Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

Hello all,

I just managed to grab myself a VZ-10m, a machine I always thought about
getting since I saw one of my music teachers using it during my late teens.
Doing a quick test here, on the spot, I have some doubts you might be able
to answer. The line outs, aren't they a bit too quiet? Is it because of the
high impedance - 3 kΩ ? Also, with the headphones, I notice some low-level
background noise while playing that dies as the sound envelope subside.
Probably normal for a 23 year old instrument playing to ears that got used
to digital silence, but just wondering.

Oh, and has anyone replaced the backlight? I Any tips?

Thanks!

/Pedro


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I also felt the line output signal level was far weaker than my other  
keyboards.  Don't know why or if it's fixable.  ---  Greg

I noticed more people mentioning the fact, so was planning on replacing the electrolytic capacitors and maybe the op-amp on the mix line-out circuit board - it has its own. The headphone output has enough volume, so I won't be touching the VCA or anything. Unfortunately found an issue with the power supply board, with the backlight circuit hissing. I must concentrate on that first.

/Pedro

--- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, Gregory Dolhy <gregdolhy@...> wrote:

>
> I also felt the line output signal level was far weaker than my other  
> keyboards.  Don't know why or if it's fixable.  ---  Greg
>

On Thu, 2011-03-31 at 08:55 +0000, Pedro Rodrigues wrote:
> I noticed more people mentioning the fact, so was planning on
> replacing the electrolytic capacitors and maybe the op-amp on the mix
> line-out circuit board - it has its own. The headphone output has
> enough volume, so I won't be touching the VCA or anything.
> Unfortunately found an issue with the power supply board, with the
> backlight circuit hissing. I must concentrate on that first.

Unless you know for certain that there is a problem with a component,
leave it alone.

Don't just start ripping out and replacing electrolytic capacitors on a
whim.  They almost never fail.

I've had to scrap a couple of rather valuable analogue synths that have
been brought to me after particularly hamfisted attempts at "re-capping"
them.  I have no idea why people think that every fault must be caused
by these mysterious "caps", but my policy now is that if anyone even
mentions "re-capping" it goes in the bin.

Gordon MM0YEQ

I agree with you in principle, of course. But the output mini-board that holds the mix output is even quieter than the other outputs, quite troubling since its output voltage is supposed to be higher than the normal line outs. Something must be done here. 

The alternative is cranking up the gain on the mixer, but for such quiet outputs, with the original sound already not known for its clarity, it is a bummer. If it was a valuable analog synth it would be a different story. But my VZ-10m I really want to put to good use, not just look at it radiating satisfaction. :-)

/Pedro  

--- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, Gordon JC Pearce <gordon@...> wrote:

>
> On Thu, 2011-03-31 at 08:55 +0000, Pedro Rodrigues wrote:
> > I noticed more people mentioning the fact, so was planning on
> > replacing the electrolytic capacitors and maybe the op-amp on the mix
> > line-out circuit board - it has its own. The headphone output has
> > enough volume, so I won't be touching the VCA or anything.
> > Unfortunately found an issue with the power supply board, with the
> > backlight circuit hissing. I must concentrate on that first.
> 
> Unless you know for certain that there is a problem with a component,
> leave it alone.
> 
> Don't just start ripping out and replacing electrolytic capacitors on a
> whim.  They almost never fail.
> 
> I've had to scrap a couple of rather valuable analogue synths that have
> been brought to me after particularly hamfisted attempts at "re-capping"
> them.  I have no idea why people think that every fault must be caused
> by these mysterious "caps", but my policy now is that if anyone even
> mentions "re-capping" it goes in the bin.
> 
> Gordon MM0YEQ
>

On Fri, 2011-04-01 at 07:28 +0000, Pedro Rodrigues wrote:
> I agree with you in principle, of course. But the output mini-board
> that holds the mix output is even quieter than the other outputs,
> quite troubling since its output voltage is supposed to be higher than
> the normal line outs. Something must be done here. 

A: Because it breaks up the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting bad?

If there's a fault, randomly pulling bits out and replacing them isn't
going to find it.  Quite a lot of people have said that the VZ-10M mix
out is quieter than the individual outs - maybe it's supposed to be that
way.  In which case, you've ripped out a bunch of capacitors because of
some silly superstition and replaced them, and quite possibly introduced
a bunch of new faults into the bargain.  Don't do that.

> The alternative is cranking up the gain on the mixer, but for such
> quiet outputs, with the original sound already not known for its
> clarity, it is a bummer. If it was a valuable analog synth it would be
> a different story. But my VZ-10m I really want to put to good use, not
> just look at it radiating satisfaction. :-)

The other alternative is to examine the mix output circuit and see if it
actually *is* working correctly.  If it isn't, fix it and see if you
like the higher level output.  If it is, see if you can modify it to
give you a higher level (most likely by altering the feedback resistor
around an opamp for more gain).

Gordon MM0YEQ

Or, you could avoid using the mix out, and stick with the individual outs. This gives you a whole lot of interesting stereo modulation possibilities within the VZ, plus the ability to eq and effect sounds separately. This is especially useful with splits, where a bass sound needs different processing to the sound for the right hand.

--- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, Gordon JC Pearce <gordon@...> wrote:

>
> On Fri, 2011-04-01 at 07:28 +0000, Pedro Rodrigues wrote:
> > I agree with you in principle, of course. But the output mini-board
> > that holds the mix output is even quieter than the other outputs,
> > quite troubling since its output voltage is supposed to be higher than
> > the normal line outs. Something must be done here. 
> 
> A: Because it breaks up the logical flow of conversation.
> Q: Why is top posting bad?
> 
> If there's a fault, randomly pulling bits out and replacing them isn't
> going to find it.  Quite a lot of people have said that the VZ-10M mix
> out is quieter than the individual outs - maybe it's supposed to be that
> way.  In which case, you've ripped out a bunch of capacitors because of
> some silly superstition and replaced them, and quite possibly introduced
> a bunch of new faults into the bargain.  Don't do that.
> 
> > The alternative is cranking up the gain on the mixer, but for such
> > quiet outputs, with the original sound already not known for its
> > clarity, it is a bummer. If it was a valuable analog synth it would be
> > a different story. But my VZ-10m I really want to put to good use, not
> > just look at it radiating satisfaction. :-)
> 
> The other alternative is to examine the mix output circuit and see if it
> actually *is* working correctly.  If it isn't, fix it and see if you
> like the higher level output.  If it is, see if you can modify it to
> give you a higher level (most likely by altering the feedback resistor
> around an opamp for more gain).
> 
> Gordon MM0YEQ
>