Jokeyman123 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 After briefly studying Alen K 's still outstanding documents re the XW series, I just noticed something that had slipped by me-and I have been rabidly comparing in particular the acoustic pianos as old as my PX575 and as new as the PX560-and several in between-CDP's. Haven't played the XW acoustic and ep pianos lately but doing so recently-was again surprised at how good the piano is in this XW, and noticed in one of Alen K's companion documents that this is a triple-strike piano-similar at least with the sample structure to the the newest Privias, no wonder this sounds this good! The sensors underneath are pairs as some of the older CDPs but the Privias have 3 rubber switches in various arrays which do provide a noticeable difference in dynamic response, at least to my ears, but this once again has me revisiting the XW, despite much of my work being with the PX560 lately. The XW-every time I set it aside for the Privia pianos, I go back to it again, and as time passes, IMO this will be eventually (even already) one of the most unique keyboards in any category. Arturias, Novations, Behringers even the original older analogs and digitals-I am still impressed at what the XW is capable of, all in one place. Software emulators are fun, but physical layouts are still my favorite. Still would rather bring this on a gig than a computer and software. Just saying. But I'm still afraid to update the firmware!!!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 Dial back the release time on the Electric Pianos to give them a snappier release. They're great sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 5, 2020 Author Share Posted March 5, 2020 Thanks Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Jokeyman123 said: But I'm still afraid to update the firmware!!!!! Bring it the next time you stop by the Casio office and I'll do it for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 Thanks again Mike-will come by again, will call and email first. looking forward to it! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentboy4112 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 XW-P1 is my go-to gig synth, and it always dazzles people, especially the brand snobs. I've played country, rock, synth-pop, blues, and more on it, and it has everything you'd need or want. I bought an extra one (still in the box) so when that dark day comes when my first one croaks, I can easily transition over again. Great board. Also, just went through a month of sampling newer possible replacements for my Privia PX-5S, including boards from Roland, Yamaha, and Korg, and nothing is a good, light, playable, and flexible. So, the result of my window shopping was to buy another PX-5S in case that board ever goes. These were two spectacular pieces of equipment, and merit redundancy so after a decade or more of heavy use (they both seem still indestructible), I can just swap another in and have another decade of fun! Huzzah! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 I haven't tried yet-but today i am going to midi up the XW to my Privias-see how the XW tones respond to the piano-action keys-just an experiment to keep me out of trouble! And yes-the light weight is fantastic-this is drop-dead easy to stack on another bigger board. 11.6 pounds-my Roland MC-505 weighs 11.1 pounds, without keys, amp and speakers! Nice solid steel construction but need a controller keyboard and a small monitor speaker system or phones to work with it. and the XW tones are definitely better in many ways-organs, pianos all the main "bread and butter" gig sounds are definitely better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Aside from the PX-5S of course, the XW-P1 is my favorite. What has always amazed me compared to the PX-5S is how remarkably different they sound. Dial in a HexLayer on the PX-5S that is programmed exactly the same way as the XW-P1 and they sound completely different in a good way. The PX-5S can sometimes sound TOO BIG, while the XW-P1 has the ability to fit in with other instruments really well. Add some external effects and it gets even better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlenK Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 On 3/6/2020 at 8:22 AM, kentboy4112 said: XW-P1 is my go-to gig synth, and it always dazzles people, especially the brand snobs. I've played country, rock, synth-pop, blues, and more on it, and it has everything you'd need or want. I bought an extra one (still in the box) so when that dark day comes when my first one croaks, I can easily transition over again. I used to take an extended warranty every year for my XW-P1 but recently stopped. Casio makes and has always made very reliable products. But I don't gig with it, so I understand your caution. And for the price, cheap insurance. Now, having said that, the next time I try to turn it on, it won't. ;( Sadly, I haven't turned it on for a while. I have been too busy lately on an important home-improvement project. Once that is (mostly) done, I will return to my synths and complete that Volume 2, assuming there is still any interest. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 There is, at least with me! I am renovating my 2nd house here in the Pocono woodlands so yes, have to also divide time between. Weather too is a limiting factor. But still have all my fingers, am very careful around the power saws. Tough to keep chops in shape when doing any of this. Reason I revisited these XW posts-keeping this future cz synth type classic alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XW-Addict Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I saw a recent post Sound design with LOVE from Kurt_ader instagram for the following artist and keyboards, and I saw Casio XW in the list was like aah yes that right there are somewhat Kapro sounds in the XW knowing that is like its cool and Its still a mystery how they collaborated but still nice to know one of the top sound designer sounds are in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom banjo Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 I agree about being afraid to hook up for data updates etc.. It sounds like one bad move and the keyboard gets buried on boot hill. I sometimes hit the wrong buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokeyman123 Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 I haven't tried-but i am going to midi up the XW to my Privias-see how the XW tones respond to the piano-action keys-just an experiment to keep me out of trouble! And yes-the light weight is fantastic-this is drop-dead easy to stack on another bigger board. 11.6 pounds-my Roland MC-505 weighs 11.1 pounds, without keys, amp and speakers! Nice solid steel construction but need a controller keyboard and a small monitor speaker system or phones to work with it. The XW tones are definitely better in many ways-organs, pianos all the main "bread and butter" gig sounds are definitely better. As far as updating the firmware-others here have done it successfully no problems-just have to be careful you do not interrupt the process once it starts in any way. Mike Martin has posted a detailed description of how to do this here, in a very careful way so as not to pooch your XW. I was running virus scanning software when I first tried this years ago-and it stopped the firmware upgrade-saw it as "spyware" and tanked my XW, which Casio promptly restored no charge, even though it was my error, very pro on their part I think. it really isn't necessary if you haven't noticed any limitations or bugs in your XW-I wanted to do it originally because I had the oldest system from one of the early XW's version 1.0, but it was working fine-I just felt compelled to update it. Make sure you aren't running battery power, all connections tight and secure-and don't have any heavy computer programs running in the background-to be sure your computer doesn't crash or interrupt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranR Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 🙋♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranR Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 On 3/7/2020 at 11:27 AM, AlenK said: I used to take an extended warranty every year for my XW-P1 but recently stopped. Casio makes and has always made very reliable products. But I don't gig with it, so I understand your caution. And for the price, cheap insurance. Now, having said that, the next time I try to turn it on, it won't. ;( Sadly, I haven't turned it on for a while. I have been too busy lately on an important home-improvement project. Once that is (mostly) done, I will return to my synths and complete that Volume 2, assuming there is still any interest. There's still a lot of interest over here! 🙋♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
central616 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 On 3/6/2020 at 1:42 PM, Mike Martin said: Aside from the PX-5S of course, the XW-P1 is my favorite. What has always amazed me compared to the PX-5S is how remarkably different they sound. Dial in a HexLayer on the PX-5S that is programmed exactly the same way as the XW-P1 and they sound completely different in a good way. The PX-5S can sometimes sound TOO BIG, while the XW-P1 has the ability to fit in with other instruments really well. Add some external effects and it gets even better. I second this. I recently purchased the PX-5s and I was going to sell the XW, but when I put both aside, I fell in love with the XW again. I didn't have the opportunity to play the MZ-X500, but judging by it's specs it seems to be a superior machine than the XW. So why don't you choose it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyH_Smioreun Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 On 3/6/2020 at 9:18 AM, Jokeyman123 said: I haven't tried yet-but today i am going to midi up the XW to my Privias-see how the XW tones respond to the piano-action keys-just an experiment to keep me out of trouble! And yes-the light weight is fantastic-this is drop-dead easy to stack on another bigger board. 11.6 pounds-my Roland MC-505 weighs 11.1 pounds, without keys, amp and speakers! Nice solid steel construction but need a controller keyboard and a small monitor speaker system or phones to work with it. and the XW tones are definitely better in many ways-organs, pianos all the main "bread and butter" gig sounds are definitely better. PA-er here too... moved to NJ last year, grew up in the Lehigh Valley LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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