Back to Keyboards
Originally uploaded on 12/10/2023
Introduction
The MQ 5412 is a toy keyboard that has been released under many different brand names. I don’t know what year it was first introduced, but I suspect that it was fairly recently as it can still be purchased brand new today (as of 2023). The prices of this keyboard can vary depending on the company that sells it, but I have seen it selling between £19.99 to £44.59.
My Dad found this keyboard at the tip (or recycling centre as some call it) so I did not pay anything for it. This keyboard is clearly aimed at kids as it uses mini keys and it is advertised as such on the box art. It can run on 9 volts DC with a supplied adaptor or 6 AA batteries and it weighs just 1.1kg.
My Dad found this keyboard at the tip (or recycling centre as some call it) so I did not pay anything for it. This keyboard is clearly aimed at kids as it uses mini keys and it is advertised as such on the box art. It can run on 9 volts DC with a supplied adaptor or 6 AA batteries and it weighs just 1.1kg.
Features
The MQ 5412 claims to feature 100 built in voices, 100 styles, 10 demo songs, 5 drum and animal sounds, a built in recorder, drum programmer and a music lesson feature. On the back it has a DC power input, headphone jack, microphone input, line level input as well as two knockout plugs which appear to be for USB as they have the USB logo above them. Maybe there is a more fancier model of this keyboard that has USB.
There is no MIDI which is not too much of a surprise as this clearly is a toy for kids, but I have heard that there are other models that may have MIDI support. There is also what appears to be another knockout plug on the back, but it could just be a moulding mark.
There is no MIDI which is not too much of a surprise as this clearly is a toy for kids, but I have heard that there are other models that may have MIDI support. There is also what appears to be another knockout plug on the back, but it could just be a moulding mark.
The keyboard has an auto shut off feature if it is not played for a certain amount of time. Pressing a key or button will turn the keyboard back on. I found that the line in and microphone inputs are not affected by this however, so it will still consume power.
On the top of the keyboard are two holes for what looks like a music book stand.
The keyboard also features five drum and animal sounds, and it can play up to 4 notes at once with the auto accompaniment turned off. Turning the auto accompaniment on reduces the number of notes to one.
On the top of the keyboard are two holes for what looks like a music book stand.
The keyboard also features five drum and animal sounds, and it can play up to 4 notes at once with the auto accompaniment turned off. Turning the auto accompaniment on reduces the number of notes to one.
Two Way Speaker System
The keyboard claims to have a “Two Way Speaker System”. When I first saw it, I thought “that logo looks familiar”, and surely enough it is the exact same logo used on my Yamaha PSR-280 keyboard.
Not only that, but it is false. There is no “Two Way Speaker System” in this keyboard as the “Tweeters” are fake. They are just a decoration moulded into the plastic. The keyboard is also only mono.
I found that the speakers are wired out of phase, causing the audio to sound wide and lacking in bass. I suspect that this was to make it sound like the keyboard was in stereo. I found that covering one of the speakers with my hand improved the audio quality a little bit, giving it a little more bass.
Thankfully the headphone jack outputs the audio on both the left and right channels and in phase.
I don’t know why they didn’t just use one speaker as it would have saved some money on the production of this keyboard. Maybe it was to make it look fancier than it actually is.
I found that the speakers are wired out of phase, causing the audio to sound wide and lacking in bass. I suspect that this was to make it sound like the keyboard was in stereo. I found that covering one of the speakers with my hand improved the audio quality a little bit, giving it a little more bass.
Thankfully the headphone jack outputs the audio on both the left and right channels and in phase.
I don’t know why they didn’t just use one speaker as it would have saved some money on the production of this keyboard. Maybe it was to make it look fancier than it actually is.
Audio Inputs
On the back of the keyboard are two audio inputs; one for a microphone and one for a line level input such as a CD player. When looking at listings for this keyboard, it appears that it came bundled with a microphone. Mine was missing so I was unable to test the quality of it, although I had noticed from reviews left by other people that it was very quiet compared to the audio of the keyboard.
I tried connecting my Casio HT-700 to the line input to see how it sounds.
As expected it did not sound that good, most notably lacking bass. The keyboard mixes the audio down to mono and it does combine the left and right channels together.
The volume of the line input must be controlled from the device that you connect to it, as the volume control only effects sounds produced by the keyboard itself. It is really sensitive and it is easy to cause distortion if the volume level of the device plugged in is too high.
I also tried connecting the HT-700 to the MQ 5412’s microphone input and I discovered that it was quieter than the line input. This could cause problems as microphones generally output a weaker signal than line level devices. It is only mono and it uses the left channel.
I noticed that the volume of the keyboard gets louder the further to the right you play on the keys. This does not affect the line level or microphone input so it appears to be the keyboard’s tone generator.
I tried connecting my Casio HT-700 to the line input to see how it sounds.
As expected it did not sound that good, most notably lacking bass. The keyboard mixes the audio down to mono and it does combine the left and right channels together.
The volume of the line input must be controlled from the device that you connect to it, as the volume control only effects sounds produced by the keyboard itself. It is really sensitive and it is easy to cause distortion if the volume level of the device plugged in is too high.
I also tried connecting the HT-700 to the MQ 5412’s microphone input and I discovered that it was quieter than the line input. This could cause problems as microphones generally output a weaker signal than line level devices. It is only mono and it uses the left channel.
I noticed that the volume of the keyboard gets louder the further to the right you play on the keys. This does not affect the line level or microphone input so it appears to be the keyboard’s tone generator.
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An audio recording of all the keys played left to right. Notice the change in volume as the pitch gets higher.
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100 Voices
The keyboard has 100 built in voices (labelled as tones) to choose from. At first I thought this was quite impressive for a cheap toy keyboard, that was until I started playing them. I noticed that several of the voices sounded very similar to each other, and some did not even sound like the instruments that they claimed to be. The harpsichord for example sounded more like a music box rather than a harpsichord. I then discovered that several of the voices were repeated over and over again, some as many as 7 times. Check the “Keyboard Specifications” section for more details.
While I know that this keyboard is cheap, I find it misleading that it claims to have more voices than it actually has, and I’m sure that it wouldn’t take that long for a child to notice that the “Choir Ahhs” voice is exactly the same as the “Harmmond Organ” voice. I would have preferred if the keyboard listed the actual number of voices instead of repeating them to make it look like it has 100, as I felt that it would be more honest.
I also noticed that some of the voices are not ordered correctly, for example the “FX” voices begin with FX2 instead of FX1. In fact there is no voice labelled FX 1 on this keyboard at all.
While I know that this keyboard is cheap, I find it misleading that it claims to have more voices than it actually has, and I’m sure that it wouldn’t take that long for a child to notice that the “Choir Ahhs” voice is exactly the same as the “Harmmond Organ” voice. I would have preferred if the keyboard listed the actual number of voices instead of repeating them to make it look like it has 100, as I felt that it would be more honest.
I also noticed that some of the voices are not ordered correctly, for example the “FX” voices begin with FX2 instead of FX1. In fact there is no voice labelled FX 1 on this keyboard at all.
Sound Quality
The quality of the voices are not the best sounding, as expected for a cheap toy keyboard.
It sounds like the keyboard uses two waveforms for the voices. Some voices have two different waveforms play at the same time, while others use the same waveform but detunes one to create a chorus effect.
I noticed that using the vibrato function would stop the detuned chorus effect however.
I did find that some drum sounds would have a bit more treble causing it to sound slightly tinnier when repeatedly playing them.
There was a bit of aliasing when playing low notes and there appears that it does not have an anti aliasing filter at 20khz. The keyboard has a little bit of hiss on its audio output and I found that setting the volume above 3 would cause distortion. This keyboard was built with a tight budget however so you cannot expect it to be hi-fi.
There is no tuning control and I found that the keyboard is tuned slightly flat, sometimes as low as 40 cents flat. I also noticed that the lower C key sounds slightly sharper than the rest of the keyboard. This issue with tuning can cause problems when playing along with other songs or instruments.
It sounds like the keyboard uses two waveforms for the voices. Some voices have two different waveforms play at the same time, while others use the same waveform but detunes one to create a chorus effect.
I noticed that using the vibrato function would stop the detuned chorus effect however.
I did find that some drum sounds would have a bit more treble causing it to sound slightly tinnier when repeatedly playing them.
There was a bit of aliasing when playing low notes and there appears that it does not have an anti aliasing filter at 20khz. The keyboard has a little bit of hiss on its audio output and I found that setting the volume above 3 would cause distortion. This keyboard was built with a tight budget however so you cannot expect it to be hi-fi.
There is no tuning control and I found that the keyboard is tuned slightly flat, sometimes as low as 40 cents flat. I also noticed that the lower C key sounds slightly sharper than the rest of the keyboard. This issue with tuning can cause problems when playing along with other songs or instruments.
Auto Accompaniment
The keyboard has 100 auto accompaniment styles (labelled as rhythms) in 13 different genres, ranging from rumba to slow waltz. Each of the styles has different drum patterns, however the chord and bass patterns are the same for all styles in a particular genre, so all the rumba styles use the same chord and bass pattern, only the percussion is different.
I originally thought that the 4 buttons on the left labelled “chord” would change the variation of the bass and chord pattern, but all it does is change the voices assigned to the chord and bass.
I originally thought that the 4 buttons on the left labelled “chord” would change the variation of the bass and chord pattern, but all it does is change the voices assigned to the chord and bass.
The key of the auto accompaniment can be set using either the “Single” or “Fingered” buttons, which is similar to how the Yamaha PSR-48’s auto accompaniment works.
Single means that the key can be set by pressing a single key on the left side of the keyboard, which is useful if you don’t know how to play chords.
Fingered sets the key of the auto accompaniment by playing actual chords on the lower left side of the keyboard. I found that the keyboard recognizes the following chord types when played in the “Fingered” mode; Major, Major 7th, Minor and Minor 7th. Playing a chord that the keyboard does not recognise causes it to stay in the current key.
The keyboard also has a dedicated “Chord Off” button which turns off the chord and bass melody while keeping the drums playing. This is not needed however as pressing the “Fingered” or “Single” button again does the same thing. It could be possible that this button is used on the more fancier models for the USB mode, and they simply reassigned it on this model to turn the chord and bass off.
There are also buttons to add a simple fill in, a “Sync” button for starting the auto accompaniment when a key is pressed on the keyboard as well as controls for the tempo or speed of the auto accompaniment.
The auto accompaniment styles are very basic. It sounds like only two notes are used; one for the bass and one for the “Chord”. I don’t know why it doesn’t use two notes for the chord part, as a chord consists of multiple notes played simultaneously.
Single means that the key can be set by pressing a single key on the left side of the keyboard, which is useful if you don’t know how to play chords.
Fingered sets the key of the auto accompaniment by playing actual chords on the lower left side of the keyboard. I found that the keyboard recognizes the following chord types when played in the “Fingered” mode; Major, Major 7th, Minor and Minor 7th. Playing a chord that the keyboard does not recognise causes it to stay in the current key.
The keyboard also has a dedicated “Chord Off” button which turns off the chord and bass melody while keeping the drums playing. This is not needed however as pressing the “Fingered” or “Single” button again does the same thing. It could be possible that this button is used on the more fancier models for the USB mode, and they simply reassigned it on this model to turn the chord and bass off.
There are also buttons to add a simple fill in, a “Sync” button for starting the auto accompaniment when a key is pressed on the keyboard as well as controls for the tempo or speed of the auto accompaniment.
The auto accompaniment styles are very basic. It sounds like only two notes are used; one for the bass and one for the “Chord”. I don’t know why it doesn’t use two notes for the chord part, as a chord consists of multiple notes played simultaneously.
Built in Demo Songs
The keyboard has 10 built in demo songs which all appear to be in the public domain. There are no copyrighted songs probably due to licencing issues.
See demo song list in the Specifications section to see which songs are included.
Many of the songs have a upbeat rhythm and sound a bit cheesy, however, I found that the song “We wish you a Merry Christmas” did not sound anything like the versions that I know. I do wonder if they intended to have a different song but printed the wrong name.
The keyboard has two demo buttons, one labelled “Demo One” and another labelled “Demo All”. “Demo One” just plays one demo song while “Demo All” as its name implies, plays all the demo songs one after another.
The songs can be selected using two methods. The first method uses the number pad or “Number Combination” as it is written on the keyboard to input the song number after pressing either the “Demo One” or “Demo All” button. The second method involves pressing the “Demo One” button multiple times which causes it to go to the next song.
Changing the voice will change the voice used for the melody in the song, and the demo songs can also be used with the keyboard’s “Lesson” feature.
See demo song list in the Specifications section to see which songs are included.
Many of the songs have a upbeat rhythm and sound a bit cheesy, however, I found that the song “We wish you a Merry Christmas” did not sound anything like the versions that I know. I do wonder if they intended to have a different song but printed the wrong name.
The keyboard has two demo buttons, one labelled “Demo One” and another labelled “Demo All”. “Demo One” just plays one demo song while “Demo All” as its name implies, plays all the demo songs one after another.
The songs can be selected using two methods. The first method uses the number pad or “Number Combination” as it is written on the keyboard to input the song number after pressing either the “Demo One” or “Demo All” button. The second method involves pressing the “Demo One” button multiple times which causes it to go to the next song.
Changing the voice will change the voice used for the melody in the song, and the demo songs can also be used with the keyboard’s “Lesson” feature.
Built in Recorder
The keyboard has a built in recorder for recording your own music. It can record either a melody of a maximum of 31 notes using the yellow button labelled “Music Scale Rec”, or a 2 bar drum pattern using the red circle button labelled “Prog” plus the drum buttons.
For some reason, pressing the “Music Scale Rec” button causes the LED display to show the letter “E” which I don’t know what it means.
When recording the melody, you can only play one note at a time, so you cannot record chords etc. and you cannot use the auto accompaniment styles. The keyboard does appear to quantise the notes (aligning them so that they play in time). When the song memory is full, the LED display will flash, and pressing the “Play” button will play back the recording. With the melody, it will play it to the end and stop. If the song memory is not full then playing additional notes will be added to the end of the song.
Recording a drum pattern is similar to recording a melody, except that you use the “Prog” button and then press any of the drum or animal keys. Timing is fixed to 1/8 of a bar and the drums are programmed sequentially like using a drum sequencer. Only one drum or animal sound can play at a time, but unlike the melody recorder the drum pattern will only play when the percussion memory is full.
With the drums, it will play it in a continuous loop until the “Start/Stop” button is pressed, however pressing the “Start/Stop” button or switching the keyboard off will erase any recordings made.
I don’t know if the more fancier model uses the USB port to save songs and drum patterns.
Unfortunately you cannot play both the melody and drums at the same time. If you record a melody and then try recording a drum pattern, it will erase the melody that you just recorded.
For some reason, pressing the “Music Scale Rec” button causes the LED display to show the letter “E” which I don’t know what it means.
When recording the melody, you can only play one note at a time, so you cannot record chords etc. and you cannot use the auto accompaniment styles. The keyboard does appear to quantise the notes (aligning them so that they play in time). When the song memory is full, the LED display will flash, and pressing the “Play” button will play back the recording. With the melody, it will play it to the end and stop. If the song memory is not full then playing additional notes will be added to the end of the song.
Recording a drum pattern is similar to recording a melody, except that you use the “Prog” button and then press any of the drum or animal keys. Timing is fixed to 1/8 of a bar and the drums are programmed sequentially like using a drum sequencer. Only one drum or animal sound can play at a time, but unlike the melody recorder the drum pattern will only play when the percussion memory is full.
With the drums, it will play it in a continuous loop until the “Start/Stop” button is pressed, however pressing the “Start/Stop” button or switching the keyboard off will erase any recordings made.
I don’t know if the more fancier model uses the USB port to save songs and drum patterns.
Unfortunately you cannot play both the melody and drums at the same time. If you record a melody and then try recording a drum pattern, it will erase the melody that you just recorded.
Build Quality
As expected for a keyboard this cheap, the build quality is not the best. The black keys feel a bit stiff and both the black and white keys feel like pressing buttons rather than pressing keys on a keyboard. I found it a bit difficult to play because of this. The keyboard flexes when keys are pressed and some of them have a bit of burring on them.
The plastic used in this keyboard has some marks from the moulding process and the printing is not the best either, especially with the small print used for listing the tones and styles.
The keyboard is very light weight because there is not that much inside it. Being light weight is not necessarily a bad thing, as it will make it easier for children to carry it around. There is one major flaw however. It does not support N-key rollover; the ability for a keyboard to register multiple keys pressed simultaneously.
When a certain combination of keys are pressed, the keyboard will glitch or react as if additional keys are being pressed even though they are not. This is referred to as “Phantom Keys” or “Ghost Keys”. I also found that pressing buttons on the keyboard as well as the keys can trigger phantom keys. The LED display glitches and a buzzing sound is sometimes produced.
When a certain combination of keys are pressed, the keyboard will glitch or react as if additional keys are being pressed even though they are not. This is referred to as “Phantom Keys” or “Ghost Keys”. I also found that pressing buttons on the keyboard as well as the keys can trigger phantom keys. The LED display glitches and a buzzing sound is sometimes produced.
I know that this keyboard is cheap, but N-key rollover is very important on a musical keyboard. Without it, playing certain chord combinations is impossible and it will cause problems when playing more advanced songs that use both hands.
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An example of how the keyboard sounds when playing certain chord variations. First you hear 3 variations of a C major chord played on a Casio HT-700 then on the MQ-5412.
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Lesson Feature
On the bottom left there is a logo with two hands labelled “Okon” which I think maybe referring to the built in lesson feature. I was a bit sceptical on how the lesson feature would work as the keyboard does not have any methods of showing which keys to play. Some keyboards use LEDs above or below the keys or an LCD display. This keyboard has neither of these, so I was curious how it would teach you to play music.
When I pressed the “Lesson” button, the LED displayed the letter “D”. I thought that this meant to play the note D on the keyboard, but when I pressed the key it started playing one of the demo songs. I then discovered that pressing different keys after pressing the lesson button would select different demo songs.
The way that the “lesson” feature works is similar to the timing lesson on some of Yamaha’s keyboards, that you press any key and the keyboard will play the correct note. You just need to focus on pressing the keys at the correct time. I found however that if you do not press a key, the keyboard will loop one bar of the demo song instead of just carrying on. Unfortunately I found that the keyboard does not always detect the timing correctly, causing the auto accompaniment to repeat the previous bar in the song. This can cause confusion as it causes the song to sound different than it is supposed to.
On Yamaha’s keyboards, the song will continue to play if you miss a note. It also takes into account the length of the note on the song, so if you hold a note too long, it will stop when it is supposed to. If you press a note too early, then it will not sound at all.
The MQ 5412 however does not do this, in fact you can press any key at any time and the keyboard will just advance the melody and the song. You can press the keys so quickly that it will skip to the end of the song almost immediately.
I feel that this does not teach you how to play songs, because unless your child has perfect pitch and knows what the notes sound like, they will not know which keys to press and therefore not learn how to play the song.
When I pressed the “Lesson” button, the LED displayed the letter “D”. I thought that this meant to play the note D on the keyboard, but when I pressed the key it started playing one of the demo songs. I then discovered that pressing different keys after pressing the lesson button would select different demo songs.
The way that the “lesson” feature works is similar to the timing lesson on some of Yamaha’s keyboards, that you press any key and the keyboard will play the correct note. You just need to focus on pressing the keys at the correct time. I found however that if you do not press a key, the keyboard will loop one bar of the demo song instead of just carrying on. Unfortunately I found that the keyboard does not always detect the timing correctly, causing the auto accompaniment to repeat the previous bar in the song. This can cause confusion as it causes the song to sound different than it is supposed to.
On Yamaha’s keyboards, the song will continue to play if you miss a note. It also takes into account the length of the note on the song, so if you hold a note too long, it will stop when it is supposed to. If you press a note too early, then it will not sound at all.
The MQ 5412 however does not do this, in fact you can press any key at any time and the keyboard will just advance the melody and the song. You can press the keys so quickly that it will skip to the end of the song almost immediately.
I feel that this does not teach you how to play songs, because unless your child has perfect pitch and knows what the notes sound like, they will not know which keys to press and therefore not learn how to play the song.
Ease of Use
The keyboard is relatively easy to use. Most of the buttons are clearly labelled and it was fairly easy for me to figure out how to use the keyboard despite not having the manual.
I did find it a bit difficult to figure out if I was changing the tone or rhythm number using the number pad. The display uses dots next to the left or right number to determine if the voices or styles were selected. While it does list Tones and Rhythms on the right of the LED display, the dots on the screen do not align with them.
It would have been better to put the Tone and Rhythm labels below the LED screen and aligned with the dots as it would have made it easier to tell what they correspond to.
I did find it a bit difficult to figure out if I was changing the tone or rhythm number using the number pad. The display uses dots next to the left or right number to determine if the voices or styles were selected. While it does list Tones and Rhythms on the right of the LED display, the dots on the screen do not align with them.
It would have been better to put the Tone and Rhythm labels below the LED screen and aligned with the dots as it would have made it easier to tell what they correspond to.
I also found the recorder a bit confusing at first. I originally thought that to record the melody track you press the red circle button as it was labelled “Prog” or program, however that is used for recording a custom drum pattern. The yellow button on the right labelled “Musical Scale Rec” is for recording the melody. I think it would have been better to label them “Drum Rec” and “Melody Rec” etc. as it would have made it more clear what they do.
Selecting a voice is quite easy. You just enter the number that is written to the left of the voice name using the number pad. You don’t need to enter the full number to select the voices with single digits. So you only need to enter 1 to select voice number 1 instead of 01. The same applies with the rhythms.
Selecting a voice is quite easy. You just enter the number that is written to the left of the voice name using the number pad. You don’t need to enter the full number to select the voices with single digits. So you only need to enter 1 to select voice number 1 instead of 01. The same applies with the rhythms.
Pros
- The keyboard can be bought very cheaply depending on where you get it from.
- It only weighs 1.1kgs which makes it easy for a child to carry it around.
- The built in recorder although basic, is a nice feature to have. I’m sure that children will enjoy using it to record and playback their own tunes.
- The keyboard comes with a microphone and has a line level input so children can sing along and play with their favourite songs via any device with a headphone or line level output.
Cons
- Poor build quality. The black keys feel stiff which can make it difficult to play and the keyboard flexes a little when played on.
- The speakers are wired out of phase causing it to sound wide with very little bass.
- The amplifier is very sensitive and it is easy to distort the sound if the volume is too high.
- The keyboard claims to have 100 voices when it in fact doesn’t. Many of them sound very similar and some are duplicated.
- The “Lesson” feature is poorly implemented and it doesn’t teach you how to play songs.
- No N-key rollover causing phantom keys and preventing certain chord variations from being played.
- The keyboard is tuned slightly flat, and there is no tuning adjustments.
- No volume control for the mic and line level inputs.
Would I recommend this keyboard?
No. While this keyboard is cheap, I feel that it is trying to look like it has more features than it actually has. For example it duplicates some of the voices multiple times to make it appear that it has 100 when it doesn’t. I would have preferred that it said it had 50 voices instead of claiming to have 100 as it would have been more honest.
I don’t like how the keys feel and the fact that it does not have N-key rollover which will cause problems when playing more advanced songs.
In my opinion I would recommend buying keyboards from brands like Casio and Yamaha. Yes they cost a little bit more (or less depending on where you get it from) but I think it is well worth spending the extra money as the build quality would be better.
As of now (2023) Casio currently has the SA-46AH5 Mini keyboard which you can get for £39.99 directly from Casio.
Yamaha has the PSS-F30 which costs a little bit more at around £56.00.
These prices are when buying the keyboards brand new. If you get a used one, you may be able to get it cheaper. I saw a used Casio SA-46AH5 sell on eBay for as little as £9.99 and a used Yamaha PSS F30 for £25.00. If you look around you may find better deals.
I would say however that if you already have got the MQ-5412 or it was given as a gift, don’t be afraid to use it. Even though it does have its flaws, your child may still have some fun with it. I would recommend upgrading to a better keyboard at a later date however.
If you would like to give feedback on this article, feel free to use the contact form on the Contact page.
You can listen to a song that I made using this keyboard via the YouTube embedded player below
Copyright (C) 2023 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.
The YouTube player features an auto play feature which may result in another persons video being played after the embedded video has finished.
Stereo Ninja Music does not sponsor or endorse these other videos and cannot be held responsible for their content.
Mobile users, I recommend you watch my videos from the official YouTube app as it is optimised for the smaller screen size.
I don’t like how the keys feel and the fact that it does not have N-key rollover which will cause problems when playing more advanced songs.
In my opinion I would recommend buying keyboards from brands like Casio and Yamaha. Yes they cost a little bit more (or less depending on where you get it from) but I think it is well worth spending the extra money as the build quality would be better.
As of now (2023) Casio currently has the SA-46AH5 Mini keyboard which you can get for £39.99 directly from Casio.
Yamaha has the PSS-F30 which costs a little bit more at around £56.00.
These prices are when buying the keyboards brand new. If you get a used one, you may be able to get it cheaper. I saw a used Casio SA-46AH5 sell on eBay for as little as £9.99 and a used Yamaha PSS F30 for £25.00. If you look around you may find better deals.
I would say however that if you already have got the MQ-5412 or it was given as a gift, don’t be afraid to use it. Even though it does have its flaws, your child may still have some fun with it. I would recommend upgrading to a better keyboard at a later date however.
If you would like to give feedback on this article, feel free to use the contact form on the Contact page.
You can listen to a song that I made using this keyboard via the YouTube embedded player below
Copyright (C) 2023 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.
The YouTube player features an auto play feature which may result in another persons video being played after the embedded video has finished.
Stereo Ninja Music does not sponsor or endorse these other videos and cannot be held responsible for their content.
Mobile users, I recommend you watch my videos from the official YouTube app as it is optimised for the smaller screen size.
Specifications
Model no. MQ-5412
Year released. Unknown
Price. £29.99 - £44.59
Number of keys. 54
Number of Voices. 100 (58 excluding duplicates)
Auto Accompaniment. Yes
Number of Styles. 100 Rhythms (Genres use same chord/bass patterns)
Demo songs. 10 demos
Inputs. Line in, Mic in
Power. DC 9 volts or 6 AA batteries
MIDI Support. No
Effects. Vibrato and Sustain
Polyphony. 4 notes max (with auto accompaniment turned off)
Year released. Unknown
Price. £29.99 - £44.59
Number of keys. 54
Number of Voices. 100 (58 excluding duplicates)
Auto Accompaniment. Yes
Number of Styles. 100 Rhythms (Genres use same chord/bass patterns)
Demo songs. 10 demos
Inputs. Line in, Mic in
Power. DC 9 volts or 6 AA batteries
MIDI Support. No
Effects. Vibrato and Sustain
Polyphony. 4 notes max (with auto accompaniment turned off)
Demo Song List
00. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
01. If You Are Happy 02. Merry Widow Waltz 03. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 04. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star |
05. Air On The G String
06. Music Of The Night 07. Love Labour From Tyke 08. Oh Susannah 09. We Wish You A Merry Christmas *1 |
*1 (Doesn’t sound like we wish you a Merry Christmas so it could be miss printed)
Voice/Tone List
Voices with duplicates are bold and italic. Duplicate voice numbers are listed in brackets.
Voices are spelled the same way they are written on the keyboard.
Voices are spelled the same way they are written on the keyboard.
00. Piano
01. Vibraphone 02. Organ (Same as 71, 29, 13) 03. Jazz Guitar 04. Acoustic Bass (Same as 48) 05. Finger Bass 06. Violin 07. Harp 08. Trumpet 09. Soprano Sax (Same as 25) 10. Oboe 11. Flute 12. Pan Flute (Same as 94, 56, 44, 28) 13. Poly Synth (Same as 71, 29, 02) 14. Banjo (Same as 30) 15. Agogo (Same as 58) 16. Woodblock 17. Dulcimer 18. Celesta 19. Harpsichord 20. Harmmond Organ (Same as 55) 21. Tuba (Same as 86, 67, 62) 22. Lead3 23. Lead4 (Same as 52) 24. Trombone (Same as 38) 25. Alto Sax (Same as 09) 26. Tenor Sax (Same as 96, 81, 72, 69, 63, 39) 27. Piccolo (Same as 82, 65) 28. Whistle (Same as 94, 56, 44, 12) 29. Lead7 (Same as 71, 13, 02) 30. Mandolin (Same as 14) 31. Woodblock2 (Same as 77) 32. E Piano 33. Tinkle Bell (Same as 61) 34. Lead5 35. Electric Bass 36. Honky-Tonk Piano (Same as 60) 37. Sitar 38. Rock Organ (Same as 24) 39. Viola (Same as 96, 81, 72, 69, 63, 26) 40. Muted Trumpet 41. Accordion 42. Reed Organ 43. Tango Accordion (Same as 99) 44. Recorder (Same as 94, 56, 28, 12) 45. Pad2 (Same as 95, 87, 85, 83) 46. Church Organ1 47. Electric Guitar 48. Acoustic Guitar (Same as 04) 49. Koto1 |
50. Shamisen
51. Clavichord (Same as 76) 52. Brass Section (Same as 23) 53. Synth Brass1 54. Pad8 55. Choir Ahhs (Same as 20) 56. Bottle Blow (Same as 94, 44, 28, 12) 57. Percussive Organ 58. Marimba (Same as 15) 59. Celesta2 (Same as 49) 60. Rhodes Piano (Same as 36) 61. E Piano2 (Same as 33) 62. Synth Brass2 (Same as 86, 67, 21) 63. Cello (Same as 96, 82, 72, 69, 39, 26) 64. Synth Voice 65. Voice Oohs (Same as 82, 27) 66. Suona (Same as 98) 67. Shakuhachi (Same as 86, 62, 21) 68. Chrused Piano 69. FX 3 (Same as 96, 81, 72, 63, 39, 26) 70. Steel Drum 71. Bass Viol (Same as 29, 13, 02) 72. Lead8 (Same as 96, 81, 69, 63, 39, 26) 73. FX.2 (Same as 78) 74. Bassoon 75. Clarinet 76. Glockenspiel (Same as 51) 77. Kalimba (Same as 31) 78. FX.4 (Same as 73) 79. FX 8 (Same as 97) 80. FX.5 81. Lead1 (Same as 96, 72, 69, 63, 39, 26) 82. Pad7 (Same as 65, 27) 83. Church Organ2 (Same as 95, 87, 85, 45) 84. Pizzicato Strings (Same as 37) 85. Synth String1 (Same as 95, 87, 83, 45) 86. French Horn (Same as 67, 62, 21) 87. Synth String2 (Same as 95, 85, 83, 45) 88. FX.6 89. Koto2 90. String Ensemble 91. Hawaii Guitar 92. Reed Organ2 93. Ruan (Same as 03) 94. Ocarina (Same as 56, 44, 28, 12) 95. Pad1 (Same as 87, 85, 83, 45) 96. Lead2 (Same as 81, 72, 69, 63, 39, 26) 97. Pad6 (Same as 79) 98. Distortion Guitar (Same as 66) 99. English Horn (Same as 43) |
Style List
00-07 Rumba
08-15 Pops 16-23 Disco 24-31 Polka 32-39 Boss Nova 40-47 March |
48-55 16 Beat
56-63 Country 64-71 Rock ‘n Roll 72-79 Swing 80-95 Waltz 96-99 Slow Waltz |
Drum/Animal Sounds
Kick
Snare Hi Hat Open Hi Hat Closed Crash Cymbal |
Dog
Frog Duck Bird Cat |