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Conference napalm::commusic_v1

Title:	* * Computer Music, MIDI, and Related Topics * *
Notice:	Conference has been write-locked. Use new version.
Moderator:	DYPSS1::SCHAFER

Created:	Thu Feb 20 1986
Last Modified:	Mon Aug 29 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	2852
Total number of notes:	33157

200.0. "Questions about the CZ family" by MAHLER::HERDEG () Mon Dec 02 1985 21:16

I am considering buying an inexpensive synthesizer with MIDI to connect to
my Macintosh.  From what I've seen, it looks like I want a Casio.  I've got
a few questions.

What is the difference between a CZ-101 and CZ-1000?  Is it just the size
of the keyboard with identical electronics?

The CZ-5000 has 8 voices to the CZ-1000's 4.  It also has a sequencer, which
I won't need if I use my Macintosh.  Are those the only differences or are
there others?  If there aren't others, it would seem that 2 CZ-101s would
be just as good (except for the keyboard) and probably cheaper.

Finally, where is the cheapest place to buy such a thing.  I see that a number
of the mail-order places in Popular Photography list Casio keyboards.  One
has the CZ-101 listed at $250.  Is that the best I can do or can I find a
similar deal in the Boston area?

	Mark

T.R	Title	User	Date	Lines
200.1		BEAGLE::MULELID	`Tue Dec 03 1985 06:29`	13
	As far as I know the CZ-101 and CZ-1000 are identical except for the size of the keyboard. One other minor difference is that the CZ-101 has real buttons for different selections while the CZ-1000 is "membran" type ( or what you call it). For the CZ-5000, one other difference from what you mention is the number of keys on the keyboard 61 v.s. 49 (I'm not 100% sure about the numbers) for CZ-101/CZ-1000. For the price I can not help, I'm on the wrong side of the big sea. Svein.
200.2		GALAXY::MALIK	`Tue Dec 03 1985 15:32`	20
	I played on a CZ-101 and was not that impressed with the sound (some were nice, others not so hot) - But for $250 (?!) you can't go wrong. That's an incredible price for a multi-timbral MIDI synth! Lotsa store pride themselves on being able to beat (or least match) your best deal. I'd say take the mailorder ad with you to a music store as a bargaining chip. Tell them how much you'd like to buy the instrument from them, but that you just can't justify the price difference. If it had better sounds, I'd buy 10 of 'em and solve my 'I want lotsa different timbres at the same time' problem. If you're just getting started, and can really get the instrument for around $250, I would have no second thoughts about recommending it. - Karl
200.3		SIVA::FEHSKENS	`Tue Dec 03 1985 18:18`	17
	The 101 (and the rest of the family) does have some lame presets, but with the machine's capability it's easy to fix them up to what you really want. The only problem (and it's a big one if not a showstopper) is there's no way to save your programs. The cz-101 cartridge is still not available, and there's no tape interface. So you have to write them down to cover yourself for battery failure and cockpit errors. I believe the bigger versions (-1000, -5000) have tape interfaces (which seems to tell me that they gave up on the cartridge). If you intend to use it with a PC, this may not be a problem, as I believe you can dump and load programs via the MIDI interface using system exclusive messages. Their are program librarians for the -101 that run on the Mac - see any recent issue of Keyboard magazine. Also the sequencer on the -1000/5000 has some wierd properties (again, see the review in a recent issue of Keyboard - within the last three or four months, I think) for a description. (e.g., the repeat function inserts a bar of silence between the repeats!) len.
200.4		BEAGLE::MULELID	`Wed Dec 04 1985 04:58`	9
	The cartridge is available her in Europe. In Nice where I bought mine they want 500 FF for it, and in London you get it for 25 pounds, I'm not quite sure how much that makes in US $. At least here in France it was available already in september. The CZ's use a version called RA3 I think, and the SZ1 (sequencer) use RA5, but that also have a possibility to dump to tape. Svein.