The 76-key Casio WK6600 replaces the outgoing Casio wk6500 and comes with several features required to create and perform music. Its a great keyboard to take your creativity to the next level. You may use it to create quick demos, and you may also use it as a controller to control your favorite recording software on the computer.
A good keyboard for the serious beginner and intermediate level keyboard players who want a lot of tools to create and have fun. However, for serious work, you may want to check the Casio WK-7600 (another hundred & fifty bucks).
- PROS – Lots of features for the price, 76-keys
- CONS – Not really a pro-keyboard
Review
If you’re a beginner or an intermediate level player, who wants a keyboard that has all the tools that you need to practice, compose and perform, then the Casio WK6600 is the board to consider.
Who Is It For?
- For serious beginners & intermediate level players looking for an affordable keyboard.
- Suitable for home practice or for jamming, or for use in a church group.
Its not really a pro keyboard, in terms of the quality of the patches available, the editing features and so on. However, it does give you all the features you need to create interesting music. It also allows you to connect a mic so that you can sing along. The mixer allows you to balance the sound levels.
You get a song sequencer, tone editor, multiple digital effects, mixer, performance registration memory, USB MIDI interface, SD card storage and hundreds of editable tones. The editing tools allow you to insert, copy and delete, quantize note locator and it also has a a step recording function.
For those who are more into playing the music, rather than creating, the choices of sounds are excellent on this versatile musical instrument. The choices of sounds and rhythms are cool, it has great organs, guitars, leads and brass. And as usual you can expect good customer service from Casio. The drum sounds are a generic and of okay quality.
If you have been playing on an entry-level keyboard before this, there’s every reason to love this board, everything about the keyboard is fantastic, especially the organs, which are just out of this world, especially useful when playing classical pieces, such as Bach.
Like more Casio keyboards, this is user friendly and can be used right from the moment you switch it ON after removing from the box, the front panel layout is very easy to navigate. The Transpose and octave buttons are right on the panel, you don’t have to select it from the menu. The auto-resume feature is also quite handy as it remembers what settings you had before the power was turned off. However, if you have always used a piano with minimum buttons, you may have to spend some time getting used to the various functions of this keyboard.
The sounds in general, are sufficient for most uses, and the tone editing is a useful feature to have. The speakers have good volume, you can make the sound better by using good quality headphones / external amps.
As far as the various inputs & outputs are concerned, you get audio In, Mic In which lets you play along other instrument and also allow you to connect a mic. You can also run this keyboard on batteries, so feel free to take it along wherever you wish. You can even connect a memory card to save your compositions and also to load additional sounds/songs.
Even if you have a smaller Yamaha keyboard (your first keyboard), you can buy this one and use it as an add-on board as this one has more keys, more sounds and more features. You also get a custom mixer that is quite easy to work with. It has a nice display with pro quality look.
Specs
Here are the key features:
- 76 Piano-style keys, Touch Response: 2 Sensitivity levels / Off
- Sound Source: Dual-element AHL for good sound quality
- Polyphony (max): 48 which is good, but pro keyboards have more
- Tones: 700, User Tones: 10 tone editor
- Built-in Rhythms: 210, User Rhythms: 10, Rhythm Editor: 10 User rhythms, built-in arpeggiator with 150 different types
- Reverb: 10 Types, Chorus: 5 Types, DSP: 100 Preset / 100 User
- Controllers: Start / Stop, Intro, Normal / Fill-in, Variation / Fill-in, Synchro / Editing
- Song Sequencer: 16 tracks + 1 system track
- Real time recording, step recording, song edit, track edit, event edit
- Mixer: 32 Channels + ext in (mic)
- Layer / Split: Yes
- Registration Memory: 4 sets x 8 banks, 50 user presets
- One Touch Presets: 200
- Rhythm Editor for blending instrument parts from multiple built-in rhythms
- Equalizer incorporates five selectable frequency characteristics
- Completed recordings can be converted to SMF (Standard MIDI File) format and stored to an SD memory card.
- Pitch Bend Wheel: 0 to 24 Semi-tomes
- Display: Backlit LCD
- Speakers w/ Bass Reflex System: 4.7″ x 2 + 1.2″ x 2, Amplifier: 6W + 6W
- Line Out: L / Mono, R – Std jack
- Mic In: Mono – Std jack
- Audio In: Stereo – Mini jack
- USB port to connect to computer or MIDI
- Sustain Pedal: Std jack
- Headphones : Stereo – Std jack
- Power: 12V DC or six D cell batteries
- Included Accessories: AC Adaptor: AD-A12150, Music Stand: Yes
- Dimensions (L x W x H): 49 x 7 x 8 inches; 15.9 pounds
Video Review
Here’s video review of this piano:
Here’s what users have to say about this product:
Fan of Casio
I have always been a fan of Casio products, and am satisfied with this product as well. Its easy to learn and very versatile in its application.
Great sound and Lots of features
This may not be a korg or roland, but it does give you most the features that are available on those keyboards, for a much reduced price.
Handy 76-Keys
The keys are weighted (though not exactly like the real ones) enough to give you a piano like feel. The 76-keys lets you play many more songs.
Good but wk-7600 is better
Its a good keyboard but still for the intermediate level player or for those who just want a spare keyboard. If you like Casio and want a better keyboard with much better sound quality, you should buy the Casio WK-7500, which is about a hundred dollars more.
Polyphony should have been more
I had tried this one at a music store, and though liked its features, I thought at certain times, especially with the accompaniment ON, some of the keys didn’t seem to respond. I was told that Polyphony means how many notes can be played at one time. So with the accompaniment it may have used up all the notes, and hence the dropped notes. It shouldn’t happen every-time though, only for certain accompaniments and with complex chords. If that is really a concern, go for a keyboard with higher polyphony but then it would cost more.
Great for songwriting
I agree to the point that the manual can look daunting if you have never used a reasonably advanced keyboard before. Remember this one may not cost a lot but it has everything that you need to play and to record music. You get hundreds and hundreds of sounds ranging from techno to traditional sounds like piano, bass, strings and so on. In addition, you can also modify the various sounds. If you’re a songwriter, this is an affordable keyboard that will let you come up with great compositions.
Depending on your abilities, you can make pro sounding songs right on this keyboard. Though it runs on batteries, you should use the adapter wherever possible as it can be expensive to run this on batteries.
Overall Ratings
This is a high-grade keyboard from Casio that offer a wide range of functions, including sound and rhythm editing, a studio-quality effects section and hundreds of realistic instrument and synthesizer tones. The overall looks & design is modern, and the Casio wk-6600 offers several functions for experimenting and composing.
Buying Options
1. Buy Casio WK6600 on zZounds
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
I have a Casio 76key wk6600 and one of the keys is loose how do I get that fixed and how much will it cost