Casio wk 3800 Keyboard Review - The wk3800 is Ideal for Home / Project Studio Use
The Casio wk 3800 keyboard offers the best value-for-money for the experienced users. The wk3800 is an excellent way to learn Hammond techniques and ideal for your home studio as well.
Here is a Casio Keyboard that has...
Excellent Acoustic Instrument Sounds, especially Orchestral sounds
Brilliant Hammond B-3 sound for this price & includes Drawbar Organ Functions
Has Synthesizer features to produce your own creations
Excellent effects, including Leslie Simulator and Overdrive
Powerful internal speakers and sounds incredible through external amps
Hammond-B3 sound on a Casio keyboard? Seems unbelievable but it is true.
I know the purists will crib about the sound quality, especially if it is coming from a casio keyboard but then they even complain about the Hammond XK-3c organ. This one costs almost a couple of grand’s less and sounds very close to the real thing. Each organ sound has 8 adjustable drawbars, and some of them have the Leslie simulation assigned to the mod wheel.
The other sounds are also exceptional, especially the orchestral sounds, and the pads. Since this not for beginner, you won't find built-in lessons. It comes with 76 touch sensitive keys, though not weighted.
It is very versatile with lots of scope for sound and DSP editing, and drawbar organ settings. There is even Overdrive with different levels. This is a semi-synthesizer where you can vary some of the tone parameters but you cannot compare it with a professional synthesizer.
You will need to spend some time with the menus, so that you can find out all the good things hidden away in the menus.
This is just one of the ignored or may be undiscovered powerhouses, which Casio has failed to market whole-heartedly and to its true potential.
Casio WK 3800 Review - Important Features?
76 touch sensitive keys
Up to 894 tones including orchestral and synthesized sounds
50 drawbar organ tones, 160+ Styles
Big LCD screen shows fingerings, notes and more
Synthesizer Mode - Edit built-in sounds to produce your own original creations
Powerful Effects including a 4-band equalizer
Ideal for home / project studio use
Action & Keys
The casio wk 3800 keyboard has 76 full sized keys with touch response. It has a synth action keyboard which is suited for keyboard players. The touch sensitivity of the keys can be adjusted to suit your style of playing.
Big Display
The wk 3800 comes with a large backlit LCD display which shows the numerous selections and settings you have made. Because of the built-in backlight, you can read the contents even in full darkness.
Fingered mode
The casio wk 3800 keyboard features the full fingered mode which let you play the chords anywhere on the keyboard and the accompaniment will recognize it and adjust accordingly. You will find it useful if you want to play the piano.
Built-in Sequencer & Mixer
You can create and record your own songs using the on-board mixer and sequencer; very useful tool for songwriting.
Create your sound & styles
The wk3800 keyboard lets you edit the existing sounds and apply the numerous built-in effects, creating totally new sounds. You can even create your own musical styles from scratch. This is on top of the hundreds of built-in musical styles and sounds already available.
Summary
Simply put, the Casio wk 3800 keyboard offers much more for the price it quotes (around $400). The stock sounds like pianos, sax, trumpets, etc, sound as good as some of the much more expensive keyboards, but the major attraction is the Hammond B-3 sound. If you are keen to learn the Hammond techniques, without having to shell out loads of money, then this is an excellent way to get started. With the on-board sequencer and mixer, this is just a very good buy for the advanced users, or for classroom teaching, or for some serious fun. Don't make any conclusion based on the brand name. This is indeed one of the hidden gems!