Casio CTK-7000

awesome keyboard – has everything you need. all the keys are really responsive and I like the settings which are easy to use. the looks are great and I really wish I could play it right now!

Lots of features for the price but – Bought in 2011. The CTK-7000 offers (on paper at least) an impressive array of features (poyphony, mixer, drawbars, sequencer, decent registry...) for a very good price. Also for those who are not familiar with the lineup, the features and backend between the CTK-x000 and WK-x500 are identical (the only difference is the number of keys). So my review here should hold equally to the WK-7500

Similar to the observations made on the CTK-6000 on this site, it is unfortunately let down by some poor tones, in particular the strings (too harsh, even when the cutoff freq is edited), guitars (which other than the nylon setting 001 just plain sounds like....well, not guitars...) and brass. I guess this is no surprise as the same engine is used.

The piano's are ok, until you start using auto harmony when they get a bit "washy"

The onboard sequencer is not easy to master (too many special key shortcuts to learn) - having said that, this machine interfaces quite happily to my laptop/PC to use a sequencing software.

The Rhythm editor is also disappointing (unless you are very adept at creating these real time).

Casio uses a proprietary format, and you can not use Yamah's style files (.sty)

There is a converter software available at Casio's site (IDES), which can convert a midi file (.mid) to a casio file but it can only manage 5 channels (ch 10 to 15) - so that's one drum, one bass and 3 chord tracks. Instrument choice using this is limited to GM voices.

The built in speakers are tinny There is no equaliser on board, and the whole thing lacks bass. However, connecting it to a good amp with EQ (or maybe even a bass amp) makes it sound acceptable.

Strange power supply adapter plug (to me anyway) - getting a spare one might be difficult off the shelf.

The unit does not tell you if it is running off mains or battery (if you forget to plug it in) - until the battery low warning comes up!!

The data wheel is good - except you can't use it to select midi files off your SDHC card. In fact, selecting a song off the card is rather painfull, as you can not directly access the files (must go through sequentially)

The split point for the chords can not be changed - so if you may "run out of keys" on the LH if you like holding your chords in certain inversions

While this may look like a long list of issues, it is at the end of the day "get what you pay for", and for the less picky, it may be the perfect machine. Extensive Array of Features, Impressive specifications Tones not quite up to it, the features hard to use.