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1980 Casiotone M-10 history, test and review!


Chas

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I've finally finished part 1 of my 2 part Casiotone M-10 review. I thought this would be a quick one to make as it's a simple little keyboard with just four tones and a vibrato switch. But then I started researching its history, and that sent me down so many rabbit holes of information and connections! It appears that the little M-10 is quite the famous little Casiotone, though few people know much about it!

 

 

Edited by Chas
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Nice find @Chas! Years ago a music shop owner said he had a friend who modified one of these and had 100s of sounds. I thought, yeah right, he be lyin. The board only has 4 tones and no bass sounds.. Well now I know he could have had a modded version with 100s of sounds after all since the main sound chip IS the same DIP chip as the 201! So ok! Need to buy another of these and actually KEEP it this time lol!

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Thanks @pianokeyjoe!

 

In Part 2 of my review I cover the hidden secrets and hidden features of the M10. Spoiler alert - there's a total of 23 Tones available and the M10 LSI is NOT the same as in the CT201! I did a ton of research and it appears that a 1981 music magazine is to blame for spreading the wrong information!

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Ahh haaah! Ok! Well thankyou my friend, for clearing that one up. Still, 23 tones is alot. I would venture to say the 100s of tones that music store owner back in the day mentioned were circuit bent variations and not actual chip safe available tones. Eitherway, I do stand corrected and now I regret selling my 2 M10s and will buy one and keep that sucker this time lol! My first ever polyphonic Casiotone keyboard which I borrowed, not owned at the time, was the MT11. Later in life as an adult I was able to buy one on Ebay Australia for $141 with moulded carry case. I then bought 2 more of which one is sold and I still have the other including the original acquisition from Australia. The MT11 has the same tone chip as the MT45 of which I also have 2 units. I know I can mod the tones on the MT45/65 and the MT52. I used to have a CT102 and still have several MT35/36 that I can not mod the tones of which there are only 4 and 6 voice polyphony as well. I thought the M10 was a very stripped down version of the CT102/MT35.. Judging by the familiar MT65 ORGAN TONE which is pipe organ on the MT65, the chip is NOT the same as the MT35. DOH!! You pointed out the MT30.. The MT31 which is the one I have, would be the same chip as the M10 yes??

 

BTW, @ChasI loved the doggy in the window bit lol! His tail was not wagging though lol! 😛

Edited by pianokeyjoe
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  • 3 weeks later...

@pianokeyjoe- It gets a little confusing with regards to many of the Casio models, as some were indeed stripped down versions of more expensive and more feature packed models, and some used similar/ same components but with differences, and some shared nothing at all other than a similar model number. In part 2 of my M10 review I examine the M10's tone hardware and as mentioned, a 1981 Music Magazine review stated incorrect information! regarding the CT201 and M10.

 

The MT-30 and MT-31 appear to be identical, other than speaker position. As with the CT201 and CT202, the speaker and controls moved from the right to the left, though the 201 and 202 had some changes to the tones and features in the later model:

http://weltenschule.de/TableHooters/Casio_MT-30.html

 

 

The MT30/ 31 appears to have a later D775G version of the D773G chip used in the M10, so there might be some tweaks:   
 

https://www.firstpr.com.au/rwi/casio/


As for the doggy in the window, that's the lovely Miss Jersey, and she wasn't wagging her tail as she was too fixated on the treats we were using to try and get her to sit in one place long enough to get enough film footage of her!

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