New Casio WK-3700 and WK3200 !!!!!!!!!

These are listed on the Europe site
http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/emi/wk3200/
http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/emi/wk3700/

From what I see there's 20 more sounds, 20 more patterns, AND GET THIS...., instead of 2.0mb of flash rom-an increase to 32mb's of flash rom Holy Crap! the Samples you can load into that... There's also an IDES CD Rom Included with the unit. It looks like the colors have changed a little too.

Squeak

Squeak,
I don't know if you have seen this:
http://www.casio-europe.com/euro/emi/czsounds/

there is also a new CTK-900, same thing as WK 3200 & 3700 minus wheels and FDD.

Now imagine this as a tone module for $199.

Let's pray they come up with an MZ 3000

Is the MZ series higher then the WK series. I have have heard demos formt he MZ-2000 which were satisfactory. I don't know how much this KB cost ( MZ-2000), so I can't comments on its price to performance ratio. Furhter, since it has been discontinued, its older technology may have been the reason for its mediocre sounds/styles. I wonder how the WK-3700 compares?

Regards;
BN

hmm I had a casio 3500 for 2 weeks , liked it except it couldnt switch registration banks without having midi glitches (couldnt keep steady beat),, hehe would 30 mb more of flash rom memory fix this??? If so hmm im getting interested!

So what's supposed to be the big difference?
They both look like WK-3000/3500 's to me,IMHO.

It seems that there is 4 variations instead of the usual 2 variations. Is that right ???

If so, I will rush to buy this asap. I hope the price stays the same too.

Casiobot,
There are several differences. There are more voices, more patterns, I believe more room for registrations and the HUGE HUGE HUGE difference is 32mb of flash rom compared to the current 2mb (where only 1.5mb is really available to use). You can load some killer samples into the new models. Hell you could download a 10mb piano sample if you wanted.

As far as variations I'll have to take another look. Not sure if I saw (4), but if that's the case GREAT!

BlkNotes, the MZ-2000 was Casio's flagship board. The only things the new WK models have over the MZ (from the WK-3000 and up) is 76 keys, ability to load new samples, and smart media storage. Aside from those things the MZ puts the WK's in the dust.

I'll be upgrading to the new models when released. I'll probably still keep my original 3500 though.

Timo1, you're right about the midi glitches when using the registration banks. I wrote to Casio on this one and asked them to fix it on the next models. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's there. I noticed it when using my drum machines midi'd to the WK-3500. When I used registration buttons, it stuttered the drum machine.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-06-2005).]

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-06-2005).]

Just had a look at the variations. Look's like it's still the same. 2 intros, 2 endings, and 2 variations.

The German site has it listed for $549 Euros... What's that in US dollars???? Also from what I read on another Casio forum the German site states there are (improved sounds) Just 32mb flash rom is HUGE to me.


Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-06-2005).]

$549 Euros = $706 U.S. but the actual price when it lands in the U.S. might be lower.
32mb wave rom is huge. The Yamaha PSR550 has 8 megs and Roland EM20 has 8 megs. PSR1500 has 16 megs. just for comparison.
Starkeeper



[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 04-06-2005).]

Dear Squeak_D;

Can one incraese the memory to more then 32 Mb? If so, one could load in many high quality samples. Like a couple hundred Megs worth of smart card. There are PC cards that are 1-8 Gb.

Regards;
BN

I Tried 2 Casio's (and not the least: MZ-2000 and WK-3000) but I couldn't get used to the styles of Casio. Many of the sounds are of an equal quality or even better than Yamaha (especially organ sounds!) but I find the styles not very player friendly. Is this because I'm a European player or do others feel the same?

Bert.

I found the styles to be too busy for me. They are more youth oriented, IMO. You could add 16 user styles though.
Organ sounds on the Casio were very good and lots of them. No voices even close to Yamaha's sweet voices.
The key feel is excellent with full size keys, but the quality is a concern to me. Squeak said the keys made noise after a while. I would find that annoying.
Starkeeper

[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 04-06-2005).]

but still only 32 note polyphony...HUGE drawback..

peace, out

Did the keys Squeak?


Regards;
BN

Isn't that what Yamaha psr2000 has? Any real problems with the polyphony?

On german "ebay shops", the current prices are ~600E for the WK 3500 and ~450 for the WK 3000
If it had 4 variations I would commit murder over it.
Starkeeper 32 MB are for user loaded waves, the actual ROM for the sounds is probably a lot less.

Trident,
I was very surprised to see 32mb's for flash memory. Hell the flash memory is bigger than the memory for the internal sounds. 32mb's is a lot of space for loading sounds.

Like Starkeeper said, the user sample area is bigger than the PSR 1500's whole sound set.

The styles as with any keyboard are subjective--this topic we've all beat to death in the past Personally I liked more of the funk, hip hop, and R&B styles on the WK's. Even some of the basic 8 beat and 16 beat styles have a more modern groove to them.

BlkNotes, I don't think you can increase the memory above 32mb's. However you still have to consider that 32mb's is a lot of space (especially coming from a Casio keyboard). You could load a 10mb piano sample (which would blow the socks off of quite a few out there), and still have 12mb's of available space. Even just 1mb sounds will be better than the internal sounds. Especially considering if a board has say 12-16mb's for an entire sound set. You could load a huge 10mb piano, and still load 12 more 1mb sound samples. There's just so many possibilites with that amount of memory. Of course more is always better, but again cost plays in here.

I do agree that 32 note poly is still limited a bit. It appears new sounds have been added and old ones cleaned up. So if some of those sounds are bigger then poly is going down the tube

Squeak

Squeak can confirm if they squeak.
Starkeeper

Doh!! . You are right.
Starkeeper

The key problem depends on the individual. When you first buy the board the action is great (especially if you've been used to the Yamaha PSR line). The keys are bigger and have a longer throw. However after time they tend to develop a little mechanical buzz. It's not bad, and doesn't get in the way of playing either. If you play at very low volumes it will drive you crazy, but turning the board up 1/2 takes care of it, and for lower volumes you would use headphones anyways. I've also spoke to some that haven't had this problem too. I find that odd though. My MZ-2000 even began to do the same thing shortly before I sold it.

Squeak

Squeak,
It says 120something user sounds.... if you can assign them to tones with wave, then you could have the big soundfont of your choice at your disposal, many soundfonts weigh around 25 MB and are satisfactory, at least for me. Probably this flash ram will be shared among sequencer, user styles-tones-drums, smf's and so on.

Anyway, I am happy that things progress for Casio.

Hey Mr. D...thanks for the links, we can count on you to keep us informed of anything Casio

Only heck I think the new boards are cool cause they could cause a price drop on the 3500 ( not that it doesn't already have a great price ), just for under 400$ it would be nice to add some of those Casio sounds into whatever your doing.

As for the 32MB sample space...thats not bad at ALL regardless of anything.

Gonna go check the site some more.

Thumbs up to Trident as well.

Little rant from me...the 32 poly...I can see where that could be a limitation, just heck if you stick to basic three/four part arrangements and dont use any overtly busy styles easy enough to work around

I don't think the memory will be shared with the sequencer and the user styles ect. The sequencer has it's own limit of 10,000 (regarless of the flash memory), and there are still (16) user slots for styles. This is all the same on the WK-3500 and it only has 2mb's of flash rom. I would think that if it was all shared then the sequencer would hold more notes, and there'd be more room for user styles as well. It appears to me that Casio is basically saying "if this board doesn't have the sound or sounds you want...here take this 32mb's of flash memory and get them"

I know I'll be buying one of these. Giving how Casio prices their units I'm estimating the price to be between $450-$499 USD. The improved sounds (not that the 3500 sounds bad), more voices, styles, and that HUGE flash memory is enough for me to upgrade. I may have had to luquidate my synth monies due to medical reasons, but this Casio won't break my budget.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 04-07-2005).]

"I know I'll be buying one of these. Giving how Casio prices their units I'm estimating the price to be between $450-$499 USD. The improved sounds (not that the 3500 sounds bad), more voices, styles, and that HUGE flash memory is enough for me to upgrade. I may have had to luquidate my synth monies due to medical reasons, but this Casio won't break my budget.

Squeak"

Dont know if you sold your drum machine...but the funds from that if you also sold your wk3500, would make getting the wk3700 not much a money issue at all. The medical stuff for more then money reasons.

Just hahah reflecting back on all the conflict you had picking a keyboard...looks like it turned out for the best. It could have sucked to spend lots of cash then just a month later have a new Casio tossed in your face.

I haven't played on a Casio instrument but if it is a raisonably good sounding keyboard, I will try it as a second keyboard with my Pa80.
This WK3700 looks nice

Alone,
I haven't had any luck on selling the DR-3. I posted it several places and haven't even got an email of interest just to make an offer. I may keep the WK3500. Not sure on that yet. I'll have to see how desirable the 3500 is in the used market after the 3700 is released.

Squeak

Anyone actually saw the things in Music Messe? Or even played them?

E.T.A. on the European market of these Casio keyboards is August at the earliest.
the smallest version , CTK 900 will retail at approx. 350 euros !!!!! the WK3200 and WK 3700 at approx. 699 and 799 euros. (RRP, so in actual fact these prices will be effectively 10 to 15% lower even !!!!!!!)
interesting development to say the least.

"I haven't had any luck on selling the DR-3. I posted it several places and haven't even got an email of interest just to make an offer. I may keep the WK3500. Not sure on that yet. I'll have to see how desirable the 3500 is in the used market after the 3700 is released."

Ahhh given the timeline john gave for the new ones to come out, lots of time to save cash. If you cant sale the DR-3...just use it, even if you have another drum machine there has to be things each one can do the other cant. Heck combine the two machines and see if you can come up with some stuff...couple of different loops off different machines combined can have cool results.

700-800 euros = how much in usa dollars??

700 euros = 811usd

Phil

I cannot see these new Casio's going for over $800.00 here in the USA. Mainly because for less you could probably find an MZ-2000 (possibly new or very close to new). The new WK's are nice, but the MZ-2000 still has quite a few features over the WK's such as full voice editing, 16 track (40,000 note) sequencing. 22,000 note capacity for style recording, 15 watt speakers, initial and aftertouch, style conversion, way better drawbars with slider control, mic/line input jack with effects, better screen, ect.

The new WK's may have slightly improved sounds and 32mb's of flash, but I can't see that justifying a price jump of over $400.00 from one model to the next. The WK price history doesn't support this. I estimate the price to be between $450.00-$500.00

Squeak