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Faithful casio user for 2 and a bit years before i switched to Korg. At first hand, this synth is great, the music display is real handy, as are the pattern and song sequencers for programming in your own tunes. You can sit fiddling for hours, but after sometime, you will begin to realize the monotony of the sound. GM patches are really cool, and the pads are some of the best I've heard, the only downfall is the range of sound it provides. It has minimal effects, and there are but 7 or 8 semi-decent pitch envelopes for editing the DCO, although it lists 45, so by comparison 70% of the 'Synthesizer' function it claims to have is naff. That is my only nag with it, but otherwise this is a really wicked keyboard for a first time user, and as a sequencer/pattern controller it really does a good job. It has loads of functionality, and there are some really unique sounds. There are 2 meaty speakers on the sides, with full bass reflex, great for bedroom/small studio use - it stands on its own as something to play in spare time. The alternative version without the full bass reflex is the CTK-731, this does have speakers, just not as meaty as the ones on the 711, but it has a disk drive to make up for it. The 811EX is the upgrade from the 711 - it has a little more sequencer memory, and a disk drive. As far as I know, all these keyboards have the same structural elements, the *11's are the same shape, and the 731 is a continuation of the 6** shape. The EX series also comes with a nifty channel mixer for the 16 GM channels, just under the display screen. This keyboard is definitely the most user friendly in my collection, re-iterating it is highly recommended for the first time user....
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