Members AnalogGuy Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 I want to point out that Casio VZ-1 is very neat synth. It was made to make their earlier CZ synths of "Phase Distortion" to better "interactive Phase Distortion" and the difference is notable: while CZ synths are capable making sounds both in analog and digital corners, VZ-1 is ever purer digital... very high quality... best word to describe it's sound is really "PURE" high quality studio sound. Casio VZ-1 is in many ways better than DX synths... it's much much more flexible, easier to program (it is still hard to program, but I would say much easier than DX), better big display showing for example envelopes rates and the most important thing... VZ-1 can sound WARM! It's because instead of just Sinewaves, VZ synths offer different waves like noise and saw!!! Just detune saws and you have very incredibly warm pads! Sawtooth waveforms makes it much different from DX synths in terms of fatness and warmness. Just listen my own little improvised song; http://www.mikseri.net/artists/analogy.106176.php It's called as "Untitled improvisation nro 2" and just click it's download button. Notice that strange pad sound from the very beginning? That's VZ pad! Anyway, I own rarer Hohner brand clone version of Casio VZ-1. As you might guess, Casio is not the best brand to advertise professional synths... sadly VZ-1 remains as one of the most underrated synths ever. The main reason is so damn simple: both DX and VZ synths are difficult to program, so all people mostly ends up just playing the presets and to where that leads? DX-7 preset sounds became legends and were almost primary reason to buy it! Everyone for example, were after that famous FM piano. And what about VZ? Presets were nothing special... only showing the tip of the iceberg!!! And just because of that it turned out to be a big flop! It cost also very much when it was released in 1988 and Yamaha were already the market dominator... I would like to say... "market terminator" Anyway, are here any other "Casio professional" owners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartianWaves Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 Great demo, I like your VZ1 sounds very much but did you know that the DX7 does offer saw waves and many more which you can detune and get sounds similar to your VZ1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 For all the bashing that tweakers give to preset users, presets will make or break a new synth in the market. First impressions are everything. "saws" in a DX? lol wut? You mean an approximation of saws, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Teoman Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 CZ-3000 owner here. Although I like its tome, I personally prefer DX-7. It is in a league of its own. I rediscovered it in an big way. Cz is a good synth though, only the digital chorus is noisy on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartianWaves Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 "saws" in a DX? lol wut? You mean an approximation of saws, right? I meant a wave shape that we tend to perceive as a 'sawtooth' wave. Everything in synth sounds can be an approximation of something or a thing of its own, depending on how we look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members YeahRightKid Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm gonna say something that borders on blasphemy around here, but having had a VZ-1 and currently using a JX-10 I can honestly say that the VZ pwns the JX when it comes to strings. Also, the DX is much more complex and programmable than the VZ, but the ol' Casio is just as difficult to get the hang of IMHO and can yield some rewarding results. The presets on the VZ are terrible but I remember tweaking an electric piano sound and getting a nice rhodes out of it (at least better than that godawful DX piano) Also, it makes an excellent controller because it's built like a friggin tank, has nice synth-action keys, and my favorite: two mod wheels! Damn do I ever miss mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted March 2, 2009 Members Share Posted March 2, 2009 both are great the point is how you use them like everything else i guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody4 Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 about a year ago had an op to get a rack for less than 100....stupid stupid me let it go. had a cz-1 for sometime like em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnalogGuy Posted March 3, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 about a year ago had an op to get a rack for less than 100....stupid stupid me let it go.had a cz-1 for sometime like em The only difference between keyboard (VZ-1) and rack (VZ-10M) is that keyboard model have a lot of connections like foot volume, foot VR (?) and sustain pedal whereas rack only with usual midis and stereo-output BUT rack does have balanced XLR stereo and keyboard does not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flowthrough Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 The VZ series is a more 'refined' or purer, colder digital than the DX series.The DX has more 'bite'- and more flavors (10 bit, 12 bit, 16 bit etc...). I think the CZ has more character- and is more pleasurable (faster) to program. (with they had made a rackmount CZ with 32 voices- that would be a real 'classic') I started with the VZ and CZ series... but now own only the DX/FM gear.I found most of what I'd do on a VZ, I could achieve on a DX.That said.. with the bank or two I made on the VZ, I would still buy a VZ10m if I found one for sale- for $100.Though for that same price.. one could pick up a TX81z or TX802- which have much more freely available patches on the net, and sound wonderful.- easily available TX802's make the the VZ purchase hard to justify for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted March 3, 2009 Members Share Posted March 3, 2009 I agree that the Casio Pro line was under-rated. In the mid to late 90's, my main guitar was a Casio PG 380 midi guitar synth. For those not familiar, it's a Strat-styled guitar with a built-in VZ synth module, that were being endorsed by Stanley Jordan at the time. It's the only guitar synth I've seen with a built-in module, and it has a slot in the back for ram cards. At the time I also bought a VZ10M to use as a workstation. The guitar's synth module is not editable, so I used to tweak sounds on the VZ10M, dump them onto a ram card and use them in the guitar. I've since moved on to a Roland guitar synth a number of years ago, and very reluctantly sold the PG380 to a friend about a month ago after owning it for about 12 years. I still have the VZ10M and am considering selling that as well, since I have about 10 other synths at the moment. But for someone who likes to tweak and has the patience to learn how this synth operates, it is capable of some unique sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members projectwoofer Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 I just wanted to say that I really love my Casio VZ-10M, however difficult to program it may be...It's very similar sounding to my TX7 although much more flexible. On the other hand the TX has a nice preset collection. I chose to use both and I'm realy happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 As a wee lad, my first synth was actually my Dad's JX-8p. I kinda hated it then (still hate it); and so my first synth was actually a VZ-10m...I begged my parents, and between my meager savings, and my parents awesomeness, I got it for Christmas. I basically used it for its presets...the standout I recall was "Wood Bass" and a few of its ethnic pads. I had it until I was about 23, when I struggled to pay rent for a few months, and sold it desperation. Unfortunately, in all that time, I didn't really wrap my head around programming the VZ or any other synth... I finally got really into sound design a few years ago around 28. It's only NOW that I know the sad fact that the presets on most synths suck rat balls. And I wonder what the VZ-10m was capable of. I've considered re-purchasing it, but I worry about feeling nostalgic. I hate nostalgia, and looking back like that, and I'd rather just move forward. So if I were to do it, I'd have to get the VZ-1 keyboard version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mcmike100 Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 I used to own a DX7. I have a Yamaha TX802, Casio CZ-1, CZ-101 and VZ-10M. The VZ sounded much closer to the sound of FM. I always preferred the sound of the CZ series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carbon111 Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 One edge the VZ had over Yamaha's DX-style FM (which is actually Phase Modulation, not true FM) is that the VZ had eight ops to Yammy's six (or four), allowing for more complex timbres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 maybe not "pro" but I love my HT-700: http://homepage.mac.com/synth_seal/html/ht3000.html its so cheap and cheerful and sounds cool do want some other casios, namely the CZ, wouldnt mind a HT3000 and 6000 though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted September 30, 2010 Members Share Posted September 30, 2010 *Caugh* [sPAM] I'm selling my Casio CZ-1000 if anyone's interested. It's beat up (but works great), so I'll sell it cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members projectwoofer Posted October 2, 2010 Members Share Posted October 2, 2010 One edge the VZ had over Yamaha's DX-style FM (which is actually Phase Modulation, not true FM) is that the VZ had eight ops to Yammy's six (or four), allowing for more complex timbres. ...the eight operators on the VZ are fully patched and not restricted to a limited number of interconnection algorithms plus each one has eight waverforms as opposed to only a sine wave on the DX synths! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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