Rudolph R-N R

@ ShadOwfax, yeah, I have already owned a MZ-X500 for over a year and it was very reliable, so I'm not worried about it, esp at this price. You mentioned in your glowing review of the X300 that the X300 was avalable thru Amazon in Europe. I did a search, but didn't come up with anything. What is the web address to Amazon selling the MZ-X300 at a good price? I'm thinking it'd be easier to pay for the keyboard being that I'm an Amazon Prime member here in the United States. @ Brad, yes, the keyboard would be shipping from Germany to California

And will I have a warranty?

My MZ-X500 was stolen and I'm trying now to buy one from MusicStore.de in Germany. Would it use my 120VAC power supply that I used for my MZ-X500? Seems like it should, cause whether its 120VAC (USA) or 240VAC (Europe), it's being converted to 24 volts DC by the power supply.

@ Casio CTK, Wow, nevrer thought of ordering from Europe. Frys here in the US had them for $350, but they won't ship, in store pickup only. Will check that out, but I'm guessing I'd have to go without a warranty, I believe warraanties are only honored in the country they were bought in. @Jokeyman123, Thanks,, but I had a WK7600 and hated it. The keybed was not good, esp over tiime, induced sloppy playing, and the sounds were sub par, and the speaker system was really underpowered. But it does have 76 keys, a valued rarity.. Yeah, I got my original X-500 for $780 (!), in new conditiion from Music 123, haven't seen a deal as good as that since.

Thanks Brad, controlling the volume from the iPad is a non-starter, with most iOS music apps its nearly impossible to do it quickly in the heat of the moment. I used the volume knob on my Korg PlugKey all the time. Thanks vbdx66, good to hear about the keybed. I thought I had found a source in the US for an MZ-X300, but for some reason they don't ship. Will look into seeing if I can order one from Europe. Funny thing, years ago I owned a Korg PA50, really enjoyed it!

My beloved X500 was stolen some weeks ago. Have since been using a 49 note controller. Not happy. 61 is the minimum number of keys I like, so 49 is just too few. But beyond that I was getting AMAZING sound quality by combining the X500's sounds with my iPad sounds. Using a Korg PlugKey, I even had a discrete volume control for the iPad sounds on the music rest. Add the great speakers on the X500, etc., I was very happy with my portable setup. So, now back to square one. Don't have the money for another x500 or even a x300. My price range $300-$600, may a little more. Here's what I need and want, looking for recommendations for used gear: My must-haves features: - MIDI jacks - Audio input - Mic input - Powerful speakers - Decent keybed that plays well towards the back of the keys My would-like-to-have features: - 76 keys - Knobs / sliders for real-time adjustments - Lightweight (15-20 pounds) - Friendly user interface for the basics - Expression pedal input, not just sustain - Very good sounds I know this is a forum for the X300/500, and I would rather be playing one of those, but don't have the funds. And I know many of you have other arranger boards, so a recommendation of a used board would be much appreciated. Thanks, Randy

Hi, my MZ-X500 was stolen, so I'm looking for a reasonably priced alternative, probably used, don't have much money I was wondering about control of the volume of the Audio In port. With my MZ-X500, it had MIDI ports, so I could use a Korg PlugKey, which has a volume knob on it, fantastic for setting the volume of the audio coming from the iPad and going to the Audio In of the keyboard. The X5000 does not have MIDI ports, so how do I control the volume of the iPad sounds (which I assume would be coming from the iPad headphone out) going into the X5000? Also- how does the keybed feel compared the MZ-X500? I thought the X500 keybed was decent, serviceable, am worried the CT-X5000 would be a step down in playability. Thanks

Well, take it for what its worth. I’ve had a Yamaha XS7, their workstation that came out in 2007. I’ve had arranger keyboards from Yamaha, Casio and Korg, a Nord Stage Classic, and now the MZ-X500. I was surprised at how blah I felt about Yamaha’s top of the line workstation at the time, loved the keybed but the sounds mostly didn’t move me. Really enjoyed the Yamaha and Korg arrangers with built-in speakers, though I wasn’t focused on sound quality at the time. The Nord Stage was and is a real treat, nice to be playing a weighted action, with aftertouch, and for the most part I really liked the sounds, instead of having to audition hundreds upon hundreds of sounds and try to make out which were the best, I just mostly like almost everything, and needed fewer sounds to achieve musical satisfaction. But along the way it became a matter of educating my hearing and taste. What does a real organ, or Electric Piano, or synthesizer or good piano sound like? A good Leslie effect? And all the other effects. For example, one of the things I hated about the WK7600 was the reverbs and chorus effects were miserable, just bad sounding. Whereas on the X500, they’re really pretty decent. I’m still learning what a real organ can sound like, but playing with the Galileo 2 ipad app is getting me closer. Some of it is that there’s literally dozens of parameters you can change, and part of it is they have really good effects. And, beyond the quality of the organ sounds there’s having organ chops! It’s not a piano! Same with Neo Soul Cafe. I’ve never played a real electric piano, but my Nord Stage warmed me up to what that could be like, and now with this ipad app its like, wow, the level of expressiveness is just outstanding, very satisfying to play, and once again, the onboard effects are top notch, very vintage. And finally the ipad app Syntronik. I still haven’t wrapped my head around it other than its just blowing my mind! For one thing, many of the sounds are so out of this world, like nothing I’ve played before, the depth and soaring capabilities just blow me away. But its a steep learning curve, because I haven’t played these sounds before (at least very much), I have to learn new ways of injecting them into the music, which is great. I don’t want to be wallpaper, I want to be heard, but not to shock or be outlandish, but deeply expressive. It’s a challenge though, so many of them have a screeching, fizzy high end that is just way too much, cutoff filter and EQ needed for my taste! I’ve purposefully limited myself to just a few apps, its a lot of work learning each one! I haven’t really figured out how to do anything more basic than playing one or two sounds at once from the ipad while playing the X500, but the combination of the X500 and just one or two of these sounds has been pure bliss! Randy

OK, didn’t know that. I really don’t know why Casio developed such powerful layering technology and didn’t finish the job, it’s their claim to sonic fame as you say. For starters, most of the hex layers are for EDM, which is not for the vast majority of users beyond a novelty factor I’m guessing. So developing a much larger starter library of factory made hex layers for a broader audience would have been incredible, hex layers are amazing. Another thing is that Hex Layers are inherently difficult to use without having ONE screen that tells you basic information for all 6 layers: - The name of the sound used for each layer - How its mapped across the keyboard - Velocity levels it responds to Without this information in front of you, how does anyone remember more than a few of how they are laid out? Most people don’t have a photographic memory. It would have to cram a lot of well-laid out info on one screen, but it’d make all the difference in the world, those six sliders would be a path to musical satisfaction! The other thing, is that the same principle applies to creating Hex Layers. There’s some inherently good things about how its set up now, but man oh man, with an ipad editor, creating hex layers and a whole community of hex layer creators would be a slam dunk! And why not Casio? You can carry all that work on those hex layers over to your next keyboard, but first you’ve got to make them accessible to your end users!

Damn! My beloved X500 hums/screams (as in embarrassingly loud) when I plug the left output into a speaker. It doesn’t do this thru the onboard speakers or when I use the same cord out of the right output. As it is, I sometimes only need 1 output, as I use the onboard speakers plus a mono speaker (QSC K8.2). However other times I go stereo out from the board into a stereo speaker, so having a stereo out is needed. And, I wouldn’t want to go thru the headphone output (haven’t tried it yet), I really like the sound when the onboard stereo speakers are balanced with an external speaker. EDIT: wasn’t thinking when I wrote this last night. I live in San Francisco and don’t want to ship the board out for servicing, so was looking for recommendations for the bay area. Out of curiosity, have any of you opened up your boards? I’m thinking maybe this is as simple as a wire that has come loose. In other news, I’ve been attempting to use the x500 as a controller for various ipad apps. It’s very.... confusing! All I’VE really made out is that the X500 is not much of a controller, you’ve only got pitch/mod/k1&2/and foot pedals that can send CCs. And that it transmits on 3 channels. (Is that right?)? This is why people buy controller keyboards, so that you’ve got the volume and control knobs/switches to manage all the sonic goodness these ipad apps have to offer. Gives me an appreciation for the groundwork done by keyboard makers to create accessible, user friendly music creation tools! Randy

I had a WK7600. Grew to detest the sounds, pissed me off. My biggest concern in getting the MZ-X500 was if there’d be a sound quality improvement. The X300 has the same sounds as the X500. Glad to say, contrasting to Chillwalkers 1 day evaluation, I really enjoy the sounds on the X500. It’s a pretty sweet package altogether. The speakers rock on it, many jam sessions don’t need an extra amp, and the sound quality it even greater with the Hex Layers (though it’s a shame they didn’t optimize the user interface to make seeing and layering 6 sounds at once more user friendly, a tall task). These days I use my ipad a lot for extra sounds, and its obvious that these apps sound better than the X500, but very few keyboards sound as good as these apps, and once I layer the X500 with the ipad, wowee, glorious sounds abound! I do think Casio missed an opportunity with the battery powered option being taken out on the CT-X5000. They could have disabled the onboard speaker sound when powering from batteries, the X5000 would make a sweet portable board!

In another forum, MusicPlayers.com > Keyboard forums, I posted the same question, and here is a response: ================================================================ I had the same issue with IOS 12.1 and Korg Plug Key but with my Novation SL49 MkI. I use the same IoS apps that you do - Neo Soul Keys, Syntronik and a bunch of others. I downloaded Ravenscroft IoS and it didn't work immediately for the reasons of not recognizing my controller and the other apps did. I switched controller to my Roland FA-07 MIDI output and that seemed to work with all of the MIDI channels open in Ravenscroft, I believe. Then I put the Novation back in and tweaked some things - don't remember what exactly, and got it to work on the iPad. I actually just sold my Novation controller on Saturday and am in the midst of buying something else right now, so I can't go and play with that anymore to give you settings. ===================================================== So, it appears it has something to do with the Casios settings. I have never changed anything in the Casio MIDI settings. It’s set to KEYBOARD CHANNEL: 1, MIDI OUT/THRU: OUT. The registration I’ve selected has all 4 Tones turned on. From past experience I know that the 4 Tones in a registration correspond to at least 3 MIDI channels, and toggling on/off the Tones turns on/off these MIDI outs. Its not completely clear from his post- he said that Ravenscroft didn’t recognize his controller (in my tests, using both the Korg PlugKey and the Apple Camera Connection Kit, the Ravenscroft app did recognize, in the MIDI IN settings, that I was using one of those two interfaces), but it sounds like he doesn’t remember exactly. Randy

Deleted

Yes. There’s a setting page, and when I have the apple camera kit or the Korg PlugKey connected, it says CASIO USB MIDI, or. KORG PLUGKEY , respectively. I make sure to highlight/select that option (the other default option is NETWORK SESSION, which comes up even with nothing attached).

On another forum I found out about the half off sale for Ravenscroft 275 piano. Have REALLY been loving iOS music programs like Neo Soul Keys, Syntronik, Galileo II, etc., so I was eager to try it out. But for some reason I haven’t been able to get the app to receive my X500’s MIDI signal. I can play the app with the onscreen keyboard, but it doesn’t respond to the X500. I’ve tried it with the Korg PlugKey, which is my usual interface, as well as the Apple Camera Connection cables. After failing to get it to work, I switch over to any of the above music apps, and they work immediately. The support team at UVI suggested I made sure the active MIDI input was set to Korg PlugKey, which it was, and suggested I select all 16 MIdI channels in the app, which I tried. None of it has worked. AFAIK, the X500 transmits on 3 MIDI channels. This piano is capable of having a split keyboard, but at this point I’m running it just as 1 keyboard, which of course would only use 1 MIDI channel. I have changed none of the MIDI settings in the X500, so I assume I’m still transmitting at least on MIDI channel 1. Any thoughts why this isn’t working? Thanks, Randy

Allanon, I very much agree, there’s some really basic software improvements that would go a long ways. - Cool idea to switch on/off parts/channel using the pads! Examples please. Do you mean like with some Yamaha workstations where you can switch on/off 16 different sounds using hardware buttons? - Drawbars to adjust 4 parts volume without going to mixer? How would this be done? At the very least the Mixer page needs to be on the first screen, instead of having to scroll to the second screen. In the course of editing or performing, I’m using the Mixer page a lot, and it makes no sense that there’s a dedicated hardware button to access Tones, PLUS they put access to the Tone page on that first screen. - What is it about the sequencer that is not working for you? - More flexibility to assign and use DSPs: once again, how would you have this implemented? I suppose cost restraints made this decision, but only having 2 DSPs instead of 4 makes things harder. I’d love to see a moderated thread for these kinds of suggestions. I suppose there might be some trickle down to Casio from the many threads on improvements to the MZ-X, but what if there was one thread that was moderated by Brad? Much better chance of Casio looking at it and not having to go thru so many threads - Only firmware improvements, not ideas for a next generation board - Basic guidelines laid out for how to format our suggestions Randy

@ Brownysweet, That’s great that you love this board all the more after a year. Yes, you spend tweak time and you are richly rewarded with this board. Just a thought, but I’d find your post more enjoyable if you didn’t write in all caps and you broke it up into paragraphs.

Mullhull Thanks for trying but those links don’t work. If you copy and paste either one here’s the true web address that comes up: http://www.casiomusicforums.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=1939 I went to eBay and did a search, didn’t find these bags using search from the url description. Randy

Casiokid,, Thanks again. The bag looks well made, good reviews, 3/4” padding, good size pouches, carrying handles that can be made long enough to carry around your head/shoulder. And a great price! It must be coming from Europe though (I’m in the US). I was in the process of ordering it and saw that the shipping is more than the bag costs! Still at $67 with shipping it might be the best I can find. Anyone else??? Randy

Very cool Casiokid! A cardboard case is perfect for a lightweight extra layer of protection! Did you duct tape that box together? And what keyboard bag is that??? Hopefully we’ll have the same in the US. Yeah, as much as I like the X500, the plastic construction leaves a lot to be desired. It has relatively flimsy pieces around the outside lower edges, and so far i’ve managed to break two small pieces along the front and back edges. And of course with the raised controls including the display, it’s all the more vulnerable. Randy

Hey, looking for a soft case for my MZ-X500. Have been scouring the web for this and it’s hard to find one that’ll fit. The dimensions of the MZ are: 37.4" W x 15.7" D x 5.9" H. Very few are that high and that deep. Don’t need wheels! Must haves: - reasonably thick padding - shoulder or backpack straps - decent ratings, many bags fail quickly because of zippers, mesh outer pockets, etc. Would like to have: - Under $100 - Internal straps to hold the keyboard in place if the bag is a little oversized Thanks, Randy

Sweet! So, how big are the samples?

Yes, while this is an awesome board overall, the lack of more than 2 DSPs/insert effects makes it challenging to work with sometimes For my purposes i don’t need DSP on the accompaniment side of things, just the 4 Tones, and having to re-assign the 2d DSP so it WILL work with the Tones is a hassle. But even more so, you save the DSP fx assignments to a Tone, and then you have to choose with each registration which 2 of the 4 Tones gets DSP. On the other hand, the quality of the delay, chorus and reverb are really good, and that of course goes a long ways. Every board has its limitations for a given price point, and overall the X500 hits it out of the park. Randy

Holy bejesus! The prices at current exchange rates from euros to dollars: X300: 300 euros= $369! In US: $900 X500: 700 euros= $861! In US: $1,100 Those are blow out prices, right? Didn’t they sell for more in the beginning? Usually prices in the states are much better than in Europe. This might also indicate that the x500 sold better than the x300 In the states the price difference is only $200, which for me makes the upgrade a no-brainer. With that kind of price jump, the X300 looks pretty sweet! Personally, i’d be bummed to have the x300 instead of the x500.

Pquenin There’s a thread on the CTX part of the forum comparing the psr 453 to the CTX line, and another comparing the mzx to the Ctx line. You might enjoy weighing in!