Casio CTK7000 61 Key Portable Keyboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have both the ctk 7000 and the wk-7500 and they each are worth more than the price. Casio has made a vast improvement on the key bed settings. The annoying click of the keys that plagued earlier models is gone.The keyboars is beautiful to look at. The layout of the switches, buttons and drawbars is very funtional and comprehensive. I did like the blue screen on the ctk 5000 but the well lit screen on the newer models is still pleasant to the eyes as arethe blue lights that indicate the instrument nd rhythym choices.
As I said with the wk 7500, the 7000 is not geared towards novice players in that there are no teaching tools of the 'how to play the piano' variety provided. Earlier Casio models have the play along features for beginners so if that's where you are at, try the Lk series. This is a serious workstation. With 16 tracks for recording per song, you can create incredible pieces for performances or personal satisfaction. An sd card (not included) allows you to save your creations for future use, though you can save up to six songs on the keyboard.The tone editor let's you modify any sound to the point where you can creat an jnfinite number of new sounds. The rhythym editor allows you to modify beats and rhythyms and to also create your own beats and rhythyms. The tones are incredibly realistic, rivalling boards that cause three times as much, and as I previously stated, you can edit what you don't like. The keys are touch sensitive but you canturn off the sensitivity for the entire keyboard or adjust the sensitivity for the individual tones. You can record sounds from outside sources and up to 10 minutes. You cannot change the sounds but you can use them in your compositions.On top of this you get a functioning drawbar organ that puts the organs of many high end boards to shame. This keyboard has 48 note polyphony.
The keyboard connects to the internet with a USB cord. There is however no midi connection with another key board. If you have an IPad, you can connect it to the keyboard to run Appss such as Garage band etc... If you are a serious artist, don't let the price of this board fool you. You get more than you pay for.

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Nord Electro 3, 73-Key Electronic Stage Piano and Organ (AMS-NE373) Review

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(More customer reviews)I sold my Electro 2 so I could partially buy the latest model. After using it a few weeks it's clear how much better it could have been. Here are the good and bad:
Good:
- New sounds including Vox Continental, Farfisa, harpsichords and samples.
- Better Hammond organ sound.
- Better piano sounds but they take up a lot of memory and do not have keyboard resonance features of the Nord Stage EX.
- Sample software allows you to create your own sounds, organize your patches and is easy to use.
- More built-in effects including reverb, compression and 3 different amplifier distortions.
- USB (not MIDI) interface to download patches.
Bad:
- Limiting up/down buttons plus A/B patch selector makes it difficult to get to the sounds you want quickly. The Electro 2 had 8 buttons plus bank up/down which is more useable.
- Unergonomic button layout makes navigation difficult. For example, the shift button is too far from the organ presets making it impossible to play and switch presets at the same time.
- Lack of effect amount knobs as on the Electro 2. You are stuck with toggling through only 3 preset amount settings.
- Ring modulation should not be an oscillator like tremelo. The Electro 2 is correct.
- New Vox and Farfisa sounds aren't that accurate.-
- Expression pedal always effects organ volume so there is no way to do Wah-Wah organ.
- Only 64 MB of onboard sample library memory means you'll be limited to how many sounds you can use at a time.
- Sample software is limiting and doesn't allow for more than one sample per key, assigning polyphony, glide (portamento) or other patch functions.
- No pitch wheel. Nord provides many synthesizer samples but, there's no way to control them. The Electro 3 cannot receive pitch bend MIDI commands from another keyboard either.
- No modulation wheel. Why bother having any synthesizer sounds without modulation.
- Same non-weighted keyboard feels junky.
- Expensive.
[DW]

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Much like it's predecessors, the Nord Electro 3 Seventythree stage piano/organ meets the demands of the performing keyboard player. It offers up some of the best stuff Nord has to offer in affordable and easy-to-use instruments. The keyboard is compatible with the Nord Piano library and takes full advantage of the Library's multitude of velocity layers, pedal-down samples, and extremely high quality samples providing you with unprecedented expressiveness. The keybed itself features a 73-key (6 octaves) velocity-sensitive, semi-weighted "waterfall" (square front) keyboard to help make this possible. Any current or future piano that is available for the Stage family will also automatically be available to the Nord Electro 3.Exquisited New PianosRight from the start, the Electro 3 is loaded with a great selection of pianos. There are 3 acoustic grands (2 Yamaha C7s and one Steinway D) and 2 electric grands. Electric piano aficionados will love the time-based types; an Mk I, a Suitcase Mk I, an Mk II and an Mk V all with their unique and distinctive personalities. A great Wurlitzer A200 is present, as is the mighty Clavinet D6. The Clavinet type also includes the Harpsichords. There is a French harpsichord in the factory sound bank, and more to come in the Nord Piano Library download area. Each and every one of these pianos can be replaced if you wish. There are plenty more to choose from in the Library area, including some XL versions of Nord's grand pianos, with even more details like added velocity layers and pedal-down samples. And all those sounds are available for free.Samples from the Nord LibraryNot only loaded with great piano sounds, the Electro 3 also sports some great samples to add flavor to your sonic arsenal. You'll find some of the classic Mellotron sounds, a selection of strings, celeste, vibraphone, and many others. And, just as with the piano partition, all of the samples can be replaced if the factory selection does not suit your immediate needs. You

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