Jump to content

Casio MZ-X


AlenK

Recommended Posts

I don't know guys. 40 watts mounted in a plastic cabinet, I'd be thinking that might cause some significant vibrations to the entire keyboard if used maxed out alot for monitoring. How loud do your band mates play? I wouldn't guess if you could use these built-ins as your stage monitors until you actually had a chance to hear the MZ with a live band. Especially if your PA also is throwing other stage monitors back at you for vocals, etc. For rehearsals in a small venue I'm sure these would be fine, but getting into a bigger, louder setting, I'd have to hear these first. And wattage rating isn't the only way to tell how loud a speaker will sound. Some very low power systems can be very loud if designed efficiently, and a system can be putting out many watts and still not sound as loud as specs might indicate. Your ears are your best judge, IMO. Just saying. I had to put quite a bit of acoustic damping in my PX350 to prevent vibrations from the built-in speakers when played loudly. Plastic is definitely not a good sound-absorbing material!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎2‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 5:04 PM, skyy38 said:

So, what makes a "workstation" a "workstation?"

The high price, or the fact that you're able to do what you need to do on it, like a "workstation?"

 

That's a good question. The industry definition has changed over time. In the beginning anything that had an onboard linear sequencer was considered a workstation. The definition of workstation then evolved into anything that included user sampling as well as a sequencer (a linear one, not a step sequencer, so the XW-G1 for instance doesn't really qualify - it is something unique). It has nothing to do with price or how much "work" you can do on it.

 

But that's beside my original point, which was that the MZ-X models are clearly in the "arranger" category. That category includes a set of features that keyboards identified as "workstations" don't have, such as auto-accompaniment (styles). My point was and is that you have to compare apples to apples.

 

Speaking of apples, here's another: Roland's E-A7 Expandable Arranger, with a street price of $1300US:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/e-a7/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EA7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't get me wrong, I am not disparaging these new instruments, I'm just trying to realistically assess what the capabilities might be, for hobbyist and pro use. I use different keyboards based upon venues, repertoire and other variables--what is the likelihood someone is going to throw beer bottles on stage for instance-I'd bring my more indestructible keyboards to that gig! If I'm playing in Caesar's Palace lounge (not likely) I might be more fussy about sound quality. If I'm playing at Bernie's Beer Hall and knockwurst palace where everyone will be stone-cold drunk by the end of the first set, maybe I will have other concerns and choices for my keyboard, and unless there are some very nice "Weiner Waltz" auto-accompaniment settings, I'd probably not pick the MZ-X series. :lol:  :lol:  :lol: 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hahaha the MZ stirred more then we would come to expected from only reading the manuals and knowing new instrument samples are part of the new casio sound set. It has nice powerful features but the question on everybody lips is can those features deliver the kick ass arranger performance on a level one would expect. With the features inside the MZ has I currently need 2 to 3 keyboards to do the same.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

 

  Hi, new Casio MZ-X500 vid' (playing demo tune) here.  Rough-and-ready quality audio, probably done on a cheap phone.  But hey!, - I'll take what's going while we wait, wait, wait for the official ones. :banana:   

   

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/7/2016 at 4:27 PM, CairnsFella said:

 

Whilst I don't doubt there may well be substance in your statement, the fact that one is 61 key and the other semi weighted 88 does suggest it may be a bit of a sweeping statement.


My not being hung-up on 88 keys is one of the major reasons I save $$$

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On March 1, 2016 at 2:12 PM, busharoo said:

 

  Hi, new Casio MZ-X500 vid' (playing demo tune) here.  Rough-and-ready quality audio, probably done on a cheap phone.  But hey!, - I'll take what's going while we wait, wait, wait for the official ones. :banana:   

   

 

 

There is a lot of music playing in this. Are these all demo songs coming from the MZ-X500?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, BradMZ said:

 

Yes.  Although poorly due to the cell phone quality.  

 

   These built-in demo tunes (of any brand of keyboard) make me giddy. :boing:  Love to see included in demo tunes a rolling update of what buttons are being pressed, what effects being used etc, so that the new user can try to emulate. 

 

  But more importantly, would it be possible to make a MZ-X screen saver of the dancing banana? :banana:

    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/5/2016 at 0:14 PM, skyy38 said:

My not being hung-up on 88 keys is one of the major reasons I save $$$

 

Makes sense of course if you do not want the 88 keys, I couldn't agree more.

 

My point was that this was ignored in your MX / PX price comparison, as you only mentioned the comparative lack of features.

 

If, like yourself, a potential purchaser did not want the extra keys or the semi weighted keys, then your right, the MX seems like a much better deal in theory. It comes down to a lot more than that in practice though. If you wanted the pads, for example, then the PX obviously wouldn't even be an option (in fact the more I think about it, the less I would be inclined even to compare the two at all..... not that you shouldn't, I just dont think I would).

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
On ‎15‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 11:01 PM, BeowulfX said:

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)...

 

 

Hi I am currently testing out the Casio CTK 7200, and am looking at the Casio MZ x300 which one is better ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/18/2017 at 1:13 PM, Tony Boy said:

Hi I am currently testing out the Casio CTK 7200, and am looking at the Casio MZ x300 which one is better ?

 

X300 without question in my opinion.

 

Polyphony 128 vs 64, Tones 900 vs 800, Virtual Tone Wheel Organ 9 drawbars Yes vs No, Touchscreen Yes vs No,  Pads 4 vs 0, Audio Power per Channel  40 vs 7 watts. See the specs here ... MZ- X300 Specs  CTK 7200 Specs

 

In my opinion though it isn't that great a leap in $$ ($200 at Amazon) from the X300 to the X500 ... Do yourself a treat and get the X500 ;-)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 3:52 PM, AlenK said:

I'm going to quote myself here in order to constructively move the conversation forward. (Hey, it's what I do.) Pages 15 and 16 of the Appendix document for the X500 (pages 12 and 13 in the X300 Appendix) reveals some pretty interesting stuff. Such as, there are four Versatile Tones, all of them guitars (one is a bass guitar). They each use a combination of velocity-switched waves up to note B6. From there on up is a selection of what I assume are key switches for events including strums and special instrument-specific noises (fret noise, body slaps, etc).

Page 16 contains a list of "Sampled Pitch Forms". Going by the names these appear to be pitch changes for a variety of playing "articulations" that were presumably extracted from samples of real instruments as they were played. I am guessing that the X500 and X300 each use these with the existing instrument samples to re-create the same articulations at arbitrary pitches, which is a much more compact way to do it than storing samples of all articulations at all pitches (as some of the larger sample libraries do it). I'm not sure what options exist for triggering these but in the latest video Rich shows one being triggered by pressing a pad.

This is all very promising and should allow some pretty convincing instrument emulations. Yamaha has been doing essentially the same stuff for years, of course, but it's nice to see that Casio is catching up. I have no doubt we'll see more and more of this as Casio brings out new keyboards over time.

Can you provide a hard link to the Appendix Document for the MZ-X300?
I can't find it on Casio's Website.

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

skyy38, I appreciate that you only thought of your question after reading what you quoted from me (which is almost two years old now). But in the future I recommend starting a new thread to ask questions that are not directly related to the thread you are in. That way the answer will be more visible and easier to find for other owners who might at some point wonder about the same thing.  :2thu:

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...
On 1/31/2016 at 12:25 AM, Silvano Silva said:

If you have to put sampler that gives user sounds will be very good. It has authentic instruments Brazil that everybody uses.I am seen in some video that has cavaquinho tambourine berimbal the MZ-X.

But still has the sounds of accordion Todeschini and Scandalli it is very necessary.

If the MZ does not sampler tone. I think it's a fusion of the WK with XW.

And the question is whether it has sampler and it can be added in Style.

Roland E-A7 has samplers with 4 layers create user.

Not everyone knows how to create samplers but who usually creates passes for the rest it does not create. ;)

Adding a sampler feature to the MZ-X with authentic Brazilian instruments like cavaquinho, tambourine, berimbau, and classic accordion sounds from Todeschini and Scandalli would be a great addition. If the MZ-X doesn't have it, a fusion with WK and XW models might work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.