The Casio Character

[TheBradge]

Not many synthesizers have a typical character to their sound, Yamaha's sounds too polished, Korg is too live, Roland is a very punchy but forgettable sound, but Casio's have a certain character, they never sound too live or too polished, but they do cut through a mix and have a certain, something that really adds up for that Casio sound.. You know what i mean?

 

The Casio piano sounds from the 90s were terrible, the CTK-731 had a pretty bad plastic piano sound compared to the Yamaha's from that time period (PSR-7000/8000/9000 even had the LIVE! Grand Piano) BUT! I still enjoyed that piano sound more than i did the newer sounds with longer samples and stuff..

 

Drumwise, it's the same deal. Sure, my Tyros has fantastic sounding drums, but they don't stand up in a mix, they lack a certain punch, whils't even the WK-1800 drums i had (Especially the Power kit) Had incredible punch, the sound in terms of realism was meh (Although i love the toms!) But in terms of dynamics the Tyros drums didn't stand a chance.

 

And even the toy keyboards sound really puncy and thick and dare i say? Fresh, compared to the Yamaha toy keyboards from the same time period.. The Casio SA range had a (i think) Very impressive piano sound, and a beautiful (Yes, i really love that sound) Church organ, and compared to the Yamaha's it was like night and day.

 

What is it exactly that typical Casio character? Is it in the way they sample their sounds? (And please, can someone explain, HOW does the sampling of sounds for a keyboard work?) Because what i also hear a lot when i compare for example the Sweet! Tenor Sax from my Tyros to the BreathyTSax in the WK-3000 is that, the Yamaha sound is much nicer to the ear, better looppoints, and it's a more overall polished sound, but the Casio sound is more "In your face" And sounds really much more realistic despite the lack of the player's vibrato, how does that work?

 

I think that this makes an interesting topic..

[Jokeyman123]

I can't answer your question but I've posted before-my old PX575 which I only obtained 2 years ago-sounds pretty amazing and I've played quite a variety of instruments new and old. what turned me around was one of the older Casios must have been 10+ years ago I purchased for my school music program-an inexpensive 61-key I wish i could remember which model it was-had MIDI DIN but what blew me away was the sound collection in this very affordable keyboard-it had an excellent acoustic/electric piano set, the organs were better than some of my "pro" boards and it took alot of abuse and still worked. i was very surprised that it sounded this good-compared to another PSR I was using in the classroom, it was certainly as good, and had a better assortment of sounds. Even the drum sounds compared favorably to my pro Yamaha, Ensoniq and Roland stuff. didn't have quite the "depth" but considering this cost a little more than 100 bucks, i was definitely now paying attention to Casio. Of course I had been playing the CZ series at that time-had one of the first CZ-101s that came out-I think that was 1986? And quickly purchased a new CZ-3000 and CZ-1 with EZ-CZ cartridges and several sound programming books. and the Casio horn-which gets more money now used than when I bought one new. that they were doing something different than others was an attraction for me-and I had much equipment already for comparison.

[Casiokid]

I just don't get tired of many of the Casio tones unlike the more expensive keyboards I've owned ?   I have my set of personally selected default tones which I always use for practising a new song before  I choose and firm up my final performance tones and then go on to create my song registrations

[Chas]

I feel that some Casios exhibit more character than others. The early Casio models (often called Casiotones) have a very distinct and charismatic sound. They used something called Consonant Vowel Synthesis. They are quite warm if a little buzzy at lower frequencies. My CT403 and MT68 exhibit these characteristics. The early Casiotone drums and rhythms are also distinctive and very retro analogue sounding. The CT403 drums/ percussion almost sound like a vintage Roland TR77, and the MT68 (and also the MT400V and CT410V) have some excellent early 80's sounding rhythms/ patterns (the 16 beat could easily be an early rap/ breakdance beat).

 

Then you have MT40, which became very famous for its distinctive accompaniment being used as the "Sleng Teng" rhythm, which had quite major impact on the reggae scene.

 

Also worthy of mention are some of the early CT/ MT models that used "Sine Wave Synthesis". I have two such models, a CT1000P and an MT70. Sine Wave Synthesis is limited, best for organ type sounds only, but the Casios that use this do have a distinct character.

 

Then of course you have the CZ's, which asides from being hugely flexible and capable, are also distinctive, especially the "resonant" waveforms. Despite being popular and respected back in the day, and even now interest is growing in PD Phase Distortion Synthesis, it's a shame that the presets barely scratched the surface of PD's potential. Note recent YouTube videos with the baby CZ101 doing excellent interpretations of the legendary CS80, OBXa and 70's string machines, that really showed how powerful PD can be.

 

The oddball HT series in the latter 80's were distinctive too, using digital/ analogue hybrid technology. "Spectrum Dynamics" SD synthesis, possibly using an early form of wavetable'ish synthesis, and then running the sounds through a resonant analogue filter (8 in the case of the HT 6000). Nearest similar keyboards  using similar approaches were the Korg DW6000/ 8000, and the Ensoniq ESQ1. A unique crossover period before most synth manufacturers went totally digital.

 

The FZ's were great samplers/ synths too, and the FZ filter is very distinctive. So much so that FZ's are now sought after for the infamous "squonky" sounding filter (which is actually a genuine analogue filter, despite the rest of the machine being digital). 

 

In the 90's, I feel that Casios lost some of their uniqueness after adopting PCM based sounds. They sounded rather generic and little different to other keyboards available at the time. This era also marked the period where Casio dropped out of the pro market entirely and also stopped making anything close to a synthesizer.

 

It wasn't until 2000 and the release of the MZ2000 using ZPi sound generation, and then the XW series in the 10's that Casio really upped their game. And of course, the PX5S was a superb keyboard too.

 

To conclude, the 80's Casios are likely the most individual, distinctive and charismatic, with the MZ2000 and the XW's equally so. For what any Casio can be picked up for, they all represent excellent value for money, with some having a distinct sound and others also offering huge sonic potential.

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

Casio SA-series "PCM engine" was not at all a simple sample player, but a sophisticated and surprsingly versatile softsynth on a chip. One of its unique synthesis forms was the FM variant "triangular wave modulation", which likely was used for piano and all wind instrument sounds. See here for tech info:

Triangular Wave Modulation = Phase Distortion? (Casio PCM engine patents)