Started messing around with hex layer programming today

[trancedelicbluesman]

Some thoughts:

 

1. If you bought your xw used and it didn't come with the manual, you will need to download it (at the very least), and there is also a pcm wave list you can download. I was not able to figure out on my own how to switch between hex layers when programming a sound (turns out it's the part select buttons).

 

2. Envelope and filter options are quite limited. There are no filter envelopes and as far as I can tell there are no pitch envelopes either. There is a filter "cutoff" value for each element, and that's all you get. There are no  amplitude envelopes per se, either; instead, each pcm wave seems to have a rudimentary amp envelope associated with it ("dyno EP" behaves differently than any saw or organ wave, for example, and a lot of the samples have attack transients baked into them), but you do get to  enter some offset values in the amplitude envelope editing section, which I acknowledge is better than nothing.

 

3. There is a separate area for user sounds. Kudos to Casio for this excellent choice. You don't have to overwrite anything.

 

4. A few years back I owned a WK3200 and much of the pcm waveform ROM on the xw is the same. Dated, much? But it's mostly all decent and usable if not spellbindingly great. The exception is the Rhodes EP sound. On the WK, which used the Casio ZPI synth engine, high and low harmonics were looped seperately, I believe. The sound was much more 3 dimensional on the WK than on the xw (or the WK7xxx series for that matter). Just saying. The Rhodes was really good on the older instrument.

 

5. There are certainly a ton of pcm waves available but a lot of them sound awful similar. Is there really a lot of difference between "choirahhs" and "heavenB"? To name but one of many examples. Much has been made of all the new synth waves but really, isn't one sawtooth pretty much like another? Yeah they have moog saw and jupiter saw but they're all short samples and they don't sound much different from one another.

 

6. The physical build of the instrument is more than satisfactory. Keyboard feel is light synth action and I like it fine. I bought this to use as a controller but I am quite happy with it's sound producing features. Plastic, yeah, but sturdy plastic. I feel like I got a real good deal.