Casio CTK691 61-Key Touch Sensitive GM Keyboard

Web Item #CASCTK691

This product can only be ordered by phone. Please call us at 866-SHIP-SDM (744-7736).

Overall User Ratings

Overall:: 9.1 out of 10
Quality:: 5.8 out of 10
The Wow Factor:: 6.5 out of 10

Features:: 7.6 out of 10
Value:: 9.2 out of 10
Sound:: 7.6 out of 10
Manufacturer Support:: 7.5 out of 10

User Reviews for Casio CTK691 61-Key Touch Sensitive GM Keyboard

Overall:: 7 out of 10
Features:: 8 out of 10
Quality:: 5 out of 10
Value:: 9 out of 10
The Wow Factor:: 7 out of 10
Sound:: 8 out of 10
Manufacturer Support:: 7 out of 10

Was this review helpful to you?

Thanks for your vote. Can you specify what about this review did or did not help you?

We appreciate your feedback. It will help us organize user reviews more effectively.

By a customer from canada.com

Submitted: 5/27/2005

Style of Music: R&B, Blues, Pop & Jazz

Experience: former semi-professional, now play for the sheer pleasure, more than 40 years experience.

"Big sound for little bucks."

Sound:

There are some wonderful new sounds that Casio has built into this product. The organs, and some of the piano patches are top-notch. Lots of good sounds, and an array of your typical general midi ptaches. The strings, brass, and woodwind sounds are a big improvement over previous CASIO keyboards. The organ patches can be tweaked by playing around with virtual drawbars, and I have to say the leslie simulator is quite good, and you can control it manually by going into the DSP patch and adjust the slow to fast rate by hitting one key. There are alot of digital effects, eq., etc. that you can use to enhance the onboard sounds. I am still puzzled on how to save new patches that I have edited. I would state that some of the patches are a little thin sounding on their own, but when played in the context of a band, they sound just fine. I have brought the keyboard out to play in a small club, and through the house P.A. it sounds mighty fine. People came up to me after the performances, and were quite surprised that you could get such pleasing tones out of a small, inexpensive rig.

Feature:

Lots of programmability, lots of patches, and too many effects to mention.

Quality:

The only knock, I have against this product is build quality. I have to admit thay I bought a refurbished keyboard, and after playing it for about six months it died on me. I had run out of warranty, and when I called CASIO for support, they told me I would have to ship it out of town to have it repaired. Fotunately, I was able to have a local repair it at a cost of $100. He said the build quality inside was not bad, but he had to replace a few components, and it has been working fine since then. I keep my fingers crossed that it keeps on ticking, as it so much fun to play. I do own a CASIO WK-1630, and have had it for at least five years, and it has been really reliable.

Manufacturer Support:

When my unit broke down, I contacted CASIO-Canada, it took a little to get through, but once I did they were very courteous, and helpful to a degree. I was disapointed to learn that I had no authorized CASIO repair depot or repair in my city, and would have to ship it out of town.

Value:

For the money, it is great value, but keep in mind it is not a ruggedly constructed piece of equipment. The sounds for the money you spend on this machine are equal to or better than on some synths I played that cost five times as much as the CASIO CTK-691.

The Wow Factor:

It is an attractive looking machine, with clean lines, and fairly easy to use controls once you get used to them. The case is made out of a silver-gray plastic.

Overall:

Well if it does not break down anymore, I expect to enjoy playing this keyboard for years to come. My previous experience with the other CASIO keyboard I own, and still play has been quite positive. In terms of using the keyboard at a gig, my comment is that when you mix the sounds in a band context it sounds just fine. Just remember to get a good padded keyboard bag, and treat it with a little TLC, and I would say it is gig-worthy.