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After 16 Great Years Of The Yamaha DJX 1D- I Eventually Bought...


Scottym

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A Casio XW G1 Hybrid Synthesizer !!!, Wow it's really not the keyboard I was expecting to buy after all these years of internet window shopping looking at expensive professional synths on the market from the likes of Yamaha and Korg. I would have expected to have bought something along the lines of the MOX6 or something similar in years past. Going from a Yamaha DJX to what feels like it's spiritual successor like in the way my old Atari 800 XL had some legacy to the Commodore Amiga is somewhat a strange feeling. The Yamaha DJX was released under the impression that it was just a home keyboard for kids but actually underneath and control wise, it was really a sibling of it's mother the Pro-end the Yamaha CS6.

 

My Yamaha DJX has taken quite a battering over the years after a few falls, with a broken front keybed bumper, and dodgy midi / power connection's on it's rear. Other than that it's still working albeit with a few worn keys.        

 

Today the Roland's new synth at Namm2014, might have been a possibility, or even another dedicated midi controller such as the Panorama P6 for my primary DAW Propellerhead's Reason 7 which I've been producing with since June 2001. Auturi's Keylab 61 caught my eye over the last year also which I was also considering, besides the new interesting keyboard controllers from Namm 2014.

 

But, I've always had an eye on the XW-G1 in the back of my mind, I had an 11 page thread over on the Props forum filled with loads of info and video's on the G1, there's P1 stuff also. You need to be a registered Propellerhead user to see it though.

 

And with that ,the last few days I've recently found out and from my own searches that the availability in the UK of the Casio to buy is scraping the proverbial barrel. You'll be lucky to get one within the next week there are so few and the price margin between say Amazon and a couple of retailers that have any is literally into the hundreds and even then you'd be hard pressed to find the P1 in stock.

 

Now here's a dilemma if you can call it one, I've just bought a new Casio XW-G1 for just £200 :-O (exc £18 P&P) (Amazon are still selling it for £370). P1's if any available still have a £300+ price tag. Although I'd like a P1, the cost margin between them is too big to when essentially there not a huge difference hardware spec wise.

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In regard to the Casio G1, I do have a question on how much of the G1 I can assign to CC externally for DAW's such as Reason. I've read that the sliders don't send CC on the G1, but what about in the case of RNPN's. There is displays for CC parameters in the settings menu, so is it possible to assign the sliders to them or indeed using RNPN's.  

 

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The courier should be arriving sometime between 29th and 30th with my big box of tricks :D.

 

Hardware wise, I've got a few other pieces of gear that I've bought over the past 20 years including another Yamaha DJX ( in perfect condition, but 600 miles away however) and a Yamaha QY100 Sequencer (XG soundset) and my old PSR330.

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Hey congrats on your new G1.  I have a DJXii that is still in mint condition. Great little board! My wife picked it up for me on a whim 12 or so years ago. she said it looked like something I would like.  B) 

So AFAIK only the knobs on the G1 are able to send via MIDI.. including RNPNs. I will double check for you, but I am pretty sure that is the case. 

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Hi Scottym,

Unfortunately you just missed the huge UK sell off of the P1 and G1,s.

All the big online stores such as Gear4music, Andertons, Guitar Guitar etc.. Were clearing them for £199 incl delivery ( I got my P1 from Gear4music ) as stated elsewhere on here, it would appear that both boards are a discontinued product in the UK , hence your difficulty in tracking one ?

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Going from a Yamaha DJX to what feels like it's spiritual successor like in the way my old Atari 800 XL had some legacy to the Commodore Amiga is somewhat a strange feeling. The Yamaha DJX was released under the impression that it was just a home keyboard for kids but actually underneath and control wise, it was really a sibling of it's mother the Pro-end the Yamaha CS6.

I had never heard of the DJX before but now that I look it up I see what you mean.  Its capabilities overlap with the G1 quite a bit.  I found a great review here.  (But strange that SOS has not AFAIK reviewed either the XW-P1 or XW-G1. Are they becoming keyboard snobs in their old age?)

 

One difference is in the marketing: Casio's advertising for the XW synths appears a bit more...how shall I say it?...refined.

 

From Yamaha's US page on the DJX:

"From phat to funky, ultracool to chunky, the DJX is one awesome keyboard. It's your one-stop groove-station — complete with a built-in sampler, way cool real-time control knobs, and the most happening Patterns and Voices ever put into a single machine."

 

BTW, I used to have an Amiga (a souped up A500).  Absolutely loved it.  I used to buy all the UK Amiga magazines (WAY better than the pathetic US Amiga World).  Alas, when the brand changed hands so many times and bog-standard PCs started leaving it in the dust we had to part ways.  I gave it a proper eulogy when it went in the dumpster.

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Just to clarify, are you asking about sending CC's/NRPN to the Casio from Reason, or vice versa?

Don't know if you've seen it, but there is an exhaustingly complete MIDI implementation guide you can download on Casio's site.

 

http://support.casio.com/nl/manual/008/XW_G1_midi_NL.pdf

 

Exhaustively indeed I've tried to read midi but I end up in another place called zzZZZzz. Its an expert level manual and I'm not that.

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Bear in mind that the MIDI implementation document isn't actually complete. As far as I can tell, and I have read it through more than once, it does not mention, for instance, that the XW-P1's sliders transmit NRPN messages when you play a Hex Layer tone, yet that is apparently what happens (see here).

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Hi dudes, just a heads up to let you know that the Casio G1 arrived about 4pm today, I wasn't completely expecting it as of today but thought there was a chance. I didn't really get to play with it till about 6pm as I had to do some tidying up and re-arrange my setup. I took some photo's with my phone but they're just too grainy in the light I have so I'll use my 12meg digital camera sometime tomorrow. 

In the past 5 hours besides watching some tele, I've had a lot of fun exploring just what this thing can do and indeed how to use it. It's really different from how the DJX works operation wise...

 

Anyway I'll get back to folks those kind enough to post in this thread shortly. Cheers. :)

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Hi dudes, just a heads up to let you know that the Casio G1 arrived about 4pm today, I wasn't completely expecting it as of today but thought there was a chance. I didn't really get to play with it till about 6pm as I had to do some tidying up and re-arrange my setup. I took some photo's with my phone but they're just too grainy in the light I have so I'll use my 12meg digital camera sometime tomorrow. 

In the past 5 hours besides watching some tele, I've had a lot of fun exploring just what this thing can do and indeed how to use it. It's really different from how the DJX works operation wise...

 

Anyway I'll get back to folks those kind enough to post in this thread shortly. Cheers. :)

 

Hey have fun.. yes it is different from the DJX but you can program the G1 to behave in a very similar manner with the phrases, arpeggios, beats, samples... etc. There are 4 zones you can assign plus the step sequencer / pattern selector. Make sure you watch Mike's how-to videos. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/casiokeyboards

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Hey congrats on your new G1.  I have a DJXii that is still in mint condition. Great little board! My wife picked it up for me on a whim 12 or so years ago. she said it looked like something I would like.  B) 

So AFAIK only the knobs on the G1 are able to send via MIDI.. including RNPNs. I will double check for you, but I am pretty sure that is the case. 

 

Ah well better late than never to reply.... so here goes..I'll probably condense/overlap in one paragraph in my replies.

 

Hi Scott, yeah the DJXii for me when I first seen it, it was in the well known 'Computer Music' magazine. It was a rather odd instrument on first impressions, and from what I remember reading about it back in 2002, on the bus at 22.45pm after finishing work in a food factory, it kinda like felt a bit of a let down having been using the DJX 1D for almost 4 years at that point, which included an LCD screen, and also something about the lack of assignable control knobs for midi out to a computer / midi device.

 

The coloured sections of the keyboard and the hifi speakers which didn't look bad in themselves made the DJX!! really look like it was something aimed at young kids. The DJX 1D is was more like the Yamaha CSX1 in comparison looking terms, even if the shape was different and even more so in actual specifications. I've never actually played the DJX!! synth, though it actually sounds pretty cool from a few of the youtube video's I've seen online.  But for me at the time it was coming out, it was kinda disappointing as I had hopes for a back lit LCD screen, more knobs and controls and a better sampler with higher quality and longer sampling time.

 

It's a real shame the Casio G1 sliders don't have the capability for sending CC's at all, there must be a way for Casio to do a firmware update to allow this, especially since the P1 can. Even applying a new dedicated button combination with a caption 'All Ctrl's Ext'. I know there are workarounds like buying a dedicated controller like the Korg Nano that you mentioned but still..The option would be really appreciated if it was implemented, i noticed it's been requested quite often on forums. Maybe a mass petition / email request to Casio from G1 owners would motivate them. :-)

 

     

Hi Scottym,

Unfortunately you just missed the huge UK sell off of the P1 and G1,s.

All the big online stores such as Gear4music, Andertons, Guitar Guitar etc.. Were clearing them for £199 incl delivery ( I got my P1 from Gear4music ) as stated elsewhere on here, it would appear that both boards are a discontinued product in the UK , hence your difficulty in tracking one ?

 

Hi Bigmark, I was lucky enough to get one of the last few of the G1's that appear to be out there from one of the mainland UK suppliers. I think my heart and possibly my buying decisions would still have gone with the G1 even if the P1 was still available at the same price earlier this month as 2 years ago I had focused on getting the G1. The same kinda question as in whether I would want to spend another £220 inc (P&P.. I live in an apparently rural postcode in Scotland) on the P1 just for the sliders, would be pretty hard to justify when I could get a controller for less than a quarter of that. I never use organs in my music and whilst the Hex Layer thing is cool, I'm not sure if that would entirely persuade me, whilst also considering another dedicated controller with more knobs and sliders.

 

My DJX key-bed was really on it's last legs, just having a new keyboard itself is a huge difference and make life a lot more fun. In fact I really like the feel of the keys whilst playing them, they have a slightly weighted springy synth feel which makes you fingers bounce a lot faster up and down and along the key-range which is nice.

             

I had never heard of the DJX before but now that I look it up I see what you mean.  Its capabilities overlap with the G1 quite a bit.  I found a great review here.  (But strange that SOS has not AFAIK reviewed either the XW-P1 or XW-G1. Are they becoming keyboard snobs in their old age?)

 

One difference is in the marketing: Casio's advertising for the XW synths appears a bit more...how shall I say it?...refined.

 

From Yamaha's US page on the DJX:

"From phat to funky, ultracool to chunky, the DJX is one awesome keyboard. It's your one-stop groove-station — complete with a built-in sampler, way cool real-time control knobs, and the most happening Patterns and Voices ever put into a single machine."

 

BTW, I used to have an Amiga (a souped up A500).  Absolutely loved it.  I used to buy all the UK Amiga magazines (WAY better than the pathetic US Amiga World).  Alas, when the brand changed hands so many times and bog-standard PCs started leaving it in the dust we had to part ways.  I gave it a proper eulogy when it went in the dumpster.

 

Hi Alan, yeah.. from my initial post of writing, I didn't have the Casio G1 in front of me, but have I watched I think all video's on the G1 so far. The similarity's between the Yamaha DJX, and the Casio G1 are so close, but it's almost like they are different Hybrids of each other, with the Casio G1 allowing for much deeper control of the sounds but with what I can only describe as having a rocket up it's ass on roller-scates in terms of sonic power.

 

However the DJX does have tricks of it's own such as a beat repeat key where you can stutter the rhythm rapidly, use turntable / pitch shifting with the assign knob and also in combination with ribbon controller.

 

It also includes dynamic's where you can crossfade between the drum beats which adds a sort of punch and fade between the melody elements and applying the same kind of effect there. The groove knob adds swing to the beats which is interesting in combination with dynamics and the assign knob allow you quickly access the reverb / chorus / attack / release /modulation / DSP / turntable,and adjust the arpeggiator speed amounts. Attaching a sustain pedal also allows you to hold the arpeggiator in the on position allowing you to control and play freely besides allowing for sustaining.

 

The arpeggiator is probably one of my most used things when using it with Propellerheads Reason. At the time of getting the Yamaha DJX, (My first track with I ever did with Reason and my DJX back in 2001) =http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11233573&q=hi&newref=1[Euphorical Love )

 

Prior to PC based music production (before I started on the Playstation), I was using a range of different sequencers like Bar & Pipes, Tiger Cub, and exploring sound trackers. Eventually I settled on Octamed Sound Tracker on the Amiga 1200, which came free on a CU Amiga coverdisk. (I also had an Amiga 500 for a year which I part exchanged with some extra cash to actually get the A1200 a year later. Making patterns was fast in Octamed's pattern note lanes, whilst using the Yamaha DJX's the arpeggiator.

 

There was some great games machine for it's era and had some technically brilliant games which rivaled the consoles. Super Stardust AGA, and the Ruff & Tumble platformer, visually stunning and audio wise with their epic music tracks.

 

I also bought a lot of magazines, Amiga Format, CU Amiga, The One, Amiga Shopper, Amiga Joker, Amiga Power, and Amiga Action.

 

Moving forward after the transition of the PS1 console with Music 2000 on the Playstation, in 2000 I bought myself an Athlon 750 with 128Mb of ram which was pretty much essential for a music course I was doing at the time. Spent a year exploring all the software on the net and bought a Magix's Music Studio Generation 6 (basically a Logic clone) and spent more time exploring VST's with less time making music.. 

 

From June 2001, I've been with producing Reason to this day and with quite a few rack extensions, however I did pick up Reaktor 5.8 last year along with Razor, Spark, and Skanner which are pretty unique and offer lots of diversity.

 

I'll post my complete setup/photo in the next day or so once I've sorted it out.

 

My first ever keyboard was a Casio SK1 Sampling Keyboard, it looks like I've gone full circle now with the Casio G1. lol

 

2nd Yamaha PSS 680 and oh it lots of trigger pads.

 

3rd Yamaha 330.

 

4th DJX

 

5th ? (Yamaha QY100 doesn't really count lol)

 

 

         

Just to clarify, are you asking about sending CC's/NRPN to the Casio from Reason, or vice versa?

Don't know if you've seen it, but there is an exhaustingly complete MIDI implementation guide you can download on Casio's site.

 

Thanks for that, it's comprehensive to say the least lol.

http://support.casio.com/nl/manual/008/XW_G1_midi_NL.pdf

 

Exhaustively indeed I've tried to read midi but I end up in another place called zzZZZzz. Its an expert level manual and I'm not that.

 

 

Bear in mind that the MIDI implementation document isn't actually complete. As far as I can tell, and I have read it through more than once, it does not mention, for instance, that the XW-P1's sliders transmit NRPN messages when you play a Hex Layer tone, yet that is apparently what happens (see here).

 

 

Now you got it! :D

 

 

Scotty: You may want to look at the Korg nanoKontrol or something similar. The knobs, sliders and transport controls will work well with your DAW(s). 

 

Yeah, I actually did a photopshop version the XW-G1 2 years ago, which actually shows the accurate scale difference between them. I wanted to know what that was at the time.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4463220/Casio%20XW%20G1%20%26%20ork%20Nano%20Kontrol%20%26%20Pad%20%202png.png

 

Hey have fun.. yes it is different from the DJX but you can program the G1 to behave in a very similar manner with the phrases, arpeggios, beats, samples... etc. There are 4 zones you can assign plus the step sequencer / pattern selector. Make sure you watch Mike's how-to videos. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/casiokeyboards

 

Thanks, yeah I think I've seen all the applicable one's regarding the G1, seen almost all of the P1 ones I think of Mike Martin's. I thought it was pretty cool to have a front man on hand to showcase the Casio products and support users with video's and forum questions.

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