RS026 Casio HT-700/Hohner KS49: Big Boy Toy

[@javierzubizarreta2933]

Great video! I have 2x HT-6000, 1x HT-3000, 2x HT-700 and 1x HZ-600. Plus two memory cards. On the 6000 you can turn off the auto power off. On the others, you can leave a rhythm playing with the volume down and it won´t turn off.

[@throwachair]

nice array you have there, bit jealous ha ha, HT700 and HZ600 is my smaller selection, but love them both, had a HT3000 and cards in the 90's and sadly sold it to pay a bill.

[@mahugunnyproductions6676]

I got one of these in the original box at a Goodwill for $25. The small size and portability make it a great place to play around with ideas and records very well. Great synth!

[@nobel11]

I am absolutely here for your half-assed jokes.

[@LittleRichard1988]

As these are cheaper than the Casio CZ synthesizers you can't complain. The Casio HT-700 is basically a Casio MT/CT keyboard with editable sounds and what's more is that it's a syntheizer and a drum machine all in one.

[@rejectedsynths]

Also HTs come with a real, analog filter while CZ line does not have any filters at all. People pay silly money for Korg Poly 800s while this is pretty much the same

[@rfrayo_]

I found an HT 700 at a garage sale 10 years ago for $10. Loved it and learned that the HT-6000 existed so I got that one off ebay a few months later for $100. Now the prices are just getting crazy. It's got this weird character to it I can't put my finger on. I have other DCO synths like the JX, Junos, EX-6000. I love Casio gear tho. FZ-20M and VZ-10M are my favorite things Casio put out.

[@rejectedsynths]

I've got a FZ1 and a German Hohner HS2 which is a licensed VZ1. Casio gear from that era is just crazy good in the most literal sense, if prices are rising, the synth world seems to have finally realized 😜

[@jackispax1633]

CT-630 is also a Spectrum Dynamic synth, it's the non programmable version of the HT-3000.

[@pianokeyjoe]

I LOVE that Casio commercial!! I want to find more of those please! Now about the HT700. I want to say you forgot one obscure but relevant model that is using the SAME SD sound source and is the Fullsized big brother to the MT600. That is the CT630. And? Funny you should say a LIMITATION is that one shared VCF between the 2 oscillators and 4 voices. You know? When I first played the HT700 I thought that effect of wow wow wow wow between keys when I played more than 2 notes was fun and exciting since my Casio PT1 and MT11 did not do that effect and neither did my MT52 nor my Yamaha PSS470 and 270 keyboards. Funny, neither did the MT205 or MT45/46! So yeah I love that effect. I only heard it again in a Korg Poly 800 I borrowed from a Camp counselor. Love it! And like you demonstrated, it has some serious rhythmic possibilities when syncopated with beats and sequences.

[@rejectedsynths]

I've lots more in my video on the Casio FZ-1. Towards the end in the demo track 😉

[@pianokeyjoe]

@@rejectedsynths Thankyou! I am on it!

[@Gezira]

Good job 👍

[@rejectedsynths]

Glad you like it!

[@kenzieprice6745]

Synth reed is my favorite preset. You can program so very good pads on these. I actually like it's stand alone sound better than the HT-6000 for most things.

[@rejectedsynths]

Since I've spent a lot of time with the HT700 I'd imagine having 4 parts to stack slightly detuned variants of the same sound must sound epic 🤯

[@BatteryCoverMissing]

It isn’t that epic because the amount and direction you can detune is really limiting. Would have been way better to allow stacking different oscillator shapes. The ring mod mode also makes no logical sense making it also not very useful. You can map the velocity to detune amount for each oscillator though if you want to try microtonal stuff.

[@MIK_F40]

I have never come across a HT-700 or KS-49 that stores the internal memory once it has been powered off, even with batteries fitted or a live power source.... There is also no mention of this feature in the manual. As far as I can tell using a memory card is the only way to store your keyboards internal data which means it has to be loaded back into the keyboard every time you power on. Possibly why the memory slot was added in the first place lol.

[@LikelyLoops]

Nice review!

[@rejectedsynths]

Thx! 😁

[@Gluttonite]

I have two of these beauties

[@rejectedsynths]

Happy you! 👍

[@DCprophet]

Im born in 86 and my ht700 is sitting right next to me

[@BendApparatus]

I own this... don't ask me why, how or when... I somehow (knowing only the basics of subtractive synthesis and nothing about phase distortion) managed to make a very VERY close version of Van Halen's Jump brass patch...

[@rejectedsynths]

Yes, it's pretty well suited for that kind of sound 🤗

[@cdwhiley]

FANTASTIC VIDEO. Loved the joke about auto power off poop ruined session HAHAHA

[@NatLifeSounds]

Sounds warmth enogh

[@mendozawav8202]

Just bought a used HT-700 but it did not come with the power adapter. The seller said it works with batteries but this was before he sold it to me and then ghosted me. My question is, is there a specific type of battery this keyboard uses in order to power it up? Or a regular D size battery should work? Or did I just get scammed? lol

[@sock_park]

I like it! The sounds remind me of 1980's side-scroller video games.

[@DocBolus]

A strange beast indeed. Sounds a bit thin but has a very distinct flavour. Has it got Midi? Might make all the difference with that.

[@rejectedsynths]

It has a super basic Midi implementation, you can send notes to the melody, chord and bass voice, sync via Midi clock and that's all you can do. Sadly no CC, no SysEx dump. It would be a real beast with full real time CC parameter control. In theory, you could mod it to accept control voltages for filter and ADSR control relatively easily.

[@DocBolus]

@@rejectedsynths OK so that mod would step it up considerably.

[@gula_rata]

how would you classify this digital synth? its not pulse code modulation. so is it wavetable synthesis? or is it related to casio's phase distortion synthesis?

[@rejectedsynths]

It's dco, so the oscillators are mostly single cycle digital waveforms. So I guess you could classify it as hybrid digital/analog

[@gregoryosullivan]

I almost bought one of these in the 80s but ended up getting the CZ-230S instead.

[@rejectedsynths]

Never heard of that one, actually 🤔

[@gregoryosullivan]

@@rejectedsynthskzbin.info/www/bejne/p5C0n2R7p5mNeaM

[@rejectedsynths]

So from what I've learned, it's basically a home keyboard version of the cz 101 with a pcm rythm section, built in speaker and no patch memory. Seems like Casio tried to cater for as many tastes as possible back then, just like car makers do today (who wouldn't love a convertible station wagon SUV?)

[@gregoryosullivan]

@@rejectedsynths You can actually load CZ-101 patches into the last four preset slots via MIDI sysex. The rhythm section has a pattern based step sequencer that can use the synth sounds as well as the PCM.

[@megazavr8518]

Really nice! But I do not know which one to buy: HT-700 or HT-6000?

[@rejectedsynths]

Both! While the user interface is pretty much the same, the are both completely unique sounding machines. The 6000 is a true polysynth with a unique filter design

[@karamellmusik]

How did you do these layers at the end and the arpeggiatorsound? I just bought one inspired from your video. Especially the final tune. Now I cant figure out tobrecord anything but the rhythm section after hours of trying 😩

[@rejectedsynths]

Hey there, the parts at the end are recorded by sending midi notes via an external sequencer, you can send different notes to the different synth parts of the synth, but not to the rhythm part for some reason.

[@karamellmusik]

@@rejectedsynths aaah, I understand. What a pity, but thank you for resolving so quickly :)

[@rejectedsynths]

If you are in need of a sequencer there are free alternatives for many platforms, even mobile phones these days 😉

[@canterburyaudio5836]

Really nice demo!!

[@rachelar]

It takes a memory dump while you take an actual dump. Like the half assed jokes

[@avva3802]

Thank you for the video and blessings in Jesus Christ name.

[@CHEEPHARDWARE]

i dig my ht700, had two of em

[@rejectedsynths]

ht1400 😉

[@noahmarino]

this video is such a vindicating account of my experience using the ht-700 ahaha. god forbid you peruse the manual while messing with its data parameters and you let those six minutes expire. boom. minutes of programming experimentation down the drain

[@rejectedsynths]

Living on the edge! 🤣

[@squishmusic]

That advert is voiced by Radio1 DJ Mark Goodier en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Goodier :D

[@80ssynthfan48]

Sounds more like Bruno Brookes to me.

[@cdwhiley]

I have this keyboard and one channel is dead. Left is dead. RCA out left is dead. Stereo mini jack out left is dead. Left speaker is dead. It's very sad. I have spent about 4 hours trying to find the problem but I am lost. There is only one amplifier chip! Where does stereo occur? I'm very confused. There are no schematics available. I cannot determine the failure. Right channel works but LEFT IS DEAD.

[@rejectedsynths]

Mine was dead on one Channel too. I'm not 100% sure as I fixed it a long time ago bit I think desoldering the speaker made the channel work again.