Is there anyone here using either of these boards? I have a question about the recording capacity for both models. It is my understanding that the 3500 has increased memory for song recording. Anyone know how many notes total? Also it is my understanding that the previous models did not allow loop recording when making user styles. Did this change with the newer models and can you loop?

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-04-2003).]

Just FYI: check out the current issue of Keyboard (Nov. 2003) - they gave the Casio WK-3500 a KeyBuy award and praised it for bang-for-the-buck (under $500 street). Specs in the article say 5 songs/6 tracks each/10,000 notes total but doesn't mention anything about loop recording. 32 notes of polyphony.

10,000 notes is pretty good compared to their past models. For the price it's a good keyboard for home use.. I just wonder if it will loop.

This does not answer any of the questions. But I just want to say that after trying it out for 15 minutes, I love many of the sounds in this kybd. The pianos, ep's and many others are very useable and actually very good sounding and better than my PSR2000. Anybody did comparison ?

But I thought the drums and rythms were quite bad in comparison with the sounds.

Squeak.. here is the link to the WK3500.
http://world.casio.com/me-africa/emi/high_grade/wk3500.html

The site says 10000 notes. Only six tracks per song too.

I agree luk, although it wasn't so much that the drums that sounded that bad to me, but moreso that the internal patterns themselves were not so good. That's really what killed the MZ for me, along with zero aftermarket support from Casio.

The wk3500 apparently uses the same sound engine as the MZ did ( ZPI I think is what they call it ), and there were some very good sounds mixed in with some that I didn't like very much at all. At the time I liked some of the sounds ( but certainly not all ) better than their counterparts on the PSR740. Particularly good on the MZ were the electric guitars and the sax patches, along with some excellent synth sounds. I wonder how much editing is available ( I do see it has user sounds ). The MZ had a very detailed but simple to use and understand synth editing engine; perhaps the most intuituive one I've ever used on anything.

I'm actually mildly interested in trying this one out. One reason is that I would like a 76 key controller for the Motif ES, and while it didn't have the feel of a weighted controller, the MZ had a much better feeling key touch ( for me ) than any of the non weighted Yamaha's I've used. If it could actually be useful for the occasional sound or two, and maybe one or two other things, then I might consider it. The Roland A37 controller costs roughly about the same as a WK3500... so perhaps a tryout is in order.

AJ

AJ,
I too had mixed feelings with the MZ.. Some sounds were awsome and some could have used a little more work. I can't find a downloadable manual anywhere for the WK-3500. The only one I keep finding is something for midi with the board, but can't find a full manual online.

Squeak