CT-X800 headphone volume too low for some tones

[Marcelo Chaves]

Hi. I’ve recently noticed that the headset volume for some tones is way lower than for others. For example, the Celesta tone has a significantly lower volume than the Stage Piano one when both are played through the headset port. But they sound on about the same level when the internal speakers are used.

 

Any ideas on what could be wrong? Hardware issue maybe? I’ve applied a software reset to the keyboard, but there were no changes with respect to the issue.

 

Marcelo.

 

 

[Chandler Holloway]

@Marcelo Chaves

 

Unfortunately, some of the internal tones with the CT-X series just have louder samples than others. X-Synth Lead 4, for example, is really loud compared to its neighboring synth tones. it's a well documented issue with these first gen AiX boards.

 

Those speakers can be deceptive when monitoring sounds because they're, well, entry-level, low wattage keyboard speakers. Always trust the headphone jack, you'd be playing through external amplification in an any serious performance setting anyway.

 

I would recommend using my free software utility, RBK Mixer, to lower the volume of specific tones that you think are overly loud via custom edited Registrations. You can download the most recent version (Windows -> get the .MSI file, Mac -> get the .DMG file). Export an RBK file from your keyboard (this is a bank of 4 Registrations, containing the tones you want to rebalance), edit the RBK file with RBK Mixer to adjust the volume levels where necessary, save the modified RBK file and load it back into your CT-X800. Recall the Registrations to see if the new volume balance is to your liking, repeat the process (if necessary) until you have the balance you like. Let me know if you have trouble with this process, I'd be happy to help walk you through it.

https://github.com/olmigs/rbk-mixer/releases

 

By default, every tone is at the maximum volume level in the (hidden, inaccessible through normal means) mixer menu on the CT-X800. Since it's already maxed out, you can't make the quieter tones (like Celesta) louder to match, you must make the Stage Piano sound quieter so it doesn't overpower the Celesta.

 

Along the same line of thinking, if you're playing with Rhythms and accompaniment, the internal metronome, or MIDI songs in the Song List, use the "Accomp Volume", "Metronome Volume" and "Song Volume" settings in the Function list to lower the volumes of the corresponding voices until you get a good balance of all the different sounds in the keyboard.

 

Once the appropriate things are quieted down (but properly balanced in doing so), use the master volume knob to boost the overall volume back up to an adequate level.

 

Roundabout and clunky solution due to the limitations of the interface, but very worth it to do if you're serious about getting the best experience and sound quality on your CT-X800. Hope this helps!

Edited January 6, 2022 by Chandler Holloway

[Marcelo Chaves]

Thank you, @Chandler Holloway! What's strange is that the volume difference between, let's say, Stage Piano vs. Celesta seems much bigger when I listen to the tones using headphone than when the CT-X built-in speakers are used. Does the AiX board issue affect the headphone output more than the built-in speaker one?

 

Marcelo.

 

 

[Chandler Holloway]

1 hour ago, Marcelo Chaves said:

Thank you, @Chandler Holloway! What's strange is that the volume difference between, let's say, Stage Piano vs. Celesta seems much bigger when I listen to the tones using headphone than when the CT-X built-in speakers are used. Does the AiX board issue affect the headphone output more than the built-in speaker one?

 

Marcelo.

 

 

 

The AiX default tone volumes being uneven and mismatched isn't a mechanical fault of the board or the chipset, it just has to do with the volume that the original samples were recorded at. Some of those raw samples were just stored in memory with a hotter signal. These were the first AiX boards Casio made, I've noticed (anecdotally) that the sample volume has been evened out with later AiX boards like the CDP-S350 and CT-S400.

 

Regarding speakers vs headphones, what you're hearing is simply a product of the onboard speakers being small, low wattage speakers on an entry level keyboard. If you compare those speakers to the onboard speakers on something more advanced like the CT-X5000 or the MZ-X500, you'll immediately notice better bass response because they have a better DAC, larger cones, higher wattage, etc.

 

The CT-X800s speakers are naturally going to favor treble and hi-mid frequencies because they aren't equipped to handle bass frequencies well. The Celesta is a bell tone that typically plays in the high-mid range anyway, whereas Stage Piano has more low end content to its timbre. When you hear both through the speakers, you don't notice Celesta being quieter than Stage Piano because Stage Piano is losing some of that low end when played through the speakers. Plug in headphones, and you'll get more of that low/low mid sound from the Stage Piano whereas the Celesta won't benefit as much from the fuller reproduction of the sound. Make sense?

 

If you don't want to use RBK Mixer to aid your rebalancing (I would highly recommend you try it out, it's a must-have for CT-X700/X800 users), a quicker way to adjust the sound of the speakers to a mix that's more to your liking might be to try different Equalizer presets in the function list.

 

Seriously though, try RBK Mixer! Lots of fun stuff you can do with it. You can even just load in some of my pre-made Utility Banks (only made possible with RBK Mixer), they unlock tons of cool functionality by themselves.

 

[Marcelo Chaves]

21 hours ago, Chandler Holloway said:

The CT-X800s speakers are naturally going to favor treble and hi-mid frequencies because they aren't equipped to handle bass frequencies well. The Celesta is a bell tone that typically plays in the high-mid range anyway, whereas Stage Piano has more low end content to its timbre. When you hear both through the speakers, you don't notice Celesta being quieter than Stage Piano because Stage Piano is losing some of that low end when played through the speakers. Plug in headphones, and you'll get more of that low/low mid sound from the Stage Piano whereas the Celesta won't benefit as much from the fuller reproduction of the sound. Make sense?

Hmm... got it! I'll make some experiments here. Thank you!

Edited January 8, 2022 by Marcelo Chaves

[casiolio]

I have noticed this same issue. The volume difference is EXTREME. It does not seem like a difference in the sample volume. It seems much more like a bug.

[Brad Saucier]

Which model of headphones are you using?