octaviu5 Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Hello! im thinking of buying my first "workstation/arranger" keyboard. I've been using ableton live and midi controllers for over 10 years. So i know enough about midi, audio and music. i've been making tracks for a while, but never even thought of something like accompaniment as a songwriting tool. and after trying a little app i found called "chordpulse" i've decided i want to buy my first "arranger/workstation" keyboard. i think what i want to do is to to jam with my guitar and the keyboard rythms while i write the song, create a sequence of the whole thing and then export as midi to import it to ableton. i dont need the greatest sounds (although they are welcome), but im interested in variety of styles and rythms (i mostly write pop, rock and electronic songs, so i think more variations would be better) so i can get instant inspiration. i also would love to be able to mute parts of the accompaniment if possible. i've been looking at the wk6600, the ct x3000 and ctx700... and thought of asking for your advice on what the best choice would be for me. i dont have a lot of money at the moment, so given that this is an investment, i want to make the best purchase possible. i also would like to know if it would be posible to sequence the accompaniment with chords sent from my daw into the keyboard, so i dont have to use the internal sequencer. if so, i think the ctx700 would be enough for me. but would love to hear think of that. thank you in advance. sorry if i dont make sense. its 6 am here and i've been awake all night. i greatly appreciate your answers. please feel free to comment on any other aspect you think i may be missing. thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 3 hours ago, octaviu5 said: also would love to be able to mute parts of the accompaniment if possible. i've been looking at the wk6600, the ct x3000 and ctx700.. This eliminates the CT-X700. The other 2 models have a mixer to do that. The 700 does not. 3 hours ago, octaviu5 said: i also would like to know if it would be posible to sequence the accompaniment with chords sent from my daw into the keyboard, so i dont have to use the internal sequencer. I'm not sure I follow the question. Chords sent from your daw into the keyboard?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviu5 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 1 hour ago, Brad Saucier said: I'm not sure I follow the question. Chords sent from your daw into the keyboard?? its a bit hard to put in words, but a really simple question once you get it. If you play the c minor chord in the lower octave of the keyboard, the whole "virtual band" (of the selected style) wll play a phrase in the key of c minor. So, what happens if you send a c mayor chord from your daw into the keyboard? will it change the tonality of the virtual band? or will it just play a ch mayor chord? This i want to know... because i already have a powerful sequencer. if i could do what i intend, i could just get the ctx 700, which is cheaper. (although it has not mixer). Im sorry if you don't get it, i cant explain it any better than this. English is not my first language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Ahh yes, I wasn't sure if that was the question. Thank you for clarifying. Casio calls that "Chord Judge". Unfortunately Chord Judge is not available on the CT-X series or WK-6600. The only recent models I know of with judge is the MZ-X series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviu5 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 56 minutes ago, Brad Saucier said: Ahh yes, I wasn't sure if that was the question. Thank you for clarifying. Casio calls that "Chord Judge". Unfortunately Chord Judge is not available on the CT-X series or WK-6600. The only recent models I know of with judge is the MZ-X series. Great! thanks for helping me decide. If you had to decide between the ctx 3000 and the wk 66000 which one whould you choose and why? thanks again! I really appreciate your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 I would go with the CT-X3000 because it has improved sounds over the WK-6600. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviu5 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, Brad Saucier said: I would go with the CT-X3000 because it has improved sounds over the WK-6600. Do you have first hand experience with it? is it as buggy and clunky as some folks say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 I have a CT-X5000. You'll want to read the manual carefully and keep it around as reference. Some deeper settings are difficult to remember at first, but you get used to it with some practice. Also note, if you're looking to record (sequence) accompaniment MIDI output with your DAW software, I would go with the WK-6600. The CT-X3000 does not perform as well for that. Personally, I don't use it for that, so I'm happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviu5 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 can the ctx export songs into a midi file? im kind of leaning towards it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Yes, user songs can be saved as standard MIDI files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbdx66 Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 If you are on a budget and you like the CT-X700 you might look at the CT-S400. Same sounds and accompaniments as the CT-X700 but it has a pitchbend wheel, a basic mixer (you can adjust the volume and panning of the tones in the internal 6-tracks recorder), a better, less clunky user interface than the CT-X range and, if I understood correctly, an improved keybed. It also takes less place, which might be convenient for a desktop use with a DAW. The only drawback is that you’ll have to wait a few weeks until it hits the shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 Just went to Casio's website for the CTS-400-and it says temporarily sold out? How can that be if it isn't even available yet? There are vendors that are taking "pre-orders" which I don't trust right now with the pandemic. People have hoarded toilet paper, food, gasoline, and maybe this Casio now!!!! and if this is better than he CTX series, there will be alot of unhappy CTX owners. I've noticed, alot of the other CTS series are suddenly showing up on the used market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casiofun Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 CT-S1 still in preorder status. CT-S400 isn't supposed to be available till June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octaviu5 Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 thank you very much for the responses. and sorry for taking so long to reply. i got the ctx 3000. and i have mixed feelings about it. the sounds are fantastic. but i dont really like the key acction. none of the 4 modes of it. also, i honestly now think that i dont need half the features the unit has. seems like the cts400 would be great for my purposes. so im thinking of returning the ctx 3000 and then waiting for the cts 400. do you guys know if it will be possible to create new rythms on the cts 400? or a way to edit the existing rythms? thank you again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zdrucker Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 On 5/31/2021 at 3:01 AM, octaviu5 said: thank you very much for the responses. and sorry for taking so long to reply. i got the ctx 3000. and i have mixed feelings about it. the sounds are fantastic. but i dont really like the key acction. none of the 4 modes of it. also, i honestly now think that i dont need half the features the unit has. seems like the cts400 would be great for my purposes. so im thinking of returning the ctx 3000 and then waiting for the cts 400. do you guys know if it will be possible to create new rythms on the cts 400? or a way to edit the existing rythms? thank you again. Hey there! What did you decide to do? I just got a CT-X700 - hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m thinking of getting the CT S-400 instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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