Casio CZ-101

Presets are typical for a mid 80's digital synthisizer: Cheesey, occasionally to the point of being obnoxious. You don't buy this synth, or any other synth for that matter, for the presets. You buy them becuase they are sonically expressive and easy to use if you own half a brain cell. Bringing me to my second point. Creating patches on this synth is extremely intuitive if you are willing to invest the time and effort into your sounds and into studying phase distortion synthisis. Learning how to nagivate through the menus and shape sounds to your liking may be difficult at first, particularly if you are used to analoge style synthisis. Stick with it, you will thank yourself later. The manual is very helpful if you need help with the transition into digital synthisis. Example, it identifies what funtions on the CZ correspond to the voltage controlled sections on an analoge synth. 10 in a walk.

Polyphony: Slim at 8 for single line [casios term for an oscillator] and 4 for a double line voice. But it is capable of some fat sounds, so in alot of cases you dont even need 4 voices. Switch to mono (solo) or tone mix (also monophonic but its still anawesome feature) and turn on the portamento. If you do your homework, you can flawlessly emulate the harsher sounds of a minimoog, the electric piano sounds of the dx7 (flawlessly)and even a pad sound or two, but becuase of the limited polyphony, pad sounds sound better on the DX7 or a workstation (in a practical setting).

Alot of people critize the CZ series for being toyish and lacking features. These synths look toyish, but the sophmoric nature stops there. It is a wolf in sheeps clothing. Of course its features dont compare to later synths, even in the same decade (the 80s were obveously a golden age of synthisizer breakthroughs and development) but it was revolutionary in its day.

Unfortunately for Casio, thier invention was overshadowed entirely by the monster that was the Yamaha DX7. Shame, becuase the CZ matches the DX7 feature for feature with a few exceptions. The MIDI was good in its day (I suppose, I was not born when it came out [I am 20]) but is obselete now. The only synth in the series that offered a sequencer was the CZ-5000, but it was downright archaic.

8/10 in the features, the CZ-1 would probobly get a 10 in this department.

Realistic is not this synth's stong suit but expressiveness is. The parameter section includes six (three on the first line and three on the second) incredibily flexible eight step envelopes. You can define any of these (except the eighth, being the ending step obveously) as the sustain point for the envelope and define the rate and cutoff to your liking. Seemingly Infinate tweakability, at your fingertips. The 2 waveform generators are incredibily expressive, and include three waveforms that very roughly emulate a resonant analoge filter. The square waveform is sonically crystaline, and supoerbly clear. The DCO section alters the pitch of the oscillator over time. This can perfectly recreate the crazy oscillator drift effects of an analoge synth. The DCW section corresponds to the filter envelopes on an analoge synth but are even more tweakable with 8 stages and a key follow funtion. Note that the resonance of your sounds comes not from the filter (or the DCW in the CZs case) but from the two waveform generators. The DCA section controlls amplitude over time (obveously). The detune feature is wild, especially if combined with the already sick ring and noise modulators. The Ring mod in particular distorts your sounds in a manner that you can control with your waveforms, DCO, DCW and DCA settings. If you combine the ringmod with a resonant waveform, you get a very staic, resonanting "buzz" that is quite impressive.

Would want a backup if gigging, its a delicate machine but not painstakingly so. Considering how old mine is, performs fine. A couple keys don't work, but its such an expressive synth that its a minor limitation in practice. I plan to get those fixed eventually if I can find someone that I trust with such an old piece of equipment. The CZ-101 is incredibly portable but I would hesitate to gig with it. I just love it too much for anything to happen to it.

If I called Casio asking for support on this item, somewhere in Japan, an entire PR office will have a day long laughing fit.

In addition to my CZ I own a Yamaha DX7, a Korg Trinity, a Minimoog voyager and an ensoniq ESQ-1. I have been playing piano since childhood (7) and synthisizers for the past three years. The Casio CZ 101 was my first synthisisizer so I must admit a little bias towards it, but it deseves such. Its an incredible little beast.

Very simple to use; hardly any parameters to change, apart from envelope settings. Manual is adequate and I don't use software at all.
All that lets it down is poor MIDI spec. and lack of memory, although I have a card.

Polyphony, at four voices, is limited if doing chord changes with slow release pad sounds. Keyboard is OK. Features are spartan - no effects (even chorus) or touch sensitivity. Plenty of other synths have these, and you can get round it with the help of a sampler.

Certain sounds from Boards of Canada and Brian Eno sum up this synth's sound - mournful drones with slightly piano-y attacks. Squelchy basses and synthy leads are another strong point. I can't see it doing realistic sounds very well, even strings, and the presets show just how bad it is at that.
The sounds are made of a choice of eight different wave shapes; saw and square, a pulse which doesn't look or sound like a pulse, then two consecutive wave shapes - saw-sine and pulse-sine or something, and then three resonant wave shapes which sound more like synced waves than resonance. Weirdly you choose two per "line", and they play consecutively, giving a rich sub-harmonic, and use the DCW waveshaper envelope to squash the wave back to a sine wave. People talk about the CZ's filter but it doesn't have one, and this is why it doesn't sound exactly like one. You don't always need one.

Seems fine. Solid build.

If lost etc, I'd buy another one, or a VZ10m perhaps as the MIDI and memories are better. It starts off lots of good loops and ideas and has sounds I always come back to, although on finished mixes I sample it so I can change volume etc during the track and because its MIDI is primitive. The drones and the squelches are brilliant, and it layers really nicely with my Kawai K1r, which also has no filter. I don't feel the need for effects with it (have to keep some things dry), and those who say it sounds like the DX7 must have a real knack of DX7-programming. Great sounds for little cash or effort.

presets are aweful! sounds like a casio tonebank!

editing sucks, all banks and nooooo knobs.

poly? i dont know but its bad.
no effects
no expansion
bad midi, early midi, tiny keys.
no sequencer

ok here we go
take all the downsides to each 80's digital synth and wrap it up into one synth
bad digital sound.
not interface friendly
no velocity
no aftertouch
slow editing AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
and then try to cover that up with a so so filter and you have the cz101. yeah i got mine for 30. and it proves that people will buy anything if you make it cheap enough.
the keys are tiny but it doesnt matter cause the sound is soooo thin it wont work in the mix with anything else. it litterally sounds like a casio tonebank toy keyboard. wow awesome i can edit a casio tonebank keyboard! lame.

as dependable as a casiotonebank. doesnt seem like theres anything that exciting going on underneath the panel why would it be fragile?

if you no nothing about synths then im sure its great. you have nothing to use as comparison. but like i said its a casio tonebank in disguise. i threw it away after i took a bat to it. but i guess that was worth 30 bucks. its a really expensive stress realiever. a juno 106 gets a lower score then this piece of junk? yeah something seems inacurrate about that. i think its cause most musicions who have owned one of these doesnt like to mention it. so i figured id be one of the few to leave a honest deal on this 30 dollar stress reliever. i wouldnt pay 5 bucks for another one unles i needed something to hold my table up.

The owner's manual is VERY complete , but it has 3 parts : the manual itself (how to use it basically) , a "synthesizer theory" booklet and some patch examples . If you have everything , i don't understand the guys who say it is difficult to program . Ther are few hidden items or menus and an editing software is not necessary . However you can find one easily on the Net , with tons of patches ....

This is the "pocket version" of the CZ synth series . So don't expect a good keyboard , it is noisy , with little keys . The polyphony is 8 voices but only in "single" mode . It is 4 part multitimbral . There is a socket for an additional memory card which doubles the memory size . Good luck to find one ! No effects , no on board sequencer , mono audio out . But remember : it is a 20 years old design .... But if you stack the 4 parts you can get huge mono synth sounds !

This is where the things go better . Of course the factory presets are ... But you can get easily very good sounds , the 7 segments envelope generators are terrific , the (only) 8 waveforms are enough and there are some interesting things to find with the ring mod. , the "1+1' " mode (the same oscillator gives 2 slightly detuned waveforms) and the pitch envelope . It has a sound of its own , neither "analog" nor "digital" . But it is an "old school" synth , not a samples based workstation ! If you like "natural acoustic sounds" , the CZ is not for you , but if you want to experiment with the sound it can be a lot of fun .... totally inexpensive !

I've fixed mine once , but the chips are ordinary logic or analog ICs , that you can find anywhere . The only exception is a custom Casio IC . Nothing awful for a 20 years old instrument ! Be careful with the keys and the plastic housing ....

Very interesting little machine that could enjoy both "analog" and "digital" fans . Inexpensive now and reliable . I've bought mine second hand 10 years ago and it is still working .....

Its a bit of a pain to program with the buttons, as they start to stick after a while. When I try to program it with sounddiver, it takes 15 second to register EVERY change, making it a hassle. Still you can make your own voices pretty easily once you figure out the interface.

The polyphony is 4 in dual oscilator mode which your in most of the time. you can do 4 multi-timbral so giving you 4 monosynths, which is a nice plus. Keyboard kinda sucks, but i like playing it for some reason. The small keys aren't that big of a deal. The MIDI is not that great, as mentioned in the sounddiver problem above. The fact that it has 8 stage envelopes is pretty cool, and rare in a synth in this price range.

This thing makes killer sounds. Very digital but also warm. I've had it for a few months and i'm selling my tx7 now, because the sounds on this are much better. The digital filter actually sounds very good. it's also very good for bass. I'm giving it a 9 because you have to live with the 16 (mostly)terrible presets, giving you only 16 user.

no problems so far, sticky buttons on mine means i couldn't reprogram voices live, but this isn't really that kind of synth anyway

I doubt you'd get much help, these things are pretty old, and it is CASIO that you'd have to deal with after all

If it were lost or stollen i would be pissed, but then just buy another as they are dirt cheap. It's slowly been creeping in to more and more tracks and playing a more and more prominent role. It's also really small, which i find to be a bonus as I need my studio to be kind of portable.

small keys a big minus, small buttons also big minus, I prefer dials and slider as opposed to cursors.

Has decent features, just laid out poorly and not ergonomic. Yeah, forget about finding the RAM cartridges.

Does get decent sounds-effects, with work.

Mine is out-of tune. I have to use the transpose feature to C# to tune with my other instruments, power source (adapter) a pain due to loose fitting jack.

Internet sources

Also own Hammond t-443, series 10 tone cabinet, Wurlitzer electric piano, I got the Casio so cheap I can't complain. Been a while since I owned a synth. Last one was a Roland Juno 106, which was awesome! Also used to own an Electro-comp 101, which I regret selling. Also owned a Seiko DS 100? which I ran through an Electro-harminix micro-synth and ADA flanger for some wicked sounds.

No software...Creating patches manually...Not a big fan of the presets but they are fun to modify...The manual is very good and the sound synthesis manual and I also have a patch booklet...

Mostly using 4-note polyphony...The key action is great and I prefer the small keys(small hands)...I use an alesis effects box with it...trying to find a cartridge to no avail...No on board sequencer but I don't really like sequencers anyway...

Some realistic sounds but i prefer the unrealistic...Good for synthpop...the vibrato is fun...static...velocity/aftertouch(NOPE)

Very dependable...especially since i don't gig!

NOPE

This is my first real synth besides the sk-1 and an old casiotone mt-70... Very worth the money and after 6 months of use i'm attached to it... I love the sounds/design/size...hate the menu driven editing as opposed to analog knobs/switches...but with some patience the results are great!... Chose the cz-101 because I like casio and the small size and design... A big help in making music as an addition to a track or a whole track... If you want a small cheap fun retro synth this is the best place to start!

Very similar to analog synthesis, but through the use of cursors, so more time consuming to program. Not recommended for learning purposes because of the lack of immediacy, would be difficult to understand the interelations of the parameters so easily seen on an analog synth, but easy if a little slow once the fundamentals are understood, and definitely faster than programing an FM synth.

Impressive given the size and prices; lacks variable modulation though, and only 4-voice polyphony, but still..

Has a hard, somewhat plastic but weighty sound, with the warmest digital sounds i've heard, thus quite analog in various ways if still different. Probably best for bass and effects, and heard on too many house records to list; strings and organ a little too synthetic unless processed or programmed properly. For bass it's between analog and digital, though closer to analog if not quite the same-warm, hard sounds allow it to excel at solid, fairly punchy acoustic bass type sounds.

Very reliable Japanese quality.

Casio service still available but not much need due to their reliability.

Not quite enough to be THE main synth though it could be done - programming and skill are the most important factors-best as a supplement of sounds to something else. Given the price and compactness, there's something rewarding about getting very good sounds out of this 'lil bugger; analog type programming but a little more time consuming given the data entry method..

this is my first sunth and im haveing dificulty programing it it would probably help if the master tun, detune, and inicalize buttons worked.

so far it seems to be able to do a lot

Once i learn how to program it it seems ill be able to make it do wahtever i want from all the patches iv seen

for being 20 years old and only having 4 buttons that dont work (i think its my fult because they worked befor i took it appart) its very dependable

its the only synth i have but i have fun useing it definetly worth the $5 i payed for it. but taking it appart was a nightmair it has 4 diferent layrs of electronic boards

I'vw owned one of these little beasts since 1986 and am quite attached to it. It's certainly got lots of character!
The presets are pretty terrible, so move straight on to creating your own sounds. Everything sounds very synthetic, but some of us like that kind of thing!
I've always created patches manually, via the slightly tedious button controls. A stack of 80s music mags is quite useful as starting points - they used to print CZ101 patches every month at one stage.
The manual is pretty good - certainly compared to some more contemporary examples - and goes into a lot of explanation about the phase distortion synthesis system.

Polyphony is theoretically 8, but I always think of it as 4 for any reasonable patches when both oscillators are used. The ring mod effect is quite weird, and therefore to be recommended.
MIDI in seems to work OK - I never got on with the mini-keys, so always run it from a master keyboard. It won't respond to velocity information over MIDI, though.

As most people here have commented - things are very synthetic here, apart from some of the "strings"-type patches which you can get away with if buried in the mix.
I love this synth for bass patches, especially in the monophonic "solo" mode, when you can really cut up and down the keyboard. So, would be good for dance, funk, or anytime you want to get away from cliched "nice" keyboard sounds.

I gigged with this instrument for years and it never let me down, apart from one or two auto-switch-off horrors. It's been dropped, had batteries leak all over its insides (resulting in heiroglyphics appearing on the LCD display!) and one of the Bb keys is broken... but it still works!
I soldered in a PP3 connector to get around the wallet-draining 6 x D cells Casio intend you to use, and it's never suffered from amnesia yet.

Never used, but suspect they wouldn't be very interested after all these years.

It's very "eighties", which some of us think is a good thing. My reference point would be Peter Godwin, if anyone's heard his stuff; I'm sure his synth bass lines were recorded using a CZ-101! Incredibly flexible, in that you can get in and edit just about anything. Seems built to last, too - and it has! OK, it's not my main synth any longer, but I'd never ditch it because of those killer bass patches and the silky strings which ain't too bad at all.

Presets are nothing special, but there's lots of tweakability for such a low-budget synth. Altering presets is somewhat clumsy without a patch editor. Manual is basic but sufficient.

Polyphony is limited, keyboard keys are small and not touch-sensitive, no built-in effects, no on-board sequencer. However, a bargain at the price.

In general, I really like the sound capabilities. The envelopes can be quite complex.

I actually own two. One died mysteriously (an internal computer problem, I assume), and the other no longer gets power from the wall adapter, forcing me to use batteries. However, I got several years of fun from them, and the price was very reasonable, so overall I'm impressed.

N/A

This is a good starter synth if you're new to synthesizers and don't have much cash. It uses a unique synthesizer technology titled "phase distortion", which is somewhat similar to frequency modulation (FM) synthesis. My experience is that you can sometimes get thicker sounds with the Casio than a Yamaha FM synth, but my experience is subjective. I really wish that a software synthesizer like Native Instruments would create a phase distortion synthesizer.

Presets are generally useless with 1-4 exceptions depending on one's taste. While editing is not really intuitive, it follows a logical flow once you get it - the oscillator, pitch, and volume are all 8-staged and follow the same basic editing instructions. I don't think personally that a patch editor is all that necessary. The manual is decent.

It's an old synth so the poly is limited, either 8 if you use 1 oscillator and 4 if you use 2. Features are pretty simple, there's a sound expansion card capability but those take a little work to get a hold of. Given how much the CZ community seems to stay alive though it's quite doable. The MIDI implementation is limited but not impossible. All that being said, it does well for its price, being a basic synth with a unique architecture. You can do things on this that you just can't do elsewhere.

The sounds are pretty cool if you want non-natural sounding stuff, either on the noisy end or on the electronicy end. It also does some really nice bell sounds. The keys are not touch sensitive at all, so expressiveness is tricky; you have to sort of program the patches to interact with attack speed of the keys in order to get some degree of "touch" on this.

I've had 2 CZ101s, one died completely, with a shot motherboard, but after many years. The other has lived on and in fact just fell and broke open last night at a show (my fault); it's STILL going, remarkably. Phew! So I'd rate these things high.

They were helpful on the phone but that was over 10 years ago! I'm leaving this as "no opinion" now, it's also na anyway since the unit is ancient.

(One price comment - bear in mind the price here is what I got it for roughly NEW around 1986)

I would definitely replace it if something happened. It's worth way more than I paid back then. My tastes in synthesis/performance have changed so it's worth less to me now than it used to be but has indispensible sound/sound synthesis.

The presets basically all sound cheesy...even the better sounding ones don't compare to anything you could make on your own. When i first got this thing just figuring out how to make my own patches took a while, and this is my first synth (ive been playing bass guitar for about 5 years). ive had it for about a month now and now it's not hard to use at all (especially compared to some other synths i've tried!) but there's definately a learning curve you have to deal with. but nothing that should keep you from buying this thing. i bought used (obviously) and i didnt get a manual with it. everything has to be punched in manually, no knobs or anything, but it's still not too bad if you ask me.

This board doesn't have a lot of features. it's best feature is the obvious 8 stage envelopes, which are pretty easy to use and come in really handy sometimes. it has a protect switch on it so you can keep little cousins from screwing up your favorite patches. the other reviews mention the rest really...not much i can say about it.

Listen to the people that say you can't get realistic sounds out of this thing, they're not playing!!
at first i thought this thing was really limited. but now i think i have unlocked it's true potential and it always impresses me. you just have to know how to use it properly and how to program it...i can't stress this enough. this thing can seriously blow if you dont know how to program it! it can sound like total digital ass. but i've got some VERY analog sounds out of it, and a lot of useful "real" instruments too. i can get some great organ sounds out of it. i can nail the "where it's at" by beck pretty well, and i can get a cheesy organ sound that sounds JUST like tool's "intermission" off of their anima cd. and just today i got a really good electric bass sound.
the ring modulator can have some really good results, especially when used with the detuner. it's hard to explain but it's really cool, it's a shame that most synths dont have ring modulators on them. the noise modulation at first seems really useless but dont be afraid to try it out!! i've gotten this drum sound that sounds like a caveman playing a broken drum set in a barn. it's really cool for some lo-fi loudness, but i've yet to get any hi-fi drum sounds out of it.
the sawtooth sounds like a sawtooth should, and the same goes for the square wave. you cant really go wrong if you know how to use this thing, it cant do every sound imaginable but like what one reviewer said what it does it does great. also, with the detuner if you leave it off and change the "FINE" setting you can get a slow chorus and it actually sounds pretty good. the vibrato is pretty cool but it's usually too extreme! sounds like a siren or something. it's cool for making weird noises though. today with the noise modulator i got a sound that sounds just like someone bangingon a tether ball pole in a storm. sounds really scary actually. this thing is unpredictable sometimes! if it likes you it might pop out something really cool that u werent expecting. like i said you need to mess with it and see what you can do.
all in all it's a great bang for buck and i'd recommend it for anyone that wants a good synth for not a lot of money and doesnt mind learning how to program it and spend some time with it. i use my boss DD-2 delay pedal with it and it doesnt sound so dry after that...with some creativity and imagination you can have some great results with it! but like i said it cant do everything, it wouldnt be good as your only synth unless you only do simple basslines and leads.

So far it hasnt given me any reason to not trust it. It ALWAYS keeps my patches saved, you have to have the batteries in at all times and it'll keep them saved for you. but i dont know if this is with all of them or not....i have new batteries in it and i have to have an adaptor or else thepower light blinks and it shuts off after a while. but with the adaptor it always stays on! there's a auto powers shutt off button on it somewhere and that should solve the "turning off after 5 mins" thing. i leave mine on for hours at a time sometimes (no reason to turn it off!) unattended and it just stays on liek it should.

have no idea! i doubt casio would be much help with a unit as old as this one though

I would definately buy another if anything happened to this one. i dont think 100 dollars is pocket change, but compared to buying new stuff it definately is. this is my only synth but i have Native Instruments FM7 on my computer and it is a LOT different than the cz-101. it does some CRAZY atmospheric pads and some good strings and it has a GREAT scary choir sound. i use it to fill the gaps that the cz-101 leaves. but i prefer this for lead sounds and even most basslines. it definately has its own character, even though the FM7 is really great, too, but the FM7 is REALLY hard to program and use i had to download some patches for it it's so complicated! just remember proper EQ goes a long way with this thing and learning how to program it right is top priority. then you'll be all set and have an inexpensive synth that is really a lot of fun and definately sounds good enough for me. just dont expect it to do everything and use your imagination a little bit and you should enjoy it also. Obviously i wish it had a filter on it (even though u can emulate one with the resonance waves), and the keyboard is actually good for my hands (im 5'5 130 lbs, i have really small hands). email me if you have any questions, i have some sound files i've made if you'd like to hear, even though my playing isn't the best (i'm new to synths!) but i know what i like and i like this!

very easy to use. i don't have a manual for this and i've never had trouble getting it to do what i want.

8/4/1 note polyphony depending on number of oscillators per voice. midi capability is note on/note off/pitch bend as far as i can ascertain.. slot for memory card in the back but no idea where you'd get one these days, or whether you'd really need one either. how many features were you expecting for #50?

pointless for real instruments - it's an electronic sound synthesizer for goodness sakes. discreet blips and seasick pads a total breeze, but a rather charming ersatz electric piano can be yours for a little bit of effort.

very reliable in terms of always goes wrong in comfortingly predictable ways. never stores patches (this is a good thing) and turns itself off after half an hour if you're not playing it (it gets bored i think) but patches can be rescued under these circumstances).

not an issue for me but i think online manual reasonably easy to obtain.

i would replace this if it broke or ran away. play it in an electronic music duo called isan on pretty much every damn tune ;-)

Some classic presets, very easy to edit your own sounds, don't need a manual. No menus, very basic interface, just some buttons.

8 or 4 tones, 4 part multi timbral, no effects, slot for memory cartridge, simple midi

Very nice basses, leads, pads and some percussive sounds. Very warm sounding, more analog feeling than a DX synth. So it doesn't make those hard, dissonant basslines like the DX series, which are perfect for hard techno. This machines is good in almost any kind of electronic music. Maybe more suitable for electro, synt, blipblop electronica.

Very stable, to simple to turn you down.

A cheap and good little synthesizer, easy to use, very basic. The only bad thing about this synth is the noise and hum level but, nevermind.

The cz-101 is hard core machinery, I love it but the ease of use was quite puzzling at first.It's taken me 2 years to really know what's going on in the little keyboards mind...

The features are quite fossil in the synth.The worst part is the memory and beacaus of the capacity many sounds are gone with the wind.
The effect panel is simple to use.There are two main effects(noise and ring), but they are not the kinda effects you allways call effects.

Great...Absolutely great sound modifying operations...

I can't repend on my cz-101 beacause it's memory vanishes with no reason what so ever.I think it's beacause I haven't got the original adapter(9v). Don't know...It's been a bastard playing live...

The little devil is just what my simple mind needs and check how much I payed fir it.I think it just is luxury for me...

Well... the interface was a little less than user-friendly, but there are a ga-zillion (give or take a few ba-jillion) computer editor/librarian programs for this machine that make the tedious task of editing the sounds much easier. There's one I use on the Atari ST that has one of the most useful features ever. It sends Random data to the CZ-101. 90% of the time you get unplayable junk, 5% of the time you get a dull, uninspiring sound, 3% of the time you get a really cool sound that only requires a little manual tweaking to make it perfect and 2% of the time you get an amazing brilliant sound that is absolutely perfect as is.

But without a software patch editor, it's not a very easy synth to start programing right off the get go. It's slightly easier than working with it's un-identical twin the CZ-1000 because it has real buttons instead of those damn annoying membrane buttons.

8/4 voice poly depending on if you use dual or single oscilators. 4 mono voice multi-timberal. No volume control or velocity control through MIDI which is a pain (I can understand not including a velocity sensitive keyboard to cut costs but c'mon, would it really have made it that much more expensive to have it respond to velocity through MIDI? No sequencer (but I've never enjoyed on-keyboard sequencers anyways and have often wished manufacturers would scrap them in favour of other features) It has those annoying little mini-keys unlike the CZ-1000, but it has real buttons for editing unlike the membrane ones on the CZ-1000 so you have to pick which annoys you the most (for me it was the membrane buttons). No real effects other than ring modulation and noise modulation. And I have to agree with everyone else, apart from the one string pad, the presets absolutely suck. I would love to be able to hack this beastie to replace it's presets with some of my own... I wonder if they're stored on an independent ROM chip somewhere inside that could be swapped with a custom EPROM or if they're integrated into another chip. Hmmmm... I'll have to look into this sometime.

You can actually get a lot of really interesting abstract sounds from this machine, sometimes some really beefy basses that sound almost analogue. But don't even think about getting this for realistic sounds.

Mine has had beer spilled on it many times, been dropped and otherwise abused but has always come back smiling and begging for more. Very reliable machine.

I wouldn't count on it. But there are millions of geeks on the internet that can tell you just about anything you'd ever want to know about this synth. This is a really well loved little beastie. Almost everyone has/had one.

I bought mine used back in the mid 80s for $300cnd. That was considered a deal back then. Now adays they turn up at garage sales for $20 and music stores that deal in used gear for as high as $75. I probably wouldn't pay more than $40 for one now though and at that price it's a very nice addition to any midi rig. But it's definetly not for someone looking for an all-in-one synth (unless you make very artsy minimalist type of music).

Very easy to use if you understand substructive synthesis.
Presets are poor, so yoou to know this to make good sounds with it.
Each funtion has its button, so acess is very fast.

Great for what it is. 8-segment envelope for DCA/DCW/DCO, very powerful and somethinf you will not find on any other synth.

Super for techno sounds. Grungiest digital synth ever built.

You can find very good condition units of this synth that's almost 20 yeras old. Careful with the batteries leaking out though.

Very good in the UK. Looks like good in Canada as well.

Whata gem!

Don't be fooled by the presets, you can program some nice sounds with this machine. I actually don't think the string pad (preset #4) is all that bad. Editing is not that fun as the screen is tiny and you can get pretty confused w/o having the manual. I have been able to edit and store several of my own patches, though. I would recommend a patch editor in the long run.

Although there are 8 notes for polyphony, most sounds use both lines which reduces polyphony to 4. That's not a concern for me as I have several other synths and don't play a synth like a piano anyway. No effects, but you can detune the DCO's. Cartridges can be used to expand the memory and are recommended, although difficult to find. The mini-keys on mine are very light and loose. I would recommend triggering the CZ from another synth.

The sounds aren't that realistic, but I'm more into synthetic textures anyway. The sounds remind me a lot of Depeche Mode's early work as well as sounds from Erasure, Yaz, and other 80's synthpop. I think this could be utilized for new wave, synthpop, techno, ambient, and other genres of synth-based music. I've gotten some nice full square wave pads and comps as well as filtersweeps, bright and buzzy saw synths, and resonant textures. It's a bright sounding synth which can cut through a mix.

I found it in decent condition in a pawn shop about 3 weeks ago and it has worked just fine. I probably won't gig it as I've already got several other synths I'll be using w/ my band. If I use the sounds, I'll probably just record them to Minidisc to complement what I'll be playing.

Never dealt with them.

I would buy it again at $30, but not for much more. It's a toy for me and is great to play on while I'm surfing. I like the sounds, but in reality, I could program a lot of these sounds on my other synths (Juptiter-8, AN1X, XP-50, DW8000, TG33, FS1R). I do think that it is a nice piece of mid-80's nostalgia though, as it was used on a lot of songs. I feel that it is still useful today if programmed by a person who takes the time to get to know the machine. My only real complaints about it are the small number of memories available for sounds and the tiny little LCD screen that you cannot read under dark conditions. Other than that, it's a fun little synth and can be used as a serious instrument.

This thing is Great!... it's just also kind of strange.. :)
it's NOT an intuitive interface, but it's fairly fast and easy to learn.
lots of buttons, instead of menus, and each button is clearly labeled.

for most uses this is a 4 part poly, non-multitimbral synth,
OR a mono/ 4 part multitimbral.. user switchable.
no FX, although you can get a good fake delay by abusing the 8 step ampenv.
MIDI in/out... NO thru!! arrg!

this doesn't do much, but what it does, it does very well!
it's a great bass synth, cool rezo sweeps and warping pads.
if you know of oneiroid pyschosis (the band), you've heard this little board.
it just sounds cool!

the sound is sensitive to a good, filtered power supply. if it's buzzing, get a different wall wart.

i leave it turned on all the time, else it forgets your patches. it probably
just needs a new lithium battery.
mine also tends to hang. :(
on the other hand, my cat tends to use it as a bed, and it's still ok after being jumped on
many times. :)

never tried..

it's rather like a moped.. it's FUN to play!... you'll just look kind of silly.
if this one ever dies, i'd get another the next day!

it's a bit tedious to program but not really difficult. once you begin to understand the way things work you'll be creating your own all day long. the presets are pretty much garbage. i wish you could somehow change their stored presets to your own so you could have custom presets you'll never have to worry about loosing.

a bit short of special features. 8 note polyphony but only 4 with two "lines", a weird almost monophonic thing going on in tone mix mode where the last note will ring out and of course monophonic in solo mode. the portamento works nice with tone mix and solo modes. the built in vibrato is alright. you can get some wierd effects with it if you really mess around. not velocity sensitive, which is a drawback. it stores patches in ram/rom cards and has an internal memory space but generaly will not store anything here. i believe an internal battery must be changed or 6xD cells are needed. i happen to have a cartridge and also a bunch of paper. :)

forget real instrument sounds. if you want those get a "keyboard" this guy is a synthesiser. despite the limitations due to no velocity sensitive keys, no aftertouch, and such it is capable of making some very organic analog-ish sounds.in fact the entire thing is pretty much like an analog but with buttons and stuff for editing and it's digital. if you have a processor you can really take it to the next level too. good for just about any music where electronics can be used. the only people who won't dig this are the guys who are paying a few grand to get something that's digital but has knobs.

so far it's done well by me. the sounds in the internal memory will sometimes degenerate (which can be very cool sounding). they will create values for parameters that aren't numbers which does some strange things. but hunt down a cartridge or get a systems ex. program or a sound lib program and you'll be alright.

never dealt with casio so i don't know how they are. the cz's are old and i don't think casio is doing pro synths anymore so i wonder if they could/would be any help.

i would certainly be lost with out this. it's generaly easy to understand with some effort and the sounds will be your own. i wish it had an arpeggiator...you can't beat this synth for a cheap little piece. despite some minor drawbacks this thing is a classic underated REAL synthesiser.

Accept its limitations and it's a breeze. The CZ-101 is a mini-keyboard with an unusual tone generator, as though the resonance had crawled from the filter to the oscillator. The presets are CRAP. It's easy as a cheap synth gets to edit, but not as easy as one covered with knobs. It only makes synth noises, but lots of cool ones, and is a logical synth to edit.

One osc voices - 8 note poly, 1 or 4 timbre Two osc voices or noise - 4 note poly, 1 or 4 timbre Four osc voices - 1 1/2 note poly (two decay, one sustain?! )
Early versions (3 main revs, 3 is best) have MIDI bugs. Mine does something the sysex docs say is impossible (I send it one message and it sends me one of its voices. I send it a voice and it saves it. No handshaking at all, or sending incomplete sysex messages, from my end.) so check this if you need to store sounds for it (highly recommended). No FX, no anything else. RAM or ROM cards. Silly design uses 6 D cells as RAM backup! They can be replaced with a wired-in 9v battery if you remember to never turn it on without a wall wart. It is easiest to just load voices via computer before use.

I once got a sound, kind of like a rusty, detuned piano bass. At one velocity. At G#2 only. Forget imitative synthesis, unless you're imitating New Order. Any sound they ever used could be got out of this box. It also does excellent thin metallic sounds. You can do 32-note contrapuntal textures (with 8 of them), and hear every voice. Most folks aren't into this style, but if you are...or if you want an endless source of odd percussive things and wierdly evolving swells behind other music. They're cheap enough to just use in mono mode with effects.
The best thing about a patch editor is that there are a lot of 'illegal' parameters that cannot be accessed from the front panel. The most interesting is the waveform selector : a bunch of bit-twiddling, in which there are LOTS of unexplored combinations. Some lead to cool new ranges of sounds, some to awesomely hideous noises, where the oscillators are detuning themselves into noise as the waveshape changes.
ANY dynamics must be programmed. It has note on/off, vibrato on/off, portamento on/off, and a sustain pedal via MIDI. In multitimbral mode it has pitch bend on one channel only. You can do tricks with its 8-stage envelopes where the note length governs timbre (useful in sequences), and in multi mode I've always had it respond quickly enough to patch changes to have 4 variations of a patch to switch to mid-phrase, though another reviewer states it is too slow. Keep in mind that ALL its MIDI is slow, and you will typically have a 15-20 ms offset in your sequencer to keep it in time. It will still be a little swimmy if you're very particular, but if you like chorus effects you won't notice.

I've used mine since 1988. I've added a couple of mods. I've dropped it. Never had to do a repair, and everything works. The keys are those rubber cup thingies, and they wear out, though mine haven't (clean air?)

Last time I checked (early '90s), I was able to get service manuals, schematics and all, though it was a hassle, they're stored somewhere odd, and they're on microfiche - ask the service dept.

I'd get another. I'd get the CZ-1, with velocity sensitivity and more notes. I got it because I could make unique noises on it. I would like - more resolution in its controls, though it is better than some others from the same era. If you want a box that does what it does (4 notes, no velocity, cool noises), it's great.

Typically of the period (1985) the CZ101 is controlled entirely with a keyboard, a swathe of buttons and a small LCD, making 'on-the-fly' sound modification nigh-on impossible as you have to cycle through several pages of numbers to get the the appropriate data. It only has sixteen user memories, too, so you'll need some paper! The small amount of parameters make patch editing not too hard, though - you probably won't use all eight of the envelope stages very often anyway.

The CZ-101 has eight/four/one note polyphony, depending on whether you layer have a single oscillator per patch, two oscillators per patch, or four (technically, two patches layered). Typically this is four-note as single-oscillator patches sound thin and are only useful for bleeps. It has no effects, guitar-strap knobs, a pitch-bend wheel, tiny keys and it looks like a toy. MIDI is strictly note-on/note-off/program change. And that's it.

For a tiny home-keyboard style box the CZ101 produces some impressive noises. Bear in mind that there's a constant (and loud) background 'whine', common to digital synths of the era. You'll need to gate it out if you want to record anything. The sounds themselves tend to be brassy, thick lead noises and phasing pad sounds, which sound quite epic. The ring modulator/noise modulator (strictly on/off) allow you to make atonal clangs/hissy crunches. It's rubbish at 'natural' sounds, and the presets tend to be the kind of twangy awfulness you get with FM synthesis (think of your old AdLib soundcard - ouch). Nonetheless the low price and midi make it a fun toy, at the very least.

It's a sturdy plastic box. It doesn't flex, it has an external power supply, and you can cover it in a plastic bag if it's raining. Inside it's solid-state, and the keys don't do anything clever, so it's pretty reliable. It would probably survive a fall, although the casing would be broken.

Casio don't make musical instruments any more, although they are still an enormous company.

It's fun, and surprisingly useful. Certainly, it's miles better than a used DX9, and a lot cheaper. It's only really an option if you have outboard effects, a mixer, other synths and a fairly decent recording set-up, though. If you have, say, a JV1080, you can probably live without this. Nonetheless, for the tiny prices it's a good way of adding 'texture' to your music, if you can stomach the omnipresent digital noise. For the money it makes a cheap strap-on midi controller, too, as you can run it with batteries.

The CZ-101 has a very flexible patch editing system capable of generating a wide range of interesting sounds, although the digital use of increment/decrement buttons is a bit of a hassle compared to analog keyboards such as the Chroma Polaris or MiniMoog. At least every parameter has a dedicated selector button, unlike the Korg Poly-800, in which you have to type in the number of the parameter you want to change on a little keypad. Overall, not a bad little synth after you learn the controls, though.