All you Casio WK-3000/3500 owners! Casio Europe has updated their site and added (100) new (Tone With Wave) samples to the site! For all you 80's fans out there, the Europe site has converted tons of the famed sounds from the Casio CZ series I've been downloading them all, and they sound really good! For those who don't know, the Casio WK's allow you to download new sounds into the keyboard. These sounds are totally independent from the internal sound source and are completely new samples. Some are fairly large too.
http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/emi/cms/wk3500/

Squeak

So how is that WK3500 working out for you. You've been using it for quite a while now and must have formed some definate opinions on the sound and styles.

Nigel,
The WK-3500 is working very well for me. I think I played this board more in that past few months than I did the entire time I owned the PSR-550 I'm just more inspired to play the Casio because of several things. I could not stand most of the bass guitars on the 550 especially the slap bass. The Casio has really good bass guitars, that I feel are better than the 550's. Also I could not live with the saxes on the 550. They had no bottem end and no punch. Sure the sweet tenor was nice, but there was no sax to really blow out a solo with. The WK-3500 saxes are (how should I say) mouth watering The velo tenor and velo alto are really nice. Plus the other saxes outside the velo ones are very strong. I truly love having 76 keys and having both pitchbend and modulation wheels. One feature that keeps me smiling is the ability to load new wave samples into the WK. If you know what you're doing you can get some nice voices in there Basically if I bought the PSR-3000 tomorrow I would still keep the WK-3500. You can't go wrong with this keybaord in your home. Many have complained about the limited sequencing tracks, and no style editing, but there are ways around that as well.... If I want to loop drum tracks I use my drum machine (besides, the drum machine is going to give you better drums anyways), and if I want to record a huge composition with more than 6 tracks I have software for that. Plus there are several FREE midi sequencing software programs on the web too.

Squeak

I played at a WK 3500 in a store (local reps) last week, for about 30 minutes. The sounds are WAY better than my 10 year old casio, and it was something I expected, however, they sounded more comparable to PSR 1000 for me, nowhere near the PSR 1500 and up.
On the other hand, the styles were not so good, at least compared to the one I have (CTK-750, Casio flagship in 1994, same sound engine as early WK models, 128 styles, GM tones and another 50-60 interesting sounding "magic tones"). Some styles were exacty the same. The guys at Casio should have worked more, and it is a pity they didn't include 4 variations.
The keys had a different feeling, but I think I liked it, and there are plenty of them, which is a nice thing.
I agree that it is a step up, but IMHO it is better suited to someone who has never touched real keyboards before (eg music student etc). Anyone with some experience will probably outgrow it easily. (excludind master keyboard use.)
For me, it wasn't a dissapointment, but not a significant step forward either. I play at home, for my own recreation, and I probably expected to hear something more "fresh".

The price: MORE THAN 800 EUROS incl VAT, in Athens, Greece. I can mail order from the UK to my doorstep, for less than 500 Euros. The local Casio representatives, should pull their finger out. Price for MZ2000: 1670 Euros, didn't get to hear it, they had no adapter available at the moment.

Even though it's a home keyboard it still packs a punch for what you pay It's obviously no PSR-3000, but it gets the job done. As far as styles I dont see too much of the older models. I do hear the MZ-2000 throughout this keyboard! It's like Bluezplayer said "It's like a junior MZ-2000". That's basically what it is too. It would have been nice if they carried over the style recording they had on the models before this, but they added so much to the new and with all these additions something had to go to keep the price down. I don't think Casio really aimed this keyboard for people like us (those who are heavy into writing music and thos of us who record our own styles)...... Everyone I knew who owned the WK's prior to the 3000/3500 didn't even use the style recorder. I will say that when they release the next model, if it's anything better than my WK-3500 I'll buy it without question. I think Casio is on the right road here.

Squeak

I agree in "the right road" remark Squeak. Even if I am nowhere near creating my own styles, and I just play for myself, (or make quick 4 note polyphony covers for my mobile)I liked the sounds (of course), I liked the layout of the various keys, (thank god the style variation keys were BIG) but yes, the "pops1" or "rock" something style is IDENTICAL to the No 027 style in the decade old CTK that I have. Others were too, I just don't rememeber their names
Anyway, as it was noted in a post here long before the HD crash, they (casio) seem not to be really interested or strategically looking into producing mid or high end keyboards. Everyone here says MZ was a right step but they just stayed there.
I'd drool over a 4 intro/variation/ending, more styles, USB quipped WK-4000.
Though I never got to play it, the key touch of the MZ on display felt different than the WK, the WK was a little stiffer. I liked it.
thanks for taking the time to read my posts.
Theodore

Yeah they were on the right road with the MZ-2000. I don't think they did as well as they hoped with that model..... Casio was know in the 80's with the CZ series and those units were used on stage by a lot of bands, but from that time on they've been known for the home market which is why everyone refers to them as toys now. The MZ-2000 was no toy. I used to own one. Many dismissed the board from the start just because it was a Casio. I honestly wasn't too sure on it myself. After I bought the thing I was shocked. Too bad the public didn't take to it. They did however do a good job and keeping some of the MZ features and adding them to another affordable model. They're doing well with the digital piano dept. though.

Squeak