CTK-900, what is a worthy successor?

[invicta alec]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on the forum.

 

After gathering dust for a few years my CTK-900 has been exhumed and I'm itching to get playing again. In truth I've got a little bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I fancy treating myself to something new. I'm aware that the 900 has been around for 10 plus years and assume that things must have moved along from a technical point of view.

I'm looking for something at least its equal specification wise. Should I be looking at the new CTX 3000 / 5000 or is there something else?

This is purely for my own enjoyment at home, I'm not a complete beginner but I'm not that much further along the road either.

 

Alec.

 

[Brad Saucier]

Tell us a little bit about what features you like in the CTK-900.  That might give us a better idea of what to recommend.  Right now, I would say the CT-X3000 is worth a look.  CT-X series is the freshest models from Casio at the moment.

[invicta alec]

Thanks for your reply Brad. 

 

Bearing in mind that I'm not at all experienced, I'm sure that even lower end keyboards will have sufficient features to keep me happy but its the quality of the sound that interests me.

 

I picked up the CTK-900 a few years ago second hand for £25! It has spent long periods unused in closets, suffered two or three house moves, been used only intermittently yet still appears to perform well. I guess I'm saying that I like its apparent durability and ruggedness. I like its back lit LCD display (the bigger the better as far as I'm concerned). Being a left hander I appreciate the decent number of buttons that are on that side! What I absolutely dislike are the thin plasticky key tops (I don't know the technical description for them) but surely full depth keys would be less likely to rattle? 

 

From its specification the speakers are 3w and has 32 note (max) polyphony and necessarily a 10 year old sound engine. I'm hoping that with the passage of time, the higher specifications and new sound engine of something like the CTX-3000 would make a noticeable difference to the quality of the sound. Or do I need to dig more deeply into my pockets before I can really notice improved sound quality over what I already have?

 

I'm sure that pretty much all modern keyboards would include the basics like touch sensitivity, auto harmonise, layers, split and mixer functions. When the great day comes and I start hitting all the right notes consistently I'll want to know the keyboard is doing its best to highlight the fact!

 

Alec.

 

 

 

[Brad Saucier]

I think you would notice a definite improvement in sounds, even with the lower priced CT-X700.  YouTube has some videos on them.  I would listen to demos and maybe that would help you decide if the sounds are where you think they should be.  Keep in mind that YouTube demos can hurt sound quality, especially if someone does not directly record audio.

[invicta alec]

In this past couple of weeks, I've read tons of reviews and watched endless YouTube videos.

 

Unusually for me, I've resisted the temptation to splash the cash too soon. My thinking at the moment is if I'm going to get seriously back into keyboard playing then I'm wondering if I should be looking at 76 keys? The Casio WK-7600 seems to have endless features and is a likely purchase for me. Having said that, it is a 5 year old design now and I can't help but think about the (reportedly) amazing new sounds of the 61 key CT-X5000. 

The only music store I have within easy reach sells Yamaha but not Casio 😕

 

Alec.