Casio CT-630

You turn it on, you play...

The patch selection mechanism is a bit of a pain though - there are 4 banks A1/B1 and A2/B2 which irritating if you were using the sounds. As you'll be wanting to control patches over midi it's comeplete inpenetrable after the first few patches.

Never figured out what the sequencer thingy did.

They keyboard is actually pretty nice - 5 octaves full size (better than the korg and Yamaha keyboards I have from that ere). It's not weighted, it's not velicity sensitive, theres no mod/pitch bend, but if you just want to send notes then it's a pretty nice master keyboard.

The split function is kinda handy, tough you can't control the channels. There's a choice of 3 split points, and it midi sends on channels 1 and 2.

The drum patterns also send stop/start messages which can be usefull.

It sounds REALLY bad, but I've not used the sounds on it for years, if ever. I just use it for midi.

A couple of them are allright. The one trick I did use was to layer the REALLY CHEESY jazz organ sound with a cleaner organ sound on an expander. Using the expression pedal, I could then use it quite expressivly to mix distortion, higher harmonics into the main sound.

Bomb proof.

Only annoying thing is the auto-power off after 5mins if you don't touch anything....

never tried it.

I paid far more than the current going rate, but that was about 18 years ago when a real midi master keyboard was WAY out of my price range. It's still going strong, and if I lost it I'd need to replace it with something similar.

Basically I turn it on, and it sends notes on midi channel 1 (occasionally 2 if I use the split) - thats what I need it to do. Given the midi event processing available in most modules, I can't really see what more I would want a master keyboard to do.

A mod wheel or pitchbennd would be nice, but I'd probably not use it that much anyway...

As a low cost basic master keyboard it works great.

This would rate about a 7 if I had bought it new or used; it's about 9 since a friend unloaded it on me for nothing. The presets flipped me out for about 2 minutes. There was no manual involved; and practically nothing else, but hey, it's a free keyboard.

Actually, the sound is pretty decent for a keyboard! Compared to some of the other stuff I've heard, the sound isn't bad at all. Some of the effects are easy to use; some I'm still looking for. MIDI wise, again, I don't know; I'm going to have to download a manual sometime. Once we got the glitch out of it, it was VERY easy to use. At least this one's memory doesn't degrade - unlike the $2500 Balwin Clavinova I was 'borrowing'. And Casio seems to have a living (possibly human) customer support department.
Until I've had an opportunity to explore, tho, I'd say it's limited by comparison to the $5K Yamaha keyboard my cousin uses, which is an EXCELLENT machine.

Most instruments on this machine are synthetic sounding. But then, the Balwin I mentioned above had about the same realistic capabilities half the time. This one seems to be consistant. Some of the sounds are very good, expecially considering the product age.

Yep, I can depend on it
and Nope, I'd never use this for anything than what I got it for - practice - it doesn't have a full keyboard, and there are some issues with limited sound quality.

I like Casio's support people.
They got back to me in less than 48 hours.

This was worth every penny. ;) Been playing keyboards/piano since I was 2. Wish it had a full keyboard, built in sustain, memory upgrade, and all the cool sounds (much) more expensive products have. Would definitely get a new Casio if something happens to this one. After the first glitch, it has done everything I've asked of it.

Easy to use, no menus, spartan features, quite self-explanatory.

I can get about 7 notes polyphony when in normal mode. Effects include "Casio Chord" a usless for non-musical key-bangers. MIDI works on a basic NoteOn, NoteOff, Insturment change, basis. No pressure sensitive keys, tempo control, or pitch or mod wheels. Use as a basic input for PC synth is this unit's highest aspiration.

The singular(or should i say single?) feature on this keyboard is a small tuning knob in the back of this unit, useful for playing along to music, or for use as a poor-mans pitch-bender.

95% of the sounds are pretty bad, even for 80's-esque cheap keyboards. A Few sound good on the lower end of the scale, and i have found that if you alter the "lower tone" soundbank selection while using the "upper tones", you can 'accinebtally' affect tone and vibarato on standard sounds. Please use this with some sort of expression pedal or purely as midi.

I got this keyboard 6 years ago for helping a friend-of-a-friend move. This person not being one to normally give things away, they must have found this useless or worse. Yet, it has provided me with years of trouble-free use. (only problem is MIDI locks up on occasion, a simple power-cycle fixes it instantly.)

Never tried, If you need help operating this, seek therapy.

Worth what i paid for it... Good for children and very basic MIDI input.

It has a range of sound, drum beats and accompanyments. It also takes a sustain pedal, volume pedal and midi cables. It's a great learners keyboard, if you score one cheap.

As a midi input device for a pc, you can't go wrong here. It's a very good and reasonable sized cheap keyboard for this.

It also has some recording keys, but I have no clues to what they are for. I have programmed synthesisers before, and this ain't even a synth.

I mainly use this keyboard for midi input on my pc. My soundcard has infinitely better sounds on it than this keyboard.

Casio got it right when they trying to reclassify their keyboard as "electrical articles which produce sound" instead of "electronic musical instruments" in 1996. In their own minds, their products are not musical instruments. I find that 99% of the sounds are all pretty bad, but hey it's a cheap keyboard, what can you expect.

There were one or two sounds that sound nice through my Zoom-505 guitar multi-effects pedal. It was almost like a synthesiser with the pitch-bender. :-)

Still going strong after years of "use".

Well, I emailed them to get a product manual out of curiousity about what those record buttons do. I got reply within a few hours asking for a postal address. This was only recently, and it hasn't arrived yet to me in New Zealand. But, their promptness was appreciated, expecially with help regarding this museum relic.

Great for learners, for midi, or if you use an effects pedal. I rate this quite high, only because for what you get pretty much what you payt for. I've seen them advertised 2nd hand for about US$80.