Review of the new Casio CTK 4000 and 5000

[chicagodannyd]

I purchased the CTK 4000 and I am real happy with it. It's a steal for 149$. The 5000 is 200$

Here's what I like about it.
1. Light as ever, but nice feel to the keys.
2. The LCD is nice size, about 2 in. by 5 or 6.
3. About 500+ sounds on the 4000 and 800+ on the 5000.
4. Can use it to record midi into your seq thru the USB terminal.
5. the 5000 has SD memory. Both have a 6 trk sequencer and
sampling.
6. Both have multiple reverbs, chorus, octave shift, splits
7. The 5000 has a pitch wheel. not so for the 4000
8. You can layer two sounds together on both.
9. Both have about 160 accompany patterns, with drumming,
of course.
10: What I really love: You can work out detailed chord
progressions because these keyboards have most of the chords
we all use, even diminished, minors, 7ths etc. You can hear your chords
quickly in a selected song pattern, or you can use an onboard
arpeggiator.

My only criticism is that the rhythm patterns are not the most
original out there. The base pattern is not that creative. In other
words, they don't stack up to Roland or Korg in this area.

But, if you want to sketch out songs quickly, even one with a
complicated chord progression, these instruments
are of great value. I compliment Casio. They didn't disappoint me at
all. I should have purchased the 5000, though, to get the pitch wheel,
800+ sounds, and XLR outs. The 4000 has a headphone out
which can be used for stereo audio recording. Did this today,
successfully.

One drawback. You will need to load 6 D batteries in the battery
compartment to maintain your special programming, which will
be lost when you turn off the power, without the batteries.
That doesn't bother me though. You don't lose the basic
rhythms, sounds, or functions without the batteries.

[Cordelia]

Cool. Casios are fun machines.
I still use my Yamaha DJ-Xv1 as a quick-sketch pad. It actually sounds really great in a lo-fi way. I want to find a way to incorporate it into my workflow.
Have fun with your new keyboard!