Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

I  collect Casios, and own a Casio CT6000 as well as a CZ101 and a CZ1,
thus have had experience of both types of sound engines. I also have many
other Casios including FZ, VZ, MT, CT, HT and even the new XW-P1 synth.

The CT6000 had surprisingly professional features for its day - touch
sensitivity, after-touch, midi, stereo chorus modes and the possibility to
layer sounds. It is also VERY sturdily built and weighs a ton. Sonically,
especially with some of the bell like sounds, it appears to have a CZ type
engine rather than the earlier Consonant Vowel type used in many of the
earlier MT and CT Casios.

It was originally released in late 1984, around the time of the CZ series
(which were released in 1985 I think?) The CT6500 was indeed CZ based,
though lacked some of the 'pro' features of the 6000 (though it had more
sounds). Stranger still, none of the CZ's had touch sensitivity/
after-touch until the CZ-1 was released two years later in 1986. Just to
confuse matters, there was also a CT7000 model (which I also have in my
collection), though this definitely had the older Consonant Vowel sound
engine similar to earlier MT and CT models.

With it's 'digital' features (midi, bell sounds, 'stepping' +/-  1 octave
pitch bend wheel) the CT6000 almost certainly has a CZ engine, especially
as to my knowledge no consonant vowel Casio ever had a pitch bend wheel.
The later HT series did, though they were sort of analogue (they used
digitally recreated waveforms aka 'Spectrum Dynamics', similar to the Korg
DW 6000/ 8000 'Digital Waveform Generator' system, and like the DW's the
HT's had analogue filter(s)). However, the HT's sound very different to the
CT6000. The HT700 (and 3000 and 'pro' HZ600) can sound very warm and
analogue at times, though the HT6000 with four 'DCOs' (!) and ring
modulation has a more digital sound to it. The HT6000 still sounds
different to the CT6000 though.

Casio are good at developing a sound engine and then releasing variations
of it with more/ less features depending on the model. To my knowledge,
they haven't developed a single sound engine and only used it only for one
single model, certainly not from the early 80's onwards (both the VZ1 and
FZ1 were also available in two different rack mounted versions). Therefore,
as the CT6000 came out in 1984 and does NOT sound like the consonant vowel
engine, it can only be based on the CZ Phase Distortion engine. It is
unlikely to be the HT Spectrum Dynamic engine as that range wasn't released
until 1987 (plus it doesn't sound like an HT), and the same also applies to
the FZ and VZ engines also. I believe the PCM based Casios weren't released
until the latter part of the 80's so it's unlikely to be related to those.

As for the CT6000 drums and rhythm section, they sound to me unlike any of
my other Casios. Some of the drums sound quite interesting, some sound very
woolly. They lack the punchiness of classic beatboxes (including some of
the earlier Casios - for instance, my Casiotone 403 has almost a simplified
Roland TR77 sound to its rhythm section) and they don't sound realistic to
be even a vague attempt at PCM/ sample based drums. It does have the 'Super
Accompaniment' function that varies the rhythm section dependent on the
real time playing, though that is largely superfluous unless you want a
somewhat random element when playing live.

Is the CT6000 worth having? Well, though it's an interesting board and was
almost a flagship model upon its release, there are other Casios more
interesting in my opinion. I would go for the CZ/ HT range over the CT6000
as they have much more sonic character and are programmable. The CT6000
does have some good pre-set sounds that are still usable, plus they can be
layered to give quite a big and powerful sound. And with its MIDI and
velocity/ after-touch keyboard it could even be useful as a midi
controller. Then again, new midi controller keyboards are available for
pennies and don't weigh as much as a tank like the CT does! As mine cost me
all of 20GBP via Ebay it was certainly an interesting Casio to add to my
collection, though to be honest, other than 2 or 3 sounds and the layering
function it is unlikely to be used much on my recordings compared with my
CZ/ HT/ VZ/ CT410-V and XW boards, all of which have much more character
and in their sonic palettes.

I've also attached two pictures containing a review of the CT6000 from late
1984, that I found online some time ago. Hope all the above may be of help
to those considering a CT6000 or other Casio to add to their collection.

Chas




On 28 September 2013 15:49, Nothing Special <nothingsp@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> > The Casio CT-6000 from 1984 was Casios first keyboard with
> > velocity sensitive keys and midi. It also has very versatile
> > accompaniment and can layer sounds. I always thought it was based
> > on Consonant-Vowel-Synthesis (crossfaded stair waveforms with
> > analogue filter, like MT-65), but some people claim it was based
> > on phase distortion. The first official PD preset keyboard
> > (marketet as such by Casio) was its even bigger successor
> > CT-6500, which (how silly is this!) had no velocity sensitive
> > keys anymore. I yet haven't bought a CT-6000 (takes much space),
> > but it seems to be a true technical milestone.
> >
> > - What are the main ICs?
> There's one of these at my local Music-Go-Round. Having played around
> with it, I can tell you that it's definitely a phase-distortion synth.
>
>
> > - Is the percussion semi-analogue or sample based?
> >
> > The sound quality on YouTube wasn't high enough to identify this.
> Can't remember for sure, but I'm pretty certain it was sample-based.
>
>  
>


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