Casio CTK Review

The Casio CTK-2100 is a low-cost keyboard with a 61-key piano-style layout. Includes a USB port for general MIDI support. This keyboard is aimed at beginners, with a Step-up learning system that gives instructions on how to play.

The positives:

Lots of features and functions for the price. 150 rhythms, a sampling function, a voice pad function, and the ability to connect a CD or MP3 player via the audio input so you can play your favorite song on the keyboard. It has a step-by-step learning system that makes it easy to hear the progress made in your gaming skills.

It has hundreds of pre-programmed songs that are broken down and show you exactly how to play them, note by note. A great teaching aid.

• New voice keyboard feature
• New 48-note polyphony AHL sound source
• 400 tones, 150 rhythms
• New StepUp lesson system
• sampling function, audio input terminal for mp3 player

The negatives:

This is a beginner keyboard at a budget price. Therefore, the key weight is light. You may hear the click of the keys when you press them. You can’t affect the pitch by pressing the keys hard or soft, like with a real piano or a more expensive keyboard. But this is not a big deal for most people who buy a keyboard in this price range.

• Headphones can be difficult to understand (premium package).
• Stand can be difficult to put together (premium package).
• The LCD screen is not very bright, which requires good lighting to see.
• Occasional packaging problems.

The Casio CTK-3000 has a 61-key piano-style touch-sensitive keyboard, 400 total built-in tones, 150 rhythms and digital effects. It has a Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for an MP3 player, a USB port for MIDI implementation, and a pitch wheel.

The positives:

The touch sensitive keys make it more like playing a real piano and therefore good value for money.

• Lots of built-in tones, rhythms, and effects for the price.
• The digital readout is easy to see.

The negatives:

• The keys are light and can be prone to noise, like any budget keyboard.
• The music headline on the keyboard is not the best.
• It does not come with an AC adapter.

The Casio CTK-4000 is an affordable instrument with a 61-key piano-style touch-sensitive keyboard, 570 total built-in tones, 180 rhythms, and reverb plus digital chorus effects. Packed with great features like Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson System, audio inputs for an MP3 player, and a USB port for MIDI.

Featuring a 61-note piano-style keyboard, touch-sensitive keys, 570 sounds, 180 rhythms, digital reverb and chorus effects, built-in USB, and an audio input for an MP3 player.

The positives:

It doesn’t feel as cheap as some of the cheaper models.

• Quality digital sounds
• Lots of volume with a full, rich and improved sound than lesser models (AHL and arpeggiator).
• Velocity sensitivity, also known as touch response (note that velocity sensitivity is the speed with which you press the keys, not the pressure with which you press the keys).
• 48-note polyphony (24 notes for double-layered tones like Strings Piano)
• Split function: divide the keyboard into 2 zones, anywhere. Supports octave shift (1 octave) of each zone.
• Layer Function: Layer 2 sounds for a rich effect. Layer effects only on the right side area if the split function is active. If you use double-layered tones, up to 4 instrument sounds are produced simultaneously.
• Adjustable Reverb (10 levels), Chorus (5 levels), Key Transpose (12 notes), Octave Shift (2 octaves), Pitch Tune (approx. 100 cents), Preset Scales (16 scales)
• Auto-Harmonize function: 12 types, adds additional notes to your playback, active only if automatic accompaniments are active.
• 90 arpeggiator patterns: up, down, U/A type A, U/D type B, random. Arpeggio hold function.
• 305 Music Presets: Based on popular songs, the tones, rhythms, tempo, and other settings are available as presets on the keyboard. Just select the preset and start playing. Songs include Careless Whispers, How Deep Is Your Love, Killing Me Softly
• One-Touch Rhythm Presets: When selecting a rhythm, activate the rhythm preset to automatically select the appropriate tempo and pitch. Very useful if you’re moving from Trance (140 bpm) to Slow Jazz (80 bpm) and don’t feel like hammering the tempo button 60 times or hitting multiple keys to change the pitch from Synth to Sax.
• Full Range Chord – In this mode, the keyboard recognizes and plays chords if 3 keys anywhere on the keyboard are pressed. Chord selection is no longer limited to the left area of ​​the keyboards. Very useful for Indian harmonium players who normally play melodies with chord formation.
• Indian tones (15) and rhythms (7 types)
• Excellent training features and on-screen help.

The negatives:

• No weighted keys
• without pitch wheel
• Stored music settings cannot be saved.

The Casio CTK-5000 is the flagship of the CTK series. Featuring a 61-key piano-style touch-sensitive keyboard, 670 total built-in tones, 200 rhythms and reverb plus digital chorus effects. Packed with great features, like Casio’s famous Step-up Lesson system, audio inputs for an MP3 player, pitch wheel for additional expression over sounds, line outputs, and a USB port for MIDI. All of this makes the CTK-5000 more realistic and expressive than ever before in this price range.

Featuring a 61-note piano-style keyboard, touch-sensitive keys, 670 sounds, 200 rhythms, digital reverb and chorus effects, built-in USB, line outputs, pitch wheel for added expression, and audio input for a player of MP3.

The positives:

• Better key action than lesser models. The keys seem to be somewhat weighted. The keys are less noisy than lesser models.
• Acoustic sounds are realistic.
• The speakers are great, very loud and no noise.
• Great ability to layer sounds.
• A fantastic selection of 90 harmonies and arpeggios.
• Full range chord function (the keyboard automatically selects the correct chord).
• 32 registration memories (store keyboard setups like pitch, style, tempo, layers and recall with the touch of a button).
• More than 800 sounds.
• XLR outputs.
• Recorder: 6 tracks x 5 songs, 1 lesson song, approximately 12,000 notes total.
• Metronome.
• Added pitch wheel.

The negatives:

• Access and programming are time consuming.
• The manual is not entirely clear on some issues.