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#144973 - 11/16/03 12:25 PM Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
LindaFus Offline
Member

Registered: 10/28/00
Posts: 297
Loc: Ledyard, CT USA
Hi Everyone!

First:

Tom,

Congrats! I am still not a Grandma! I am too young! hehe

Dan, congrats on the being a new store owner! Good for you! Still have my PSR you sold me and very happy with it.

AJ,Tom,Denny,Squeak and Uncle Dave,

I have to say that this new Casio is nothing at all like the older model WK-1800. So far, I have found that the software that you download from their website,
http://www.music.casio.com/e/data_ex2/

is pretty darn good. I had no problems downloading and transfering the data to the keyboard. The entire keyboard can be accessed with this software. I have not tried all of the options yet but there is 2MB of flash memory and a memory bar on the software so you know how much memory you have used. You can create your own sounds in wave format and use them as tones in the keyboard as well. I have not created one yet but it looks very simple to do. There is so much you can do with the Music Data Management Software 2.0 that it would be best to read the manual that you can download from the link above. The entire keyboard settings can be changed from this software.

Now for the SmartMedia card. All of the keyboard settings can be saved into the smartmedia card. The slot takes up to 128mb of data. I believe you can also save your songs as midi SMF0 with this card. I am not sure yet. This was a big reason I got rid of the MZ2000. It would not let you save your accomp data to a midi track in SMF0 format. It used a proprietory format. I will let you know if it allows for this soon. I believe it does.

Squeak, I see no information in the recording tracks section about loop recording. However, thats not to say it does not. Casio manuals are not ever complete.

The breathy alto sax tone. Oh my, they took it right from the MZ! Yep, its there. I love that sound. It has many many more tones that I believe are from the MZ. Only bad thing is that the keyboard is 32 note polyphony and I believe that many of the styles would be fuller if there were more.

The feel of the keyboard is great! I use it mainly to control the PSR 2000 but now there are so many features on it that I will use. For $399 I can not see how they did all this for that price. Its a very nice board and not what you would expect from Casio. I am happy with it and would recommend this board to anyone who is techno minded and wants to be creative.

The speaker system is also improved and it has a real volume knob! No sliders! Also, the drawbar organ function is similar to the Mz. They put an exit button near the screen so you can get out of submenus easier. They also have curser pads. The DSP is very extensive. The synth functions are also very extensive (I do not use these if I can help it LOL)

The styles are a bit more modern than other keyboards and different from the PSR which is a plus for me. I like having different styles to pick and choose from. You can also make a rythm pattern from a midi file.

My final conclusion I will not give as I know as I learn to use the board it will have those oh so familar limitations. But, for the price? I am not and will not complain. I will keep you all updated.

Take care,

-Linda

P.S. The WK-1800 is up on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2573889673
_________________________
Linda F
Casio Privia PX-560 - Korg Micro Arranger - Casio MZ X500

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#144974 - 11/16/03 12:57 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
Bluebird Offline
Member

Registered: 07/02/02
Posts: 142
Linda
congratulations, you have a good kb.

It seems new Casio WK3000 and WK3500 are now the best buy for the money (not more Yamaha or Roland).

Casio can make a good kb with so much things (2 Mb, smart media card, importing of sounds, 76 keys, not bad key feel...), and only 399$!!!. Why Yamaha and others can't?

Yamaha, listen and see!
Technics, Casio... use smart card in their kbs, and better key feel. Why Yamaha don't?

I hope you will do the same, if not...

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#144975 - 11/16/03 01:55 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
lukitoh Offline
Member

Registered: 08/15/00
Posts: 550
Loc: Hayward, CA, USA
If CASIO has 4 variations like PSR2000/2100 then this baby will sell like hotcakes. Also a similar user interface with big screen (no need for color). This kybd is far better the previous WK series. Without the floppy is less than $300 Wow !

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#144976 - 11/16/03 04:06 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
TomTomSF Offline
Member

Registered: 03/24/99
Posts: 736
Loc: Half Moon Bay, CA, USA
Hi Linda

Thanks for your mini-review. I must say, for that unbelievably low price, I am tempted to get one myself. I think it would be great fun to see what this Casio can do!

Tom G.
_________________________
Tyros 4

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#144977 - 11/16/03 05:21 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
LindaFus Offline
Member

Registered: 10/28/00
Posts: 297
Loc: Ledyard, CT USA
Hi All,
I just saved a recorded song from memory to the 128 SmartMedia card in SMF0 format. This makes my day!! YEAH CASIO!! A real hard drive to work with too. I think this is the first Casio keyboard I have ever used that actually saves its internal recorded songs in SMF0 format!

-Linda
_________________________
Linda F
Casio Privia PX-560 - Korg Micro Arranger - Casio MZ X500

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#144978 - 11/16/03 05:46 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
rattley Offline
Member

Registered: 11/14/99
Posts: 832
Loc: Punta Gorda Florida USA
I'm still in love with my Yamaha PSR2000, but was a Casio fan in the past. Can you really compare this Casio at $399 to a $1000 Yamaha?? I'm naturally skeptical.........How's the sound quality? How many variations on the styles? Online resources?
I might have to check this out!

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#144979 - 11/16/03 06:02 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
LindaFus Offline
Member

Registered: 10/28/00
Posts: 297
Loc: Ledyard, CT USA
Rattley,
I have a PSR2000 sitting above the Casio WK3500. Yes, the sounds on the Casio are as good and some are better then the PSR2000. I love them both!

-Linda
_________________________
Linda F
Casio Privia PX-560 - Korg Micro Arranger - Casio MZ X500

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#144980 - 11/16/03 06:57 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
squeak_D Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 4715
Loc: West Virginia
Linda,
Where can I get a downloadable manual for the 3000/3500? I can't seem to find them anywhere. I looked on Casio's Site, but all I found was a manual for something relating to midi..

Squeak
_________________________
GEAR: Yamaha MOXF-6, Casio MZX-500, Roland Juno-Di, M-Audio Venom, Roland RS-70, Yamaha PSR S700, M-Audio Axiom Pro-61 (Midi Controller). SOFTWARE: Mixcraft-7, PowerTracks Pro Audio 2013, Beat Thang Virtual, Dimension Le.

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#144981 - 11/16/03 08:16 PM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
George Kaye Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 3305
Loc: Reseda, California USA
Linda,
A great review! Thank you very much. I would like to give my opinion of this keyboard now that I've had the WK3000 in my store for a few days.
First, I really thought I would not give Casio a second chance because of my past experiences with the company. Last week, however, a former sales rep from a different keyboard company came in to see me and he has become the Casio independent rep here in California. He brought in a WK3000 for me to try. I had seen one at a local Costco retail chain several weeks ago and it was not plugged into electrical so I didn't get to hear it. Looking at it, it didn't seem very different from the WK1800 except I thought it looked less confusing in it's button layout(I was right because after trying it I realized it is much easier to use than previous models). After I was shown around the board by my rep, I decided to try out all the sounds and styles. First I was impressed with the feel of the keys and the sound from the speakers. Loud and full of bass! The piano sounded really good but I didn't like all the reverb. I quickly realized I could turn off the DSP button and now I had the dry acoustic piano. It sounded really good and when I then discovered I could re-program the reverb effect and store it in a user location (600 and up) I was very impressed with the piano sound. I thought the electric pianos were very good but not as many choices as the Yamaha's have. The sax and brass samples are really good. The flute is very breathy. The drawbar organs with fast and slow leslie variations assigned to the mod button or wheel are great. Keyboard magazine stated that they rivaled the Roland VK7 and I have to agree. The acoustic bass and electric basses were good and so were the guitars but don't try to compare these with the PSR2100. If you are comparing them to the Yamaha DGX202 which sells for the same price as the WK3000 then the Casio does a better job in most sounds. The Piano will compete with the PSR2100 and so will the Organs but I like the Yamaha sounds better in the higher priced keyboards. But this is still saying a lot for the Casio, especially when you realize how inexpensive it is!
The styles left me with mixed feelings. The styles are generally very good and they've even done a nice job of using acoustic guitars being strummed in some of the styles, but in some variations, the ride cymbal and crash cymbal sounds could be improved. I think the Yamaha styles in their PSR2100 and Tyros of course have more authentic sounds and variations, but for $300.00 Casio has done a fine job. One thing I wish casio would have done is to show you on the screen or using lights above their buttons which variation you are playing. You can't know if you're using variation 1 or variation 2.
One thing I would like to mention is that on the WK3000, and I believe the WK3500 as well (I don't have these yet), there is no user style programming. You can download styles from the casio website and according to Linda you can make styles from Midifiles (I haven't found this yet, but perhaps this is something you can do at the Casio website but not in the keyboard) but you can't make user styles in the keyboard which is something the Yamaha PSR550 and up can do. The sequencer is a 6 track song sequencer which allows you to record the accomp and right hand on track one (however you can't record a layer sound if you choose a layered sound only the first sound will be recorded) and you can add 5 more melody tracks after the first track. One thing I noticed is if you record on track 2 first, there is no metronome function so if you want to go in and record your style on track 1 next, you won't be able to sync the rhythm unless you are outstanding at watching the swinging metronome figure on the screen (pretty hard to do, I actually tried it!).
I also want to mention to bluedbird that Yamaha does make a keyboard with a smart media card. It is the PSRK1 entertainment keyboard with Karaoke features, a mic and smart media for storage of songs you create and you download from the internet.
Keyboard magazine states that this keyboard rivals many keyboards up to $1000.00. If you need a 76 key keyboard with very good sounds, decent styles (however I like the Yamaha's better in products like the PSR2100 and I do realize the price is a lot more than the Casio) pretty good recording....by the way, there is no loop recording mode. You can record in real time, step time, you can even edit the note pitch and velocity, but the recording is linear not loop.......then this keyboard is a winner! After Casio came out with the WK1800, Yamaha reavaluated their PSRGX76 and came out with the DGX202. I'm sure after Yamaha sees the WK3000/3500 their engineers will be busy creating their next keyboard to rival this board. In the meantime, I'm excited to see this new board, I've ordered dozens of them for the holidays and as long as I have a good new Casio rep (the company never answers phone calls when I call and I get no customer support from them) I agree with all that this is a major player in the entry level and even for the advanced player keyboard.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
_________________________
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene (Closed after 51 years)
West Hills, California
(Retired 2021)

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#144982 - 11/17/03 05:51 AM Re: Some Thoughts on my new Casio WK-3500
LindaFus Offline
Member

Registered: 10/28/00
Posts: 297
Loc: Ledyard, CT USA
George,

Thanks for your detailed review as well.

Do you know where the manual can be downloaded? I think that will give everyone a better picture of what the keyboard can do. I could only find a midi implementation chart.

Thanks,

-Linda
_________________________
Linda F
Casio Privia PX-560 - Korg Micro Arranger - Casio MZ X500

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