Brad Saucier Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 It has only been 19 years since my MZ-2000 was delivered. It has survived all this time without any sort of case. Now today, it finally has a soft case to protect it from dust, dirt and scratches. The MZ-2000 is quite bulky for a 61 key portable keyboard, due to large volume speaker enclosures built into it. I was never sure any bag would fit. Well, I had a coupon to use so I went ahead and ordered one I thought would fit. So, it works! Sweet. I've spent the last several months ordering bags for all of my gear. I only have a couple more things to order bags for. The goal is to have a bag for everything so I can pack it all up. Sometimes I have to evacuate for hurricanes. I'm not leaving my instruments behind. ☺️ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I found an old Peavey keyboard bag-with very heavy padding, the best I've seen-and it fits the XW-P1 perfectly-someone sent it to me with a rather worthless Roland RS-70. I'll post a picture in case anyone finds another one somewhere. nice keyboard, that MZ-i still keep my eyes peeled for one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 Brad, could you review this board? I'm very curious and there is very little information and pro recordings of it on the net. I would love to listen to the organ sim running through a vent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 The MZ-2000 drawbar organ is very similar to XW-P1 drawbar organ (when internal effects are off), so you can get a good idea from XW videos. I wish I had a vent to try it, but I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Brad Saucier said: The MZ-2000 drawbar organ is very similar to XW-P1 drawbar organ (when internal effects are off), so you can get a good idea from XW videos. I wish I had a vent to try it, but I don't. I saw this video before I brought the XW-P1 and was one of the reasons why I did that. Obviously you have to have the vent and be Ed Alstrom to sound like this, but it shows the capabilities of the board. I would be nice if you share some audio samples of the MZ2000. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Search for "Kris Nicholson" on YouTube. Apart from being a phenomenal keyboardist, IIRC he did a series of reviews of the MZ2000. Edit: yup, Kris made multiple videos showcasing many sections of the MZ2000. Here's one: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 7 hours ago, Chas said: Search for "Kris Nicholson" on YouTube. Apart from being a phenomenal keyboardist, IIRC he did a series of reviews of the MZ2000. Edit: yup, Kris made multiple videos showcasing many sections of the MZ2000. Here's one: I saw all of his videos but sadly his demos aren't good. His playing style is very busy and he never records the audio through the line outputs, which results in a very poor quality and distorted sound. Great player though, and in his defense he is the only person who did such a deep demonstration of the MZ. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Kris's busy style is because his speciality is Boogie Woogie. I agree that it's unfortunate that he didn't record the audio line out of the MZ, though you do still get a fairly good idea of what the MZ is capable of. I plan on dragging my MZ out at some point and exploring it more. It really is quite an incredible keyboard, though I do wish it wasn't the size of the Titanic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 17, 2020 Author Share Posted March 17, 2020 I'll post a couple of things I uploaded to SoundCloud as soon as I can grab the links. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 This guy can play, good chops and conception. Anybody know what "stride" playing is? He does. Also, Uncle Floyd plays good stride-not many even know what that is anymore. This playing isn't busy-he's just a really good player! You want busy-try some Bach Inventions. Now Bach-that was a busy player-he had to be support all his wives-and kids! so does Uncle Floyd! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 This popped up in my YouTube feed. Looks to be a good demonstration of the MZ's sound with direct line out audio recording. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 11 hours ago, Chas said: This popped up in my YouTube feed. Looks to be a good demonstration of the MZ's sound with direct line out audio recording. It's recorded with an external microphone. The only things connected to the keyboard are the sustain pedal and the power cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 6 hours ago, central616 said: It's recorded with an external microphone. The only things connected to the keyboard are the sustain pedal and the power cord. He's using headphone out. Kris is using either headphone or line out. None of them are recorded with external mics because the speakers are shut off. You're hearing exactly what the MZ-2000 sounds like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 Here is recording I made from mine using one of the midi file demo tunes from one of the floppy disks Casio shipped with the MZ-2000. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbdx66 Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Hi @Brad Saucier nice Baroque tune. Would you consider uploading the MIDI file here if this is allowed by Casio? I’d very much like to listen to the file on the CT-X800 for comparison purposes. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 On 3/18/2020 at 10:02 AM, Brad Saucier said: He's using headphone out. Kris is using either headphone or line out. None of them are recorded with external mics because the speakers are shut off. You're hearing exactly what the MZ-2000 sounds like. You are right. Sadly it sounds pretty bad. I was hoping much more from the MZ because I used both a CTK 731 and a CTK 900 and they were fantastic. Maybe the headphone jack isn't suited for recording? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 Here's the same demo on the MZ-X500. CT-X series would sound similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 16 hours ago, central616 said: You are right. Sadly it sounds pretty bad. I was hoping much more from the MZ because I used both a CTK 731 and a CTK 900 and they were fantastic. Maybe the headphone jack isn't suited for recording? A number of factors could influence the sound quality here. We don't know what the recording device is, nor how well it copes with a headphone level audio signal. The MZ2000 has two dedicated 1/4" jack line outs (for both mono and stereo use), and these should be fed into an audio interface designed to work with line out signals to get the best quality recordings. No idea why the person who made the video chose to record from the headphone out socket instead of the line outs. Saying that, if set up correctly, you CAN still get a decent quality signal for recording from the headphone out. I recorded an entire multi track song with my Casio SA-76 using its headphone out socket, as that's the only audio output it has. If the volume of the headphone out on the instrument itself is set to an optimum level and the interface has adjustable gain and/ or switchable line or instrument sensitivity, then the interface can be set to manage a headphone level signal pretty well. That all takes adjusting and setting up at both the instrument and the interface, whereas using line outs would only require setting up at the recording interface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Just guessing here, but because a headphone output needs an amplifier, it might be that Casio have used one of those "codec" ICs which take a digital signal and produce a low power amplified output using a cheap and nasty "Class D" amplifier stage. The result tends to be, um, "acceptable" but not "great" quality. To be fair, that's often all you need for a headphone application, "acceptable" and since they're designed for a low impedance headphone load they often don't play very well with high impedance line inputs as the load. The line outs will be coming off standard op amps which will produce a much higher quality output. It's often the case that old equipment (e.g. old keyboards) will do much better through headphones as they use analogue amplifiers to produce the output. The modern "codec" ICs really are lowest common denominator stuff. But they're very cheap for the manufacturers to use as they package up the digital decoding and analogue output all into one tiny IC. I did some experimenting around this stuff a while back when I had a brilliant idea/pipe dream of designing a headset system optimised for call centre use (eventually concluded there was no real market so abandoned it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 Headphone and line outs result in the same quality on the MZ-2000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 IanB a technical question....modding a keyboard output to create line outputs-where should I look-what would the typical output stage ICs be in these Casios? Or is this a waste of time-I have plenty of recording equipment with various input impedances high and low which I have used for recording from headphone jacks, but yes there does seem to be a degradation of quality from a clean line-out setup, even with proper impedance matching, and depending upon the keyboard or module-most don't seem to sound as clear to me as a line out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 @Jokeyman123 It's going to depend on the particular keyboard obviously. For instance the MZ-2000 under discussion already has a line out which comes from an NJM2068 dual op amp. The headphone/power amp signal is then tapped off that to a TDA8233 power amp IC, so any difference in quality will be down to the quality that power amp IC is capable of. The datasheet for that defines it as designed for car audio so, maybe not the very best. It feeds both the speakers and the headphones. In keyboard models with only a headphone output we'd have to look at the schematic if available to see what's producing the output and whether it gets its audio delivered as analogue (as with the MZ-2000) or directly digital or is even accessible. Just as a rule of thumb the output from an op amp is going to produce better line level than from a power amp which is after all designed to feed low impedances (speakers, headphones) so they're trying to deliver a matched impedance rather than a nice voltage for a line level input. In general, if you look inside and find the headphone jack connected to an amplifier IC (as often as not TDA...something) then that amp IC will have an op amp feeding it audio and it would be possible to tap off there for a line level-ish output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Thanks Ian..so backtrace the headphone circuit to an op-amp, if the headphone circuit has its own IC amp. Sounds simple enough-I'm thinking my old PX575 in particular. Headphone amp is a 'car audio" IC amp-well that explains some things eh?! No wonder the fidelity is less than stellar from a headphone jack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 It's worth noting that if you do tap an output off you should do so via a DC blocking capacitor, commonly an electrolytic with a value around 1 to 10 microfarad. The positive wire should go to the tap-off, the negative side to the new line output socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monaro Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 Hey there everyone. I know this is an old thread but others may end up here while searching out info on the MZ2000. I've spent years busking with the mz and I am now on mz number 3, so I've had a bit of experience in some of what it can do. I don't know the ins and outs like Brad does does though I've done a lot of work creating custom sounds and registrations. I see people here asking for high quality direct recordings. If there is one area that the mz falls flat, its here. The line outs sound kind of flat and 2 dimensional. Gentle saturation can add a bit of mojo back in but it's line outs are not great, not bad, but not great. The magic is in its super sweet speakers and boombox body design. What I'm trying to say is that unless you hear a good recording with properly set up stereo mics, no video will give you a very good idea of what it actually sounds like. The best way is to try and hear one for your self in person if possible OR just take a chance on buying one. If your in to casio keyboards you won't be let down on its sound if you spend some time with it. My view of the mz is based on how I use it and so others may view this key board differently to me. I think it is great. It doesn't really emulate anything authentically but it can give an excellent over all impression of what your trying to do if you use it for its strengths. If you have played a wk3500,3700,3800 or 8000, you will have already heard many of the mz sounds as many of them were carry overs from the mz. I was underwhelmed when I first got it.and I thought it sounded flat and rather boring. It took me a while to work out how to get what I wanted from it. So it's the sort of keyboard your reward for digging in to and getting to know, but that's the same for most any good casio. I've often wished I could help design casio presets but listening to customers is not how casio roll. From the on-board demo's, it seems to be a very capable workstation too. Pros -Monsterous sound when set up correctly. -sweet speaker and body resonance. -very good layout. -easy synth edit using sliders for use on the fly. -comprehensive deep synth editing features. -can layer 4 voices per sound. -very usable even to this day. -very rugged and sturdy design, can handle sun, rain and a heavy beating all day long haha. -Monstrous sound when set up correctly. Cons -stereo line out and headphones out sounds flat -bland and underwhelming first impression. -It has excellent dsp but only gives 2 parameters to edit them with. -Key bed is very loud. -Sometimes it glitches when switching between upper 1 and 2 when playing on the fly. -Doesn't store master dsp and some user dsp settings properly even after saving. -Upper and lower cannot be played via midi. Here's a few videos of what I do with mine. Don't worry about the quality, we are talkjng about a 20 year old casio and no one buys a casio like this based on sound quality Just focus on the vibe. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-kpGDbaRaM4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmuhmVX7DI https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dd-bCLPs3X0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u4FazhoAXp8 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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