Casio CTK-811EX

The digital effects are very easy to use, but I miss editing. Presets are easy to find, and splitting/layering is easy. Editing patches is a nightmare! I've had the keyboard for about 4 years, and I still haven't managed to make a good patch. The menus are a bit difficult to follow, but it works.

The built in effects are ok. The sequencer is mostly of no use, because it has no editing options. The polyphony is ok, it's what you'd expect out of this price. Split and layer works fine, though.

The patches are terrible, well at least many of them. Strings and synthbrass is ok. Some of the Leads work too. The brass lacs dynamics and sounds awful. It has touch response, but there are few patches who changes when you play hard/soft.

Yes

They sendt me a power suplly once. It took two days!

It's ok if you're a beginner who wants a keyboard to gain some experience with. It was perfect for me when I bought it 4 years ago. But, when you get some experience and some nolage about what other keyboard there are out there, you'll find that this one is nothing but ok.

Use it for gigging and recording.
Presets are OK Editing Patches not the easiest.

32 polophony
7 digital effects very easy to use
midi disk drive had been used lots with no problems except that at 32 notes polophony some times notes will drop off. That will happen with any 32 note polophonic keyboard.

Haven't used the onboard sequencer because I use Cakewalk on the computer.

Sounds are OK. I have done many midi files, backing tracks and one is now on a professional compilation CD with no other tweaking from the midi then my own in Cakewalk.

I still think a good player or composition person can do a lot with cheap gear. And a poor player or composition person can do little with expensive gear.

Have used this keyboard to the max over the last 5 years and the only thing I've had to fix is where you plug the headphone jack in (where I connect to the pa in live situations) because of so much use the solder was weakened and came free.

After undoing a lot of screws I had a friend re solder the connection and no more hassle.

This keyboard has served me faithfully and I have to admit that the midi files I have made, edited or downloaded from the net sound better through this keyboard then some more expensive sound modules.

Maybe you can tweak those sound modules but hey who has the time.

The functions on the keyboard itself are extremely easy to follow. If you get caught up in the manual, it could get confusing. I have never explored much with its full midi capability so I can't comment much on that.

This is a 61 key, 32 polophony unit. It contains 110 rhythm patterns, 232 tones, 53 rhythm, 10 DSP effects, 100 patterns, sequences 2 songs, 6 tracks recording (real-time), 4900 notes capability, 16 channel mixer in MIDI, MIDI in/out, pitch/modulation control, 3.5" floppy disk, uses D batteries, and houses two 5 x 5 watts speakers. Keys are not weighted but it does fine like other boards.

The sounds from this unit is OK for a $160 board but not for $300(+). This is not a bad piece of instrument for a beginner who seeks more capabilities but not willing to pay more. I have recorded a whole album with this board and had to EQ and mix the crap out of it through both, my analog mixer & built-in mixer from my recorder, to just make it sound "OK". Three of the string sounds arn't bad. The piano sections are worthless, though it works. The horns sound like it's coming through a child's toy. With alot of tweak'in, this unit can sound acceptable in live and studio application. If you plan on giging and doing more recording, invest your money in something along some of the finest brands. LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING IMPORTANT..so listen carefully. Everyone keeps saying how good it is...The board's true color shines brightly when you play SMF (Standard Midi Files). I'm a rocker, so my sounds fall along Van Halen, Journey, Foreigner, Rush, The Eages, etc. Boy let me tell you, listen to midi file, "Hotel California". What a piece of crap it sounds. I've never heard anything this awful. The guitars from this board is jusssst...never mind. Then listen to Journey's, "Separate Ways". The intro requires a good sounding synthizer to duplicate this song, or at least come close. The CTK-811 is equipped with a cheap sound module. At first, I thought the MIDI company, whom I ordered the songs from, ripped me off with their cheap recording. I then took the MIDI files to a local music store and tested the same songs through the upgraded, casio WK-3000 & WK-3500. Man what a difference. The sounds these models produced were awsome. But, once I tested them in the Roland RS-70, it just blew my head away. Needless to say, I bought that keyboard the very same day.
Basically, CASIO needs alot of work if they want to continue selling. Their newer WK series are a great improvement. Try these broards if you want to have a sense of quality in your sound.

Though its sound quality stinks, I guess it hadn't let me down yet.

N/A
Haven't dealt with them.

I am a 24 years experieced guitarist. I ony do enough basic keyboarding to flavor up my tones. But I'm a quality person. I am CURSED with a good listening ear. I hear too much details that an ordinary person wouldn't hear. I like my sound to reflect an expensive recording, not something coming out of a toy. If this item is lost or stolen, I wouldn't be put in the situation where I have to tell my wife that I'm throwing it away. This would spare the hassell..plus, I'd prevent myself from feeling guilty. Though the MIDI section is farely descent, I wish it'd have a higher quality Sound Module. After all, this is what makes or breaks your sound. Over all, if you're looking for something descent to practice on, get this keyboard. But if you're seeking sound quality and diversity, save a few hundred dollars more and buy what's gonna make you really happy (at least for the next 5 to 10 years or so).

Unknown if upgrade is available. Presets are adequate for everything but high paying dates. Easy to edit but limited to simple ADSR wish they would put a CZ engine in one of these so we wouldn't need to use one outboard.
Manual is straight forward however don't go by me since I've read over thirty manuals and can eve make a Korg work using the manual.

I hear about 28 to 35 notes depending on which patches
Limited built in effects but does the job in non critical cases, and easy to use. They should have added a hold feature for pages since 10 seconds is hardly enough time for my tired brain to decide on a setting. Pressure sensitive ranks up there with the rest. Sequencer works but you need to save to computer as not SMF file saving allowed.

Horns are not dynamite but work in mixes to give a good realism
Works well for most of the rhythms. Lets face it, the real deal about this instrument is the ability to steal styles from Roland and Technics. Not all features are converted due to the limited fills etc of the 811.

Casio and Korg are the only two units I would use with confidence playing out. Yamahas have a lousy record of breaking down just when you need them. I've never carted a Roland but my in studio units hold together quite nicely.

Last time I needed support, Ahlstrom reluctanly gave me 1/2 hour and was helpful.
All support of any gear is getting outragious in price.

I've already replaced it with an MZ-2000. Playing for 37 years and don't expect to ever quit. Other gear is too numerous and silly to mention. I love the weight of the 811. Pound for pound you cannot beat the performance. Pound for pound it is a lightweight giant of a performer. MZ 2000 is the next best pound for pound deal and in two more years I'll mention how it stack up to the 811...pound for pound.
I wish it had more breaks and fills.

Ease of Use is not great , cause few options important to me are under deep menus , but I can use advantage of registration banks and select whole keyboard setting with just one button - that's easy.

Preset sounds are GM in good sound , it even sounds better than SoundBlaster Live! or AWE32 . Piano and Organ are good.
Built-in synth is good for simple editing and puting samples together to create new instrument , it's not superb, but for keyboard of that class it's enough . Organ sounds can be mixed easily to create some sweet tones.

Manual is good , you wont need it much .

It's good keyboard for beggining , I use it at stage at it's good .
Only thing is which is no so super is keyabord mechanic , but it's ok when I know this is not the best keyboard around.

Absolutely wasted feature is floppy disc drive , because you can only save things in casio format , not in MIDI format , so when you want to record your song in MIDI format you must plug MIDI cable to keyboard and record it into computer directly.
Floppy disc is good for saving lot of things , like your songs,patterns,edited samples and etc.

Sequencer is good , I dont need it much , but it's full of easy to use features . Capacity is big enough .

Sounds are good , lot better than some Yamaha PSR-x30 series I've played with . Grand piano sound realistic (even more with longer reverb) . Organs are ok , and they can be easily mixed into tones you want. In general each sound is so real so you can tell diference between every of 128 instruments only from hearing it . You hear Harmonica and it's sounds like that . So sound quality is OK.

Pitch wheel is good and react smoothly .
Reaction to velocity is not superb , but it can be setuped.

It's just plastic , I think it will survive if you should treat it good , but better have a case for you keyboard.

If I lost it anyway , I would buy it again , but I would rather look for another keyboard with more synth capabilities. And anyway life is about upgrade so I would buy something better .

This is my first board so I don't know much about 'em :) Then again, this review could be handy for people also buying their first board... The keyboard is very easy to use but the sequencer's a bit cumbersome. There's a bit too much menu-scrolling involved. With the (good!) manual it's all very easy.

There's 32-note polyphony but for some tones 16-note polyphony... nuff for me. There's a built-in diskdrive and I have a lot of fun with that! I just download hundreds of midis and put them on a disc. And then I play along! :) A little downside about the drive is that it only supports midi 0. You can use a program like Awave Studio to convert the midis, though. The keys are pressure-sensitive and you can adjust the sensitivity to suit your taste. Pitch-bend wheel is there (much better than those "pitch-bandbuttons" on the CTK-611)

Some instruments don't sound very good but most of them are pretty good. Plus, you can change the instruments you don't like to get better sounds.

Never crashed on me.... but it shouldn't after one month, should it? :)

Never needed it so no opinion.

Well overall I'm really happy with this keyboard. If I would have more money I would probably buy the MZ-2000 but I shouldn't complain; this board's got everything I need and even a diskdrive (really comes in handy!)

LOS SONIDOS PREGRABADOS SON BUEMOS Y DE ALTO REALISMO.
LA EDICION DE PATCHES NO ES COMPLICADA, SI SE HACE CON LA GUIA DEL
MANUAL.
EL MANUAL ES CLARO, PERO PODRIA SER MAS AMPLIO A FIN DE OBTENER MAS
AYUDA PARA EL USO INTENSIVO DEL TECLADO.

EN GENERAL, LAS CARACTERISTICAS DEL TECLADO SON BUENAS.
LOS EFECTOS DE SONIDO SON ALGO LIMITADOS.
EL SECUENCIADOR ES EXCELENTE, Y ALGO REALMENTE UTIL Y VALIOSO PARA
QUIEN, COMO YO, DESEA CREAR MUSICA Y TENERLA ALMACENADA EN UN SOPOR-
TE DE FACIL Y RAPIDO ACCESO, COMO EL DISPOSITIVO DE FLOPPY QUE TRAE
INCORPORADO EL TECLADO.
LAS POSIBILIDADES QUE DA EL SINTETIZADOR, PARA MODIFICAR LOS SONIDOS
PREESTABLECIDOS O CREAR NUEVOS, ES IMPORTANTE.

LOS SONIDOS DE LOS DIFERENTES INSTRUMENTOS SON REALISTAS Y DE BUENA
CALIDAD EN GENEAL.
ES EXCELENTE PARA EJECUTAR O PRODUCIR MUSICA ORQUESTAL, CON MUY BUENOS
SONIDOS DE CUERDAS Y VIENTOS.

EN GENERAL, EL TECLADO ES MUY CONFIABLE.

EN UNA OCACION SOLICITE APOYO POR E-MAIL A CASIO DE INGLATERRA
Y OBTUVE RAPIDA RESPUESTA A MI CONSULTA.

LO VOLVERIA A COMPRAR, PORQUE ES UNA MAQUINA EXCELENTE, Y PERMITE
CREAR Y ARREGLAR MUSICA CON LA VASTA CANTIDAD DE OPCIONES QUE OFRE-
CE. DESCONOZCO OTRO TECLADO QUE OFREZCA LAS POSIBILIDADES DE ESTE,
AUNQUE SEGURAMENTE EXISTE ( O NO?)
CUANDO LO CONOSCA MAS A FONDO, SEGURAMENTE PODRE HACER UNA CRITICA
MAS ACERTADA DE EL. POR EL MOMENTO : !! NO PODRIA VIVIR SIN TI, MI
AMADO CTK811-EX !!.

Sounds are so so except for a few exceptional sounds
Editing patches is very simple but limited
Manual is straight forward. Wish the authors would teach tecnique to the Korg authors...

32 Note
DSP limited effects
Floppy allows new rhythms from Korg Technics and Roland.Outstanding for the money
Velocity
On board sequencer is oddly designed. No input thru midi to capture live performances.

Organs are good Vibes are good
Onboard effects are adequate enough for musical inspiration.

Reliability is good. Be sure to wrap it well for transporting

Casio is known for expensive support after warranty has expired

If it were lost or stolen I would replace it immediately with an MZ2000. Been playing since before WW2. Liked the floppy drive and conversion program...Top drawer...Would be easier to list gear I don't own...

software version; don't know if this applies.
presets: most sound ok; some are very good.
editing sounds: not done this yet.
manual: seems very comprehensive.

32 polyphonic except reduces to 16 with certain tones
10 basic effects; i think they only act on the whole output.
midi in and out; pressure sensitive keys; on-board 6 track sequencer,
ok to use if you follow the instruction book; easy to change tones and rythms;
auo-accompaniment is pretty well done and most sound quite satisfying;
pitch bend wheel; in-built floppy disk drive works fine though uses
lots of battery power; mains adapter pretty much an essential, but its an extra
in the uk; haven't got one yet (well not the casio one). floppy drive was the
reason i went for this keyboard, plus it was on offer at greatly reduced price,
seemed a bargain at #200 in May 2000; casio probably about to replace it with
even more featyures at even lower price?

i'm not a professional musician, or even a talented amateur, but
at my three-chord-trick level, it impresses the hell out of me.

too soon to tell, for me; it will only get home use with me so i'm not expecting
any problems; i had a casio keyboard previously, ctk650, which never gave any
bother at all.

i dont think there's anything else like it out there at the price;
so i think its a great bargain; they should include a mains adapter, though.
maybe for the non-musicians like me, they could provide a way of typing chords
into the sequencer, like band-in-a-box which i (unashamedly) find real good fun;
maybe you can, and i haven't found it yet? oh, and if you want it to play
through an external amp, you can only get it out of the headphone
socket; this is what i do, and i don't know whether its too safe.
i've only had it for a month or so, but it's looking good so
far; ie the novelty hasn't worn off yet. i think it's great.

- FDD 3.5"
- Very good, its really magical the sound of the CTK-811EX
- Its really easy editting patches, its not hard, only you have to have a little musician hear, in order to use at 100% this function
- The manual tells you everything, I had never read a manual that you could find everything by means of the index

- Its easy to get your own music, and its really realiistic
- Its easy to use builting effects, only you have to read the manual in order to understand the instructions
- Yes, you can save everything you want in floopy disks
- I haven't try MIDI capabilities because before that I've had been discoverying only the keyboard's functions
- I haven't find the sequencer, I don't know if the CTK-811EX has it. (I understand for secuencer... the programming so that as the song advances it goes alone changing the rhythms and the tones.)

- The sounds are very realistic, but if you wouldn't like one of them, you can syntethizer it, in order to find your own sound
- Every music work well, you are not rated
- Yes, you can hear what you play instantly
- Good, You program velocity and aftertouch

- Yes
- Yes, because you'll find another way to make music

- It doesn't apply
- No

- Yes I bought the same keyboard
- CTK-811EX only 5 months ago, Yamaha EF series since 15 years ago, Allen organs since 1 year ago
- I love everything, I hate not to know if there is a sequencer (I understand for secuencer... the programming so that as the song advances it goes alone changing the rhythms and the tones.)
- Yes I compared it with Yamaha, but I choose CTK-811EX because I think that Casio is the best of electronic keyborad, and I wanted the best.
- Nothing, except the sequencer I had ask
- Its help me to make music, its really easy
- I you have read this words, don't believe me, prove it, convince you and buy it, I know that its going to like you

I just use it as a piano with built in ir floppy disk midi accompaniments so I find it easy to use.

I like the touch sensitive keyboard. The effects are lame. I can hardly hear a difference with them switched in or out. The big deal is that it has a built in floppy disk to play type 0 midi accompaniment files. It is the least expensive kb I found with a floppy disk drive.

I don;t have much to compare it with so I can't really rate it. It sounds ok to me.

This is my second Casio kb (I also have a CTK-611) and neither one has ever had a problem in home use.

There is nothing else at its price with a built in floppy so yes I would buy it again. Note that it only plays type 0 midi files. I had to buy Cakewalk Express since it can save type 0 files and the sequencer I was using, Midi Orchestrator, only saved type 1 files.