Casio XW-G1 synth/sampler : Overly dramatic review...

[@shawnhoward7997]

When editing a monosynth tone, do this: 1 Push [tone] 2 [Edit] 3 Osc block [Enter] 4 [Use arrows scroll down to portamento on/off] 5 [Use wheel or +/- to turn off portamento] 6 [PART +/- to switch oscillator] 7 [repeat steps 5 and 6 to adjust portamento on off for oscillators, portamento time is directly under it]

[@gearfacts]

Excellent, we need more tips like this ! Thanks Shawn

[@bigupz6818]

This has to be one of my favourite boards ever!!! It oozes early Detroit techno/electro ❤ Great vid 🎉

[@gearfacts]

Yep! I kinda love it too.

[@db7643]

I have one. I love it. It's sequencer, phrase, arp, and multi function keys are really very good. The biggest problem is the sounds. It has a unique character, but it is somewhat cold on its own. It really needs to be paired with another sound source. I do believe that some of the limitations you imply are actually more flexible than you suggest such as sd card handling and sample lengths. Still, it's definitely not for everyone. I actually bought my into use primarily as a sequencer so for me the rest was a bonus.

[@gearfacts]

Yeah and I think my hopes were VERY heightened because it looked so cool and the marketing was very compelling!

[@xisotopex]

what do you think the sequencer compare to?

[@alexandredeoliveirapenna198]

It is not weird! I love it. I had similar problems wirh some DAWs.... A lot of potencial but so difficult to make what you wanr.

[@gearfacts]

I loved the sound, definitely. It was my RELATIONSHIP with it that was bad! haha

[@stevehofer3482]

I thought I’d be able to wait a year and snap up a XW-P1 or G1 used about a year after they came out for half price, but used ones were scarce, snd when they were for sale, they weren’t much less than new ones, and when they were discontinued, used prices went up.

[@gearfacts]

I've noticed that too - an inexplicable retention of value. Could be the looks maybe?

[@johnearthheart4614]

Yes! I have one and it is a bit obtuse but I readily admit that I have not put in the hard work necessary to understand and get the most from this potentially great synth. No doubt someone with extensive experience over many years with many synths might be able to get stuck in. It's frustrating for sure!

[@gearfacts]

Well you've nailed the point right there, and I agree. Making music shouldn't involve all of that strain. There are plenty of synths that are much more eager to please.

[@kevingamache1512]

Great vid. I totally dug my xw-p1 but alas money issues arose and our relationship was cut much too short.

[@gearfacts]

Yep I think these boards have seen a lot of bust-ups :/

[@wildchurch]

I feel for you - a lot of gear has broken up with me due to musical differences!

[@gearfacts]

Well put :)

[@kevingamache1512]

My xw-p1 while midi'd out to my Roland D05. Well was just magical. 61 keys on the xw and 61 keys on original D50....kismet? Yeah missing aftertouch but still a blast

[@DocBolus]

A sad tale but I can see why it had to end. I felt the same way about a QY100 years ago.

[@gearfacts]

Ah yes, I can relate to that one as well. SOOOO much promise...

[@transforminggravity15626]

Lol 💯🤣🤘💯 I really like it’s going in my collection. Appreciate all your hard work. Have a great day my dear friend.

[@gearfacts]

Thanks! You too!

[@transforminggravity15626]

💯😎🙏

[@leewightman8619]

I just found out about this synth looks and sounds awesome

[@gearfacts]

Certainly looks good, no doubt about it. I love the red accents.

[@thebmusproject]

Great video! I really should sell this keyboard but it's so close to a master piece that I can't let it go :)

[@gearfacts]

haha I hear you, for sure ...but in the end I didn't regret selling mine :)

[@JH-pe3ro]

I only ever got to demo this in the store. I kind of liked all the features, but the sound of the filter was a bit harsh for me, and I wasn't really in the market to buy. I will always stand by Casio's toy keyboards though.

[@gearfacts]

It is indeed a harsh filter. In a good way ;)

[@djpecchia]

the xw series are designed for connectivity with an ipad. there is a free app called "xw designer" on the app store. with that,controlling the synth in real time is really enjoyable. a note on "remixing presets": you can create patterns from zero with the step sequencer. the bad news is that there isnt an app for that and doing it with the internal tools is bad as programming the synth. this keyboard hides a ton of potential...

[@gearfacts]

Yep I agree with your comments, for sure. I guess the (comedic) thrust of the video was that compared to so many other synths it just seems to suck all of the fun out of creating music. But yes to be fair I probably should have tried the ipad app. I thought the piano sound at the end was sublime.

[@givolettorulez]

I have it too. The biggest problem is that not only is difficult to program but the manual is totally unreadable. It's the same fate of the PX-5S. The sad fact is that both they have a potential but the tiny display and the menu system make them hard to program. They have also some hardware flaws, like no expression pedal and noisy line ins that are a pity. To be honest my other sinthesizer is a Kawai K5000S , so I am used to hard to program keyboards. The Kawai it's like calculus, at the fist glance alls is a difficult mess, but at a certain moment the solution snaps in and all becomes crystal clear. The XW-G1 is the or fout things at once, a VA mono synth, a cheap Casio keyboard, a drum machine and a sampling groovebox all fighting for the same display and controls. The mix didn't work.

[@gearfacts]

Nailed it. I agree.

[@NorthEastEntertainmentChannel]

I own the xw-p1 which is probably the better of the 2 models but im still in 2 minds on keeping it as its far too flimsy for live use.

[@gearfacts]

I agree. I’ve had both models and they amuse me for awhile but really, I think there are much better options for the price.

[@NorthEastEntertainmentChannel]

@@gearfacts that's my mind made up then, on ebay it goes 😁

[@doordedeur]

I had the same experience with the Casio PX-5s. It has great features, but it's impossible to operate.

[@gearfacts]

Yes I had that one too. Same story, I completely agree.

[@gefthetalkingmongoose]

Still a better love story than Twilight

[@Mr.1.i]

i found things to be to deep inside the menu.also its very complicated to use as a midi tool .the reason why i bought it is because it ls a mugs eyefull with the 8 sliders that do not configure automation automaticaly you have to work out the correct midi setting and then the sequencer doesnt work its not as good as the blue yammaha djx as a midi controller

[@sivabala5425]

what Casio should have done is combined the p1 and the g1 so that you have poly and mono modes with the Hex layer and the mono synth, also should have got someone not from MIT to design the operating system so that the common people can understand this synth. The icing on the cake would have been 16 velocity pads. I sold mine after suffering the same fate as you. having said that whatever happened to the MZ-X500?

[@pianokeyjoe]

Aargh! Thats right! ANOTHER missing Casio! Did you know in 1992, Casio sent out a promo flyer of their new and upcoming keyboards(TONEBANK 2.0)series which featured a flagship Synth Workstation keyboard not unlike the MZ2000? It never made it out to production though. The MZ2000 took it's place with a bigger LCD and bigger sound bank. The MZ-X series I have NEVER seen.. I do have a CTK610ex? The fancy pretty and modern lesser brother of the series from the same era. Casio has released alot of strange models that were only available overseas(NOT IN MAINLAND USA), and as such those of us who are Casiolovers, are at odds with finding said collectibles.

[@gearfacts]

Yeah I think the MZ-X500 was meant to pick up where this one left off ...but both are dreadfully flawed in the workflow department. I mean - 4 seconds of complicated, inaccurate sampling on the XW-G1??? Why even bother!

[@pianokeyjoe]

@@gearfacts Ah ha! Ok then. Well I did not know it was THAT bad lol! Well I have my answer to why it is no more then. Sad.. Casio did so well with the Cosmo synths and SK sampler range..

[@sivabala5425]

@@gearfacts if Yamaha could release in updated psrew410 with pads, a simple fm 4op synth, portamento, octave and transpose buttons, pattern sequencer, mod wheel user tones and more sample slots, they will sell thousands, but it will never happen

[@michelelintenditore6234]

I think that PX-560 and MZ-X500 are different machines, they are arranger keyboards with a colour touch screen. I think that will make them easier to use that the XW and PX-5S, but they are a steering away from the prosumer synthesizer direction and getting back in the home arrangers and pianos. The newer PXS-1000 and 3000 are going exactly in that direction. Tho solvwe the difficulty of the hex layers they took away the option.

[@simonpettersson6788]

I keep my XW-G1 standing in the corner connected with midi to my main sequencer, mostly because it is impossible to sell it to buy something better. Its user interface is just so terrible, its more or less completely useless to me. What I do like about it is the arpeggiator, some of the PCM sounds like the saxophones, and the solo synth which is my only digital monosynth. I can also use it as an effects pedal for one of my other synths. I do all of my programming using either the Casio Data Editor or the MIDI Designer Pro 2. I've toyed with the idea of taking it apart and putting everything in a smaller box without the keyboard to make it a desktop synth.

[@gearfacts]

Good info :)

[@glenesis]

Ooooh I'd missed this video! LMAO 🤣

[@gearfacts]

Bit of a departure from my usual style!

[@Simon-ui6db]

Had the P1 , bought it for £100 2 years ago. Sold it 2 months later. had so much potential but programming it was a sod so it had to go.

[@gearfacts]

Well put. Such a shame. The talent was there but the attitude was too uncooperative.

[@New_Zealand_Music]

Casio should re_release the CZ series, possibly updated from 1980's, one of best laboratories ever, you've never heard filer sweeps so long. Regret my CZ-3500, prices going crazee now!

[@gearfacts]

Yep there are lots of things I'd like to see re-released with just a bit of modernization.

[@pianokeyjoe]

Ok ok, Now this is becoming strange. I am checking online for this keyboard and it is modern Casio keyboard made not too long ago.. why the heck is it no longer for sale ANYWHERE??! I mean, if you find it it is only on EBAY for $1799!! I found ONE in JAPAN for a reasonable price used with free shipping but seems you can not save the listing to your watch list and click on any of the other pictures on the ad to see it up close. I am thinking a scam. Sadly this keyboard was never really in Music stores in the USA. I saw the XW-P1 which was the one without the sampler and whose portamento glide effect you can not turn off on the synth lead section. Does anyone out there have a clue what happened? Is this board some military secret? It is not available and I just do not see why if every other crappy Casio from 1970 to now still exists in massive quantities, why this ONE good Casio board does not? Was it made in CHINA??

[@gearfacts]

I have no idea what went wrong with the marketing of this keyboard. Maybe there was a legal problem over technology rights or something. It's surely one of Casio's best, but sadly it has all the worst elements of Casio's difficult approach to workflow. I sold the one in this video for $AU500 ...I think it's rarity makes that price about right, but in terms of enjoyment - no way! I never was able to find out the answer to the portamento thing either. And many other questions.

[@pianokeyjoe]

@@gearfacts Huh! Wow! Well I was not really expecting that response! So the keyboard really WAS a flop? I thought this was just a parody video. Like "Oh this thing is so awful"But really, it kicks royal butt kinda thing. Well You did have it long enough to play it and find it's flaws. I only had 30 minutes in a store to play the lesser P1 version. Prices new were $399 and $599 for these for a long time too. Then...yoink! No more Casio XW series.

[@thepcgamer2169]

@@pianokeyjoe I always wanted the Casio XW P1 but never really found anyone in the UK selling it. As for Ebay never buy from Japan sellers, there always well overpriced for what there really worth reguardless of rarity. I gave up looking for Casio XW series in the end. Now I got Novation UltraNova ,Behringer TD-3, Korg Electribe 2 Blue model & a Arturia Beatstep. Nice. :)

[@kenzieprice6745]

@@pianokeyjoeThese are actually pretty desirable. Search KZbin and you will find some impressive demos, they just really do take a hell of some patients and figuring out. The guys in the Casio XW group and Mike Martin really made a great tight group making content to make this a lot more accessible and understandable. So many tricks with these boards even the designers hadn't realized. It's worth checking out if you ever come across a good deal on one.

[@notsofunnynowisit]

Nearly every sound it put out sounded like a fuzzy monster gargling phlegm in a well. . Sooo... Darkwave syth then???

[@gearfacts]

The Piano at the end I thought was superb ...but yeah it's mood is either really dark or super-bouncy K-pop drivel. Nothing in between.

[@mattruffntuff7177]

That was the Notebook with better acting

[@kenzieprice6745]

I scored one a couple of months ago and your video made me feel so much better about my experience, I mean relationship. I have seen so many great things in the hands of other people but I just don't think I have the time and head to have to study the depths of the Internet forums and navigate it's features. I really ove some of the sounds though, do you know if the sound set is in any of the other boards? Also, I think I saw your eBay listing. Great sale you made if I say so!

[@gearfacts]

Yep I think it has some rarity value, and certainly some curiosity value. I'm glad I tried it out but frankly I'd rather use a synth with inferior sounds if it was easier to use. Perfect example: Yamaha PSR-EW410

[@djdannyvillagrasa2318]

Ow.. So close! Looks good, but sound mwah.. But its so close, but weird hahah.. great video mate. greeting from Holland

[@gearfacts]

Glad you liked it! I thought my videos were getting a bit boring so I tried something new :)

[@nosebeareatsfudge3275]

i felt the same with my xw p1, never understood it. been collecting dust for 4years now

[@gearfacts]

Still has value, friend. Sell it :)

[@pinahl2]

Casio needs to either celebrate its quirky keyboard roots or get with the times. ALL of their products use tired 20+ year old technology. I've sent Casio product ideas in the past and they just ignore me. As much as I've loved Casio stuff in the past I've lost hope.

[@gearfacts]

Yes I've suggested things too ...wall of silence. They have MAJOR workflow issues that need to be addressed.

[@New_Zealand_Music]

Yay! Thank's friend! :-)

[@gearfacts]

It's a pleasure Sir. From one Aspie to another ;)

[@Subilon]

You seem to get some Jean-Michael jarre sounds there Glynn.i detect a bit of Oxygene in there somewhere 😉

[@gearfacts]

Purely by accident, I can assure you!

[@Aiden.Stinkhorn]

Not compatible...XW should stand for Ex Wife. Still, it's Casio, your quirky friend.

[@gearfacts]

Haha, yeah they are slowly improving their designs. This years CT-S models were much more usable :)