View source for Amstrad CKX100

Digital keyboard with lovely pop organ sounds, great demos & [[MIDI]] out.

The main voice is made from very clean digital dual waveform timbres those imitate FM and resemble very much the great Yamaha MK-100 from 1983, and like the latter it has even a trio mode ("auto harmony") for cheesy pop organ chords.

An unusual special feature of this instrument is the "playright mode", which switches the right keyboard section to pentatonic tone scales, those vary with the actual chord (selected with the left hand) to force the player to play what establishment considers harmonious (a bit like an Omnichord).

[[File:Amstrad CKX100.jpeg]] [[File:Amstrad CKX100 side.jpeg|400px]]

== Main features ==
*49 midsize keys
*2 built-in speakers (sound bright and fairly bassless, stereo)
*main voice polyphony 8 notes (only 3 with accompaniment, 1 in trio mode)
*10 semi- OBS preset sounds
*28 preset rhythms
*volume & separate rhythm accomp volume slider
*vibrato & sustain button
*trio mode ("auto harmony" button)
*single finger accompaniment (manual chord mode with rhythm off)
*"playright" mode (switches keyboard to pentatonic scales selected by the current single finger chord)
*tempo +/- buttons (21 steps)
*rhythm fill-in button
*keyboard drum kit mode only during demos {whistle, hand clap, dog, cowbell, bell} (each 3 pitches)
*many orange, green & yellow LEDs
*main voice sound is based on 2 layered static digital waveforms with independent simple envelope; with some low tones mild sample aliasing noise gets audible. The sound is stereo; the 3rd keyboard octave is panned to the center, lower notes only to the left channel and higher notes only to the right. Percussion is made from thin sounding low resolution samples.
*8 KByte RAM, 48 KByte ROM
*simple sequencer (polyphonic record/ playback with accompaniment, no edit)
*7 long and complex orchestrated demo melodies (those mute their main voice during manual play)
*jacks for AC- adapter, phones, line out, tape data saving, MIDI out
*demo audio cassette

== Links ==

*[http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/Amstrad_CKX100.html Weltenschule review]
*[https://youtu.be/U1QnaI4631o Amstrad Fidelity CKX100 - Demo] [https://youtu.be/jrxD1OM2cCg Full review] by [[Keen On Keys]]

[[Category:Amstrad Products]] [[Category:Input Device]]