Update on the competition -- Casio CTX-700 >>> And now, CTX-3000!

[SciNote]

Okay, so I know this is "PSR" Tutorial, and not "CTX" Tutorial.  But I think it's good to see what else is out there and how it compares to our Yamaha keyboards for anyone getting ready to make a purchase.  And, if Yamaha does review this board, I think it's good for them to not only see what else is out there (as they probably have people employed who do that research, anyway), but also for them to see what else is out there that may be important to their customers.

So, I went back to the music store, and this time, there was something to see!  No PSR-E463 yet, which, as previously noted, probably won't be available for a couple months.  But they did have the new Casio CTX-700, and I was able to get my paws on one to see what it could do.

So, first, the good...

As previously noted, this bugger has portamento!  Maybe I put an overemphasis on that.  Perhaps it was because when, as I was growing up and first getting interested in keyboards in the 1970's, synthesizers were getting more common in popular music, and they'd often include that classic sliding buzz of analog synth portamento.  And while I have had a variety of portable keyboards from both Yamaha and Casio since the 1980's, this is the first time I've ever seen portamento in a keyboard remotely near this price range (this keyboard is supposed to sell for about $180).

I didn't go through each and every sound, but for what I did check out, I saw portamento in about ten sounds.  Of course, it is preprogrammed into the sound.  You cannot switch it on and off, and you cannot adjust the speed of the portamento.  But interestingly, it only works with mono-playing.  If you play chords, such as playing a chord in one octave, then releasing that chord and playing another chord in a higher octave, there will be no portamento effect.  But if you play single notes (and it appears to not matter whether you play legato or whether you release the first note before playing the second), you'll get portamento from the first to the second note.

The overall quality of the sounds are quite good, especially for its price.  As the PSR-E400 series pianos aren't great (unmodified), I would say that the acoustic pianos on this keyboard are at least on par, if not better, than those on the PSR-E400's.  Other sounds I tried, which include the organs, synths, and choirs, sounded, in general, on par with the PSR-E400's.  I did not have a lot of time, so I did not try brass, reeds, or other instruments yet.

There is a wide variety of reverb and chorus selections, including 4 flangers, but I did not see a way to adjust the intensity of these effects.  Certain sounds have preprogrammed DSP effects, like distortion.  And with the distortion that I saw on one sound, it is a true distortion, where playing more notes at once increases the overall intensity of the distortion.

The styles have two parts, like with the PSR-E400's, and like I've been asking Yamaha to do for four years now, they have two distinct buttons for each part.  If you are on the "A" part (I believe they label it "main"), and just want a drum fill without switching parts, you just hit the "A" or "main" button.  If you want a drum fill and also want to switch to the "B" part, then you hit that button, which I believe is labeled "var", as in "variation".

Now, for the not so good...

While the above features are very impressive for a keyboard in this price range, and it looks like a great keyboard for a beginner or for someone who wants to add an auxiliary keyboard to a set-up, it is no replacement for the PSR-E400's.  Of course, it is about $100 less than a PSR-E453.  It might be a more fair comparison to compare it to a PSR-E363, which I am not as familiar with.

But to touch upon some important limitations... First of all, Casio still needs to work on the keybed, or key-feel for these instruments.  While the feel is an improvement over some of their older models, it still felt kind of spongy to me.  I think they're trying to give it a little bit of resistance to more closely approximate the feel of an acoustic piano, but it certainly does not have a hammer-action feel to it.  And I could definitely feel the difference from playing this keyboard, to walking over a few feet and playing the PSR-E453 they also had on display.  In my opinion, Yamaha's key-feel allows me to play more quick and precise than on the Casio's keyboard.  As higher-level lines of this series (CTX-3000 and CTX-5000) become available, it will be interesting to see if the key-feel improves.

Like the PSR-E400's, this keyboard can layer two sounds on the right-hand side and split the keyboard for one additional sound on the left-hand side.  But unlike the PSR-E400's, I did not see a way to adjust the volume of the two right-hand parts independently (which is very similar to how an inexpensive Casio stage piano that I own works -- you can layer two sounds, but not adjust their volumes independently).  This, to me, is a major limitation.  Just as a Hammond organ's drawbars are so popular because you can so easily fine-tune the sound by adjusting the volume of each component, the ability to adjust the volume of the main and dual voices gives you much more control over the overall tone of the keyboard than just being able to layer the sounds at a preset volume.  Also, I did not see a way to change the octave of the layered voice, though the main voice can be adjusted up or down an impressive 3 octaves.

Additionally, other than the above-mentioned reverbs and choruses, there is no way to really modify the sound.  No filters or envelope generators.  But again, this is a much less expensive keyboard then the PSR-E400's.

So, overall, while it is no real substitute for the PSR-E400's, it is still quite an impressive keyboard for the price.  It will be interesting to see how the higher-level models of this series stack up.

[SeaGtGruff]

I didn't go through each and every sound, but for what I did check out, I saw portamento in about ten sounds.  Of course, it is preprogrammed into the sound.  You cannot switch it on and off, and you cannot adjust the speed of the portamento.

Additionally, other than the above-mentioned reverbs and choruses, there is no way to really modify the sound.  No filters or envelope generators.

You should be able to turn portamento on/off, adjust the portamento time, and modify the envelope and filter parameters (the attack/decay/release times, cutoff frequency, and resonance amount). However, you can do that only through MIDI messages sent to the keyboard, or played in a song or accompaniment, and I'm pretty sure those messages will not affect the three keyboard parts (Right1, Right2, and Left, or whatever they're called on the CT-X700). But if you're willing to pipe the MIDI to a computer and then echo it back to the keyboard, you can turn off the Local Control and use MIDI software (DAW or whatever) to merge the desired CC messages with the Note On/Off messages being bounced back to the keyboard, thereby letting you modify those parameters-- including the channel volumes for the Right1, Right2, and Split tones.

[SeaGtGruff]

The User's Guide and Appendix for the CT-X3000 and CT-X5000 have now been posted, if anyone wants to look at them. I've only just grabbed them myself, and haven't looked at them yet.

[Jay B.]

Michael, can you have a look at the polyphony on the 5000 and post here, kind sir?

[SeaGtGruff]

I think that screenshot is from a manual for two older CTK models, the CTK-4000/CTK-5000.

The manual for the new CT-X3000/CT-X5000 models says their polyphony is a maximum of 64 notes, or 32 for certain tones.

[AnupamEnosh]

That was my mistake, I posted in a hurry.   Which website has got the correct manual links, sir ?

[SeaGtGruff]

I got them from Casio's Support page by searching for "CT-X":

http://support.casio.com/en/manual/manualresult.php?cid=008&keyword=CT-X

[SciNote]

That CTX-5000 looks very impressive.  Tones can be edited, and while the main parameters are not much different than what is on the PSR-E400 series (attack, release, filter cutoff, resonance), they do also include a comprehensive vibrato feature (speed, depth, waveform, delay).  If I'm interpreting the manual correctly, the portamento effect is not only switchable for any sound, but can be applied independently to the two upper voices and the two lower voices (yes, they include a what Yamaha would call a dual voice for the split section of the keyboard), and the speed of the portamento can be independently set for each part.  There are various DSP effects with detailed parameters for each effect.  It appears that all of this can be saved in a registration.  Also, each of the four keyboard parts (the two upper parts and the two lower/split parts) can be tuned independently.

And this doesn't even touch upon the multi-track capabilities and rhythm editor that I've seen mentioned.

However, at least based on the pictures I've seen, I don't see any live control knobs, though there is pitch bend and modulation control, and there appears to be the ability to hook up two pedals to control certain effects, as well as an expression pedal.

I'm curious as to what the street price will be and how the key feel will be.

[SeaGtGruff]

I'm also very curious about how much the CT-X5000 will cost! The CT-X700 is the only CT-X model listed at the online stores at the moment, even though the manual for the CT-X800 was posted last month, so there's no telling when the other models will be listed for preorder.

Speaking of the CT-X800, I'm not even sure it's going to be available in the USA. From what I was told by the admin of a UK site, Casio told him that the CT-X800 wasn't going to be available in the UK, although no reason was given why not.

[keyboardmaestro]

In The Netherlands the 5000 will cost around 450-500 euro's..
I believe it's about $500-600 dollars..

[SciNote]

Yeah, that's about what I was thinking.  Maybe a little less, at around $450, but it could be $500 or so.  Makes me wonder how Casio is positioning this line of keyboards.  They have their CTK-7200, which has been their top-of-the line portable keyboard for several years, and I usually see it for about $350 or so in stores.  This new keyboard (CTX-5000) seems to be positioned above that, but curiously, Casio isn't providing (at least that I can see), any live-control slider controls, like what is on the CTK-7200.  On the 7200, those sliders can act as organ drawbars, and I believe they can also live-control certain levels like a mixer, and possibly they may be able to be set to control the level of certain effects, but I don't think they can live-control filter or envelope generator settings (though those features are available through menu selections).  It's surprising that Casio would not include something similar on a keyboard costing $100-200 more.

However, it seems like Casio is promoting the new keyboards as having a more advanced sound source, the portamento feature is new, and the manual linked above indicates that the filter feature now has resonance, whereas I do not believe the CTK-7200 has resonance -- I think it just has cut-off frequency.

And I'd really like to see what the E463 is going to be fully capable of.  We have some basic facts so far, but no details on specifics.  The sampling feature is nice, and so far, I don't see any reference to sampling on the new Casios.  Live control of filter, envelope, chorus, and reverb has always been a great feature -- not just for live playing, but also to more easily "tune in" to a custom sound you may want to save to a registration without having to keep going into a function menu.  And historically, the Yamaha's key feel just simply blows away the Casios -- no comparison.  Indeed, I would really hope that these new Casios have a better key feel than any of the recent models I have seen from them so far, including the new CTX-700.

[Jay B.]

On the 2018 NAMM Vids on YouTube, Rich Formidoni said the CTX5000 would be $450 in the US. CTX700 will be $179.

[SeaGtGruff]

The actual price of the CT-X700 is $175, or about $5 less than was estimated. Perhaps the CT-X5000 will also be a little below its estimated sales price?

[Robert van Weersch]

Some stores in the EU already list it, although it won't ship until the end of April. The listed price (including VAT) is around EUR 450.
The German MusicStore(.de) lists it for 449,-

[SeaGtGruff]

The CT-X800 and CT-X3000 are also listed for about the same date:

CT-X700 | Now | 249 Euros = 305.57 USD (at current exchange rates)
CT-X800 | Apr 21 | 299 Euros = 366.93 USD
CT-X3000 | Apr 21 | 349 Euros = 428.29 USD
CT-X5000 | Apr 22 | 449 Euros = 551.01 USD

Since the actual price of the CT-X700 in the USA is $174.99, I'm guessing the prices of the other three models might also be a good bit less than shown above.

As for the lack of any "live control" knobs, the CT-X5000 has a MODULATION/ASSIGNABLE button that changes the pitch bend wheel into a modulation (vibrato) wheel or assignable DSP wheel, which is something already seen on certain CTK/WK models.

[Practical Senses]

But they did have the new Casio CTX-700, and I was able to get my paws on one to see what it could do.

Hi! Thank you for your review, it was very helpful!
What is the quality of built-in speakers of this Casio? Casio's speakers always sounded a bit thinner and bottom-less to me compared to the Yamaha's of the same price-range, has something changed now?
And how is the overall build quality of CT-X700 compared to Yamaha?
I'm planning to get PSR-E363 now, so I'm a bit confused with this new Casio (unfortunately, it is still not available in our stores)

[SciNote]

I did not notice anything that stood out, either positive or negative, about the speakers or build quality of the Casio CTX-700.  It had an overall good sound quality, especially for a $180 keyboard.  And I am still impressed with the inclusion of portamento with some of the synthesizer sounds.  But, in my opinion, the key feel was subpar.  It wasn't bad, and is better than some other Casios of the recent past, but is not up to the quality of the Yamaha PSR-E400 series keyboards I've tried.  However, I have not played the PSR-E363, so I could not currently compare the key feel of the two keyboards (Casio CTX-700 and Yamaha PSR-E363).  I would definitely recommend playing both personally, if possible, before making a purchase.

[Practical Senses]

Found another one review here:
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=nl?sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A//www.bonedo.de/artikel/einzelansicht/casio-ct-x700-test.html

Seems my thoughts about speakers and keybed are unfortunately true.
About speakers: "is quite centered, low-bass and in places a bit tinny, especially at high volume. Here, Casio still has some catching up to do compared to the competition. With the built-in equalizer, which has ten presets, you can adjust the sound within certain limits. However, this can not be enough to console you for the fact that the speakers of the CT-X700 are a bit short of expectations."
About keybed: "The feel is typical for this class. Personally, I find it a bit more spongy than I would like; The keyboard feels a bit dull, especially with strong attacks. "

[SeaGtGruff]

Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to find a decent keybed at this price point, regardless of who the manufacturer is.

As far as the onboard speakers, I suspect that built-in speakers will always be inferior to a good set of external speakers. Even the PSR-EW400 and PSR-EW410 are lacking in sufficient bass, which is presumably why Yamaha came out with the KS-SW100 (which is not specifically for those two models), and might be a large part of why the highest-end keyboard models (Tyros and Genos) don't even have any built-in speakers. If you think about it, built-in speakers are a way for keyboard manufacturers to give budget-minded consumers an "all in one" solution, where additional accessories (aside from batteries) are optional rather than essential. It's true that the more expensive PSR-S models have built-in speakers, but this might be more to keep in line with what consumers have come to expect from a PSR keyboard regardless of its price point. After all, the "PS" stands for "PortaSound," so a PSR keyboard is a "portable keyboard," which generally implies that you can go busking in the park with it without needing external speakers and a power source to plug into.

[vbdx66]

Hi guys,

A new demo video of the ctx 700:

https://youtu.be/aIPXoIc1eVI

The sound quality of the video is rather good. As for the sounds of the ctx 700 itself, I am impressed by the drums, which are far better I think than on the PSR E3xx and 4xx. As for the piano, it is nice, but I like the Yamaha sound better, although on the E3xx and E4xx there is some noise because of the lower quality of the sample. But I'd say that the Live! Piano of the EW400/410 and the Natural! Piano of the DGX650/660 are better. The audio quality of the styles on the ctx 700 is great, but so far I still like the PSR E styles better than the Casio's.

As for the trumpet, I like the Casio better, but I still prefer the PSR E Tenor sax over the Casio's.

It would be nice if the PSR E463 had pads (multi pads?) like the ctx 3000 and 5000, but there is a feature that I immensely like on the PSR E433 and it's successors: the possibility to mute style tracks live while playing. This gives the possibility to slowly enhance the style, and this compensates in a way the fact that the PSR E series of keyboards only have 2-variations styles (A and B).

For the time being, my opinion is that the sound chip of the ctx series is a winner, but unfortunately Casio keyboards are poorly built in comparison with the Yamaha's. Also, the two live knobs on the Yamaha are great for live playing and they cannot IMHO be replaced solely by the pitchbend wheel (which the Yamaha's also have anyway) and the modulation button of the Casio's.

This is strange, but from time to time another entry level keyboard comes out with some features which the PSR E don't have, but eventually I always come to the conclusion that Yamaha wins in the end. And also, Casio users don't have this wonderful Forum and community of users to help them, as well as the bunch of styles we can dig into here. 

To summarise: my next keyboard, on top of my DGX 650 which I will keep for proper piano playing, will probably be the PSR E453 now that it's price has dropped with the arrival of the PSR E463 (I am not very interested in the E463 sampling capabilities, since I am doubting that the samples will be really usable for keyboard playing since for the same sample, higher pitches will be shorter than lower pitches etc.).

The only other keyboard that I would consider if not buying a Yamaha is the Korg PA 300. It came out at a price of about 750 € but can now easily be found second-hand for about 350 €. And except for is limited set of outputs (it has no proper audio outputs, only the same headphones out socket as the PSR E series, excepted for the PSR EW400/410 which have proper stereo audio outputs), it is a pro keyboard with sounds editable down to oscillator level, as well as pro, realistic styles with 3 intros, 4 variations and 3 outros. And it's sound quality is outstanding, comparable to that of the PSR S770/775 I would say.

So for me as far as entry level boards are considered, Yamaha wins over Casio, at least this time. I would reconsider my thinking if Casio put this new sound chip in a better keyboard with a nicer key bed, track-muting pads and live knobs.... Now, who said PSR E473...? 

Huw, and a last thought about keybeds: at one point I had a PSR E433 and it has a great keybed (I think I know what I am talking about since I played a variety of acoustic pianos and electronic keyboards over the years and I HATE a bad key bed). Interestingly, the key bed of the PSR E343 was also great (one of my nieces owns this keyboard and I played it during one week). I found that the E443 and E353 did not have the same quality of keybed. Interestingly, here where I am living in the South of France, you will very rarely find a PSR E433 for sale, I think people are keeping them because they were really nice keyboards.

Best Regards,

Vinciane.

[SciNote]

Yep, pretty much my feelings exactly, though I didn't take too close of a look at the CTX-700's styles.  You are right about the live knobs.  Not only for live playing, but also just for tweaking sounds.  Not to sound like ad copy, but it is just like setting a patch on an analog synth to dial in filter, envelope, and effects settings, and makes it easy to zero in on the sound you're looking for.  And then, you can use the function menu selections to tweak the settings of the individual voices (main and dual), if needed.

And you'll certainly get no argument from me about the keybed of the E433.  I have also played a variety of keyboards, including a Yamaha D80 home organ and DX7 synth, and the E433 stands on its own with no apologies.  I am keeping an eye out for a used one to have as a spare in case I start gigging at some point (and it would have to be exactly an E433, so that if my existing one stops working before a gig, I could easily load my data from a USB flashdrive into the back up -- as you likely know, the USR-file formats are not compatible between the E433, E443, E453, and likely the E463).  There is one on Craigslist in my area, but for $250 US!  C'mon!  That's what they went for brand new five years ago!  And that's after dropping the price from $300!  Yes, it comes with a few accessories, but still... We'll see if he drops the price any more.

And, yes, the keybed of the CTX-700 has nothing on the Yamaha PSR-E400 series.  A little better than before, but still pretty springy and spongy.  I hope they improve the feel on their more expensive models (CTX3000, 5000).  But still, no live control knobs, and not even any drawbar sliders, like on the CTK-7200, so I'm not sure where and how these new keyboards will fit into their lineup.

But, hey, I may wait for the E473, as well!  I'm hoping that, now that Casio has put portamento into a $180 keyboard, Yamaha will get the hint and include it in some of the sounds on their next E400 series keyboard, as I seriously doubt it is included in any of the sounds on the E463 -- but we'll see!

[vbdx66]

Hi Bob,

Yes, same thing I here in France, the few E433 which do come back on the second-hand market get traded for about 200 €... seems that this board is slowly becoming vintage 

If I cannot find one on Leboncoin (our local Craigslist so to say) at a reasonable price, since I am not tied as you are by proprietary file format issues, I'll go in a music store to check the quality of the E453/463 keybed (I'll probably go for the E453 though, because it's price has been dramatically dropping during the last few weeks, and I don't care much about sampling anyway - when a new keyboard comes on the market, on top of the key bed quality, I rather look at the new sounds (esp. Cool! and Sweet! voices) and styles.).

I quite like the DGX 650, notably for its 88 weighted keys and its  Natural! Grand piano voice, but I deeply miss the portability of the E433, as well as its sounds/styles editing capabilities. I am wondering if the DSP section is enough to prefer the E453 over the older E433. I will probably go for the E453 if I like the key bed. I find it sad, though, that a more recent keyboard should have a lesser quality key bed than an older keyboard...

Well, maybe the E473 when it comes out in 2 years will fulfill all our expectations: a nice keybed, plenty of new styles and voices, portamento among the DSP's, editable DJ patterns... 

Best Regards,

Vinciane

[AnupamEnosh]

Honestly speaking, I am confused right now. The latest video makes me believe that the onboard sounds other than Piano, are somewhat good but also average. I might be expecting too much from this beginner's board, but it is overhyped a lot.
I think there is a lot more to come untill we arrive on a conclusion.
Even the LCD now seems to be of a bluish hue, rather than a pure white screen.
Update : Here is a video from Popmusic.ru, they post legit good reviews.
https://youtu.be/yh8M50qht2c
After watching this review, I can clearly say this instrument won't entertain even a intermediate musician. The Acoustic Piano and Guitar sounds good. Styles are above average, but this keyboard definitely outperforms the CTK series lineup

[Practical Senses]

Huw, and a last thought about keybeds: at one point I had a PSR E433 and it has a great keybed (I think I know what I am talking about since I played a variety of acoustic pianos and electronic keyboards over the years and I HATE a bad key bed). Interestingly, the key bed of the PSR E343 was also great (one of my nieces owns this keyboard and I played it during one week).

So, is it better to go with E343 instead of buying E363?
Seems E363 have USB-Audio (only 16bit 44khz anyway) and +20 arpegio's voices but far worse keybed? (plus E363 costs 50$ more). Am I right that they both identical in terms of sound and build quality?

I can clearly say this instrument won't entertain even a intermediate musician. The Acoustic Piano and Guitar sounds good. Styles are above average, but this keyboard definitely outperforms the CTK series lineup

After trying both PSR-E and CT-X in a store, I have feeling, that inbuilt speakers of Yamaha is still better. All video reviews recorded using line-out of keyboards, so you'll probably need addition quality external speakers for Casio to hear all this new sounds.

[AnupamEnosh]

So, is it better to go with E343 instead of buying E363?
Seems E363 have USB-Audio (only 16bit 44khz anyway) and +20 arpegio's voices but far worse keybed? (plus E363 costs 50$ more). Am I right that they both identical in terms of sound and build quality?

If you are a professional keyboardist, and planning to buy some Casio gear, then you should NOT go for any keyboard except the Privia Series. Casio focuses on low cost featured boards, but Privia series has been the best from them till date.

After trying both PSR-E and CT-X in a store, I have feeling, that inbuilt speakers of Yamaha is still better. All video reviews recorded using line-out of keyboards, so you'll probably need addition quality external speakers for Casio to hear all this new sounds.

Actually I got myself a Yamaha instrument only 6 months back, but since last seven years I have been playing around with these machines, and comparing these stuff present in the market. Back in 2013, I was a big fanboy of CTK 4200, which really had a poor sound when compared to Yamaha's lineup. Well, I still today love its design and build, and wish if I could get one for myself, though I admit its voices were too low quality.

[vbdx66]

@Practical Senses: I see that you have the PSR E363 and I think that for its features it is a very nice keyboard. My advice is more for people wanting to buy a second-hand keyboard as a backup or for a child learning music. I did not try the E363 so I  cannot judge its keybed. But for people wanting a portable instrument to take with them on holidays etc. I think that a second-hand PSR E433 or E343 is an interesting choice.

What do you think of the E363 keybed yourself in comparison with other Yamaha keyboards? I am curious to know.

Best Regards,

Vinciane.

[Practical Senses]

What do you think of the E363 keybed yourself in comparison with other Yamaha keyboards? I am curious to know.

I'm keep hearing that keybeds of new Yamaha's (E353 and above) are not so good as before (E333 and below). I didn't have an opportunity to try E343 so can't compare. The keybed of E363 is somehow springy and not close to piano action at all (obviously), not so soft as on PSR290 also. I think the quality is a little bit better than on Alesis Q49 midi-board, which is not so bad concerning the price point:) It can be comparable to Yamaha DX11 but with less tension on the keys and nice response to the touch. The best synth-like keybeds I've ever played in my life were Nord Wave and DSI Mono Evolver, but it's another league

[pquenin]

Hi Bob,

Yes, same thing I here in France, the few E433 which do come back on the second-hand market get traded for about 200 €... seems that this board is slowly becoming vintage 

If I cannot find one on Leboncoin (our local Craigslist so to say) at a reasonable price, since I am not tied as you are by proprietary file format issues, I'll go in a music store to check the quality of the E453/463 keybed (I'll probably go for the E453 though, because it's price has been dramatically dropping during the last few weeks, and I don't care much about sampling anyway - when a new keyboard comes on the market, on top of the key bed quality, I rather look at the new sounds (esp. Cool! and Sweet! voices) and styles.).

I quite like the DGX 650, notably for its 88 weighted keys and its  Natural! Grand piano voice, but I deeply miss the portability of the E433, as well as its sounds/styles editing capabilities. I am wondering if the DSP section is enough to prefer the E453 over the older E433. I will probably go for the E453 if I like the key bed. I find it sad, though, that a more recent keyboard should have a lesser quality key bed than an older keyboard...

Well, maybe the E473 when it comes out in 2 years will fulfill all our expectations: a nice keybed, plenty of new styles and voices, portamento among the DSP's, editable DJ patterns... 

Best Regards,

Vinciane

You are french ? Do you know that I can sell you my new E453 for 200€ ? I love this keyboard but don't have the place to keep it, since I bought the CAsio MZ-X300...

[pquenin]

This afternoon I gone to the local store where they sell Yamaha arrangers, and I was surprised to see a Casio CT-X800.
So I have test it my conclusion is :
- the sounds are great but not "fantastic" as it has been said here and there, a lot remind me of the MZ-X300, I think it's the little speakers that don't show their inherent quality, the 2x15W of the 3000/5000 will be welcome.
- they cost too much here in France (the CT-X800 is at 299 €)
- the keys are great, love the touch, better than the PSR-E363.

[vbdx66]

Hi,

Yes, I agree with you, € 299 is way too much when the E363 costs € 175 and the E463 € 250.

Speaking of the keybed, would you say that the keybed of the CTX 700 is better than that of the E453, too?

Regards,

Vinciane.