Comparison Casio CT-X800 vs Yamaha PSR-EW300

The greater the number of keys — the wider the range of the instrument, the lower and higher notes you can take on it right during the game, without resorting to tricks like octave shift (see below). By comparison, a full size piano keyboard has 88 keys. However, in synthesizers, such an amount is rare, because. the instrument would have turned out to be too bulky and expensive, and not every musician, even a professional one, needs such an extensive range. Thus, 88-key keyboards are used primarily in high-end workstations (see "Type"). For ordinary synthesizers, the standard is 49, 61 or 76 keys ( there are also options for 73 keys) — this is usually quite enough (while the "golden mean" option is considered to be 61 keys). And small children's models can have 32 keys.

Ability to change the sensitivity of active mechanics (see above) in the synthesizer.

This function allows you to adjust the intensity of the key's response to pressing. Simply put, the higher the sensitivity, the louder and sharper the sound will be, with the same pressing force. This allows you to change the characteristics of the instrument's sound.

Also in synthesizers with this function, it is often possible to completely turn off the active mechanics and play on a “passive” keyboard. This can be useful for making certain voices, such as harpsichord or organ, sound realistic.

The number of built-in sounds provided in the synthesizer.

The number of timbres is often described as the number of instruments that a given model can imitate. However, this is not entirely true — rather, this parameter can be called "the number of instruments and sound effects." For example, the same instrument — an electric guitar — with different "gadgets" (distortion, overdrive) will sound differently, and in the synthesizer each such gadget will be considered a separate timbre. The “drums” timbre usually combines different types of drums and other percussion instruments — in other words, it allows you to portray both the “bass drum” and the cymbals without switching settings, just by pressing the desired keys. And some timbres may not have analogues among real instruments at all.

The more built-in timbres, the more extensive the possibilities of the synthesizer, the more diverse the sounds that can be extracted from it. At the same time, in high-end models like workstations (see "Type"), this number can reach 1000 or even more.

The number of auto accompaniment styles (see above) originally provided in the synthesizer, in other words, the number of accompaniment options available to the user.

The more extensive this set, the higher the probability of finding among these melodies suitable options for a particular case. At the same time, the abundance of styles in itself is not yet a 100% guarantee that among them there will be a suitable one, especially since different synthesizer models can differ markedly in a specific set of melodies. So the list does not hurt to clarify before buying. Also note that the situation can be corrected by user styles (see below) — many synthesizers with auto accompaniment support them.

The number of user auto accompaniment styles supported by the synthesizer, in other words, the number of additional styles that can be stored in memory in addition to the built-in ones. Note that styles can have different volumes (depending on the number of notes used), so this parameter often turns out to be not exact, but only an average-approximate one.

Modern synthesizers may have a fairly extensive set of built-in auto accompaniment styles (see above), but even the richest set may not contain the desired melody. Thus, many models allow you to supplement the standard list with custom melodies. The addition methods themselves can be different: in some models, these melodies need to be downloaded from external media, in others they can even be composed manually. Nevertheless, the presence of user styles allows you to expand the range of auto accompaniment melodies, moreover, at the request of the user himself.

The range in which you can change the tempo of the programme played by the synthesizer — auto accompaniment, lesson tune (see above), metronome (see below), recorded sample, etc.

Pace is measured in beats per minute. Changing it allows you to adjust the speed of the synthesizer to the specifics of the situation — for example, slightly slow down the tutorial if it is too hard to master at the initial pace. The wider the range of tempo adjustment, the more options the musician has to choose from, especially in the area of very slow and very fast tempos.

Note that the traditional range of musical tempos covers values from 40 beats / min (“grave”, “very slowly”) to 208 beats / min (“prestissimo”, “very fast”), however, in synthesizers it can be more extensive — for example, 30 – 255 bpm.

Synthesizer support for octave shift function.

This function allows you to shift the sound of the instrument one or more octaves up or down — for example, so that the keys of the first octave sound the notes of the second, or vice versa. This function can be used for both simple convenience and more practical purposes — it allows you to play very low and very high notes that are not initially covered by the keyboard range. This is especially useful for shortened 49- or 61-key synths that do not initially fit the full range of the piano.

The presence of a pitch controller(Pitch Bend) in the design of the synthesizer.

This function allows you to smoothly change the pitch by a small amount. In this way, specific playing techniques on some instruments are imitated — for example, tightening the strings on a guitar, which gives a characteristic, “floating” sound in frequency. The pitch control usually has the form of a wheel or lever.

The number of line outputs provided in the design of the synthesizer.

The line output is used to transmit the sound produced by the synthesizer to external devices. At the same time, unlike the MIDI output, a “ready” sound is transmitted through such a connector — an analogue line-level audio signal that can be connected to another audio device — for example, to a power amplifier or active speakers for playback, to a computer or mixing console for recording, etc. Keep in mind that the line outputs can use different types of connectors — for example, 3.5 mm mini-Jack or 6.35 mm Jack; Specifically, these connectors are described in more detail in the “Inputs” section, but the matter is not limited to them.

Multiple analogue inputs make it possible to connect the synthesizer to several external audio devices at the same time — for example, to an amplifier for playback and a recorder for recording.