Casio WK-1630

The presets on this keyboard are quite good. Considering the price of this unit, the sounds are surprisingly realistic. I have not edited any patches or sounds yet, but after looking at the manual, it doesn't seem too difficult.

The keyboard action seems a little flimsy at first, but you get used to it quickly. There are built in effects (chorus, reverb, organ speaker, flange, etc.). Again, more than adequate quality. This keyboard has MIDI in/out capability.

Again, the sounds are surprisingly realistic. Piano sounds are very nice as well as the organ sounds. I use this keyboard as a secondary keyboard while playing with my band. Using 2 keyboards while playing live makes it so much easier to switch between sounds during a song. The WK1630 has enough good-quality sounds for me to produce a quality sound on stage. This unit is touch sensitive, so it will react to your playing.

I've had this keyboard for approximately 2 years and it has never let me down. I use it while gigging with my band, but I'm not sure I'd use it alone. I suppose if my other synth crashed on me I could definitely pull off a gig using this keyboard.

Never had to deal with Casio customer support, nor have I tried to upgrade or repair this keyboard.

If this keyboard were lost or stolen I'd probably replace it with the Casio WK3500. It's basically the same keyboard with some additional bells and whistles. I've been playing keyboards for 26 years. I also own a Casio CT6000, a Casio CZ3000, and an Alesis QS7. I use the WK1630 and the QS7 on gigs.

I was 10 when I got this for a Christmas present. I didn't even look in the manual for anything, but it does have some interesting things in it. The presets sound awesome.

The keys are not weighted but you get used to playing it.

The instruments sound real and you can layer effects to get awesome sounds. You can get an echo on some of the effects.

I can rely on it a lot because I am 13 and played at a wedding for a family member and I did not have a backup keyboard

I never have had anything go wrong with it.

I would buy this product again if mine were stolen or broken. It is really reliable. I would suggest getting an amp for it if you are playing in a band so you won't blow the speakers.

I am using a Casio WK-1630. I love the variety of all of the presets. For the most part, they sound pretty close too real. I wouldn't expect much more. The manual that came with the keyboard reminded me of a novel I once read. I ended up trashing it after a week and had more fun figuring out all of the effects on my own.

I love having the ability to mix and make any type of music all at my finger tips. The pressure sensitive keys help me to express more in my music. I also enjoy being able to record more than one thing at a time. It's a simple luxury but it's a plus.

I love all the different on board effects. I can create almost anything. It's as realistic as I would expect it to be. If it was a thousand dollar keyboard, I might expect different.The weighted and touch sensitive keys make it more realistic and like playing a real piano. THe sound can go pretty loud but at max volume, you can hear a tiny bit of faint static.

I've never had any problems with dependability. The only thing that I don't like is that it eats up batteries so fast. I always bring my power cord and hook it up at gigs. I can't take the chance of the batteries dying at a gig. Other than that, I have never had a problem.

I've never had to take it to get fixed, so I wouldn't know how customer friendly they are.

I guess I'm kind of spoiled. It's the only good keybard I've ever used. Up till now I just played on a regular acoustic piano. I have played other keybaords though and this one's pretty high up on the rating. I've been playing for 6 or more years and the only thing that I would change would be the keys being more weighted. It's simple but a nice luxury.

Well, I just tried it out in the store. I've been keyboard shopping for a long time and compared this primarily to the Yamaha DGX202. Officially, the Yamaha beats it in almost every area, but I'll get to the other areas in a moment. I didn't get too far into the bowels of this keyboard... I was mainly concerned with sounds out of the box. In that regard, it was pretty easy to find voices and sounds. Took me a second to figure out how to turn off the darned effects, but once I took care of that, it sounded pretty Ok... about what I'd expect from Radio Shack and Casio.

I hear it's 32 note polyphony, which sort of bothers me. I mean, granted, that's 32 notes at once, but let's think about this. 4 or 5 notes per chord, right? Add in dissonant notes and moving bass lines, and we could have as many as 10 or 12 notes ringing at once. Use double voices (such as strings and bells) and you are now down to 16 note polyphony... (because each note is actually 2) So anyway, you're running into the ceiling at that point, but for 300 bucks, it's not bad. For the record, my baby, the Yamaha DGX202, also has only 32 note poly.

On the good side, the Casio has a mod wheel which the Yamaha doesn't have. This is my only complaint about the Yamaha... but oh well...

Anyway, the Casio has a lot of useless effects (for the most part, anything aside from a TINY but of reverb and some chorus is totally useless)... but that's about as far as I got before I decided that the piano, organ, and string sounds weren't at the level I wanted... plus I didn't feel the need to pay for silly little options that I would never use live.

Here is where I had to choose the Yamaha over the Casio. Features aside, what really matters is how the darn thing SOUNDS. Unfortunately, the Casio sounds like you would expect a 300 dollar keyboard to sound. It actually sounds identical to the cheaper Casios I played as well, which is annoying.

The Yamaha, however, sounds almost as well as the Korg Tritan, which I tested as the "control group"- you know, what a keyboard is supposed to sound like.

Piano is my main concern, with secondary concern for believable organ and string sounds. Although the Casio works well, it just doesn't quite fulfill the standard that I wanted to uphold in my band.

Don't have any idea. I've never had problems with any Casio device, but I didn't buy this one...

Who knows

Good for a starter, but not good for me... I just want a keyboard to add a little sonic depth to my band (besides just 2 guitars, bass, and drums). And I just don't see paying 300 dollars for a 100 dollar board with lots of special features. I'd rather buy a stripped down pro sounding board like the Yamaha for the same price.

I am not overly experienced with keyboards much less synths, but i thought this unit
was easy enough to get noise out of. I haven't exhausted the presets yet, and you can layer and tweak
so I do not feel limited in this respect.
The manual isn't that great. I think it was poorly translated, and not adequatly written in the first
place. I started looking for resources on the web within a week of
firing up theis thing. Found little of use on the web so far.

keyboard feels pretty cheesy, but not any worse than most portables.
I recall that Fender rhodes feel way better, while hammonds feel similar.
i want a sequencer, but this thing seems too big to haul around for a few
song intros, which is all i am ready to use it for playing out.
read another review for specs.
GM midi is supposed to be good, and i got a soundblaster live in my box,
but i'm months away from trying to bring these two things together.
I f i were going to use this for several song sequencing, i could see where it is way too linmited
but as a stepping stone, it's fine

this does not fool me. it does not sound like a sax or a real piano, but
who cares? the sounds it makes are good and i haven't exhausted my possibilities yet
i wanted to be able to write on this, and it's cool for that. and i'll learn some midi
and synth technique along the way.
the keybiard is not that of a piano, but then again, i do not possess
the dexterity to fully exploit a real piano key board so no prob for me

roadworthy? good question! not too many things will pass the drop test,
so i wouldn't put this down for that. A padded road case would probably be a good idea.
and as other reviewed have commented, would cost as much as this unit.
I think it would be virtually impossible to service this myself
and smoke and beer would probably kill it in a week out live.

yeah right! me no speekee japaneese thankyou velly much joe

if I had to replace this for some reason, I would have to resurvey the current
offerings. But I think that the recession has hit the high tewchs and the music industry
and nothing revolutionary will be released until they sell off a bunch of the existing
technology. I wonder how big a hit Casio took when mars bellied up.
ouch

The fact that the voice presets are written out on the keyboard (Yamahas generally don't have this) is a plus, although a jog wheel found on some Yamaha models would make getting to, say, Kalimba (108) from Grand Pno. (000) a little easier. Most of the wk1630 is straight-forward and pretty much no-brainer in terms of operating. However, the song and pattern sequencer functions and the mixer functions are confusing, prompting you to study the manual (several times), which isn't the biggest help. I bought this keyboard with hopes that the mixer and 6-track song sequencer function would help me put together more elaborate projects on my four-track. But I still haven't completely figured out the mixer and sequencer, having given up on the verbose, confusing manual a few times. I would recommend shopping a place with KNOWLEDGEABLE staff who could show you how to use the functions before you leave the store.

76 Keys, 32-note polyphony, loads of tone and rhythm presets, MIDI in/out capabilities, really cool blue LED screen, touch-sensitive keys with controllable sensitivity (the keys, however, are still plastic and feel a little weird if you're used to playing real pianos with hammer action... if you want that on a synth, expect to pay close to a thousand), 10 effects that are pretty good, and your typical corny demos.

The touch-sensitive function makes shaping sounds fairly easy, but I've had to fiddle with some tone parameters (daunting, but possible if you study the cryptic manual) to customize sounds to my preference. This keyboard is really loud. I've never pushed the volume above a very low setting, and the speakers sound pretty damn good. Of course, some synth sounds get muddy (for instance, the Choir Aah's) below a certain register and above a certain register, but these things are expected with a 3 or 4 hundred dollar synth. For the most part, though, you can find a range with most of the sounds that gives you a decent level of realism.

Seems pretty solid, but I don't know if I would gig with it. For gigging, I would recommend getting a lower-level Yamaha synth, like an S03 or S05 ($500 to $800)and plugging it up to an amp. For $300, the wk1630 is pretty well-built... it's pretty big, though, and I wouldn't want to haul it around. It'll hold up just fine at home.

Never met the chaps.

Excellent for my needs right now, especially for the price I paid. I studied classical piano and violin for 15 years and now I'm doing a lot of guitar and recording stuff. I'm happy with this 76-key, 300 dollar wonder... wouldn't settle for anything less and couldn't afford anything more. Some day when I make a regular salary I want to invest in a nice Roland or Korg synth. That'll be the day. I'll give it a 10 for overall value and excellent performance and features in its class and price range.

This is my first keyboard (I'm a guitar player) and I actually found the 1630 very easy to use. Basically I just use it to create keyboard textures to solo over. I use Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro, run the keyboard into my mixer, then the mixer to the computer. Works pretty well. If I have any questions, usually the manual explains the problem fairly well. I have yet to actually try to edit sounds with the synthesizer though, so that might be difficult. We'll see.

Beginner to intermediate keyboard, 32 note polyphony, 76 non weighted full size keys, onboard effects, pitch bend and modulation wheels, touch sensitive with no aftertouch, 130 built in rhythm patterns, 232 fixed sounds with 31 user presets, not expandable, 5 watt powered speakers, battery or A/C powered, sequencer

Overall, I would say the sounds on the 1630 are really good. Most of the horn sounds are weak, but that is to be expected. I love the piano sounds and the string sounds. Plus, when you use the layer feature, you can get some great original sounds. I like layering Strings over the Saw Wave, and you get a great Van Halen "Jump" sound. The effects are pretty decent, except you cannot adjust them, and you can only use one at a time. That was a disappointment. The key reaction is good. It is touch sensitive.

I think for what I'm using it for, which is only home studio applications, it will hold up great. I don't think I would gig with it though. While it is a quality keyboard for $300, the casing is plastic, and if it fell off of its stand at a gig, I don't think it would survive the fall without serious trauma.

Overall, I love this keyboard. For $300, I would say I got more than my money's worth. I can get great sounds, and it works well with my computer/studio set up. Again, I'm primarily a guitar player, so I'm not as picky as a gigging keyboard player would be. But for what I use it for, its fantastic. Put it this way. 10 years ago, this keyboard would have been well in the $2000 range. The sounds overall work well. You can have a very believable dry grande piano sound, as well as very spacey, wet string/synth sounds. Would definately buy again. I compared it to Yamaha in the same price range, with many of the same features. It took me about 30 seconds of playing around on the Yamaha to go back to the Casio. The Casio, is just a better piece of equipment. I gave it all 8's above, simply because its not perfect. But overall, I feel that I can give it a ten, for the applications I gave above.

It's been a year and a half since I bought the wk-1630 and I still can only play the standard keyboard sounds. even though I have been programing computers for the last twenty years I find the instuction manual inept and the button layout nonsensical, unfriendly. I wish I could have someone explain what or how to use the thing. I can play piano: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin some of their most advanced compositions. But that keyboard, forget it.

The keys have no feel whatsoever. The sustain pedal barely suatains. I am constantly bumping buttons that suddenly start up some goofy drum beat and have a difficult time turning it off

Although this is the WK-1630 page my review is on the WK-1600 which according to the manual is identical in function and specification to the WK-1630. I tried this unit in the stores and its competition in the Yamaha line and the Casio has it hands down. Yamaha is resting on their laurels in a similarly priced keyboard while Casio is doing their homework and giving the consumer what they are expecting. I played music semi-professionally for about 16 years and had to quit about 13 years ago because the sound quality expected required something like a DX-7 (Yamaha) to produce. I got out of the music biz because the midrange market had what is considered by today's standards "toys". My first toy was the KORG Poly 800 which was entry level at best (bought in '81 or '82). A unit like the WK-16XX back in the '80's would have required a cash outlay of $3000-4000. Personally I find the unit easy to operate out of the box (already an owner of a Casio CTK-551 marketed as Optimus MD-1150 from Radio Shack). There are a lot more features on the WK-16XX and I find editing the 32 user-defined patches easy to edit if the 200 built in ones aren't enough. The Casio WK-16XX manual is far better than its Radio-Shack counterpart which I downloaded off of the web in PDF format so I could know what to try in the store to make my evaluation.

I am currently using both boards with Cakewalk Express Gold and have defined instrument files for loading into Cakewalk so I could address the Casio midi implementation directly rather than having to switch to GM mode.

Polyphony is 32 notes with 232 sounds including the 32 user patches and 8 drum kits. One nice feature about this board is the 10 DSP effects, which include 3 reverb, phaser, flanger, chorus, rotating speaker, and a couple of others. Midi receive is all 16 channels unlike some of the cheaper boards which have 3-4 receive MIDI channels plus 1 for drums. Also included is a mixer for MIDI channels. My WK-1600 came with an AC adapter. It doesn't appear to be expandable, although if the only difference between the WK-16XX and the WK-1800 is more memory and the floppy disk, one wonders if that plugged floppy slot has a bus and firmware behind it. Keys are velocity sensitive but no after touch, however this is not a downside for me. Back in the 80's velocity sensitivity cost a bundle!! It has an on-board sequencer, but I haven't had a chance to use it. My studio has Cakewalk and I use this for all of my sequencing chores.

All of the instruments in this keyboard are beyond my expectations for the price paid. As I said, this keyboard's sound quality and features back in the 80's would have cost between $3-4 grand. I can't complain. The downside of the DSP effects such as the rotating speaker is that you get fast and off with no rampdown. Fast-slow with ramp up/down would have been desirable. The rotating speaker effect is good but anyone who has owned a leslie (I have) knows the difference. I'll probably build some external speakers with rotating chutes and full range speakers to get the organ sound. (I built my own leslie 145 from parts I ordered from the local organ repair shop back in '78 - sold it for $350 -- damn! should have kept it). I would estimate that whether I played Rock, Classical, Jazz, New Age, or Dance that this keyboard has all the features I need. I've played all of these styles and I can't find anything so far that is a deficiency. Velocity has 3 ranges, depending on if your natural touch is light, medium or heavy. I'd imagine that if the keyboard didn't seem as responsive in the default range that you could tweak it to personalize it for your style of playing. Keys are not weighted, but what do you expect for $300 bucks?

I've owned a Casio keyboard for 2 years prior to this one. I've never had a problem. I have enough confidence in the product that I would probably gig with both of them. But as yet, I don't have enough experience with this board to rate it fully.

I've sent an e-mail to the customer support asking the difference between the WK-1600 and WK-1630 through the form in their web site, but the form-to-email program seems improperly coded because the message got bounced (it was sent to emisupport@csio.com - apparently someone left out the 'a') I resent it using my default mail account and it seemed to go through, but it's too early for a reply.

I've been waiting for a keyboard in this price/value range for a long time. Before I demo'ed this one in a store, I had my sights set on a Yamaha for the better organ and clav sounds than my current Casio. However Casio has raised the bar on this unit and Yamaha has some catching up to do. The organ sounds, piano sounds, and clav along with everything else are much better than the Yamaha in a similar price range. If I had to replace this unit, I would replace it with the same model or maybe upgrade to the WK-1800, although with Cakewalk in my studio, I'm not sure that the extra hundred bucks for the floppy and more sequencer memory would get much use.

I bought this unit at Sam's club, to go along with my home computer MIDI setup. It interfaced well, and I was happy to find that the built in rhythm parts can be played & saved into my computer software (PG MUSIC Power Tracks). That feature took a little hunting in the manual.... it is a toggle feature in the MIDI setup. It also work well for playing MIDI music FROM the computer back into the Casio. IT actually has 32 channels ....16 internal and 16 MIDI in. So you can play standard GM based MIDI's and the instruments are correct.

The fact that it is very compatible with my computer resolves the expansion question for my usage. I can create a song on the keyboard , save it to one of the 2 song storage areas..... then record/play it into Power Tracks and save it as a midi. The combination of effects works well with the sound card effects (Sound Blaster Live!), giving the possibility of multiple effects. The keyboard play and velosity are all saved as part of the midi.

The Piano is great. Also the organ, Sax, snth sounds,and guitar highlights in the patterns. Horns are a little weak, but most keyboards are weak in that area(in my opinion)

A hardshell case would cost as much as the keyboard.... too much. So, if you take it out I would handle it VERY carefully.I saw Musicians Friend sells zippered bags for $44.99.

Don't know?

I would buy it again. It gives me the versitility I wanted in making MIDI music on the home computer. It has built in chord patterns for each style, which are fun to play along with. I use them for accompanyment while playing my guitar.

Seems easy to use. I'm a guitar player primarily and I just bought this unit to learn on and to use as a computer controller; this is my first keyboard, in other words. I've been told that the sequencer on this keyboard is difficult to use and does not convert to format zero or one easily. I don't plan to use the onboard sequencer anyway, so that's not a factor for me.

Beginner to intermediate keyboard, 32 note polyphony, 76 non weighted full size keys, onboard effects, pitch bend and modulation wheels, touch sensitive with no aftertouch, 130 built in rhythm patterns, 232 fixed sounds with 31 user presets, not expandable, 5 watt powered speakers, battery or A/C powered, sequencer.

Excellent sounds for this price range, and a very versitle unit overall. I'd say the better built in sounds cater more towards vintage analog keyboards from the 60s to 80s. If you want more modern Pigs In Space tones, you might get them with some tweaking. The organs are great (Drawbar approximates a Doors type sound, the Church Organ is fantastic) and the analog synths are very usable. It also has excellent piano sounds, better than many more expensive units in my opinion. Nice touch, non-weighted keys and very easy to play. Onboard effects sound good, but are non adjustable and you can only use one at a time. The rhythms seem pretty run of the mill; what you'd get in any beginner keyboard. The horns are okay, not great. They won't replace your sample discs. Special effects aren't too special. But I need to give it a ten because there are some real winners in there, especially for the low price. I'd put it up against a Clavinova any day.

I don't know if I'd gig with this instrument, as it doesn't seem as sturdy as say a Roland XP50. Trent Reznor would have it in pieces in three seconds. But for a home unit that doesn't travel much, it seems just fine. I'd definately recommend a bag for travel.

I haven't dealt with them yet.

I'd buy one of these again in a second, assuming it holds up. I think it was the perfect keyboard for me and my needs. It'd be nice if it had aftertouch, but this is about all I'd want additionally. Like I said, I played some more expensive keyboards that didn't cut the mustard for me (Yamahas, mostly). For the features and the tones, you can't beat it. It isn't pro, but I think it's fine for someone like me or a better player who wants and extra toy to play on.

Overall this unit is easy to use. I'm pleased with the preset sounds, some are excellent (stereo piano, rock organ), others are thin (I'm not crazy about the brass and some special effect sounds). Patches can be edited with on board tools (amplitude, envelope, attack, etc.), which I think are a little cumbersome, but I haven't used this feature much. The manual is OK but certainly could use some work - it is a reference tool at best but enough to acquaint you with features/capabilities. The software is ROM and not user modifiable/upgradable.

Its most impressive feature (and the one which attracted me) is 76 keys and very good quality keyboard preset sounds for the price. Polyphony is 32 notes. Keyboard action overall is very good for unit in this price range (touch sensitive spring action, not weighted, no aftertouch). There are 10 DSP effects which are nice (reverb, phaser, leslie, enhancer etc.) but menu driven and difficult to get to/use and cannot be modified. For example, it would be nice to tbe able to change the leslie speed. There are two wheels - pitch bend and modulation/ tremolo, which can be useful but are a little crude. There is an on-board sequencer, about 5,000 notes, which is easy to use but also a little limited. Only two separate tunes may be kept in memory, and editing must be implemented from a point forward - edits cannot be inserted. The unit has general midi capability, which I've just started to work with. I've hooked it to my Korg Trinity for file swapping and as slave and master, but not to a computer. I don't think there are any expansion possibilities.

For a keyboard in this price range (and many well above it) it has exceptional presets/sounds. Most of the keyboard sounds (pianos and organs) are very convincing, some are exceptional. Sounds can be layered (combined) easily, which can provide added realism (eg breathy sax among others). Some of the presets are thin, but overall very impressive for the price. Velocity sensitivity is very good, no aftertouch. There is a jack for an assignable footpedal (sustain, sostenuto, etc.), but no provision for a variable assignable pedal (volume, pitch bend, etc.) which would be nice. There are a whole lot of programmed chords/progressions which I've played with but don't find very useful.

I've had the unit about four months and it seems well made, but I don't think of it as a road instrument. Most controls are rubber push button used to drive menus on a large back-lit display, so I don't see lots of problems here, but the chassis and keys are plastic and the unit is light - I don't know how it would survive a drop/toss. But I've moved mine around a fair amount (carefully) and so far so good.

No experience.

I've been playing on and off for 30 years, classically trained and played in a rock band in high school/college. Currently playing rock/blues/R&B with some of the old gang. I've owned Farfisa, Roland, and Korg keyboards in the past. My current other keyboard is a Korg Trinity, which I like very much but has limitations which I bought the Casio to help overcome. The Korg has 61 keys (limiting) and is touch screen / menu driven and slow to respond, so modifying the sound mid-song is cumbersome. I bought the Casio primarily for its excellent keyboard preset sounds, 76 key flexibility, and excellent value. I wish it had more memory, another assignable (variable) pedal jack, right and left stereo jack output, and midi thru jack, but considering the price these things would add I can do without. I did a lot of shopping, and couldn't find anything that comes close to this 76 key Casio for value. I'd definitely buy another.