Yamaha CK Series 61-Key Stage Keyboard with Built-In Speakers, Black (CK61)

Fantastic board for the $. Lightweight, great speakers, Bluetooth, runs on batteries, and legendary Yamaha sounds. My favorite part about this keyboard is that you can layer three sounds of any category and assign a specific color to each layer so that you know which layer's parameters you are editing. I bought a YC61 around the same time as this, which I thought might replace this, but I can't get rid of it because of how much I love creating patches with this color coded system. For a lightweight "midi" style keybed, this one feels great. I still prefer a Nord or Yamaha semi-weighted keybed, but again, it has so many great features that it's not a deal breaker.

Terrific keyboard Enough sounds and you can combine and layer very easily. I watched a bunch of YouTube vids and got ideas for sounds and live sets etc. Portable. Speakers are nice for just playing at home or for a jam etc.

I just got it and have played for about an hour without cracking the book. The presets for live can be pre-selected which is cool. The keybed feels almost toylike but it is touch responsive. Default output sound is thin but there’s adjustable tone. The old style knobs are very nice. There’s a learning curve but you can learn enough in minutes to get going. I’m replacing a 1980s Korg 01/W but the CK is a toy by comparison. Nevertheless, this new keyboard is going to the recording studio for an album the band is doing. I think it’ll be fine. UPDATE: I have used this in the band and at home and after a year or so I upgraded the review to 5.

The Good: The UI is a vast improvement over my old Yamaha MOXF6 (which is absolutely abysmal). You can figure out how most of the important functions work without even looking at the manual. The manual is very helpful for some of the more complex and hidden operations. It's written a lot more clearly than previous Yamaha user guide(s) like the MOXF. The sounds are eminently usable, and the UI really shines for live usage. Access to effects is dead simple and makes for a fast and comfortable workflow. It would be nice if more of the buttons were lit with LED's (see below). The Lesley simulator sounds good and the drawbars have sufficient throw. Glissandos are very smooth and do not easily hurt your hands. You also have good control over vibrato/chorus and percussion. The effects section offers the usual options and they all sound usable. I like the way Yamaha put the A/B/C section(s) ON/OFF buttons (organ / piano / other) all in one location along with a set of mixer faders, which makes adjusting layers fast and easy. This compares favorably against the Nord ON/OFF buttons, which are not as quick to access because they're widely spaced out in the different sections. Connectivity is good. I haven't used the midi zones yet to control outboard gear, but the setup looks pretty easy. This board is lightweight and very portable. The built in speakers are more than adequate for practice. === Bad: A lot of the buttons are hard to see in the dark because they're not lit. Conversely, the LED's that are included, are really bright and the glare makes it a little bit harder to see the unlit buttons. FWIW, I'm 64yo and need readers for just about everything. You get used to where the buttons are pretty quickly, and overall this is a huge improvement over the user interface on my old MOXF6. The keybed feels ok'ish. The keys are almost full sized, but just a tiny bit narrower than standard. I have normal sized hands and my fingers easily graze a black key(s) when digging in between them. You have to do a little warmup when going back and forth between the CK61 and another full size keybed in order to adjust yourself to the narrower keys. I got accustomed to it fairly quick and it feels pretty fast. Glissandos are buttery smooth (as you'd expect on synth action). === Overall: It's a keeper (I'm selling my old MOXF6 and replacing it with the CK61). I'd easily bump this up to 5 stars if Yamaha used the standard size semi weighted keybed from the MOXF6. Add more LED's to some of the unlit buttons and I'd leave two 5 star reviews!

Perfect for practice, and small gigs. Sounds bigger than it looks.

I purchase this Keyboard and I absolutely love. It have better features than the overrated Nord Electro. Really easy to use. The sounds are great ( not as great as the Nord. Nord sound engine is something else). Portability is a 5+. This is my new gig Keyboard.

The built in speakers are terrible. Very light weight, so it's very easy to carry around. The keys are smaller than other keyboards on the market. Feels "ok," wouldn't recommend it. The color black is good, makes it easy to read and the button LED's are good too. Not very fun to play though. And what I hate the most, very limited and small sound library!! As a keyboard, by definition, and function, it's not worth the price tag. Better to add a little more to the budget and buy a Roland.

This keyboard feels great for a synthesizer type keyboard. It is not a full fleged synth, but has enough of the effects to get you there. What it does better than most synthesizer is the classic instruments. So combing the two it makes this keyboard a great choice no matter what you do. Home, band, or solo live play. It also hooked up to a DAW easially for home studio. My only negative is the missing ability to buy an optional sheet music holder for when I compose.

Outstanding musical instrument- though very complex. Recommendation to Yamaha - Should supply a video tutorial to assist in learning all the functions

Excelente teclado! Muy buena calidad de sonidos; las bocinas no ofrecen la potencia de otros teclados Yamaha pero son buenas para estudio en casa.

Excelente teclado. Con sonidos de HAMMOND increíbles.

Keyboard is well made, sounds good.

il est parfait pour le prix....