Customer Reviews

Casio WK-3000 Professional Series 76 Key Digital Recording Studio Styled Keyboard

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After having being away from playing music for almost three years, I was curious as to what would portable keyboards be up to. As it was my habit (having owned three previous Yamaha Portasound keyboards) I went for the latest release in Yamaha's portable lineup, only to be dissapointed at the lack of versatility and mostly at the lack of power in the keyboard's output. Since I am up for portability (not wanting or being able to hook it up to a whole bunch of external gear to make it sound good), this was a major deal breaker for me... for the first time in my life, I turned Yamaha down.

Then, I turned around (I literally turned around, since I was in a Sam Ash store!) and I glanced at this baby. "A Casio!" -I said to myself... Wasn't thrilled at the prospects, I must admit, because I remember Casio's cheesy-sounding tones of ole. It's almost like I wanted to forget them: oh, how much I hated the tones that the Casio keyboards came with. But I gave it a shot, and today I am happy that I did. This keyboard, even today, almost two months after I bought it, comes with far more options than I think I will ever come up with uses for!

It comes pre-loaded with far more high-quality tones than you will ever need, with a wide array of pianos, electric pianos and organs, opening the line-up. Are you a synthesis freak? No problem! You can play with a bunch of parameters within all the tones and save up as many as 100 of your newly created tones,. and if you want more, you can download more tones and rhythms from the Casio music or elsewhere in the Web, ad nauseam, since you can expand the memory with an standard SmartMedia card.

As for rhythms, there's plenty of those too (you can also make different drum kits play different rhythms than those they're programmed for, for an array of very interesting combinations), and you can save quite a few of your songs for playback, as well as keyboard configurations, or split the keyboard, or mix two sounds to be played, with awesome control over volume of each, etc. I mean, with the Casio WK-3000 Professional Series 76 Key Digital Recording Studio Styled Keyboard by Casio (now, THAT's one deserved mouthful) you really have it all.

I'm a die-hard Roland fan, and have always loved the Roland sounds and keyboards. Well, I recommend this Casio, because for $300, it really can't be beat. The piano sound on it sounds almost as good as my professional Roland, and the other sounds are very good too. My Roland still has the best orchestral sounds, but... I have to give my respect to this Casio unit. Keyboard Magazine reviewed this Casio and gave it a very favorable rating, which surprised me, because they usually don't "stoop" to consumer-level keyboards like the Casio. The fact that they reviewed it AND recommended it says a lot, since that magazine is a pro-keyboard magazine, not a consumer-keyboard magazine.
My roommate has one, and he's a very serious keyboard player. He's a Korg fanatic, and yet, he owns the Casio. This keyboard is going to convert a lot of people. When it comes down to $1000+ versus $300, and the sound quality difference is negligible, well, $300 wins.

I am a pro writer in Nashville. I needed some sort of highly portable keyboard to have access to in the trunk of my car, etc. for writing dates. It needed to be light, have it's own speakers, I wanted it to have a way of recording what I was playing, preferably have the option of battery operation and, most importantly, have a good piano sound. My final criteria was that I wanted 76 keys instead of the normal 61 key that are found on smaller keyboards (ala the Yamaha PSR series). I had decided that - for the money - the only contender was the Yamaha DGX series. What a surprise when several keyboard players recommended I check this unit out. I have to admit total bias against the casio name. But I tried it and it sounds great. The piano, organ and electric piano sounds are wonderful. It is a bit larger and heavier than the 61 key PSR series by Yamaha but the sounds really beat the DGX until you get to the top of that line (or certainly the top of the PSR line). One word of caution, the only audio output on this keyboard is the headphone output. So if you plan on playing it live you'll want to get a cable that goes from 1/4" TRS to Left and Right outputs. I can't believe what $300 can buy in a keyboard. Casio has really shocked me with this one.

One word describes the WK-3000: amazing! I thought Casio was not all that great until I got this. It boasts over 300 different voices, almost any kind of rhythm you can think of, a SmartMedia memory card slot, drawbar organ, SMF player and much more.
You can also record your own song with up to 6 instruments. So you can sound like a ear-blasting rock band or a full-size orchestra.
I tried the SmartMedia card slot. It worked great, but I thought it was for putting your songs on the computer and burning them to a CD. Turns out it was for expanding your keyboard's memory.
Haven't tried the SMF player yet, but like all the other features on the keyboard, it should be great!
Advice: Buy if you love music.

1. Magnificent grand piano sound easily selectable with one dedicated setting button.
2. Mine came with the casio power adapter in the box. I would expect others would receive the same therefore no need to order the adapter separately at addiional cost.
3. lightweight!
4. keyboard action OK, but not the same as a weighted mechanical keyboard action. Keypress (touch) sensitivity works as advertised- 3 levels: very light, medium,full. Of course a real keyboard action that throws a felted hammer at strings has an infinite range, so three levels simply cannot match. But if you play carefully you can use and hear all three levels while playing.
5. Wide range of drum accompaniment and sounds very realistic.
6. No training program built in. I bought a seperate midi compatible training that runs on a connected laptop.
7. LCD display is very good- easy to read, has lots of info.
8. Keys do "clack" a little if you move around quickly on the keyboard. The key action will just not match a real keyboard, but what can you expect for the $$.

will add more info later as I use the board...

Well folks I think casio put out a winner on this one!

It is absolutely amazing for the Price - Honest, I have had alot of pro gear in my time, and have used many synths - Currently just use modules right now... I use the WK 3000 - as a cheesy controller, but that works for me... I record with Roland VM series digital mixer and I am cookin brother, love it...

Now, about the sounds - You get the best sounding keyboard bar none at this price point - Really - there is nothing that comes close to this price wise... I have played a Korg Triton keyboard a couple of times and I am hard pressed to find some of its "basic" sounds besting this Casio... - Honest - A Far Off claim... maybe, but this is thing fantastic!

Yes, it does have alot of reverb on the paino, saxes and trumpets - But I love it, the sounds are processed very well and are clean. The sounds are all mostly very usefall - the piano's are great; 12 string and nylon string guitars, good (sounds better than my Roland JV-880 -and that's hard to do); EP's, very good, saxes and trumpets are outstanding; the distortion guitars are good - I mean for $200-300.00 you can't beat this thing with a stick! Basically, you get alot of really good sounding keyboard at a great price...

I would compare this easily to 1998-2001 professional synths that costed 5-7 times more than this thing - the polyphony could have been more like 48/64, and that is the only downside -

SO for what the Casio Wk-3000 does, it does well (again at this price point)... When it comes to MIDI implimentation - casio has improved alot, could be better (this where Yamahas really shine); However, sequencing with it is not too bad... The Smart media card was a great addition... Yet, simple things like a USB port would have been great, Other than that - GO buy one!

abstract - ALESIS QS series keyboards could have taken a lesson in technology here, Bigtime!

For years, I turned my nose up at the CASIO brand of pianos, always choosing the other brands supposedly more respected by musicians. But, while I was at a music store looking for a second keyboard to gig with, I compared a YAMAHA with the CASIO and after at least an hour of astonished comparison, I went with the CASIO. Boy, CASIO has gotten it's act together, and come up with a rich sounding keyboard that rivals even my KORG sometimes. I love the rich and very real piano sounds and other beautiful effects that I can produce with this keyboard that is also a synthesizer. I've gigged with it several times this summer with my band, and always get complements on how real the piano sounds. The higher and lower octaves are pearly and bright too. For the price and quality, I'm so happy with it. So maybe you'd like to give CASIO a second thought when you're looking for a keyboard, and are bored by the overrated options offered by other keyboard-makers. My only criticism is that the manual isn't always so easy to read, some trial, error, and patience are needed.

Ok I've had mine for about 3 years, and I just bought a yamaha ypg-625, because I'm tired of this thing. The sounds are all pretty good, the grand piano sound is alright, the guitar sounds could be a lot better. I like the beats it comes with. The main problem I have with my keyboard is about 6 months ago it went stupid on me. I can no longer record songs on it, when I try to go to the song memory feature it stops working. The display gets messed up, no buttons work, it takes me forever to get it back working again. I suppose its a pretty good keyboard for the price but hopefully yamaha will provide me with something that will last more than a couple years.

My family has had Casio keyboards in the house for over 30 years. I still have one as old as me. Still works. Yes, it sounds like crap. When I grew up went to school and worked in the industry and got into studio equipment and sound quality I decided it was time to put away the Casio's and get some serious boards. $9000.00 Korg Oasys 88 was board of choice. Then the market happened and money was tight. I had a 12 year old casio board that went kaput. I realized I couldn't afford the Korg on the spur of the moment, I need something that I could turn on and record whatever was in my head easily. I researched all the boards on the market, playing to Rolands, Korgs, Kurzweill, Yamaha, Nord and other boards. I couldn't decide on something that I could afford at the time, that sounded good to my ears and was easy for me to use. I was at guitar center after I tried all the pro boards I looked for Casio's best board. Sat down in front of the WK3800. An hour later I had made 4 whole songs on the spot and realized I was still playing it and it sounded awesome in the store. It's 95% of the Korg sound I wanted. I took it home reluctantly halfway expecting to return it later...never did.

I bought this one because the box said General MIDI controller- and i needed that feature for my studio production software. I was disappointed to find out that Casio's driver software is 32bit only, and my 64bit system will not accept Casio's driver. I had to buy a master keyboard MIDI controller. It would have been nice to use this WK3800 as a controller and connect the sequencing function as well on my software. Guess for another day.

A few years later, I had some friends with some new pro boards and listening to their recordings of their boards playing, I was SHOCKED how good my "crappy" Casio sounded compared to these pro boards...reluctantly I have been warming to the fact that this is an awesome little keyboard. The more I play on pro keyboards, The more I want to go home and play on mine. The sounds are first rate, it's reliable, its so easy to use- 2 buttons and 2 seconds from turning on I can be recording a song in my head. NONE of the pro boards will do that. Grand Stereo Piano sounds amazing to say the least- I prefer only one pro keyboard's piano sound over my Casio's piano sound and that is the $9000.00 Korg Oasys 88. I am still buying that Korg soon, but I think for ease of use and sound and portability there is one winner. WK3800. IT even will run on batteries! What? Huh?

I am slowly coming to terms that Casio have delivered a knockout blow to the budget boards. I have played on everything. I like this thing better. You would have to spend over $3000 to flat beat this. Another thing, the stock speakers sound amazing exactly like it does in my pro AKG studio headphones?! It's a joy to use and reliable and sounds amazing compared to anything. I use it in my studio for years now and I get compliments on the music all the time- wow you played that?! on this!? If you can get over the name, I think Casio has finally grown up and stepped up. Has a SD card slot in the back for storing all my songs on the board. I have a 1 GB card with over 100+ songs right now it is not even 1% of the way full. I have no idea how they did that. For now the WK3800 is it and i am at least happy the way it sounds.

It would be nice to get nice big full keys instead of these thin cheap plastic ones and weighted action...and make a 88 key version. Add a pedal switch ability, let us use bigger SD cards, heck integrate a mic input and 16 channel 24bit Audio recording straight to the SD card. Make the sequencer a true 16 channel midi and 16 channel audio with effects and processing. Do it for under $500. 64 bit USB MIDI drivers. Then, you will be taken serious...

This is the third Casio keyboard that I have owned, and played for months.
I've had a 691, and found it to small. I bought a Wk3200. I found that it was great, but the type of music that I play needs a walking bass. It doesn't have one on it. So I got a Wk 3000. It's perfect for me. It has great sounds and of course the walking bass that I need to play jazz. The tones are great. Everything about the instrument is very satisfying to me.
I rate it as one of the best. I've been playing piano for 69 years. K.L.