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Casio MZ-X


AlenK

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Well I am going to get my 2c worth out of the way, though I must admit I am not really a target audience member for this type of keyboard (But I am having a quiet day at work, so need the interaction :rolleyes: )

 

It does strike me though, that Casio is a little vague about it's own target audience. Who are those bullet points meant to appeal to? 

 

Over 1000 new sounds.

Personally, I'd be happy with 100 sounds if they were longer / higher quality / multi-samples etc. I feel they emphasize quantity over quality.

Colour Touch Interface

M'eh.To be fair, I know people have asked for this type of interface, so fair enough. I can give or take as long as whatever interface is intuitive.

Hundreds of Rhythms

Double M'eh (Is it just me, but whenever Casio talk about in built rhythm's I instantly recall the old bossa nova's and latin beats of the early boards) Obviously I realise such things are much moved on, but but even assuming it is something the customer wants, I still find it a rather underwhelming bullet point for a new keyboards features. Wouldn't this be taken for granted in this type of board?

Flash Sample Memory

Hmm.. Interesting.... Unless it's a paltry couple of MB.

Tonewheel Organs.

Given the feedback I have read regarding existing organ sims in the Casio boards, I would hope they have improved them.. and if so the bullet point should read "Improved Virtual Tonewheel..." Why.... because some people have long memories and without any indication of improvement will just think... "Casio Organs are not great" 

40W Speaker System

Casios commonly have speakers. 40W may well be a great number (is it?). Those that may have been on the edge of showing interest at that point... are they going to say ..... ahhhhh.. but 40W speakers... ok in THAT case I will look into this a bit more.

 

Ok Ok I have come down a bit hard on this (especially as I honestly wouldnt be buying this even if it were the undisputed king of it's sector, as it just isn't my sector. And of course I assume it is meant to appeal to the people that know the old MZ 2000 (Though I am led to believe that it was hardly Casios biggest selling board, so the Reinvented, Reimagined, Reborn tag, once again, has a limited target).

 

Anyway, I apologise if I sound a little negative... for all I know it's a great unit, and it certainly appears as though it may appeal to more traditional Casio owners (unlike myself, as I only have a G1, and would really liked to have seen Casio make the really rather few improvements to that line required to make it truly great )

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Guess this is my cue.   :)  We have been chatting about this in the Facebook MZ-2000 and XW groups.  For those of us who were there in the year 2000 for the original MZ, we have a good clue what this means.  Expect a new flagship Casio arranger, synthesizer and now sampler apparently, positioned above the WK and CTK line.  Expect to see new things Casio has never done before and specs beyond anything normally seen from Casio.  Expect awesomenessz!  

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Guess this is my cue.   :D  We have been chatting about this in the Facebook MZ-2000 and XW groups.  For those of us who were there in the year 2000 for the original MZ, we have a good clue what this means.  Expect a new flagship Casio arranger, synthesizer (and now sampler apparently) well above the WK/CTK line.  Expect to see new things Casio has never done before and specs well beyond anything normally seen from Casio.  Expect awesomenessz.   

 

 

Can't wait to see the specs on this bad boy. They wouldn't resurrect the "MZ" designation unless they had something really special here.  

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I hope it has HexLayers and it is user friendly. 

 

Not sure about the hex kayers, but it has that awesome touch screen that the PX-560, 360 and CGP-700 have, so it should be very user friendly. I have spent a lot of time on the 700 and it is as easy to navigate -- just like an iPhone. Setting stuff up is real quick and simple. 

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Hey come on-tell us more. Is it a console style or portable? How many keys? Piano action or spring-thing. Consumer style or "pro"-can I spill beer, beernuts and chili on it and it will still play?  Built-in speakers or no, like the PX5s? Quick sound-editing on the fly including drawbars and adjustable Leslie settings at yer fingertips- or buried in menus? How heavy? Decent pro coloring-will it look good next to me bandmates naff checkered plaid jumpsuits and chomped on guitars? Will it need updates and do it have plenty of storage for samples, edited sounds and a place to put my pet monkey? :P Inquiring minds want to know!

 

And lastly, how much do it cost? :blink::wacko:

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Expect to see new things Casio has never done before and specs well beyond anything normally seen from Casio.  Expect awesomenessz!  

 

 

Can't wait to see the specs on this bad boy. They wouldn't resurrect the "MZ" designation unless they had something really special here.  

 

Well I hope for your guys sake that you are right. But this was my point as I feel the "highlights" they have chosen to reveal are underwhelming. Obviously enough for those of you with Casio expectations, but I feel it's a missed opportunity to kindle the interest of those not sold on the brand.

 

EDIT:

That said, if they do what they have done for other boards and recycle the case. Get rid of the speakers and put 2 rubberized areas and it could be a good basis for a new XW... especially with those pads.

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Hey come on-tell us more. Is it a console style or portable? How many keys? Piano action or spring-thing. Consumer style or "pro"-can I spill beer, beernuts and chili on it and it will still play?  Built-in speakers or no, like the PX5s? Quick sound-editing on the fly including drawbars and adjustable Leslie settings at yer fingertips- or buried in menus? How heavy? Decent pro coloring-will it look good next to me bandmates naff checkered plaid jumpsuits and chomped on guitars? Will it need updates and do it have plenty of storage for samples, edited sounds and a place to put my pet monkey? :P Inquiring minds want to know!

 

And lastly, how much do it cost? :blink::wacko:

 

 

LOLOLOLOLOL - You and everyone else wants the skinny! Like Brad said, just sit tight. NAMM is right around the corner. All will be known then!

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I read on another forum there will be two models.  The MZ-500 and the MZ-1000 and starting price will be about $900 USD.

 

http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/414286/Re_New_Casio_MZ_X_ad_in_Feb_20

 

Too rich for my blood to boil over :D :D :D

 

Gary )

 

I read that too.  The ad says MZ-X.  Something doesn't add up. 

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Take the Casio MZ-X, add an 88 note weighted piano keyboard. Half damper pedalling and some seriously good in built speakers and I'll put my order in before the end of the month.

 

Oh yes, and you can throw in one of those piano keyboard Casio USB sticks I keep seeing on the youtube videos.

 

 

 

But we're going to need a name for this keyboard........................................Casio PX6-S has got a nice ring to it !!!!!!!!

 

Chris

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If the price for the higher-end MZ-Xxx model will be around $1K it'll be competing with Roland's new E-A7 and Yamaha's PSR-S770.

 

I hope the MZ-X has faders for its tonewheel organ patches/sounds...unless Casio decided to utilize "virtual"/onscreen faders through its touchschreen display...

 

Good to see that Casio added those multi-pads...and hopefully an expression/volume pedal input will be present as well (considering it was included in the PX-360M/560 series)...

 

 

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  Hi there, fellow tyre kickers,

 

  That mere  alleged 10% price difference of the models, makes me think it'll be just for an extra octave? Or maybe no extra octave but with semi-weighted keys?  Just guessing. 

 

  Other points my hungry eyes will be scanning for, (no deal-breaking points but nice to find):  

 

   *  Standard MIDI ports IN and OUT

   *  Velocity on the pads

   *  Sampling from external source: aux in, mike in, guitar in 

   *  Possibility to record new sample whilst monitoring previous samples / sound on sound? (cheeky, I know, but one can dream).

   *  Sample pads reading direct from SD card or USB stick?

   *  Samples can be run through keyboard's effects?

   *  Any editing of samples?

   *  Price, dimensions, weight, availability.

 

      Okay, going back to sleep now.

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Good to see that Casio added those multi-pads...and hopefully an expression/volume pedal input will be present as well (considering it was included in the PX-360M/560 series)...

There is no mention in the PX-360 manual of it accepting an expression pedal, whereas that is explicitly mentioned in the PX-560 manual (there is even a pinout diagram for the proper wiring of the pedal's TRS plug). Is the PX-360 manual wrong?
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