piano_71

Well, I loaded up the data editor, but it looks to work differently than the PX-5S. Either that or I have a problem. The keyboard is connected via USB. But when I go to the "transfer" section, the right pane doesn't view performances, solo synth patches, etc. that are already on the keyboard. It shows a blank list. Already tried closing / reopening the data editor, powering the keyboard off and on again, etc. Am I missing anything else? Or does the XW-P1 data editor work differently from that of the PX-5S?

Oh, and it appears that what the update process does is put the XW-P1 in a special mode that mounts a virtual USB disk to the operating system. I noticed during the update that some "Casio" drive appeared temporarily on my system, but then it unmounted when the firmware update completed. I didn't have a peek at what was on the virtual drive, as I thought it best to leave the update process alone and not do anything that would interfere with it. Maybe that was how it could make the necessary changes without downloading a large image to the synth...?

I just updated my XW-P1 to version 1.11 successfully, though I was rather stressed out while doing it due to the reports in this thread. I disabled AVAST! Antivirus active protections before starting the updater. My computer is running Windows 7 (64-bit). I freaked out when the updater was running because I noticed the updater was only 45KB in size. (The entire firmware of the XW-P1 fits in less than 45KB?!? It didn't appear to read the existing firmware into RAM and patch it before sending it back. Or maybe it did and I didn't notice?) Fortunately, all was well at the end of my update. The synth came up on firmware version 1.11 (no clear screen of death). Whew...

I went and read that other thread, and that is what I got out of it: The "B" version only plays up to C5 and is used for creating bass sounds with lots of harmonics. The "L" version sounds an octave lower than played. It covers the entire keyboard, but if transposed up an octave, aliasing artifacts appear in the higher range. A quick 'n' dirty test for aliasing is to pitch-bend the sound. If there are any sounds other than a smooth glide up/down in pitch (such as timbre variations or overtones moving in an opposite direction), those are aliasing artifacts. These artifacts are unavoidable in a digital system because of the way PCM digital audio works. It would seem the normal waveform is the one to use, unless you find aliasing artifacts; then switch to the "L" or "B" version as appropriate.

I was looking over the list of waveforms for the Solo Synth (p.10 of the appendix manual) and see the usual waveforms (sine, triangle, square, sawtooth), but each one has three variations - the waveform itself, then -L and -B. This is true of the XW-P1's native waveforms, plus the ones sampled from other synths (such as the CZ waveforms). But what do these -L and -B suffixes mean? When would you use one vs. the others?

The new sounds are in the download section. Mike Martin put them up around 9:30AM.

Chas - I already have the tablet. Though if I find a screaming deal on a used XW-G1 ... I may get one someday. Not many showing up on the used market where I live though.

I shouldn't have watched that video with Mike Martin demonstrating the Midi Designer iPad app! That triggered GAS / retail therapy, and I just ordered one! Finding the XW-P1 on sale for $399 also influenced my decision. Though I already have the PX-5S, I like the idea of real-time knob-twiddling on the iPad with the XW-P1. That and the PX-5S doesn't have a 9-drawbar organ mode. Off to download manuals, firmware, editors, patches, etc. while I wait a week for it to get here...

BradMZ - I was mistaken about the sample size. I confused that with specs for a different keyboard (Yamaha MOXF8). I looked and looked but don't see any published specification for the size of the ROM data in the Casio PX-5S. That said, I still think it is likely more than 110MB given the quality of the piano samples. Unless someone here has dissected the firmware update file and discovered WAVE samples within...

Given that the update.bin file is ~110MB, while the piano sample alone is specified at ~732MB, I don't believe the firmware updates include the ROM-based samples for the keyboard. Sounds don't usually compress by more than 7:1. That would support my theory that the samples are in separate ROM. I'm guessing the March update could include firmware and stage settings, but the underlying ROM samples will remain the same as they can't be updated without physically replacing a chip/board?

That's correct. There are 100 slots for stage settings, but they're all used by the factory presets. If you want to create a custom stage setting, you'll have to overwrite one of the factory-provided ones. Supposedly, you can revert to the original (but I'm not sure how ... does 'initialize all' reinstall the factory stage setting? I'm not clear on this...). Sounds are different, in that 1/3 to 1/2 of each category (piano, E-piano, guitar, etc.) are unassigned.

I just got a PX-5S a day ago. I haven't hooked it up to my computer yet, but I was thinking that I'd like to build a stage setting for harpsichord, to expand upon the 2-3 built-in patches for harpsichord sounds that exist. Harpsichords normally have up to four ranks of strings: 16', 8', 8', 4'. Much like organ stops, that means 8' is at exact pitch, 16' an octave lower, 4' an octave higher. Usually, 16' and 8' are playable separately or coupled on one manual, and then 8' and 4' are playable separately or coupled on the other manual. Optionally, manuals can be coupled together, making it possible to double the 8', combine 16' and 4', or any other combination. (Though it's physically hard to play when all four ranks of strings are engaged.) In addition, some harpsichords offer a lute stop, which dampens the strings, resulting in a more lute / guitar-like sound. Others have a "nasale" stop, which imparts a more nasal tone (not sure how this works, as I haven't seen an acoustic harpsichord with these). So then I got to thinking: what can hex layers do with this? I was thinking that mapping the 6 sliders could control volume levels of the following: 16' (harpsichord patch played an octave down) 8' (manual 1) 8' (manual 2) 4' (harpsichord patch played an octave up) 8' lute (tweak harpsichord patch envelope/settings for more guitar-like sound) 8' nasale (tweak harpsichord patch envelope/settings for nasal tone) And then it would be possible to "couple" these by adjusting relative levels of the sliders, resulting in more flexibility than a real harpsichord. Since I'm new to this keyboard, maybe this reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how it works ... but is something like this do-able?