yamahamusicians Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Not sure if any of you have tried the Yamaha PSR E-453 but if you have I would welcome your opinions on how it stacks up against the CT-X700? When I first heard about the CT-X700 I was quite excited mainly due to the sound quality and the price. I think in the states it sells for around $179? I was slightly less excited when I saw the UK price was going to be £229! (now £202) but given that Yamaha's nearest competitor the PSR E-453 was at or around the £300 mark I though the CT-X was still great value. Moving on a few weeks and the price of the PSR-E453 has fallen quite dramatically, now selling for £229 and the E-353 is just £169 so that kind of changes things a bit. Now although as you probably realised, I run a 'Yamaha' focused website I am not a 'Yamaha' fan boy. I use what works for ME regardless of the badge so there is no bias here on my part. What I would really love to hear is the views of Casio owners on how the two keyboards compare both in sound and functionality. I have the CT-X700 sitting next to me at the moment and I really like it. Casio have done a wonderful job BUT, I do think they need to address the price of it here in the UK because at £202 I think it is slightly too much in comparison to what Yamaha are offering. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirka Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 I have only played the Psr-E453 and to my ears (judging only from démos) the CT-X700 has better sound/instrument quality (which matters the most for me). So at both around 250 euros (in France) i would say that the E-453 is too expensive rather than the opposite. If "i had" to buy Yamaha i wouldn't consider anything under Psr- s670. Imo, the "CT- X sound" quality is somewhere in between E453 and S670's sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 Thanks Mirka. Certainly the CT-X700 does sound good. I'm just thinking here in the UK the prices are not far apart and the Yamaha has Audio over USB, adjustable reverb etc. I'm hoping to get them side by side for a proper comparison but it's great to hear what Casio owners think. Casio are also sending me the CT-X3000 and CT-X5000 so again that will be a very interesting comparison with the new Yamaha E-463. Have to say I am quite surprised at the quality at this end of the market. Previously I have only been concerned with mid to top range synths so it's a bit of an eye opener for me to see what is happening with Keyboards like the CT-X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee33 Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 As far as i can tell, the Yamaha E-453 is better judged against the CT-X800, what with its pitch bend wheel and USB drive. I think then the Casio budget CT-X series looks even worse as the X800 is even more expensive with more similar features. Im not even sure X800 it is going to be available in the UK from what i can discern and its not hard to see why. The E-453 has a few features which i do like and sound wise it is pretty close in some aspects with the new Casio models. I do agree with you that the pricing is a little off here in the UK and the Yamaha has to be the better buy, in my opinion. But i'd be interested to read your thoughts on the X3000/5000 models as this i think is the sweet spot for this line up and have an incredible amount of features packed in for their price that from what i can tell, has no competitor anywhere near it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 Hi Lee Casio have said the CT-X800 will not be on sale here in the UK but of course you can easily buy it from places like Bax and musicstore.de I'm not entirely sure what Casio's thinking was in making the CT-X700 AND CT-X800 as I would have thought it would make more sense to produce one at keyboard as the base model but include pitch bend. I agree with you that given their respective prices the CT-X3000 and CT-X5000 are probably the sweet spot and best value out of the lineup and I am really looking forward to getting a "hands-on" with them. I think they are in short supply at the moment though so not sure how long I will have to wait for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I had the PSR 433, same idea, just a few iterations older. It has a wonderful feature in its two knobs, you can adjust, on the fly, two different parameters, like cutoff or reverb, very fun stuff for a budget board! Love them knobs! I recently was in a GC and banged on the PSR 453 a bit and was surprised at how good the keybed was. IMO, the biggest drawback to this board is the quality of sounds, they’ve got a handful of “sweet” sounds, but other than that they’re really lacking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 I tried the PSR E-453 the other day and keeping in mind this is just my personal opinion, I thought the Casio CT-X700 sounded better in terms of acoustic pianos and had a better keybed. For everything else it's kind of a mixed bag. The Yamaha has more powerful speakers but I would not use them anyway. I don't think the on-board speakers in any of these keyboards do the sounds justice. Also there is slightly more variation on the Yamaha. The effects are pretty much the same on both though. I am splitting hairs though and we have to keep in mind the price point here. Casio have done a sterling job with the CT-X700 and I can only imagine the CT-X3000 and CT-X5000 are going to up the ante even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pquenin Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I have a PSR-E453 that I have paid 240€ here in France and it's a great keyboard for the price. It has a pitch-bend wheel, USB to Host Midi but also audio, a USB port, 2 knobs for live control, DJ features, etc... that the CT-X700 has not. The CT-X800, that has a pitch-bend wheel and an USB port is more comparable to the E453. Now there is the new E463 that add sampling features but will be more expensive. What I love in the E453 is that it has a better "perceived quality" than the Casios. I have a Casio MZ-X300 that I love too, but the aspect of the plastics are a bit better on the PSR. I can't say if the CT-X700 has better sounds, but I'm sure it's the case. The PSR-E453 has some great "sweat" and "cool" sounds, but most of the other sounds are very common and remind me of the 90's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 That was a good price on the PSR E-453 I think Casio made a mistake leaving the CT-X700 without the pitch bend and given the price it sells for in the UK it definitely should have included one. Another area which I think Casio need to sort out is none of the new CT-X models have audio over usb. That's a bit of a negative for me. Also of course unlike the new PSR E-463 there is no user sampling either. Of course neither of those two things will matter to many but still, if your competition are going down that route it's never a bad idea to keep up? The AiX sound engine on the Casio is excellent though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirka Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yamaha has this hierarchy with the quality of sounds (normal, cool, sweat, etc....), i wonder how it is with the 200 extra sounds on x3000/x5000 vs x700/800 ? From comparing the tone lists, and the way instruments are named, it seems that they are more like "variations" of the presets of x700/800 and so possibly not "better" sounds but just more of them. I would love to be wrong ! We'll have to way until may to know for sure about that. Otherwise, i have just been listening to the audio demos of the new Psr E-463 (on Yamaha's website). Good news for Casio: Soundwise i couldn't hear any improvement vs Psr E-453, so the field is wide open for the CT-X series to steal a big part of the market from Yamaha. I think if Casio used again (like they did for their PX-5s and XW-P1) the duo Steve Weingart and Kristian Terzic to demo the CT-X5000 , they would kill it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pquenin Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Yes, it's sad that Casio has not retained the Sampler function of the CTK-4400. And also, the CT-X5000 has lost the drawbar/organ faders of the CTK-7200... Concerning the PSR-E463, it seems that it has the exact same sounds as the E453. All new features seem focused on DJ live playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyy38 Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 On 3/3/2018 at 9:07 AM, yamahamusicians said: Not sure if any of you have tried the Yamaha PSR E-453 but if you have I would welcome your opinions on how it stacks up against the CT-X700? When I first heard about the CT-X700 I was quite excited mainly due to the sound quality and the price. I think in the states it sells for around $179? I was slightly less excited when I saw the UK price was going to be £229! (now £202) but given that Yamaha's nearest competitor the PSR E-453 was at or around the £300 mark I though the CT-X was still great value. Moving on a few weeks and the price of the PSR-E453 has fallen quite dramatically, now selling for £229 and the E-353 is just £169 so that kind of changes things a bit. Now although as you probably realised, I run a 'Yamaha' focused website I am not a 'Yamaha' fan boy. I use what works for ME regardless of the badge so there is no bias here on my part. What I would really love to hear is the views of Casio owners on how the two keyboards compare both in sound and functionality. I have the CT-X700 sitting next to me at the moment and I really like it. Casio have done a wonderful job BUT, I do think they need to address the price of it here in the UK because at £202 I think it is slightly too much in comparison to what Yamaha are offering. Any thoughts? Don't mistake money for quality. At first blush, the E-Series *seems* like a good deal, but then you dig deeper and find out the truth, such as the fact the the E-Series 6 track sequencer gobbles up one track for drums only, leaving you with only 5 to do your music, from scratch, on. The preceding paragraph is what I reckon caused the price drop on the two E-Series keyboards. I wouldn't stop at the CT-X700 because you would probably be way better off with the CT-X5000, depending on what purposes you use it for. Yes it is a fantastic deal for the 700, but only up to the point where you outgrow it in 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyy38 Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 On 3/22/2018 at 4:51 AM, mirka said: Yamaha has this hierarchy with the quality of sounds (normal, cool, sweat, etc....), i wonder how it is with the 200 extra sounds on x3000/x5000 vs x700/800 ? From comparing the tone lists, and the way instruments are named, it seems that they are more like "variations" of the presets of x700/800 and so possibly not "better" sounds but just more of them. I would love to be wrong ! We'll have to way until may to know for sure about that. Otherwise, i have just been listening to the audio demos of the new Psr E-463 (on Yamaha's website). Good news for Casio: Soundwise i couldn't hear any improvement vs Psr E-453, so the field is wide open for the CT-X series to steal a big part of the market from Yamaha. I think if Casio used again (like they did for their PX-5s and XW-P1) the duo Steve Weingart and Kristian Terzic to demo the CT-X5000 , they would kill it ! Live Demos SUCK!! Go here and hear for REAL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 You have to bear in mind the price point we are talking about here. I could be picky over the CT-X700 having no control over reverb, sustain etc but look at the price. Pay more, get more features. That's how it works. I don't expect a keyboard that costs under $200 to provide everything I need but at least the CT-X700 does provide excellent quality sounds and a pretty good set of keys for the money. The CT-X5000 arrives this month and the CT-X3000 next month so we will be able to see then what the extra cash buys. As for the Casio vs Yamaha debate I would say Casio has pulled ahead in terms of sound. Yamaha tend to stick with the same thing for years. If it sells they keep it and the PSR range just keeps selling so they have invested very little in the sound engine and just gone the incremental route they took with the Motif line. Casio have come out with something completely fresh in AiX and it works brilliantly. All they need to do now is keep the momentum up and produce a series of pro level demos and they will clean up in this market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pquenin Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 The PSR-E453 is to be compared with the CT-X800 that has pitch-bend wheel and a slot for a USB key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamahamusicians Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 Wouldn't a better comparison be between the CT-X3000 and PSR-E453? the E453 has more features than the CT-X700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyy38 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 On 3/22/2018 at 4:51 AM, mirka said: Yamaha has this hierarchy with the quality of sounds (normal, cool, sweat, etc....), i wonder how it is with the 200 extra sounds on x3000/x5000 vs x700/800 ? From comparing the tone lists, and the way instruments are named, it seems that they are more like "variations" of the presets of x700/800 and so possibly not "better" sounds but just more of them. I would love to be wrong ! We'll have to way until may to know for sure about that. Otherwise, i have just been listening to the audio demos of the new Psr E-463 (on Yamaha's website). Good news for Casio: Soundwise i couldn't hear any improvement vs Psr E-453, so the field is wide open for the CT-X series to steal a big part of the market from Yamaha. I think if Casio used again (like they did for their PX-5s and XW-P1) the duo Steve Weingart and Kristian Terzic to demo the CT-X5000 , they would kill it ! Got a link to the Tone Lists for the CTX Line? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirka Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (Appendix) http://support.casio.com/en/manual/manualfile.php?cid=008007005 http://support.casio.com/en/manual/manualfile.php?cid=008007006 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 7 hours ago, skyy38 said: Got a link to the Tone Lists for the CTX Line? Thanks! All of the manuals are linked in a pinned post at the top of the CTX general discussion forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyy38 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 So why do the manuals only list the DSP effects and NOT the Tones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 8 minutes ago, skyy38 said: So why do the manuals only list the DSP effects and NOT the Tones? Keep digging. It's all there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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