Radon_22

I had put a couple of distorted B3's up here: http://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/14-new-sounds/#entry843

So I shipped my XW-P1 back today. Hated to do it- couldn't be helped. I was looking for a lightweight blues/rock gigging board that wouldn't break the bank. The XW-P1 was so close but... Don't get me wrong. It's a fantastic machine for the money. The step sequencer is outstanding. If you're into EDM or a budget synth, it's probably the best budget value out there. I love EDM (Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1, baby!), but at the end of the day, the "bread and butter" sounds are the weakest part of the XW-P1. Some of the PCM sounds are downright painful. Add to that a rather lackluster effects set, and you don't have a lot to work with. Casio obviously spent a great deal of time on the drawbar mode, then left out the ability to add any effects (unless you ditch the Leslie). Rhodes/Wurlies weren't really usable, but the stereo grand was suprisingly better than the rest of the samples. Pads were nice, too. If your after more of a synth that a rompler in this range, it's the board for you. There's really only 3 other choices in the under $500 61 key synth range: Yamaha MM6- Tries to be a stripped down Motif. A little TOO stripped down. Not that impressive, showing it's age. Sounds range from acceptable to ex Korg Microstation- It's great! Great sound, decent sequencer, a steal at this price. Unless you need to actually play the thing. Keys are way too tiny, and unless you strap it on like a keytar, you look a bit silly with this on a stage. Korg PS60- Good sounds, great layout. Based off of the M3, with really good effects. A lot of editability, but only when using the PC editor. A players keyboard only, though. No arpeggiator, no rhythyms (not even any drum sounds), patterns, etc. So if my budget ever improves, I'll definately snag another XW-P1 for fun. I'm really looking forward to Casio's next synth/workstation effort, and hope they keep in the synth game.

Attached are a few tones/guitars/organs I had on my hard drive prior to returning my XW-P1. Play away. Radon22XW-P1 Patches.zip

I'll post a couple of tones up this weekend. It's a bit frustrating though- there's no way to use both the rotary and distortion effects in the DSP at the same time. You can "cheat" by using DSP #31 and exagerate the chorus depth, but can't simply switch the effect on/off. The closest I've came to a working solution is to have one with the chorus jacked up, and another tone right next to it with the chorus off, and using the yes/no buttons as my "switch". It sounds good enough in a mix, but I can't believe that the engineers spent this level of time and energy into building an organ simulator and then assumed no one would want to dirty it up. Mike- If you're reading this- any chance of a future update allowing one of the DSP combos to be distortion/rotary? Or are they hardcoded as is?

Not sure exactly what you guys are asking for. My advice would be to check it out in drawbar organ mode, since not all sliders will be active in other modes. If you're still experiencing issues, then you've got either a bad or damaged unit and need to take the proper steps (return, warranty repair, etc.)

I have a love/hate relationship with GC, but they have plenty of storefronts, and this means you could get the gold version for the same price. My XW-P1 arrived yesterday. Got top play around with it for around 4-5 hours. It's suprisiningly intuitive: The only instructions I've read so far were the ones for completing the update. Built a few patches tones (I have get used to the Casio nomenclature!), including a dirty, growly B3; few "suitecase Rhodes"; and wobbly bases. While the interface isn't as pretty as the color screen on a Fantom or Jupiter, in some ways it's more accessable. Simplicity can be its own blessing at times. I'll post my overall impressions later. Honestly, they're pretty mixed- I've been pleasantly suprised by some things that people have criticized if for, while I'm somewhat "meh" about some of the touted portions of the board.

These are brand new. They're actually from J&R- I've done business with them in the past- their pretty reputable. They are currently out of stock (and no wonder), but you can check out the price/backorder them here: http://www.jr.com/pr...g.jsp?Ntt=xw-p1 . Chances are you can get another major music retailer to price match. Mine's arriving tomorrow- I'm pretty stoked.

Couldn't pass it up. My main workstation of choice has been a Roland Fantom X-7. I love it, but some of my knobs are beginning to get wonky and I'm tired of lugging this beast around a couple of times a week. I was debating between getting a midi board for use with a laptop/iPad or a a lightweight synth with some basic pad/B3 sounds. Some of Ralph Maten's videos convinced me the XW-P1 would fit either category. At this price, it seems like an easy choice. I tend to dig deep and build new patches/layers/etc., and believe in sharing. Stay tuned.

Around the 3:50 min. mark, this guy has a distorted organ going on: