dunkieboy Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 I've linked up my ct-x 5000 to a pc and i'm using Reaper (which is awesome) as a daw. After racking my brains on how to turn off the keyboard sound while creating a drum track, I've realised you simply turn the volume down on the casio. Now why do casio not explain that in their joke of a manual. They've produced a fantastic sounding keyboard, but if you don't have a phd in applied electronics then that's all you're getting. Mine is going back. Here's what they say: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 I'm sorry you want to return the keyboard. I can't tell by your post if you solved the question beyond just turning down the volume, so I will try to boil down what the manual says just in case. Local control is the setting you want to turn off. That's common to most all keyboards with a MIDI output. To do it on the CT-X3000/5000, here are the steps.... 1. Press the function button 2. Cursor left or right to display "MIDI" 3. Press enter 4. Cursor left or right to display "on Local" 5. Press the - / NO button to turn local control OFF. 6. Press and hold exit to fully exit the function menu. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunkieboy Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 Hi Brad, thanks for your comment. At the end of the day I'm sure you have to agree the instructions are dire. This might not be a problem for experienced users, but for beginners they might as well be in Japanese. Constantly referencing every action to a previous action is not only confusing and tiring but as I've displayed above these actions can sometimes loop back to the initial instruction and there you are. Sad because it is a lovely sounding instrument. Just don't buy it if you want to use it as anything else. Big mistake from Casio, I think they've been too desperate to get out their new Aix chip and neglected those of us who need this type of machine for more than its sound qualities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I'm not the best person to judge the manuals from a beginners standpoint since I read the manuals everyday to help answer questions on the forums. I've probably read over 40 Casio manuals at this point. I find them to be consistently organized and the language used in them is very consistent, going back years if not a decade or more. Something I've noticed is the manuals seem to be written in a way that reduces the amount of paper used to print them. This is great for environmental reasons and I applaud them for it. Sections of the manuals that would normally require repeating, using up more paper, are simply referenced by number. There is a good bit of this referencing throughout Casio manuals. The amount of paper saved is probably substantial. As far learning to use your keyboard, that reason is exactly why we are here. We're here to help when anyone gets stuck trying to learn something.. Just pop in on the forum and ask a question. One of us will be around soon to answer in a way that can help. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunkieboy Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 Quote Brad, I appreciate you are an admin here and you do a lot of good work. Environmental reasons for cutting down on the use of paper? Why not print out simple, non repetitive instructions electronically? As a guitar teacher I've read many a manual on effect and multi effect pedals. Also I've managed to get on fine with various drum machines. Boss dr 5 etc. The instructions and layout for this keyboard are an afterthought in my opinion. Your forum is a help, but it would be so much easier if Casio produced comprehensive instructions in the first place. The ct-x 5000 sounds great but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler Holloway Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 @dunkieboy As Brad said, the forums are the best place to go if you run into something in the manual that needs to be explained in more detail. A separate expanded manual in electronic form would certainly be nice, but the issue is that it’s hard to tell which sections of the manual need expanding upon until someone starts to struggle with it and asks for specific help. Striking the right balance between repeating information or streamlining the instructions is difficult with any kind of technical writing. I released a full reference manual here on the forums last year, and even with just one fairly narrow topic to cover, the process of revising the material and paring down the extraneous information was the hardest part of the process by far. I think Casio’s approach of having a condensed manual supplemented by knowledge bases like the forums and the Facebook groups is quite flexible and efficient, even if it’s not perfect. This forum in particular is frequented by not only product experts like Brad, Joe, myself and even Casio’s own General Manager of Marketing, Mike Martin, but also a bunch of other experienced Casio owners who use these keyboards on a daily basis both on stage and in the studio. You’d be hard pressed to find a better group of people to personally and promptly answer product questions that go beyond the scope of the included manual. The benefit of having questions answered in a public space like this is that other users with similar questions can check and see if the issue had already been covered in a previous topic. We organize the different product lines into separate sections of the forums specifically to make sure discussions of each specific keyboard stay on topic and relevant to other members who use the same instruments. However, for very popular models like the CT-X series, the section tends to fill up quickly and it’s not always easy to find exactly what you’re looking for without a bit of digging. Looking back through the XW Synths section of the forum, there was a comprehensive FAQ topic there that helped catalogue some of the most informative topics in a way that made it more easily searchable for customers looking for specific answers. Perhaps we could try something similar with the CT-X boards now that they’ve been out for a while and there’s been a good chunk of discussion regarding them? I would be happy to take the lead on this project if @Brad Saucier and @Mike Martin think it would be useful moving forward. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 By all means Chandler, go forth and make the FAQ thread. The more help, the better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunkieboy Posted August 29, 2019 Author Share Posted August 29, 2019 Hi guys, it's not my intention to rock the boat here. If anything I hope I've highlighted the importance of making such a beautiful sounding contraption more accessible to ordinary Joes like myself. We're all in agreement that the superb quality of sound from the Aix is unquestionable. What is really needed here however is a clear, concise guide as to how it can be utilised. Not as an engineering manual for seasoned boffins, but as a real step by step guide for all levels of ability. The potential of the ct-x 5000 keyboard to create, is teasingly obvious. The instructions are however completely inadequate. I was warned by friends to avoid this product due to its complex operating instructions. I've also seen a few youtube videos that concur. At the end of the day I hope my 10 pence worth will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted August 30, 2019 Share Posted August 30, 2019 How about my 600 page ensoniq TS12 manual? Or would you care to peruse my old looseleaf binders for the Generalmusic keyboards back when. And there are sentences in some of the Roland guides that i will never be able to decipher. The Synclavier-you actually had to get a consultant to come out if you got stuck with some problem, of which there were many. So things have improved somewhat. Hang in there and the Casio manual shortcomings (I can't imagine what you are talking about) have pretty much created this forum, aside of course from our administrators who have kept this forum free of spam, flamers and other atrocities I've seen on other user groups, many of which have gone the way of the dodo from neglect or lack of useful information. IMO. Back to the mothership.....where I keep all my manuals. Trust no-one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
methodman3000 Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 OK I tried this tonight I am learning Whitney Houstin Higher love and so I was learning the chords for the song. I had cakewalk open, but really it's easier to rhythemize a song easier just by using the Casio without having it connected to the sequencer to play vst's. So I turned off the keyboard which gave me a message I had stopped connecting to Cakewalk . So while I'm framing out the song chord progressions I still am able to start and stop the song (cd) youtube video . All why kind of practicing the progressions (it 's in b ) but it worked. Most of the time Cakewalk will let me play something in the background while I fuss on the keyboard. Anyways I did everything I wanted so that was good. There is a choice I think in preferences that lets you do that. I hate Reapers full screen mode that won't let you resize your window. I'm always going back and forth between song arranging and questions if I run into issues about doing a function for something I didn't realize could be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
methodman3000 Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 For the Casio I would download the Yamaha PSR PDF 463 for example manuals, because they don't do as much and the functions are clearly laid out. and then try to figure out where they are on the Casio. Then after that maybe the esoteric functions will make more sense. There is so much possible with midi that isn't shared and if we come across ideas, they should be shared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casimodo Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 On 8/27/2019 at 1:01 AM, Brad Saucier said: 1. Press the function button 2. Cursor left or right to display "MIDI" 3. Press enter 4. Cursor left or right to display "on Local" 5. Press the - / NO button to turn local control OFF. 6. Press and hold exit to fully exit the function menu. Does this not give the same result as turning the speakers off? I'm using Reaper too and this is how I did it. Fine for MIDI but when I want to record audio in Reaper, the volume knob has a bearing on input levels I found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConfusedRedditor16 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 8/30/2019 at 4:49 AM, dunkieboy said: Hi guys, it's not my intention to rock the boat here. If anything I hope I've highlighted the importance of making such a beautiful sounding contraption more accessible to ordinary Joes like myself. We're all in agreement that the superb quality of sound from the Aix is unquestionable. What is really needed here however is a clear, concise guide as to how it can be utilised. Not as an engineering manual for seasoned boffins, but as a real step by step guide for all levels of ability. The potential of the ct-x 5000 keyboard to create, is teasingly obvious. The instructions are however completely inadequate. I was warned by friends to avoid this product due to its complex operating instructions. I've also seen a few youtube videos that concur. At the end of the day I hope my 10 pence worth will help. Hmmm, I am a beginner, and I got my ctx5000 last week, the manual didn't appear very complex to me, on the contrary, I thought they did a pretty good job of explaining everything comprehensively 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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