vbdx66

Hi, I guess the CT-S400 anc CT-S500 are being superseded by the CT-S1000v which contains all the features of the CT-S1 (with its high-quality "advanced" sounds), of the CT-S400 (which is very light and easy to use and has a lot of features nevertheless) and the CT-S500 (with its live controllers and its many effects). So, if you buy the CT-S1000v, you'll get three keyboards in one really, plus the much sought-after vocal synthesis engine. Nice.

As for the CTX range, it has much more buttons thant the CT-S range, which is nice if you don't like to go through many sub-menus to reach the function you're looking for. And, the CT-X3000/5000 are the only ones in the range to offer both 4-variations styles and style editing, which is really great.

That being said, I thing that the CT-S400 is offering incredible bang for the buck (as do the CT-X700/800, really) and they are a sweet spot to discover what the CT-S and CTX range have to offer, since the aforementioned keyboards all have the incredible AiX chip under the hood.

Hope this helps,

Vinciane

Hi @mrmr9494, sorry for replying so late to your message. Unfortunately I have been unwell lately (swollen knee, couldn’t leave the house for three weeks, still have problems with stairs etc.) so I had to put all my projects aside.

I think that using Python is too far-stretched for me right now. Anyway this is a great piece of software that you’ve made here.

Regards,

Vinciane

Hi @Reg MidiStagethanks for helping. Eventually I returned the Acer Chromebook because it had a very sparse storage and no micro SD slot to extend it. I am currently looking for a more suitable model (at least 128 Go of internal storage and/or a micro SD slot).

I suppose that your software should indeed work flawlessly under Chrome OS, since the default web browser on a Chromebook, of course, is Chrome, and it is fairly standard.

Unfortunately I had to put all my geeky projects aside since  I have been stuck at home for three weeks because of a swollen knee. I was able to go outside yesterday for the first time. I can’t walk for long yet and the stairs are a hassle. I guess it’ll improve in the forthcoming days/weeks.

I hope that you’re in a better shape than me and I wish you a nice weekend 🤗

Vinciane

Hi @mrmr9494, this is really most impressive work I must say.

Since all CT-X keyboards hit the market back in 2018 (time flies), it struck me that the CT-X3000 and 5000 had some similarities with the good old Korg M1; namely, sophistication behind a sparse user interface, and that they were calling out for  a computer-based patch editor. Well, so you made it, congratulations!

Now, as far as the CT-X700 and 800 are concerned, have you tested Tone Tyrant yet? Unfortunately I cannot test your software on my CT-X800 because my only Windows computer is an old desktop running Seven.

I am currently playing with the idea of buying a Chromebook. Would it be possible to try out Tone Tyrant under Python in the Debian Linux container or am I dreaming out loud? I am not sure whether the Linux container has access to USB MIDI under Chrome OS.

Vinciane

On 4/14/2022 at 1:34 PM, Reg MidiStage said:

Hi @d. gauss I have increased the button size for iPad.

Hi @vbdx66 I have added CT-X800.
Regards,
Reg

Great, thanks!

I have no laptop at the moment and since I am on a budget my current options for buying a laptop are either a new Chromebook with touchscreen or an old MacBook Pro. Will Reg Midistage work on a Chromebook since the app is Web based?

Guys, I don’t want to spoil the party, but with what is currently happening in Eastern Europe I’d like to make two comments:

- One topic-related comment: with what is currently happening on the international scene, I think that the supply chain will be globally impacted and that we can count on a shortage of electronically components, difficulties to have items such as electronic music instruments being shipped, etc. The prices of all keyboard brands may raise heavily in coming months.

- One off-topic comment: with what is currently happening in Eastern Europe (only 2000 km off from where I am currently living it the South of France), which keyboard brand is better will become the least of our concerns. Our concerns will more be about welcoming and managing refugees, the price of food and of basic supplies raising worldwide, shortages of everything  and of course the fear of having to face a Third World War.  Both my grand fathers served in the Belgium army during WWII (one of them was a prisoner of war during five years) and both my parents were born during WWII so what is happening now is bringing very bad memories.

3 hours ago, krunchr said:

Here in Germany, the CT-S1000V doesn't cost very much less than a PSR-SX600, which is in a higher league in every way, but is also a very clunky device and its complexity (at least if you haven't gotten into it yet) doesn't make it as much fun as the Casio. 

 

The SX600 is class-compliant for audio and MIDI, so you can seamlessly expand it with an iPhone or iPad and a few synth apps. I'm pretty sure that sooner or later (more likely sooner) there will be iPad apps with similar functionality of the Vocal Synth. It already exists as a VST for Mac and PC, even as freeware. Time will tell ...

Actually, the cheaper PSR E473 and even the entry-level PSR E373 are also MIDI and Audio class compliant. So for people who’re on a budget but have access to an iPad, the PSR E373 might be an interesting choice.

Hi, I recall that somewhere else on this forum somebody found a way to unlock AC7 files. I think that you can edit the AC7 file on the keyboard itself, do a very minor change, than save the rhythm as an user rhythms. Then you can make changes to the new user rhythm because it’ll be unlocked. I am not sure whether this is applicable to Intros. But you could always record the intro as MIDI then edit it in the DAW of your choice. @Chandler Hollowayexplained this thoroughly somewhere else on this forum. This is a time consuming process but if you need a tailored-made rhythm to work with a specific song it might be worth it.

I had a good laugh with that track 😂🍏🍊

Vinciane.

Hilarious 😂🤣😂

https://youtu.be/OMsLyObfrFg

Hi @Chandler Hollowaygreat job indeed. For the time being I only have an old Windows 7 machine at my disposal. Will I be able to install Webview2 and RBK Mixer?

Vinciane

14 hours ago, pjd said:

After doing some reading this weekend, I posted some additional information on Casio's current technology

Hi @pjd this looks fascinating but way beyond my present capabilities. I’ll go back to your article when I’ll have enough time and my brain is a little fresher.

Another, less challenging option to pass time during commercials, is washing the dishes. Unless  you’ve ordered a pizza or Chinese food of course 😋

1 hour ago, CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler said:

Did you know that Casio already made 2 singing keyboards decades ago? Namely there was the Casio SK-60 (toy sampling keyboard with lofi doo-whop samples etc.) and there was the CT-840 which can sing musical notes (Do,Re,Me...) in a female lofi sampled voice.

The later was probably used by Phil Glass for the production of « Einstein on the Beach » 🙃

This is fairly simple. The CT-S500 is an Improved CT-S400. The CT-S1000V is the flagship. Pure marketing naming convention.

Vinciane

7 hours ago, Steve F said:

Casio's built-in drum machines could use a lot of improvement

@Steve FCould you please elaborate on this? Thanks 😊 

Hi everyone,

Their are now many different CT-S keyboards to choose from, going from the very basic CT-S100 to the quite sophisticated CT-S1000V.

Wouldnt it be more convenient to have a sub section for one model, or for models that are closely related?

I suggest the following organisation:

General CT-S discussion (for announcing special events or new models being announced, etc.)

CT-S100, CT-S200 and CT-S300

CT-S400 and CT-S410 

CT-S1

CT-S500 and CT-S1000V

What do you think?

Vinciane

On 2/3/2022 at 6:58 PM, BillErickson said:

Nice review.  Two of your complaints about the CT-S400 are exactly why I decided to upgrade to the CT-S500 -- better control of the DSP functionality and line-outs (of course, it's also more expensive 😉 ).

 

 

And likewise, some of the shortcomings of the PSR E373 are solved with the PSR E473/EW425, namely the pitch bend wheel and the USB to Device connector. 

@Casiokidtime will tell but it seems that keybed quality of the PSR E keyboards has decreased since the very nice PSR E433 and E343.

On the contrary, it seems that the Casiotone keybeds have been improving since the CT-S1 and CT-S400, with the CT-S500/1000V having the same redesigned keybed.

I would try this out for myself in a music store, though.

Can't the "freeze" function be put to that effect in lower-end keyboards which have this function such as the S400?

I believe that the 1000V has the same key action as the 400, which costs half the price. Could someone please confirm this? Because if you want a good synth-type key action but don’t need a sophisticated keyboard, the CT-S400 might be a sensible choice.

Vinciane

@pianokeyjoe Brilliant! Thanks, yes, I think this is it! You could find a job as a private detective 🕵️ if you wished 😁

Actually I could have kept it and stored it at my parents home in Belgium. In fact we wanted to get rid of most of the things that were in our appartement before moving to France. I could have kept the synth and have brought it with me to France during a later visit to my parents. But at the time I wasn’t too interested in synths - I had also a Yamaha stage piano, we decided to sell the synth and keep the piano.
 

Today I would probably keep both…

One year for Christmas we went shopping with my parents and my three brothers on December the 24th - last minute shopping. My mother used to take singing lessons and she wanted something very portable to gave her the pitch, so on that day she decided to buy a Casio VL-1.

I must have been 15 or 16 back then. I looked around in the shop, fairly bored, and saw the Casio VL-10, the little brother, so to say. I felt instantly in love with it and it became my Christmas present that year. It was so tiny, looked so sleek and so high-tech (even by today’s standards it would still look fairly sophisticated). I am pretty sure it must have been the tiniest electronic keyboard ever made, and still is to this day. Unfortunately someone stole it in my student room 😢.

Later during College, once again for Christmas, I got a SK-1. I loved the fact that it could play fully-fledged chords but hated the fact that it had no memory once the power was off. So I went back to the shop and traded it for the SK-5. It was not a wise move because although the SK-5 had some memory, it didn’t have all functionalities of the SK-1.

Then in 2018 I got a CT-X3000 that I should have kept, but I found the UI impractical, so I traded it for the CT-X800.

Now I am heavily hesitating between the CT-S400 (which has become ridiculously cheap), the CT-S1000V or else the Yamaha PSR E473 (some years back I had its older brother, the very nice PSR E433, which I immensely liked and regretted getting rid of - twice!), which seems to be a very fine keyboard, too.

Oh yes, I forgot, from 1996 to 1999 I lived for three years in Vienna and for a couple of Shillings (the Euro didn’t existed yet) I bought a Casio synth on Vienna’s flea market. Now, at the end of last century, one could buy practically ANYTHING on Vienna’s flea market.

I don’t remember which synth it was, though, which is a shame. I was looking for a piano really, but couldn’t afford one by then. I bought it back with me when we moved back to Brussels. When we moved to France in 2004 I sold it because we hat too many things. Now I regret having sold it. I’d like to find out which model it was. I don’t think it was a CZ. Maybe if I saw a couple of photos I would now. The sound was pretty coarse. It didn’t had any speakers, which I disliked very much because I had only cheap headphones and no PA system by then.

Vinciane

Hi, I haven’t tried it personally but I understand that the Ct-S400 is much more capable, sound-wise, than the CT-S300, and it also has a better keybed. So I’d go for it, not for the CT-S300.

Anybody else?

Vinciane

…as one can see in this video by gearfacts:

I must admit that Glynn has a lot of imagination to use keyboard features in non-conventional ways.
 

Until now, most of the emphasis in the demonstration videos has been put on the speech synthesis function of the CT-S1000V. Personally, I’d be very happy to see a more detailed showcase of the sounds, rhythms, sampling feature, arpeggios and DSPS’s.

Vinciane

Hi @SciNotehappy to meet you here and welcome to the forum 😎

You’ll see that forum members are always willing to help. Hope you’ll find answers you have about the CT-S1000V and other Casio keyboards.

Regards,

Vinciane