Hi, I,m new, to this forum

[Dick Davis]

I have had a Casio CT-670 for several years and just in the last few months have really started to use it.Family has borrowed it so not always available. It has been total enjoyment for me with great sounds and easy use.
Well the sound board must have started to go out as the great sounds got kind of tinny all of a sudden.
So I bought a Casio CTK 4200 from Amazon for $150. less $50 for taking out new credit card. Free shipping so total cost $100.
But I think the piano sounds are not as good as what I am used to. Love all the features that come with and using the organ, it sounds great. Am I missing something or expecting too much? The piano does not sound very good to me at all. The organ sounds and other sounds are really good but I like playing the piano.
So again, am I expecting too much for the money?
Or am I missing something in its use?
If I send it back to Amazon what be comparable to the CT-670?
I really want it to work and make me satisfied.
Any advice would be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Dick Davis

 

[happyrat1]

For a hundred bux cheap and cheerful is pretty much what you get. A low end yamaha might give you a more realistic piano sound, but before you send the 4200 back for a refund, I'd suggest getting out to some actual music shops and electronic stores and listening to what you're getting before you buy.

The lowest end electronic pianos from Yamaha and Casio such as the Privia line offer better piano sounds and keyboard feel but they start at around $500 and don't expect their best piano sounds from those models either. Also they're usually limited to a few dozen instrument voices as well.

Professionals pay upwards from $1000 to $5000 for electronic keyboards that can faithfully reproduce pianos and other voices and there's a huge selection out there from different manufacturers.

If you're just starting out though, then as I said, go out and listen to what's available and adjust your budget according to both what you like and what you can afford.

For starters you can often get a pretty good idea from watching youtube demos of the keys you are interested in and listening to the recorded audio. MP3's and FLVs can be pretty close to CD quality if properly recorded and you should find them helpful in cases where you can't actually physically audition a keyboard.

BTW, Welcome to the forum...

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

One more thing to consider is that it may just be the internal speakers that sound tinny. Have you tried it with headphones? If so, it may simply be a matter of hooking up better speakers to the headphone output jack.

 

[Dick Davis]

For a hundred bux cheap and cheerful is pretty much what you get. A low end yamaha might give you a more realistic piano sound, but before you send the 4200 back for a refund, I'd suggest getting out to some actual music shops and electronic stores and listening to what you're getting before you buy.

The lowest end electronic pianos from Yamaha and Casio such as the Privia line offer better piano sounds and keyboard feel but they start at around $500 and don't expect their best piano sounds from those models either. Also they're usually limited to a few dozen instrument voices as well.

Professionals pay upwards from $1000 to $5000 for electronic keyboards that can faithfully reproduce pianos and other voices and there's a huge selection out there from different manufacturers.

If you're just starting out though, then as I said, go out and listen to what's available and adjust your budget according to both what you like and what you can afford.

For starters you can often get a pretty good idea from watching youtube demos of the keys you are interested in and listening to the recorded audio. MP3's and FLVs can be pretty close to CD quality if properly recorded and you should find them helpful in cases where you can't actually physically audition a keyboard.

BTW, Welcome to the forum...

Gary

For a hundred bux cheap and cheerful is pretty much what you get. A low end yamaha might give you a more realistic piano sound, but before you send the 4200 back for a refund, I'd suggest getting out to some actual music shops and electronic stores and listening to what you're getting before you buy.

The lowest end electronic pianos from Yamaha and Casio such as the Privia line offer better piano sounds and keyboard feel but they start at around $500 and don't expect their best piano sounds from those models either. Also they're usually limited to a few dozen instrument voices as well.

Professionals pay upwards from $1000 to $5000 for electronic keyboards that can faithfully reproduce pianos and other voices and there's a huge selection out there from different manufacturers.

If you're just starting out though, then as I said, go out and listen to what's available and adjust your budget according to both what you like and what you can afford.

For starters you can often get a pretty good idea from watching youtube demos of the keys you are interested in and listening to the recorded audio. MP3's and FLVs can be pretty close to CD quality if properly recorded and you should find them helpful in cases where you can't actually physically audition a keyboard.

BTW, Welcome to the forum...

Gary

Thanks for the info, Gary,

 

[Dick Davis]

One more thing to consider is that it may just be the internal speakers that sound tinny. Have you tried it with headphones? If so, it may simply be a matter of hooking up better speakers to the headphone output jack.

I,ll give it a whirl. Guess could plug it into my guitar amp,too. Thanks.

 

[happyrat1]

Bear in mind that you'll need a stereo to 2 mono output adapter and also Bass Amps or Keyboard Amps tend to do better with keyboards than Guitar Amps.

Guitar amps don't have the dynamic range needed to reproduce the full range of a piano keyboard.

Also be careful since this is a kludge. Keep your volume settings very very low to start to make sure you don't blow either the headphone output or the amp inputs.

It's really a shame that most low end keyboards don't have proper line level outputs. To save themselves $5 worth of parts they make it nearly impossible to hook these instruments up to proper sound systems that would make them sound like a million bucks.

Gary

 

[Dick Davis]

OK I,ll be very careful.
Think I,m going to just be satisfied for now until I learn this board very well.
Thanks

 

[Simon Hopkins]

a CT670? wow thats old. And sounds good too! Had one as a kid.