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 functionsThe 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. OverallAt 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.