Review on Synthesizer CASIO CTK-3500 black by Adam Mielczarek ᠌

Name: Synthesizer CASIO CTK-3500 black
Item: Synthesizer CASIO CTK-3500 black
Rating: 4

June 20, 2023

No minuses as such, comfortable to use.

It was chosen as the first instrument for home music-making for a child of 7 years old. The choices were the Yamaha 363, and the Casio CTX. Compared to Yamaha, they bribed and CTX bribed and outweighed all the disadvantages of having:
1. Dance Music
2. Good training program
3. Pitch Band
But this is the choice of a specific seven-year-old child in a specific music store and if there is a more advanced synthesizer in the house. It does not pretend to objectivity, so there is only one advice - go to the store, try, play, analyze the sensations.

: After a couple of months of operation, the initial feel of the keys is confirmed. Over time, looseness, creakiness and extraneous noise from the keys only increase.

Updated 1 year ago

Rating has not been changed

I wanted to make my review more interesting by adding some photos.
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Pros

1. An interesting implementation of the learning function - it tells not only the keys, but also which fingers to press them. It is made in such a way that a 7-year-old child will figure it out in half an hour and will independently "train" on the set of compositions that are in the instrument. It is not a full-fledged training, but fast self-learning and the ability to demonstrate the result later is a useful feature for situations where you want to develop an interest in music making. 2. Interesting function of Dance Music. The choice of instruments playing in the composition and variants of their melody directly on the keyboard - accustoms to the keys. A positive "toy" function, which, if used as the first tool for a child, can become decisive in his choice. 3. Lightweight yet looks like a real "serious" instrument, not a toy. 4. Many timbres. 5. The presence of the Pitch Bend wheel is a rarity for this price level (the same Yamaha 363 does not have it). 6. Interesting integration (for a model of this price category) with a tablet, but it was not possible to try, because a tablet without a headphone output, and data transfer goes through an audio cable (an unusual and budget solution).

Cons

1. The sound is worse than that of the Yamaha 363 or 463. The speakers are small, they sound plastic, you can play, but if you want the feeling of something real, it's better to play on headphones. 2. The keys are a little more "loose" than on the Yamaha 363, there are micro-plays, creaks, etc. I can’t say that it’s directly critical, but if you play half an hour on one and the other instrument, then I personally got this feeling. 3. Regular music stand (iron bar frame) is simply no. Notes and sheets fall into it if they have at least some tendency to fold. Previously, in such designs there was a rubber strip - add. horizontal jumper, it somehow solved the problem. Now - either do not put it at all, or immediately put some kind of cardboard frame on it, or "" jumpers. In general - cheapening led to its complete non-functionality. 4. No LCD backlight. It is clear that the model is of the budget segment, but get ready to put an LED clip-on lamp on the music stand (here it will come in handy) or add some other lighting option. Otherwise, it is hard to read even in a normally lit place. 5. Sliding volume control is less convenient than rotary on other models. You can make the volume 100% with an unsuccessful light movement. 6. The body material looks and feels inferior to Yamaha.