PSR Keyboards (11 Boards) > PSR-E Series
Yamaha PSR-EW400 vs Casio WK 7600
SmokeyD:
Hi Guys,
I've been looking to buy a new keyboard and have cut down my options to these two keyboards, the new Yamaha PSR-EW400 or the Casio WK-7600.
(I know these are Yamaha forums but hopefully some people here know a thing or two about the Casio.)
I can purchase these keyboards for roughly the same price, $580 AUD for the Yamaha, and approx $600 AUD for the Casio. Here are the links containing the info :
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/digitalkeyboards/portable_keyboards/psr-ew400/
http://www.casio.com/products/Digital_Pianos_%26_Keyboards/Workstation_Keyboards/WK-7600/content/Technical_Specs/
The things most important for me are:
1. Sound / Voice quality
I have not seen or used the Casio WK-7600 in person so I cannot comment on the quality of the voices and overall sound.
Has anyone compared this keyboard ( or other Casio Keyboards) to other Yamaha keyboard voices??
I have had a chance to use the PSR-EW 400 in person, and I was very impressed with the Live!, Sweet!, Cool! and Dynamic voices. Many of the standard voices had great a sound to them also (Strings, Guitar, Violin etc). Some voices, like the Harp, were lacking the kick that the other voices had but overall I was definitely impressed by the quality and wide range of voices on this entry level keyboard.
The Casio has more voices then the Yamaha, 820 compared to 758. Not a big difference, and I'm more interested in the quality of the sounds.
I did also compare both the new PSR-EW400 voices (and the PSR-E453) to the older PSR-E443. As mentioned in another thread, they are quite similar, slightly better, but the obvious difference is in the upgraded speakers/amplifiers ---- 12W + 12W in the PSR-EW400 compared to the old 2.5W +2.5W in the PSR E443. The EW400 got really loud, and stayed sounding clean.
But back to the main topic - Compare this to the 7W + 7W speakers in the Casio and the Yamaha comes out on top. But if anyone could comment on the quality of the voices of the Casio that would be great!!
Also, I'm hoping some one here knows, what is the better tone generating technology between Yamaha's AWM Stereo Sampling and Casio's Tri-Elemental AHL? Which produces a better quality sound?
2. Piano style playing
One of my aims is to learn to play the piano so that is why I am looking for a 76 key keyboard. I do not want to purchase a digital piano because I like all the functions, voices and features that a keyboard offers.
With that being said both the Yamaha and Casio have 76 keys. The Yamaha has 4 different settings for the touch response function ( Soft, Medium, Hard, Fixed/Off) whereas the Casio has only the On or Off option.
I am one who fiddles with the touch response quite often so the Yamaha could come in handy.
BUT, a possible deal breaker is that the Casio WK 7600 supposedly offers weighted piano style keys. Im skeptical as to how close they'll feel to real piano keys as I have not had the chance to see one in the store yet. If anyone has had the chance to play on these weighted keys please give some feedback!!!
3. DSP functions
The Yamaha has only 10 DSP functions, where as the Casio has about 100 DSP functions.
I've never used this stuff before but I wouldn't mind starting to learn how to.
I had a go fiddling with the live control knobs and DSP function on the PSR EW400 while I was in the store. I was able to make some instruments sounds pretty cool, but i didn't really know what I was doing.
With that being said, the Yamaha interface and button layout sure looks a lot more user friendly than the scary mess thats found on the Casio. So If I was to learn how to use this DSP stuff I'd probably go with the Yamaha.
4. Overall
At the moment, I am leaning more towards buying the Yamaha. But I might change my mind depending on what kinda answers I get here and whether or not I see a Casio WK-7600 in person.
A question I have is: What do you people think are some deal breaker type features or functions that makes one of these keyboards better suited for me than the other?
--------Anyway, thanks heaps to anyone that can help I know there is fair bit to read. Hopefully will hear from someone soon.
SeaGtGruff:
I haven't had a chance to play either keyboard yet.
I do have a Yamaha PSR-E443, PSR-E433, and YPT-400 (which is equivalent to a PSR-E403).
I used to have a Casio CTK-710, and my nephew has a WK-110 (which is the 76-key version of the CTK-810).
I wasn't at all impressed with the sounds of my old CTK-710, but it was a low-end model that didn't have many voices (242), and it wouldn't let me layer two voices together or split the keyboard between two voices-- it did have 10 dual voices and 5 split voices, but they were preset combinations and you couldn't choose your own combinations or move the split point at all. It also had no voice-editing features and no effects. To be truthful, there were a handful of voices on the CTK-710 that I thought sounded more than half decent, but most of them didn't sound very convincing at all. I did think the acoustic piano and electric piano voices were some of the better ones.
Although I haven't had a chance to play my nephew's WK-110 very much, I did fiddle around with it for an hour one day. It had better features than my CTK-710 did, including box-shaped keys, but didn't have as many features as the WK-7600. I thought the WK-110 sounded very similar to the CTK-710, or "not so good," and I imagine the WK-7600 probably sounds similar as well.
Casio has made huge improvements within the last few years-- the newer high-end Privia and synth models sound fabulous in the videos I've seen, and appear to have excellent sound-editing features-- but I don't think the WK-7600 uses their newer sound-generating technologies.
As for the keys, I wasn't impressed with the box-shaped keys on the WK-110, and I think the WK-7600's box-shaped keys are pretty much the same. Yes, they're definitely more piano-like than the organ- or synth-style keys of the CTK-710, PSR-E443, etc. However, they're the same cheap plastic as the synth-style keys, and I didn't really care for the key action.
Another consideration-- which you didn't mention-- are the auto-accompaniments. I don't use styles much myself, so this isn't a big consideration for me, but the impression I've gotten is that Yamaha's styles are generally "second to none"-- and perhaps more importantly, Yamaha has a large aftermarket of styles, as well as user-made styles and user-written software for working with styles. So if you use auto-accompaniments, Yamaha is probably the winner there.
To be honest, I've been very interested in the WK-7600 for a few years now, because it looks like it has more to offer than the PSR-E400s as far as sound-editing, drawbar organ sounds, DSP effects, and registrations. But I haven't actually tinkered with one in a store.
I don't think you should make up your mind without actually playing the WK-7600 first. It sounds like you've already talked yourself more than halfway into the PSR-EW400, but until you've actually played the WK-7600 there will probably always be a nagging suspicion in the back of your mind that maybe you'd have been happier with a WK-7600 instead. Even if the stores in your area don't have a WK-7600 on display, see if they have any of the other WK- models you can play, as the overall quality of the sounds and feel of the keys should be about the same as on the WK-7600.
SmokeyD:
Thanks for the response!!
The Casio really does offer quite a lot of features, even has 64 polyphony (yamaha has 48).
Also the 9 sliders that come with the Casio look like they'll be of some use for editing or adjusting sounds.
Yeah I think I'm gonna have to go for a drive today and have a look for the Casio or a similar model to try out for myself.
I know most of you guys are probably interested in the voice editing features and DSP stuff etc, so ill try my best to play around with those features and see what I get.
I'll try to compare the sound quality of various voices and the styles side by side with the Yamaha, should be interesting.
I'll post my findings or whatever on this thread. Talk soon!!
- On another note, I should say that just last month started to play the keyboard again, haven't been familiar with the technology in keyboards since i was just a kid.
The last keyboard I bought, which i still own and started practicing on again, is a 16 year old Casio CTK 551.
So basically whatever I end up buying is gonna sound superior to that.
SciNote:
Okay, I have not played around much with the CTK-7600, but I have checked out other Casio models, including the similar CTK-7500. There is no doubt that the Casio's have a boatload of features for the money. In this range, they have dozens of DSP features, as well as the array of sliders. And on these keyboards, those sliders can actually be set to act like Hammond-style drawbars. Additionally, a Leslie speaker simulation, with speed-up and slow-down effects, is also included. They also include a 16 track sequencer, compared to the Yamaha's 6 tracks. And also, these higher-end Casios have 96 registration presets (16 sets of 6 presets), compared to the 32 found on the Yamahas.
However, when I bought my PSR-E433 a little over 2.5 years ago, I compared it to the Casio (I believe it was the CTK-7500), and I tried to do an apples-to-apples comparison by selecting similar sounds (piano, strings, brass, etc.) without turning on any effects on either keyboard (such as reverb or chorus), and in my humble opinion, the Yamaha simply sounded better. Now, perhaps, it could be the case that the Casio could be made to sound better using its effects, but to me, the Yamaha just has fuller, more vibrant sounds.
As I said, I believe that I was looking at the Casio CTK-7500. It is my understanding that the CTK-7600 is very similar, and that the CTK-7200 is simply a 61-key version of the CTK-7600 (so that if you can't find the 7600 in a store, but can find the 7200, that you may want to just check out its sound to get an idea of what the 7600 would sound like). However, you may want to verify this information.
I will also say that, also in my humble opinion, the Yamaha keyboards have a key feel that not only blows away the Casio's (in this price range), but that is comparable to keyboards three times their prices. But, that is my preference, as I prefer the organ/synth style keys and light touch in an electronic keyboard, instead of the box-style keys. With the Casio box-style keys, when I have checked out their more recent keyboards, it seems that they have built in some resistance to the key feel to give it a sort of semi-weighted feel, but these are not weighted, hammer-action style keys.
But, as has already been said, the important thing is to actually see, hear, and play the keyboards in person, because your preferences may be different than mine. I am curious to see what you find!
pjd:
Hi --
I compared the PSR-E443 against similarly-priced Casio keyboards. Casio has definitely improved its voices. However, to me, style quality was the deal breaker. I just couldn't get past the naff quality of the styles. I bought and play the E443 even though MOX and S950 are my main instruments.
That said, here's a link to a Keyboard Magazine review of the WK-7500. I like Ken Hughes' reviews.
http://www.keyboardmag.com/arranger/1190/casio-wk-7500/28180
I eventually settled on a different solution for a highly portable, battery powered rehearsal keyboard (Korg Triton Taktile plus a JBL Charge 2 speaker system). That solution doesn't require styles, however.
Hopefully, you'll have a chance to play both the Yamahas and Casios in person!
All the best -- pj
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