Review:
Casio CTK-3500
$139 USD
Build
The Casio CTK-3500 comes with a user manual, a little wireframe that you can attach on to the keyboard to use as a music stand, nicely sprung and solid little pitch bend on the left side of the keyboard, and on each side, you get a pair of stereo speakers. The speakers are not the most powerful I must say, I play it at the maximum volume and not to worry, you don't get any form of distortion even when you blast it at the maximum volume. The keys on this keyboard are also made of shiny plastic, and thus, it does not feel very textured. This may cause your finger to slip while playing quick classical passages. You also get a large LCD screen, and although dated and not backlit (which means that it would be difficult to read in low-light venues), it does provide all the necessary information. The Casio CTK-3500 also boasts of number pads, this makes inputting and selecting sounds and rhythms so much quicker. The buttons are of soft touch, average feeling, not a lot of tactile feel in them, but they are alright for this price. The Casio CTK-3500 can be powered by both AC adapter, and by 6 double-A batteries.
Built-in Features
Casio CTK-3500 comes with 60 built-in songs in the song bank that you can listen back to or you can play along with the step-up lessons.
This keyboard comes with 100 rhythms covering genres like Pop Rock and Jazz, European, Latin as well as World Music from China, India, as well as the Middle East. You also get 10 different piano rhythms for you to play along with if you are still not very dexterous with your left hand. You get 400 tones on this keyboard and it does use the AHL sound chip which is not the latest, but it is still decent. On the CTK-3500, there is no way to layer or split these tones but there are some presets in there which has already been pre-layered as well as pre-split into the left and right tones.
The Casio CTK-3500 also comes with 50 dance music patterns that you can play around with. It also has touch-sensitive keys, meaning that as you play the keys softer, the sound will correspond and sound soft. As you hit it harder, the sound will be louder.
On the back panel, you get a headphones output which you can also use to connect to an external PA system. You also get a 3.5mm audio inject for you to play back your songs from your mobile devices. The middle plug is for your AC adapter.
On the side of the rear panel, you also have the option for plugging in a sustain pedal, as well as a USB port that you can connect via MIDI to your computer or your Android and Apple devices for use with digital audio workstation software.
Sound
The keyboard itself comes with 2 variations of the rhythm as well as 2 fill in, intro and ending. Let's start by listening to the default grand piano voice in voice number 1 and 2 (0:55)
Let's have a listen to some of the other Tones in here!
Grand Piano (5:30)
Bright Piano (5:36)
Modern Piano (5:43)
Strings and Piano (5:57)
Bass and Piano (6:32).
Harpsichord (7:07)
(not the best sounding harpsichord, sounds pretty terrible)
Harpsichord layered with Strings (7:12)
(sounds so much better)
Electric Piano (7:42)
Organs (12:37 onwards)
Guitar (14:37 onwards)
Orchestral Instruments (15:11 onwards)
(Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon and Flute)
Pad Sounds (16:06)
(warm pad, soft pad, fantasy)
Piano Ballad (11:53)
Arpeggio (12:09)
Modern EP (17:30)
Soft EP (17:35)
Synthesizer String with Electric Piano (17:46)
Vibes (18:00)
Soft Vibes (18:10)
Tenor Sax (18:44)
Bajan (21:46)
Flute (22:20)
To listen to the other Rhythms,
One-touch setting rhythm (8:00).
Hawaiian Voice with Jazz Guitar (9:01)
Christmas, Walt Voice (9:28)
6-8 ballad rhythm,
Soprano saxophone One (10:09)
Christmas Song (10:48)
8-beat (11:27), (16:41)
16-beat (17:02)
Modern Ballad (18:21)
EDM (18:32)
Fast Beat Bang (18:58)
Waltz One with the Octave Piano (19:45)
Diana waltz with Cello (20:18)
Tango with the Bandoneon (20:42)
Boss Nova with the Electric Piano (21:15)
Middle Eastern Tune (21:20)
Bhangra (21:58)
Conclusion
The Casio CTK-3500 actually gives a lot of value for $139. You get 100 rhythms, 400 tunes, 50 dance music patterns and 60 songs where you can learn using a step up lesson.
I hope that this article has provided you useful information in determining if you should spend your money on the Casio CTK-3500. If you are interested in getting yourself a keyboard, do check out the links provided in this article price for updated prices information.