Hello!
I bought the S500 and S1 a few weeks ago. I like them quite a bit. Have owned PX5,
which was great, but a little bit too big for my reality. Also own/ed Juno DS, Roland RS-5,
Yamaha an1x in addition to OP-1, micro freak, an a number of other synths and sequencers
from Korg, etc. Just a hobbyist who enjoys playing with sound and scales. My first keyboard
as a little kid was an new MT100 on Christmas day. \m/ Happy kid was I.
Some observations/ questions:
1. The S500 is very fun. I wonder if there is currently the ability to set an LFO on the Cutoff,
with rate and depth? If not, it would be delightful to have this in the Knob menu
in a future update. Oh pretty please!
2. I'm noticing on the S500 that resonance is almost always not an adjustment that has
any audible effect, even within Saw, Square ,Triangle wave tones. I have come across a few tones
where resonance does indeed effect the sound of the filter, but few and far between. I wonder if
this was a design decision to help protect the onboard speakers from being overpowered by random
frequency jumps as the users adjust the dial?
3. I notice on the S1 when Surround sound button is pressed the audio becomes slightly louder with the
effect. However, on the S500, when this button is pressed the audio becomes noticeably quieter. An observation.
(A side note: IMO the S1, aesthetically, is a work of art. I bought a white one, it's just beautiful. Great job!)
4. Looking through the forum I see this has been touched on, but I'll go there, too. Midi. Gosh, how I would love
it if the midi Usb out would send midi to devices. Not with needing a computer, or a host, just right into an op-1,
a Roland boutique, a micro freak, etc. Even a 1/8 inch midi out which requires a dongle would be epic, 5 pin out even
more so. Really wish the S500 had this, and/or both could do it over USB. I'm sure there are solid reasons why
it's not there. I get it, costs, etc. But gosh, it would be so great if it was there.
5. I love that while the S500 has a menu system , it is not in fact a "menu diver." The buttons and flow of the menu is
very well done and logical. It's a simple and clever interface that just works well. Save a patch is so easy! Great! The
keys feel great, I could go on and on about it, but
Thank you, Casio, for putting together a cool creative team, and for putting out really lovely instruments that check
a lot of boxes for what is very arguably a fair price. Well done!
