CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler

Great discovery! By case and even panel word lengths the "PRO-300" seems to be identical with the CT-770 (likely an US or Japenese release). The display is LED, not LCD. On Youtube I saw a demo of CT-770 (has various sustain, reverb and echo effects. Jazz organ sounds nice, rest is sample based). On Youtube I also saw a detailed video of a "PRO-100", which seems to be a rare CT-647 version with changed button colours. CT-647 was the only Casio with a strange letter button selection scheme called "Expert Logic". It has a chord training feature that resembles an Omnichord (i.e. only "harmonious" notes those fit to the sounding single finger chord can be played in melody section). But the sound is sample based and nothing overly great. (I own one and prefer the classic synthesized "PCM" engine known from SA-series.)

The SA-series is a softsynth on a chip that mixes all sounds in software. The chip has only a single audio output pin, so there are no hardware means to disable it. Bigger versions with no button click noise and the same sound engine (small changes like higher piano resolution, different rhythm set) are MA-220 (49 midsize keys), CT-400 (fullsize version) and CT-840 (49 fullsize keys, rom-pack, key lighting).

I would suspect that it is of 2013. But it also may be the date of development. Do they have firmware bug problems in old versions? Often factories produce the entire production within few months, then trash or retool the production machines and produce something else. Thats why unexpected well selling products get sold out and stay unavailable, unless demand is such high that the company decides to orders another batch. In real life that reissue is often a modified "successor", that may have only subtle software or case colour changes to suggest to be "new". Here are some general hints (from next WarrantyVoid FAQ) to identify manufacturing dates. case date stamps: To find out when an instrument was made, it can help to look for copyright dates in the manual, on the box printing or on ICs containing ROM software. But many keyboards also have their manufacturing date marked as numbers or paper stickers on the PCB or embossed into the inside of the plastic case. In plastic cases beside normal date stamps there are often number tables with dots in rows and columns. Here you see the most common type of this table that was used in later Casio keyboards. But also odd concentrical patterns exist, those resemble the hands of one or multiple clock faces and can be badly confusing. With Casio keyboards each table row stands for a year and each of the 12 columns for a month, but every table contains a lot of dots instead of only one. I first thought that these indicate the manufacturing and assembly dates of multiple components inside that particular keyboard specimen, but this makes not much sense because they are often spread among multiple years. Thus my theory how the dots come into being is the following: The manufacturer engraves a new dot into the tooling mould on the first day of every new month in that the mould is used to cast plastic cases. This way the last dot in a table indicates the month of the year in that this particular keyboard case was produced, while the others mark all previous months in those keyboard cases were made by the same mould. Thus the first dot indicates when the mould was used first time, which is often identical with the time when the keyboard model went into production. However because tooling moulds are extremely expensive devices, they tend to be re-used later (and sometimes modified in between) for manufacturing the cases of different keyboard models in the same mould, which makes the situation a bit ambiguous. Thus when there are multiple groups of dots separated by long pauses (e.g. a year) in the table, and the keyboard model had predecessors with the same outer case shape, then there is a high change that the earlier groups stem from those predecessors due to the mould was re-used. Also fine visible outline rims of non- existing openings (e.g. for additional controls, jacks or battery compartments) on the inner or outer case surface hint that it was casted in a re-used tooling mould from a predecessor that made use of them. But also the opposite is possible, namely that the expensive mould was designed from begin on for re-usability and therefore contains modular parts for changeable case holes, those leave the additional fine outlines when not in use. Such exchangeable mould parts can basically even include individual date stamping units, those theoretically may leave multiple differing date stamps on the same plastic case part when the mould consists of older and newer modules. This method can look confusing and is rarely used, but technically simply the newest date mark is valid to date the particular plastic part. In devices with internal clock and calendar, another hint to the manufacturing year is the displayed calendar default date after reset. Although this sometimes can be misleading (much too early, when defined by the oldest predecessor of its OS or realtime clock), it is often closely related to the date the software was finished (maximum about 1 year earlier) and particularly will never be later than the first official release date it was sold. I.e. when the calendar resets to 1982, the item with that software version is for sure not older, but may be younger.

Rechargeable batteries have lower voltage (1.2 instead of 1.5V) and so sound may distort at maximum volume or in worst case make the electronics crash/reset by voltage drop. But in real life this is rarely a problem, so try out if they work. Another risk is that recharchables (particularly NiCad) have higher current and so in case of shortcircuit might cause a fire. Devices without fuse between battery compartment and PCB therefore marked by manufacturer to be unsuited for rechargeables to avoid lawsuits in the unlikely case that anything goes severely wrong. (In Chinese no-name toy keyboards I even often found tiny uninsulated switching power supply PCB dangling on flimsy cables at a mains jack, held only by a single screw with brittle post in a yoghurt cup grade flimsy plastic case. Such constructions are true arson timers. The fire risk of NiMH batteries "misused" in quality keyboards is IMO tiny compared to this. Lithium rechargeables in smartphones and tablets catch fire much easier.)

I haven't seen the guts of modern Casios yet, but I expect that XW series is mostly a softsynth on a chip (although patents mention existence of some dedicated sound generator hardware; the SA-series microcontroller did only bit-banging of computed waveforms through a DAC). I bet a wheelbarrow load of rotten watermelons that there are no analogue VCF chips inside. That era is over since HT-6000. May be a software mod can do this (the thing takes firmware upgrades), but likely the algorithms internal resolutions are too low and even I know nothing about the type of microcontroller. Casio XW-G1 is a cool thing (I have none, but it sounds like a dozen of C64 SID chips made into a synth) but certainly not hifi. Maybe that a 5€ Raspberry Pi Zero has the computing power to emulate the whole thing; that's why Casio used "hybrid" (soft- and hardware) sound generators at all (to complicate hardware piracy and obfuscate how the software works). XW-P1 is to me a bit too much a wannabe workstation (hey, Yamaha MK-100 was even more lofi and still fun to play) so I would prefer the G1. Casio only should remake it in MicroKorg (or Casio MT-series) size case with built-in speaker.

APO can be disabled by wiring a diode from CPU pin 45 to 53 (identified by Robin Whittle; the SMD IC pins would be delicate to solder directly, so simply follow PCB traces). Technically this is an unused keyboard matrix place that turns APO off.

May be that Japanese was indeed considered embarassing to western countries. But I thought they just mixed something up and didn't correct it later. May be it's time to write German language lyrics for this. (Or in far future I make a ROM-Pack with real German folk songs made from a microcontroller or emulated on a Raspberry Pi adapter.)

I don't own a Casio XW-P1, so it is nothing I tried out (but USB is likely faster than legacy midi). May be I think a bit much the 1980th way. What velocity dependant filtering and envelope change can do is approximating the musical feel/purpose of a piano (hard played notes get much more emphasized/pronounces than soft notes), not perfectly simulating an acoustic one. E.g. important part of the piano "feel" is also that the bass range (wire wound strings) has a rougher grunting timbre while the rest sounds duller. Such things could be easily approximated by using e.g. unequal or multipulse squarewave in the bass range and a duller waveform for the rest. I always wondered why average FM home keyboards lack this feature. So either the bass range is way too dull (hollow or sinewave-like) or high notes too bright (harpsichord-like). Before sample based digital pianos arised, since Rhodes apparently nobody really cared about simulating this timbre difference. Designing something like a Privia by sampling every small bit of mechanical noises of an acoustic piano and putting things back together in a musically plausible way is certainly an art of its own. I remember when I programmed VisualPinball games and had to attach sound samples to playfield events, and it was very hard to get a credible feeling of a electro-mechanical pinball machine despite I added relay and reel counter samples to all internal events of the emulated mechanism. Making an exact digital "clone" of an existing piano is certainly hard. E.g. there is the "Hauptwerk" software instrument for emulating existing church organs by such an approach. While this is also meant as a tool to document historical organs (and their sound changes after restoration) it may be not the perfect method to make the musically most playable organ. I enjoy e.g. old tablehooters and toy keyboards for their simplicity and technical elegance rather than perfect simulation of existing instruments.

The demo song of Casio VL-1 was listed as "German folk song", and since the ROM-Pack RO-551 contained a version as "Unterlanders Heimweh" it got commonly known as such. The strange thing is that in Germany nobody knows it. The so-called "German folk song" was not only the demo tune of the VL-Tone 1, but was also used in various Casio pocket calculators (e.g. my Casio ML-90, on which calculator keys one can play piano in piezo sound). Later a wonderful orchestrated version of this theme appeared as one of 4 songs (labelled "Unterlanders Heimweh") on the music cartridge "ROM-Pack RO-551", which was shipped as the default cart with many cheap ROM-Pack keyboards. A badly detuned short clip of the melody was even used in the "rating" sound effects of the Casio PT-82 "melody guide" play teaching feature, and later the melody appeared as one of many songs in various "song bank" keyboards. Thus it can be likely considered a kind of unofficial Casio anthem. To me it was one of my childhood key experiences with electronic music. But here in Germany it is definitely not a commonly known standard folk song. Most bizarre is that apparently nobody else than Casio ever referred this as "Unterlanders Heimweh", so it is likely wrong despite the ROM-Pack RO-551 lists this name. Blatantly based on this version was the title theme and background music of the Atari VCS2600 lightgun game prototype "Shooting Arcade" (©1989 Axlon / Atari). Later I bought a Casio MT-36, which demo tune "Unterlanders Heimweh" (name in manual) is a rural folk waltz piece that is very different from the VL-1 melody. I also bought an Elite MC2200 keyboard that has many demo tunes of those one is labelled "UMTERLANDERS AEIMWEH" (regard the typo), and the Letron MC-38 that includes it too (misspelled "UMTERLANDERS HEIMWEH); both melodies corresponds to the MT-36 and not the famous demo of VL-1. The MT-36 melody is definitely the genuine documented "Unterländers Heimweh" (means something like "Lowlander's Homesickness", regard the 'ä'), alternatively known as "Drunten im Unterland" (means "Down in the Lowlands", ©1835 by Gottfried Weigle, seen on YouTube with German lyrics). Drunten im Unterland: (video with lyrics, musical score sheet) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57fdiT0bW28 http://www.lieder-archiv.de/drunten_im_unterland-notenblatt_300138.html When I bought and repaired a Citizen - Melody Alarm clock with 8 polyphonic tunes, it turned out that it included the RO-551 melody, which in its blurred manual (only an eBay photo) was listed as "Musician of the Mountain", which appeared to be a translated title of the Japanese children song "Yama No Ongakuka" (Mountain Musicians). After hours of websearch in different languages I thought that the original German title of this folk song was "Ich bin ein Musikante". This is a traditional (lesser known) children's game song about a musician, involving vocal imitation and miming of the many instruments he plays (a well fit choice for the first mass produced toy-size mini synth). But the melody in all YouTube examples clearly differs, hence there is no exact German equivalent known, and also in YouTube "Unterlanders Heimweh" examples with RO-551 melody I found no other concrete hints of origin than Casio and particularly nothing with German lyrics. Another similar song is "I Am a Fine Musician", which has yet another different melody. So it has to be be concluded that the only "original" of the VL-1 melody is the Japanese children song "Yama No Ongakuka" (about forest animals playing different instruments on a mountain), which concept was only inspired by a German folk song ("Ich bin ein Musikante") and on the ROM-Pack accidentally was misnamed by Casio as "Unterlanders Heimweh" (without 'ä' umlaut) until it got known worldwide under this wrong name. Ua - Yama No Ongakuka: (in a typical Japanese children's TV rendition) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m_x5iNAKm4 Generally Casio in their early products (e.g. barcode song books) applied the term "folk song" or "traditional" quite sloppily - possibly as an excuse when they didn't know the author or even to avoid paying royalties. Thus the "German folk song" indication must be taken in doubt. - Are there German lyrics? But I still may be wrong. The melodic style would not be unplausible to be a classic German folk or children song (compare e.g. "Der Kuckuck und der Esel"). So does anybody know traditional German lyrics sung to the melody of "Yama No Ongakuka"?

Can Casio XW-P1 and -G1 split keyboard midi input from the sound generation? If yes, you may connect a PC (or even programmable mobile device?) and use an external midi mapper program to switch sounds through velocity, pedals etc. through sysex commands or whatever the Casio synth supports to modify its sound parameters by external controls. Or is such a loopback mode impossible by latency or lack of parameter input? With piano sounds I guess that velocity controlled envelope or brightness (VCF?) control is more important than having many switching velocity sample layers. E.g. the 'piano' sample of "Miracle Piano Teaching System" and Yamaha PSR-230 (both 1990th) sound terribly boring because they only change volume and nothing else. A piano should grow duller with less attack when played softer (easy to implement e.g. by truncating the start of the sampled attack phase and compacting the envelope shape). Even a cheap FM sound IC can do this. I e.g. would love to hear an editable velocity sensitive version of the ancient Casio SA-series piano timbre (made from Phase Distortion or Triangular Wave Modulation?) in modern keyboards. The count of sample velocity layers is least important for piano-like feel and expression; it only starts to matter once you want to emulate the exact timbre behaviour of an acoustic piano. (But rom capacity is dirt cheap now anyway.) String resonance may be approximated by a kind of reverb, which is anyway part of most modern synth engines. By the way, even the stairwave based Casio CT-6000 from 1984 had already some complex velocity controlled features (e.g. accompaniment changes), so this is nothing new. Casio should add a modulation source matrix to their synth engines to make more things user definable.

Casio GZ-5 was unfortunately rather a disappointing joke than real midi keyboard (pitch/modulation wheels only simulate a button press). http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/Casio_GZ-5.html Why does nobody make modern keyboards generally pressure (not velocity) sensitive?! The ROLI Seaboard is e.g. an interesting tablet-like keyboard successor. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SeaboardR-25 But to me piano-sized keys feel rather clumsy and not ergonomic at all. (How shall I reach multiple octaves with one hand?!). I never heard a button accordion player complaining that the bass buttons were too small, nor did secretaries complain about typewriters.) Something like the Bandstand or MusicFairy toy keyboards (with 61 Casio SA-1 sized mini keys) would feel more plausible to me. http://www.ebay.de/itm/Elektronisches-Kinder-61-Tasten-Keyboard-Kinderkeyboard-Klavier-Mikrofon-Piano/361430271184 http://www.ebay.de/itm/Kinder-Piano-Keyboard-MQ-012FM-Klavier-Musikinstrument-61-Tasten-NEU-OVP-/201492983555 Perhaps the keys should have more depth or different spring tension than such toys (those even fail to sense polyphonic key presses by omitted matrix diodes), but piano size keys should be left for reproducing classic piano musics. Even the clavichord where composers like Bach or Mozart practised on had no "fullsize" keys, and many medieval church organs were more like a PortaSound or MicroKorg. The only thing with large (broom-stick-like) keys was the carillon; everything else was by modern terms rather midsize.

Please add a "print" button for a simplified single page HTML view (no avatar pictures, no menus etc.) for easy printing or saving of a thread. And urgently bring back the (non-WYSIWYG) plain text mode for the input field, because it responds way too slow and produces random button clicks on my historical PC. If possible, do it as CGI with javascript disabled.

About modern Yamaha drumkits I know nothing. My only Yamaha drum machine is a DD-10 with 2 velocity steps. Does the QY70 need internal batteries to hold sequencer data, or was it blessed with the eh "progress" of flash memory to hold user data without? http://www.synthmania.com/qy70.htm quote from there: "To initialize the QY70 to factory specs, turn the unit on while pressing the "OCT DOWN", "OCT UP" and "1 F# Gb" buttons at the same time."

Something else. How old are those 4 Yamahas with faulty OS ROM? Did the problems occur in classic (up to 1990th) Yamaha keyboards or modern models containing flash rom (with firmware upgrade mode)? Unprotected flash roms are infamous as the natural enemy of circuit-benders, but it would really suck if classic Yamaha keyboards have started to die of bitrot now. Are also small (PortaSound) and home keyboards affected, or only professional synths? (Due to lower manufacturing quantity, pro stuff was more often equipped with prom/eprom memory, and also earlier got writeable memory to store user settings.) My newest Yamahas are likely a PSR-230 (with MusicCartridge slot), a DJX and a PSS-7 toy keyboard from 1990th.

Dump a rom? Simply connect the midi cable, download a hacked sequencer program from the darknet that contains proper sysex command, select "Backup Firmware now", click "confirm? - yes" and... *NOPE* You have to desolder the actual ROM IC, identify its pinout (typically based on equally sized eproms) and buy or solder your own an adapter for your eprommer. (I wirewrap the stuff on some stacked IC sockets with bent pins sticking sideways if only few differ, else solder on a piece of perfboard.) Here are some generic pinouts: https://www.mikesarcade.com/cgi-bin/spies.cgi?action=url&type=info&page=ROMref.txt Select a compatible mode in your eprommer's menu. I use a Willem Pro4isp for parallel port on Win98SE, but others should work also. Modern eprommers may be expensive, but for older stuff DOS or even C64 age eprommer with the appropriate computer can be sufficient. In worst case with large roms you may need to connect higher address pins on the ROM to a dip switch to manually dump in in multiple blocks. E.g. in some Casio roms the chipselect pins are inverted and so need some hacks to make the IC respond (I connected them with test cables). Also DIY microcontrollers like Raspberry Pi may be suited to program a rom dumper. Here is a section of the next WarrantyVoid FAQ: make ROM dumps: Like other tools, an eprommer has to be used properly to avoid damage, and soldered eproms usually need to be desoldered (install a socket in its place) to backup ("dump") them. But it is worth the effort because once data fade away, you can simply "burn" the original files back into the eprom. For general eprom info read websites about arcade machine collecting. Without working roms the keyboard stays scrap, so when the last rom has died before anybody dumped it, the final place to dump it will be solely a dumpster. Even more annoying is that sometimes instead of (long lasting) ROMs PROM chips were used, of those certain types are simply eproms without window (to reduce cost) and so have the same limited data lifespan. These look like ordinary ROMs and can be only identified by their printing on the package. The strongest hint that an IC has been programmed after manufacturing (i.e. contains PROM, EPROM or flash memory) is when it has a custom type sticker glued over the actual printed label (unless the sticker is about the device and not the IC). Suspicious is also when an IC has printing in several different colours (or other ink differences), which hints that the chip type number was printed during production and later a software number was stamped on after the chip was programmed (but it also can be a serial number or clock frequency rating stamped on only after passing a quality check). Also when an IC (despite it has no window) has the type number of an eprom or of a known mask ROM type with an additional 'P' in it, this hints for a PROM. Normal (mask) ROMs often have the same pinouts like eproms and so can be also read with an eprommer. How ever sometimes there are little differences like inverted or swapped "chip select" or "output enable" pins (to ease multiplexing or as stupid copy protection) those make the rom appear empty and so may need some testing with adapter sockets and different combinations of 0V and +Vs to find the right one. Many roms have an open-collector data output that strictly needs external pulldown resistors. When read without (my Willem PRO4 isp eprommer contains none), due to internal capacitance the data signal on oscilloscope will resemble falling sawtooth waves and cause a bad dump. E.g. the bus in my Casio MT-800 rom has a resistor array (bus terminator), so I had to make an adapter socket with a 22 kOhm resistor against GND at each data line to read it reliably. The presence of pulldown or pullup resistors at data lines in a device can hint that the rom needs them to be read properly. Particularly the Casio keyboard ROM types NEC D23C64EC (aka Hitachi HN61364P) and NEC D23C256EC (aka Hitachi HN613256P) need pulldown resistors. Another point of confusion is that many ROMs simulate the pinout of higher capacity types, having large address space areas left blank. So they need to be read as a larger eprom type to prevent garbled data. E.g. the D23C64EC is a wannabe 27C256 with only 8KB. Its additional 3 OE lines simulate higher address lines of the 27C256 to place the 8KB block within the 32KB address space of the latter. So by pinout it has to be read as a 27C256 (not 27C64 as the size suggests!). The OE lines can be partly inverted by the manufacturer to determine the placement of the 8KB block; the rest is "00", so by the open collector architecture (or "open drain" in FET technology) several of these or other ICs can share the bus without additional control lines so long their non-zero output address areas are different. The D23C256EC is the genuine 32KB version of it. If you want to replace any of these with eproms, you may need to insert a diode into each of the 8 data lines from the bus to the eprom D0..D7 to simulate that open collector behaviour. Also NEC UPD23C2001ECZ (Bontempi BT909) reads as a 27C040 with 2nd half empty. (The open collector bus may be even one reason why so many circuit-bent Casio keyboards survive shorting random data and address lines of the bus with each other, because there will be no excessive currents when active bus lines pull voltage only to +Vs while the only thing pulling down to GND is the resistor. Modern fast computers pull in both directions and use additional handshake lines to prevent data collision.) With "HN613..." roms the software number seems to be the 3 digit code below the type number; the 3 digit code above it may be a kind of serial number. My Casio MT-800 and MT-85 have the same rom contents and only the top 3 digits differ, while my CZ-230S contains 2 HN613256P with different contents and only different bottom number. Unlike eproms, the chip select or -enable lines of certain old ROMs need to be pulsed (clocked) during each new address to make internal input buffer latches pass a valid address into the circuit. A simple way to achieve this is to make an adapter for an eprom type with as many more address lines as CS/CE lines exist and use them as address inputs. This way the content will appear somewhere in the (larger) address space of that eprom type while the rest will be "00". (D23C64EC seems to work this way.) Use a hex editor to remove empty space when needed. With certain such roms also the CS/CE pin may need different timing, i.e. the rom reads the address edge-triggered only during the begin or end of a pulse on that pin. If the address voltages have not stabilized at that moment it will read a wrong address and so output wrong data. A 10 kOhm pulldown resistor from CE (active low) against GND can prolong the pulse which is claimed to help with 2364 ROMs. Sometimes simple discrete analogue components can help to fix timing problems. You may e.g. delay a CE pulse by inserting a resistor (e.g. 10 kOhm) into its line (which makes the chip internal capacitance slow down the voltage change). Also a tiny coil in series or a capacitor of some pF against GND may delay it when an IC has a particularly odd behaviour. Also small supply voltage changes or a stabilizing capacitor from the Vcc pin to GND may help to tweak timing. With special pinout ROMs also additional address lines in odd places can complicate to read it completely. (Checking the original PCB traces may help.) By replacing original ROMs with a customized eproms it e.g. can be possible to replace samples or even edit the machine code to change the behaviour of a keyboard. ROM backups can be also suited to write an emulator or at least extract samples. Certain ROMs (e.g. reported from Roland keyboards or arcade games) may contain copy protection that outputs garbage data (pseudo random numbers, often as regular looking textures) when e.g. an address is read that by design is not supposed to be read by the keyboard itself, but strange repeating textures typically hint that the IC simply needs pulldown resistors at the data lines to prevent crosstalk from address lines. In 1980th Casio keyboards mask roms often begin with "D23" or "HN62", proms or eproms with "D27" and rams with "D43". But even when a digital keyboard has separate ROM, this does not mean that its sound samples are in it. E.g. early Casios with PCM percussion had dedicated percussion ICs "OKI M6294-xx" ("xx" is the software number) those contain sample rom with integrated DAC to output percussion samples only as analogue audio. Also some Bontempi relatives had such percussion ICs. By my observation Chinese "no-name" tablehooters (neither Medeli nor Yongmei relatives) generally contain no external ROMs. The only exception seem to be prototype or pre-mass-production specimen (e.g. from a trade show) those have a separate flash rom connected to their special CPU. If you desolder an IC for dumping its rom contents, if any possible install a socket instead of soldering it back in. This avoids additional heat stress to the chip, makes it replaceable/ reprogrammable in case of failure, and not least especially with non-standard parts there is a chance of about 1/3 that you will first get a bad dump (by wrong pinout, voltage or timing problems etc.) which will make it necessary to remove and dump it again. Dumping a rom without removal is normally not reliably possible; you would need to stop the CPU and prevent all other ICs from blocking the bus, which needs detailed analysis of the situation. So unless it is a tiny SMD package that you can not handle, it is safer and more reliable to carefully desolder the chip. (But do not overheat it. If the package feels too hot to touch fo 10s, let it cool down before you continue soldering.) For DIY with desoldered DIL ICs (especially for making adapters) cheap spring contact sockets are better suited than laced expensive ones; the latter tend to break chip pins and get clogged when there is solder or other debris in the way. Spring contacts can be easily bent apart to remove debris, bent tighter when too loose and you can even detach and replace damaged contacts. The only benefit of laced ones is that they are slightly flatter.

I collect strange Chinese tablehooters, and some where ridiculous wannabe Casios. None of these shanzhai artworks look close enough alike to be confused, but e.g. Medeli apparently released under various trade names a nice Casio Rapman RAP-1 clone as "RAP-2" (CPU is even named "MC-RAP-1"), which has squarewave sound (DSG sound IC) with lofi sample percussion IC and no voice effector (only microphone amp), but the scratch disc and fixed-key rap accompaniment pattern concept is blatantly imitated. Or the Jin Xin Toys JX-20165 case shape looked blatantly like Casio SA-65 although nobody would confuse them either. http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/JinXin_JX-20165.html Or watch this rhythmless joke of an SA-6 clone: It may even be that Jin Xin bought the used original plastic injection mould after the Casio version went out of production, because making a new mould from scratch costs many 100000€. With the Privia clone I only can say, you get what you pay for. With bad luck it even lacks velocity and may have the single chip CPU of the infamous silicone roll-up travel pianos. But it must be the right of the sovereign customer to decide to pay money for the real thing or buy a knock-off and find out how bad it is.

On eBay I saw a rare workstation keyboard Casio CTK-711EX, which looks like an even bulkier variant of the mythical CTK-1000 with additional LCD display, 232 ToneBank, 110 rhythms and 3.5'' diskette drive. May it be that this one was "the real thing" while CTK-1000 was only a cut down household variant? (See here for my info and hardware analysis of CTK-1000.) Here is a YouTube clip about the CTK-711EX: My CTK-1000 panel PCB contains a strange adapter like when the hardware was originally designed for something else. Perhaps it was the LCD based CTK-711EX. This would namely explain why the fairly complex sequencer and synth in CTK-1000 was made but not means of data storage. By the way, I found out the mysterious meaning of "IXA Sound Source". It's "Integrated Cross-Sound Architecture" (thanks Synrise for info), which IMO sounds more like an advertisement name without technical meaning and therefore likely soon was dropped by Casio. I just found the CTK-711EX service manual from 1998, and the main ICs do strongly differ (see CTK-1000 hardware analysis). Thus it is likely more the case design than technical similarity.

CTK-711EX = CTK-1000 synth with built-in floppy drive?! On eBay I saw a workstation keyboard Casio CTK-711EX, which looks like an even bulkier variant of CTK-1000 with LCD display, 232 ToneBank, 110 rhythms and 3.5'' diskette drive. May it be that this one was "the real thing" while CTK-1000 was only a cut down household variant? My CTK-1000 panel PCB contains a strange adapter like when the hardware was originally designed for something else. Perhaps it was the LCD based CTK-711EX. This would namely explain why the fairly complex sequencer and synth in CTK-1000 was made but not means of data storage. There is this YouTube clip about it: By the way, I found out the mysterious meaning of "IXA Sound Source". It's "Integrated Cross-Sound Architecture" (thanks Synrise for info), which IMO sounds more like an advertisement name without technical meaning and therefore likely soon was dropped by Casio. I just found the CTK-711EX service manual from 1998, and the main ICs do strongly differ: * CPU="HD6473042F16-463" * DSP="HG51B155FD" * key velocity IC="TC190C020AF-001" * DAC="uPD6376GS" * LCD driver="SED1278F2A" * ROM1="MSM27C802CZ-463" (8Mbit) * ROM2="MSM27C3210MC-12CA89" (32Mbit) * RAM1="TC551001BFL-70L" (1Mbit) * RAM2="TC55257, GFL-70L" (256Kbit) Thus it is likely more the case design than technical similarity.

If your M-10 distorts and it is not just the speaker, check if electrolytic capacitors in the amp section went bad and so has a short circuit or high resistance. Such a bad capacitor sometimes make crackle noise in the speaker when knocked or gently moved. How to unleash the power of M-10 was thoroughly researched by Robin Whittle. On his website is a FAQ (large PDF file) about it.

Casio FX-1? - I own a few classic calculators, but I didn't know that Casio ever made nixie stuff. I thought VFD was their first display technology. I own such a blue 6 digit Casio pocket calculator, which apparently multiplies by repeated addition, thus large numbers take some seconds to to finish.

Do not discard it! This problem is very common (glue turns brittle), the fix simple but a bit wacky. Short answer: Mount the foil clable (on non-conductive side) with adhesive film into place (align correctly with PCB traces). Then install a foam rubber strip (window insulation) that keeps it pressed into place when the case is screwed back together. The complicated part is to cut and place the foam rubber in such a way that it evenly presses on all traces. If this is not enough, here is the long answer (part of my next WarrantyVoid FAQ release). fixing faulty LCDs: Small LCD displays sometimes turn dim or segments fail by bad contacts. Most small LCDs are connected to the PCB by silicone rubber strips (known as Zebra connector) those contain flexible carbon contacts and squeeze against bare metal traces on the PCB and transparent contacts on the glass of the LCD. To fix them, take out the LCD, clean all the contact surfaces on silicone, glass and PCB with a Q-Tip with isopropanol. Then re-assemble the display. (Write down or make a digicam photo during dismantling when you are not sure about the correct part placement.) Other LCDs (especially by Casio) are connected with a flimsy plastic foil cable, which carbon traces are glued to the contacts on PCB and LCD glass. These glue joints tear off very easy. A strip of adhesive window insulation foam rubber can be used to squeeze the foil cable back into place, which is sufficient to make the display work again when aligned properly. I read that they were originally heat-sealed in factory by pressing a hot metal bar with silicone rubber padding against the cable to melt the glue. The BONDMASTER MANUAL.pdf (from a Motorola pager repair machine) revealed the following parameters of different HSC foil cables. forces & temperatures: Planar = 50..70 psi at 140..150°C Anisotropic = 50..80 psi at 150°C Monosotropic = 70..90 psi at 160°C "Planar" cables (pitch 0.3mm, oldest) are yellow-black. "Anisotropic" cables (pitch 0.29mm, cheapest) are green-white or black-white. "Monosotropic" cables (finest pitch 0.22mm) are yellowish, with thermoset adhesive. The cable needs to be pressed into place during heating and cooling cycle, which in total may take about 1:45 minutes (recommended factory default of that machine). Depending on material, the heat can be between 140 and 160°C. Too hot or too much force can melt it or cut through the leads, so try lowest heat first. The thermoset glue of "Monosotropic" (yellow) cables may be impossible to re-melt and so needs to be replaced. Older cables may need even lower temperatures, so due to the risk of damage (the margin between gluing and destruction is small; also liquid crystals degrade from long heat exposure) generally only try heat where the foam rubber strip method fails. A suitable heat source is an adjustable SMD soldering station with temperature display. With soldering iron use thin cardboard to spread the heat and rub quickly back and forward; with hot air watch out that hot air gun temperature often starts much hotter and needs to stabilize; set air flow lowest to avoid damage to surrounding parts. If you don't own one, try a hairdryer + plastic bar (e.g. broad cable tie) to rub and press on. Unfortunately early Casio foil cables (tested in my PT-7) seem to be thermoset; they can not be reglued by heat. The Technical Guide For Casiotone from 1986 only mentions a shaped "soldering iron for heat sealing" with shaped "Heat Sealing Tip" attached and an "LCD Fixing Plate" as the work surface, but no hints about temperature or duration. Particularly modern cheap LCD devices tend to use instead of Zebra connectors only very low grade foil cables, those to save a few cents often even lack protective coating on their carbon paint layer that makes them prone to oxidize or wear through when slightly missaligned and faithlessly crinkled into a too small case by pieceworkers. E.g. I got plenty of Chinese last generation LCD games of flimsy plastic those cables seem impossible to reattach. But even such devices appear to be often designed to support Zebra connectors (used in prototypes?), i.e. LCD and PCB contacts are still exactly above each other and have the same pin width. So an easy fix can be to replace it with a generic Zebra connector (the kind with contacts much narrower than on PCB) from scrapped old hardware. It can get difficult when the height doesn't match; theoretically the silicone rubber can be easily cut with any sharp tool (cutter, scissors), but in practise it is very difficult to cut straight enough to make all contacts touch with equal force, so in real life it may be better to change the PCB distance by keeping screws a little loose or pressfit it with more force to flatten the silicone strip. (I did this in a thermometer clock.) When an old LCD does not show anything despite the hardware looks ok and you are not sure if the previous owner had dismantled it, then always check first if the polarization filter foil is missing. While with newer displays the filter is glued to the glass, with old ones it was a loose part that was usually only held in front of it by the case frame and could easily get lost during repair attempts; without polarization filter foil you will not see a picture (and the filter turned wrongways inverts the picture). A new filter may be available in camera or telescope stores; also cardboard 3D glasses with grey foil glasses (from a cinema) contain these foils or you may carefully peel it off from the display of a cheap or broken LCD clock or similar.

Sounds like you have a short circuit in the keyboard matrix. (Did you spill liquid into it?) The CT-460 is based on the MT-540 hardware class. I can e-mail you my (unfinished) hardware description of it, which includes the keyboard matrix layout.

The Casiotone CT-610 seems to be a relative of Casio MT-65 hardware class - very likely with different CPU software number ("NEC D930G-013" instead of "D930G-011") with changed keyboard matrix to support 61 instead of 49 keys. I analyzed the service manual of the very similar CT-620 that has this CPU.

Yes I saw such things on TV in various studio docus. (Was it Westbam who happily boasted about them and wondered why younger people yearn back those heavy analogue tape recorder cabinets those heat the room with hundreds of watt.) Regarding movie soundtrack recording, I always thought Hollywood prefers the Hammond Novachord (full-polyphonic tube synth with really crazy hardware). It would be still interesting to know how the fastest modern DAW would soundwise compete against a Synclavier.

Interesting specs - seeing a nowadays highend music computer that is truely no laptop. Price starting at just 3999US$, but I guess the really usefull version will be 20000$ - isn't it?!? Weight 42lbs isn't that much, but how is the power consumption (i.e. heat production) of that thing? Is it air- or water-cooled? The touchscreen is only 2-finger-polyphonic, which will not beat the JazzMutant Lemur nor the ubiquitous domestic iPad. IMO there should be finger position sensitive keys or such things (can an additional webcam fix this?) to make use of the enormous 16-core Xeon CPU speed. It would be interesting to compare the latency (including jitter problems) of this softsynth enthusiast's wet dream with a 1980th Synclavier (the mythical million dollar music mainframe). People always claimed that nothing can beat the Synclavier timing accuracy due to its separate hardware sample playback card architecture. Or has sheer CPU power changed this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synclavier