So you had you're Xw for a while what would you suggest for a update?

[Carl_winslow]

What would you suggest in a update, for me I would start with bieng able to save tempo and dsp effects when set.

[Mike Martin]

Carl,

Do you have the latest firmware? Tempo and effects should be stored as part of your Performance.

[Carl_winslow]

I have 1.10 and i see it in performance. I still can't do anything to save my dsp effects to the ext, I notice there's a way to assign the knobs but still not sure how to apply it, I think the manual should go more in depth about this and midi use also. It's very vague, Also a great idea is to update the fact that the mic channel always shares the dsp of the selected tone. It's kinda annoying that you can't use a mic when a solo synth is selected.

[Mike Martin]

Carl,

You can use the mic with the solo synth on. The mic input is the becomes the 5th oscillator. That oscillator needs to be turned on and will pass audio when a key is pressed.

[Mike Martin]

Then the mic can be processed through the filter and DSP effects.

[Carl_winslow]

but the thing is it's only when the key is Pressed that's the problem, I love the fact it's like a vocoder but there still needs to be sound coming out of the mic without the key pressed, it seems like there is no dedicated ch.

[gw_extreme]

these are my initial ideas for improvement, in what will likely be a long line of posts..

don't get me wrong.. as is, i think the xw-g1 is great, but if you are asking me for update ideas, here are a few:

1) is there some way (perhaps this is not possible) to make the solo synth have more polyphony? Perhaps if we remove the effects.. like an overide mode.. a solo synth which is not quite solo.. that would be amazing.

2) changing the pitch of a note in a drum kit. Suppose i want a higher pitch on my snare, and a lower pitch on my kick, but want everything else the same. I coudn't find this feature.. but seems pretty simple to implement

3) is it possible to layer multiple voices in the phrase sequencer.. e.g piano and drums?

4) the sampler is not that easy to use, or i haven't figured it out yet... loading a simple drum kit involves going to the pc software, finding start/stop points (in a software which isn't too user friendly)..

5) a deeper tremolo effect...

[Null]

I'd like to see full editing control thru the front panel and menus. I'm not a big fan of buggy software editing that gets broken by a simple update. I haven't been able to connect to my XW thru the editor for a couple of months now since updates apparently broke the software.

Either update the firmware or the software, but knowing how vendors are about free software updates I'm not holding my breath.

[Guest Jim]

Being able to assign a different arpeggio and Hold On/Off to each Zone within a Performance would be nice.

[feldman]

my whish to this fantastic synth is to play its internal sounds while playback a mp3 file.

[feldman]

Portamento for tones (not only solosynth) would be very nice

[Patrick Arend]

save k1, k2 cuttoff, res,edits in seq mode

[Mihajlo]

64 steps is too much?

[cunitflon]

I would love to be able to add "release" in drawbar organ mode.

[Null]

At the risk of sounding repetitive:

 

REWRITE THE @#&^@$&@$ MANUAL!!!!!

[Gnomo Alegre]

There is one thing that bothers me when I create sounds or sequences:

The software does not ask if you want to save. Especially when you squeeze a button by mistake and everything created is deleted. So, without more.

[Mihajlo]

another vote for the manual!!!

 

because, we, "the synth freaks", dont mind if  discover the features almost accidentally. but we HATE when we have to discover the worklflow all by ourselfs.

[Veloce_Dada]

Hi There!

I Just Bought an XW-P1 and I Love it's Potential! I was Saving to Buy another kind of Synthesizer, something way more expensive than a Casio XW and it would be Analog, but when I Started to See videos in Youtube and Reading Reviews and Opinions about this Model, I Just Thought "Why Not?" 

 Everyone in my band said that it would be rubbish, that it would be like a toy made for kids, but I Wanted to give it a Try...  And I Like it a LOT! I Love the Sequencer and the Phrase Modes, the way that we can organize a Performance by Zones (a bit like the Korg Wavestation VSTi), And I Love how we can build our own Arpeggios Step by Step, (I Like to see An Arpeggio graphically displayed) the sound is Not Bad at All and it's Multitimbral! 

 But then I Felt Very, Very, VERY Disappointed when I Realised that We can't Adjust the Filter Cut-Off in Real time in Hex Layer Mode or in Quick Tone/PCM sounds... I Can't understand why Casio designed the XW-P1 with Real Time controllers Only in Solo Synth Mode... Why??? is it Hard to Let the Knobs Work in Real Time? Would it be More Expensive if it had That? The Only Real Time parameters that we can feel that it works in Real-Time with the knobs, in Hex Layer Mode, are the Detune and the Pan... When I Say Real Time, it means by pressing a Key without Releasing it... I'd Love to be Able to Apply a filter Cut-Off and/or Resonance in a Poly Pad without releasing the keys! 

 Alright, I Understand that CASIO thought that this could be a Minor limitation for Someone that just Bought his First Synth... And This is in Fact My First Synth, but I Consider myself a Synth User, I Know How a "Real" Synth Works... In My Band we have a Novation X-station, a Mininova, an Ultranova, Roland's SH-201 and RS-70, a Yamaha CS1X, a Venom... and Several VSTi's... So my Main suggestion for an update is this feature... PLEASE!!!

 Well, if it could have More Steps in the Sequencer like Mihajlo suggested, it Would be REALLY Wonderfull... Another thing nice would be the possibility to erase all the sounds that we won't ever use, Like the Hellicopter or the gun shot sounds, for example... Couldn't we save memory if we could erase factory sounds? 

[Peter]

A better manual would be appreciated, it is a little to technical for people like me, who never used electronic keyboards before. I find it hard to make good SoloSynth sounds, I never did those kind of things before. I would like a good tutorial on soundmaking with the XW-P1, not just the list of functions, but with examples on how to do this or that kind of sounds, with tricks and hints. 

[Gnomo Alegre]

Hello:

To create new sounds in Solo Synth should be patient.

My secret technique to create tone Synth Solo mode:

I put underway the arpeggiator and listen carefully. And patience.

 

With respect to the manual: better to complain on the official website of CASIO. I've done it.

[Peter]

Thanks for the advice, David !
 
My goal for the start is to emulate the sounds of my favorite musicians, like Jean-Michel Jarre, Alexander Brandon or

i.

 

The HexLayer is currently enough for me, it's polyphonic and not that complicated like the SoloSynth. Maybe it's better to master the HexLayer first, and then move to SoloSynth.

[AlenK]

I'd like to see improvements in the algorithms of the solo synth engine.

First, I'd like to see interpolation between the control values that can affect filter cutoff in the solo synth engine. From what I can tell just from listening there is none currently, which causes audible stepping. The K1 knob is the most audibly obvious because it is probably only quantized at 7 bits (my guess). I can't hear any stepping at all from the filter envelope, so I don't think the filter itself is the problem. (I mention this because people are always quick to blame the filter.)

Second, I'd like to see improvements in the PWM function. I really like the sound of PWM. Or I do when it is properly implemented. Unfortunately, it isn't in the XW. For one thing the standard PWM waveform (0017) aliases audibly. The harmonic-rich waveforms in the list before the PWM waveforms (saw and square) alias too but there are alternatives for them that don't (in fact, most of the waveforms seem to be okay) so they're not a real problem. There are no alternatives for the PWM waveforms if you need to do PWM (controllably - there are a few PCM waves that have PWM "baked in").

An even bigger problem with PWM is that there aren't enough steps between 50% duty cycle and whatever the maximum value is (close to 100%). As a result there is audible stepping as the PWM is swept. The result is a "graininess" that to my ears renders the result unusable. This isn't subtle and it's quite a disappointment. While Casio's brilliant engineers are fixing that they should also allow modulation below 50% as well as above (negative numbers for pulse width as well as positive). The way it is now, if you don't select a unmodulated pulse width value at least as high as half the LFO depth the LFO effectively clips. Besides, not going through 50% duty cycle at the midpoint of the LFO waveform (typically a sine wave) just doesn't sound right. If you don't know what I'm talking about here don't worry about it. Casio's engineers will know.

Edited February 28, 2014 by AlenK

[AlenK]

Next, I'd like to see some enhancements to the Hex Layer synth model. No, not resonant filters with filter envelopes - the chance of ever getting that is zilch. Instead, I'd like to see some ability to scale each layer's amplitude with pitch. A simple key-follow function would do at a minimum, as has been implemented in the solo-synth engine, but something more extensive would be nice. A similar ability to scale a layer's filter cutoff with pitch would also be great. All the modulation data could be precomputed, unlike an envelope, so no additional real-time calculations would be required (anticipating the objections that Casio engineers might raise).

I'd also like to see some way to selectively turn layers (or oscillators in the solo synth) on or off using controllers. The only way to do that now in s Hex layer is by velocity switching. Failing that, and perhaps even more useful, would be the ability to turn layers on or off depending on the position of the sustain pedal. That would allow hands-free switching between two different sounds. These could be, for instance, two different articulations of an instrument. Or you could use it to add a new element only when the sustain pedal is down; say, for example, adding fret noise sample to a guitar tone. Lots of creative potential for what should be a simple functional enhancement.

Even better would be to allow triggering based on playing technique, such as how many keys are currently down (1, 2 or a chord). The Technics SX-WSA1 had this feature and something similar is built-in to high-end arranger keyboards.

While I'm dreaming how about selective cut-off slope for the solo-synth's Total filter, say between 12dB/octave (ala Oberheim and CS80) and 24dB/octave (ala Moog and Prophet 5)?

How about a special, hidden "expert" mode for the P1 that allows the sliders, the seven leftmost buttons and maybe even the assignable knobs to act like they do on the G1 when the solo-synth is selected? In other words, allowing you to directly program most of the solo synth's parameters. Of course, the P1 is lacking the correct graphics but that's okay - we'll print them out from the G1 manual for reference while we program. This would be a temporary mode that would be activated by pressing a special combination of multiple buttons and/or by a deeply placed menu item, so there's no way anyone who doesn't know about the mode could accidently activate it and get confused. Hey, it's not like Casio hasn't already written the code for this functionality - it's "just" a matter of cramming it in there and linking it to a button combination. (Much more easily said than done, I know.)

More dreaming: Improve the rotary speaker DSP effect so that it implements dual rotors. I think there were a couple of lower-end Leslie models that had only one speaker but most had two - a horn and a woofer - and that's the sound that everyone knows and desires. The two speakers rotate and accelerate/decelerate at different rates. The XW synths only seem to simulate a single rotor. (This is true of the G1 as well as the P1. Although the G1 lacks the drawbar organ it still has the rotary speaker DSP effect, which you can use on organ PCM tones or any PCM tone, of course.) Realistically, Casio probably can't squeeze a dual-rotor simulation in there. But I did say I was dreaming, right? At the very least maybe they could improve the overdrive effect in the rotary speaker model. Presently it's unnaturally "crunchy," something even Craig Anderton remarked on in his Harmony Central Pro review (so it's not just my untrained ears that find it wanting)

Finally, here's a seemingly simple feature request: Allow the arpeggiator to be turned on and off using the footswitch. You can turn the step sequencer and the phrase sequencer on and off this way, but not the arpeggiator. I'd like to, for instance, use guitar strum arpeggio patterns and enable/disable them without taking my hands off the keyboard.

[Gnomo Alegre]

I don't have any theoretical knowledge about nothing. But I have knowledge of creating music.

For me it is more than enough to use the XW-P1, but it is not the King of synths. Neither is it. You always need to have another to fill the gap that leaves. I'm going to buy a NOVATION as brother of the XW-P1.

In my case the XW-P1 fits 100%. I Do not seek it the tickling. I suitable what it have. As Darwin says: the law of adaptation.

I write in this forum is about my experiences. That they are very different from the others. My style of music is improvisation and adapt to what has each instrument. I love my style of creating music.

 

But I appreciate the experience of others. Whether novice or professional. Thank you.

 

 

 

[AlenK]

This thread asks for suggestions about what the next update should have (assuming there ever is one). So that's what I gave. I'm not trying to diminish the XW synths. I think they're the cat's meow (a stone-age expression that really dates me!). I chose to get one after all, and its various flaws and limitations aren't serious enough to me to want to send it back. As much as I am a fan of that fat PWM sound, I'll just have to suck it up. It is what it is, as they say. I don't expect that another update would actually fix what I consider broke much less add functionality. But I can always hope.