Casio CZ-1000

Overall it's fairly easy to figure out, but programming can be a bit
tedious. Changing a parameter from 5 to 100 using only a '+' and a '-'
key, each one only incrementing by one is a little annoying at times.
It basics were not difficult to figure out without the manual, however.

Max of 8 note polyphony is not bad for its time, and while a little
pathetic for today's standards, is typically more then I need. Midi
is poor (no Through) and lacks velocity, aftertouch, and a mod wheel.
The pitch bender is not at all bad. It has a nice detuning circuit,
as well as a ringmod and noise modulator. Both are frequently helpfull.

Don't try natural or realistic sounds with it, but other then that
it's a great instrument. It makes some nice percussive noises, and
is particularly good at metallic clangs and bangs and other sounds
like hitting a car door with a sledgehammer. Makes some nice pads,
leads, and a limited amount of bass.

I haven't taken it out and around too much, but the case is some thick
plastic that has obviously taken a beating through the years while
everything inside is perfect. I did have one bad incident, while taking
it home from a pawnshop it took subzero weather in a car's trunk for
about an hour or so and didn't function right until it had warmed back
up to room temperature... turning it on for the first time had to be
the most discordant thing i've heard.

I haven't dealt with Casio at all concerning this device.

Excellent chunk of hardware and very usefull. Can do some great
sounds if you are willing to work with it for a long period of time.
It isn't a central instrument, but really helps add some kick to
a dull sounding track. I would most likely sell my family before I
sell this.

The presets aren't real exciting and the data entry is relatively painful until you learn it, but it is very logical once you get the hang of it. It actually allows you to create much more complex sounds than the usual sythesis systems of the time and in some respects it has some real unique features; Casio is the only company that ever did this particular type of synthesis and whoever thought it up had flexibility in mind - if it has a problem, it is that it is so flexible you can get really lost in the programming unless you take notes and pay careful attention (small LCD screen), but the effort is well worth it - especially if you have a sampler. Casio sent me a copy of the manual free of charge. No complaints there! It is very straight forward, but if you're not familiar with analog type synthesis systems you're in for a few headaches. Still, if you want something simple to play you wouldn't be looking at synths...I've had some trouble getting patch editors to work right, but there aren't a lot to choose from... but they do exist.

Polyphony depends on how many oscillators you use and whether you want to double up patches. It runs 8/4/1 depending on the complexity of the sound. There is a socket on the back for a memory expansion cartridge, but they are virtually impossible to find these days and the one company that used to make aftermarket versions quit as far as I know, but if you're reading this you have a better storage system already if you can get it working. I've had no luck with the DOS patch editors... The unit has portamento, vibrato and ring modulation. It can get some really great bell type tones. It's real basic compared to the modern synths, but that's not the point. This little unit makes some great sounds! It has awesome bass and presence - as a sound creating module alone it is worth the price. When I get really good patches I usually run them out to my Emax II - great possibilities. Another thing to keep in mind is that for sampling you really have 6 octaves of coverage since for a centered patch you can shift up and down an octave. Another point of note for techno/dance fans is that the CZ1000 has three different resonance waves built into the basic wave selection. You can mix and match and adjust the intensity of all the waveforms with ONE of the three (two resonance waves are out - I suspect because they might have created too much headroom together for the circuitry... but it's just a guess) resonance waves through the interface. So - 2 oscillators each capable of running two waves at a time, a 10 point envelope description (no simple ADSR here!)...detuning... I don't think anybody has yet maxed the possibilities of this thing... and you can stack two patches on top of each other (limited to mono play at that point, but my sampler doesn't care!). Bottom line - I think a lot of people rag on this machine because they never figured out what to do with it! And the sheer tone quality is amazing. Most people who hear it can't believe it... it makes a lot of much more expensive units sound flat (mind you they are a lot easier to use in many respects... and way more versatile in others, but the SOUND...) Somebody told me (I don't know if this is true...) that the CZ1000 is a digitally controlled analog. So, the sound generation is actually analog - if what I was told is right... which could explain the tonal difference which is pretty obvious when you listen to it...

Realistic instruments? Not likely! It does do good synthy brassy/stringy/bell sounds... This is NOT a unit for somebody who wants "real" instruments. For dance/techno or rock or even jazz (in the hands of somebody who knows what he is doing) it could be magic! There aren't any extras on this unit - it is a straight digital synth. What you play is sort of what you get. No velocity or aftertouch, so it's not a player's keyboard, but still excellent value for the sound. As a solo unit it can be great. The pitch wheel feels pretty good and give you a full octave of shift up or down. Less if you want...

It was made to be played live or why put the strap pegs on it? I wouldn't go dropping it or anything, but if you are reasonably careful it should be OK. I would treat any synth with a lot of babying, but my CZ was a mess when I got it and it works great. YOu have to make sure you have the right power supply, though. If the power is low it will cut off on you. Also, there is a power saver button meant to save your batteries when you aren't plugged into a wall... if that switch is on and you leave it for a bit it will shut itself down and any patch you were working on that isn't saved is history - beware! And whaever settings you had done before it shut down are nixed... so you might have to scramble...

I haven't had any problems, so I don't know, but they sent the catalog pretty fast and were very nice on the phone. Said they could still usually fix any problems that might occur...if I sent it to a legitimate dealer repair site.

I would definitely want another one if this one died or got lost... I'm fairly new to keyboards, but have been playing guitar with a lot of effects and stuff for 20 years. I wish I played better, but don't we all! I don't do live stuff, so the performanc questions are not really applicable to my experience. Like I said, I use it to create samples for my Emax II - excellent sampler! I bought the CZ because it was dirt cheap and I wasn't going to lose much if I didn't like it. I figured even if I didn't like it that much down the road, I would learn a lot from messing with it - definitely true. There is a long list of things I wish it had, but it doesn't. It is what it is... a damned cheap, great digital sound producing tool - with all the nuisance that button punching and multiple menus and a unique processing system can create. But look at the price! If you want the sounds bad enough to work for them and don't have a lot of cash - you can't go wrong with this. I don't know how to rate this stuff numerically... If you really want a sampler and get this you're going to feel really disappointed and massively irritated, but on the other hand this can do stuff most samplers can't... apples and oranges... Remember, too... you can create some really awful noises with anything this flexible! There's an art to it... Don't expect to program great sounds in five minutes. And if you can get the patch/MIDI working there are a lot of patches on the web for the downloading.

The 16 Presets are junk, but I'm very happy with the sounds I've added over the years.
You can edit patches from the front pannel. It's modeled after an analog synth. Use your computer to edit sounds on-screen if you prefer.

4 note polyphony for most sounds, 8 for others. The light keyboard action is excellent. Perfect for synth solos.
I'd highly recommend a reverb unit for use with this synth. I also use a phaser. There are 16 internal patches in ram, and I've added a card for another 64. It's midi features are basic, no ver/aftertouch.

With additional sounds, I'd give this synth an 11 for sound quality. Without, I'd give it a 5 at best..
The CZ synths are about the best quality digital synths made to sound like analog. I know it's hard to believe from Casio, but I've done a lot of research on my three CZ synths, and I've tested lots of synths.
I play mostly "70/80's Progressive Art Rock". Groups like Yes, ELP, Genesis, Styx, Kansas, etc. I can't say enough good things about this synth for allowing me to recreate most of the synth sounds used by these groups. I haven't been able to find anything better!!! I've tested the Nord Lead 2, OB-Matrix 6, Korg Prophecy, the new Yamahas, new analog sounding Roland. etc. If you want to play this type of music, you won't find a better synth for anywhere near the price. Or in my case at any price.
Whenever I see these types of groups play live in recent years, I always wonder why my CZ can often get these patches closer to the orginal than what they used!!
Without this synth, I would have had to buy a Mini-Moog, Polymoog, OB-Xa, Arp Pro Soloist & String Ensemble.
Examples: I have Van Halen's "Jump/1984" patches near perfect. Styx's "Fooling Yourself" OB-4 voice patches. Asia's "Time will Tell" patches Led Zepplin's synth solo patch for "All of my love", etc..
The tone mix & portamento features are very useful. I have some awesome solo pathes I've made from tone mix.

The CZ-1000 is very reliable. I've had both of mine for almost 10 years now. I gig with them often. On one of them I've had to replace the output jack.

I haven't had to deal with them. This synth is popular enough that I've been able to have all my questions answered over the Internet, and from my keyboard magazines (back when they made them).

I liked it enough that I bought a 2nd one, and in more recent years I also bought the top of the line model, the CZ-1. Ever since I've been attempting to find something I liked better (under $3000) and I've failed. Evey week I visit several music stores. I'm planning a trip to the New England Synth Museum.
I've been playing about 15 years. I also own a Korg M1 with the Plus One board added, A Roland "Vintage synth module", and a Yamaha FB-01 module.
I wish Casio would still make professional synths like these or that another other company would make something as good for my needs with more features.
I wish my CZ's had real knobs to turn instead of having to press buttons, portamento knob, Res. Filter, etc.. About the only thing I've liked about the more recent digital/analog sounding synths from Clavia (Nord Lead), Korg (Prophecy), Roland & Yamaha are these knobs, but if the orginal sound patch isn't what your looking for, what good are they?
I also wish my CZ's had giant stickers across them that said Moog, Oberheim, or Arp to better represent what they sound like/what I use mine for. The Casio name is a joke to most people. Once they hear me play mine at gigs, they are blown away.. That's a Casio????
I'm planning on having my own CZ Website/Mailing list in the future.

Presets are pretty bad, ok but heavy on cheese. The portamento is good, and there's a mono / poly mode. The bad part, editing is an extreme pain. Oh well, what did you expect on a digital synth? (though it can make good analog sounds)

It's got 8 envelopes, a DCO, DCW and DCA (similar to analog counterparts) and it can hold 16 patches past the 16 presets. The MIDI implimentation is strange and doesn't work well with Windows 95 due to drivers.

The instruments don't exactly sound real, this is a synth. =) It can seriously make some good sounds though and if you hunt around on the net you can find lots of good patches. The onboard stuff is cheese.

I've had no problems with it. It's got strap knobs on it so I'd use it at a gig, pretty reliable.

I would buy a higher model, but I would definitely recommend this synth. check my page for it: http://www.netcom.com/~bladez/Temple/

Very programmable for the price range. The presets sound cheesy, but you can get great sounds out of it without too much effort. Both manuals are basic, but get you there.

Four-voice polyphony with up to 4 DCO's per voice, ring & noise modulation, basic MIDI (no velocity, etc.).

It's entirely digital, but you can get some very organic sound out of it without much effort.

Seems OK in this category.

I emailed Casio for a manual & they called the next day to say they'd send one.

It's a great starter synth. I'd recommend it to anyone low on cash.