Chas

Pfft, they look more like something out of a bathroom accessory catalogue being all white! Plus white gets grubby so quick, which doesn't look cool! I much prefer my Casios with the dark cases. The VZ-1 just looks so sleek, understated and stylish in black, and the CZ-1 looks futuristic with the coloured parameter keys contrasting with the black casing. The CZ, like the MZ2000, looks like it should be on the control deck of a spaceship! VZ-1 CZ-1

Can I also add to the above that I've played some songs I've written and recorded, entirely on Casios, to some of my 'synth snob' friends. They know I also have VST synths, as well as a Roland JX3P and a Korg DW8000, so I didn't tell them what instrument was used on the recordings. Until after they said they thought the sounds were excellent, and THEN I told them... "That was done by a CASIO? No f**king way...", is quite often the response I get. The biggest shock they get is when I show them my HT700. Looks like a Casio mini key toy, but it uses PCM waves fed through the onboard analogue filter. It can sound VERY analogue at times, especially when you up the resonance and start sweeping the filter. I also played them a track using sounds from the XW-P1, similar response! Initially they thought I was joking and had used something else but no, these were the Casios singing to them. Slowly but surely I'm trying to break down the prejudice...

Hohner HS2E, appears to be the Hohner version of the VZ10M/ VZ8M, which was the rack version of the Casio VZ-1. A Hohner version of the Casio VZ-1 ROM card. Hohner HS1E - Hohners version of the FZ10M/ FZ20M (Casios rack version of the FZ-1) Hohner KS-61, Hohner version of the Casio HT3000 (very few pics on the 'net. Maybe this model is very rare?)

"In the 1980s, several Casio synths were sold under the Hohner brand - for example, the Casio HT-3000/Hohner KS61midi and the VZ-1/HS2" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohner I've also seen on Ebay the HT700 available in a white case and branded as 'Hohner'. I wonder how many other Hohner Casios there were?

Without knowing the sales figures it is pure speculation, though maybe the XW's simply didn't sell well in the UK and Casio UK have decided it's not worth importing them? With the size of a company like Casio I would find that surprising that they would stop supplying such an important product. Then again, I haven't heard much about other UK owners of XW's so just maybe they haven't caught on in the UK. This might be because UK synth owners are some of the snobbiest I've ever met, with most still looking down their noses at anything with 'Casio' written on it. I get it all the time, and even when you try and explain how good and powerful some Casios are they just don't want to believe it. In other parts of the World, Casio seems to generate a lot more respect from synth players hence the XW series possibly selling better in those markets.

Casio did the same thing in Germany, with many of their products being re-branded as 'Hohner' and often in a white case.

Now I am COMPLETELY stumped! The problem with many modern keyboards as that they can sound so varied. Unlike a few years (decades) ago, when it was so easy to pick out synths like Moogs/ ARPs/ Oberheims etc. as each manufacturer/ model had very distinctive sonic characteristics. Now days, much harder. As such, I really have no idea!

I always keep an eye on what the trend is regarding a lot of my equipment, including my XW's. I bought my P1 just over a year ago (at the then bargain price of £300), then before Xmas 2013 I saw my G1 for sale by a private seller, used but almost showroom condition, boxed with manuals, for £170 (ish - I forget the exact price). I snapped it up as it was somewhat a bargain, then shortly after I saw both the P1 and G1 for sale online (in the UK) at the blow-out £199. Originally I was going to wait until after Xmas to get my G1 figuring that some people would get them as 'unwanted gifts' and there would be a glut of them for sale in the post Xmas 'need to sell off gear to pay bills' period. Even more so after the £199 prices the last units were selling at. I'm glad I didn't wait, as the post Xmas XW glut doesn't appear to have happened. If anything, the availability of both XW's has dried up, other than a few being sold new at the higher prices by some dealers. Also noticeable is that very few private sales seem to be coming up since Xmas, which surprised me as I was expecting a lot of those who bought them at blow-out prices may have changed their minds and decided to sell them on. In the UK at least, it looks like new stocks of XW's are drying up, and used items also seem to have dried up also. What does that mean? Well, I can only conclude that new stock is not being replenished, hence many thinking that the XW is being discontinued in the UK. As for used? Looks to me that the XW's have fallen into the hands of those that really wanted them, and have been bought by those buyers that have now been converted after acquiring one. At the blow out price of £199 there is/ was nothing that comes even close to the power of the XW's, and even at £300 they were in a class of their own. Those that have XW's now mostly seem to love the power and features and have no intention of selling them on. I certainly wouldn't even dream of selling my XW's and they are here to stay with me. I wonder what the situation is with the future of new XW's, certainly in the UK?

I've listened to the clip a number of times, but can't make up my mind which is which. I'm slightly leaning towards keyboard one being the PX5S simply because it has slightly more depth in the sound. Keyboard two has more of a vibrato/ chorus effect, which makes it slightly harder to focus on the pure tone. Either way, it shows how good the MZ2000 is by the way it can stand up to a flagship board a decade newer!

There's one on Ebay right now, currently at less than £100 GBP though with the 'reserve not met'. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Casio-MZ-2000-Keyboard-Arranger-61-Keys-Touch-Sensitive-/191045556965?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Keyboard_RL&hash=item2c7b33dae5 The MZ was also Casio's flagship keyboard at the turn on the millennium. It was a serious, professional arranger/ workstation keyboard costing over £1000. Some of the sounds it is still capable of are fantastic, and I am certainly holding on to mine. They CAN be picked up for bargain prices as they are relatively unknown, and the usual 'synth snobbery' stops many people from having one simply because of the Casio name. Well, the joke's on them for sure, as this is one very powerful keyboard. Try layering some of the 'MG' (read 'Moog') sounds in two oscillators, detune one slightly and then play around with the cut off and resonance. Be prepared to be impressed!

I'd like to play the matching watch and synth game too! Here's my G1 with my trusty, matching (sort of) Casio DW-280 Divers Watch. I've had this watch since approx. 1996/7, and it's only just on its second battery. It's been all over Europe, the USA, Canada and Mexico, plus it has been in the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, English Channel and North Sea. It's also been bashed, dropped and scraped yet still it works and keeps good time. Been through a few straps over the years (they eventually disintegrate). Even the back-light still works. Casio engineering at its best!

And me too!

Perhaps many manufacturers know that individuals have personal preferences for 'touch screens' (i.e. tablets), therefore allowing third party screens to be used makes a lot of sense. It also means it's far easier to upgrade the 'screen' (tablet) for when newer technology comes out (increasing the instruments longevity), and means that the XW's could be manufactured and sold at very competitive prices in the first place. Casio didn't design that big black rubber pad area just as a coffee cup holder, they were quite clever in their thinking! What I think Casio SHOULD be doing is producing their own apps for the various platforms. Though the ipad has some, decent controller apps for the Android platform are seriously lacking, which is strange when you take into account the size of the Android user base. Casio should be trying to capture that market by producing their own apps for the various tablets and their platforms. This in my opinion would make the XW's even more attractive and accessible via modern technology, something that is increasingly important in today's electronic market.

Sorry for the delay in replying Brad, the past few weeks have been a bit crazy. Ah, yes, there is. It's in the second bank (no.12), called 'Percussion II'. I feel stupid now, it was staring at me in the face all along...! I shall do this as soon as I get a free moment. Should be easy enough to record a stereo in to my PC from the MT750 and record each percussion sound on one .wav file for you. Bear with me, I've hardly had a chance to touch any of my Casios lately I believe you are most probably correct. It's nice to think that my CTK1000 is somehow unique in its sound generation, though in reality a company like Casio is unlikely to make a one off instrument and never use the technology for anything else (VZ and FZ models excluded!) Funny though how they came up with the 'IXA Sound Source' name and didn't use it on anything else, despite the technology obviously being used. Mind you, the 'ZPI Sounds Source' name on the MZ2000, was that mentioned on any other Casio keyboards? Still, the CTK1000 certainly does sound good for a 'home' keyboard and is a worthy addition to my collection. I do wish Casio would do a timeline on their models, the technology used and how they were developed. It would make very interesting reading.

Scott, is this yours? This must be the rarest Casio of all - I've never, ever seen one for sale in the UK!

Yup, totally agree. Plus another addition: Make the XW's knobs and sliders able to be assigned to give real time 'CC' control over the CZ's parameters. That's something else CZ lovers have been asking for too, and would make it a fantastic performance keyboard almost akin to a Roland JD800. Come on Casio, there's a big opportunity waiting here!

Yes to all the above! XW-MINI would be fantastic, and would sit very nicely alongside my CZ101 and HT700! Super portable and super powerful - big YES! As for a new CZ synth, no real need as modern digital synths are much more powerful and can go way beyond PD, though there's no denying that PD has a character all of its own. What WOULD have been good would have been if Casio incorporated a 'CZ sound engine' within the XW's circuit. Heck, the CZ's being digital can be emulated in software even. This CZ mode would accept original CZ data, and could be programmed the same way with those wonderful 8 stage envelopes. Best of both worlds, and nod to Casios CZ legacy.

You can buy patches off Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Casio-CZ-1-CZ-101-CZ-1000-CZ-3000-CZ-5000-Download-Sounds-/121140878074?pt=US_Computer_Recording_Software&hash=item1c348f1afa And you can join the Yahoo CZ group, which has a lot of resources and free downloads: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CZ-VZ-Files/info Or play with the buttons and make your own

I voted standing, only because I have no room for a chair...!

The best bargains on Ebay are the 'collection only' auctions, especially when they are in somewhat remote locations. Located in London, or any big city, there will always be nearby buyers so it's hard to get a bargain. Outside of London, especially 75 to 100 miles away, the number of interested buyers decreases dramatically. Plus many people are just too lazy to travel! That's how I got my VZ-1 (located about 75 miles north of London), and also how I got my MZ2000 for just over £100 (an absolute steal). My MZ was located in Portsmouth, around 100 miles for me to drive from where I live in NW London. There was only one other bidder! If you are prepared to travel the bargains are out there

I'd also like to see more compatibility with Android tablets and the Android O/S. I know the XW's work well with ipads, but many of us don't have these or any other apple products. Considering the market share that Android has for the tablet and 'phone market, making that extra special effort to support Android devices may open up a lot more doors and attract more buyers. Saying all this, and I know it would increase the price a lot, but instead of the rubber pad how about building in a touch screen 'tablet' screen to give us a built in data editor? And I know it's not the done thing these days, except in modern real analogue synths (DS MOFO, Moog Voyager, Novation Bass Station 2 etc.), but I would LOVE to see Casio incorporate a real self oscillating Voltage Controlled Filter into the XW, perhaps a 'Ladder Style' filter ala MOOG (one can but dream!). Mainly for the solo-synth section, though even a single, global, VCF filter would work wonders in the HEX Layer/ PCM sections. We could still keep the digital filters, but have the alternative of the VCF to give the XW a real analogue style kick.

Brad, I've not had a chance to fiddle around much with the MT750 yet, let alone open it up. As to the year, I suspect it is very early 1990's seeing as the the re-released Paula Abdul song 'The way that you love me' was a hit in Autumn 1989: "In the autumn of 1989 in the US, "The Way That You Love Me" was rereleased in its original edit. This time, it became a huge success, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 2, 1989, blocked from the top by Milli Vanilli's "Blame It On The Rain." It was subsequently included as the demonstration song on several Casio keyboards (e.g. CT-670 ToneBank Keyboard)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(It's_Just)_The_Way_That_You_Love_Me As for a Casio timeline, there are a few sites on the web discussing and documenting older Casios, though how accurate some are is anyone's guess. This one is quite good: http://generror.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/history-of-casio-keyboards-1/ However, they claim that the HT series uses 'Consonant Vowel', which is not true as they use 'Spectrum Dynamics', which is just a fancy way of saying Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). The HT's even say 'Pulse Code Modulation' on their cases! Plenty of information regarding the first Casios and those through the 80's, though very little of the 1990's models. My suspicion is that most 90's Casios used PCM based sounds up until the MZ2000. As for sampling the drum samples off the MT750 I can try. What is weird is that across the case, above the key bed, are little logos of the various drum and percussion instruments. On my HT700, which has similar logos across the case, these show you which keys trigger the specific drums/ percussion when recording a new pattern. However, the MT750 has non programmable drums and no apparent way of playing the drums individually. I even managed to download an MT750 user manual and still nothing about how to play the drums on their own. It almost appears that these drum logos on the case are merely decorative. Weird. What what way do you think is best to sample the drums? Straight into the computer? Or use the XW-G1? It will be a lot easier if I can get the samples on the computer for editing purpose as I suspect I will have to sample a drum track and then pick out the individual drums. Also, I am very green when it comes to sampling (I have a lot to learn!) Let me know what way is best and if I can do it that way, I will. BTW, there's some weird speculation regarding the CTK1000 model and it's sound generation. Some reckon it was Casio's next development step after the VZ series, but the Yamaha lawsuit caused them to pull out of the pro synth market. Instead, some speculate that Casio stuffed this new technology into the CTK1000, called it the 'IXA sound source' and then gave up on it and just concentrated on home keyboards. Apparently it doesn't sound like any of the other CTK models despite sharing the 'CTK' name. Some discussion here: http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33140 Anyway, let me know what way you think would be best for me to sample the drums off the MT750. Cheers!

Those look great HappyRat, except shipping to the UK (plus import charges) would make them a bit pricey

Sounds like an excellent idea, and as there doesn't seem to be any other XW specific covers available this is a great alternative. There are some generic dust covers on Ebay, though the aren't exactly cheap. Your idea sound far more cost effective Jokeyman, and you are right that they will probably last a lot longer than the wafer thin vinyl covers. Saying that, the genuine Casio cover I have appears to be a lot stronger than it initially feels, a shame that Casio appear to have discontinued them. I also had a quick look on Ebay for "naugahyde", and it doesn't appear to be available in the UK. There are plenty of suppliers for 'leatherette', which looks to be similar. I may well pick some up and get the old needle and thread out for some custom XW dust covers