Digital Piano Casio CTK 3500 Full Review. Is it worth it?

Today we are going to talk about the Casio CTK 3500. The new version of the Casio CTK 3200 and one of Casio’s best-selling models in the entry-level range or for people looking for a secondary keyboard.

The Casio CTK 3500 is a direct competitor of the Yamaha PSR E363 (formerly YAMAHA PSR E353) and has started almost at once. This has its logic because both companies compete for the same business niche.

I’m sure you’ll be interested in…

The Casio CTK 3500 and similar are cheap keyboards, but they comply with premises that make them very useful. They have a sensitive keyboard, USB MIDI connection and input for sustain pedal. The fact about having this pedal is it makes worth learning the first two years if you have a very low budget. And then there are many utilities like keyboard layout and rehearsal thanks to its USB-MIDI interface.

Where to Buy Casio CTK 3500?

Amazon

  • Free Shipping and possibility of shipping in one day with Amazon Premium.
  • Full Guarantee but they are no experts in music equipment
  • Leader in fast shipments.
  • Price that change a lot daily.
  • The best option in USA and ASIA

Thomann

  • Free Shipping with special offer bundle.
  • Full warranty. If you have any problems, they take care of everything.
  • 100% reliable payment.
  • Leader in trouble-free shipping.
  • Usually best price.
  • Best Reputation: They are the leading online store in Europe and have the best catalogue and information.

The USB MIDI interface is something very powerful. You can do such wonderful things as connect your keyboard to your computer, record a MIDI track in programs like CUBASE and then with a single click export that track to score. Nowadays, the MIDI connection is basic because if you do not have it in a short time, you will surely miss it.

They are keyboards with a very advantageous price, although you have to bear in mind that they have a low price. They are usually around 150 € and of course, the keys have a plastic touch. The truth is, I like the feel of Casio better than that of its competitor Yamaha. But well, it is not a very good touch either. But for the price to pay…

You have a keyboard with two sensibilities. This means that you can press the louder or looser key and the note will sound more or less based on this intensity. It is not much, but it is worth it in the first place.

It’s not a Hammer Action keyboard. In other words, the keys have no weight and this is a limitation in learning the piano. As we say it’s a piano that you can use for the first and second year. Very good to know if you like to play the piano as they are easy to sell or have other utilities.

Let’s examine other technical aspects:

Sound

The Casio sound engine is quite accomplished and the piano and electric piano sounds are quite nice. They don’t sound as professional as on top-of-the-range keyboards, but they have several sounds that sound very acceptable. The electronic music on this range of keyboards can always sound a little… unprofessional…

It has 48-voice polyphony, which is not bad at all for the price it has got. The polyphony of a keyboard is the number of musical notes that can sound at a time. This includes the ones you are playing and the accompaniments that may be playing at the same time. It is ok for an initial level.

It brings 400 different tones or sounds, including classical and electric piano sounds, several different instruments, electronic music sounds. You have a bit of everything but the important thing is the sounds of piano and electric piano. Those sounds are good for the price range in which this keyboard is.

It has reverb effects, Hall piano and many others to change the tone with which you are playing and give more brightness, resonance, and so on.

It has 100 integrated rhythms and 60 songs and accompaniments that adapt to what you play.

Watch this video that makes a tour of the most relevant sounds of this keyboard.

Here is another video that shows you some of the styles that come with the keyboard.

Connectivity and extras

As we mentioned before, you have two things that are vital. USB MIDI connector to work with the computer and connector for a sustain pedal. This pedal is used to keep the note playing even if the key is released and is a basic interpretative resource when playing piano.

The interface is very intuitive and has configurable controls to save shortcuts to the most functionalities. You have up to 100 possible settings and you can set up rhythms and songs to keep them handy while playing live.

You can transport up to an octave. Which can be quite comfortable on certain occasions.

It is very portable and can be played with batteries. Although it comes with its included feeder. Weighing 3.5 Kg, it is perfect to take with you to rehearsals at a friend’s house or to work anywhere. It is perfect as a composition keyboard on either side of the house.

As a live piano with its 2 W speakers is not worth much, you need to connect its headphone output to an amplifier. Although for a live of a certain size you probably need to give more power to the signal with an injection box to make it sound good. It is not intended for a live show, but with the output of headphones to an amplifier, it can serve you in a restaurant, for example.

About the learning suites that come with the keyboard… well, it is good to entertain, but in my opinion you can not learn the keyboard this way. In any case, there are much more powerful applications such as Flowkey. We talked to them in our article with the best software to learn piano in a self-taught way.

Now, let’s compare it with other keyboard models to clarify between so much code and number.

Casio CTK 3500 vs Casio CTK 3200

​There are no significant differences, basically they are the same keyboard but Casio had to give it a facelift as Yamaha released the Yamaha PSR E363. But they are the same, two keyboards that can hardly include more features for the money they cost.

It is true that the CASIO CTK 3500 brings more functionality to dance music. But in this range are a little functions to entertain. Both in Yamaha and Casio if you want serious DJ performance you need to go to higher models. For example the Yamaha PSR of the S series.

They have the same number of sounds, the same polyphony, the same keyboard, USB MIDI, etc.

We leave you the official video of the CASIO CTK 3200 but do not hesitate to see our article on the Casio CTK 3200 if you find it second-hand under 80€.

Casio CTK 3500 vs Yamaha PSR E363 vs PSR 353

The truth is that they are direct competitors with very similar features and the Casio CTK used to be a little cheaper. But now the Yamaha PSR E363 has upgraded its polyphony to 48 notes. Which already equals the Casio CTK 3500. The former Yamaha PSR E353 had a polyphony of 32 voices.

What the Yamaha do have is a duo function to divide the keyboard in two and be able to play pupil and teacher at the same time or do a duo with another pianist.

I personally like the feel of the CASIO keyboard better, but over some Yamaha sounds I prefer to CASIO sounds. Buying the cheapest one at any given time may be the best choice.

​If you want to know more do not hesitate to visit our review on the Yamaha PSR E363. These keyboards are in our guide to cheap keyboards where you’ll also find a quick reference table to quickly guide you to what’s best for you. On the other hand if you have a little more budget and want a Hammer Action keyboard to last you more years do not hesitate to look at our selection with the best portable pianos of the moment.

Where to Buy the CASIO CTK 3500?

As you have seen above we mainly recommend you to buy it at Amazon if you are in America or ASIA but if you are at Europe Thomann is the best::

For a similar price you have the following pianos and keyboards:

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Jaime Echagüe

Hi! I'm Jaime Echagüe, a musician and an authentic fan of musical instruments. With this blog I want to give general information about musical instruments in an easy, direct and honest way. I hope you enjoy my website and that you find it very useful.

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