dfahrner02

Yep, I've tried not sending Bank Selects...and GM programs 113-120 are percussive instruments: #113 Tinkle Bell, #114 Agogo, #115 Steel Drums, etc, where all notes play the same sound at different pitches..I'm looking for GM drum kits, usually assigned to Ch10, where each note plays a different instrument in the kit: C3 typically plays Bass Drum, C#3 Side Stick, D3 Snare, etc...many GM instruments have alternate kits that can be selected as different Ch10 programs: #1 is the Standard Kit, #9 Room, #17 Power, etc....these are often variations of the standard kit with different sounds assigned: for example, the #41 Brush Kit in Yamaha synths has most of the same sounds as the #1 Standard Kit, except that brushed drum sounds are substituted for stick sounds...so the question is, does the CT-S1 have other drum kits besides the standard kit? Or other individual drum sounds, like the brush sounds? df

Thanks, Jay...so I've tried various Bank Select MSB/USB combinations (no Bank Selects, 0/0, 120/0, 127/0, etc.) and still can't change the drum kit from the default...maybe the CT-S1 has only the one standard GM drum kit?...if I had a list of drum sound note assignments, I could make changes in the software application that generate the MIDI drums...is there any documentation available about CT-S1 GM MIDI programs / drum kits / drum note assignments from Casio? Brad? Mike? ??? df

I'm having the CT-S1 play GM background bass and drums through the USB MIDI connection, from a sequencer / arranger running on an external tablet. Everything works, but I'm not sure how to set Ch10 drum programs and bank selects from the tablet. It looks like bank selects MSB=0 and LSB=0 select the GM bank for standard GM programs, but what are the Bank Selects for Ch10 drum programs? And are the alternate GM drum sets (brush kit, jazz kit, etc.) then supported by sending program numbers? I can't find this information in the manual, which says there is more MIDI information at https://support.casio.com/en/emi/manual/ct-s1, but I don't see any such document there either. Is there a detailed description anywhere of the "generic" GM engine that is accessible from external MIDI input on several Casio models?...??? df

Brad, thanks for your (exhaustive) testing of CT-S1 battery life - I thought about trying to verify your work with other brands of Ni-MH batteries, but couldn't bring myself to have factory demos playing in the background for 5 hours (!)... in my similar setup (Ni-MH batteries, around 2700 mAh, internal speakers, volume 9 o'clock, no Bluetooth) I do get more that 3 hours' use before the declining power indication, as long as all six batteries are fully charged, and take about the same time to charge...if one or more of the batteries is not fully charged, or has taken significantly longer to charge (indicating some other issue?) my CT-S1 won't play for that long...there seems to be some variation even in packaged lots from the same manufacturer; again, maybe Panasonic Eneloops are more consistent and uniform... I'm still using Ni-MH with the battery mode set to "alkaline", and when the "declining power" indicator comes on (after several hours use) it only lasts about 20 minutes until the "replace batteries" indicator comes on, and then shutdown happens within a few minutes...to me, that seems like the way the indicators ought to work: "declining power" means that the end of useful life is approaching, and you ought to think about changing batteries, while "replace batteries" means that you have to shut down right now and replace batteries to avoid possible data loss...the longer times you measured during declining / replace indicators might be useful on gig (where you shouldn't be using battery power anyway), but I'd rather not look at flashing LEDs most of the time... There is some minimum voltage that the CT-S1 needs to operate, and battery voltage declines as capacity is used up...alkalines have a relatively constant rate of decline from 1.5V as capacity is used, while Ni-MHs have almost no decline from 1.2V until almost all capacity is used up, after which the voltage drops quickly...so the battery mode may just change the levels at which the power indicators trigger, to account for these different rates of discharge...??? Anyway, it looks like the CT-S1 does meet its battery life specification...

Brad, that's pretty much what I'm doing, too: no Bluetooth or smart phone connected, and low volume levels...the default CT-S1 setting for battery type is "1 tone", which the User's Guide says means alkaline; did you change that when you installed the Ni-MHs?...and what brand of battery did you use? - I've tried Rayovac, EBL, and Kastar brands, and they're all about the same as described above with respect to battery life ... The User's Guide says "Use commercially available AA-size alkaline batteries or AA-size rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries", and then a little farther down, "Use only Panasonic Group AA-size eneloop rechargeable batteries. Do not use any other type of batteries"...hmmm, Panansonic eneloops are just about the top-rated Ni-MH battery online (and the most expensive), but it's hard to believe that an instrument would be designed to match the characteristics of a specific manufacturer's battery...maybe this is just the Casio legal department trying to reduce potential liability for damage caused by another manufacturers' batteries failing...I'll have to get some Panasonic eneloops and see if they behave differently - the Ct-S1 is so inexpensive that I can probably afford them...

Using commercially available Ni-MH batteries (2500 mAh or more) in my CT-S1, I haven't been able to get anywhere close to 3 hours' use out of them as per Casio's specs...I've tried different brands, all fully charged, and they all seem to last about an hour before the LEDs start blinking, indicating low battery voltage...the other night when this happened, I checked to make sure the battery type was set to "Ni-MH", and it was, so I changed the setting to "Alkaline" and the LED flashing stopped - then I was able to use the CT-S1 for another hour-and-a-half before the LEDs started to flash again...during this time, I tried resetting the battery type to "Ni-MH" again a couple of times, and when I did the LEDs would start flashing... Could the Quick Start guide and User's Guide have the battery type settings reversed, so that "1 tone" actually indicates the setting for "Ni-MH", and 2 tones for "Alkaline"?...looking at typical discharge curves for the two types, I see that while alkaline batteries have a higher initial voltage, their discharge curve is steeper than Ni-MH's...so presumably if set for "Alkaline" and Ni-MH batteries are used, the CT-S1 (after an hour or so) would interpret the lower Ni-MH voltage as nearly discharged...??? df

The CT-S1 User's Guide says, in the MID Implementation Chart on page 81: "For details about RPN and system exclusive messages, see MIDI implementation at https://support.casio.com/global/en/emi/manual/CT-S1/ ", but I don't see a "MIDI Implementation" document there...is a detailed description of the CT-S1's system exclusive messages available? I was hoping to find some additional capabilities that can be addressed with sysex and/or RPN...but comparing the MIDI implementation charts for the CT-S1 and CT-S100, it looks like features that can be addressed with MIDI controllers are the same, so maybe the -S1 has the same (fairly limited) sysex / RPN capabilities as the -S100 - ??? df

I've been working with the CT-S1 MIDI input the last couple of days, trying to play it from an external controller, and came to the same conclusion as Brad: there's a separate independent GM engine in there that isn't controlled by anything on the CT-S1 panel, and you have to send a program change (and presumably anything else you need that's listed in the implementation chart)...until you send the program change, the default program for the MIDI input channels seems to be #1, acoustic piano, (although I haven't checked Channel 10, which ought to be drums)...I've used a couple of controllers (Alesis Q-series and Arturia Keystep) and once you send the program change everything else seems to work...of course the problem here is getting a USB MIDI input from external controllers: I made an adapter with a Hobbytronix MIDI Host board that converts standard 5-pin Din MIDI to USB class-compliant MIDI...then I had to use another adapter (MIDI Solutions Event Processor Plus) to generate the program change message, since the Keystep couldn't do that on its own...enough of this, I need to go play some music... df

I "preordered" a black CT-S1 on Tuesday from Kraft Music, and they shipped it out today...the pipeline must be open... df