Casio CTK-495

By far the best feature of this keyboard is the keys themselves which, although a bit light and spongy due to apparently lacking springs, are full size and there are 61 of them. Sadly, there is no MIDI output (see below) and no release envelope control, although this is redeemed somewhat by its 1/4" sustain (hold) pedal socket. Interestingly, the stereo output socket is also 1/4". Among its 99 tones plus percussion, the keyboard seems to output a pure sawtooth wave and a pure square wave, called "SYN-LEAD 2" and "SYN-LEAD 3" respectively. These sound thin, as there are no digital effects such as chorus or reverb, although if you play chords with both hands across two octaves, effectively mimicking a sub-oscillator, you can get an adequately broad sound out of it. Alternatively, you can plug the output into an effects unit. I have connected mine to my Yamaha MU10, which runs the signal through its comprehensive digital effects section, editable using the ancient Yamaha XGworks software. I have opened up the keyboard and found that its circuit board has holes and traces for MIDI sockets and supporting circuitry, located directly behind the blanked area of the back panel that would accommodate them, although one would have to figure out and source the necessary discrete components to retrofit it.

A very Easy to use Setup for Any Beginner and is a fun with pre-demos and songs in it ...