I just happened to call in at the Hall today where I used to jam with a few other players and got roped in to play with them.
The group happens to have some new keyboards that are available for newbies who want to learn to play, one of the group gets the newbie started and they use one of the availabke keyboards until the newbie is confident enough to buy their own.
So there I was sat at a PSR E363 with a blank look on my face, where do I start?
Press Voice and key in 070 the press + until I get to a Clarinet.
Then start to play Stranger on the Shore.
Press a few more buttons to bring up an acceptable Organ and I play Telstar.
Time to play Bye By Love with a 12 string guitar voice.
Moving on to try a Style and find an 8 beat modern so put on ACMP and try a simple C, F, G chord progression with my left whilst noodling around with my right.
I play on for nearly two hours before I have to quit and depart so the keyboard was given a thorough workout.
The E363 retails at $180 US.
Conclusions.
It is OK for the money if it gets someone playing.
Style play is very, very limited and could be better sound quality
Navigation is quirky, the manual is limited in detail but sufficient to get started and easy to follow.
Learning mode, does not, the lcd screen is to small to see the notes on screen to play along with.
Instrument voices are just about acceptable for getting started on playing a keyboard
Build quality surpasses the previous models and even some S models.
Keybed feels OK but nuances in playing will have to wait as the velocity sensitivity is a bit hit and miss.
Now would I recommend that you buy this for yourself, children or grandchildren?
No.
Spend similar cash on a Yamaha NP12 piano or on a Casio CTX700 at $175 or my own recommendation would be to spend more cash and buy a Roland Go Keys at $330 or a Korg EK 50 at $399.
The group happens to have some new keyboards that are available for newbies who want to learn to play, one of the group gets the newbie started and they use one of the availabke keyboards until the newbie is confident enough to buy their own.
So there I was sat at a PSR E363 with a blank look on my face, where do I start?
Press Voice and key in 070 the press + until I get to a Clarinet.
Then start to play Stranger on the Shore.
Press a few more buttons to bring up an acceptable Organ and I play Telstar.
Time to play Bye By Love with a 12 string guitar voice.
Moving on to try a Style and find an 8 beat modern so put on ACMP and try a simple C, F, G chord progression with my left whilst noodling around with my right.
I play on for nearly two hours before I have to quit and depart so the keyboard was given a thorough workout.
The E363 retails at $180 US.
Conclusions.
It is OK for the money if it gets someone playing.
Style play is very, very limited and could be better sound quality
Navigation is quirky, the manual is limited in detail but sufficient to get started and easy to follow.
Learning mode, does not, the lcd screen is to small to see the notes on screen to play along with.
Instrument voices are just about acceptable for getting started on playing a keyboard
Build quality surpasses the previous models and even some S models.
Keybed feels OK but nuances in playing will have to wait as the velocity sensitivity is a bit hit and miss.
Now would I recommend that you buy this for yourself, children or grandchildren?
No.
Spend similar cash on a Yamaha NP12 piano or on a Casio CTX700 at $175 or my own recommendation would be to spend more cash and buy a Roland Go Keys at $330 or a Korg EK 50 at $399.