Demis Couscous
a professional user
from UK
writes:
I was given one of these last week on the condition that I take its former owner out to dinner. All I can say, is what a bargain!
It's got all those cheesy little sounds I remember from a cheap Casio I had when I was a kid, but has the bonus of all the filters that others have spoken of and also, and most importantly for my situation, it has a couple of phono outputs. This makes recording this little beasty so much easier. It also has the added advantage of a tuning pot.
I plugged it in last week and within half an hour I'd managed to combine it with an acoustic guitar to create the best 80's pastiche I've ever made, complete with Phil Oakey impression.
Yeah it's a toy, but it sits so well between a melodica and Roland XP80 that it really doesn't matter what it was designed as, just what you can do with it.
If you like cheesey synths and recording with a variety of instruments of varying seriousness, you can't really go wrong with this one. Especially if you swap it for a dinner date.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Tuesday-Apr-15-2008 at 06:23
bill
a professional user
from canada
writes:
ummm hello. people calling this garbage please keep doing so that it can remain cheap. theres very few things i can say bad about this so called toy synth. ok so its no moog no jupiter but what it is is uniquely different. coolest casio i have ever owned and i have owned a lot of them over the years. the thing seem to be pretty well made and it must have been to last this long. ok so where it gets really neat is in its filter and envelope. very nice indeed. also lets just say this synth makes some of the coolest organ and electric piano sounds i have heard. i was going to flip it for some cash but after having a go i cannot part with it. i mean its just really really awesome. the sound of it has its own flavour and its a good one. very nice little socalled toy all you haters please keep on hating. we need people like you to keep the prices of these down.
get it love it. a chorus a cool waw the filter makes for a great fun little diversion from the normal. i love it. a five beacause this really is a special little casio
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Jan-11-2008 at 21:47
Bryn
a professional user
from UK
writes:
This is a fantastic instrument. It can produce sounds, especially on the rhythm section, which are difficult/impossible to get elsewhere. The filter does not quite self-oscillate. Not quite. The sound quaity through the bolt on speakers is really good. This is a true analogue synth. It looks wonderfully retro as well. The odd spares or repair one might turn up at a bootsale, minus the speakers and battery cover. Standard big MT range battery covers will fit..eg MT68. If you collect micro synths, this is a must. The filter can effect the drum, bass and chord sounds, as well as tones with remarkable results. It has an envelope, noise and quite a rich chorus, which is variable. Don't expect to pick one up in a thrift shop for 2 quid. Those days are long gone. You can pay well over £50 for a good example. And, it's worth it. The 400v is a well built, well specified and useable little instrument. Proper sliders, no data entry crap. It's the king of the Casio mini keyboard range.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Sunday-Jan-21-2007 at 10:02
wayne masters
a hobbyist user
from Canada
writes:
Found this one at a church resale for $2. It didn't work so I attached my variable power supply to its battery leads at 9 volts. The sounds are fluffy, plastic, with little character. Similar to that generation of users.
Rating: 2 out of 5
posted Thursday-Jul-06-2006 at 08:48
Absent
a professional user
writes:
This thing rocks. Pay no attnetion to ignorant naysayers. There are always applications for any quality tunable instrument with a unique sound. The sounds in this are all undeniably Casiotone-style sounds, but controllable and sculptable. I'd prefer it had full size keys, but why gripe about it? How could you possibly buy a Casio and expect it to sound like anythign OTHER than a Casio? If you didn't WANT cheesy Casio sound, go buy a Moog or a Korg M1 or a Clavinova. I hope the prices don't climb on these, and I hope the trend toward modifying them doesn't revalue them a-la the casio SK-1. i'd love to find a full size version of this. I would also add that the sound is a little cleaner and a little fatter with (IMHO) a better signal to noise ratio than most Casiotones. All in all, it's a much more usable musical instrument. If you feel the need to quit collecting preset Casios and keep just ONE in your arsenal for the day you need a casio effect, this is the one to get. It direly needs a MIDI kit like the SK-1 had, and Casio should *really* consider making a single-space plastic case rack unit with filter inputs, or a midi plug in that emulates it. It *is* PCM synthesis, and should be easily emulated by any of today's modern processors. I would prefer sliders on a rack case though.
Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Dec-09-2005 at 21:59
