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Lighting Up Your XW Workspace


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Hello all! I think this may actually be my first post here, as I've been lurking since buying my new XW-P1 a few weeks ago. I'm a longtime Casio fan, going all the way back to my Casiotone MT-68 in the early 80s. From there I moved onto the MT-800 (small keyboard with a set of external speakers), and from there to my first real synthesizer, the CZ-101. I've had others on and off over the decades, but recently returned to playing, drawn back by the incredible XW-P1. My setup currently consists of the P1, a big Casio CZ-1000 (the 101, all grown up), and a microKorg off to the side.

 

My space for all this is rather small and restricted, but I've been making it work out. Right now the P1 sits above the wider CZ-1000, and it's a great arrangement for me. But the CZ has an LCD display that is not backlit, the P1 casts a shadow over it, and I didn't want to hack the 1000. So I got an idea that fixed the issue for me, and gives my whole space a lot of atmosphere! I thought I'd pass it on for those who might need a similar solution.

 

(BTW, I posted this over on the FB group last night, so apologies to anyone who clicked through just for a repeat)

 

Here's what my setup looks like now. Note the light under the P1 that illuminates the LCD display of the CZ-1000.

 

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I picked up an LED accent lighting kit called the Cyron Media Highlighter System (Model # HTP904E) at Lowe's hardware for $45. You could pull the same thing off for cheaper, but I wanted a number of independent light strips (they're tubes, 9 inches each) to light the back as well. The kit also includes a sound sensitive controller for "music mode" so that the lights would react to sound as well. I thought I'd have to rig that together myself, but I went to the store and there it was, all in one box. It does 14 different modes with different colors, and cycles through colors (slow or fast) or the music modes.
 
Basically, the kit has a little plugin hub in the center of it all, and each light strip has its own length of cord. I just put it all in back, positioned three lights along the wall, and ran the fourth underneath the XW-P1. Here's the cool part: the XWs have a little rounded groove up front and underneath the keyboard, and it is just the right size to hold one of these light strips, so I just positioned it there and lightly taped it. They put off no heat, so no problem. No noise or interference, either.
 
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A close-up look underneath. Note that the light strip can't really be more than 10 or 11 inches, because of the plastic supports (circled) molded into the channel. So these 9" strips are perfect.

 

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End result, close-up (with the XW keys visible on top). Certain colors of lights -- white and cool -- work better than others, but now I can pretty much read the LCD display of the CZ-1000 under any steady light.

 

The whole setup is really atmospheric, though the lights changing with the sound is really just kind of distracting. I'm happy just to let it slowly cycle the lights through all of its colors while I'm playing, and it's much nicer than having to constantly slide the CZ out further to tweak the tones, or keep a mini-flashlight handy.

 

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Hello happyrat and nice setup rsaintjohn.  I use these small round lights as well but were not as bright as I hoped. And just discovered something very cool I've been testing.

 

There is a new kind of battery chemistry (not all that new but suddenly seems to be getting alot of attention on the battery forums) called NIZN. These are rechargeables that come in AAA and AA but here is the cool part. I have many newer LED lights I use for lighting my equipment such as the ones you showed here but are not quite bright enough. The NIZNs are rated at 1.5V like an alkaline, but in reality i've tested these at 1.87V after a full charge. What a difference when I stick these in the LED lights (flashlights included). I have 2 portable strip lights with 9 LEDs I purchased for keyboards, plus several portable "gooseneck" LEDs for same which take AAAs. Like this:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-Arm-Gooseneck-USB-LED-Flexible-Book-Music-Stand-Light-Lamp-Reading-Light-/310701330124?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item48573e0ecc

 

 

When I stuck the NIZNs, definite improvement, much brighter.  With my bad eyes, definitely need this stuff. (PX350 is really bad like this-i can't make out anything without these goosenecks in poor light.)I'd be careful and I won't use these in say a camera or other sensitive electronics, might be too much voltage. I've been testing these for about  month now-not much more expensive than NIMHs.  Don't see "D" cells yet-which would be good for the XW.

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