On a whim I bought one of these as a put me on until other models become available.
I have spent a couple of days with the keyboard and thought a write up may be of interest.
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.
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Casio CT-X 5000
An Arranger keyboard aimed at the beginner and intermediate player. Other models in the range are the 700, 800 & 3000 and there are others but what is available in one Country may be different in another, here in the UK the 800 is not readily available.
Inbuilt there are 800 instrument Tones and 235 Rhythms with Auto Accompaniment. There are Variations and Fills readily available at the touch of a button. Registrations can be saved in one of the 128 that are available (8 buttons and 16 banks).
At £350 the 5000 is not expensive but it is not cheap compared to the very many model permutations available from Yamaha with their top of range model being the PSR E463 which has a retail price of £260. The Casio CT X3000 retails at £280 and is a more direct competitor to the E463.
There are feature differences between the 5000 and 3000 models and briefly the 5000 has Mike input, a better sound system with 2x 15W amps onboard, more available Fx and more user defined parameters and 1/4” output jacks. Conversely the 3000 can be operated on batteries if required but the Tones and Rhythms are the same between these two models.
The key to the effective use of an Arranger keyboard is to make use of user saved Registrations. Let’s just clarify what a Registration actually is so we are all on the same page.
A Registration, is a user defined setup of Tones, Keyboard Splits, Tone Layers, Mixing, FX, Rhythm, Variations, Fills etc saved to a specific User Bank location. Then to play a specific song in your repertoire you simply call up the Registration applicable to that song and the keyboard is ready for you to start playing.
The thing that soon becomes annoying in any Arranger keyboard is how easy it is to set up a Registration, certainly with my Korg PA it was a very steep learning curve but for a beginner who probably have no idea what a Registration is how easy or difficult it can be will more than likely be a make or break for the keyboard.
Talk of Registrations is jumping the gun a bit, firstly we have to be able to select and change Tones then add a keyboard Split and Layer Tones. With the CT-X this task is very easy and should be one that is possible without reading the Manual.
Powering on.
Turn on the CT-X and the default Piano Tone will play, spin the dial to move between each of the available Tones in the Piano category. The Tone family is shown in text above the button and press another category button then the Tones in that category are access by the same jog dial. Each of the category buttons is dual action with the category Tone family type listed below the button relates to those Tones, to access these Tones a selector button activates the Tone family shown below the category button.
To Layer a chosen Tone with another Tome simply press the Layer button and a default strings Tone sounds in addition to the chosen Tone and this strings Tone can be changed by use of the category buttons and jog dial.
To have a split in the keyboard is another simple task, set the Tone required for the right hand section of the keybed then press the Split button and in the left hand section of the keybed an Acoustic Bass Tone sounds. The Tone to the left of the split point can be changed by use of the category selection buttons and jog dial.
Registrations.
The OS logic is different to the Korg and Yamaha keyboards I have tried and then I had to resort to reading the manual to set up the Split and Layered keyboard where I had two Tones upper and two Tones lower. I wanted to raise the lower split Tones by an Octave, and pressing the Octave key did the whole keyboard. With the information in the old grey matter I then used the Function button and the Cursor keys to get each of the Layered Tones selected and the + button increased the Octave.
Now was the time to try saving the setup as a Registration, pushed the Bank button and Button 1 and it loaded what was in there from the factory. OK so I did not read the Manual, back to the drawing board, created the Split and Layer again and using the process as per the Manual saved the Registration.
Just to make sure it was not a fluke I set about creating a sort of Glenn Miller sound with two Layers of brass in the upper and in the lower one brass and one strings, added some Reverb, Chorus and Delay. Find an appropriate Rhythm and time to setup another Registration, bingo, it worked.
Time for Registration three, early sixties guitar pop with a Strat lead, Reverb, Delay, Echo and that saved OK.
Mixer.
******* Manual, useless text on electronic paper. As you can tell a high frustration factor just getting to grips with the illogical nature of using the Mixer. The Mixer is a multi function Mixer, different configs gives different actions.
It took me a fair amount of time to get to grips with how to scroll between each of the Mixer features, which were:-
Tone Volume
Rhythm volumes
Song
Song solo
It was a work of art to get Volume displayed which in turn enabled each element to have its volume adjusted. Once I had the process down pat I set up one of the Registrations to lower the volume of the Tones to the left of the split. Next I scrolled to adjust Rhythm volume, in particular the drum volume and once lowered the Registration was again saved.
Not exactly a user friendly system but there again once you have the Registration setup and saved there is no need to revisit it, the problem being remembering the convoluted process for making a Registration days or weeks later.
Recording and/or playback.
I formatted a USB memory stick in the 5000, then read the manual. WAV files need to be placed inside a specific folder on the memory stick so on my PC I placed a few WAV’s and a few MIDI’s.
Playback of a WAV file is a case of pushing the Song button and scrolling to the desired song. I tried Satisfy My Soul by Paul Carrack and Wonderful Land by The Shadows, I have to say I am mightily impressed by the sound quality of the 5000’s amp and speakers.
Recording of my playing keyboard is not an action I have done a lot of but for the sake of thoroughness here goes.
Loaded on the the Registrations, pressed the Record button, started playing and the Recording started and the bars recorded was displayed. On completion of playing I pressed the Stop button on the Record section and the Play button and my performance started playing. So a quick and easy process for those who want to save their master pieces.
Conclusion.
An impressive keyboard, at this price point.
A beginner could very well get going on the CT-X very easily but getting used to the OS could very well be a task to far. There is a Function button for easy access to the OS and navigating is very easy but here again the illogical nature of the Manual shows itself. The Engineer in me would have a section of the Manual just on the features available within the Function menu with each page being described in the Manual in the order you find them and not scattered all over the Manual as is the case.
Is the 5000 worth the additional £70 over the 3000 or Yamaha E463, well imo yes. The 5000 has a Mike input, proper 1/4” output jacks in addition to a 1/8” audio input, there are two pedal inputs and a USB Host.
The sound quality of the inbuilt Tones hits the nail firmly on the head, they are that good and any keyboard in the price range would he hard pressed to equal the CT-X for Tone quality.
There are quirks with the OS and getting to grips with the Mixer is high on the frustration stakes but again stick at it and the penny will drop.
If you are in the market for a low cost Arranger then a CT-X could well fit your needs.
I have spent a couple of days with the keyboard and thought a write up may be of interest.
.
.
.
Casio CT-X 5000
An Arranger keyboard aimed at the beginner and intermediate player. Other models in the range are the 700, 800 & 3000 and there are others but what is available in one Country may be different in another, here in the UK the 800 is not readily available.
Inbuilt there are 800 instrument Tones and 235 Rhythms with Auto Accompaniment. There are Variations and Fills readily available at the touch of a button. Registrations can be saved in one of the 128 that are available (8 buttons and 16 banks).
At £350 the 5000 is not expensive but it is not cheap compared to the very many model permutations available from Yamaha with their top of range model being the PSR E463 which has a retail price of £260. The Casio CT X3000 retails at £280 and is a more direct competitor to the E463.
There are feature differences between the 5000 and 3000 models and briefly the 5000 has Mike input, a better sound system with 2x 15W amps onboard, more available Fx and more user defined parameters and 1/4” output jacks. Conversely the 3000 can be operated on batteries if required but the Tones and Rhythms are the same between these two models.
The key to the effective use of an Arranger keyboard is to make use of user saved Registrations. Let’s just clarify what a Registration actually is so we are all on the same page.
A Registration, is a user defined setup of Tones, Keyboard Splits, Tone Layers, Mixing, FX, Rhythm, Variations, Fills etc saved to a specific User Bank location. Then to play a specific song in your repertoire you simply call up the Registration applicable to that song and the keyboard is ready for you to start playing.
The thing that soon becomes annoying in any Arranger keyboard is how easy it is to set up a Registration, certainly with my Korg PA it was a very steep learning curve but for a beginner who probably have no idea what a Registration is how easy or difficult it can be will more than likely be a make or break for the keyboard.
Talk of Registrations is jumping the gun a bit, firstly we have to be able to select and change Tones then add a keyboard Split and Layer Tones. With the CT-X this task is very easy and should be one that is possible without reading the Manual.
Powering on.
Turn on the CT-X and the default Piano Tone will play, spin the dial to move between each of the available Tones in the Piano category. The Tone family is shown in text above the button and press another category button then the Tones in that category are access by the same jog dial. Each of the category buttons is dual action with the category Tone family type listed below the button relates to those Tones, to access these Tones a selector button activates the Tone family shown below the category button.
To Layer a chosen Tone with another Tome simply press the Layer button and a default strings Tone sounds in addition to the chosen Tone and this strings Tone can be changed by use of the category buttons and jog dial.
To have a split in the keyboard is another simple task, set the Tone required for the right hand section of the keybed then press the Split button and in the left hand section of the keybed an Acoustic Bass Tone sounds. The Tone to the left of the split point can be changed by use of the category selection buttons and jog dial.
Registrations.
The OS logic is different to the Korg and Yamaha keyboards I have tried and then I had to resort to reading the manual to set up the Split and Layered keyboard where I had two Tones upper and two Tones lower. I wanted to raise the lower split Tones by an Octave, and pressing the Octave key did the whole keyboard. With the information in the old grey matter I then used the Function button and the Cursor keys to get each of the Layered Tones selected and the + button increased the Octave.
Now was the time to try saving the setup as a Registration, pushed the Bank button and Button 1 and it loaded what was in there from the factory. OK so I did not read the Manual, back to the drawing board, created the Split and Layer again and using the process as per the Manual saved the Registration.
Just to make sure it was not a fluke I set about creating a sort of Glenn Miller sound with two Layers of brass in the upper and in the lower one brass and one strings, added some Reverb, Chorus and Delay. Find an appropriate Rhythm and time to setup another Registration, bingo, it worked.
Time for Registration three, early sixties guitar pop with a Strat lead, Reverb, Delay, Echo and that saved OK.
Mixer.
******* Manual, useless text on electronic paper. As you can tell a high frustration factor just getting to grips with the illogical nature of using the Mixer. The Mixer is a multi function Mixer, different configs gives different actions.
It took me a fair amount of time to get to grips with how to scroll between each of the Mixer features, which were:-
Tone Volume
Rhythm volumes
Song
Song solo
It was a work of art to get Volume displayed which in turn enabled each element to have its volume adjusted. Once I had the process down pat I set up one of the Registrations to lower the volume of the Tones to the left of the split. Next I scrolled to adjust Rhythm volume, in particular the drum volume and once lowered the Registration was again saved.
Not exactly a user friendly system but there again once you have the Registration setup and saved there is no need to revisit it, the problem being remembering the convoluted process for making a Registration days or weeks later.
Recording and/or playback.
I formatted a USB memory stick in the 5000, then read the manual. WAV files need to be placed inside a specific folder on the memory stick so on my PC I placed a few WAV’s and a few MIDI’s.
Playback of a WAV file is a case of pushing the Song button and scrolling to the desired song. I tried Satisfy My Soul by Paul Carrack and Wonderful Land by The Shadows, I have to say I am mightily impressed by the sound quality of the 5000’s amp and speakers.
Recording of my playing keyboard is not an action I have done a lot of but for the sake of thoroughness here goes.
Loaded on the the Registrations, pressed the Record button, started playing and the Recording started and the bars recorded was displayed. On completion of playing I pressed the Stop button on the Record section and the Play button and my performance started playing. So a quick and easy process for those who want to save their master pieces.
Conclusion.
An impressive keyboard, at this price point.
A beginner could very well get going on the CT-X very easily but getting used to the OS could very well be a task to far. There is a Function button for easy access to the OS and navigating is very easy but here again the illogical nature of the Manual shows itself. The Engineer in me would have a section of the Manual just on the features available within the Function menu with each page being described in the Manual in the order you find them and not scattered all over the Manual as is the case.
Is the 5000 worth the additional £70 over the 3000 or Yamaha E463, well imo yes. The 5000 has a Mike input, proper 1/4” output jacks in addition to a 1/8” audio input, there are two pedal inputs and a USB Host.
The sound quality of the inbuilt Tones hits the nail firmly on the head, they are that good and any keyboard in the price range would he hard pressed to equal the CT-X for Tone quality.
There are quirks with the OS and getting to grips with the Mixer is high on the frustration stakes but again stick at it and the penny will drop.
If you are in the market for a low cost Arranger then a CT-X could well fit your needs.
