I just bought a casio cz1000 some days ago and I am quite impressed. Really nice sound and also the interface is straight forward. I had a tx81z for some time and never even bothered to program sounds from scratch.

What are your thaughts on the CZ series? They seem to be a little bit in the shadow of the yamaha FM synths..

P.S.: I love this electric organ preset

I'm pimping 2 CZ-1's and a VZ-1. I have terminal Phase Distortion addiction

Have a CZ1000 as well and really like it.
check out "Virtual CZ" software plugin. apart from being a great plugin, it's also an editor.
and I'm keeping both the hardware and plugin! both have their use.

absolutely love the 'VirtualCZ' softsynth:

VirtualCZ, VirtualCZ plugin, buy VirtualCZ, download VirtualCZ trial, Plugin Boutique VirtualCZ

total 80s vibe, and a bit of "a different way of thinking" when it comes to programming. refreshing actually, though i still haven't read the manual.

i had a CZ-101 years back when i first started buying synths, but was more into my other slider-laden Roland synths at the time. had the manuals (thank gods) and spent some time getting to know it, but it didn't seem worthwhile at the time.

hey, cool, thx for the info about the cz plugin, could be usefull :> does anyone know of a proper "battery mod"? Not that important, but if there exists one, why not?

I always liked the CZ101 best. I tried out some bigger models once but didn't really care for them. I love Casio when they stick to toy size.

http://artefacts.nl/products.html

Technically its for the cz-101 but the 1000 is quite similar.

I have both a 101 and a 1000. Haven't done this mod yet but planning to do the near future. Also plan to replace the screen with a nice blue LED backlit one.

CZ-5000 was my very first synth, later had a 101 as well. Casio were in the shadow of DX for a very simple reason...Yamaha offered velocity and aftertouch keys, higher voice count and models aimed at pros like the TX816, DX5, etc.

Casio mostly sold on low price...the 101 was a $500 MSRP synth, the cheapest to hit the market at the time. Noone was dumping their DX7 to buy a 101

@ Rob T hx for the link, I'll check it

as far as I know, the CZ1000 is the same as the cz101, just with full sized keys and different push buttons. It's not that big, same size as poly800 and alpha juno 1, so it still looks like a toy, what I like too

The keybed in my CZ-1 is the most responsive after touch keyboard I have. Of course the sounds are great too.

well, let's compare the dx100 to the cz101 to stay fair

Started out with the 101 in the mid-80s and have been a fan ever since. Currently have the 101, 230S, 5000 and the CZ-1 (which is the favorite synth I own). In fact, I just got the SZ-1 sequencer last week and, just for the challenge, I'm working on some pieces that are entirely CZ using the SZ-1 and the RZ-1 drum machine.

The process is made so much easier with the aforementioned and brilliant VirtualCZ, which single-handedly revived my interest in PD this year, big-time.

another cz101 owner here. it makes some nice tones.

CZ1000 + SZ1 here
b.

I've had a CZ3000 since new (and an AZ1 to go with it along with an extra RAM cartridge to double the memory - I loved the fact that it could do warm tones as well as tinkly metallic stuff in the DX7 days - and do both together in layering mode which sounds especially great, even if the memory there is somewhat limited!

Love my 101, and love using the free Coffeeshopped editor (max/msp) to program it. So many sounds inside this cute little box!

I was a proud owner of a CZ-5000 back in the late 1990s and I've never worked on anything else like it since then.
The step sequencer made sense to me and was a lot of fun. And the 8 point envelopes were a form of sophistication that still isn't standard.
And the ring modulation of the fundamental pitch against a parallel pitch yielded wonderful timbres combined with pitch envelopes.
I'd get one again, but I don't trust the repair issues of hardware gear anymore.

Love my 101

I've gotten some amazingly warm sounds out of it.

Always wanted a CZ101. Definitely a refreshing synth.

Almost bought UVI's Cameo, which is 3 CZ synths bundled together. 2 of the vsts use samples of CZ synths, the 3rd is an emulation. I'm guessing the emulation is more comparable to Virtual CZ.

Welcome to the CZ-1000 club!

Also got the phaze (dist) craze.

Bonus - the strap buttons so you can play it like a keytar.

same here on all the above.

My first old synth was a Casio CZ 3000 I bought for £80, and when it Rrived from someones garage it still had the BIGGEST spider living in it. Wish I had understood programming and how sounds are made then.
I later donated it to a local music charity for young people in my area because it was built like a tank and my house is tiny. I remember the keyboard being lovely to play.

I had 5K a few years back...loved the sound, but programming that thing was, well, it's not nightmarish - just excruciatingly slow. The envelopes are great in theory, but I couldn't really stand entering the values one by one. Tried it with SoundDiver once, and that kind of worked. But in the end it was too clumsy and big to keep around. That sound though...

I love the sound of the CZ range. I have owned a CZ-3000 and CZ-5000. Now I own a CZ-1 in very good condition.

Regards
Demokid

My first CZ synth was a Casio CZ-1000 that I bought away back in the 1995. I still have the synth. I then bought a CZ-101 from eBay in 2007 and I still have that synth too.

Just the other day I was in my local music shop and they had a secondhand Casio CZ-3000 for £140 in very good condition. It was an instant buy for me as I always wanted a bigger CZ with the chorus and stereo outputs. I really like the 1980s synth sounds on this monster and the ring modulation mixed with the resonant sweep waveforms are unique and awesome. Now I own three CZ synths. However I am still after a CZ1 for the velocity and aftertouch.

UVI just released a CZ Phase Distortion suite:
UVI Cameo - Phase Distortion Suite

I had bought a CZ-1000 like 3 years ago, but the ebay seller refunded the money cause it didn't work. It was listed as working. I was both sad that I didn't get the synth but glad the seller was a good enough person to refund the money rather than ship out a non functioning synth.

I am a big CZ-1000 fan. It was my first synth and I know it inside & out because I spent countless nights programming it. That organ patch was used in many House songs, I have a list that I compiled of several songs that had it.

My high school bought a CZ1 back in the mid 80's, and I adored that synth. Years later, I bought a 101. I thought it was a great li'l synth.

Never gonna get rid of my cz-101. For basses its the best. Also weird wonky sounds, drums and just about any organ or sound i use for chords. There is a great ipad editor for the cz series called CZ touch.

Lol, that electric organ sound is famous imo.

Here are some patches that can get you in the general area for bass etc:
http://cd.textfiles.com/audio11000/M...S/CASIO/CZ.PTC

Some more other patch scans for different synths too:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilva...th/2236559385/