Customer Reviews

Casio CTK-496 Electronic Keyboard with 61 Full-Size Keys and Singalong Capability

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

When I first purchased this product I was ready to open it up and start playing, however, it doesn't come with an AC Adapter(it takes a 9 volt ac adapter) and it doesn't include batteries (as with most electronics nowadays). Although I fortunately had an adapter that fit the keyboard I didn't realise that until after I had already gone out and bought the required six AA batteries required to power the keyboard.

Apart from my power-supply fiasco, once I did get the product working I was surprised at how unrealistic the piano and a lot of the other sounds .. sounded. Another draw back about this keyboard is that it doesn't include the midi in/out cables used to connect to a computer or another midi device, however if you're just wanting to play and don't have any interest in using the keyboard in conjunction with a computer, then this product is great.

Pros:

affordable price

61 full sized keys

long battery life

lots of built in songs to learn

comes with a music stand and ~100 songs to play

Cons:

doesn't come with midi in/out cables

doesn't come with power adapter

certain tones sound horribly unlike the instrument stated (~30 in all of 100 total)

So if you're looking for something affordable, lightweight and easy to use, this is the perfect keyboard for you.

I wouldn't recommend this keyboard for anyone, not even the novice. A keyboard with 61 keys is too small for someone who already plays the piano. This keyboard has a "tinny", cheap sound, as do the accompanying musical tones. The banjo doesn't sound like a banjo; the accordion doesn't sound like an accordion, etc. The rhythm selections all sound the same. The upper keys play at a lower volume than the lower keys.

A sustain pedal is as important as the keys, yet this product did not come with one. It also didn't come with an adapter, which is equally important unless you have an unlimited supply of free batteries. I had to order the sustain pedal over the Internet, plus pay for the shipping. Nobody within 50 miles of me carried one. I also had to pay extra for an adapter and a set of headphones.

If your looking for a decent keyboard, please consider buying the best and the largest you can afford. This one will leave you feeling cheated and disgusted, while it collects dust in the closet.

This keyboard is fun and sounds pretty decent, however Christmas morning was a little disappointing because we had to run out and get more batteries, since we were one battery short. Also, the adapter power suppy was not included and is just about necessary since the keyboard zaps battery power in about 4 hours. Now I can't find the adapter any where. Big bummer.

Very nice keyboard for the price. Great for kids, (12 and under). Its a little odd that it doesn't come with a power adapter, and I haven't been able to find his mysterious sustain pedal, but it's a nice keyboard anyway.

Ok, sure it isn't the best keyboard out there, and it SOOO needs a pedal...but I would rather have this one than none at all. It was the only one I could afford, but I would absolutely upgrade if I could.I also got mine @ Target with the stand, paid about $100 for it. I actually didn't realize how bad the sound quality was until I played my boyfriend's $4000 Roland keyboard...dare I say it sounded BETTER than a real piano? If you can buy better, do. If you can't, it does the job.

Along with the already mentioned problems is one musical factor not covered-the keys have no touch senstivity. For anyone serious about playing or using it as an early learning tool, it is useless.

At its price point, this is an amazing little keyboard. Keeping in mind an 88 key digital piano with weighted keys and basically no additional sounds costs around $500, its important to consider what you should expect for $65-$100. I submit this is a good value at its price point.

I purchased my CTK-496 new, and it included a stand and a power supply. It did not include midi to USB cables, which cost me a whopping $4.50 to purchase here on Amazon. It did not include a sustain pedal, but has a jack to connect one. I neither wanted, nor needed a sustain pedal for my purposes. If you are a piano player you probably want one. They cost about $15-$20. If you played organ or synthesizers or other keyboards, you probably don't care and don't want one.

I've had my CTK-496 several years, and it has performed well for the purposes it was designed for. No issues with quality or reliability to report.

Pros
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- Inexpensive
- Many tones
- Very portable due to battery power, light weight, and small size.
- Midi connections worked well with a $5 Midi to USB cable to compose directly into music software, running on a Vista 64 bit PC.
- Great for noodling on a keyboard
- Includes 1/4" output jack enabling output to an amp if desired.
- Included Single-X-stand similar to what sells for $20 on various musical supply sites.

Cons
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- If you are used to playing an 88 key piano, this isn't an 88 key piano.
- The 61 keys define the range of notes you can enter in notation via midi
- Non-weighted keys are ok for organ players, probably not for piano players. But, you will not find a decent weighted key instrument under $400-$500. So again, at the price point, its great.

In the end, this is a toy for playing around, not a stage instrument. On the other hand, if you are ready for the stage, you know you don't get quality instruments for $100. If you have realistic expectations about what this instrument is for, it performs those tasks very well.

My daughter got this as a present a year or two ago. She lost interest but I used it a lot becuase it has some music built in and shows you what keys to hit to play it. So I used it to teach myself a bit of piano. That was great. The problem is the keys keep breaking. I took it apart and re-arranged the key-sets to move the broken ones out to the little-used ends but now I have broken my third key and I think it's kaput.

Generally, I agree with the other reviewers. This is certainly not the best keyboard in the world, (...)I bought a CTK-496 from Target, for the same price, in October 2005. At that time, a stand and power adapter were included in the box. That, of course, may have been a limited-time promotion, or perhaps Casio is just cutting costs. Target.com now sells the CTK-496 exactly as Amazon does: no stand and apparently no adapter. Anyone interested in buying a CTK-496 should check a Target store, if there is one in their area. They might still have a keyboard/stand/adapter in stock, for the same price. You might also be able to find a used one on e-bay or some other site.
As far as quality, the other reviewers are on the mark. This thing looks cheap, feels cheap, and sounds cheap. I trust only the piano sound, based on a learning CD I am using. The piano notes seem true to the CD. Some of the other voices are fun to play around with, but not very useful to a beginner, for whom this keyboard is obviously designed.
As someone who has always wanted to learn to play the piano, and ultimately the organ, but has no room for even an upright piano, and sparse time for profesional lessons, I decided to buy this keyboard. I have occasional access to a real piano, and can relate to another reviewer's comment about key resistance and sensitivity. I guess this keyboard is best used to learn basic fingering technique, as long as you realize that a real piano will sound different, depending on how you strike the keys.
In conclusion, I would recommend the CTK-496 as an entry-level keyboard. If you can afford a better keyboard, buy the better one, as I suspect you'll outgrow this one quickly.

Our school had previously purchased Casio keyboards. I had to replace a few keyboards and thought that this slightly less expensive Casio keyboard would have the same piano sound, even though it had less bells and whistles. It's piano setting doesn't even come close to satisfactory. Parents, if you are looking for a beginning keyboard, please spend a little more money and provide a better piano sound for your child.

A few of my students also figured out how to make microphones out of their headphones (just insert headphone jack into the mic jack and talk into the head piece --kids will try anything)