Casio WK-3000

Reading the manual is really of little help. You really just have to play around with the thing to see how it works. I found the manual very confusing to follow.

The features on this machine are excellent. You have the ability to alter any sound on the machine through the syntesizer by changing the attack, velocity of the note, and reverb settings. There are other abilities also, but it is hard to decipher exactly what they are by reading the manual.

One thing that really annoys me is if you are sustaining one voice and want to switch to another, the first voice simply stops and a couple of seconds later the new voice kicks in under the old sustain. This makes it very difficult to switch from one voice to another smoothly.

This is where I disagree with most people here. Compared to the sounds of my Yamaha PSR500, my Yamaha beats the sounds on this instrument hands down, and its over 10 yearrs old! I find many of the sounds like the piano are very unclear and muddly sounding. I don't care if you take the DSP button off or not, there is not a clarity of sound in the piano. It is very weak sounding and has no depth. The lower register of the keys sounds pretty good, but midrange to high notes lack any clarity or carrying power at all unless you bang on the keys. THe speakers are extremely weak,and this adds to the lack of clarity in the sound. The speaker system really needs to be improved on this system. You cant even hear the piano unless you turn the volume up more than half way. That's ridiculous. My Yamaha produces sound that is four times the max volume of the WK 3000. THe organ sounds on the WK 3000 are incredible. THere is no other word for them. They are rich, full, and are the highlight of the sounds on this instrument. The strings are horrible. I mean horrible. They sound fully synthetic and unconvincing. I tried to alter them with the synthesizer to no avail. They still sound like crap. If you are serious about a string sound, you are not going to like this instrument. Voice sounds are ok at best, and all of the brass sounds are real tinny and very unconvincing. Flute and Saxaphone sounds are pretty good. Awesome drum and mix sounds. Way better than my Yamaha.

The touch sensitivity of this keyboard is severely lacking when compared with a yamaha. As far as I am concerned, the sensitivity of this machine is about a quarter of what I have with my Yamaha. I find it very difficult to get this machine to respond to the sensitivity of my hands at all. I do like the fact that the keys have a weighted feel however.

I won't really own it long enough to tell in the long run. I'll be selling it to purchase another Yamaha. In the short run I can tell you that my left speaker starts making a hissing noise after it has been on for over a half hour. I also bought my unit as a "refurbished" unit, so that means that it must have been returned for repair at some time. The speaker issue really bothered me, especially since the depth of the sound coming from the speaker was minimal anyways. I don't feel that this is a quality machine.

Don't know.

From my point of view, this instrument is for someone who just bangs around on the keys with no expression and wants a whole bunch of different sounds and rhythms when they're playing. If you are a serious player that is looking to express yourself in a more classical or folk style, this instrument is not for you. Stick with a Yamaha. If you simply want to mix music under different rhythmic beats and bang some music out along with the rhythms, this keyboard will work well. The rhythmic underpinnings of this machine are hard to beat and surpass my experiences with the Yamaha.

Used to own a Yamaha PSR-630, and the casio kicks serious butt. It's easy to use once you get your head around the menu system and how it works. Manual is ok yet I've found my way round the board myself most of the time.

Great polyphony, keyboard action is good but keys tend to be a bit noisy, but I'm giggin the keyboard so in a band situation this doesn't not matter. Great inbuilt effects!!! The best I've tried, I amy expand the 3000 so it has an output jack, there are diagrams available to do this but in the mean time the headphone stereo jack with a specially made lead does the trick. Don't use the midi at all. You won't find a better featured keyboard for this price.

The only thing I don't like compared to my yamaha is that the registration memory slots don't sho up as their saved names they only show up as bank 1-1 or bank 2-4 for the stored sounds and there are only 32 slots so I have to load different songs in during the night and write down the numbers. :-(

Sounds are great, wouldn't mind a few better string sounds but if you layer the right ones you can get some great sounds, offers exeptional versatility for covers bands. Would like to have an aftertouch/pressure availability but for the price I can't complain.

Hasn't broken down yet but I've just bought a nice gig case for it to protect it, it doesn't really look like a gigging board but it has all the features and more I need for gigging.

Great support from other users on the casio.co.uk sight. Had a couple of questions on it and they were all answered on this site, haven't had to deal with casio yet. Quite a few downloadable tones, etc etc on websites also.

All round just awesome for the money!! Would definately buy another one if it got stolen!

The sounds are exellent, bought it from a local music store, but having hard time programming. Didn't come with manual.

I don't know much about the features, even though the majority of the keyboard users have had alot of good things to say, I'm going along with them. Does anyone know if I can loop, quantize, etc. on the WK-3000?

Instruments are professional sounding.

I can depend on it once I get the hang of it.

Never had to contact them.

I probably would get it again, even though I had a Radio Shack MD-1700 which is the same as the Casio WK-1630. I soon figured out how to use the pattern sequencer and synched it to my drum machine.

While the piano is terrific the manual is a nightmare. It operates on an advanced assumption that everyone knows everything about pianos. Furthermore, while it touches on MIDI translation it gives no inroads on how to translate between a computer and the keyboard. When it doesn deign to mention it, it focuses only on external cards. I'm all for PR and product promotion but all I'm interested in is the use of my flash memory and Bank adapter and the manual chooses not to address either one. The schematics are great if you are an engineer but arrow left-arrow right concept-flow mapping doesn't mean a whole lot -- the graphics were obviously designed so that the manual writers could hesitatingly guess what it was they were writing about. If my college students wrote the way this manual was performed they'd be retaking my class.

Keyborard action is smooth and changes are quick although buttons are too small for efficient changeover. Therre may be MIDI capabilities but you'll have to know them before you purchase -- which I would venture to guess that most of your purchasing target does not -- because the manual gives nothing to go on. Ease of use is probable unless you are new at it. A lot of trial and error (which I personally respect) but I can see alot of people returning it out of frustration.

Velocity/after touch is weak without a substain petal even with the on-board computer modifications. People like me want a long substain because we can cover up the fact that we can't play :) - Half as many notes, twice the length and that deep, cultural, heart-rending moment of the lingering note. The jazz, blues, Latin, appegio works well but rock begins to sound like a video game.

Dependeable - Yes. Gig use -yes

Haven't yet -- I believe in self-resolution. Besides, most tech support know less than I do anyway. Egocentric I'll admit but I've got to ask some places from which country and province did they hire their people?

Please Don't rely on the website. It is pretty but it plays havoc trying to get past the Korean Language (even if you put in English as a language choice) Company's today rely to heavily on web pages which seldom do no more than "sell" their product. Like I said, I respect commerce but when I am frustrated with one aspect of your product don't attempt to sell me another. It is insulting. If you must use a website than develop a troubleshooting FAQ and slip your sales "links:" within the FAQ responses so I can go if I want. With that many links I am more than likely to have one catch my eye and after I resolve my problem, I'm likely to go back because they took care of me.

I really like this keyboard except I have discovered a problem with it. ON all piano settings using the sustain pedal, from middle c and every key up a full octave does not sustain correctly. The sound drops off sharply rather than sustaining the full sound. I went back to sam's club to get another one. I tried two other keyboards and they both had the same problem. I have contacted Casio and am waiting for an answer. I might return the Casio and get a Yamaha.

This Keyboard does so many things !
I am finding it relatively easy to find my way around and use most of the features.
I gave it a 7 simply because there are so many things you are able to fiddle with and alterate, the keyboard is quite user friendly.

The keyboard is loaded with features, the BEST by FAR for the money.
I have only had this keyboard for 7 days, but am having a ball playing with its many features, including the many many effects !

The sound quality is VERY strong, and easy to express yourself.
the three levels of touch sensitivity is a great addition.
the piano's are nice, they sound even better with a SUS pedal.
guitars were surprisingly usable and the distorted guitars have taken a big step closer to sounding realistic.
the Saxaphones are REMARKABLE, as are alot of the wind instuments, icluding the flute.
the drum kits have HEAPS of kick and are very versatile to use with any style of music from rock to world music and dance.
incredible sound quality for the money

7 days and NO problems :)

havent needed any yet.
the instruction manual is quite unhelpfull at times though.
trial and error is always fun !

for the price payed, its leaps and bounds in front of the competition.
if it were lost or stolen YES i'd buy it again in a flash.
it does soo much and sounds so great.
If you lovce to play keyboard and dont want to spend thousands, this is the board for you, sounds pro, costs next to nothing :)

I'm a guitar player by nature and keyboards are a second choice so when looking for a mid priced #300-#400 keyboard I looked at both Yamaha and Casio.Having been a Yamaha owner for years(PSR340 - Psr 540- PSR740 )I was inclined to stick with the make but decided to check out the Casio WK3000 and was imediately knocked out by what was on offer.Casio have really excelled themselves in offering a budget priced keyboard with features and sounds that my Yamaha PSR740 at #1000 did'nt have.76 keys,ZPI sound source taken from the MZ2000 and added to.Smart media storage and ability to take in sample waves,styles etc.Brilliant piano.Excellent bass & synths.Ease of use with the sewuencer is fairly straight forward and set up though the manual leaves a few questions neaded to be answered.

32 note polyphony is offered with its 76 touch sensitive keyboard.There are over 700 voices though many are midi oriented and finding the parameters when using MIDI can be a pain.This applies to any keyboard with voices outside the GM standard.Ther are many DSP effects available from standard reverb/chorus to phase,wah and distortions.The onboard sequencer offers 6 track/5 songs though the ability to save as midi files on the smartmedia expansion offers hundreds to be available on the fly.Brilliant,and was the main reason to buy this keyboard for my backings when playing live.I generaly programme the midi files on PC and download onto the media card allocating lead voices,etc and just plug and play away.You can also add your own samples upto the internal memory limit(around 1.5 megs)so you could sample a favourite snare drum or maybe a females voice for Ooh type sounds.This makes the keyboard very versatile and again is incredible value for money.

The main sounds I use are the drum kit with bass and acoustic guitar for a basic backing track.On these I am fairly fussy but the Casio impresses in large ammounts.The bass is full and solid with lots of punch and the 12 string acoustic is full of life and ambience.The drums when balance right sound authentic in the mix once all the reverb is drained away.Other voices are the piano and electric piano which are full of life and harmonics.The organ sounds of which there are many are impressive and there is also a whole section dedicated to drawbridge control offering exstensive variations.The sax and Accordian are excellent as are the human voice variations.The strings are probably the weakest on certain songs though there are a few variations and of course there is the synth capabilities for modifying tones.The synth sounds of which there are many offer some startling space voicing sounds and I was duly impressed! The light blue display screen offered a lot of display data and was very clear and concise.The feel of the keyboard was an improvement over the Yamaha PSR740 I previously owned.The general robustness seemed fine and no worse than any of the Yamaha keyboards.Sizewise the keyboard feels large and looks impressive.The speaker system sounds good for 12 watts total available but when played back through a good PA system driving 15" and horns sounds awesome.

Reliability seems ok,again no worse than other brands.I feel confident to gig regularly with it though I want to get a good gig bag to protect the chassis from bumps and scrapes!The PSU lead is quite thin and care neads to be taken on not damaging it.

There are a few Casio sites offering Data downloads and support Forums and these are excellent.Ther is all kinds of data available from new rhythms and synth sounds to midi files and sampled wave sounds.

Simply put Casio have a winner with this keyboard,the WK3000 and the WK3500 with diskdrive.If you thought Yamaha was the only horse running then think again as this keyboard walks all over Yamaha for its' price and features.Unless you pay over #1000 these days you wont find a more feature packed keyboard than this!

The Casio wk-3000 is easy to use if you have a lot of time to sit
around and play with it. The instruction manual is not to specific
with telling you how to use it, but if you an intermediate musician
you should be able to work it out after a while.

This keyboard is one of the best Casio keyboards that I have ever
seen. Without the shadow of a dout this keyboard is a serious
professional keyboard. I been around and I've heard alot of keyboards
such as Roland, Korg, Yamaha, and many of the other professional
keyboards, and this one is certainly in their level. The piano is
excellent, and the Drawbar Organ is extremely excellent. When I first
heard the Organs on this keyboard I seriously felt as if I were sitting in church. All the organs sound super realistic, and the
drawbars give it a Hammond sound. The speakers even have special effect of the leslie on the Hammond organ.

The Casio wk-3000 is extremely expressive. The Different piano settings makes it sound as if you were sitting play at a 1,000 dollar
Piano(iam very serious). This keyboard also has the Drawbar Organ
function which allows you to be able to control the way the organ that
you are using sounds. The keyboard is also sensitive touch, so when
you play hard you music comes out hard, and when you play soft you
music comes out soft. The speakers are made to play with super bass
and not have any static in them.

Well I haven't had to long so I can't really say If you can depend on
it, but From what I know from having it so far it seems pretty good
to me.

Basic controls and settings are easy as are the more advanced settings: what you see is what you get, and if the board cannot do what you are trying to do, it simply won't. Presets sound REALLY GOOD for a board under $600 these days. I own a Yamaha P60 and it was sold this morniing after I bought the Casio and compared them extensively with and without external amplification. The casio's speakers do not need improvement, they are so rich and deep, yet they do not produce distortion. The manual is fairly complete but could be a little more in-depth when doing finer operations as there are tremendous amounts of possible combinations of settings on this unit.

DSP effects are more than adequate. 32-note polyphony is quite adequate and is seamless in all but the most demanding situations (for example, when you are playing the full keyboard plus full accompaniment and computer arppegio to boot). MIDI controller ability is excellent and simple. Keyboard expressiveness and response is superior to many keyboards in this price range; I would swear that the piano setting has at least 3 or 4 different response samples for each note depending on the amount of force that is applied to the keys. I do not like the cheezy plastic feel of the very light keys but then again what do you expect for $250? With an external controller such as my P60, the piano playing is better than the P60's internal sounds. I have not explored the on-board sequencer in detail but they appear to be adequate. The salesman was demonstrating the ability to silence certain tracks and re-record them, plus a host of other features, using numerous buttons which are dedicated for this purpose; this board has more buttons than a 747 has windows! Expansion comes in the form of a SmartMedia memory card which can hold song files AND samples, which is a very unique and wonderful feature.

The built-in Grand Piano is a wonderful expressive instrument equalled only by the Yamaha P80 and similar instruments at 3 times the price. This keyboard can do it all -- dance, pop, rock, classical, and Latin music (especially important for gigging at those Mexican birthday/wedding parties out here in Los Angeles these days). Velocity is surprisingly robust and expressive for such a cheap cost. There is no aftertouch, but I never use it, so I don't really miss it. As far as built-in effects, I can only say that the DSP has too many settings! There are some 24 parameters to adjust and it can take you all night to play around (which is a pleasure on this beast). The DSP settings are really nice and you can instantly shut off the DSP if you don't like it, without adjusting the parameters through menus or other means. Programmable buttons allow you to save DSP/Voice/split/layering/rythm settings and recall them in the middle of gig performance, adding yet another wonderful convenience. Somebody has really thought out this keyboard. Finally it should be added that the sound is crisp and realistic, unlike previous Casio units that I have had which sounded like toys.

I would take two of these to a gig, one for performance and one for spare parts in case I break the keyboard while jamming ;-). When I get jamming on it now, I hear some funny noises like springs popping or boinging inside the keyboard. Nothing has broken, but it is unnerving. This Casio unit is a flimsy-looking, light-weight, mass-manufactured appliance -- not a sturdy, rock-solid console like a Yamaha or a Roland. The guts are fantastic but the keys and springs inside them are cheap. Needless to say, since it is so light, I would definitely take it to a gig and make it the main instrument at a small household party because of the weight and features.

No info here, never tried.

If I were rich, I'd buy 10 of these and hand them out as party favors at my next social event. If mine burnt up, I'd buy a new one in a flash. The Casio WK-3000 is the "disposable" model of gig-worthy digital pianos, in my opinion. I have been playing for 30 years on classical pianos and about a dozen various casio and yamaha boards, also a Kurzweil PC88. I wish this board had more hammer action and heavier keys/88 keys, and a better pipe organ like the new Yamaha P90 does. Aside from that, I can't complain.

The presets sounds are great (strings are a little weak but the piano and organ sounds are great). It was very easy to find your way around (especially for a beginner like me).

It has a 32 Note Polyphony with decent touch sensitivity along with a modulation button and pitch wheel. It comes with a ton of DSP effects which I haven't really played with yet. As far as expansion, there is a Smart Media slot in the back for downloading & uploading sounds, rhthym, and songs. Unfortunately you only get about 1.2MB of usable space to upload sounds into which limits the amount of Tones with Waves that you can put in. Also the Smart Media card seems to be really slow to load. It has a decent 6 track sequencer built in which is pretty basic, but usable.

The piano and organ sounds are great.
The DSP effects are great.
It does lack aftertouch, but what do you want for $299?
It packs in the features and is a great keyboard for the price.

I don't know if I would use it to gig with... but it makes a great home keyboard or controller.

I would buy it again.
I just started playing keyboards... but have been a guitar & bass player for 20+ years.
It was a toss up between the Yamaha keyboards, but the smart media card was the deal maker for me.
I wish it had More Internal Memory or had a way to expand it, or to play the sounds directly from the smart media card.
Great keyboard for the price.