Chas

I finally finished and uploaded Part 2 of my Vintage and Modern Casiotone comparison video. In this video I compare the second half of the 1980 CT201's selected tones with those in a modern CT-S300. As per the first video, the CT201 often surprises with how unique and how nice its tones are, and the CT-S300 continues to do a very good job of reproducing realistic traditional instrument sounds. And of course, the VL-1 makes some cameo appearances!

@giano- Great sound there, and excellent playing! Can I ask what patch you are using to play the bass part with your left hand? Sounds very nice 👍

A few years back I had a 7 minute live XW-P1 "performance" recorded direct to an audio wave file. I was using the step sequencer and arpeggiator feature, both synced to the XW's internal clock. No sync with any other device or DAW. Some years later I decided that I needed to beef up the kick and snare sounds. I thought I was going to have to rerecord the track from scratch and multi-track it, but out of interest I loaded the recorded WAV file into my DAW (Acoustica Mixcraft Pro 8), lined up the first beat to the grid then adjusted the project tempo until it matched my WAV track's tempo. Amazingly, tested with the DAW's global metronome, my WAV track kept perfect time with the project over the 7 minute duration of the track. I was then able to overlay an additional kick and snare beat in my DAW on top of the original WAV file and everything kept in perfect sync. I haven't yet tried anything similar with my CT-S300 (that doesn't allow MIDI click sync). When I get a chance I'll see how its internal rhythms hold up against my DAW's metronome. On the flip side, when I record my videos I simultaneously record the audio separately with my DAW, with my Canon HF and cellphones capturing the video. I then import all of these into my video editor and line then up using the clapperboard technique (actually just clapping my hands visually and aurally). Unfortunately, the internal clock sync of all my video devices will start to drift from the separately recorded audio tracks after about 5 minutes. It takes a number of edits and realigning in a project to keep everything in sync. Conclusion: my XW's have more precise internal clock timing with my DAW than any of my video capture devices.

Thank you! And yes, Chas is my nickname. Got called that years ago by someone in the UK who couldn't get their head round the name "Clark" being a given/ first name (it's an unusual first name in the UK, much more commonly used as a surname). It sort of stuck, so I tend to use Chas online though I'm officially on Facebook as "Clark"! Also totally agree - Casio really should make a Casiotone successor with a faux wood look. I'd LOVE a modern Casiotone in a vintage wood look case!

I'd agree with IanB. The wandering pitch and the modulation wheel not working correctly would be my first suspect in this case. Open up the CZ and do a visual check to see if anything is amiss (loose wires, connectors fallen off, obvious signs of damage). Using an elimination process, you could also unplug the mod wheel from the main circuit and then try using the CZ. If the pitch wandering issue disappears, you've isolated the cause. Also check the battery compartment for leaking batteries. IIRC, the CZ5000 uses 3 x AA batteries in a compartment accessed from under the base. Leaking batteries have been known to cause all sorts of problems, mainly scrambling memory circuits or worse, the leakage spilling inside and eating into circuit traces and components. Regarding the metronome issue, I can't offer any help for that as my CZ101 and CZ-1 don't have sequencers. The CZ5000 was the only CZ to have a sequencer, though I think it was fundamentally the same as the standalone SZ-1 sequencer. If you have the Owners Operating Manual/ User Manual, that would be the best place to look.

Hey all, My latest video might be of interest to some of you modern and vintage Casiotone fans. I was curious to see/ hear how the tones of the very first Casio/ Casiotone home keyboard, the 1980 CT-201, compared with one of the modern Casiotones, a CT-S300. Casio recently (2019) resurrected the Casiotone product line name, and clearly used inspiration from their original line of Casiotone models in making modern versions in the spirit of the originals. But how do the tones compare with four decades separating them? Obviously the CT-S300 is a modern sounding and very capable home keyboard. Meanwhile, the CT-201 is vintage, limited and has unrealistic though surprisingly unique sounding tones. And I love both of them!

Back in 2017, I had my XW's (and most of my gear) shipped from the UK to the USA when I emigrated. During the 7 months of the journey, somehow one of the slider knobs did a disappearing act. I recall searching online and found a place selling replacement parts, I think it cost me $6/ $7 plus shipping (for a tiny piece of plastic!), but at least my XW was complete again. I can't remember the vendor, but I suspect that they may be the same as the one that you found. Looks like disappearing XW slider caps are the modern equivalent to the disappearing volume/ chorus slider caps on the big CZ synths!

Using a logic process - the computer recognizes the keyboard, the DAW software recognizes and works fine with the keyboard, but a specific piece of software doesn't? The conclusion I would draw is that the specific software is the issue, not the keyboard. The computer recognizes it and the DAW recognizes it, therefore it's working fine. This sounds more of a setting or compatibility issue with Sibelius. Have you tried contacting Sibelius/ Avid for support also? It might be an issue that they're aware of, or they might have the answer to your dilemma. Also worth bearing in mind that if it's an issue between Sibelius and class compliant USB, buying another keyboard will only show that it also won't work with another model of keyboard. Do you have access to another USB keyboard that you can try with your software so that you can see if the issue is with the CT-S200, or actually with USB MIDI and the software?

Can confirm, the MT600 is a preset version of the HT 700/ Spectrum Dynamics series of Casios. Interestingly, it still has the HT analogue filter onboard, but no way of accessing it/ controlling it from the MT's front panel. However, the same mod that takes greater control of the HT model's filter by adding external potentiometers can also be applied to the MT600. 👍

I use my CT-S300 connected via USB to my computer DAW (Mixcraft Pro Studio 9) and it registers and works absolutely fine. Records MIDI perfectly, and I can switch between piano roll and music score and everything displays as it should. It sounds to me that you aren't arming the track correctly in your software to record. As Brad says, this appears more a software/ software useage issue, especially as your computer is already recognizing the Casio. Make sure you are arming your software to record a MIDI track too, not just an audio track.

I've only ever sold/ parted with one of my Casios, and that was only because it was a duplicate that I bought simply to poach one of its knobs from to complete the set on the same model I already had that was missing one (my CT 403). Asides from giving mine a complete set, the one I sold fetched 6 times what I originally paid for it thanks to an eBay bidding war! Saying that, if this yet to be announced 'studio' based CT-S model ticks all the boxes, I would seriously consider part exchanging my current CT-S300 for one!

The HT6000 is the only HT/ HZ model to have fully polyphonic filters (the others are paraphonic). This means that the HT6000 doesn't retrigger an active filter upon subsequent key presses. I wonder if this might be part of the behaviour you describe?

Kris is still pretty active, though he's not done much Casio related videos of late. I think partly because he's currently sponsored by Williams Pianos, so he has an obligation to feature them more: https://youtube.com/c/KMNKeyboardVault

Always worth pointing out that the MZ2000 also has a surprisingly good synth section with a very sweet sounding DSP resonant filter. I programmed some Moog style payches into mine that could literally shake foundations!

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on acquiring an MZ2000. Two decades later they're still quite spectacular in their sound and features, and still look like something off the command deck of a space ship! I haven't experienced the noisy speaker grill issue you have with my own MZ, so can't offer any experience in this matter. Can you take and post a picture of your offending grill, and specifically the area of the gauze that you hold down to stop the noise? I could compare it with mine to see if there is anything visually amiss with yours.

@sirio174- please add your sighting to this thread 👍

@IanB- I believe that the Germans actually call them "RIFA Bombs"! 😂

FWIW, my Casio CT403 had an annoying output hum, and one day a RIFA film capacitor near the PSU decided to commit suicide in quite a spectacular fashion - lots of smoke and the 403 dying on me! I replaced the RIFA capacitor with a better quality item and not only did that bring the 403 back to life, it also eradicated the output hum. No idea if the CT 6500 uses RIFA capacitors, but if it does it might be a good idea to replace them as they're known for going pop as they age. With my CT403, the magic smoke about to be released was because of a dying RIFA capacitor. And the electronics smell is a combination of hot plastic, solder and heatsink paste 😉

Wow, impressive how you managed to get your foot pedal to trigger the XW that way as well as getting those Oberheim, MiniMoog and Moog Taurus sounds! And as a bassist and (massive) Rush fan myself, that's some epic bass playing there too. Geddy would be proud of you!

Antonio, check my previous post (quoted above) with a PDF link to the Casio_Casiotone_CT601 CT701 Text book file. It includes electrical rather than circuit board diagrams, but it shows you what you should be looking for/ testing in most of the main circuits.

Here's a mention of the "illegal waveform" combinations in a Sound on Sound review of Virtual CZ: "but it provides numerous facilities that the CZs didn’t, and its ability to use the ‘illegal’ waveform combinations makes a whole new range of sounds possible. However, the authors stopped short of recreating the so-called ‘hidden waveforms’ that you can squeeze out of a CZ if you use SysEx to force it to do naughty things." https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/oli-larkin-virtual-cz

Virtual CZ has a parameter/ patch randomizer function: https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/4-synth/1158-virtualcz As for the CZ101/ 1000's internal/ user bank, unless power is constantly supplied to the RAM via either batteries or DC power supply, the data is lost when powered off. The era of RAM used in the CZ does not retain data without power, and when power is lost it likely scrambles the values. The reset button underneath a 101/ 1000 is as close to a "factory reset" that you can get with a CZ. The "internal" presets are stored in ROM somewhere on the CZ's main board, and from new or when the reset button is pressed, these are loaded into the internal RAM overwriting any previous data. The ROM obviously never loses its data, but those ROM presets are only accessible when loaded into the internal preset RAM. There's also a quirk from when the internal memory gets scrambled because sometimes the scrambling caused illegal values to be present (numbers that are out of the CZ's allowed range). IIRC, some external programmers can also transfer "illegal" values to generate some weird patches that wouldn't otherwise be possible from the CZ's front panel.

I finally completed and uploaded Part 3. This time I investigated using a budget effects unit to expand and enhance the SA-76's already good sound. And as I keep finding with this SA-76 journey, the more I explored, the more I discovered it could do. The V-Amp can take the SA-76 to greater, and sonically impressive heights. Some of the sounds I could produce wouldn't be out of place on big studio hit record recordings!

As Ian says, the CT6000 is a very different beast to the CT6500. The Casio model numbers are confusing, because the CT6000 and the CT7000 are partly related and use the same Consonant Vowel synthesis engine (though greatly expanded in the CT6000). Meanwhile, the CT6500 that sits in between these models numerically, is entirely different as it uses Phase Distortion, as per the CZs. To confuse matters further, the CT6000 has MIDI, albeit in a very primitive form. In fact, I believe that the 6000 may have been the first Casio home keyboard to be fitted with MIDI. As such, many see the 6000 with MIDI and its advanced features (velocity and after touch!), plus with it being released in late 1984 just prior to the CZ range, and assume that it's related to the CZ series. In fact, it traces its lineage back to the first Casiotone model of 1980, the CT201 as well as many early eighties Casio models. As far as the CT6000's MIDI is concerned, I believe it can only send and receive note on, off and velocity, plus pitch bend and modulation/ after touch. I don't have the user guide for my CT6000 so cannot confirm its exact MIDI implementation.

How are you connecting the keyboard to your laptop? Are you using an interface? Going by the age of the AP model, it will have 5 pin MIDI sockets as it's almost certainly pre-USB. How are you connecting your keyboard to the laptop with the 5 pin MIDI DIN cables?