Yay! X-mas Presents - PC USB hook Up Question

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So, I got my presents and here is what happened.

I got my Casio CK-5000 which I am really pleased with.
I got a 75 lesson theory book
I got a book full of Piano Chords and stuff like that
CD-ROMs for programs to teach unique things like, learning songs by ear, etc;


Freakin Sweet!

I read my manual on my CK-5000 and I can layer sounds with it and stuff like, alot better keyboard then my old one XD..

Question is, is there a certain way to hook up my keyboard to a computer?

My keyboard has a USB port, so do I just plug in and play or do I need to do something special
 
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Congrats!

You might be able to simply connect your keyboard and computer with the cable and be good to go. Even if that works, check Casio's web site for a USB driver specific to your keyboard. Often the USB driver will give you improved data transfer performance and/or allow you to take full advantage of all the features of the connection.

One minor "snag" you might run into is that you might have to connect/disconnect your keyboard while your DAW software/keyboard editor is not running.

For example, I need to shutdown my music software before I disconnect/turn off my keyboard. Otherwise the music software totally locks up on me, and I sometimes have to kill it with Task Manager.
 
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One more "snag" is the latency. It means you probably will have a "delay" in time from when you press the keys and when the sound plays in your VSTs (if you use them).

You can solve that by isntalling asio4all drivers. they are a few Kb size and work like a charm :)
 
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It depends what the Casio uses the USB for. Many keyboards use a USB connection as a bi-directional MIDI connection, and the keyboard will be recognized as a MIDI device. Others use USB just as a way of updating the operating system or to change presets on the keyboard via a computer-based editor. Hopefully, you can send MIDI data via USB; if not, you should at least be able to send MIDI data to your computer using the keyboard's MIDI OUT port. You'll need some kind of MIDI interface, but you can get a 1x1 (1 IN, 1 OUT) quite cheaply; I have a 2x2 that cost under $50 US.
 
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If you want to hook it up to the computer for recording purposes, the USB cable will only be able to send MIDI signals, not audio. Which means that you will need a program to turn the MIDI signals into sound (Cubase, Nuendo, Logic etc.), and you will probably experience some latency issues. However, it will give you LOADS of new opportunities when it comes to sound programming, as I doubt that keyboard of yours have that advanced sound programming capabilities.

If you want to record Audio, you simply need an adapter to be able to connect from your keyboard's Headphone Output to your computers Input, you can probably buy those in any kind of electric shop or music store. Mine costed like £3 or something, so they're really cheap, and opens up new recording possibilities :)
 
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Before buying an audio cable, see page 5 of this thread if you want to save a big chunk of change. When you get to the point where you are turning MIDI into sound on your computer, the programs Sargas suggests are good, but you might want to check out less expensive alternatives first (ACID Music Studio, Cakewalk Music Creator, etc.). Try the demos before you buy, and remember that you can always upgrade as your needs grow.

Sargas, at the price you paid either you bought that cable before iPods came out, or they Apple doesn't sell them in Sweden! :D
 
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Sargas, at the price you paid either you bought that cable before iPods came out, or they Apple doesn't sell them in Sweden! :D

What was that supposed to mean? :S

And I didn't actually buy a cable, I only bought an adapter so that I could use my standard cable into the PC...

I didn't really get what Apple and iPods had to do with it :/
 
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My lame attempt at a joke...

Before the iPod, you could buy an audio patch cable with a stereo 1/8" mini plug at each end for about $2-3. Now that iPods are everywhere and people are plugging their iPods into everything, those exact same cables now cost $18 or MORE.

Now get this: At one store I was at a week ago, a couple aisles down from the 1/8" plug patch cables, I found a 1/4" plug patch cable of the same length, comparable quality. Guess how much. $18? $25? Nope, just $4!!

In fact most stores in my area charge about $18 for a 1/8" plug patch cable. RadioShack beat them all by charging "only" $7. Still more than the cable is worth, but what can a guy do? Order online for $2 and pay $5 shipping? LOL

Just about anything with a 1/8" plug these days costs 4-6x more than it did before personal MP3 players were everywhere.

(And yet, I'm considering buying an MP3 player of my own....)
 

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