyphony; auto-accompaniment, in which the player may play a chord with one finger, or use the "fingered" mode, where one must hold down all the keys in a chord in order to get any sound from the left-hand side of the keyboard.
There are many styles and voices from which to choose when playing this instrument. Plus, there is a three-step teaching system to aid the beginner keyboardist. To add to the fun, there is a microphone jack so one can sing along while playing or listening to the built-in songs on this keyboard. In total, there are 100 songs in this instrument, divided into two banks: a piano bank, with traditional piano songs; and a song bank, with fully orchestrated songs. There is a jack to accommodate an AC power adapter. It would probably be wise to purchase the Casio AD5R Adapter and only use 6 AA batteries when playing this instrument outdoors or in a place where there may not be an available electrical outlet. I've been able to use my original Casio AD5 Adapter, which had been used with my MT240 and other small Casio instruments that I had bought, sold, traded, or just plain given away, through the years.
The Casio CTK720 has an earphone jack for private playing, and a jack to accommodate a sustain pedal, if a person should choose to use one. In my opinion, a sustain pedal definitely improves the sound when playing a portable keyboard. The playing isn't so choppy.
One of the things that appealed to me about this keyboard is that there are dedicated sliding switches to adjust the volume levels for the master, microphone, and auto-accompaniment volumes. This is reminiscent of the older Casio instruments. There is also a USB port to connect the CTK720 to a PC to download styles and other files from the Casio Web site. I haven't really done anything with that.
This keyboard does not have touch sensitivity. The piano and other voices are adequate enough, but they certainly don't compete with the more expensive instruments that I own. However, it beats my cheesy late-eighties Casio hands down, pardon the pun. If you want to improve the sound, hook the CTK720 to a small keyboard amp. I have a Crate KX15. The amplifier's 3-band equalizer and the 15 watts of power, compared to the 4 watts in this Casio, will make a big difference.
If you seriously want to study music, this is not the keyboard to buy. I bought it for pure fun, portability and ease of use; and also because it was a clearance item from another online store. I was able to get free shipping because I also purchased a gig bag in order to transport this instrument. The keyboard was only $79.00 and the gig bag was $29.99. A great price for a piano in a bag, wouldn't you say?
In summary, I wouldn't pay more than $100.00 for this keyboard. There are a lot of rhythms that I wouldn't even use. Though there are many voices, the organs and synths are pretty weak. The overall sound quality is certainly listenable, but nothing to write home about. It is simply a good basic keyboard for the budgetk-conscious person. A fun piano one can put in a bag.
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