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Detailed questions about MZ-X500 and DAW integration


Nick Rastin

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Hi guys!

 

I'm excited to find and join this forum and I hope you would help me on following questions:

 

Is MZ X500 capable of controlling DAWs as some midi contollers are?

If so which DAWs does it support?

 

*I mean to use its knobs, faders and play/rec/stop... buttons, not only note keys.

 

Many thanks in advance

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Hi everybody

 

I'm considering to buy a MZ-X500 and first of all need to know if:

 

Is it possible to transferr and opeb a recorded song on the device as a Project directly in any DAW?

 

I mean to open it in a DAW as a project in seperated lines of MIDIs and Audios and preferly with their adjusted settings such as VST (ofcourse if it exists on pc) volume, effects etc. AND of course with editing option in the DAW)

 

e.g I play and record something with 5 midi and 2 audio lines on the keyboard and need to transfer, open, edit, mix and master it easily as a prepared project (not line by line) in a DAW ? 

 

If so with which DAWs can I do it?

 

And to complete the question, is it possible to do the reverse? (transfer and open a project made on pc, on the MZ-X500 as a song with seperated lines and its setting with editing option)

 

Any information regarding this matter is appreciated!

 

Many thanks in advance

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No, the MZX series cannot create or load any type of DAW project files.  If you want the project in a DAW, it is best to use the DAW software itself for all audio and sequencing.  You can, of course, always export MZ sequencer data as a standard midi file (SMF).  That will open as a 16 track sequence like any midi file.  Casio's proprietary 17th system track cannot be exported as SMF.  

 

Also note, it is not possible to record two audio lines on the MZX.  I'm not sure what you meant by that.  The MZX series can record audio to usb thumb drive as a stereo wav file.  It also has a separate midi recorder.  The midi recorder cannot record audio.  The two recorders operate independently and they cannot sync to one another. 

 

 

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Thanks for the answer. Well it's disapointing to hear that. Do you have any suggestion in thias price range? Or I have to double or treple my budjet?

 

For the second part of your comment, I thought that it is possible to record more than one audio track to a song on the keyboard (of course not simultaniously, but separately). Is it not possible?

 

Actually I'm looking for a device which can be used as a daw on its own (record, edit etc.) and alsk it would be possible to transfer the project from it to the pc and reverse. The point is I rather to create the song on the keyboard and do the final edit and mastering on pc.

 

Thanks again!

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You need a workstation (yes MZ is workstation as well but more work needs to be done on software) so cheapest is Korg Krome  about 1000£ then if you want better Korg Kronos at 2700£ and finally Yamaha Montage with Cubase AI included and plenty of audio tracks only 2500£:).

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14 hours ago, Nick Rastin said:

Thanks a lot for the answer. So does it mean that it can't be as usefull as a midi controller/synth like Korg Triron Taktile?

 

Does such a controller make it really easier to work on DAW on PC?

Or something like MZ-X500 is actually enough?

 

Thank again!

Hi Nick,
MZ-X500 is enough for me :-D

 

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@BradMZ and @AntonioPasaribu, thanks a lot for your replies!

 

I have to ask some important questionsrelated to the topic:

 

Do the "pads" send data directly to DAW? I mean can record drums as MIDI or Audio data to DAW by playing on the pads?

 

Do I need to set a control map to a DAW (e.g FL Studio) or the keyboard and DAW will recognize each other just by doing some basic setting?

 

And finally if this maschine is not what I really need, what would you recommend that works as "Workstation/Arranger/DAW Controller/(Multi Track Recorder*)"

*Not crucial

 

I appreciate your kind advice 😃

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Hi everybody

 

I'm thinking of buying the powerful MZ-X500 and I have already got some good information from the kind colleagues of this forum. Now I have some more detailed questions which are important to me:

 

1. Do the "pads" send MIDI data directly to the DAW? I mean can I record drums etc. as MIDI to DAW by playing on the pads? (I have found out that the faders don't send MIDI data to PC/DAW 😞)

 

2. Do I need to set a control map for each DAW (e.g FL Studio) or the keyboard and DAW will recognize each other just by doing some basic setting?

 

3. Can I create new styles (drums/ accompaniments) and record them as MIDI data directly to the DAW?

 

3. Does the keyboard send high quality digital Audio data through usb directly to the DAW? In another word does it work as an Audio-Interface?

 

* Obviously I don't want to record its sounds through analog connections. Actually I need this keyboard mostly for home studio needs and sometimes for live performances. As I'm not comfortable in sampling and editing sounds/notes with mouse on PC, I rather to set and edit the sounds (even drums etc.) with knobs and keys on the keyboard and record it as high quality digital audio directly to the DAW.

 

Your kind advice is appreciated 

 

Many thanks in advance

 

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18 minutes ago, BradMZ said:

Admin note:  All of the MZX / DAW....

 

 

Thanks a lot for your answers. It would be very kind!

 

I'm sad to hear that it doesn't work as audio interface. I believe if I record sounds through analog connections (even with a high quality external audio interface) there would be quality loss which is not suitable to produce final album songs.

 

Is this device meant to produce album song on its own or with its sounds in Daw? Or I have got the wrong device for this purpose?

 

Well I should mention that I'm (or better I was) a real instrument recording guy and now I have to do everything in the sampling world in which I'm new. The problem is that I hate doing everything in pc with mouse, so I'm looking for something that helps me avoid doing so.

 

Thanks again for all your advice!

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Mzx already has enough problems and the Users insists on changing the focus of the keyboard.
For me physical keyboard integration in DAW is via midi messaging.
They want simplification of the midi protocol of a DAW whereas there are numerous DAW forcing the brand to create numerous VST and DX plugins.
Neither compatibility with GM2 GS and XG does the MZ-X have.
But the advantage of GM1 is in its simplicity where we have fewer midi protocols.
Recalling that the MZ-X line
No Multi-Channel Sound Card
It's not Kontakt
Not multitrack recorder with infinite patterns creation

The heavy work still nowadays is now the DAW's rest to the MZ-X and other brands the complement feature like midi interlaced sound card edition with pre-track midi tracks.

Before Casio wanted to create a simplification of the midi protocol that was created in the early 80's. I hope they seek to solve general bugs like midis CCs software errors and then create improvements and integration for DAW.

A basic example:
The MZx Line manipulates wave samples with pitch shifter and even Voice entering through the microphone.
But it does not have the recognition of the internal software to identify and to change in real time the notes of the microphone based on the left hand chords.
Now I ask how could we at least by DAW send midi messages to the PITCH SHIFTER of the MZX change to tune with the chords sent via CC?

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38 minutes ago, Nick Rastin said:

Thanks a lot for your answers. It would be very kind!

 

I'm sad to hear that it doesn't work as audio interface. I believe if I record sounds through analog connections (even with a high quality external audio interface) there would be quality loss which is not suitable to produce final album songs.

 

Is this device meant to produce album song on its own or with its sounds in Daw? Or I have got the wrong device for this purpose?

 

Well I should mention that I'm (or better I was) a real instrument recording guy and now I have to do everything in the sampling world in which I'm new. The problem is that I hate doing everything in pc with mouse, so I'm looking for something that helps me avoid doing so.

 

Thanks again for all your advice!

 

I don't see any issue with recording from the analog outputs.  The analog outs are very clean.  

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Nick,

 

I use Cakewalk Sonar with my X500. I've created an Instrument Definition file (available in the download section on this site) you can load into Sonar so it can directly access all factory & user tones as well as drum kits in the keyboard. That's all the DAW integration I need with the X500.  All the usual Control Channel controls works fine. I typically do all my editing in the digital MIDI domain in Sonar then record the final output in analog either in Sonar or directly on the X500. Works for me. ;-)

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6 minutes ago, Rick Sterling said:

Nick,

 

I use Cakewalk Sonar with my X500...

Thank you so much Rick

 

That sounds very good! Just one more question; could you please let me know if you can play drums/chords in DAW with the Pads on X500? I mean do the pads send MIDI data?

And what about the faders? I have been told they send no MIDI data and can't be used to control the DAW, but it sounds strange! Even very lower models (e.g CTK 7200) do that.

 

Thanks again

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26 minutes ago, Nick Rastin said:

Thank you so much Rick

 

That sounds very good! Just one more question; could you please let me know if you can play drums/chords in DAW with the Pads on X500? I mean do the pads send MIDI data?

And what about the faders? I have been told they send no MIDI data and can't be used to control the DAW, but it sounds strange! Even very lower models (e.g CTK 7200) do that.

 

Thanks again

 

Nick,

 

The PADS will send Note On and Note Off events for the midi data they trigger. They do not send a 'you pressed this Pad signal'. The sliders do not send any midi data currently. If in the future the sliders could be programmed to adjust Control Channel (CC#) data then I would expect they would then send that data out over Midi. The #1&2 control knobs do send CC# data according to their assignment.  All Program Change events are sent of course. I downloaded MIDI-OX and MidiYoke apps to monitor the midi output from the X500 for these tests.

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1 minute ago, Rick Sterling said:

 

Nick,

 

The PADS will send Note On and Note Off events for the midi data they trigger. They do not send a 'you pressed this Pad signal'. The sliders do not send any midi data currently. If in the future the sliders could be programmed to adjust Control Channel (CC#) data then I would expect they would then send that data out over Midi. The #1&2 control knobs do send CC# data according to their assignment.  All Program Change events are sent of course. I downloaded MIDI-OX and MidiYoke apps to monitor the midi output from the X500 for these tests.

 

OK .., just thought I would check what the sliders are doing when they control Hex-Layer sounds.  Fader 8 sends "Brightness" and Fader 9 send "Harmonic Content". No fader data is sent in Drawbar Organ mode. 

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On 11/4/2017 at 5:36 PM, Rick Sterling said:

 

OK .., just thought I would check what the sliders are doing when they control Hex-Layer sounds.  Fader 8 sends "Brightness" and Fader 9 send "Harmonic Content". No fader data is sent in Drawbar Organ mode. 

So there are some usable stuff to control DAW. I wish the sliders will be programmable to send MIDI and usable as DAW controller.

Thanks for your kind answers 👍

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Interesting that the MZ-X500 would take a step backward in regard to MIDI output from the sliders compared to the XW-P1, which sends data on all nine sliders in both Hex Layer and Drawbar Organ modes. Mind you, the data is not necessarily usable or easy to use (NRPN's with funky data formatting in the case of the first six sliders for Hex Layer and CC's quantized to nine steps for Drawbar Organ). Why is it evidently so hard for Casio to get any of this right? How hard could it be to do assignable sliders?

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2 hours ago, AlenK said:

Interesting that the MZ-X500 would take a step backward in regard to MIDI output from the sliders compared to the XW-P1, which sends data on all nine sliders in both Hex Layer and Drawbar Organ modes. Mind you, the data is not necessarily usable or easy to use (NRPN's with funky data formatting in the case of the first six sliders for Hex Layer and CC's quantized to nine steps for Drawbar Organ). Why is it evidently so hard for Casio to get any of this right? How hard could it be to do assignable sliders?

Interesting thread, I don't want to be a buzz kill but ask silly questions and you'll get silly answers :huh:

All the wiring to a DAW doesn't necessarily guarantee good music unless the person is a versed or

creative musician. One always going to find something to add which lead to GAS and no music. 

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