George10

I had exactly the same plan when I went into the shop: Play the 3000 and 5000 next to each other and hear whether the sound difference was worth £90 extra. But on the day, although I couldn’t hear and appreciable difference at normal listening volume, it was the little things that made me go 5000, like the extra buttons that allow you to select sounds and drums quicker. Also the mic input. Also, don’t think of it as spending £300 vs £390. Think of it as investing £390 and owning the 5000 for a couple of years then selling it for £240, vs investing £300 and owning the 3000 for a couple of years and selling it for say £180. You have owned the better keyboard for £30!

Yes! I bought the 5000 there and then. The keyboard action is solid and the whole thing is well built. I went for the 5000 rather than 3000 in the end because it’s got more front panel controls to get to sounds quickly, and also a mic input that you can add effects to and a mod button that I’m going to try to make work with the foot pedal input. Very happy with my purchase £389 in the UK. Easy to lose a couple of hours playing it as I did today. I’ve had a Yamaha Montage 6 for the last 18 months, which is the current top of the range at £2000. The Yamaha is deep - you can get lost in it for days. But the Casio is fun and instant and sounds surprisingly good.

So I got to play the 3000 and 5000 side by side yesterday. At comfortable volume about mid way I could not hear any difference at all. Piano sounds down to C0 sound identical. I was focusing on lower frequency stuff like Kick drum and basses. No discernable difference in 6w vs 15w onboard amp/ speakers at normal listening levels and bearing in mind that your ears are 1m away from the speakers. You need the volume dialled up to just over half way to make the piano sound about the volume of a real piano.

My local music shop In Beaconsfield UK has got the 3000 and 5000 side by side. I’m going in on Saturday to have a play. Main thing for me is the difference in sound quality from the bigger speakers on the 5000. I don’t care about one working on batteries. I’ll report MHO !