Back to Keyboards
Originally uploaded on the 19/04/2020. Last updated 19/07/2023
Introduction
The Casio CT-460 was a mid-sized home keyboard part of the Casio Tonebank series. I don’t know exactly what year the keyboard was released, but I suspect that it was in the late 80’s or early 90’s.
There was another keyboard called the Casio MT-540, which is the same keyboard but has mini keys and uses the same shell as the Casio MT-600 and HT-700 etc. It does not have as many voices as the CT-460 however.
The keyboard uses Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to generate the sounds for the voices. I’m not sure what sampling rate or bitrate was used, but judging by the sound quality I would suspect that it uses around 44khz for the sampling rate and 16 bits for the bit depth. It sounds quite good for a keyboard of its age. The voices are clear and have a good bass response.
I didn’t pay anything for this keyboard as a friend gave it to me, but the price it sells used online for can vary.
The CT-460 can run on either 6 D batteries or a 9 volt DC power supply. Unlike most keyboards however, the Casio CT-460’s battery compartment is located on the top just above the “Demo” button.
There was another keyboard called the Casio MT-540, which is the same keyboard but has mini keys and uses the same shell as the Casio MT-600 and HT-700 etc. It does not have as many voices as the CT-460 however.
The keyboard uses Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to generate the sounds for the voices. I’m not sure what sampling rate or bitrate was used, but judging by the sound quality I would suspect that it uses around 44khz for the sampling rate and 16 bits for the bit depth. It sounds quite good for a keyboard of its age. The voices are clear and have a good bass response.
I didn’t pay anything for this keyboard as a friend gave it to me, but the price it sells used online for can vary.
The CT-460 can run on either 6 D batteries or a 9 volt DC power supply. Unlike most keyboards however, the Casio CT-460’s battery compartment is located on the top just above the “Demo” button.
Features
The CT-460 features 49 full size keys, 30 voices, 20 auto accompaniment styles, MIDI in and out, a built in recorder, 4 memory banks, 10 sound effect pads, an auto harmoniser function, sustain pedal input, 465 tone bank (dual voice), headphone jack, tuning control as well as a built in demo song.
Voices
The Casio CT-460 features a nice selection of voices ranging from classical instruments such as Pianos and Harpsichords, to synth voices such as Synth Reed and Synth Clavichord etc.
The bass voice is a split voice and when selected, the keyboard is split into two parts. The lower set of keys contains a “Wood Bass” voice and the upper set of keys features a “Slap Bass” voice. This does not change what is transmitted over MIDI however, so selecting a split voice does not transmit on two different MIDI channels.
The bass voice is a split voice and when selected, the keyboard is split into two parts. The lower set of keys contains a “Wood Bass” voice and the upper set of keys features a “Slap Bass” voice. This does not change what is transmitted over MIDI however, so selecting a split voice does not transmit on two different MIDI channels.
The quality of the voices vary; the piano and harpsichord voices sound very realistic while the strings and brass voices sound more like synthesisers. The slap bass and strings voice sound like they were sampled from one of Casio’s Phase Distortion keyboards (probably the CZ-1, but I’m not sure) {Update 19/07/2023} I was able to recreate the slap bass voice on my Casio CZ-101 so it is most likely sampled from that.
Some voices have either a stereo panning or echo effect applied to them but unfortunately it is not possible to edit or change these settings.
Some voices have either a stereo panning or echo effect applied to them but unfortunately it is not possible to edit or change these settings.
Sound Effect Pads
Directly below the main voices are some sound effect pads, which also doubles as the MIDI settings when the keyboard is put in MIDI mode. These pads allow you to play various sound effects to go along with your music.
To the left and right of the pads are two yellow pads; the pad on the left fades the sound effect in (or out if a sound effect is playing) while the pad on the right loops the sound effect. The sound effect will stop playing on it’s own if no other sound effect pad is pressed. These sound effects can also be played on the keyboard by selecting the “Sound Effect” 1 or 2 voice.
To the left and right of the pads are two yellow pads; the pad on the left fades the sound effect in (or out if a sound effect is playing) while the pad on the right loops the sound effect. The sound effect will stop playing on it’s own if no other sound effect pad is pressed. These sound effects can also be played on the keyboard by selecting the “Sound Effect” 1 or 2 voice.
Drums
The keyboard has a voice called “Drums”. When this voice is selected, each key will play a different drum sound. It has a wide selection of drum sounds from kick drums, hi hats, snares as well as various synth drum sounds. Some of the sounds however are duplicated but played at a slightly different pitch.
As the keyboard has a total of 49 keys, a total of 49 drum sounds can be played on the keyboard. An additional 13 drum sounds can be accessed by controlling the keyboard via a MIDI controller.
As the keyboard predates the General MIDI standard, the drum sounds are mapped to different keys and as a result will not play correctly if a General MIDI file is sent to the keyboard via MIDI.
As the keyboard has a total of 49 keys, a total of 49 drum sounds can be played on the keyboard. An additional 13 drum sounds can be accessed by controlling the keyboard via a MIDI controller.
As the keyboard predates the General MIDI standard, the drum sounds are mapped to different keys and as a result will not play correctly if a General MIDI file is sent to the keyboard via MIDI.
Auto Accompaniment Styles
The CT-460 has over 20 auto accompaniment styles which can be used to add background instruments and drums while playing your songs. These styles range from Rock, Slow Rock, Reggae and Waltz etc. and all of them have their own intros, outros and fill ins that can be inserted while the Auto Accompaniment Style is playing. I’ve found that some of the styles are the same ones used on my Casio HT-700.
Next to the “Synchro/Fill in” button is a red LED which flashes to the speed of the Auto Accompaniment Style. The playback speed (or tempo) can be adjusted via the tempo up and down buttons.
Next to the “Synchro/Fill in” button is a red LED which flashes to the speed of the Auto Accompaniment Style. The playback speed (or tempo) can be adjusted via the tempo up and down buttons.
Casio Chord System
Like most Casio home keyboards of the time, the CT-460 features what Casio calls the “Casio Chord System” which makes it easier to set the key in which the Auto Accompaniment style plays in. The CT-460 has 3 modes that can be used with the Casio Chord System; Fingered 1, Fingered 2, and ON, all of which can be selected using the Casio Chord Slider. When you select one of these modes, the keys in the lower left part of the keyboard are used for setting the key of the Auto Accompaniment style.
Fingered 1 is where you set the key by playing the actual chords in the “Chord” section on the lower left of the keyboard.
Fingered 2 works the same as Fingered 1 except that playing a note in the Chord section will play a second voice. Only playing 3 note chords will change the key of the Auto Accompaniment Style.
On is where you can set the key by pressing only one key in the Chord section. You can also play Minor, Major 7th and Minor 7th chords by pressing 1, 2 or 3 keys to the right of the first key that you pressed.
If the Casio Chord feature is turned ON or set to Fingered 1 or 2, the total amount of the notes that can be played will be reduced.
Fingered 1 is where you set the key by playing the actual chords in the “Chord” section on the lower left of the keyboard.
Fingered 2 works the same as Fingered 1 except that playing a note in the Chord section will play a second voice. Only playing 3 note chords will change the key of the Auto Accompaniment Style.
On is where you can set the key by pressing only one key in the Chord section. You can also play Minor, Major 7th and Minor 7th chords by pressing 1, 2 or 3 keys to the right of the first key that you pressed.
If the Casio Chord feature is turned ON or set to Fingered 1 or 2, the total amount of the notes that can be played will be reduced.
Volume Faders
The CT-460 features a Master volume control plus 3 volume control sliders for controlling the Auto Accompaniment Voices, Rhythm (Drums) and Sound Effects. The volume control sliders for the Auto Accompaniment Voices, Drums and Sound Effects are digital and have 5 positions that they can be set to. The Master volume control slider is analogue and controls the overall volume of the keyboard.
When being used as a MIDI sound source, the volume controls are assigned to the following MIDI Channels:
Accompaniment = MIDI channel 2
Sound Effect = MIDI channel 3
Rhythm = MIDI channel 4
The keyboard does not transmit the volume controls over MIDI nor can you adjust the volume via MIDI.
When being used as a MIDI sound source, the volume controls are assigned to the following MIDI Channels:
Accompaniment = MIDI channel 2
Sound Effect = MIDI channel 3
Rhythm = MIDI channel 4
The keyboard does not transmit the volume controls over MIDI nor can you adjust the volume via MIDI.
Casio 465 Tone Bank
The CT-460 has a feature called the “Casio 465 Sound Tone Bank” which the manual states gives the user a total of 465 different sound combinations. It’s really just a dual voice feature that allows you to layer two of the CT-460’s voices and play them simultaneously. This does however reduce the maximum number of voices that can be played by half and it does not work when the keyboard is set to MIDI mode.
Auto Harmonize
One nice feature of this keyboard is the Auto Harmonize function. This causes the keyboard to automatically generate chords with the currently selected voice in the same key as the Auto Accompaniment section. Turning this feature on will also make the keyboard monophonic and it will not work when the keyboard is set to MIDI. The LED will remain when the keyboard is set to MIDI however.
Registration Function (Tone Memory)
The keyboard also features a Registration Function which allows the user to quickly recall keyboard settings such as selected voice, auto accompaniment style, sound effect selections as well as auto harmonize.
It has 4 banks in which it can store settings in which are indicated by a red LED and can be selected by pressing the green “Select” button. If the user presses the green “Set” button, then the current keyboard settings are saved to the corresponding bank, which can be recalled by pressing the green “Select” button again until the bank is selected again. It also works with the 465 tone bank feature.
It has 4 banks in which it can store settings in which are indicated by a red LED and can be selected by pressing the green “Select” button. If the user presses the green “Set” button, then the current keyboard settings are saved to the corresponding bank, which can be recalled by pressing the green “Select” button again until the bank is selected again. It also works with the 465 tone bank feature.
Demo Song
The Casio CT-460 features a built in demo song to show off the capabilities of the keyboard.
It is a cover of the song “Night Birds” by a group called “Shakatak” and it can be activated by pressing the “Demo” button.
Unfortunately, you cannot play along with the demo song as pressing the keys on the keyboard will not produce any sound. You will need to stop the demo song by pressing the “Demo” button before you can use the keyboard again.
It is a cover of the song “Night Birds” by a group called “Shakatak” and it can be activated by pressing the “Demo” button.
Unfortunately, you cannot play along with the demo song as pressing the keys on the keyboard will not produce any sound. You will need to stop the demo song by pressing the “Demo” button before you can use the keyboard again.
Built in Recorder
The Casio CT-460 features a built in Recorder labelled as “Memory” or “Performance Memory” in the manual. This can be used to record your own songs played on the keyboard along with Auto Accompaniment Style changes, key changes and voice changes.
When the user presses the “Record” button, an LED flashes indicating that the keyboard is ready to record. When the user pressed the pink “Start/Stop” button next to the Record button, a one beat count is played and then the keyboard starts recording. Pressing the button again will stop the recording and it can be played back by pressing the button again.
The recorder does not support over dubbing so you can’t record the Auto Accompaniment first and then the melody after. You have to record both at the same time.
The CT-460 will keep any recordings made with the “Performance Memory” after it has been switched off as long as it is connected to a power source.
When the user presses the “Record” button, an LED flashes indicating that the keyboard is ready to record. When the user pressed the pink “Start/Stop” button next to the Record button, a one beat count is played and then the keyboard starts recording. Pressing the button again will stop the recording and it can be played back by pressing the button again.
The recorder does not support over dubbing so you can’t record the Auto Accompaniment first and then the melody after. You have to record both at the same time.
The CT-460 will keep any recordings made with the “Performance Memory” after it has been switched off as long as it is connected to a power source.
MIDI
The MIDI features are slightly different on this keyboard than any of the other keyboards I’ve reviewed as you have to set the keyboard to MIDI mode using the Casio Chord Switch before you can use the MIDI features. All the other keyboards I’ve used with MIDI work straight away without having to enable it.
The keyboard can function as a MIDI controller as well as a 3 part multi-timbral sound source. The auto accompaniment drum patterns can be synchronised by changing the keyboard’s MIDI clock to external. The CT-460 also transmits a MIDI clock signal when it is set to internal, which can be used to synchronise other drum machines or sequencers.
A 4th part can also be utilised by pressing the “CH4” sound effect pad below the voices, but you won’t be able to synchronise the auto accompaniment drum patterns however.
The keyboard can respond to MIDI channels 1 to 4. These are fixed and cannot be changed, however the MIDI transmit channel can be set to channels 1 to 4 by pressing the sound effect pads labelled CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4.
Each part is assigned a fixed amount of polyphony as listed below:
Channel 1 = 6 notes
Channel 2 = 4 notes
Channel 3 = 2 notes
Channel 4 = 4 notes (when enabled)
The manual states that the keyboard has 10 notes of polyphony, however it actually can play up to 16 notes at once. The reason why only 10 notes are available is because 4 notes are reserved for the auto accompaniment drums and 2 are reserved for the sound effects.
You don’t get that many extra features when using MIDI but you can access an additional octave above what is currently playable on the keyboard. On the MT-540, you can access additional voices not normally accessible on the keyboard. You can access these extra voices on the CT-460 without the use of MIDI.
The keyboard can function as a MIDI controller as well as a 3 part multi-timbral sound source. The auto accompaniment drum patterns can be synchronised by changing the keyboard’s MIDI clock to external. The CT-460 also transmits a MIDI clock signal when it is set to internal, which can be used to synchronise other drum machines or sequencers.
A 4th part can also be utilised by pressing the “CH4” sound effect pad below the voices, but you won’t be able to synchronise the auto accompaniment drum patterns however.
The keyboard can respond to MIDI channels 1 to 4. These are fixed and cannot be changed, however the MIDI transmit channel can be set to channels 1 to 4 by pressing the sound effect pads labelled CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4.
Each part is assigned a fixed amount of polyphony as listed below:
Channel 1 = 6 notes
Channel 2 = 4 notes
Channel 3 = 2 notes
Channel 4 = 4 notes (when enabled)
The manual states that the keyboard has 10 notes of polyphony, however it actually can play up to 16 notes at once. The reason why only 10 notes are available is because 4 notes are reserved for the auto accompaniment drums and 2 are reserved for the sound effects.
You don’t get that many extra features when using MIDI but you can access an additional octave above what is currently playable on the keyboard. On the MT-540, you can access additional voices not normally accessible on the keyboard. You can access these extra voices on the CT-460 without the use of MIDI.
The keyboard does not respond to velocity data (how hard you hit a key) or pitch bend commands when controlled via a MIDI controller, probably because there was no other keyboard in this series that had theses features and that used the same sound chip.
The drum patterns used by the Auto Accompaniment Styles are not transmitted over MIDI, however, you can cycle through the 20 styles by transmitting patch (voice) changes on MIDI channel 4. The keyboard also transmit style changes via MIDI channel 4.
The drum patterns used by the Auto Accompaniment Styles are not transmitted over MIDI, however, you can cycle through the 20 styles by transmitting patch (voice) changes on MIDI channel 4. The keyboard also transmit style changes via MIDI channel 4.
Using the keyboard in the studio
Since the CT-460 does not feature a dedicated line level output, so the headphone jack must be used to record the audio of the keyboard. This does mute the sound coming out of the built in speakers, so you will need to configure the computer to forward the incoming audio from the keyboard to the computer speakers or use a splitter cable.
The keyboard was most likely designed to be used in a home setting, not a studio environment, which would explain the lack of line level outputs.
The bottom of the keyboard has 2 screw holes for attaching the keyboard to a keyboard stand, it does not however have grooves for the stands.
The keyboard was most likely designed to be used in a home setting, not a studio environment, which would explain the lack of line level outputs.
The bottom of the keyboard has 2 screw holes for attaching the keyboard to a keyboard stand, it does not however have grooves for the stands.
What I like about this keyboard
The keyboard has a nice selection of high quality PCM voices which sound very good, clear and realistic considering the age of the keyboard.
The build quality is very good as well. The keyboard feels solid although the metal plate on the bottom can be prone to rusting.
The stereo effects that the keyboard has are quite impressive although it would have been nice if they could be edited.
The MIDI output channel can be changed from 1 – 4 when the keyboard is set to MIDI mode which can be useful when controlling other MIDI instruments. It would have been nice if you could select channels 1 – 16 instead of 1 – 4 though.
The demonstration song is nice.
The build quality is very good as well. The keyboard feels solid although the metal plate on the bottom can be prone to rusting.
The stereo effects that the keyboard has are quite impressive although it would have been nice if they could be edited.
The MIDI output channel can be changed from 1 – 4 when the keyboard is set to MIDI mode which can be useful when controlling other MIDI instruments. It would have been nice if you could select channels 1 – 16 instead of 1 – 4 though.
The demonstration song is nice.
What I don't like about this keyboard
I find that the MIDI support is rather limited on this keyboard. Other than being able to play an octave higher than what is playable on the keyboard, it pretty much what you see is what you get in regards to MIDI.
It would have been nice if you could access an octave lower than what is playable on the keyboard via MIDI as the keyboard has a very good bass response. One of the auto accompaniment style has the bass voice playing lower than what is playable so it would have been nice if you could access the lower octaves via MIDI.
I would have preferred if the keyboard had more voices to choose from rather than just 30.
I also noticed that there are some duplicate drum sounds that are played at a slightly lower pitch. This was most likely to make it look like the keyboard has more drum sounds than it actually has.
It would have been nice if you could access an octave lower than what is playable on the keyboard via MIDI as the keyboard has a very good bass response. One of the auto accompaniment style has the bass voice playing lower than what is playable so it would have been nice if you could access the lower octaves via MIDI.
I would have preferred if the keyboard had more voices to choose from rather than just 30.
I also noticed that there are some duplicate drum sounds that are played at a slightly lower pitch. This was most likely to make it look like the keyboard has more drum sounds than it actually has.
My Final Thoughts
All in all I think that this keyboard is pretty underrated. I think that it sounds very good considering its age and it might be worth having a look at if you are interested in getting a vintage Casio keyboard. I do wish however that it had better MIDI features like the ability to access octaves below what is currently playable on the keyboard as well as the ability to use the volume sliders for the accompaniment, sound effect and rhythm to control external MIDI instruments.
It also would have been nice if the keyboard had some more voices to choose from.
One weird thing that happens when I connect the keyboard to a power source is that it briefly powers on then off again, even though the power switch is in the off position. I do not know why it does this. My HT-700 does the exact same thing.
Thank you for reading my review. If you would like to provide feedback on this post, feel free to use the contact form on the Contact page.
Listen to some songs I've made with this keyboard on my YouTube Channel by clicking here.
Article © 2020 Stereo Ninja Music.
Disclaimer: If you see my keyboard images and blog posts on online auction sites, it’s most likely that the seller has taken my content without my permission. I am not affiliated with any of these sellers and I cannot be held responsible for the items they are selling.
It also would have been nice if the keyboard had some more voices to choose from.
One weird thing that happens when I connect the keyboard to a power source is that it briefly powers on then off again, even though the power switch is in the off position. I do not know why it does this. My HT-700 does the exact same thing.
Thank you for reading my review. If you would like to provide feedback on this post, feel free to use the contact form on the Contact page.
Listen to some songs I've made with this keyboard on my YouTube Channel by clicking here.
Article © 2020 Stereo Ninja Music.
Disclaimer: If you see my keyboard images and blog posts on online auction sites, it’s most likely that the seller has taken my content without my permission. I am not affiliated with any of these sellers and I cannot be held responsible for the items they are selling.