Why the CTX line does'nt support GM level 2

[Richard6504]

I wonder why the Casio CT X line does'nt support General midi level 2 and even beter XG or GS. It also lacks an audioplayer/ recorder functionality for wave or mp3. And also just a polyphony 64 notes. Very poor in contrast with the other big brands like PSR S670 or PA300 or BK5. So i have i little doubt to purchase the CT X5000

[TheBradge]

No Casio keyboard supports XG or GS, Roland keyboards DID support XG and Yamaha (Obviously)
Polyphony of 64 notes is a bit of a let down if you consider that the S670 and PA300 have 128 notes and aren't that much more expensive..

 

However! You must consider that this is the MOTL for Casio and that the S670 and PA300 are MOTL for Korg and Yamaha, but they have more technology at hand to put in their machines because of them having lots of technological advances (Megavoices in 2001, Sweet! voices in 1996, 128 notes of polyphony in 1998, 4 variations in the mid 90s) Whils't Casio only featured Megavoices (Versatile Tones) in 2015, Sweet! voices (Solo voices with Vibrato) since 2015, 128 notes of polyphony in 2015, and 4 variations on 2 arrangers since 2000 (The MZ-2000 was the first, 15 years later you get the X-300 and X-300...

 

That's why the S975 is a small brother for the Tyros 5 for 40% of the Tyros 5 price, and that will ALSO be the case for the Genos, whenever there will be a PSR S990 or PSR S1xxx it will be roughly 40% the price of the Genos, but it will still feature many things the Genos has.

 

Casio can't do that because for Casio the CT-X range IS their MOTL, even the MZ-X hasn't got THAT many features and that IS their TOTL..

[AlenK]

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think any Casio keyboard has FULLY supported General MIDI 2. (Maybe the MZ-2000?) But several of the current models do support many GM2 commands, even when they don't meet all the requirements of GM2. The set of MIDI commands the CT-X line does support appears* to be a small subset of those supported by the PW, MZ-X and PX models, perhaps because of cost (less code memory, less coding effort, less testing effort), perhaps because Casio reasoned that the vast majority of CT-X purchasers won't need anything more. 

 

* "Appears" because without full MIDI Implementation documents all we have to go on is the MIDI implementation chart at the back of the user's guides, what users have reported and what older but similar models have supported.