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The Easy-VeeZee Web Site . | . Main Chat Page


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 1st February 11:19 am U.K. Time

Welcome to the Easy-VeeZee Chat Page. This page launched on 1st February 1999.

It's purpose is to facilitate discussion between the users of Casio's VZ range of musical synthesizers and to promote the exchange of information, hints and tips.

The synths in question are the Casio VZ-1,and also the VZ8/8M units (with which I am not particularly familar myself). Note that in some countries these synthesizers were badged Hohner instead of Casio, and had a different model number.

There will shortly (when I get around to it) be a full Web site associated with this chat page which will feature a VZ1/10M Patch Editor and Librarian currently being written by myself. I hope also to include patch files for download, particularly taking contributions of patches from yourselves.

It will also contain lots of hints, tips and other useful info. Any contributions gratefully received.

Using this chat page is simplicity itself. Please have a go...


Name: dolan
Email:
dolan@fionaanddolan.prestel.co.uk
Monday 1st February 9:34 pm U.K. Time

Hi, I am also a VZ10M user though not so much these days. Still find it quite difficult to use but still enjoy. Hope you get lots of response to the site. BFN

Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Monday 1st February 10:16 pm U.K. Time

Great idea... I'll look forward to the editor. Still have mine (VZ-10m). it's used chiefly to make patches for my Casio PG-380, which I haven't been doing much of lately.)


Name: Mike Grijak
Email:
mikegrijak@aol.com
Monday 1st February 10:54 pm U.K. Time

Great Idea!! A webworld of our very own!! The Casio VZ series of synths are VERY POWERFUL sound making machines and I for one am going to visit this site quite often!!

Mike Grijak


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd February 2:06 am U.K. Time

Thanks for the support. The Web site is beginning to build.

It is located at http://www.bramber.demon.co.uk/casio

Nothing much in the way of content yet, but I'm working on it.

Latest nes on the patch editor/librarian: I did a lot of work on it over the weekend to make it more robust and a little friendlier. Op-patch editting is fully implemented. On the voice patch front, line configuration is all done and I've been working on the oscillator detuning settings. This is quite complicated (just look in the manual under menu 1-02 to see what I mean).

I spent ages trying to figure out how to convert frequencies into harmonics - its all based aroung logs to the base 2 (which Visual Basic doesn't do!) but I sussed it in the end. My double-precision calculations are sometimes 1 tick out on the fine tuning though compared to the VZ's own calculations. Near enough!

Latest version not available for download yet - I'm trying to do a proper set-up kit for it.

Bye for now.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd February 2:14 am U.K. Time

By the way, in case you haven't figured it out, this chat page will automatically convert http references into links but no other HTML is supported (ie you can't do bold text etc). This is for security reasons (we don't want people posting dodgy pictures or buggy javascript etc.)

If you want to put a blank line in your posting you must put a double carriage return. I have the power to erase particular messages if necessary and I reserve the right to do so. If anyone spots anything offensive appearing on this site please email me asap and I'll sort it out.

When the page reaches about 15k in size the messages are archived, to save everybody's download time.

Any questions, please ask.

Steve.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd February 2:18 am U.K. Time

Trivia question: Does anyone know what the difference is between the 5 different Saw-Tooth waveforms? Are they saw-up, saw-down, triangular or what? The manual doesn't say. Anyone got an oscilloscope?

Name: busyditch
Email:
bzditch@sprynet.com
Tuesday 2nd February 2:31 am U.K. Time

Thanks for putting up this site. The VZ has always been one of my favorites, unfortunatley I got involved with my other synths and when I went to sell my VZ-1, I remembered how great they sounded (still have my 10M) I use MidiQuest's universal editor, which is a bit of a pain to use because you have to intitialize the VZ to accept the data. But it allows you to be creative and being able to store your patches is so convenient.I'm definitely going to use my VZ a lot more. Keep working on that editor so that VZ users will be able to make new sounds and keep these synths alive and working.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd February 10:28 am U.K. Time

I've never used MidiQuest, but I've seen screen shots of it and it doesn't look that easy to use. I guess there's a limit to what you can do with a universal editor.

My VZ editor is being specifically designed for the VZ so includes clever tricks like graphical drag-and-drop editting of keyboard split points and cross-fade points.

There's not much I can do about having to set-up the VZ to accept the data though - there's no remote control of that available. This means you still have to (1)Enable Sys-ex (menu 3-04 ?), (2)Turn internal protection off (menu 3-01 ?) and (3)Initialize the load/save (menu 3-03?). No way around that I'm afraid. Once you've done that though, you only have to redo the last step to load/save again. I think I right in saying that once you've done steps one and two the VZ automatically transmits the tone/op data for the current patch everytime you change patches, and can also respond to single patch transmissions in this way. I shall have to investigate that further.

My VZ editor will support 5 banks in memory at once so I shall somehow implement the transfer of patches between banks (virtually impossible without a computer based editor). Someone also suggested that I should have a randomize function that scrambles the data in a particular oscillator/voice/operation - as a means of "inspiration". Nice idea, but needs some thought as to the range within which certain parameters should be randomized. If you pick totally random detuning for each oscillator it's going to sound dreadful 99.9999% of the time.

Anybody any ideas for other features?

I hope to have the latest version available for download within a week, but that still won't include a full voice-edit implementation.

Regards,

Steve.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd February 11:02 am U.K. Time

Ed, you say that you use your VZ10M to make patches for your Casio PG-380. What is that exactly?

Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Tuesday 2nd February 5:01 pm U.K. Time

Steve, the PG-380 is the Casio MIDI/synth Guitar. Basically, an Ibanez Stratocaster with a 6-voice VZ engine onboard and some additional electronics to do the midi conversion (for midi out.) It accepts the vz ram/rom cards. To use sounds from any synth for guitar (in my opinion) requires some amount of tweaking (esp. attacks). Guitar controllers are different beasts from regular guitars and keyboard controllers.

Too bad casio got out of the pro synth market. They made some fine products...

Ed


Name: bill tomlinson
Email:
btomlinson@zeus.chapel1.com
Wednesday 3rd February 2:08 pm U.K. Time

friends: so happy to see those 'dinosaurs' supported! remember,they (we) ruled the world for millions of years. great work and i'll send some patches.

bt


Name: Tal
Email:
tal@irkar.demon.NOSAPM.co.uk
Sunday 7th February 10:13 am U.K. Time

Hi! Good to see the VZ series being supported! I've had mine for several years but never tried programming it until a couple of months back. A dedicated editor is a great idea (I have used MidiQuest for editing, which although a lot easier isn't a patch (hehe) on a dedicated piece of software). I'm still exploring this monster machine...

BTW MidiQuest does have this handy randomise feature which creates new patches. A lot of them are unuseable but some are very cool...


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.bbc.SPAMLESS.co.uk
Monday 8th February 11:40 am U.K. Time

New version of VZpatch uploaded today at the EZVZ Web Site (use link at top of this page, then click "Software"). A bit easier to use, some bugs removed, and quite a bit added to the voice editting part. Still needs work on Pitch Encelope, Pitch Key Follow, Rate Key Follow, Tremolo and Vibrato but then that's it. The download now includes all the necessary VBX files to save people scanning the Web, but VBRUN300.DLL is a separate download (same site) due to the size of the file.

I've had lots of feedback and encouragement by email over the last few days, with lots of offers of patches and other associated software (particularly Atari ST) and cofiguration files for "generic" commercial editors. Might be a while before these appear on the Web site as my spare time is concentrating on my PC software at the moment, rather than on the Web site.


Name: dirtydave
Email:
dirtydave@mindspring.com
Saturday 13th February 1:47 pm U.K. Time

Any chance of one of you enterprising VZ-8 or PG-380 owners scanning a manual and uploading/e-mailing it (asks poor pitiful dave who has both units and doesn't have a clue on where to get a clue on how to program the things).

I tried to order the out of print VZ book from Amazon.com but no go.

Would just be nice to have a definitive menu map and a hint as to the effect of the cascaded ocillator pairs. Yeah, I poke through all that stuff tweek a parameter here and there and sometimes the sounds get better and sometimes they don't change at all but my repeatability is about nil.

I'm not asking for much, huh?

Any help appreciated. DD


Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Sunday 14th February 4:00 pm U.K. Time

Dirty Dave....

PG-380 sound list: http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/pgsounds.htm

Menu Map: http://machines.hyperreal.org/manufacturers/Casio/VZ/info/vz-10m.menu.table.cheat.sheet

If these wrap, you might have to type them in manually but they are a start.


Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Sunday 14th February 4:04 pm U.K. Time

Dave, if you poke around at the sites listed, there is some additional info but not a whole lot.

Good luck...

I don't have a scanner.

Ed


Name: dirtydave
Email:
dirtydave@mindspring.com
Sunday 14th February 8:50 pm U.K. Time

Thanx fer the input all who replied.

Talk about synchronicity! I stopped by a used music gear store today and lo and behold they had a VZ-10M WITH both manuals and the aftermarket BOOK! I did a little horse swapping involving the VZ-8 and a little 4 track tape deck and am now typing really fast so I can go PLAY with the new (and documented) toy!

Will post if a have a relations!

DD


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 15th February 11:01 am U.K. Time

I've made a note of those PG380 links and shall include them in the Easy-VeeZee Web site when I get around to that bit. New version of VZpatch uploaded today. Now displays ALL parameters but you can't yet edit pitch envelope, pitch key follow or rate key follow parameters. I also fixed a couple of minor bugs and added a facility to list all op patches that use a particular voice (so you know which ops you'll mess up when you edit the voice!)

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 15th February 11:35 am U.K. Time

I wasn't aware of a book about the VZ synths. What's in it?

Name: dirtydave
Email:
dirtydave@mindspring.com
Monday 15th February 4:43 pm U.K. Time

opps, that was supposed to be a "revelation" not a "relations".

Just call me Duh-ave!

DD


Name: Doug
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Monday 15th February 5:59 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone know of any places to get VZ ROM or RAM cards? Do any of you know what size/format of RAM card the VZ handles (in case I can find other compatible cards)?

Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Tuesday 16th February 1:49 am U.K. Time

Dave, I too am interested in the book you mentioned. Who is it by and what is in it???

Ed

Oh, congrats on your purchase....

As far as finding ram cards... I have seen a couple sites (and had them bookmarked until a crash releived me of my bookmark file.) You just have to poke around and do searches on various search engines to find the right place. They are expensive. Good luck... post if you find them.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 16th February 4:44 pm U.K. Time

The connector on the RAM/ROM card looks common enough and I doubt the card is particularly complicated inside (old technology), so I'm presently wondering if it might be possible to make my own RAM card. That depends on safely getting inside my present one though in order to see what's inside..... risky.

Name: dirtydave
Email:
dirtydave@mindspring.com
Tuesday 16th February 9:49 pm U.K. Time

Steve, Ed, Try this link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0881888710/synthzone/002-5543991-1302266

Basically has a different (better than the manual, I suspect, but I haven't had time to read either yet) perspective on the VZ series synths.

DD

I tried to order from Amazon 4-5 months ago but no joy.


Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Wednesday 17th February 1:44 am U.K. Time

Steve, I beleive I have the pinouts for the ram/rom socket for my PG-380. I don't promise I'll get it to you immediately, but I swear I'll get to it and type it up for you.

Dave, thanks for the book info...

Ed


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 17th February 1:13 pm U.K. Time

Dave: thanks for the book info. I've just ordered one from Amazon, if they can find one. I don't hold much hope though.

Ed: A pinout may well be sufficient information, thanks. Obviously if I ever manage to make a working card I will post circuit/component details.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 18th February 11:34 am U.K. Time

I've re-examined the RAM card and there's no easy way to get inside that I can see. The plastic case appears to be "welded" shut. Also, there is very little space around the connector - it's a tight fit - so a home-made effort could be tricky.

Name: Doug
Email:
dhuseby@poci.amis.com
Thursday 18th February 9:25 pm U.K. Time

Would any of you happen to have a tech manual or schematics for a VZ (wishful thinking, I'm sure)? Casio isn't any help (they don't know or care about 10 year old technology).

Name: Phil Gyford
Email:
phil@gyford.com
Saturday 20th February 1:01 am U.K. Time

I've owned a VZ-1 for several years but I'm planning on selling it simply because I never use it. Anyone have any idea how much they're worth these days?

Name: Doug
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Sunday 21st February 11:54 pm U.K. Time

I found a place to get new ROM and RAM cards in the States. They have the following inventory:

RA500 (RAM card) $70 RC110 (US collection) $80 RC120 (Tokio collection) $80 RC130 (European collection) $80

Their contact info is: Consumer Electronics 12425 Knoll Road Elm Grove, WI 53122 USA


Name: Richard Compton
Email:
Richard@musiccentre.co.uk
Monday 22nd February 7:28 pm U.K. Time

If anyone want's to swop for my CZ1000, CZ5000 & VZ module feel free to contact me !!!!!

Name: Doug
Email:
dhuseby@poci.amis.com
Tuesday 23rd February 3:51 pm U.K. Time

Phil,

It seems the average price people have been asking in web classifieds around here is around $300 (+-$100). Note that this is the ASKING price, and not necessarily what they sold it for.


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Sunday 28th February 1:58 pm U.K. Time

At last! The VZ is being appreciated. Here are some answers to some quiestions in the archive:

The five different types of sawtooth appear to contain increasing amounts of upper harmonics (from 1 to 5). This is similar to a low pass filter being "opened" to put it crudely. I suppose Casio did that to combat the lack of a low pass filter.

The best editor I've seen is MOTU Unisyn. Much easier to use, and a lot slicker than MIDI Quest. Very expensive though.

I too am looking for that book:"Power Play Vz : The Essential Guide to Practical Applications. (Casio : Vz-1, Va-10M,Vz-8M)" Steve De Furia, Joe Scacciaferro. Those guys wrote a few other good synth books also.

There's a good Casio discussion at http://www/.http://www.the-gas-station.com/

It's in the "anything Analogue" section (don't ask) and it's called"The Casio Hut!".


Name: Francis Parsons
Email:
102251.2176@compuserve.com
Sunday 28th February 3:39 pm U.K. Time

Hi! I have this old article of "Programming Secrets" for the CZ series. of paticular interest to me was a way of creating ***envelope delay*** (Electronic Musician, March 1986 - I wonder if this is in thier free online archives , maybe it's too old) I thought the envelopes on the CZ and VZ were identical, but maybe not because I havn't been able to get it to work. Basically you use of segments with variable rates and levels set to 01 which is "basically inaudible". You must use at least two sets of rates and levels, and you can use more for longer times.It gives an example of using 4 rates and levels,(levels=01), the sum of the rates giving the delay time. Has anyone tried this on the VZ and had it work? Thanks. -- Francis

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 1st March 1:06 pm U.K. Time

New version of my VZ patch editor has been uploaded today, available on the EZVZ web site (follow link at top of this page then go to "Software").

It is now fully functional with full Op and Voice editting. You can also now load/save/upload/download individual voices rather than having to do the whole bank at once. Further enhancements will follow (any ideas?).

I have also trawled the Web looking for VZ patches and the "Patches" link at the above site will present you with every VZ patch I have found so far. I can recommend the file "master.vz1" which is particularly good. The files have been converted to the format suitable for my VZ patch editor. If anyone has any patch files (single voices or whole banks) that they would like to share then please send them to me. Either VZpatch format (preferably) or a normal sysex dump will do, from which I can convert.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 1st March 1:08 pm U.K. Time

For info: If you wish to post a link to a web site on this page then just type the URL, includding the h t t p : / / bit, and it is automatically conmverted to a clickable link.

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 1st March 2:38 pm U.K. Time

I'm slightly annoyed that Andrew Schlesiger's "Master Ram" collection is freely available. I payed £30 for this about 4 years ago! It is very goood though. There are also some VERY classy patches available at:

http://hem1.passagen.se/sequence/vzdemobank/intomilldemo.syx OR http://hem1.passagen.se/sequence/vzdemobank/intomilldemo.mid


Name: Dave
Email:
DAVE@WILLd.freeserve.co.uk
Monday 1st March 4:52 pm U.K. Time

Hi, any PG380 players out there, drop me a line,link etc. willd.freeserve.co.uk

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 1st March 5:10 pm U.K. Time

It is possible that some of the patches I have found on the net are not legitimately available. Please, if anyone wishes to send me any patches for inclusion on the EZVZ site then make sure that they are your own work or ones which you know to be freely available.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 1st March 5:13 pm U.K. Time

I am intrigued by the PG380. A lot of people are mentioning it. Anyone got a photo (gif/jpeg) they can send me or give me a web link to?

Name: dirtydave
Email:
dirtydave@mindspring.com
Monday 1st March 7:30 pm U.K. Time

for the Casio midi guitars try http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/casmgtr.htm

No pictures but as much info as I have seen.


Name: Ed Averill
Email:
games@stainedglass.cnchost.com
Friday 5th March 4:33 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone know where I can get a manual for my VZ-10M? I've done serious damage to the presets but it'd sure be nice to understand what I was doing :P

If anyone has one and would photocopy it, I'll gladly pay for it if it's reasonable.

..ed.. @wits.end and beyond


Name: Keith
Email:
kg@sb.net
Saturday 13th March 6:07 am U.K. Time

I'm looking for a VZ-10M to use with MIDI guitar. It would be easy to just use something like a Sound Canvas, but I like to tweek and create textures and sounds (plus I like old gear). Thanks Keith

Name: A
Email:
dj222@hotmail.com
Saturday 20th March 6:52 am U.K. Time

Hi, I recently got a VZ-1 with no manual. How is one able to edit the parameters? I'm able to get into the menus, however, I can't get the cursor off the blinking number. Any help is really appreciated. Thanks, A

Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qisSPMSTOP.net
Sunday 21st March 1:52 pm U.K. Time

Hey all... FWIW, there is at least one VZ synth at ebay now. Just for those who are looking, I'm not selling but I saw them and figured someone here might be interested.

www.ebay.com browse to misc, mus. inst, and then search.

Ed


Name: Doug
Email:
dhuseby@poci.amis.com
Monday 22nd March 11:36 pm U.K. Time

In answer to dj222, push the menu button twice to get into edit mode. Then use the data entry slider and cursor buttons to change the parameters.

Here's another question: I have a VZ-8m and just bought a VZ-1. My little VZ-8m has three sound banks (Preset 1, Preset 2, Internal). To my dismay, my BIG VZ-1 only seems to have one sound bank (Internal). Is this correct, or does the VZ-1 also have 2 more Preset banks I can't find? If it is correct, that means the VZ-8m has half the polyphony, but three times the memory of the VZ-1! Does the VZ-10m only have one bank of sounds too?


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 23rd March 11:31 am U.K. Time

Yep, VZ-1 has one bank of presets (64 tones, 64 Ops), and a polyphony of 16.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 23rd March 11:33 am U.K. Time

I tried to order the VZ Powerplay Book (out of print search) from Amazon a few weeks back. I just got a reply. They're "still looking for it".

Name: Crying Room/Skeleton Key
Email:
basement@ix.netcom.com
Thursday 25th March 11:02 pm U.K. Time

I have a vz10m forsale in immaculate condition in ths U.S. If interested, please contact me.

Does anyone know where I could get a picture of the VZ10m to supply to people on the internet so they know what it looks like?

Thanks, T


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Sunday 4th April 3:32 pm U.K. Time

Like many other VZ-10M owners I have been longing for an effective editor/librarian for PC for a long time. Well done Steve you're a very smart cookie! (and will probably be knighted if you ever produce a Help File) I have been experimenting all afternoon, and have two observations (probably due to my ignorance). Firstly, having created a new folder to put all the downloaded files in, I seem unable to put the .exe in it. Consequently, I currently have all the individual files cluttering my Desktop. Any ideas? Secondly, after many attempts at sending a bank of data from the PC to the VZ10-M, I found that I had to have the VZ set to receive on MIDI Channel 1. (I normally use it dedicated to Ch 15 and I constantly got Error messages).

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 7th April 11:27 am U.K. Time

Hmmm.... I always have my VZ set to Midi Channel 1, which is what I would have used when downloading those patches to my PC, so I'm wondering if I've done something that means they only upload back on channel 1. Quite likely. I think I need to add an option somewhere (ie on the Midi Device config page) to set the MIDI output channel. This may be the cause of one or two other reports I've had of somne people not being able to upload patches... Well spotted!

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 7th April 11:30 am U.K. Time

Oh, on your first point, I think I may have given the files a "Read Only" status which could have the effect of stopping you from moving them.

Click the Right mouse Button over the file, select Properties, and make sure Read Only is deselected. Hope that helps.


Name: Harold Timms
Email:
htimms@mindspring.com
Wednesday 7th April 4:07 pm U.K. Time

I just bought a VZ-10m yesterday. I can not seem to be able to figure out how to save an edited patch. Any help would be appreciated. The manual is very poor in its level of explanation. Are there any 3rd-party books out there on the VZ-10m?

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 8th April 8:44 am U.K. Time

Book: "Power Play Vz : The Essential Guide to Practical Applications. (Casio : Vz-1, Va-10M,Vz-8M)" by Steve De Furia, Joe Scacciaferro.

Unfortunately it's out of print and Amazon seem unable to find one for me.

Saving patches: That's difficult without the manual/machine in front of me. Firstly, you need to turn Internal Protection Off, which is on menu 3 (submenu 01, I think). I think the most significant button after that is the one labeled WRITE. I'm sure someone here can be more specific for you...


Name: Malte Rogacki
Email:
gacki@gacki.sax.de
Monday 12th April 6:34 pm U.K. Time

Checksum calculation:

I'm working on support for the VZ synths in SoundDiver. However, the checksum format is not very well documented.

Does anybody know the formula Casio used here? Obviously the summing starts after the Device ID since the checksum stays the same regardless of the selected ID.

Thanks,

Malte


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 13th April 12:15 am U.K. Time

Checksum: Yes, that one is tricky - it's not documented anywhere and CAsio never answered any of mny letters, so I worked it out for myself:

There is a checksum on the end of every block of voice patch data (336 bytes) and on the end of every block of Op patch data (100 bytes).

To get the checksum, add up every byte in that block, take the last seven bits (ie MOD 128) then subtract the answer from 128 to get your final checksum value.

Easy !


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 13th April 12:20 am U.K. Time

I should have mentioned that there are no other checksums other than the one on the end of every block of data.

Don't forget that all data bytes, and the checksum, are transmitted as two four bit nibbles and that the HIGH order data is transmitted first and NOT the Low order data as mentioned in the SysEx manual page 8 (Gotcha!)

EVERYONE: A new version of my VZ patch editor has just been uploaded. I've fixed the "MIDI channel 1 only" problem and have added a "keyboard bar". PLay notes with the mouse - pitch runs left to right and volume high at top, low at bottom.

I have also added a new set of Patches sent to me by Fred Fee. Thanks Fred. They are VERY good, and include a particularly good piano sound (difficult at the best of times). All available from the EasyVeeZee web site (link at top of this page). Share and Enjoy.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve@home
Tuesday 13th April 12:23 am U.K. Time

The new patches are the file FREDS.VZ1, in case that isn't obvious. Oh yes, I've also added an "Auto transmit" feature to the software which transmits the current voice to the VZ synth every time you change voice in the software.

Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Wednesday 14th April 9:56 am U.K. Time

Hi again Steve Sorry to say that I can't seem to get you "new" version to send or receive. I don't know if it's me, but I cannot see any difference in appearance from the previous one. (I've checked the dates of the files to ensure I'm using the most recent.) When I send data from the computer I get an "error" on the VZ, and if I try to send data from the VZ to the computer I get "A checksum failed during tone number 1" Regards Keith Dear

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 14th April 1:13 pm U.K. Time

Hmmm... You know you've got the right version if there is a box on the Midi Device config page that lates you choose the Midi output/input channel. At the moment they must be the same. I know some people, particularly outside of the UK, have a problem with the Program file being cached somewhere en-route, to keep intercontinental bandwidth down. The latest version appears eventually, or alternatively you can force a load of the new version by using this link which has a different file name (same program) (136K bytes):

http://www.bramber.demon.co.uk/casio/software/vzpatch3.zip


Name: James Reynolds
Email:
JamesBRey@aol.com
Wednesday 14th April 7:53 pm U.K. Time

FOR SALE: Casio VZ RAM Cards.

Casio Brand RAM cards for VZ-1, VZ-10M, and VZ-8M synthesizers and PG-380 Midi Guitar.

Rare and hard to find Casio RAM cards will hold 64/64 patches for any of the above.

Excellent condition includes manual and storage sleeve.

$75 incl. shipping.

Email JamesBRey@aol.com


Name: James Reynolds
Email:
JamesBRey@aol.com
Wednesday 14th April 7:54 pm U.K. Time

FOR SALE: Casio VZ-10M IPD Synthesizer

MINT condition Casio VZ-10M synthesizer includes RC-100 Dual bank ROM card for 384 onboard sounds. 2 rack spaces includes all manuals, power cord and software.

This is the big brother to the CZ-1000 and CZ-101 synths and the most advanced IPD (Interactive Phase Distortion) synthsizer ever produced. Excellent hybrid sounds similar to Kawai Additive or even Yamaha FM synths.

Will include over 20 banks of professionally programmed patches in Unisyn or .MID format. This patch library is immense and most are from the Casio stockpile including Tokio collection, Euro Collection, Coryell (For guitar synths), Wonder, Hi Power, US collection, etc.

Patch library alone is worth $100's. I will sell the whole package for $225 plus shipping.

Can include RAM cards for Xtra $$$.

Email JamesBRey@aol.com


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Wednesday 14th April 10:42 pm U.K. Time

I'm getting as little embarrased about this! Thankyou for you previous advice. Having downloaded your alternative, I did then get the Midi Channel selector,- but when I tried to send data it resulted in "An error has occured" message. This gave me the option to "Close" or "Ignore", however it will not let me ignore. Close/Details tells me "VZpatch caused a general protection fault in module VBRUN300.DLL at 0023:000007aa" -what ever that means! I have cleaned out all VZ related files and then downloaded the all relavant files (again) and now the program refuses to run at all.

Is it just me?

Keith (O-Dear!)


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 15th April 8:48 am U.K. Time

Keith, I'm puzzled. I know of several people running it successfully and I myself have tried it on Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95 and 98. I haven't tried Windows NT though. I don't suppose you're using NT are you?

It might be worth doing a Find File on VBRUN300.DLL because you may find that you have multiple copies lurking on your machine and you may have a corrupted one. Also, you might have multiple copies of one of the .VBX files, possibly one from a more recent version of Visual Basic (mine is an old version 3.0 professional). They're most likely to be in c:/windows/system/ If you find such files don't delete them because you may have other software using them, but temporarily rename them or move them somewhere where the operating system can't find them easily (ie in a brand new directory), then copy my distributed vesion of vbrun300.dll and all my .vbx files to c:/windows/system. Also, delete vzpatch.ini from c:/windows which is generated by my program - it will build another one itself.

If all that doesn't work them you've beaten me and will need "professional" help.


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Sunday 18th April 10:22 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve. Your helpful suggestions were gratefully received, but even though I followed you to the letter, the "new" program still refuses to run. However, I tried an experiment this evening, and thought you may like to know the outcome! 1. I removed all trace of the VZ files from my PC, and then re-loaded the previous version to my Desktop. (I had backed up all the files to my writable CD and saved them in a folder "VZ old"). 2. Running from the Desktop - even without installing certain files to the "System" dir. I clicked on the .exe file and the program ran perfectly as before. 3. I downloaded the "new" once more, extracted them and put them in a folder on my Desktop (VZ new). 4. I clicked on the "new" .exe, and as I discovered last time, the program would not run - getting an error message! I then clicked on the "old" exe. once more, and this time the "old" one would not run either! - getting the same error message. 5. I then deleted all the "new" files in my "new" folder to find that the "old" version again ran perfectly! Well, could you follow that? There is certainly something amiss with the new version and wonder if I'm the only one in the world having problems. Thanks again for your efforts. I shall use the "old" version for now. Keith

Name: M. Wende
Email:
M.Wende@t-online.de
Sunday 18th April 10:48 pm U.K. Time

Hello Steve,

Your Checksum-HowTo (13th April) doesn't work in one case. If the sum of all bytes in the block calculated as discribed results in zero and you subtract this from 128 the 8th bit is still set.

By the way Yamaha uses the same method for their DX-synths.

Greetings, Michael


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 19th April 8:34 am U.K. Time

Michael, you are of course correct - following that scheme there is 1 chance in 128 that you could produce the wrong answer. It is very likely that the Casio will ignore the top bit anyway, which will therefore still give the correct answer of zero, but I will re-check the code in my VZ editor programme to make sure that I've done it right.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 19th April 8:39 am U.K. Time

Question to all VZ owners: If I'm naming a patch on my VZ-1 I can only use the characters A-Z (capitals only), 0-9, space, dash (-), slash (/) and dot (.) I understand that the VZ-8M allows lower case and other punctuation such as pling (!) and hash (#) but communication I have received from elsewhere suggests that some VZ-1's support these characters too. Is there more than one version on the VZ-1 and can anyone positively confirm for me that their VZ-1 supports these other characters? Thanx.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 19th April 8:44 am U.K. Time

Keith: From what you say it certainly seems to prove that there is something in the new version that messes your system up - that seems pretty conclusive. The changes from the old to the new version were fairly minor ones though and certainly didn't involve anything "clever" that would affect the running of other programs in any way. I'm still puzzled. Obviosuly it works fine for me else I wouldn't have released it.

Has anybody else out there had a similar experience to Keith?


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 20th April 9:27 pm U.K. Time

Another set of patches (voice only, Ops blanked) just uploaded to the EasyVeeZee site. Location is http://www.bramber.demon.co.uk/casio/patches/free-vz1.vz1

Anybody else have some that they would like to share?


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 21st April 8:44 am U.K. Time

Sorry, if you tried that link since last night it was broken (file didn't upload properly). It's okay now.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 21st April 8:45 am U.K. Time

Oh yes, and don't forget tp hold down <Shift> when clicking the link if you want to save the file rather than view lots of binary junk.

Name: J. Schroeder
Email:
groovelab@hotmail.com
Thursday 22nd April 4:43 am U.K. Time

Hi, Is there any chance that the free VZ patches on the Easy VeeZee site could also be posted as raw sysex files or perhaps midi files? I'm using a Mac for my MIDI and digital audio and would love to try out some of the patches.

thanks, --js


Name: Patrick Fridh
Email:
synthesite@hotmail.com
Thursday 22nd April 9:14 am U.K. Time

Feel free to check out my VZ sounds. You'll find them here:

http://hem1.passagen.se/sequence/ --> click your way to "sounds".

Cheers / Patrick, Sweden


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 22nd April 9:16 am U.K. Time

Yes, I can probably do that at some point. I think I've got some software somewhere that I can use to download SYX from my VZ1. You might have to give me a week or two to do them though.

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 22nd April 9:22 am U.K. Time

Patrick, thanks for the pointer. I have converted the IntoNextMillenium.mid file to my .VZ1 format and it is available on the EasyVeeZee Web site, under "Patches" (link at top of this page).

Name: Malte Rogacki
Email:
gacki@gacki.sax.de
Friday 23rd April 8:36 am U.K. Time

Hi Steve;

thanks for the description of the checksum calculation. VZ support in SoundDiver is forthcoming!

However, there are other things I'd like to know:

I only have MIDI docs for the VZ-1/VZ-10M. Is it true that one cannot request the memory contents from the outside?

To me it looks like I always would have to send them manually from the VZ.

The owners manual of the VZ-8M has a very short section on SysEx which mentions requests, though. Can anybody give insights here?

Thanks.


Name: Malte
Email:
gacki@gacki.sax.de
Friday 23rd April 5:07 pm U.K. Time

Hi everyone;

the mentioned checksum problem (sum is zero; 128 - sum is 128) actually happens with one of the factory patches: OpMem B-8 "DIGIVOICES".

So always "hide" to upper bit of the final checksum.


Name: Malte
Email:
gacki@gacki.sax.de
Monday 26th April 10:03 am U.K. Time

Lowercase letters confirmation:

My VZ-1 accepts them at least for the operation memories (apparently all ASCII characters can be used). I'll check for the Tones later today.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@rd.SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 26th April 12:16 pm U.K. Time

Lowercase: Mine definitely doesn't accept them, they just appear as blanks when I uploaded a mixed-case patch file that someone sent me. I definitely have a different software/hardware version to some other people it seems.

Requesting patch dump: I have found no way of requesting a patch dump via MIDI. The manual gives no hint of it being possible. It is a shame, that is.


Name: Merlin!
Email:
s0269100@hawkmail.monmouth.edu
Wednesday 28th April 1:32 am U.K. Time

Hows it going? I just bought an MG510 Midi Guitar and VZ-8M synth. I need the manual(s)! (VZ-8M is most important.) Can anybody help me? If you can, just post a new message. (I can't get into my e-mail for some stupid reason.) Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanx!

P.S.

The VZ-8M has some awsome synth sounds for a 10 year old timer! I guess newer is not always the best.


Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@enta.net
Wednesday 28th April 10:39 am U.K. Time

I have one VZ RAM card for sale at £10.

Email:- dwmusic@enta.net


Name: Malte
Email:
gacki@gacki.sax.de
Friday 30th April 8:29 pm U.K. Time

Lowercase: As I said it works for the Operation Memories; however I checked and it doesn't work for the Tones. Bummer.

Meanwhile I found the VZ-8M MIDI manual and indeed the VZ-8M allows single requests. It also has a slightly different format for the Operation memories.


Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@enta.net
Monday 10th May 9:58 am U.K. Time

Wanted Casio VZ programming book

Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@enta.net
Wednesday 12th May 12:52 pm U.K. Time

WANTED. Information on Hohner clone of Casio VZ1

Name: M. Wende
Email:
M.Wende@t-online.de
Thursday 13th May 11:43 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

I can't start your VZ Editor (April-Version) with Windows NT4. Starting the Program leads to a message-box 'file not found: MMSYSTEM' [close]

February-Version workes fine.

Even starting it with Win 3.11 doesn't work. The VZ gets defect data.

So far, Michael


Name: Holger Farr
Email:
farr@forwiss.de
Monday 31st May 1:15 pm U.K. Time

Hi, I have bought a vz-1 a couple of days ago, unfortunately without manuals. So I have a few questions: 1. How can I edit the sounds in the operation memory? 2. What should happen if I push the "Display"-button? Thanks in advance! Bye Holger

Name: M. Wende
Email:
M.Wende@t-online.de
Wednesday 2nd June 10:16 am U.K. Time

Hi Holger,

1. Use Menu 2 for Operation-Data (wheels, split-points and other keyboard specific stuff)

2. Display-Buttons and Data-Entry slider changes contrast of display.

bye, Michael


Name: Tobe Carlson
Email:
biotek@iname.com
Friday 4th June 7:16 pm U.K. Time

Just like a few people on here, I just got a casio VZ-8M and would like to obtain a copy of the owner's manual(s). Can anyone help?? Thanks. Tobe

Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@enta.net
Sunday 6th June 10:38 am U.K. Time

Three Casio VZ ROM cards for sale. RC-110 (US Collection), RC-120 (Tokio Collection), RC-150 (Wonder Collection). £ 10 each.

Name: Francis Parsons
Email:
102251.2176@compuserve.com
Sunday 27th June 3:32 pm U.K. Time

I heard somewhere that the VZ-8M, unlike the VZ1 and VZ10-M, have panning! Can someone confirm this? This is just a plain static pan, i.e., without LFO? Besides having 8 voices instead of 16,(and it being 1 rack space with a tiny display) are there any other differences in features? Has anyone ever had a chance to compare the sysex docs directly? I assume they're 99% the same, but someone here also said that there was a command for dumping single voices. Anyone here have experience with Unisyn's editor and what that has to say about differences between the 8M and the 1/10M? Is it a decent editor? Someone here also said they were creating an adaptation for Soundiver - any further progress? Thanks for any info! --- Francis

Name: Joseph
Email:
joepk@wic.net
Thursday 22nd July 2:55 pm U.K. Time

HI Every one

I just found this Casio VZ chat forum. I Have a very sick PG380 Guitar Synth which I would love to fix. Does any one have the factory repair manual? I would gladly pay for a copy. or any info on who to talk too about getting it fixed?

Thankx Joseph


Name: Vili Peippo
Email:
vili.peippo@pp.inet.fi
Thursday 29th July 8:09 am U.K. Time

How can I get Casio VZ-1 manual? I bought it from bankrupt´s estate, and there was no manual with it. And how can I get ROM-cards??? Sorry that my English isn´t very good...

T: Vili Peippo

FINLAND (NOKIA COUNTRY)


Name: Deathless Dodecagon
Email:
dodecagon@mindspring.com
Friday 13th August 11:29 pm U.K. Time

Help is on the way...

Hello friends, all of you are into VZ/CZ stuff which makes us all practically long lost brethren. I'm a mac 68K guy with a VZ-10M and I used to have a CZ-5000 and a CZ-101. I've dabbled with the CZ-5000 enough to learn how to edit patches using HyperMIDI with info from the Drum Music Server site (drum.warwick.ac.uk/music/drum/synths/czsysex.html). It has some errors in it, but is the best resource yet. If anyone has some questions about CZ's or VZ's I'd be glad to *TRY* to help. I don't know nearly as much as the grand creator of this cool site, but I like the active ideas going on here. My website is under long-term construction too:

www.mindspring.com/~dodecagon

Anyhow, if we all email each other, we can solve all of these problems, questions. WE SHALL ALL RULE AS VZ KINGS (and, uh Queens?)


Name: patrick fridh
Email:
synthesite@hotmail.com
Sunday 22nd August 12:58 am U.K. Time

If you want new cool VZ sounds, don't miss my patches. Check here: http://hem1.passagen.se/sequence - and hey - they're free! Just click on the banners a few times, and I'll survive, too.

Name: RVe
Email:
ricardo_verschut@atkearney.com
Tuesday 24th August 2:49 pm U.K. Time

Wanted: VZ1 EDITOR FOR POWERPC/MACINTOSH. Anyone has a URL? Please mail me on the above address. Peace, RVe

Name: Mic Berends
Email:
mic@mindesign.com
Saturday 4th September 6:20 am U.K. Time

hello, the backlighting on my VZ10M has broken so that it is too dim to see the characters. is there a source for parts or a known way to fix this? i miss this synth! please email me directly if you've time. thanks very much - cheers, mic.

Name: the Whiz
Email:
thewhiz@hotmail.com
Tuesday 14th September 4:33 pm U.K. Time

Has anyone ever noticed how, in the same module, if one line is phase modulating the other internal to that module, the carrier goes automatically to the same harmonic as the modulator?

I was also wondering if anyone has ever figured out the frequency modulation index of the VZ series compared to the Yamaha 6-op (DX7) or 4-op (TX81Z) machines. I'm working on a converter to translate patches back and forth, although there would probably still be some tweaking involved. I've been working and approximating by ear, and I don't have an oscilloscope, so any input by someone more in the know than me would be appreciated!


Name: Michael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Thursday 23rd September 12:38 am U.K. Time

if you are interested in the secrets of the VZ Line-Modes try http://home.t-online.de/home/m.wende/vzModes.txt

michael


Name: Manu
Email:
q2manu@hotmail.com
Thursday 23rd September 5:52 pm U.K. Time

Hi! i´m from Portugal

I bought a Casio VZ 1 without manual. Could you please tell me where can i find it or any information ?

Thank YOU


Name: Vili Peippo
Email:
vili.peippo@pp.inet.fi
Tuesday 5th October 9:58 pm U.K. Time

How to dump patches with Midiex??? It doesn't work; always when I try to use it, comes a message "MPU failed to initialize. Turn your computer off to reset the MPU". Is there any Windows programs available???

-VP

Psssst: VZ RULEZ


Name: Vili Peippo
Email:
vili.peippo@pp.inet.fi
Wednesday 6th October 6:13 am U.K. Time

Sorry my stupid question about Windows software. I just saw Vz patch-program... Nothing is gonna work today!!! When I try to start the program, it prompts me message "Grid.vbx not found". That file is in the same directory!!! Is there any bugs or something? Please e-mail to me!

-VP


Name: Ed Edelenbos
Email:
edncori@qis.net
Friday 15th October 1:27 pm U.K. Time

Hey all... I've been busier than you could imagine.

Does anyone out there have a VZ1 they'd be willing to trade for a VZ10m and a few bucks (like $50)? I have a 10m that I bought new (many years ago) and would rather have the keyboard version.

The 10m is in great shape and I'd like to find a 1 in good shape.

Ed


Name: Richard Fincher
Email:
richard@fincher.com
Saturday 23rd October 10:58 pm U.K. Time

The chat page was unavailable earlier today, for system maintenance. Normal service has now been resumed.

Name: Summa
Email:
Flotorian@yahoo.com
Wednesday 17th November 11:36 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

I have problems with the Sounddiver patch editor for the VZ-1, fixed frequency don't work, anyone had similar problems ? I also have problems when I make sysex communication with cables longer then 5 or 6 meters, I always get a checksum error... I bought that VZ-1 used, about 8 weeks ago, is this a normal behaviour of that synth...

thanx for answering ! Summa


Name: Scott
Email:
Coolscott7@aol.com
Monday 22nd November 2:02 pm U.K. Time

Hi I just found this site! Cool! I also have a VZ1 and no manual, though I do have a manual for the Vz10m, which I also have. My problem is that I cant get Sound diver to scan my VZs. Any suggestions? **Also, I am wondering what type pedal I can use for the "Foot VR"?**What type of pedal do I need for the "foot volume"?**How about for the "program number"? And can I just increment by 1 or what?**Also,I need a manual. Thanks in advance!

Name: lawrence
Email:
lwootton@msn.com
Thursday 25th November 2:25 am U.K. Time

Hi I have a VZ-1 which does not want to communicate with my soundblaster card or vice versa,any views on this problem would be welcome.

Name: Dudley Cadet
Email:
leloup@netscape.net
Thursday 2nd December 4:22 am U.K. Time

I couldn't beleive my eyes when I found this site! Does anyone know where I can find a card for the VZ-1? I bought the keyboard a couple of years ago but have been unable to find any accessories.

Thanks, Dudley C. NY


Name: Mr Bignose
Email:
Yadayada@nospam.com
Saturday 11th December 11:48 am U.K. Time

HELLO? Man this is a dead forum! C'mon people, lets get some dialog going! I dont have any answers for your questions, or else Id post them! These synths are cool! There are a few really cool patches that came with it, but so far I havent been able to get the type sounds I want out of it. I like the patches with things like aftertouch controlled filters, more analog fat sounding patches where you can make it growl. Continuous midi controllers doing all sorts of crazy shit. I want to get the pedals going, I guess I'll have to try them myself by trial and error, and report back to you all, since I dont have the manual.So what kind of music do you people like? Is there anybody out there???

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Saturday 11th December 8:29 pm U.K. Time

Hi Bignose,

it seems most of the dialogs go through mail and I don't have a Manual for my VZ-1 either, but I have one for my CZ-1 and once had the FZ-1 of a friend for some weeks, so I was able to solve most of the problems easely... Btw... the VZ-1 don't have filters (it works more with a DX7 like soundsynthesis but since you also have more complex waveforms then a sinus, you also can make warmer sounds...) If you want fat sounds, you should at least buy a chorus or multi fx device, that helps a lot... but the VZ-1 is more a master of digitaly crystal clear or screaming sounds, filter sweeps can only be emulated...

Good luck ! Summa


Name: Mr Bignose
Email:
Yadayada@nospam.com
Sunday 12th December 1:12 pm U.K. Time

Hi Summa! Gee, there IS life on the VZ planet! Thanks for the idea! I have a fz1 and I have the manual. I bet some things are the same, like maybe what type pedals it takes, etc. I also have a VZ10m manual. But I hate trying to figure things out via manual anyway! I wish I could get a PC editor librarian to work satisfactorily. I tried Xor for the Atari ST, in the past, but the sounds I made were awful. I use the vz 1 as my main midi controller for all my midi gear. I reconfigured my workspace the other day, and I discovered that hey, there are a few pedal inputs on the back! I want to be able to change parameters while I play with both hands. Soon I will experiment until I figure it out. Stay tuned, and remember, its not how big your nose is, but how you use it!

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Sunday 12th December 5:52 pm U.K. Time

Hi Mr. Bignose,

the FZ-1 has quite nice filters, so you should use this one for filter modulation... anyway I'm not sure if those old synths are able to change filters on controller message, but you could use the velocity instead and control the volume with volume controler messages most of the synth sounds don't need to have a real velocity, another possible solution is to make sounds with different velocities and switch between those sounds... Have you tried the free PC VZ Sound Editor you can download on this page ?

Summa


Name: Brendan
Email:
brendan.tully@teradyne.com
Tuesday 14th December 4:54 pm U.K. Time

I bought a VZ8m a while ago and have had lots of fun with it till today, I powered it up, hit a key and noticed that this weird chugga-chugga chopper sound came out, nothing more, the same for all patches at all registers. When I first got it I had the same problem but a reset quickly returned the default factory patches. I've lost my manuals since then and can't do a reset... what is the method to do this? What do you ppl think it might be? a failing battery? if so can they be replaced?

Name: Steve Gutteridge
Email:
EasyVeeZee.Webmaster@z.z
Thursday 16th December 3:18 pm U.K. Time

Could be a battery problem. I seem to recall the VZ1 manual mentioned that it had a finite life (probably a Lithium battery). Something like about 5 or 6 years I imagine. Can almost certainly be replaced, but you'll need a screwdriver and probably a soldering iron too. Finding the right sort of battery shouldn't be too difficult as long as you can work out the voltage and polarity of the existing one. Anybody had to do this yet?

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Thursday 16th December 5:49 pm U.K. Time

I recently opened up my VZ-1, it's a lithium Batterie inside to uphold the memory, once you found it, it should be ease to replace it, as long as you have basic knowledge about soldering... To reset a VZ-1 (as well as a CZ-1) hold the initialize button and turn the instrument on, I hope it's the same with you VZ8m... If it's not the Batterie, and you VZ8 hangs up from time to time, it could be the background display light, I had at least about the same problem with my CZ-1 and it's nearly the same, the VZ one is just a bit bigger, it caused shurtcuts, so I had to use a hot plastik glue (I don't know the english word for it) to isolate it from the chassis and that worked fine for the last 10 years... Good luck !

Name: chris hutter
Email:
hutter_music@poplife.ch
Tuesday 21st December 12:26 pm U.K. Time

Hi does anybody know, where i can find a manual for the VZ10m? also i need to know, how to get the patches into sounddiver (win)

thanks


Name: Greg Savino
Email:
gsavino@bccom.com
Tuesday 21st December 2:44 pm U.K. Time

Hi All, If anyone is interested, I have a VZ10-M on auction at http://www.digibid.com/auctions/items/7127.htm

Name: Peter G. Hager
Email:
hagerpvp@aol.com
Tuesday 21st December 8:51 pm U.K. Time

hi Vilip, You seem to have the same problem I had today - my solution was to lower the MIDI-channel below 10 ... Apparently VZ-Patch won't work correctly with a channel set above 9. good luck now


Name: labrat
Email:
labrat@smartinet.com
Monday 27th December 5:11 am U.K. Time

Those interested in analog type sounds on the VZ10M should get to know the CZ-series first... get the idea about morphing from complex waves to sine waves... this is what phase distortion synthesis does to emmulate analog... next go back to your VZ and consider the phase modulation functions and create patches that morph from complex waves to sine waves... analog sounds can be made, but it's tricky... it depends on using one oscillator as a phase distorter of another... this way, the amplitude envelope of one becomes a filter envelope... good luck.

Name: Mr Bignose
Email:
Yadayada@nospam.com
Tuesday 28th December 8:55 am U.K. Time

Thanks for the info, Labrat! I know its possible to create analog type sounds, because a couple of the factory ones were fat as hell! Like "Oh No" is one that comes to mind............Thanks again, Ill try your suggestion in the near future.

Name: scott leader
Email:
slfty@hotmail.com
Wednesday 29th December 7:18 pm U.K. Time

Hey all, I have a VZ1 but I lost the sound card a few years back and I cant find it anywhere in stores, online or even from the factory. IF anyone has an extra card or knows where I can get one please let me know.

thanks, scott leader austin, tx


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Sunday 2nd January 6:05 pm U.K. Time

Hello Steve, I last wrote April 18th, in a previous millennium, to explain my difficulties in using your (revised) VZ-10M librarian. I still find it doesn't work - although the first one did. Are there any further developments in the pipeline? Many thanks, Keith

Name: Alex
Email:
htcomp@globalnet.co.uk
Wednesday 5th January 2:46 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone have a VZ10m or Hohner HS2/e they want to sell?

If so, let me know.


Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Wednesday 5th January 8:46 pm U.K. Time

Hi Labrat,

I do have a CZ-1 and I made some hundred sounds with it, some good fat bass sounds too. Knowing how to use the CZ won't help to undestand creating new sounds on the VZ Synths, at least to emulate filters, since you can use the DCWs of the CZ-1 nearly like analog filter, the only difference is, that the decreasing of the DCW causes the sound to get a sinus and on filters only loses the overtones above the filter frequency, but at the end, a filter sweap sounds nearly the same. Using the phase disortion on the VZ synths can cause filter like sound, but those sound quite digital, have nothing to do with analog filters, it's more FM like. The best way to emulate analog filter with the VZ is, on my opinion, to use the oszilators like additive sound sources, and fade between overtone rich and overtone poor oscilators, it's not easy with envelopes, the Prophet VS method would be easier, but possible, since you have 8 osc., you can couple them to create complex waveforms and stack some of them and fade between them.

But having some knowledge about ring modulation of the CZ, may help to create interesting VZ sounds.


Name: Steve Gutteridge
Email:
a@b.c
Monday 17th January 10:18 am U.K. Time

Please note that the EZVZ Web site is about to change it's Internet Service Provider. The link at the top of this page has been changed to the new location, so please follow that and re-bookmark the page. The old pages will shortly be removed. This Chat Page, hosted by Room 101, will remain at this location.

Steve, Easy-VeeZee Webmaster.


Name: Rolando
Email:
gifrompi@yahoo.com
Monday 17th January 10:45 am U.K. Time

Hello, I just recently bought a VZ-1 from a friend but it did not have a manual. Could anyone help me?

Name: the Whiz
Email:
thewhiz@hotmail.com
Friday 21st January 4:23 pm U.K. Time

Just figured out how to open the RAM card for the VZ series synths. Along one edge, there is a hole large enough for the end of a straightened paper clip. Pushing the paper clip in will allow the battery holder to come out the top edge.

The problem is that just replacing the battery isn't enough. The card isn't being recognized for formatting. I assume it requires some button-pressing sequence for resetting prior to formatting, like the old DX7 cards.

Does anyone know what the sequence is for the Casio RAM card?


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Saturday 22nd January 11:32 pm U.K. Time

Steve: I recently wrote (2 Jan) asking if there were any further developments with your Editor, as I have not been able to use trhe programme since you amended it last April. (Further to my message that I use my Casio on Ch.15 and needed that facility to send on a channel other than 1).

I fear you may have thought I was becoming a nuisance. Your last message suggested it must be my system. However, I have cracked it!!!(I think). I tried the thing again this evening, and it worked then did'nt. I looked carefully at the vz files (using Find) and found that although I had set my transmit Ch. to 15, the vz_patch.ini said 14. I believe it was this conflict that could be confusing it, as after deleting the.ini file and trying again, the programme loaded correctly.

Could it be that when you revised the programme to accomodate the multi-channel transmit facility you started counting the MIDI channels at 0 instead of 1? this would account for my 15 setting showing up as 14 on the .ini file.

I do hope you can follow my drift?

Keith


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Sunday 23rd January 2:08 pm U.K. Time

Further to my previous banter, I have now discovered that although the availability appears to be there to receive and transmit on ANY channel, it still only actually works on Ch.1. Surely there is someone in this world who has similar experiences, or do you all use Ch.1. (or don't youi use the programme at all) I'm getting to the point where I am thinking of selling up. What's the going rate for an emaculate VZ10M in original box WITH manual and a RAM and ROM cards?

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Tuesday 25th January 5:26 pm U.K. Time

Hi Keith,

have you tried another Editor Programm, for instance UNISYN, that seem to work better then Sounddiver with my VZ 1, MT32 and other older Synths, do you have the same problems then ?

And why does the VZ1 have to be on #15 on your Setup ? When it works on #1 why don't use #1 (at least when you create new sounds) ???

Summa


Name: Keith Dear
Email:
crd@soton.ac.uk
Tuesday 25th January 10:38 pm U.K. Time

Thank you Summa for your response. I saw a previous message that suggested that the revised programme only works successfully up to Ch.9, so I tried that and now I'm OK. I will look at the one you suggested though! Regards Keith

Name: Mike
Email:
martell@tm.net.my
Wednesday 26th January 7:29 am U.K. Time

I would appreciate any hint on where to find the schematics for a Casio PG-380 midi guitar

/Mike


Name: Steve Gutteridge
Email:
steveg@rd.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 26th January 2:24 pm U.K. Time

As most of you have probably noticed, there has been virtually no development work on my VZ editing programme since about April last year. This is mostly due to problems associated with moving house whereby all my synth and home PC equipment has been packed in boxes, where it currently remains. I regret that this situation is likely to remain for several more months yet. It is unfortunate that the currently uploaded version is not completely functional on all PCs as the previous version was more stable. I still welcome feedback on it although I am not in a position to modify anything at present.

All my copies of the previous version are currently inaccessible to me so I would be grateful if anyone out there who has a copy of the previous working version (although Midi Channel 1 only) could let me know so they can send it to me at the above email address. I will then upload the old version too.

Steve, EZVZ Web Master.


Name: Michael
Email:
zamd@alltel.net
Monday 31st January 3:41 am U.K. Time

Does anybody have a Cakewalk instrument definition for a Casio VZ?

Name: brian
Email:
inverse667@aol.com
Monday 31st January 5:56 am U.K. Time

hello to all,

i just got a vz10m and am in love with it.. i was wondering if anyone knew where i can get a copy of the manual?? any leads would be appreciated

brian


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 2nd February 2:20 pm U.K. Time

If anyone has a Cakwalk definition file for the standard instruments, or for any of the standard ROM cards, then please email it to me and I'll pload it to the site.

Name: Ian Hamilton
Email:
surgery@clinicdesign.com.au
Sunday 6th February 6:08 am U.K. Time

Hi, I'm after a VZ10m if anyone out there has one, knows a local store where I might get one or just has some thought as to where I migt find one, could they please let me know.

(If anyone has a WSA1 or an SY-EW1 Dance expansion board for a WSA1 let me know too ;)

Thanks very much.

Cheers.

Visit me on the web @ http://www.clinicdesign.com.au/surgery/


Name: Tracy
Email:
saxbomb@yahoo.com
Tuesday 8th February 10:33 pm U.K. Time

Hello, I just bought a used Casio VZ1 keyboard player. I have NO idea how to use it. I am having trouble finding much info on this keyboard and I was hoping you could give me some advice as far as were to track down a manual or any other info that might give me a better idea of what I'm dealing with. Thank you:-)

Name: Kim
Email:
quinn@nas.com
Wednesday 9th February 1:45 am U.K. Time

Hey STeve- You appear to be THE expert on the VZ-1. Just had a friend purchase one without a manual. Do you know where she could get a hold of one? Do you by chance have a manual on your computer that you could PDF to me as an attachment? I would be happy to pay you for your time. I donated an old mac classic with Master Tracks Pro Software with a Sonus midi interface. I used this with an old Korg synth about 10 years ago to do some composing. Will the VZ-1 even work with macs? Will it work with MasterTracks Pro? Lots of questions. Would appreciate any and all help! Thanks, Kim

Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Thursday 10th February 5:02 pm U.K. Time

Kim, I wouldn't say that I was an expert, but I HAVE read the manual (and understood it enough to write a patch editor). Like all MIDI instruments I'm sure it will work with any PC/MAC with any software, but others on this group might be able to give you advice on MAC software support specifically for the VZ's (is recomend a MAC patch editor).

Unfortunately I don't have a VZ manual in any machine readable format, otherwise I'd upload it to the Web site. However, I discovered recently, having just moved house and packed/unpacked my VZ that I have several manuals in foreign languages - my VZ1 came with three manuals in total with, if I recall correctly, three languages per manual. Maybe someone out there who is non-English reading could donate an English manual.


Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Friday 11th February 11:31 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

I also don't have a manual, I guess what the most ppl. without a manual are missing is the midi implementation chart, maybe you or someone else could type down that one page and maybe you can put it on your site to make it avaiable for everyone... I guess everyone without a manual would be very very thankfull !!! :) Also Interesting would be a list of all special key combinations, like reset or how to change the LCD light/dark settings, most of the settings were similar to my CZ or the FZ of a friend so I was not that helpless, but without that informations I'd probaly still be puzzling around...

Summa


Name: Charles v Benton
Email:
nothingnewhere@yahoo.com
Tuesday 15th February 5:25 pm U.K. Time

Hey guess what everybody. I have a manual!

I just got my Vz-10m today, and man it is a <b>bitch</b> :-)

The manual is 115 pages long, but thats just the english part :-) The spanish part takes up another 110 pages, so the manual weighs like 2 pounds.

I also have the implementation chart, and SysEx manual (another 27 pages...).

So, If someone knows of a place (does Curry Copy do this ??) that will copy all of this, i can take it there and copy some for anybody that wants one, with a little payment first (just to cover the costs, your gonna realy pay when you try and understand all of this :-P).

If the webmaster here would please contact me at the email address above, ill send a scanned copy of the Implementation chart.


Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Tuesday 15th February 11:44 pm U.K. Time

Hi Charles,

try to contact Steve (steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk) directly, I'm not sure if he looks at the chat page every day... I hope he will place that Implementation Page on his web site...

thanx !!! Summa


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 16th February 10:14 am U.K. Time

Hi all, I need some advice. I'm having trouble keeping the Website up to date because the only time I get to edit pages is during lunchtime at work, but I can't upload pages from my Work LAN because all of the "free" ISP's that I connect to at home don't allow Web Page upload unless you connect via modem/phone-line (for security/spam reasons I assume).

Can anyone recommend a free, reliable Web Space provider, that would allow Web-based upload (not ftp), and preferably without pop-up adverts?


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve@home
Thursday 17th February 11:36 pm U.K. Time

VZ-10M MIDI implementation chart now on EZVZ Web site (link at top of htis page), under "documentation" - Thanks Charles.

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Friday 18th February 1:46 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

thanx for uploading it to your Site !!! I think this chart is quite usefull for everyone, like me, who has no manual and uses the VZ with sequenzer software...

Summa


Name: chris n
Email:
chrisn23@freewwweb.com
Monday 28th February 1:00 am U.K. Time

Can anyone tell me the difference between a Casio VZ8m and VZ10m? I used to love my cz synths, are these sounds "harder". Perhaps more tx81z like?

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Monday 28th February 2:16 pm U.K. Time

Hi Chris,

the sound of the VZ synths is more FM like then the CZ one and can be as hard as the TX81z (I have one in my equipment) but also can, because of the overtune rich source waveform, create a more overtone like sounds then the TX. FM and PD is much alike, since PD and iPD (also called Phase modulation) are using FM where carrier and modulator has the same frequenzy, but using more complex waveforms instead of sinus, what makes the soundprogramming much easier... In theory the VZ can sound like a CZ, since the using the same kind of synthesis, but the CZ is taking the hole thing in a subtractive synthesis like black box and until know I haven't heard a VZ sound that sounds as analogue as a CZ (I own my CZ1 about 15 years) and I haven't found a way to make it sound that that way yet (but I own the VZ only since 3 or 4 month)... anyway, the VZ is, at least for me, a quite unique synth, since the combination of FM and AM (ring modulation) can create quite uniqe sounds and I like to use complex envelopes, but you should consider to buy a chorus or multi fx device too, to make some of the sounds a bit softer, warmer and wider, since the synth has two outputs you can for instance have pad sound with fx and drum sounds without...

I think the difference about the VZ10M and the VZ8M is that the 8M don't hold the sounds when it's powered down.. but I'm not sure about this...

Summa


Name: Richard Izzard
Email:
izz90@hotmail.com
Saturday 4th March 1:33 am U.K. Time

Steve, Great to discover your VZ site, not sure about the editor, but hey its free! The best editor I have found is VZ by Nigel Stanley for the Atari, it includes randomisers,patch merges,mixes and random parameter mixes. Unfortunately, I can't contact the guy to register so the damn thing keeps prompting me to register. It was written in '92,but nothing else goes into quite as much detail. Perhaps we can track down full copies/the author via your site. Some of the patch downloads were great - keep it up when you have the time. Thanks Richard

Name: Doug
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Saturday 4th March 3:03 am U.K. Time

Differences between VZ-8m and VZ-10m:

VZ8m has 3 memory banks (2 ROM, 1 RAM) vs. only 1 RAM bank on the VZ10m. VZ8m ROM banks have many of the same patches found on the RC100 ROM card (included with VZ10m). VZ8m ROM banks also contain some patches optimized for guitar and wind controllers. VZ8m has keyboard, guitar, and wind controller modes vs. VZ10m is always in keyboard mode. VZ8m has small 2 line display vs. large VZ10m display. VZ8m is a single rack space vs. VZ10m is 2 rack spaces high.

Because of similar features, I get the impression that the VZ8m was designed to go head to head with the TX81z. FYI, I have a VZ1 and a VZ8m (for more polyphony).

Doug


Name: Mike
Email:
martell@tm.net.my
Wednesday 15th March 2:33 am U.K. Time

Re: PG-380 problems

Hey Joe,

Your e-mail is maybe not directly aimed at me, but as you saw, i requested somebody to help me to get the schematics for the Casio PG-380. The reason i do that is that i would like to analyze what is the problem with the pg-380's out there, and publish (on the web) how to fix it (if it is possible). I have one myself (working fine as for now) but since i like the instrument, i hate to hear stories like yours. So, if anyone can help me help...Get the schematics!

/Mike


Name: Awesome Site...quick Question
Email:
zycor@home.com
Thursday 16th March 10:56 am U.K. Time

Willthe RA-500 I think it is, the RAM cartridge for the VZ1 that holds 64 sounds also work in the CZ1?

Thanks for any help Zycor


Name: tARIX
Email:
tkoujou@gmx.net
Friday 17th March 1:42 pm U.K. Time

Hi...

...I´m looking for a VZ-1. Does anyone like to sell one?


Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Monday 20th March 1:40 pm U.K. Time

Hi Zycor,

I own a CZ1 and a VZ1 and I'm quite sure that the CZ1 cartridges don't fit in the VZ1 Slot, since the slot of the CZ is muuuuch bigger and seems to have much different pinouts... !!!

Summa


Name: theremin
Email:
question@question.question
Sunday 26th March 6:27 pm U.K. Time

I've read that the pitch bend range is 48 semitones up or down on the VZ10M. Is this correct? I used to own one years back and I will be aquiring one again soon. The large pitch bend range is of great importance to me. Can anyone confirm the range +/-.

Thanks.


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Monday 27th March 8:47 am U.K. Time

Pitch bend: Yes, 48 semitones, see the VZ10M Spec sheet on the EZVZ Web Site under "Documentation":

http://www.steveandsally.freeserve.co.uk/casio/documentation/specifications.htm


Name: Adolfo Martínez
Email:
papitusa@airtel.net
Tuesday 28th March 8:45 am U.K. Time

Hello, boys. I have send a message to Steve, and now I do hear. I have a VZ-1 since 1989 and had a long time worked bank of sounds, my lovely -and destroyed- soundbank. Yes, unfortunately when I found the page of Steve and the VZpatch (I spent so many hours and days searching a VZ editor), with the emotion of load new soundbanks, I forgot save the mine. Horror. Yes, I am a complete idiot. Nevertheless, I have started to work in a new soundbank, hope send to Steve soon. Finally, I want to know why can't load the freds sounbank, when I try load this, only get bad data. Anybody can help me? Thanks. Ah, sorry for my terrifying english, I will to practise more. Bye.

Name: Adolfo
Email:
papitusa@airtel.net
Wednesday 29th March 11:10 am U.K. Time

Hello again! I just want to say at last could load the freds bank. Just after writing the message. Curious... And now, another question: Casio developed a RC-150 ROM card. Any idea of this card? Bye.

Name: Jeff Cordero
Email:
cordero@ycrdi.com
Thursday 30th March 8:11 pm U.K. Time

Hey there,

Just got a VZ8m yesterday with a Manual. There seems to be a bit of a community out there. Just putting out some feelers out there. First impression is that it slightly warming sounding version of good old FM synth ala yamaha. Seems to be a good ringy blips and beeps synth and I look foward to programming the thing. I'm not one for editors but does anyone know what support it has in that dept. Getting around it is not to horrible but the lack of display is a bit of a change for me. Also I'd be more than glad to share some patches when I get around to making some. Kinda nice to have a Casio again after all these years.


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Friday 31st March 10:18 am U.K. Time

Jeff, welcome to the group. There is an editor for the VZ1 and VZ10M on these pages but I regret that it is not compatible with the VZ8M. If there is an editor for the VZ8M out there I'm sure somebody on this group will let you know.

Name: Doug
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Sunday 9th April 10:09 pm U.K. Time

I'm selling my VZ1 and VZ8m and am looking to buy a VZ10m (to replace them). So, if anyone's interested in buying, selling or trading ... email me!

Name: bobb
Email:
working4aliving@hotmail.com
Saturday 15th April 3:40 am U.K. Time

With help from this page, i was able to confirm that an ra100 card fits in my pg380... well, i got one for $20!!!!. i am pumped now!!! only one problem, i have no documentation as to the names of the patches on the card. does anyone have this documented? if so, i'd appreciate a copy emailed, thanx!!!. if not, i can always dig through the .vz1 files posted on this site and get the names from that, but was hoping to save a little work. thanx

Name: Dave
Email:
dave@millside1.freeserve.co.uk
Thursday 20th April 7:33 pm U.K. Time

Glad I found this very informative site, I just got hold of a VZ8M with no Manual. I wondered if anyone on this site could contact me with regard to copying or e-mailing a manual to me. I use the module with my Roland guitar synth at home to get some nice unusual sounds, but without a manual, I cant get in to editing the creature.

Name: Summa
Email:
flotorian@yahoo.com
Monday 24th April 12:00 am U.K. Time

Hi Jeff,

as far as I read in the "Profile Help" Unisyn should be able to edit single Voice Data of the VZ8m, but can send/receive Bank and Opmem dumps only from VZ1/VZ10m. It's so far the only editor programm that claims to work with the VZ8m...

Summa


Name: Jeff Cordero
Email:
cordero@ycrdi.com
Monday 24th April 7:35 pm U.K. Time

Hi all,

Summa, thanks about the heads up in reguards to unisyn. I'll have to look into it. Dave, it would be possible for me to copy and send you a copy of the manual. Email me directly. I see the manual states you can move internal voices from the VZ1 to the 8m in both directions. Is this true for sysex dumps? Perhaps only a simple modifation (unit ID #) might get it to work or is the direct connection from Vz1 to Vz 8 required. The documantation is pretty slim in this dept.Would any one care to email me a standard MID file with a VZ1 or 10m dump of a single voice so I could at least give it whirl.


Name: Randy Sprague
Email:
rsprague@acc.com
Monday 24th April 10:28 pm U.K. Time

Hello All,

I've just procured a VZ-10M off the web in excellent condition, but have no documentation on it, and need just about anything and everything that may be available. I've downloaded your MIDI implementation chart (which will be very helpful, THANKS!), but need more info on programming the thing. I'm pretty apt with my Roland synth, but this is a whole new ballgame ---- I really want to use it to lay down fat bass or lead synth lines in a MIDI thru sort of application, where I command the module from either my sequencer or my Roland synth's MIDI thru facilities. Please forgive my rather naiive approach, but TRUE SYNTHESIS is new to me, I'm ashamed to admit!! Roland and mfr's like Alesis have spoiled me with great samples that blow most synthesized sounds out of the water, but there is no real substitute for the REAL MEAL DEAL, and alas, I've discovered the need for a wake-up call and BUKU information.

Can I send SYSEX messages to the VZ10M from my sequencer, and if so, on what MIDI channel must or can I do this on?

Is there any documentation around on the CASIO VZ10M's SYSEX implementation and the format of their SYSEX commands?

Please feel free to email me if you can help!!

Thank you very much, Randy.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 26th April 9:37 am U.K. Time

I sent this reply by email:

>>Can I send SYSEX messages to the VZ10M from my sequencer, and if so, on what MIDI channel must or can I do this on?

Yes you can. Sysex Messages don't send on a particular channel though - the MIDI spec transmits them "globally". However, when you do a MIDI dump from the VZ machines part of the sysex data includes information about the transmit channel to which the VZ is set. On receiving the data back from the sequencer, I believe the VZ will only accept the data if its receive channel is the same as when the data was first transmitted. The VZ transmit and receive MIDI channels are set on the machine from one of the menus (menu 3-01 I think).

>Is there any documentation around on the CASIO VZ10M's SYSEX implementation and the format of their SYSEX commands?

The manuals that come with the machine give full and explicit information about the sysex format, albeit with a couple of errors - some obvious, some not. I have never found anything on the Web, so unless you have the manuals you're going to struggle a bit.

If anybody cares to type in the manuals (or scan them) then I'm more than happy to make them available via these pages......


Name: tARIX
Email:
tkoujou@gmx.net
Friday 28th April 8:49 pm U.K. Time

Hi...

...i just bought a VZ-1 - so I could join the club. My problem is that the machine does not seem to work at all.

When I power on the machine the display lights up but is not showing anything (seems to be only the bachlight). The Machine starts up in NORMAL mode (whatever this means - I haven´t got the manual, yet) but THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SIGNAL ON ANY OUTPUT.

Does anyone have an idea what´s going on with this machine? Any help would be appreciated .

Thanx...tARIX


Name: Victor
Email:
vmar4187@aol.com
Monday 1st May 2:25 am U.K. Time

Can I use VZ patch editor to just send patch information to a VZ-8m?

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 2nd May 9:59 am U.K. Time

tARIX: Just a long shot, but maybe the contrast setting on the display is set such so that you don't see anything. I don't have the manual in front of me, but I believe you adjust the contrast by holding down the "Display" key and moving the data slider. If that reveals a display then it might help diagnose the rest of the problem. If not, it sounds like it's dead. I regret that nobody on this group has ever mentioned having access to a service manual for the VZ machines.

Name: tARIX
Email:
tkoujou@gmx.net
Tuesday 2nd May 1:16 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve...

...thanx a lot for your reply. I´m sorry to say that the attempt to adjust the display did not solve the problems. So I decided this morning to give the machine to CASIO as their main office for Germany is just a couple of minutes away from me. Anyway, many thanx an I will let you know of the results if you whish.

Bye...tARIX


Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
aztec1@bellatlantic.net
Wednesday 3rd May 10:39 pm U.K. Time

Anyone selling a VZ-1 or VZ-10M, please give me a shout. Thanks

Name: Clayton Clark
Email:
Maloose@pacbell.net
Sunday 7th May 3:22 pm U.K. Time

After years of refusing to provide any information about parts or repair resources for the"Professional Series" instrument that became obsolete days after I bought it, I finally got Casio to send the service manual for the MG-510. I have since provided it to a sympathetic soul who has posted it at the following site: http://www.silverlink.net/~mcd/mg500.html. Since few of us are allowed to become familiar with the electronics employed, my best guess is that it might be of some use in the repair of VZ synths and the PG series midi guitars. Since I am a professional musician who lives in fear of a pre-concert meltdown, I would be most grateful for any information about sources for repalcement parts.

Name: Mike
Email:
martell@tm.net.my
Monday 8th May 8:04 am U.K. Time

Thanks Clayton for the service manual !!!

This will be very good help to all the Casio MG-series owners. The manual was complete and very detailed, well beyond my expectations.

However the PG-series has got a different layout and content on the PCB's, (as well as the addition of a complete VZ-synth of course!!!) but the basic operational principles should be the same. As i believe, the 'simple problems' that many Casio VZ based guitars are plagued with (problems with fifth & sixth strings) lies in the linear detection cirquits directly after the Hex pickup. I will post any findings here.

Meanwhile it would be EXTREMELY nice to have a service manual for the PG series also, then we would have a complete record, and great possibilities to collectively extend the lives of the most complex guitars ever made!

/Mike


Name: Michael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Monday 8th May 1:00 pm U.K. Time

Hello Service Manual enthusiasts,

check http://www.jpniewski.freeserve.co.uk/ for a huge list of manuals.

Greetings Michael

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tel: +44 (0)1243 870483

email: jan@jpniewski.freeserve.co.uk

Repairers and suppliers of manuals and parts for

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This is a list of the Service Manuals, copies of which are available.

Please email me with your requirements stating your location for a price. parts Etc are to numerous to list.

[...] CARLSBRO VIPER CASIO 1000P [...] CASIO CZ 1 CASIO CZ 1000 CASIO CZ 3000 CASIO CZ1 CASIO CZ1000 CASIO CZ101 CASIO CZ5000 CASIO DG 10/20 CASIO DG1 CASIO DG10 CASIO DG20 CASIO DH100 [...] CASIO FZ1 CASIO FZ10M [...] CASIO HZ 600 [...] CASIO MG 500/510 [...] CASIO PG380 [...] CASIO SZ1 CASIO VZ1 [...] CASIO AZ 1 [...] CASIO CZ 5000 [...] CASIO TB 1 CHEETAH 7P KBD [...]


Name: Steven Shigematsu
Email:
Steven@TheTheater.com
Thursday 11th May 3:36 pm U.K. Time

I have one VZ-8M for sale in excellent condition with the manual and power cord. Asking price is $50 US or best offer. I'm in California.

Thanks, Steven


Name: Gav Williams
Email:
gavin.williams@scotland.com
Sunday 14th May 4:24 pm U.K. Time

Can anyone help me please?

Im having some trouble sending and receiving patches between my win98/333/guillemot isis equiped pc and my vz1.I followed your instructions+have also had another "well informed" studio type person have a go with no success. We managed to generate a midi buffer error on the vz1 and a checksum error on the pc(both in seperate instances).The only conclusions we can derrive are that: the midi is slow on the vz1/pc's midi too quick?: The internal bttery on the vz is the one it had when I bought it + as such is about 15 yrs old,but it still seems to operate normally+I have never had any errors or strange stuff happen I can attribute to this.: One other point is that I have never been able to save or write to the vz it always ends up back to the factory patches.-Why? (im disabling mem protects etc..) any help would be greatfuly received - Thanx!

Also: I had an AZ-1 on order a long,long time ago. The music shop never managed to get me one, then casio stopped production-AAAAARRRGGGGHHH! So if you happen to have one you might sell, Please get in touch with me. I will consider non working examples...

reply to: gavin.williams@scotland.com

Thanx...


Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
aztec1@bellatlantic.net
Thursday 18th May 6:39 pm U.K. Time

Got myself a VZ-1 yesterday, and was a bit disappointed with the sound compared to my lowly CZ-101. When people said the VZ's were a little different from the CZ's, I thought they actually meant "little". It's like an FM synth without balls - great pads, but the ballsy bass you get from an FM or CZ synth just isn't there. The "Into The Millenium" bank of sounds is probably the only saving grace of the machine, but even there, the bass sounds are very thin.

Does anyone know how to make this sound similar to the CZ synths? I noticed the absence of the DCW, which is of course a serious limitation because it was the CZ's saving grace. Without the DCW you cannot get any serious sweeps or rez-filter-sounding timbres.

Ian


Name: Steven Shigematsu
Email:
Steven@TheTheater.com
Monday 22nd May 6:00 pm U.K. Time

For Sale Casio PG-380 $575

This 380 is in excellent condition and is identical to the black 380's sold on ebay last month (see links below). It includes the manual, power supply and a Fender hard shell case. It also includes the RC-130 European Collection 128 voice rom card and the RC-120 Toikio Collection 128 voice rom card. For a good description of the Casio series of midi guitars see: http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock/casmgtr.htm

Last Months PG380 and PG300 ebay auctions

CASIO MIDI/ELEC/SYNTH GUITAR PG380 sold at $640 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw_cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=305186127

Casio PG-380 MIDI/ Synthesizer Guitar sold at $611.98 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw_cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=298375550

Casio PG 300 Synth MIDI Guitar Item #310988225 $660 reserve not met. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw_cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=310988225


Name: tARIX
Email:
tkoujou@gmx.net
Saturday 27th May 5:27 pm U.K. Time

Hi...

...I got another VZ-1 yesterday and it is just sounds and feels just as I expected. Cool!

Now here is my question: how do I disconnect the keyboard in multi mode (local on/off)? When I connect the machine to my midi setup (using Cubase VST) it seems that the notes are doubled (midi feedback). And even when I try triggering another synthi in the setup on another midi channel I always hear the VZ-1 sounding. And yes, the midi connections are made propperly. The manual does not mention this function at all.

Any suggestions?

tARIX


Name: Michael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Monday 29th May 9:08 am U.K. Time

Hi tARIX,

You can't set the VZ-1 to local off itself. So use the MIDI-Channel Message (local on/off - Controller 122 - off = 0, on = 1..127) to do so.

bye


Name: Koos miller
Email:
koosmiller@mweb.co.za
Monday 29th May 10:06 pm U.K. Time

I have just acquired a VZ1. As seems normal no manual. I think I have most of the functions figured but I would just like to know what the multi channel is for. I would also like to know if it is possible to "shift" the keyboard up or down an octave when using it on midi. and how do I send the program changes above 64? the program and the new sound are great.I enjoy making my own sounds.

Name: tARIX
Email:
tkoujou@gmx.net
Tuesday 30th May 2:05 pm U.K. Time

Halloy Michael...

...the controller-122-trick did it. Thanx a lot. Unfortunately, the machine seems to be resetted to its default value [local on] after power down. But I don´t mind, this is much better than nothing.

Bye...tARIX


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Thursday 1st June 2:05 pm U.K. Time

Koos: There are, of course, only 64 programs on the VZ machines. It is possible to switch the VZ to "CARD" though, instead of "INTERNAL", by means of a system-exclusive message. I don't have the manual handy so can't tell you the codes I'm afraid. I seem to recall that you cannot, however, select between Card 1 and Card 2 remotely, but I could be wrong.

Name: Matt
Email:
iamshade@yahoo.com
Wednesday 7th June 6:46 pm U.K. Time

I am having trouble recieving midi data from my sampler. Where can I get a manual or help on this topic? The sampler is set to channel 10 and so is the recieve channel on my VZ-1. How do I set this up?

Name: Koos miller
Email:
koosmiller@mweb.co.za
Wednesday 7th June 10:37 pm U.K. Time

thanks steve, but i did not get a card with the vz.

could some one tell me what the multichannel is for?


Name: androo
Email:
andru@interlog.com
Thursday 8th June 5:50 am U.K. Time

Hey all. ingnorance speaking. i've had this vz-1 for many years, but never bothered to use it for much until now. Can I change the sounds in the NORMAL bank permanently? I have gone as far as editing the sounds and taking off the protection - but the presets always come back when the vz1 is turned off for more than a few seconds if this is a battery problem (which seems likely), where the heck is the battery on the thing, i took the panel off the underside and only found a fuse...do i have to completely dissemble this machine? advice would be sweet - i'm also looking to figure out what the various banks are 'for' ie. multi channel, OM, NORM, COMB and if i can make changes to the sounds i have in each bank... ok - bye

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Friday 9th June 9:57 am U.K. Time

Memory: If you store a patch on the VZ it should still be there the next time you switch on. If not, the battery is dead and the machine has reset to the factory defaults. I've never changed mine, so I can't help regarding its location, sorry. They last many years.

Multi mode: This is how the VZ-1 operates in multi-timbral mode. You can assign up to 8 tone patches to any 8 midi channels you wish (or use the same MIDI channel for more then one patch if you want). With each of the 8 "channels" you have to allocate it a patch number, a midi channel, a volume setting, and how many notes of polyphony (simultaneous notes) it can support. The VZ supports a maximum of 16 note polyphony in total. You can assign a maximum of 8 notes of polyphony to be shared between channels 1 to 4 (eg, 2 per channel, or say, 4-2-1-1)and 8 notes between channels 5 to 8. Channels 1 to 4 come out of Output1 on the back of the VZ, and Channels 5 to 8 come out of Output2.

If sysex is switched on (can't remember which menu item, sorry) then when you press the "Multi" button the multi mode setup information is transmitted down the MIDI to perhaps be stored in your sequencer. That allows you to store the setup of the channels along with your song. Note that if one channel is allocated to a patch in, say CARD1, then any other channels must use either INTERNAL or CARD1 patches - if you select a CARD2 patch then the other channels switch from CARD1 to CARD2 also.


Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Friday 9th June 10:08 am U.K. Time

Modes:

NORMAL mode is using just a single tone, selected from the preset bank.

COMBINATION mode allows you to layer up to four tones. You can either split them across the keyboard so that different patches sound on different octaves, for example, or you can layer them on top of each other, or combinations thereof.

eg: mode 1/2/3/4 gives you three keyboard split points and mode "1+2/3+4" gives you one split point below which channels 1 and 2 sound together and above which channels 3 and 4 sound togeher. There are a bout 8 combinations possible. You can also set up a cross-fade across the split points rather than a sudden switch. This is difficult to program on the machine - best to use my VZ editor program.

Note that the more channels you layer/split, the less polyphony you will have. If you layer/split four patches then you only get 4 note polyphony per patch, which makes a mockery of playing chords unless they are staccato with a fast decay time. However, if you layer 4 patches the sound should be quite "thick" and you're more likely to use that for a lead part rather than for chords.

"OPERATION" mode allows you to store a COMBINATION setup (or a NORMAL patch), along with other performance parameters, eg pitch bend range, wheel settings etc. You therefore have 64 Tone patches (accessed from NORMAL mode) and 64 COMBINATION patches accessed from OPERATION Mode.

Multi mode is described on my previous post.


Name: androo
Email:
andru@interlog.com
Monday 12th June 2:42 am U.K. Time

hi, me again.

thankyou for that swift and helpful reply... how do i STORE a patch on the VZ-1? I can make the changes etc...but do i have to press any specific button like write/copy/initialize or anything else? I guess i just need to know the sequence to follow to store a sound. thanks - cool vz pages - you rock.


Name: androo
Email:
andru@interlog.com
Friday 16th June 5:35 pm U.K. Time

ok, ignore my last request, i figured it out, and then today i got a casio vz-1 user manual in the mail - i'm not totally certain where i ordered it from, but i didn't pay anything for it!!!!!!!! yay for casio, it came from dover, here is the address:

Casio, Inc.

570 MT. PLEASANT AVE.

P.O. BOX 7000

DOVER, NEW JERSEY

USA

07802-7000

i hope this helps someone!


Name: Dominic
Email:
dominic@europe.com
Friday 23rd June 1:42 am U.K. Time

Hi, I have a VZ1 and am in desperate need of a Ram card ( RA 500 ) Does anyone know where I could get one? Thanking you, Dominic Loughrey. ( N. Ireland )

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Friday 23rd June 9:44 am U.K. Time

Look in the archived messages (link at top of this page) and search the page for "ram card", and you'll find a couple of contacts in the states, but that doesn't help you much in Ireland, I agree.


Name: Koos Miller
Email:
koosmiller@mweb.co.za
Monday 26th June 10:22 pm U.K. Time

thanks steve. now i can use 80 to 90% of the vz1.this site was a greate help. I will check back again.


Name: Walter Mariani
Email:
walter.mariani@usa.net
Saturday 1st July 6:36 pm U.K. Time

Hello, I' am italian and i need a owner's manual to CASIO VZ1. Please help me. If you want any money I'll give you as need. If possible, the owner's manual in italian language(if possible) Thank you and good day.

Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
ilwilson@frontiernet.net
Thursday 6th July 8:57 pm U.K. Time

Just got myself a VZ1 and CZ1 one recently, so I want to get rid of some stuff.

If anyone is interested in a mint CZ-101 synth, I am selling mine for $160 + pp. It is in perfect condition - VERY clean, and comes with a book on programming CZ synths (worth about $15 or something). If anyone in the USA is interested, please drop me a line.

Ian PS. I also have a Yamaha SY-35 synth (one of those hybrid FM + sample synths) for $190 + pp, if you're interested. It is also in perfect condition.


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
Tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Friday 7th July 12:34 pm U.K. Time

Hello all,

I haven't checked in here in ages. Glad to see that the VZ enthusiasm is still going strong. I got my hands on the "Power Play VZ" book. It's a lot better than the manual (not hard, I agree!) at explaining how to synthesise on the VZ. That still doesn't change the fact that it is a really awkward interface. Still, I've managed to get a very decent bank of sounds in mine- the VZ is a superb sounding instrument. I have a wonderful Wurlitzer patch that I use quite a lot. My band has an album due for release in September. I would say that it'll be the first commercial album to feature VZ so prominently.

I'll try to upload my sounds soon. They're a compilation of the best (IMHO) from all the banks here you'll find here tweaked and with a few original patches by me. I'm using a Mac so there may be some complications while I figure out how to do it.

Keep VZing...


Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Wednesday 12th July 5:36 pm U.K. Time

Hi there!

I bought a Casio VZ-1 and a Hohner HS-1 (similar to Casio's FZ-1) some days ago. They are in quite good shape and I like them. But I'm missing the SysEx-Manual of the VZ-1 and of the HS-1. I also heard of this book called "Powerplay VZ...". Can anyone help me to get a copy of those books??? Greetings, Daniel


Name: Gerd
Email:
gheiden@blinx.de
Thursday 13th July 5:11 am U.K. Time

My VZ8m has strange signs at the display I want to initialize the Machine.But how.No Manual.Thanks for help.

Gerd


Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Thursday 13th July 4:37 pm U.K. Time

Hello Gerd!

To initialize all internal parameters of a VZ-1 or a VZ-10m you have to press the WRITE-Button while you are switching on the machine. But I can't tell if that works for the VZ-8m...

Greetings, Daniel


Name: Michael
Email:
waveinhead@01019freenet.de
Sunday 16th July 3:52 pm U.K. Time

Hey Steve!(right?) I loaded down your VZ -Editor. It looks great and I managed to dump sounds with its help. Unfortunately I was not able to use it as an editor, because I can´t get it to send incoming MIDI-notes to the CASIO -VZ10m. That´s really a pity. My system is a PC with Win98 and it uses the emagic Unitor 8 as MIDI-interface. I noticed, that this behaviour appears as soon, as I did an operation, which has to do with MIDI (dump for example or a transmit of a single sound). It would be great, if you could help me. As far, as I know your editor is the only support for this synth. Michael www.waveinhead.de electronic popsongs

Name: Steve
Email:
Steve.Gutteridge@SPAML:ESS.bbc.co.uk
Monday 17th July 10:11 am U.K. Time

Michael,

On the bank load/save page there is button labelled "Midi Devices", or similar. Click that, and on the Midi Devices page there is a check box labelled "Midi Thru". Have you got that turned on?

Also, make sure the correct MIDI devices are selected for input and for output.

As I use a VZ1 rather than a VZ-10M, I regret that although programming this feature, I am not sure that I have ever tested it!


Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
ilwilson@frontiernet.net
Wednesday 19th July 5:45 pm U.K. Time

Anyone on this chat group also got a Casio CZ synth as well as a VZ?

I spoke to a Casio rep a while back about re-introducing CZ (PD) synthesis into the market - seems that some engineers want to do this but the brass is too afraid to (memories of the VZ failure perhaps?).

The reason VZ synthesis failed was quite obvious. It is not nearly as versatile as CZ synthesis, and it came out at a time when DX synthesis was at a peak and ready to fall, and the D50 and M1 were introduced. 8 waveforms with no means of changing them besides a very simple adaptation of FM synthesis just cannot create a huge palette of sounds, and so the VZ synths were relegated to the shelves. The VZ technology in no way came close to producing the rocking sounds of a CZ synth or DX synth - it was the weakest of both worlds.

The time has come for a new CZ synth! A CZ1 using current technology would probably blow many other synths away, with tons of polyphony and patch memory, updated options, and many more than 8 waveforms available. If some realtime controllers are thrown in, CZ synthesis, with its low latency algorithms, could contend with screaming analog beasts as well as other forms of synthesis. With some imagination, Casio could be making millions!!

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Just thought I'd start a discussion.

Ian


Name: M!chael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Wednesday 19th July 10:23 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

my VZ-1 creates to high velocity values with one key (middle f). Who knows how to repair this. I don't know if it's a general VZ-1 problem, but I know another VZ-1 owner who has a defect 'a'-key.

Michael


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
Tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 24th July 2:00 pm U.K. Time

1. The Power Play VZ book is very hard to get. I got mine from a shop in Canada (I live in Ireland). Someone who lived near them saw it there, and told me via "The Casio Hut" pump at http://www.the-gas-station.com/topics.dbm. At the time, the shop had no website, and I didn't feel like phoning them. Every few months I'd do a search for their page. After about a year, they put one up, so I emailed them and bought the book for £15 using credit card!

2. CZ synths are cool, it's true. The VZ is very different. I'd like to get a CZ101 because they're excellent for bass sounds (and so small!), which is a failing of the VZ. However, the VZ is MUCH better for big/unusual pad sounds. The CZ doesn't have enough oscillators for that. I had a CZ5000 which I don't really miss as it was too big for what it did and wasn't velocity sensitive. Both the VZ and CZ are very well constructed though. Casio could probably implement both synths as a PCI card, like the Korg Oasys. If that could read old CZ patch files then I'd buy one! In fact, you could probably program the Korg to mimic the Casios....

3. The VZ failed because it's very difficult to program. The sound is actually very good, a cross between DX-7 and PPG Wavetable synth. It can do much warmer electric pianos than the DX, even in "Normal" mode, and you still get all that touch responsiveness. You don't have to "double and detune" in combination mode to beat the DX.


Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Monday 24th July 4:17 pm U.K. Time

Hi there!

Here's a little hint for all of you in search for a manual :

Okay, in the USA I think CASIO is giving away copies of VZ-1 and VZ-10m mauals for free... :)

But what about Europe? I got in contact with the German company HOHNER which sold identical copies of the CASIO VZ-1, VZ-10m and of the FZ-1 and FZ-10m (old CASIO samplers) under their name. I wanted to have a manual for my HOHNER sampler HS-1 (= FZ-1) and they told me they still have some copies of them left. Because the original HOHNER manual was multi-language it is about 400 pages. They sell those manuals for 50 DM (25 $) plus shipping cost. I didn't ask them but I think it's still possible that there are also manuals of the VZ-1 (=HOHNER HS2) and VZ-10m (=HOHNER HS2/E) left. The CASIO manuals for these gems were about 110 pages so if it's the same for the HOHNER ones I believe they would be much cheaper than a thick 400 pages manual... If you want to contact them try out their homepage (http://www.hohner.de/). There's somewhere a online form for questions/wishes... By the way the HS-1 sampler manual included the following languages : German, English, Italian and Spanish.

Does anyone know if HOHNER also sold copies of CASIO's VZ-8m. Does anyone has a picture of this one?

I'm still searching a sysex-manual for my CASIO VZ-1...

Greetings, Daniel (I hope this one wasn't too long)


Name: Johnny B
Email:
gatchaman@mpinet.net
Tuesday 25th July 6:50 am U.K. Time

Howdy. I was just wondering if anyone here has any programming tips they'd like to share. Particularly if anyone knows how to get a square-wave sound out of the vz, and how to go about doing it. I've only programmed a handful of patches, basically lead and string sounds, including a pretty good recreation of cz-101 strings (preset 11 on the 101, i think). Anyways, I'd just like to hear any ideas or whatnot from other VZ programmers. I'd love to delve further into the power of this synth. Thanks!

Name: Steve Gutteridge
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 25th July 4:50 pm U.K. Time

In theory, a square wave is made by adding together all the odd harmonics of a sine wave in the correct proportions. eg, add sine waves of frequency 1x, 3x, 5x, 7x, 9x, 11x, 13x, 15x - by the time you add eight together (there being 8 oscillators on the VZ) it should be fairly close to a square wave. You have to add the sine waves in the correct proportion though - one third amplitude of 3rd harmonic, one fifth amplitude of 5th harmonic etc. Although you have accurate control of frequency on the VZ, the control of amplitude is much coarser and not so finely controlled - it would require experimentation as the amplitude setting on each oscillator is not a linear control. Also, in theory, the oscillators must be in phase with each other to get a true square wave output, though the human ear cannot actually tell the difference if they are shifted slightly. It should be possible to get something that sounds near enough like a square wave with just 4 harmonics, leaving 4 oscillators for modulation/envelope.

Name: Johnny B
Email:
gatchaman@mpinet.net
Wednesday 26th July 6:53 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for the information. After much experimenting, I've come pretty close to a decent squarewave (doesn't hurt to use an oscilloscope etiher). I have a couple more questions, by the way: 1. What does the "A ENV BIAS" option (menu2) do? 2. What does the "program number" input on the back do? 3. Does anyone know where I can get ahold of the input pedals/ram cards? 4. I've read somewhere that the vz-8/10m modules can be used to expand the functionality of the vz-1, such as polyphony. Is there any truth to this statement?

That's about it for now. Sorry for being so long-winded. Thank you!


Name: M!chael
Email:
M.Wende@t-online.de
Wednesday 26th July 10:59 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

sorry this should be better formatted.

Michael

Hi Johnny B.

>> 1. What does the "A ENV BIAS" option (menu2) do?

It's short for Amplitude Evenlope Bias. And it's one of the greatest features of the iPD-Synths.

The amplitude of a module is controlled by several parmeters (VZ-Menu 1:09..14). VZ-Menu 1:14 Amp Sens (Amlitude) allowes the control it's amplitide. If you set the sensivity to 7 (the maximum) the module amplitude is completely controlled by the tremolo if the temolo depth is greater than 0 or by any controller (Menu 2:03..06) with a sensivity greater than 0 and A ENV BIAS=ON.

Wind-Controllers can use this to control any aspect of a voice. My favorite controller for this is the DEFINABLE 1 Wheel.

** Let' activate the amplitude Bias

- Select Menu 2:04 DEF WHEEL 1

- Set SENSIVITY=99

- Scroll down to A ENV BIAS and set it to ON

** now let's program a voice which uses this feature

- Set a voice to INIT VOICE // Now just module M1 is active

- Set Menu1:14 M1, SENSIVITY=7 // Now you can control the level of module M1 with you DEFINABLE 1 Wheel

** and now let's program a interactive controllable VZ-square Wave

- Switch module M2 ON

- Set Menu 1:00 LINE M1M2, INT LINE=PHASE

- Set Menu 1:01 WAVE FORM M2, FORM=SAW5

** That's it. Enjoy you Square wave, enjoy your A ENV BIAS controller. Maybe with a second square pair of modules and little bit of detuning the two lines you can create a 'Lucky Man' Sound.

>> 2. What does the "program number" input on the back do?

With a foot switch connected to this input you can step through your sounds.

>> 3. Does anyone know where I can get ahold of the input pedals/ram cards?

??. Every VZ-Enthusiast is looking for ram cards.

>> 4. I've read somewhere that the vz-8/10m modules can be used to expand the functionality of the vz-1, such as polyphony.

So far as I remember the VZ-8 just have some kind of overflow mechanism which sends notes that haven't been processed to MIDI TRU.

Sorry for being so long-winded.

bye, Michael


Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 27th July 10:32 am U.K. Time

Michael,

I have deleted the incorrectly formatted posting for you.


Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Thursday 27th July 2:45 pm U.K. Time

A quick reminder to people posting here: If you want to start a new line you must enter a double carriage return when posting a message. Single carriage returns have no effect.

Also, anything beginning http:// is automatically converted to a clickable link. All HTML codes are stripped out for security reasons, so no bold, italic, font sizes, javascript etc can be posted.


Name: Keith Deat
Email:
keith.dear@lineone.net
Friday 28th July 10:08 pm U.K. Time

I am considering selling my VZ10M with original box, RA-500 RAM and RC-100 ROM cards and the instruction manual. All items are little used and in very good condition (ie. it lives mounted in a rack in my small studio set up). I still enjoy the sounds, and will not sell if I cannot receive a serious offer. I live in Southampton (UK), and would expect carriage costs to be "on top". If anyone is interested please contact me.

Thankyou

Keith


Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
ilwilson@frontiernet.net
Thursday 3rd August 6:46 pm U.K. Time

Johnny, synthesis on the VZ is very similar to FM synthesis, so perhaps this might help ...

On an FM synth you can create a psuedo-square wave simply by having one operator modulate another of the same frequency. So, for instance, if you have Osc1 = 440Hz, set Osc2 = 440Hz, and have Osc1 modulate (or "feed into") Osc2. I don't have my VZ in front of me so I cannot remember the correct terms from the VZ :-(

In any event, when a sine wave modulates another sine wave of the same frequency, it produces all the necessary overtones for a square wave. By altering the amplitude of the modulating sine wave, you can morph between a sine and square wave. I'll give it a go tonight and see what I can come up with.

Ian


Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Friday 4th August 2:38 pm U.K. Time

The choice of modulations is Phase, Mix or Ring. I think it must therefore be the Phase modulation that you need. By the way, if you want to check the results, you don't need an oscilloscope - just sample the VZ output on your PC and look at the waveform in any audio editor.

Name: Ian Wilson
Email:
ilwilson@frontiernet.net
Wednesday 9th August 9:55 pm U.K. Time

Oops - BIG error in my square wave theory. I mentioned using oscillators at the same frequency, when really the Modulator wave should be 2x the frequency of the Carrier wave. ie. Have a 880Hz waveform phase modulating a 440Hz waveform, and adjust the amplitude of the 880Hz waveform until you get a psuedo-square wave.

Not that you would need this (since the VZ is overabundant ito sawtooths), but you can also get variations on a sawtooth waveform if you keep the frequencies of both waveforms the same.

Ian


Name: Hollis
Email:
gzsddhc@163.net
Saturday 9th September 3:11 pm U.K. Time

Wanted Casio VZ-1 manual.

Name: Caesar
Email:
ccoo55@hotmail.com
Wednesday 27th September 5:12 pm U.K. Time

Hi there to all ViZionaries! I've just bought VZ1 for about $200 and I like it a lot. Good keyboard, nice wheels... yeah, it is a bit noisy and editing's a nightmare but for $200.. it's a good bargain :-). My manual is in Deutch so if any of the German speaking friends has got the English manual and would like to swop with me, I'd be more than happy to do so. But I guess, if they can read this request, then they do not really need a German manual. Or maybe? Anyway, I'm in Poland. Contact me thru e-mail. Ciao!

Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Saturday 30th September 4:33 pm U.K. Time

Hi VZ enthusiasts !

Found this Website through Yahoo.Really great to have such a Forum on the Web.

The VZ1 is still a great and pure Synth.! I have my difficulties with "All in one" Workstations. I use the VZ1 mainly with a Midi-guitar Setup at concerts.The great thing of the VZ1 is,that it still offers new sounds by programming. It is not Pandorras Box,but still one of the most flexible Synths- from a puristic synth view.A kind of Ultra-Modular-Synth with a User friendly OS. My only-little- complaint is,that it does not offer the Guitar Midi Mono-Mode.But with the Multitimbralsection I have a good compromise.

Another important topic should also be mentioned.The good hardware. I still have no problmes with defect keys and buttons,eventhough I own the VZ1 for nearly 12 years.I wish my old Kawai K5 would be the same. The VZ1 is amazing,because-with a little practice-I can programme the sounds to an optimum to my guitarplaying.Tracking over Midiguitar is acceptable and causes only little delays.

The iPD synthesis offers a quiet endless range of new and totally different sounds.Not to forget this wonderful EGs with eight steps and variable Sustainpoints. What is in the beast ? Additive synthesis(Up to 64 harmonics when using the Multitimbralsection-then Mono/Duophonic),Amplitudemodulation(I have difficulties to describe it as Ringmodulation,original Ringmodulation is different to AM),PhaseModulation.The connection Matrix of the VZ1 is more fexible as from every DX-Synth.eventhough PD is also a kind of FM,it is different to the FM-Synthesis of Yamaha.The PD is more "Guitarorientated" with its idea to "overdrive or distort" a sound/phase ! And this in a variation wich is unbelievable. Four Lines and eight Modules can be connected in several ways. Use it as eight operators FM-Clone,or four "Monophonic" synths in one row.Make Ringmodulation(AM) or a mixture.Additive plus Ring. Or four Modules with its own four LFo´s using for Tremolo,PD or AM !

The subharmonic section 1/2 to 1/64 is quiet fine for LFO use. Use them as "eight operator" LFO in full ipd Line.The sound of one sinewave will get like a unrythmical caroussel.

The potential of the VZ1 is still not discovered.It has still so many fantastic,undiscovered sounds inside and to offer.

The VZ1 is a great and fexible Tonegenerator.Puristic.To add more live to the dry sounds.Go and buy an effect device.Then the sound will get more alive and rich. And never try to imitate and acoustic Instrument with it.There are enough ROMblers outside,wich make this job better.:-)

Anyway,it is time to go !

Marty


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Saturday 30th September 4:57 pm U.K. Time

Oooouchhh...!

Forgot to ask if there is also a Standalone Editor supporting MacOS

for the VZ1 available.

If not,there is need for such a tool.As there is an VZ1 Editor for

MS/PC out,it would be great to get Tips,what is important for such

a Tool from the PC Developer.Then I could make a portation to MacOS

and release it as Freeware over this Website.

Marty


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Sunday 1st October 3:49 pm U.K. Time

I just read through the archive,I really liked the idea of a new CZ. I think the world is ready. I think it would be cool if the architecture were a combination of the CZ/VZ and FZ architectures. It could work basically like the VZ does now but each module could be configured like a VZ module, A CZ line or a sample. Maybe some filters would be cool also. Add some built in effects and the thing would be killer!! I'm sure if Casio renamed PD as iVA (interactive virtual analog) and priced it at less than $1k it would sell like crazy.

Anyone out there play with a Nova? I read a review on one (I think it was a Supernova) and the review discussed a feature called wavemorphing that allowed the Nova to morph between one of its primary waveforms and a sine wave. I think that we might have seen this before!! Any opinions on the Nova/CZ relationship? VZ on everyone!!


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Tuesday 3rd October 2:02 pm U.K. Time

Hi CZ/VZ-engineers !

The rebirth of the CZ/VZ-machine is a nice thought and wish,but not only a blowing in the Wind.It would find a place,like the Kawai K5000(as inherent of the K5),or the now "remastered" FSR1 of Yamaha with the heart of an eight operator FM-Synth. Well,was not the VZ1 already an eight operator device ?

If CASIO really should launch once such a device again,they should arrange it like a blackbox of Microsofts upcoming X-BOX. The Digital/Analog Interface should be actual.24BIT resolution and 96kHz rate.Maybe also include a Analog/Digital-Interface for a modular process.Including Different Filtersections and an exchangeable effectdevice. And this all for a price under the 1000US$ Mark.

What have we today in the Synth-scene.The big Comeback of the limited analog synthesis-done by a Trash calculation of what physical Modelling has to offer.This means at least to shoot chickens with StarWars Technology.Not good for the chicken,but also not a honour for "Star Wars".

The VZ1 at its time,was a superb "pure" modern synth,with a good Hardware at its time.Unfortunately it was dropped out,when the DX Hystery was on decay and the Hystery of Rompler based(can we call it so?) synths started.Remember M1 ! The M1 was a nice tool,full of gimmicks,but nearly unable to get an individual sound of it.

The Casio VZ1 was the companies Masterpiece in Synthesis,but no one recognized it.Maybe also the Casio label was a reason.Casio was known as "cheap". And a note to the ones,who think,that the VZ1 does sound thin,far away,a VZ1 can sound really fat. The VZ1 is not an easy tool or a device with preset character,each good Sound needs a lot of blood,sweat and tears in programming,because the VZ1 gives each one of us the most of Freedom in Sounddesign as possible.Such a freedom is hard to deal with.It is a fight between the programmer and the machine.If not strong enough,the machine will lead you and kick you to outerspace,where no one hears your scream. If you are only hunting for fashion sounds,move on,the VZ1 is nothing for you.You need General Midi.You need acoustic sounds ? There are enough Samplers and Romplers outside. Beware of the VL-synthesis of Yamaha,it can offer you great realistic sounds,but has the same mentality as the VZ1 to kick you to nowhere !!

So if ever CASIO should come to the plan to produce an honourfull inherent of the VZ1,they should include the full theory of Timbre- shaping(PD/FM/AM/Analog Filters/Morphing Filters/Formant Filters/real Ringmodulation/DCAs wich does not have only ADSR or the eightsteps of the VZ1,the DCAs should be Userfefinable,with steps as much the user want or can catch from "real"world.Including a HD-Recording section with exchangeable effects....and this all in an Userfriendly Interface.-Impossible ? Today really not.

But this is all a Fantasy of my own.The above said does not mean,that I am at an End with my VZ1 or that I have discovered all secrets of it. Far away.But more and more this machine becomes a natural"instrument" for me.I know how to play it sounds and how to programme the sounds, so they fit in my musical world.The VZ1 has the capacity for it. We should never forget,the VZ1 is a musical instrument. For Piano,Cornet,Violin or guitar we need years of practice to get our sound out of it.The fluctuation of the synthscene diables us to come close to the "Voice" of a synth,when we always try to get a fashion sound.After one year a synth is old.VZ1 is already "Vintage".But have you ever tried to get the "voice" out of this instruments ? You never had time to come close,because the next model is waiting.

The VZ1 is only an instrument,but at least it is on you to get your musical message out of it.The VZ1 is one of this few great synths, who offer and support you in your own musical language nearly to total.Make a try and catch the BEAST,it will honour you.

Ouch,to much philosphy,but a great synth needs help !

Marty


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Wednesday 4th October 12:47 am U.K. Time

Marty, I have an FS1R and 2 K5000's, they all are cool!! I like your idea of the dream Casio but I'd settle for less. One other addition I forgot before that would be useful would be loop points in the 8 stage envelopes, that way you could get more of an evolving sound from the instrument. I'm still curious about the Nova's wavemorphing feature.....

Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 4th October 11:21 am U.K. Time

If anybody has tried my VZ Patch Editor on Windows 2000 or Windows NT can they tell me if it works please.

Many thanks.


Name: M!chael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Thursday 5th October 6:01 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

NT 4.0 ServicePack 5

- Receiving works fine, - when Transmiting, the programm crasches immediately (maybe because the vz answers), The vz displays something like 'TRANSMISSION ERROR' - sometimes when changing parameter VB sends a 'unknown funktion' Message-Box

M!chael


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Thursday 5th October 8:01 pm U.K. Time

Jon.This little,innocent dream that Casio could launch an updated version of thw CZ/VZ was just an idea. In fact,I do not think,that CASIO will come back to the Synthmarket in the future.The VZ1/10m and the FZ1/10m were their last manifestation in the professional Synthesizer/Sampler buisiness. I guess,the CEO of Casio will not waste time about such thoughts. From their experiences they will trace it from a "No commercial potential". The direction is already visible.Sowtwaresynths for WIN/MacOS and hopefully also for BeOS are the future.

Nevertheless a concept of an open platform for several synthetic models-also this ones,wich are still not present in the "Consumer" market could be possible.FM/PD/AM/Sampling/Additive synthesis,Physical Modelling could be found in one big box,with an external control device.Then also a mixture of most of this models could be possible, or simple mixture.Does anyone remember the Synclavier ? At its time it was such a Pandorras Box.But the costs were also a little more as my monthly income.

I have started to develop a VZ1 Editor for the MacOS.

Marty


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Thursday 5th October 11:25 pm U.K. Time

Yeah, I've thought about the open source software synth idea myself. It would be cool if there was an open ended synthesis platform sort of like the IBM PC but in a different box with a keyboard attached. Most of the new synths are all software based anyway so this would be more in league with what's currently popular anyway. The users could run different "synth" programs using this hardware and the source code would be available for the adventurous ones to edit. I know thi s sounds like PC based soft~synthesis and in many respects it is. The difference would be that you'd have an instrument that you could take out of the house and also your PCs CPU wouldn't be tied up with the softsynth since its actually run on a different device. I guess I'm dreaming mostly of is like a scalable open source nord modular type device. That would rock!! Of course if I had the time to build such a thing the first prototype program I'd write for it would be a CZ emulator with looping Env. points!!

Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Friday 6th October 10:37 am U.K. Time

Martin, good luck with the MAC editor. It's a lot of hard work implementing everything, but the manual is very comprehensive and the results are very rewarding.

There are some mistakes in the Sys-Ex manual that you will need to be aware of. Most are pretty obvious, I seem to remember. The most serious one is that (in my copy at least) the order in which the nibbles of data are transmitted (each 8 bit byte is transmitted as two 4 bit nibbles) is reversed. Also, there is at least one binary flag (a single bit in one transmitted byte) where the the manual has the meaning of 1 and 0 (= on or off) incorrect, but you'll discover that when you implement it and can't work out why it comes out wrong. There are others too, which I must get around to documenting and putting on the Web site.

The manual does not tell you how to generate the cyclic redundancy check! I worked this out for myself by trial and error and the solution is in the EZVZ chat archive somewhere.

Your biggest problem (well mine was, anyway) is coming up with a decent user interface on screen that fits all the parameters on it - there's a lot to show. If you get stuck on anything, drop me a line and I'll be glad to help.


Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@SPAMLESS.bbc.co.uk
Friday 6th October 10:43 am U.K. Time

PS: search the archive for the word "checksum" to find out how the CRC works.

Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Friday 6th October 1:03 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,thanks a lot for your first hints to my started developing for an Editor.This is already helpful,also I will check back the archive. It seems,that the VZ has also a special/unique coding,like the Kawai K5.Once I also was developing an Editor for it,it prepared me a lot of sleepless nights.The Sysex documentation was nearly not documentated and I had to get it out with Trial and Error.Well it got not ready, because over the Web I found a real good editor-much better as mine- so I dropped it. I want to arrange the User-Interface with several windows,with a User bar for the most functions.I have a "Photoshop"-like design in mind. To the MacOS-users,please be patient,I do this in my freetime and this is limited,so it can take a time before I can present a betaversion.

Today got a new effect device,an ART Quadra/FX.This device sounds really good and has a lot good effects and special routings. Use it as four Mono effect devices,in Stereo Cascade,two Stero units or one Stereo device serial device.Possibilities are 10300 combinations this is really a lot. The sound is great and the effects are amazing. With this device a VZ1 will get a second life,because sounds of the VZ will get more life and expression.And this device is inexpensive. (But needs also an editor for easy usage.)

Thanks a lot for your Tips,Steve.

Marty


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Friday 6th October 1:44 pm U.K. Time

Hi Jon,

Such an open platform for Soundsynthesis/Sampling/Recording is reasonable.The actual developing of "Soundtools" points to this direction.Look at the (still) HardwarePlugins for Yamahas or Roland Synthesizers.Also other companies follow this direction. There could be several solutions.The Software would be the same,but from Hardware it needs some difference. Really simple.On the road,while touring or temporary gigs,the hardware should be solid and nearly indestructable.Life on the road is hard,especially for equipment. For Studio there is no need for such an "iron warrior" and it could reduce the costs. It would be a big step forward,if the producers would bear a new common standard for the Software,like they did once with this old,still alive MIDI. And this prepares me doubts,that all manufactures will jump in one boat. Anyway,with such a Software Soundproductionplace,all kinds of synthesis and Audiomanipulation could be brought to one device. Then it is on the user,what he prefers and will install in the Setup.Some will take the fullblown one,others only specific tools, wich are important for their musical work and expression.

Then also very flexible EGs,could be possible.Traced from a various eightstep with looping points,maybe dynamically playable,to an EG get from a sharp filtered event of a voice or real continous Sound, simply said an Envelope Follower.Record it as desired and use it then as EG.If in CZ/VZ mode,each module will get such an unique extracted EG.The Timbrechange of the sound would be much more exciting. Theoretical this could be already done today,but the relation between the idea and the hardwarecosts is vampiric and not reasonable.

This Synthbox,should be also shipped with TFT-Monitor(not to small) and a control device wich makes it easy to use,like a mixing console, but should not have the dimensions of a cupboard.Also each controls should be arranged and routed like the user needs and wants it for an individual easy use.Such hardwarecontrollers could be also arranged in basic,medium and fullblown devices,according to the needs of the User.Connected to the BOX,by Firewire(IEEE1394).

Well such a CHSP-system(Common Hardware Software Platform) would be a great thing.

Marty


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Saturday 7th October 1:54 am U.K. Time

Marty,

CHSP sounds great, I think that we're on the same wavelength here. Lets quit our day jobs and build it, the world is ready!!

Jon


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Sunday 8th October 12:45 pm U.K. Time

Hi Jon,it seems that you are very enthusastic for such a CHSP system. Could be also named CHRP(Common Hardware Reference Platfrom). As this name was planned in a joint venture between IBM,Motorola and Apple-to release an open architecture standard,wich will give a home for all kinds of OS,I decided to name it CHSP.Eventhough this CHRP platform never got out of the development phase and was canceled later on,for several reasons.What a pity... For Audio and synthesisproduction,such an open Hardware Standard,would have been the perfect beast for a synthplatform.Whatever OS you would drive on this computers,the hardware would be the same.Developers could write a kind of plugins,synthmodules wich could be used for several OS !

Eventhough I like the idea to open an own company with the goal to establish the CHSP-system,we must be ralistic. To start such an idea from Zero,it needs a lot research,what is now actual out in softsynths,how high the programming skill is of the other buddies.I have heard that a new Softsynth will come out soon, it is called ORION,but I don´t know details and have to get more Infos about it.Also there are several "Granular-softsynths" released. First we have to check the scene.

From the Hardwareside,such a Synthbox is more easy to develop.What does it really need.Sate of the Art DACs and ADCs,the routing should be flexible.From simple MONO,to Stereo and not to forget an output for Surround systems.S/PDif and optical outs and ins should be also inside like the seamingly oldfashioned MIDI.In basic Version maybe a simple MIDI IN/OUT/THRU and in fullblown one with a rich MIDI Patchbay including functions like merging or transforming MIDI DATA. A lot of the customers will still have old devices with MIDI,so they could still use there old stuff. Also the box should have a Monitorout.eventhough maybe a TFT is installed.Connections for keyboard and mouse.Of course. The Control Panels,keyboard,mixing console,controlpanel should work with the blackbox over Firewire(IEEE1394).

What OS to use for the Blackbox ? MS WINDOWS variations,MacOS;linux or BeOS ? Well,I prefer the BeOS,it is optimized for MultiMediausage. OS like Windows,MacOS or Linux have to support to many functions for other usage,wich makes them difficult to use for MultiMedia,the timing is mostly worse and to odd.The BeOS,wich is optimized for Multimedia, is more solid in timing.And timing is the most important factor in music and sound. An alternative would be the Milan computers,an inherent of Ataris TOS. The problem with this machine is,that the Hardware is still based on Motorollas Chips and the fact,that this machines are rare. An Intel/AMD solution is more reasonable,because it is worlwide spreaded and cheap. Linux could be also an alternative,the OS can be optimized to Multi- Media only.

The problem to start such a new company is big.Two people can not establish a standard,besides the big companies.There is needed a big staff,to do basic developing,like Filters and Soundmoduiles.This is hard work and timeburning. Also my skills in developing software is modest.I can do such things like to write an Editor,eventhough it is for me already a hardwork. But for direct Sound my skills are not develped enough. then the buisiness aspect must be traced.Can two buddies be always up to date in this buisiness,when they develop beside it a beast ? I guess not ! This is to adventurous ! But I have hope,Steve Jobs,the father of Apple Computers and CEO again, also has not such skills in direct work.But nevertheless he is a Visionary and brought Apple back to the winning Zone.

And this could be the starting point,not to make the machine,but to realize a solid concept of it,and offer it to Major Companies. Why not offer it directly to Microsoft or Apple ? Both could come out as newbies in the Synthmarket(like MS plans it with the X-Box in the Gameconsole matket.The chances to get a contract with them is higher as to go to Yamaha,Roland and do on..They would maybe put this concept in the archives and would sell it bit by bit over a period of years. If a marketforeign company(MS/Apple) would get a foot inside this market,they would present a fullblownsystem-in order to knock out the traditional companies.

Anyway,an own company would end like the Synclavier of NED.A Top machine at its time,but at least with less profit.And at least Fostex bought NED ! That´s life.

Marty


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Sunday 8th October 3:39 pm U.K. Time

Hi Jon,

just checked the new Orionsoftsynth,it is a kind of analogue device. Analog is still at its best,when analogue technology is used. The virtual clones have some gimmicks,but still are not able to sound like an analogue. From a guitarist view,a Hiwatt 100 Custom Top amplifier,is still this device wich will break your neck.Besides all Marshalls and Boogies. The Hiwatt Amps were on the climaxx in the seventies,but each of this machines are still working geniously. I own one and so I know what I am speaking about.After 24 years this machine is solid and sounds incredible. Can this be said from synths ? The Yamaha CS80 is still a legend,but is it still in use ? For what we need this Hiwatt Amp nowadays.Well,it is this beast to amplify a sound without colouring it.But you get the warmth of tube technology and a device wich will not quit the job,when you throw it into the ditch ! VERY SOLID BRITISH WORK ! Thanks to Dave Reeves.

The Hiwatt is not only usable for guitar,a great bass amp and a very good Keyboard Amp with its four inputs. For guitariss it is to loud-effective Watt to dB relation-but for other players a real horsepowerdevice. Ever heard a VZ1/10m over a Hiwatt ? The seamingfull thin sound of a VZ will become a burning beast !

Marty


Name: Bil
Email:
Bil4913@aol.com
Thursday 12th October 8:56 pm U.K. Time

Looking for VZ-1. The repair just told me they can't fix my axe. Does anyone know where I could find a VZ-1, even for parts?

Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Saturday 14th October 4:51 pm U.K. Time

The VZ1 is still a good linear synth.It can provides you several modes.Just as you wish. There is no effect device build in,or other nice gimmicks.A pure synth of its own. The real problem of the VZ is,that never it was explained exactly how the PD/iPD and Ringmodulation works-from a mathematical view.

The manual,how better it was as from others,could not expalin what PD/iPD really is. Yamaha with its DX-Synths did a better way in the manuals. Eventhough the DX Capacity was/is still not yet discovered.

PD or iPD is not like DX-FM,but it is comparable.But only comparable.

DX sounds are different from PD/iPD sounds.

Casio VZ-sounds have another quality as FM-Sounds. But can someone exactly explain,how this VZ interacts within a sound,if compared to DX ? The answer will be "NO".

Eventhough there was a good book outside"PowerPlay VZ.."by Steve de Furia(Frank Zappa´s Thing Fish/Francesco Zappa/Them or Us), the VZ never managed it to fight against the Romplers(Korg M1) in the late 80th time !

Like FM,PD has still a lot of new fresh sounds to offer.It is on us VZees to give this great synth in a box a chance.

Marty


Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Sunday 22nd October 3:10 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

There are several external ways to get the most out of the VZ1,if the pure synthesis is not enough.

External effect devices: There is a big amount of it outside.From cheap to bombastic.But also an old Digitech DSP128 can do some favour to VZ1. External Filters : Ever tried out a Waldorf Miniworks 4Pole ? One of the best external LP 24dB Filters out. Flexible in routing and a lot of nice gimmicks. Peavey Spectrum Filter is also fine. MAM-Resonator or the VF11-Filterbank.A special kind of filtering. External Ringmodulation: Doepfer offers a "TRUE" RM.And it is analog. Really a good support for the RM sound of the VZ1.This brings RM to Infinity.

Marty


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Thursday 26th October 2:19 am U.K. Time

Has casio already attempted the open architecture black box that we are dreaming off?!?! Check out this excerpt from a review of the FZ1 on the Harmony Central site: "Fuzzy One was also designed as an openÐarchitecture box, but the development system (soft and hardware) was only available in Japan, which crimped thirdÐparty development. Sad, as I knew one programmer who had planned to design games for the thing (shades of Nintendo). It was also initially and erroneously announced that the FZ1 could house a PD Synth, ala the CZ 1. It never happened"

Casio never ceases to amaze me!! (although they stoped trying to amaze me around 1990 or so)


Name: Tom‡s
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 26th October 1:06 pm U.K. Time

The classifieds in Sound On Sound Magazine this month has a VZ-1 for less than £200. Online at http://www.sospubs.co.uk/, but not all ads are there so you may have to buy the mag.

My band Grand have released our first album, clips at record company site http://www.45drive.com/. Spot the VZ!


Name: Bob Higgins
Email:
sinakcorp@aol.com
Sunday 5th November 5:29 pm U.K. Time

I hope someone can help me out here. I have been looking for a souncard for a PG-380 I recently purchased and was told the VZ ROM/RAM cards are interchangeable and quite usable for this midi guitar. If this is the case great! Now where can I find these...not too many sources here in San Diego. I'd love to purchase a few of these cards if anyone has them available...thanks!

Name: Niall
Email:
Niall.Caldwell@ed.ac.uk
Wednesday 8th November 12:20 am U.K. Time

I'm happy today to have finally found a patch editor for my VZ-1 in "vzpatch". Wheeeee! No more of that yucky user interface! My heartiest thanks for a good job well done.

I'm having problems though. Whenever I transmit a single patch to the synth, it is loaded in Internal E-3, regardless of which location I had selected in either the synth or vzpatch. Furthermore, the keyboard stops playing, although notes sent from the keyboard bar of vzpatch DO play. The only way to recover use of the keyboard is to stretch over and switch the little MIDI off/on slider at the back of the keyboard to off, then on again. This annoying extra bit of exercise in my daily routine is tiring me out!

What I suspect is happening is that this program was developed on the keyboardless vz-16m and is sending a "local off" code by accident.

Or am I just being stupid?

There's not much of a manual to have RTF'd!

hope youse can help

Niall


Name: Patrick Fridh
Email:
synthesite@hotmail.com
Friday 10th November 10:19 am U.K. Time

I'm not very happy to see that you've ripped my patches from my site (Synthesite) and put them up here (intomill) - they're "Into The Next Millenium" and my copyrighted sounds. Please put up a link to my site instead - it's at http://hem.passagen.se/sequence - of course, I'm happy to see that there's more VZ users out there, but please, give respect to other people's work. Thanks.

Name: M!chael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Friday 10th November 3:28 pm U.K. Time

Hi Patrick,

in your august-mail the word 'free' could have been misunderstood by Steve.

M!chael

Name: patrick fridh Email: synthesite@hotmail.com Sunday 22nd August 12:58 am U.K. Time If you want new cool VZ sounds, don't miss my patches. Check here: http://hem1.passagen.se/sequence - and hey - they're free! Just click on the banners a few times, and I'll survive, too.


Name: PVF
Email:
da1976er@hotmail.com
Monday 13th November 2:02 pm U.K. Time

'sup... I use a HS1 from Hohner (which is the same as FZ/VZ 1) and my question is about scrtchin w/samples. How can I do that scratchin while playing a sample ? See, my problem is, that when my HS in scratch mode, it makes no sound when I only press a key, but makes scratchin sounds w/pitch bend, BUT I want to play that sample AND scratch it while it plays, just like I'd to that w/vinyls. How can I do that ? Is that possible anyway ? Please help a green rapper, um soo frustrated.

P P


Name: Steve
Email:
Stephen@Marillion.net
Monday 20th November 3:23 pm U.K. Time

I saw two Casio VZ-8M sound modules (rack mount) last weekend in a second-hand shop in Kingston-on-Thames (Surrey, UK) for 95 UK pounds each. If anybody wants any more details of where the shop was derop me a line and I'll describe it's location (I can't remember the name or address!)

Name: Martin Tauchen
Email:
Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de
Tuesday 21st November 7:21 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

the Mac-editor for the VZ-1 has reached a stage,where it works sometimes and sometimes not. The problems are known,and I am working on it. The Editor for itselves is still not in Beta-version.To many trouble with the special Casio-Mode.

Anyway,I see the final lap for the Editor-and if it is not enough for you.Beside the VZ-Editor I am also developing Midi-Software for the NEWTON(Ex.Apple). So a conversion will run up from Newton 120 to 2000 !

Isn´t it nice to have an Editor in the palm of your hands ?

Marty


Name: Graeme Jaye
Email:
graemejaye@iname.com
Friday 15th December 12:40 am U.K. Time

Hi guys

I've just acquired a VZ-8M, unfortunately without a manual. I have no idea how to make this thing work and I can't find anywhere online with a manual available.

Can anyone help me find one, or supply a photocopy? I'll cover the costs, of course. Please write diret to graemejaye@iname.com.

Many thanks


Name: chris hutter
Email:
chris.hutter@poplife.ch
Thursday 21st December 10:40 am U.K. Time

Hi my VZ-10m's display is very faded. Does anybody know where i could get a new one? Also, i'm still looking for a copy of a manual for my VZ-10m (of course i'll pay for it).

Thanks Chris


Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Friday 22nd December 1:36 pm U.K. Time

Hi Chris!

There is a German company which is selling displays for some samplers and synths including Casio VZ-10M and FZ-1 for about 25 US-$ (50 DM). The URL is http://www.midi-rakete.de/ . But I haven't dealt with them so far...

Daniel


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Sunday 31st December 4:10 pm U.K. Time

Manual seekers,

In the USA, Casio Inc has been very good about providing manuals for their "old" synth products. You might try contacting the main Casio office where you live, if that doesn't work then try contacting Casio in theUSA(thier main office is in New Jersey).

Jon


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.SPAMLESS.uk
Thursday 11th January 10:35 am U.K. Time

Chris: Faded display? It's not unusual for the backlight to fail after a number of years, but if the display is merely faded then I assume that you have tried adjusting the contrast ? (Hold down the DISPLAY button while moving the data slider to adjust the contrast).

Name: J.R.
Email:
musicman1@ovation.net
Friday 12th January 7:47 am U.K. Time

Back when I used to use an Atari ST for sequencing I saw so many, many programs and patch librarians for the Casio CZs and VZs. I never owned one, though. Now, with my interests leaning towards fleshing out my newer equipment with vintage pieces, I am very interested. Since I don't want any more keyboards (space is now limited), I am interested in either the VZ8m or VZ10m.

I have some questions. What is the actual difference between the two? I read the VZ8m is a "scaled down" version of the VZ10m, but don't know what that means exactly. I have seen a VZ8m or two on eBay lately, and I used to see VZ10m units. I still have my ST (although I do my sequencing on a MAC now because of digital audio needs), so if that's the only free/shareware editor I can get, that would be fine.

Mainly, if anyone can give me a little steer, that would be great. I will try to return to see if anyone has responded, but if you could email me directly at musicman1@ovation.net, that would really help, in case I get distracted.

Thanks for any and all information... including leads on units for sale! I live in Texas, USA.


Name: Douger
Email:
bluesjam@flash.net
Saturday 13th January 7:20 pm U.K. Time

Just bought a VZ-1 from a pawn shop here in Fort Worth, TX This thing is in really good shape. Very low time. No scratches or dings anywhere. Came with a sound card but I am not very familar with the board at all. Don't play a lot of boards but need them for a few songs in the band. Found most of the sounds I need but, I really need to know more about the keyboard and how to change the parameters. Anyone know where I could find an owners manual or anything that could help me? Thanks in advance.

Doug Fort Worth, TX


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.SPAMLESS.uk
Monday 15th January 12:18 pm U.K. Time

Second hand music shop near station at Kingston-on-Thames (Surrey, UK) still has two VZ-8M rackmount sound modules for sale at 95 quid each.

Name: Douglas Miller
Email:
bluesjam99@hotmail.com
Friday 19th January 8:02 pm U.K. Time

FOR SALE...VZ-1 with Card in fantastic condition. I know this is supposed to be a pretty good keyboard but, it is not what I am really looking for. I am no programing wizard, just a simple keyboard player. I would prefer something simple that gets a really rich string sound like a Roland Juno-106. It's for sale for $350 with soft case or I will consider a trade for a Roland Juno-106 or some type board that gets a really great 80's type string sound that is also in fantastic condition. Please spread the word. Thanks in advance. If you need a picture of the board just drop me a line. I live in the North Texas(Fort Worth/Dallas) area if you would like to work a trade or just meet me to pick it up that's okay too. If you live a few hours away I can arrange to meet you half way. Otherwise, buyer pays all shipping and insurance in the U.S only. Sorry, no international shipping.

Thanks, Doug


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Saturday 27th January 1:40 pm U.K. Time

JR, The differences between are the 10 and the 8 are: 1) VZ-10m has a graphical display, the 8m doesn't 2) VZ-10m (& VZ-1) has 2X the polyphony of the VZ8m, the 8m is a scaled down version of the 10m in this sense. 3) The 8m has a guitar mode and a wind mode for use with those types of MIDI controllers, this is cool if you're into this kind of thing. 4) The 8m is much better at creating a stereo signal than the 10m(and VZ-1), on the 10's you must use up polyphony to create stereo effects on the 8's you don't necessarilry have to, this is a BIG improvement. 5) Up to 8 8m's may be linked together to create up to 64 voices of iPD madness!! Never tried this myself, but a 64 voice iPD synth would be fun!!

Conclusion: IMHO I think the 8m is a little better, if only for the stereo features, but I think that I would feel differently if I didn't do my patch editing on the PC. Assuming the link function on the 8m works well you could string two 8m's together and get the same polyphony as the 10m. Also just to make this advide credible I got to tell you that I own and love both models of VZ. Hope you find this useful.

Jon


Name: Warren
Email:
flibfree@worldnet.att.net
Friday 2nd February 6:49 am U.K. Time

Hello everybody, About dim screens - there is a real easy and cheap solution. I bought a bendable light that I shine right on the display and then you can read it fine. The light shows the lettering perfectly... So, even though it isn't back lit any more you can easily see what you are doing. Best, Warren :)))~~~

Name: Warren
Email:
flibfree@worldnet.att.net
Friday 2nd February 7:51 am U.K. Time

Uh, have been trying out the latest version of the patch editor and it never seems to give me any sound... What am I doing wrong? It loads banks and send patches right, but I have no idea what they sound like... Using a VZ-10m...Thanks for the help... Feel free to email me direct if you want... Best, Warren :)))~~~

Name: Chris Hutter
Email:
chris.hutter@poplife.ch
Friday 2nd February 2:09 pm U.K. Time

Faded displays: I followed the hint from Daniel Appelt on this chat page about the German Company http://www.midi-rakete.de/ and ordered a new foil for ma VZ10m. I really can recommend it. It doesn't cost a fortune and the display shines as a new one. thanks again Daniel.

Name: Doug Huseby
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Monday 5th February 2:11 am U.K. Time

Jon,

Could you explain how the VZ-8m creates a stereo signal differently than the 10m?

Thanks, Doug H


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Monday 5th February 3:38 am U.K. Time

Doug H, I'll try..here it goes: The VZ synth engine isn't really capable of producing a stereo signal. Mostly this is due to a lack of an on board effects processor. When you program a "Voice" and are in "Normal" mode the same exact signal is sent to the left and right outputs. When in "Combi" mode you have the option of specifying which output a single "Voice" is routed to. You can get stereo effects here but it comes at the cost of using up a seperate "Voice" for each channel...that eats up polyphony fast. So on the VZ-1 and VZ-10m you gotta be very careful about stereo vs polyphony. The Vz-8m improves on this by adding the "Pan" effect on a combi setup, allowing the VZ to respond to the MIDI pan controller or use an auto pan effect. It's pretty cool and very useful, big improvement over the Vz-1/10m and CZ-1 which pretty much force you to do stereo stuff at the external effects or mixer level. Hope that helped.....

Jon jonwest@i-c.net


Name: Doug Huseby
Email:
huseby@poky.srv.net
Saturday 10th February 3:26 am U.K. Time

Jon,

Ah, very cool! Thanks for the info. Now I'm wishing I kept my VZ-8m! Oh well, my 10m will have to do for now.


Name: Harry
Email:
Harry@intrioduction.com
Saturday 24th February 10:30 am U.K. Time

Hi VZ Lovers !!! I have a lot of RAM CARDS RA 500 for you.

Send me an offer how much and for what price than I can think about it and mail you back.

Thanks


Name: todd
Email:
toypiano@reed.edu
Saturday 3rd March 8:34 pm U.K. Time

HElP :) Hi, I have vz-10m. I am having some trouble. I don't have a manual, and I usually don't need them. I can't figure out how to use their whole cursor etc system. Essentially I am asking how do you edit this thing? I know about fm synthesis and stuff I just can't get the button thing down. You would think you would just have like 4 cursor buttons and an enter but that would be too easy. So can someone give me the basics of how to edit this thing. :) thanks todd. I would just use the software program but I cant turn on the function it needs to do so :(

Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Sunday 4th March 7:50 pm U.K. Time

hi todd.

the vz-1 and vz-10m use 3 different menus to edit sounds and other stuff. there are 4 buttons labeled "menu 1", ..., "menu 3" and "play". press "menu 1" to edit the first menu (okay, this was obvious :) ), now you can use the "+" and "-" buttons or the value slider to go to different menu pages of menu 1. if you have found the right page press "menu 1" again and now you can edit all the parameters which are presented by the selected menu page...

hope this helps,

daniel


Name: paco
Email:
pacolaguna@hotmail.com
Sunday 4th March 9:48 pm U.K. Time

hi there

...how many vz users!!!...i never expected there was a page like this, but i can realize now that im not alone with this crazy and lovely machine... just wanted to express my surprise... by the way...where are the best patches?


Name: MANDALA-MUSIC (Baltimore, USA)
Email:
raul.altoja@sba.gov
Monday 5th March 10:39 pm U.K. Time

I have 2 VZ-8M's and both of them have dead internal batteries. I reset them to factory preset condition by holding down the "write" button upon power up. (I assume the VZ-10M has a similar reset function). Then I either use cards or midi to reload the internal bank with sounds other than the presets.

I used to have a local tech who replaced my Casio batteries for me. But a couple of big music store chains (lower on price of new gear but not interesting in repairing your old gear) came in and now I have to go to Washington, DC to get work done and they won't work on Casios. My question is has anyone opened either a VZ-8M or VZ-10M to find out if the batteries are the watch battery type you can slide out or are they the soldered in type that you have to know what you are doing to remove and replace?

By the way, here in the US the battery used in the RA-500 Ram Cards is hard to find but they can be found if you are persistent. In my area, there is a chain called battery warehouse that carries them.


Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Tuesday 6th March 4:27 pm U.K. Time

Yeah the internal battery on my VZ-8m went out awhile back too. I opened the thing up and found that the origianal battery was sort of "riveted" to the cicuit board, it was a pain to remove. I managed to get another one in there but it was a real pain. Now after 2 years of the new battery its dead to so I guess I need to go through this all again. Its not hard to replace the battery it's just a pain. My RA500's are beginning to fade out also. Does anyone know what batteries are compatible with the VZs and RA500s?

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 12th March 5:22 pm U.K. Time

I hope the battery in mine doesn't die! Two years seems like a very short time for the replacement to last- are these batteries expensive?

I've just been trying out the demo of Emagic's Sound Diver 3 on the Mac . It took a bit of fiddling about to get it to work properly, but it gives the VZ a new lease of life. I found it much easier to make the sounds I wanted, for example, for ages I had a sort of bass sound that would've made a nice electric piano. Using Sound Diver I was able to do this in minutes. Of course, reading the Power Play VZ book also helped!

has anyone here tried Motu's Unisyn? I tried X-Or, which is the older version. The VZ profile hasn't been updated since that was around, and I found quite a few bugs in it, such as envelope stage 8 missing!


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.SPAMLESS.uk
Monday 12th March 6:31 pm U.K. Time

Two years is very short for the battery. You have to be very careful when replacing them - they don't hold much charge (they don't use much) but it is easy to inadvertently short it out when installing it and reduce its life by years. - For example, if the battery has to be soldered in place then using an earthed soldering iron will discharge the battery if one of the battery terminals happens to be connected to earth - best to use a portable/gas soldering iron. You should never touch the terminals of the battery if possible - even the grease off your fingers, if it bridges the terminals, can reduce the life of small batteries significantly.

Name: Jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Thursday 15th March 4:13 am U.K. Time

I thought it died a little too quickly also. I think what actually happened was that I cooked the battery a little too much with the soldering iron when I put it in. It was hard getting a good join with the solder to the mounting pins. I think that next time I replace the battery I will try to install a plastic battery mounting bracket to make it easier. Does anyone know of a good source of brackets and batteries for these intruments?

Jon


Name: M!chael
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Thursday 22nd March 11:57 am U.K. Time

Hello Jon

you need special batteries with solder tails (fixed mounting pins; german: Loetfahne) to replace the batteries in your VZ-8.

I bought a BR2032-IHM (3V, Loetfahnen) in a special battery-shop.

To replace the batterie I plugged off all connections and removed the circuit-board. I think there was a little plug which connected the battery with the circuit. I unplugged it. I replaced the battery soldereing on the back-side of the board. Then I assembled all parts and my VZ-8 worked as it did before.

bye, M!chael

I thought it died a little too quickly also. I think what actually happened was that I cooked the battery a little too much with the soldering iron when I put it in. It was hard getting a good join with the solder to the mounting pins. I think that next time I replace the battery I will try to install a plastic battery mounting bracket to make it easier. Does anyone know of a good source of brackets and batteries for these intruments?

Jon


Name: Richard Holland
Email:
richard@sundown00.freeserve.co.uk
Wednesday 28th March 7:00 pm U.K. Time

I understand that VZ Casio RAM/ROM cards fit the PG380 Synth Guitar. Does anyone know a supplier that would deliver to the United Kingdom. (I'm looking for some good 'brass' sounds)?

cheers,

Richard Holland


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.SPAMLESS.uk
Thursday 29th March 10:48 am U.K. Time

The EZVZ site is currently in the process of changing service providers. This chat page is staying the same, but some people may have difficulty with accessing the main site during the transfer. If so, try this address instead http://www.steveandsally.freeserve.co.uk/casio

Name: frans traut
Email:
ftraut@hotmail.com
Thursday 29th March 10:56 am U.K. Time

Is there anybody on this net,that can help me to obtain a manual for my casio vz1. Another problem i experience at this moment,is while playing the sound disapear and wil come back in 30seconds. Where i stay in Cape Town South Africa, info,and assistance is not existing.Thankyou Frans.

Name: jay
Email:
jaybird399@msn.com
Friday 13th April 12:35 am U.K. Time

can anyone help me with the operating procedures for my digitech dsp 128+ i bought used today? (with no manual) Ii.e. schematics, programs, anything cool.

Name: Eric
Email:
vz_1@bellsouth.net
Thursday 19th April 3:11 pm U.K. Time

Hi all, I bought a VZ_1 and it didnt have a memory card. The sounds it has are okay but I need to add my own. Anyone know where to get one? Email me if so plz.

Thx

Eric


Name: the Whiz
Email:
thewhiz@hotmail.com
Friday 20th April 5:07 am U.K. Time

Since I see that several have mentioned the VZ RAM card, does anyone know if there is an initialization sequence that must be performed after changing the battery in the card? I have two cards, and neither works after the battery change.

BTW, Marty, how's the Mac editor going? As accustomed as I've grown to using the front panel, with its occasional display freakouts, I would probably use a computer editor with my VZ10Ms and VZ8M...


Name: Steve
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.SPAMLESS.uk
Friday 20th April 9:15 am U.K. Time

I think there IS an initialisation required on the VZ Ram Card but I can't remember it (as I don't have one) and I don't have the manual immediately to hand. Either it is on one of the menus (Menu 3 most likely) or I have this vague recollection that if you try to perform a factory reset on the machine it prompts you to reset either the internal memeory or the card. I can't remember how you do a factory reset though - isn't there a button labelled "initialise" on the front panel somewhere?

Name: ian spooner
Email:
anna.spooner@ns.sympaatico.ca
Sunday 22nd April 12:07 am U.K. Time

Hi: I have a VZ that I got for next to nothing...reason being it is missing 6 black keys (the upper 6) and middle C has this annoying tendency to repeat itself if you hit the key in a certain way. I'd love to find a supplier to replace the keys (and springs), does anyone know of one (I think I could do the repair myself?) As well, any hints on.how to fix the middle C problem. If there was a repair shop in Canada or the US that I could send it to I would consider it! Any advice or suggestions from experienced VZers would be much appreciated! Ian

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 23rd April 8:43 am U.K. Time

The middle C problem may just require cleaning some contacts inside. I've never taken mine apart though, so I can't tell you how easy that is.

For the record, since this chat page began, nobody has ever mentioned a source of Casio VZ spares as far as I recall, other than a company in Germany that can supply the flourescent light/film to repair the display panel if the backlight fails.


Name: Roland Fiveash
Email:
rolandfiveash@hotmail.com
Monday 23rd April 2:57 pm U.K. Time

Give me the power. HELP does anyboby have a copy of the much acclaimed VZ1 powerplay. Happy to pay and can also collect if in the southeast. Steve, patch editor is the biz.

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Wednesday 25th April 6:55 pm U.K. Time

Eric- you don't need a card to store new sounds??

Frans- You should try to get the "powerplay VZ" book; the casio manual is not much help.

What would people here think of the ethics of me scanning the powerplay book to make it available to all? I'd probably make a PDF, but I've never done that before! It would make an interesting project while I wait for my college results. As long as I don't charge for it it's not, strictly speaking, illegal...

There's no way I'd part with my copy! I just bought Emaigic Sound Diver (Mac) and now I'm getting some quite decent sounds of my own. Perhaps I'll post these up for free in the summer...

MY QUESTION- does anyone remember an 88 note weighted version of the VZ? I remember photos of a bigger "pro" Casio synth, but I can't find anything about it on the web. Anyone have any ideas?

Incidentally, someone in London is selling a CZ-1 on the Sound on Sound site, for £100!!! The same price as a CZ-101. I suppose the 101 is a lot cuter...


Name: Roger
Email:
paulman5@yahoo.com
Wednesday 25th April 8:44 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone have ANY info on obtaining ROm cards for the VZ synths?? I cannot seem to find any.

Thanks to everyone!


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Thursday 26th April 9:13 am U.K. Time

I think most people on this site would gladly pay for a copy of VZ Power Play if only they could find one. I've heard of people in the US coming across copies in remainder or second-hand bookshops, but never anybody here in the UK. If I could get my hands on a photocopy or scanned version I would happily post the cover price to the Author. Nobody could complain about that!

Name: Roland Fiveash
Email:
rolandfiveash@hotmail.com
Thursday 26th April 9:40 am U.K. Time

Tom I understand the ethics, it's not as if you can obtain it since it's been out of print for so long, I even tried to get it from the states six years ago before big time WWW. I think it would be an honourable thing to print if not in full then any relivant parts such as the mystery of KF. Via Steve's editor I've made what I think are some wicked voices, as you say the user manual is crap as are most of the onboard sounds. When you listen to the banks that have been submitted to this site, you realise some of the potential of the VZ, I have about another twenty voices to create then I will submit my bank. With reagard payment can't you charge for your overheads? Steve just seen your post, there must be an easy solution to this.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Thursday 26th April 1:25 pm U.K. Time

If anybody can find me an address (snail mail or email) where I can get in contact with the author(s) or publishers then I will gladly write to them on behalf of this group and request permission to either upload a scanned version of the book or to distribute photocopied versions. We can at least ask.....

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Thursday 26th April 2:40 pm U.K. Time

I have found the contact details of the publisher of the Powerplay VZ book and have just faxed them a letter requesting permission to upload and/or photocopy the book. Fingers crossed....

Name: Oswald Wolkenstein
Email:
Pisang@gmx.de
Friday 27th April 10:27 pm U.K. Time

Hi VeeZee-cracks,

I use the VZ1 still in my Setup.Not for simulating real instruments, but for some special sounds,wich only a VZ can produce. The iPD synthesis has a lot to offer in resulting sounds.But it needs to undertstand the the architecture of the VZ.The manual shipped with it kept everything open,like a blank sheet of paper.I missed a clear description of the iPD and complete architecture of the VZ. Maybe Casio thought at that time,the user should be free.But with no special help the User gets lost. The VZ1 is a synth.A pure synth.When it was launched,the Sampler and Rom Players were the thing everyone wanted.Synths at that time were a compromise to this fashion.Not real synths,but also not samplers. Analog synths had later a rebirth.Original or Virtual. Synthesis like FM or iPD were going down.Unfortunately. Both systems have stilla lot to offer in fresh new sounds. What we hear now is mostly a step back to the old analog times. Old and simple sounds,with a much better handling.

The early digitals only,like FM DX7,VZ1 or Kawai K5 were a step forward.

The VZ1 came out,when the fashion for such synths was over.The bad luck was,that the Presets tried to imitate natural instruments. The user could not get an idea,what the VZ really is able to produce. Plus the weird user manual,it could not have any chance at that time. Nevertheless the VZ1 is still able to produce some extraordinary sounds. And soundrouting is still amazing on this old machine.But never try to let it sound like an imitation of somewhat.This will dissappoint. No one asks,that a Minimoog should sound like a Sampler. So let the VZ1 be the VZ1.Then it will offer great sounds.It needs only some practice.

Few months ago I met a guy,who was developing a Mac-Editor for the VZ1.He told me tha he has still some troubles with it. The intersting thing was,that he had a nearly final Editor for the Newton PDA.As I use also a Newton,we came into dialogue.The demostration of it was quite amazing.Easy to use and it worked nearly perfect. It had still some bugs. He told me,that he is still busy for the Mac Editor and the final Newton version. Unfortunately I could not get a contact to him anymore.

Does anyone know,if he has launched this Software(Freeware).It would be a great help in editing sounds.

Oswald


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Monday 30th April 9:33 am U.K. Time

Looking back in the Chat page archive, Martin Tauchen, who gave his email address as Pohon-Kelapa@t-online.de, said that he was developing a MAC editor a few months back.

Name: James Black
Email:
miasma@corporateSPAMdirtbag.com
Monday 30th April 8:22 pm U.K. Time

The mystery of KF - This is the key follow parameter and can be used to set the rate and level of the pitch and amplitude EGs be changed by the key you press. For a graphic read out press DISPLAY (this also works on the envelope pages). Changing pitch KF can create some weird non standard tunings, BUT, these depend on the SUS level of the pitch EG.

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 1st May 11:15 pm U.K. Time

Great! I love it when people DO things...well done Steve!! (again!) After the 24th of this month I'm free of all studies, so I'll attack the VZ issue if we get permission. BTW I don't mind doing it for free- getting payed for it is more hassle than it's worth. I shall start experimenting with scanning...only the most important pages of course.

Interesting thing#1: Powerplay claims that a VZ-8m has an overflow mode that allows it to be used as a polyphony expander for a VZ-1. Add four VZ-8s for 64 voice polyphony! And VZ-8s are very cheap these days...

#2: I got my book from Canada. Some kind soul on the Gasstation told me he had seen a copy in his local music shop, and gave me their number. I never rang them! But one day I searched for their website, and they'd just made one. So I emailed them, whipped out the credit card and voila! Twas meant 2B....


Name: Steve Welburn
Email:
steve@spiky.co.uk
Wednesday 16th May 4:26 pm U.K. Time

Having had a VZ8m for a while now, I've now picked up a VZ1 (my old Siel DK80 has finally given up the ghost, so it's time for a new antique to join the collection...). Only problem is a lack of a manual... Most of it I can crib from the VZ8m manual, with a few guesses based on the sysex manual to figure out the differences (e.g. VZ8m combis can use 8 voices, VZ1 combis only use 4 ?). Any suggestions as to a source for a manual [shame Casio don't have the equivalent of the wondeful Yamaha on-line manual library, which keeps the rest of my kit documented...] ?

Not sure how recently this chat page was in use, as the message dates don't feature years...

Otherwise, hi all!


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Thursday 17th May 10:13 am U.K. Time

Hi Steve, welcome to the group. This group may not be incredibly busy, but the quality of ther contributions is high. I regret to say that since the group started a few years ago I do not recall anybody specifically mentioning any source of VZ manuals, though the full archive is available on line (from the archive link at the top of this page) if you've got the time to read it all.

I did manage to obtain a VZ1 service manual last year from a company now trading at http://www.netmusicwarehouse.com/ (based in Bognor Regis I think, in UK) but I'm afraid I had terrible trouble with them cashing my cheque and not getting delivery for months and months. I had to continually hassle them, but they did eventually come up with the goods (and, to be fair, sent me a refund as well for all the trouble) but I had all but written-off the money as my first internet shopping disaster. I therefore do not feel able to recommend them, but at the end of the day I know of no other source for Casio manuals (user and/or service manuals). Caveat Emptor ("buyer beware").


Name: Steve Welburn
Email:
steve@spiky.co.uk
Thursday 17th May 11:47 am U.K. Time

P.S : What's happened to the main Easy-VeeZee web-site... it doesn't seem to be accessable...

Name: Steve Welburn
Email:
steve@spiky.co.uk
Thursday 17th May 12:05 pm U.K. Time

Possibly of interest to others out there (if they haven't already found it) is http://www.law.emory.edu/fedcircuit/jan96/95-1099.html which covers Casio fighting the US government over what duty was need when importing VZs...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Friday 18th May 9:34 am U.K. Time

Main site had been suspended due to me not logging into it for a month or two, but is now back.

Name: esgar
Email:
quetzalamor@.com.hotmail
Sunday 20th May 8:27 am U.K. Time

wanted 1pick up casio pg380 tijuana mexico please send me your email or tips store or somthing tank you

Name: esgar
Email:
quetzalamor@.com.hotmail
Sunday 20th May 8:33 am U.K. Time

my pick up veezee please send me tips adress stores phone numbers

Name: www.mp3.com/ixtlan
Email:
yoggaa@hotmail.com
Monday 21st May 8:53 pm U.K. Time

Whell!! I did take a big one and started to make some weird noise. It was fun! Listen to it!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.com
Tuesday 22nd May 9:34 am U.K. Time

Interesting music, but sadly nothing to do with the Casio VZ as far as I can ascertain.

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Friday 25th May 4:49 pm U.K. Time

http://www.45drive.com/

Steve, check out the mp3s here. "Brains" features my VZ Wurli patch through a DOD fuzz (it's the main "riff") and "Mediteranea" features the "Syn Choir" preset.

Just finished al exams, so will start scanning the book ASAP. But first, we have a few gigs to do. Gonna bring my VZ to a real studio for the first time, doing a radio session for the national broadcaster (RTE).


Name: JPhype
Email:
hackmaimkill@hotmail.com
Friday 1st June 8:53 pm U.K. Time

Tom Mulcahy wrote:

"Brains" features my VZ Wurli patch through a DOD fuzz (it's the main "riff")"

Hmmm. I could swear I detect a bit of Aphex 108 compression in there, too... I was shocked by "Mediterrania," actually... That sounded like a great song... Something I'd actually buy!

-- jp


Name: Todd S.
Email:
xpander@ev1.net
Friday 8th June 6:39 pm U.K. Time

I am a VZ8m owner (sold my CZ-1 this year)- and I used to program the VZ10m manually in the early 90's. I have listened to every ROM sound that Casio released for the VZ's (Power, Tokyo, etc...) and produced a bank of my own that was sold commercially for awhile. (I have a current - new bank for the VZ8m that I need to post- and share as soon as I get off my a*#).

For those of you who are new to the VZ I'd like to share a few comments on my assesment of iPD based on my own experience.

The VZ is not just different from FM- to my ears it is inferior. -you heard right- I said inferior (yes it's only my opinion). Why would I say such a thing about my beloved VZ ? - well- I tend to use my TX81z more than my VZ. But the TX is 12 bit and the VZ is 16 bit- should'nt the VZ be a little better ?- yes it should- but it really lacks the BITE you get from FM (that's the best word I can think of to describe it). I would actually prefer to have a rackmount 16 bit CZ-1 with 16 voices over a VZ10m/8m (I sold my CZ-1 cause I needed the space). The ring mod and pseudo PWM from a CZ is better (to my ears) than the ring mod and PD on a VZ. The VZ can still make some good sounds- and I have spent so much time programming the VZ that I can't give the darn thing up- but since I have so many other synths I find that the VZ makes it into my compisitions less and less these days. So what good is it ?- the VZ is one of the best electronic sounding Bargain synths you can find today- and it is a real challange to program.

PS- this is a great website- thanks for the forum !


Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Saturday 9th June 6:46 pm U.K. Time

jphype- thanks for the compliments! Funny you should mention the Aphex 108. I didn't use it on the keyboard, but I might have used it on the kik drum and the vocals. How can you tell? It's great for an analogue compressor- excellent accross the main outs of a PA. Incredible VFM. If you want to buy, just send a check. I know thw site is crap at the mo, but we're working on it, and getting credit card, as well as lots of more serious things I can't go into.

I must say I disagree with the FM comments. Yes, it's true that there's more bite in the Yamahas- you can get great bass sounds and tearing leads. Check out Les Rhythmes Digitales for example. A Yamaha FM synth is probably more useful than a VZ, and I would LOVE to get my hands on a CZ101, or a CZ1, having owned a CZ5000. However, I've yet to hear any Yamaha do sweeps and pads quite as well as the VZ. And the Wurlitzer on the VZ is unbeatable! I also think that the VZ1 has a nicer keyboard than either the DX-7 or DX-7II. But, I'm definitely gonna get that FM synth VST instrument as soon as it's stable. I'm using the PPG Wave at the mo, and it's wonderful!


Name: JPhype
Email:
hackmaimkill@hotmail.com
Monday 11th June 10:08 pm U.K. Time

T. Mulcahy wrote:

"Funny you should mention the Aphex 108. I didn't use it on the keyboard, but I might have used it on the kik drum and the vocals. How can you tell?"

I was just pulling your leg -- read your mention of it on the studio diary on your website. I've never used any sort of analogue compressor, myself... not through boycott, but through lack of experimentation.

"If you want to buy, just send a check."

I will. I'm "between jobs" at the moment, but as soon as I'm once again blessed with "disposable funds," I'll send some money your way. Curious to hear the rest of that song, and others. My favorite parts of "Mediterrania" are the "Syn Choir" chords -- which remind me slightly of echoes of "Video Killed the Radio Star" or some other Trevor Horn song -- and the combination of the crunching guitar and vocal harmonies on the "the curfew was at seven" part. I could listen to that part over and over again -- don't get tired of it. It sounds perfectly uplifting and melancholy at the same time.

-- Jeremy


Name: Luis Prado
Email:
lprado@dynamo.com.ar
Tuesday 26th June 2:52 am U.K. Time

Hi, can I use the pacths for other synth from Casio (ie:CZ and V8 in the VZ-1?

Where can I find ROM Cards for the VZ-1

Thank's


Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 26th June 4:32 pm U.K. Time

All the ROMs are available for download from this site. The CZ series is not compatible with the VZ, so you can't transfer patches. I try every so often to match up the parameters from my old CZ patches and get them into the VZ, but it hasn't worked so far. To simulate one CZ line, you need to use two VZ modules in phase mode. Theoretically, a VZ "Normal" is equivalent to 4 CZ patches, if the CZ patches use one line. Most use two lines though.

My main difficulty is in the envelopes, It doesn't seem to be possible to just copy the values, even though the SEEM to work in the same way. This could be an interesting discussion!

PS I have yet to scan the PowerPlay book. Email me if you feel I need encouragement...


Name: jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Wednesday 27th June 1:59 am U.K. Time

Tom, the CZ and the VZ basically use the same type of synthesis method but the VZ's distortion is modulated by other oscillators while the CZ's phase distortion is hard coded by the selected algorithm (or waveform)that's why the two don't sound alike. So even though they are very similar they wind up sounding very different.

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Saturday 30th June 7:15 pm U.K. Time

Thanks! That's a good explanation. I should've known- the CZ has some unique waveforms, particularly the resonance setting. The VZ can't really do that sort of sound at all. So I still need a CZ-101 then...

Name: jon
Email:
jonwest@i-c.net
Monday 2nd July 12:52 am U.K. Time

yup you'll need the old CZ. Really thought there's never really been a replacement for the CZ anyway! = )

Name: Tom‡s Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Saturday 7th July 11:15 pm U.K. Time

Just got an old copy of Opcode Galaxy, the librarian program. I stored all my CZ5000 patches with that freeware Mac app "CZ Librarian 3.0". This was an exercise in C libraries, that doesn't work with anything later than Mac OS 7.6! Fortunately, it saved in Opcode Galaxy format. So now I just need to save up for a CZ101. I have some projects on the way that may make me a lot of money. Maybe I'll get a CZ1...

I sampled my best sounds on my old Yamaha TX16W- I have these in my ESI4000, only about 15, and not multisampled. It's very easy to emulate a CZ on a sampler, once you sample the waveforms properly.


Name: lowpass
Email:
none@nope.net
Tuesday 10th July 10:05 am U.K. Time

HELP!!!!

I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF AN OWNERS MANUAL FOR THE CASIO VZ8M!

I can't find anything one the net on this module.. Anyone with some tips? Thankz!


Name: clop
Email:
groat33@yahoo.co.uk
Thursday 12th July 1:46 pm U.K. Time

I have a CZ1, VZ1, CZ1000, HT700, PT-1, VL-1, PT-20, PT-87, CZ230S. And I hate football and I hate milk puddings.

Name: Studiomonkey looking for RAM cards
Email:
spdrmnky@pacbell.net
Tuesday 17th July 5:50 am U.K. Time

So, where does one go to buy or make a RAM card (e.g. RC-500) for the VZ line. There has to be a source, someplace, or a work-around.

Thanks for the help.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 6th August 11:28 am U.K. Time

Please note that the address of this chat page has changed. Please change your bookmarks to http://www.chat-page.com/easyveezee

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 14th August 9:56 pm U.K. Time

The "no RAM card" workaround is- Steve's VZ patch for PC (For Mac you'll have to buy one- Emagic Sound Diver is the best). There's no better way to organise your patches than with a computer based editor/Librarian.

For those seeking VZ manuals- the scanning of PowerPaly VZ is a work in progress...


Name: Dominic
Email:
dominic@portstewart.com
Thursday 23rd August 11:14 pm U.K. Time

Hi, My RAM card ( RA 500 ) has been losing it's memory and I have replaced the battery and formatted the card and then reloaded my sounds back on, but it loses them again. Does anyone know what might be wrong? Also, could someone tell me how to save my edited sounds on my PC ( or some other medium ) as I'm afraid of losing them. Thank you, Dominic.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 24th August 9:51 am U.K. Time

Dominic, if you have a PC with a MIDI interface then just download my VZ Patch Editting Program, on the accompanying page (click the EZVZ Web Page link at the top of this page). There's also hundreds of patches available there for download.

Name: Dave
Email:
davenow@hotmail.com
Monday 3rd September 9:15 am U.K. Time

I recently got hold of a PG380 midi guitar, does anyone have any VG1 ROM cards they no longer require, as I would like to have more sounds available. Shame it doesnt have midi in, then I could have just put in the patches from this very informative site. On another note, the internal synth seems very noisy, with noticeable distortion on the decay of the note, is this normal?

Cheers

Dave


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 3rd September 5:23 pm U.K. Time

Welcom Dave! Yes, the VZ/PG synths can be quite noisy- but no more so that other digital synths of the same era, especially Yamaha's DX series. There's actually a noise gate in the audio outs, which also accounts for the VZs lack of bottom end "punch"- because it reduces the maximum attack time.

In practice this is not a problem- I've been using VZ sounds for a few years now, and even when they are solo in a recording, the noise is not obtrusive at all.

You are the proud owner of one of the best MIDI guitars ever made!

Just to let everyone know, I've sent an email to Steve de Furia to ask if he's interested in making Powerplay available for free...


Name: Razunil
Email:
mike.gingold@blueyonder.co.uk
Tuesday 4th September 2:37 am U.K. Time

Hi Does anyone know of a VZ10/VZ10M editor/librarian program that will run on a Mac?

Name: chuck
Email:
n6xf@aol.com
Tuesday 4th September 10:53 pm U.K. Time

I said OK, sold, when I recently found my vz-1 on consinment sale for $50 bucks. I already had a pg-380 and a rom card for it. I am using the card sounds (RC-100)and the sounds are great, but I am ready to get started learning how to utilize the patch programing or building. I would like to buy an owners manual or any other how-to information. I also would like some technical books on the mechanical repairs and adjustments. It looks like someone used parts from the high f#, g#, and a# keys to repair some of the lower keys as they are bottomed out. I also have an intermintent key, low b flat. I still have an old 20mhz scope around here somewhere, thanks for any help, chuck

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Wednesday 5th September 10:47 am U.K. Time

Welcome to the group, Chuck. There is only one non-casio publication for the VZ synths, which is "Power Play Vz : The Essential Guide to Practical Applications. (Casio : Vz-1, Va-10M,Vz-8M)" by Steve De Furia and Joe Scacciaferro. It is out of print and very difficult to find. I don't have one.

You are going to have difficulty without the manual, but it's not impossible. Download my VZ Patch Editor from the accompanying page (link at top of this page), which might make it a bit easier. There seems to be a lot of people on this group who need a manual and, of course, nobody who has a spare. There are some companies that specialise in supplying old manuals but I don't know any to recommend. You might find one with an internet search, if you're lucky. There is also a Casio VZ1 service manual. I have a copy. They are probably quite rare too.


Name: chuck
Email:
n6xf@aol.com
Thursday 6th September 12:47 am U.K. Time

Thanks Steve, I have a service manual for the pg-380 guitar vz synth. I might have a lead on an owners manual for the vz-1, but nothing yet. I will check in from time to time and share what I come up with. chuck.

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 10th September 5:42 pm U.K. Time

Hello all,

I have had no reply from Steve de Furia on the Power Play book. So I will continue OCRing. I may even OCR the English manual- but all this will take a good while...

Keep VZing.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.%20com
Friday 5th October 11:37 pm U.K. Time

HOT NEWS!!!

I have just uploaded the first 40 pages of the VZ1 Service Manual.

Go to the main EZVZ Web pag and select the "Documentation" button.

These are GIF images, typically about 30-50K each (15 secs download per page on a typical dial-up line). Watch out for pages 5 and 6 though which are 1.3Mb each (7 min download?) (higher resolution PCB diagrams) and page 7 (waveform pictures), which is about 400Kb.

The pages I haven't scanned yet are the parts list, the hardware assembly diagrams and the master schematic, which is a very big piece of paper much bigger than my scanner, and I'm not sure how I'm going to do that.

There is probably enough info on the pages uploaded for a knowledgable person to build their own RAM card, as long as you can get hold of a suitable connector, though the master schematic might help when I've done that.


Name: Steven
Email:
steven.m@gotmail.com
Tuesday 9th October 8:57 am U.K. Time

Can someone help me to find a usersmanual to a Casio CZ-1000?

Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 9th October 1:15 pm U.K. Time

For those VZ1/10 owners without a user manual, pages 22 to 33 of the above Service Manual includes some basic information on the theory and operation of the VZ, though not in the full menu-by-menu detail that you get in the user manual.

Name: Daniel Appelt
Email:
cubic.elements@gmx.net
Sunday 14th October 1:43 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve.

It's very nice that you scanned in the service manual. Could you please make a zip-file of all those gif-files because it would be much easier to download all of them this way...


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 15th October 9:59 am U.K. Time

OK. It will be one HUGE download, so I was going to wait until I'd done the whole thing (as it is also one huge upload !). The zip file won't be any smaller, as GIF's are already compressed, but it will mean you can get all the pages at once. I have tried to make the files as small as I can by reducing the resolution and colour depth as far as I can, but I can't take them any firther without losing significant legibility. It took me three years to find a service manual so I suppose an hour of download is nothing really......

Name: Dave
Email:
davenow@hotmail.com
Tuesday 23rd October 1:24 pm U.K. Time

Hi Everyone Firstly a quick thank you to everyone for the very useful info posted on this site. Secondly, anyone got any spare PG380 guitar parts they dont need, my guitar has developed some terrible crackling from the synth, with virtually no internal synth sound present at all. Guitar and midi out work fine, so something is deceased on the internal synths circuit board I guess. Trying to find a repairer is proving difficult. Cheers Dave PS I have full PG380 owners manuals and circuit diagrams if anyone needs a copy, e-mail me.

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 23rd October 2:36 pm U.K. Time

Steve- that's fantastic, thanks a million! Unfortunately I haven't progressed very far with scanning Powerplay :(. If someone else has a copy they can scan, maybe we could agree on a format and divide the labour?

Re: service manual- If you want to download the whole lot in one go, just save the page as a web archive in Internet Explorer, and in options check "Download Links" and leave it set at 1 level deep. It actually comes down very quickly, even on a modem.

Anyone looking for a CZ manual should go here: http://members.aol.com/dna224/casio/czssk.html

I just got myself a CZ-101. It's a great synth, much more immediate than the VZ, although not as expansive sounding generally.

And here's a good way to maximise your VZ (or any synth):

SoundDiver is the most powerful software you can have for your VZ. You can store all your patches in one library, and it will keep track of presets and their combinations. The VZ profile is not as slick as the profiles for other synths, because of the VZ's rather stupid sysex implementation. You cannot dump just one preset or combination at a time, the whole bank has to be transmitted! Sound Diver covers this up quite well though. My VZ is now much more useful, because my patches are categorised and the graphical editor in Sound Diver is infinitely better than the Casio's display.

Unfortunately, I'm Mac based so I'll never get a chance to try out Steve's software.


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 25th October 5:23 pm U.K. Time

Some questions on the schematic:

1. The LSI Music chips are BOTH 16 bit right? So where are the two 16 bit streams added/multiplexed to give a 16 bit feed to the DAC?

2. I can't find a datasheet for the audio out VCA. Anyone have any ideas? I'd like to know what the noise+distortion figures are, and if this chip could be improved.

3. How would you turn a discrete 16 bit stream (from the music LSIs) into a S/Pdif signal? Wouldn't it be very cool to have a digital output on the VZ? That's assuming that it's running at a standard sampling rate (32/44.1/48kHz). Sample rate conversion would probably be a lot worse than the D to A. The DAC is a good one (Burr Brown) costs around £30.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 26th October 10:39 am U.K. Time

I haven't studied the drawings in detail, but as far as I can tell from looking at page 21, the two LSI chips work as master and slave and I think they are effectively sharing the processing. They are producing 4 sounds each, time-interlaced with each other, but it's not clear what these 8 sounds are (possibly they are the 8 multi-timbral parts, but when in a different mode they could be allocated anyhow). As the VZ1 is 16 note polyphonic then some addition of signals has already occurred at this point, but there is not one simple datastream with the entire output on it, but 8 datastreams time-multiplexed together. It is this multiplexed datastream that is DAC'd. These (now ANALOGUE) multiplexed signals are then DE-multiplexed by TC4051 (even though it is labelled as a multiplexer, it is working backwards) to feed each of the 8 sounds through a sample-and-hold circuit and on to analogue mixers and analogue voltage-controlled amplifiers. Only at the very end are all the analogue signals summed together to give the final output. It's a very convoluted way of doing things but I guess it means that they only use one DAC, which is an expensive component. In theory it would probably be possible to build a digital circuit that did the demultiplexing in the digital domain, then summed the 8 sounds digitally, and then passed that signal to an SPDIF converter, but this is not a trival task, and the result would probably be missing some of the volume control functions taking place in the VCAs.

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Friday 26th October 3:48 pm U.K. Time

I'm about to have my first ever experince with a synth guitar. Just bought a PG-380 off the internet. It should be here in a few days. Now I'm reading about them from you guys and I'm wondering what kind of problems I'm going to run into. Does anyone have a owners manual they could copy and sell me? Thanks, Gary

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 26th October 5:31 pm U.K. Time

Gary, there have been numerous comments anout the PG380 on these pages in the 3 or 4 years that I've been running this site, and they have mostly been favourable as far as I recall. Have a look back in the archived messages (link at top). This site does not directly support the PG380 (as I don't have one!) but I'm happy for people to discuss it here due to its relationship with the VZs.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 26th October 5:35 pm U.K. Time

On a related note, I always wondered why anyone would want a midi guitar but then I just realised that my other synth (other than the VZ1) is a Yamaha VL70m acoustic-modelling device which seems to have quite a few synthesized (modelled) guitar and string sounds on it (I use it with a WX7 clarinet-style breath controller and the guitars sound a bit odd when blown on a woodwind instrument). Does anyone here use a VL70-m with their PG380?

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Friday 26th October 5:47 pm U.K. Time

Hey Steve, The reason I wanted a Midi guitar is because I don't play keyboard and wanted to be able to add piano and organ sounds to my home studio recordings. Too lazy I guess to learn to play keyboard. You know how us guitar players are. Gary

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Monday 29th October 7:44 pm U.K. Time

Are the VZ Synths the same in the VZ-1 keyboard, VZ-10M module and the PG-380 guitar? Thinks, Gary

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Monday 29th October 9:36 pm U.K. Time

I'm looking at buying a VZ-1 that has one key which is raised a little above the rest of the keyboard but seems to work ok. Is this something that can be fixed easy. Thanks, Gary

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 30th October 9:40 am U.K. Time

VZ1 and VZ10 are identical functionally. I don't know about the PG380. Getting spare parts for either is probably very close to impossible. I've never opened up my VZ1 so couldn't comment on the liklihood of fixing a broken key. The two most likely faults on a VZ1, which you should check for before buying, are a failure of the green backlighting on the LCD display (a company in Germany, mentioned in the archived messages somewhere, can supply a fix for this) and a failure of the on-board lithium battery backup. You might not be able to get a direct replacement for that if it has gone, but suitable alternatives should be easy to find.

(PS: The VZ8 has a number of differences from the VZ1/10).


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Wednesday 31st October 5:35 pm U.K. Time

Hello Gary,

The PG-380 uses the same voices as the iPD-Synths (VZ-1, -10M, -8M). It don't use the operations. Operation can mix up to four voices and configure their controller inputs (Aftertouch etc.). The internal PG-Synth always use one voice at time.

If you want to use the VZ-1 to program some own voices you need a RAM-Card RA-500 because there is no other way to bring your creation into your guitar. ...And these Cards aren't easy to find.

My personal opinion is that the most interesting VZ-Synth for guitar-Players is the VZ-8. They have a special guitar mode and can produce real stereo-output. But they have a limited 2-line (instead of VZ-1 and -10 8-line) user interface. Much more imagination is needed to program voices using the synth's on board capabilities.

bye, m!cha


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 1st November 3:59 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for that Steve!

I wasn't sure about the VCAs- are these directly controlled by the envelope generator, or are they driven by the front panel slider/foot VR? I presume the latter.

The convoluted o/p circuit would explain the noisiness of the VZ. Something like a Fairlight CMI has such a powerful sound because it has a DAC for each voice, followed by (analogue) VCF and VCA. This means that even the 8 bit series two has a very wide dynamic range. The Emulator II used a similar arrangement.

Perhaps bypassing the muting circuit would help improve the sound? This is a common mod. on consumer DVD players for example.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 2nd November 12:04 pm U.K. Time

VCA's - I assume the latter also. From what I remember, all the VCA's are controlled by a single control signal, so all the sound channels go up/down together. Bypassing the mute might improve signal/noise level a little, but I doubt there would be enough benefit for the hassle/risk involved.

Name: Clifton Bryant
Email:
cliffe_b@hotmail.com
Saturday 3rd November 2:54 am U.K. Time

Hello VZ fans. To tell you the truth, I think the VZ's are capable producing various sounds imaginable. Sounds we've never even heard of. Iv created most of my sounds if you would go to http://www.mp3.com/CliftonBryant Check out at least three songs. Atlantis Rising, The Passage and Computer Age from the album Interactive Connections. Those songs were done only using the VZ's alone. No effects were used in all my songs. Anyway I thought I would run this by. Thanks for listening and hope you enjoyed them.

Name: Clifton Bryant
Email:
cliffe_b@hotmail.com
Saturday 3rd November 3:42 am U.K. Time

Hi its me again. Sorry about on my previous message. One of my songs did have drum machine beats to it at the end of the song Atlantis Rising just to let you all know. Well Take care.

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Monday 5th November 3:38 pm U.K. Time

Hey Guys, does anyone have a "DEAD" RAM card for the VZ's they could part with. Even some good pictures with the dimensions might be enough but a card would be better. I'm a buyer for a computer memory company and if I had one I might be able to find a good source for them. Thanks, Gary

Name: mike hazlett
Email:
lah525@home
Tuesday 13th November 6:51 pm U.K. Time

I have used the same casio mg510 since the 80's and i need replacement parts . casio does not have them so i'm forced to track them down on my own.if anyone has any information on where i can buy replacement parts or if anyone is selling their mg510 ....please contact me.thanx and rock on !

Name: alex
Email:
anastopouloszouk@hotmail.com
Wednesday 14th November 3:34 pm U.K. Time

hallo....... does anybody have some cartridges for the casio pg380 madiguitar? i would realy like to buy them........... thank you.....

Name: philippe
Email:
philippe.legall1@worldonline.fr
Sunday 18th November 7:22 pm U.K. Time

could you send me the manual of the synthe casio cz1

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Monday 26th November 7:49 pm U.K. Time

I need a manual for a VZ10-m. Anybody got one they might copy? Thanks, Gary

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 27th November 10:20 am U.K. Time

Gary, parts of the user manual for the VZ1/10 are included in the Service Manual on the main EZVZ pages, but it doesn't have the full menu-by-menu explanations unfortunately. One day (don't hold your breath!) I may scan the VZ1 user manual and put it on the site, but it's not a job I'm looking forward to.


Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Monday 3rd December 5:35 pm U.K. Time

Anybody got a list of the patches on the RC100 card?

Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Tuesday 4th December 10:02 am U.K. Time

Hi Gary,

my RC-100 patchlist is at

http://m.wende.bei.t-online.de/CasioVz/AllVzBnk.htm#RC-100

bye, m!cha


Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Thursday 6th December 3:42 pm U.K. Time

Thanks m!cha.

Is it possible to get a decent acoustic grand piano sound out of the VZ10-m?


Name: Gary Brown
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Friday 7th December 4:34 am U.K. Time

OK, who can help this dummy out? I just got a VZ10-m to use with my PG-380 guitar. I've never had a SYNTH before so I totaly lost. I plug a midi cable into midi out on the guitar then into the midi in on the VZ10-m and I get nothing from the headphone or line out. What am I doing wrong? The guitar works great with my PC so there nothing wrong with it. Maybe the send and receieve channels are off. How do you set them on the VZ10-m? How do I reset the VZ10-m to all the factory default settings? Thanks, Gary

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.%20com
Friday 7th December 10:06 am U.K. Time

To do a factory reset, hold down the write/copy/initialise key while switching on, (note: loses any editted patches).

in/out midi channels - somewhere on one of the menu 3 submenus.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.%20com
Friday 7th December 10:07 am U.K. Time

There is a list of the VZ menus here:

http://machines.hyperreal.org/manufacturers/Casio/VZ/info/vz-10m.menu.table.cheat.sheet

Menu 3-3 is the one you want.


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Friday 7th December 1:02 pm U.K. Time

Hello Gary,

as any sending MIDI device your PG-380 use MIDI CHANNEL to address the target device. You have to set the MIDI CHANNEL for sending on your guitar and the MIDI CHANNEL for receiving on your VZ-10M to the same value. The PG-380 MIDI CHANNEL can be set with those funny little dip-switches (for details: http://jpsongs.com/troubadortech/pgdipsw.htm). Your PG-380 may also work in the MIDI-MONO MODE. This means that each string use a different MIDI CHANNEL. You can set or unset this mode using the dip-switches. MONO-MODE is very interesting for midi guitar controller because every string has it's own PITCH BEND. The corresponding mode on your VZ-10M is the MULTI CHANNEL mode. You have to set the polyphonie and the MIDI CHANNEL for each MULTI CHANNEL AERA.

...so far, m!cha


Name: Gary Brown
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Saturday 8th December 8:04 am U.K. Time

Thanks guys, the VZ10-m and the PG-380 are working fine now. Gary

Name: Sébastien Delage
Email:
sebounet@bluemail.ch
Sunday 9th December 11:22 am U.K. Time

Hi folks!

My VZ1 is still a very powerful synth, after 10 years of use. Aah, those strings, those ring modulators...

I'm triing to save voices and opmem via midi. I did all right, using a YAMAHA QY700 as a sequencer, but, whatever I did, the answer of the VZ1 was an error message. I've know for years how to do, I did it exactly and precisly, but it never worked!!! Why? Can someone help a poor lost swiss citizen?

Thanks, sébastien Delage, sebounet@bluemail.ch


Name: Dan
Email:
tp.studio@btinternet.com
Sunday 9th December 8:47 pm U.K. Time

I have seen a Hohner HS-2/E for sale and I have been trying to find out about it via the net, but I cannot find any info at all. Are these the same as the Casio VZ series synths? (I think it is identical to the VZ 10m) Thanks for your help.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.%20com
Monday 10th December 9:46 am U.K. Time

As I understand it the Hohner HS-2 is an exact clone of the VZ1 and the HS-2E is a clone of the VZ10m (ie the expander rack mount version).

However, I am not certain of this as I don't think we have ever had a Hohner owner on this chat page before. They're probably quite rare.


Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@dwmusic.f9.co.uk
Monday 10th December 4:06 pm U.K. Time

Yes, the Hohner HS2/HS2e are identical to the VZ1/VZ10m. As I understand it, Casio was not very big in the Far East and Hohner were, these machines were just rebagded with the Hohner name (I think)

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 10th December 6:32 pm U.K. Time

Re: sysex dump to QY700 Sysex on the VZ can be quite unreliable. Generic sysex programs on the Mac often have problems unless the designer has specifically tested for the VZ.

The most reliable way is to connect the Casio to the sysex device directly, with no other devices in the chain. 54k is required for VOICES+OPMEM; I'm sure the QY can handle that amount!

Let us know how you get on...


Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Tuesday 11th December 6:37 pm U.K. Time

Any one have a good Acoustic Grand Piano patch program I could get? Gary

Name: Gary
Email:
garyfbrown@hotmail.com
Wednesday 12th December 4:36 pm U.K. Time

Anybody need a RA500 ran card? I,ve got a couple extra. Gary

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.%20com
Friday 14th December 12:23 pm U.K. Time

Gary, The VZ is not really very good at decent simulations of real instruments, pianos in particular, but one of the patches on the EZVZ site does have a very good one. I think it's the set labelled "freds".

Name: Shane M. Edmonds
Email:
AuXPOWER@aol.com
Thursday 3rd January 7:59 pm U.K. Time

Please Help!!! I have owned the VZ-1 since it was released in the US. I love the board but I cannot load anything via MIDI. I have tried MIDI-OX, and a program that is written exclusively for the VZ called VZPATCH. Neither of them have been successful at sending sysex files to the VZ-1. I have tried altering buffer settings and delays and can't seen to get it. What am I doing wrong?

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20.%20com
Friday 4th January 9:35 am U.K. Time

Firstly, check the midi send and receive channels. Although Sysex is not normally allocated to a specific midi channel, there is data in the header of a VZ patch dump that specifies what midi channel is being used, and I believe this can stop patches from loading. To get started, the best thing to do is set both midi send and receive to channel 1 (one of the submenus on Menu 3) and try to send a patch dump first, and then try to receive that same patch dump back.

You also need to check that Sysex is enabled on the VZ, via one of the submenus on Menu 3 and also that memory protect is off on the VZ, also via one of the Menu 3 submenus.

Hope that helps, because I can't think of much else that could be wrong. I assume the VZpatch program you are using is mine, available from the EZVZ website linked at the top of this page, but if not, then give that a go.


Name: Shane M. Edmonds
Email:
AuXPOWER@aol.com
Friday 4th January 7:53 pm U.K. Time

Steve, I am still having problems with my VZ. I have tried loading banks to it countless times with no luck. I have gotten about four or five voices to load and then an error occurs. Often, I will see "MIDI ERROR - BUFFER FULL" appear on the screen many times while the computer tries to send info to the board after I have aborted a load session. perhaps there is some problem with the memory in my unit. I have also used a program called SendSX. This program allowed me to see which bits were being processed by the VZ-1. The first 7 bits (header) were always transmitted. The next string would always elicit the load error, check system message. Can anyone help me? I hate to think my vz is trashed. It is in excellent condition. Also, I have no problem loading the ram card info to the board. I have no idea what is the problem. When I use your program, there is no response from the keyboard. It will execute loading until hell freezes over. Anyway, thanks for listening to my problems and I hope someone out there can help me.

Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Monday 7th January 12:46 pm U.K. Time

Hello Shane,

a VZ bank dump is sent in 3 sysex messages. First is OPEN, followed by DATA and finally CLOSE message. Every sysex message is answered by the VZ with an OK message.

The DATA message is a large block, so maybe a too long MIDI connection or a bad MIDI cable can result in corrupt data. If other Synths hat similar problems, check another cable.

Be sure that no MIDI thru programm is active wich redirects MIDI IN data on your computer to MIDI OUT.

The easiest way to test the sysex functionality is to send a dump () from the vz to the computer, check the length and then sends it back to your synth. In this case MIDI channel should be set correctly. Start with a single voice wich is sent automatically when choosing a voice and your VZ is in the exlusive = enabled mode. Next try a OPMEM dump, then VOICE dump and at last OPMEN + VOICE dump.

If this works but other dumps still fail, it seems that on your VZ is configured with an unusual MIDI RECEIVE channel.

I don't think that your VZ has really a memory problem. Just report what works and what doesn't.

bye, M!chael


Name: Shane M. Edmonds
Email:
AuXPOWER@aol.com
Monday 7th January 2:43 pm U.K. Time

M!chael, thanks for the help. I happened to figure a couple of things out that have been helpful. I got sounddiver which allows me to send patches one at a time and copy them into the banks one by one. Somewhat tedious, but at least I can do some editing and get the sounds onto the board. Dumping always works fine. I have no problems getting anything off the synth. My VZ-1 is one of the first sold in this country (USA) so I think it may have a slightly different operating system (for lack of a better expression). Anyway, thanks to everyone who helped me and I'll be around to help out and provide whatever patches i come up with. I do have the Power play book and a VZ-1 manual if anyone needs anything from them. Not that either of these books are particularly helpful. Thanks again!

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 8th January 11:41 am U.K. Time

Hello Shane,

If it's any consolation, I occasionally experience the problems you described, but most of the time I can transfer complete banks. The sysex on the VZ is quite badly implemented- the CZ is far better! I am also using Sound Diver (on the Mac) and find it excellent.

I think the problem is really with the VZ. It's a very hard synth to program, even with the help of Sound Diver and Powerplay. They should have been much clearer about things like the harmonic content of the waveforms, and how they interact with each other. They should also have calibrated the envelopes in dB and ms. Alternatively, they should have used MIDI cc for all the parameters, so that you can use knobs as an interface- a great pity! Even if they allowed you to send sysex in smaller packets, instead of all in one go... even the CZ has this functionality, although it is limited.

But I don't think Casio actually knew what these values were, because the seem to vary unpredictably with the settings of other parameters.


Name: Shane M. Edmonds
Email:
AuXPOWER@aol.com
Tuesday 15th January 10:24 pm U.K. Time

Thomas;

Sorry I couldn't spell your name correctly. No tengo accentos escritos. Anyway, I have also been experimenting with sound diver and I can successfully transmit patches one at a time with an approximate 75% rate of success. In case anyone is interested, there is a PG-380 on auction at E-bay. The reserve is $1200.00 USD and the current bid is $600 USD. The guitar is white and seems to be in impeccable condition. Thanks again for the help. I'll keep checking the page. Hopefully I can pass on or return the favors. Cheers, and viva VZ-1!!!

Shane M. Edmonds Philadelphia, PA

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1501988041


Name: Dave Stokes
Email:
davenow@hotmail.com
Sunday 27th January 8:41 pm U.K. Time

Hi all I have two Casio VZ cards for sale, 1 x RC100 ROM Card and 1 x RC 520G European card, will accept £100 for both. Also for sale, one PG380 guitar synth with service manual, circuit diagrams and instructions, very good condition, except for one minor fault. The synth output makes a crackling sound, everything else lights up and works fine, but no synth sounds. I'm no technician, so I cant get it repaired, especially here in Aberdeen, will let it go for £220 plus delivery costs. Cheers, Dave

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 28th January 5:35 pm U.K. Time

Hi Shane,

Thanks- actually I'm Irish, so Tomás is ainm dom!

I might be very wrong, but I think the VZ can only recieve a complete bank of normals or combis- there is no facility to send a single program. Or am I confusing that with the fact that you can't send individual parameters within a normal or combi? I should check...

I will be emailing all the people on this web board who own a copy of Powerplay. Steve never replied to the emails, so I think we should just go ahead and publish it ourselves. If we can split the work and agree a format, it could be done in no time.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 29th January 9:57 am U.K. Time

If you turn SysEx on, then the VZ sends all the data for just one tone patch every time you change tones in Normal mode, and all the data for an Op patch when you change Ops in Op mode (but doesn't send the tone data for the tones that form the Op). It also sends the Multi set-up info when you press the Multi button. I'm not sure what happens in Combi mode.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 29th January 2:18 pm U.K. Time

...and yes, you can't send commands to just change one parameter, which is perhaps the VZ's biggest failing.

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 31st January 7:44 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for that Steve.

I looked back over the archive, and there's no-one with the PowerPlay book. If anyone reading this HAS a copy, email me and we'll work out how we'll share the scanning.

It would be a great resource for VZ users, especially those without the manual.


Name: james black
Email:
miasma@corporatedirtbag.com
Friday 1st February 9:39 pm U.K. Time

...and if you've edited a sound, pressing compare/recall dumps the edit buffer. Hope that helps..

Name: Malc
Email:
mail@malc-deakin.co.uk
Monday 25th February 5:19 pm U.K. Time

Anyone know where the best place in the UK is to sell a Hohner HS2 complete with manuals + card, and how much I should ask ??

Ta....


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 26th February 11:37 am U.K. Time

If it helps, I frequently see VZ8M's for sale in a local second hand music shop for about 100 pounds.

Name: Thomas Hengstler
Email:
thomas.hengstler@t-online.de
Thursday 28th February 8:41 pm U.K. Time

Noone out there who has scanned already the owner's manual? I am also one of those desperate VZ10 owners w/o manual :( If there is anybody who is willing to post me the manual, I SWEAR that I will scan it for everybody to download it...! I was told it is a bible of about 450 pages - so what? Thomas

Name: Ken Whitley
Email:
spreznib@aol.com
Saturday 2nd March 12:12 pm U.K. Time

A few random details - you can send sysex voices to the VZ, but only to the edit buffer - you have to save them manually to voice memories. Alternatively, you can schlep whole banks back and forth, but again, you have to go to the VZ and set menu stuff to do this - there really isn't a way to do it all from software.

I have an operation manual, but it is in no condition to be scanned, and as well is full of handwritten notes about things they forgot to mention. I may type up a bunch of it, as I want a better 'quick reference' for my own use. If I get it done in any reasonable time, I'll send it in.

Yes, the reason they told so little about how to program it is that they didn't know...they found a way around the DX FM patents, and gave a valiant but flawed attempt at making a professional synth out of it.

The reason they don't give milliseconds for the envelopes is that that would take nearly as much computation as the whole VZ does to generate its sound. It, like the CZ, uses 'rate/level' envelopes, where the time between steps depends on how far apart the levesl of the steps are. Since both velocity and note played can affect both the rates and levels of the envelopes, and velocity can affect the rate of some steps and not others, how long an envelope step takes is NOT obvious!

Another goodie they left out of the manual - you can save a single voice to an operation memory - an operation doesn't have to be a combi...what this does for you, is that the performance parameters (what the controllers do, portamento, and solo mode) are saved with each 'voice' instead of being shared like Normal mode.

re patch editing - you can send a voice to the VZ via sysex, but it has to go to the edit buffer, and then you save it MANUALLY to a voice memory - sucky, huh?

On the other hand, you can actually send four patches to four edit buffers in combi mode, and if the comi is a 'key split' you can play the four voices over four MIDI channels over the whole note range. The key split only affects data sent by the keyboard (via MIDI and to the synth).

This adds up to a four-part multitimbral setup with all four 'voices' and the 'operation' sent via sysex, which means you can send them from, and save them in, a sequence, and not have to use the voices in RAM at all.

re software - I wouldn't necessarily RECOMMEND it, but I've used MIDI Quest quite successfully with the VZ, saving and loading banks, and editing, auditioning, and saving individual voices. You just need to understand what the VZ WON'T do via MIDI and requires button-pressing for.


Name: David
Email:
Q@helpwantedproductions.com
Saturday 2nd March 4:49 pm U.K. Time

I am looking for any ROM (preferred) or RAM cards for the Casio VZ series keyboards. The series is the RC-1XX series (ie: RC-110, RC-120, etc). One just sold on Eb*y for $2.25 but of course I missed it. Any help on where to find one appreciated!


Name: DOUGLAS D. MILLER
Email:
mailto:OTLROX@HOTMAIL%20.COM
Monday 4th March 12:31 am U.K. Time

I HAVE BEEN AT WAR FOR HOURS TRYING TO FIND A OPERATING MANUAL FOR MY CASIO FZ10M, PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP????

Name: dominic
Email:
dominic@portstewart.com
Thursday 14th March 9:59 pm U.K. Time

Hi, I have just cleaned the contacts of my VZ1 keys and when I put it back together, I am getting a blank ( sometimes blue )screen! I have checked and rechecked incase I left a connection unconnected, but it seems okay. Any ideas? Dominic.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 15th March 9:52 am U.K. Time

Does everything else work except the screen? Can you still get sounds out of it, or is it completely dead?

Silly question, but I assume it's not just a contrast problem - (hold down the graphic button while moving the data slider to adjust contrast).


Name: dominic
Email:
dominic@portstewart.com
Friday 15th March 1:02 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve, No, everything is dead ( except for a blueness on the screen, sometimes ). none of the buttons light up, either. Regards, Dominic

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 15th March 6:05 pm U.K. Time

Hmmm - a Major system failure. This doesn't sound good. It is going to need some serious electronics diagnostics from someone who knows their way around a circuit board. After checking for loose internal cables and loose chips (if any are in sockets) it might be worth removing the back-up battery for a few minutes in order to do a complete reset, just in case something in memory has become seriously corrupted.

If there are any fuses in the power supply then check those, but the next sensible step would be to check all of the power rails for the correct voltages, using a voltmeter. Refer to the Service manual docs on the website. If the power rails are all correct then the easiest thing to do next is to look very carefully for dry solder joints. If no luck there then things start to get difficult.

If you are unlucky then it is possible that you may have killed one of the chips with static electricity when you took the machine apart. Some of the chips are standard and easily replaced and some are specialist and impossible to replace, but finding a dead one is very difficult anyway.

Good luck, you're going to need it.


Name: dominic
Email:
dominic@portstewart.com
Saturday 16th March 6:39 pm U.K. Time

Happy days, Steve! I got the VZ1 repaired. An electronics guy repaired it for me. I asked him what had been wrong, but I didn't really understand the answer. so I decided to leave it like that! Thanks for everything. Dominic.

Name: George Lowes
Email:
georgelowes@hotmail.com
Friday 22nd March 10:45 am U.K. Time

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a VZ-10M for around the £50 mark. Can anyone help me out? I hear that this is the going rate for these things, so, anyone who wants to sell, or anyone who knows someone who wants to sell for around this price, let me know! (preferably UK, but anywhere else will be considered) Cheers.

Name: Mark Green
Email:
mark.green@orange.net
Monday 1st April 5:47 pm U.K. Time

Hello Everyone

I've been using a VZ1 on and off for about !@ years (Don't want to give my age away!)

Can anyone tell me if it's posible to create a patch script for it for Cubase? I've done one that is happy to change sounds in Internal Memory, but can't seem to get the bank change messages to work to get to ROM card sounds...

Hope someone can help

Cheers mark G


Name: Alan Steward
Email:
abaco@go2mypage.com
Wednesday 3rd April 1:26 am U.K. Time

I got a VZ-8 but no manual for it. Does anybody know whether there's a way to adjust the LCD display contrast (angle)?

When I mount the module in my equipment rack, I can't see a thing on that display.

Hope someone can help.

Alan


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Wednesday 3rd April 9:43 am U.K. Time

Contrast: On the VZ1 and VZ10m you hold down the "display" button while moving the data slider. The VZ8 might be different though. In fact, it probably is because I don't think it has a "display" button.

Name: Alan Steward
Email:
abaco@go2mypage.com
Thursday 4th April 12:53 am U.K. Time

Does anybody know if the contrast of the LCD panel on the VZ-8 can be adjusted? Can't see a thing.

Name: jeff cordero
Email:
bitdump@yahoo.com
Thursday 4th April 7:49 am U.K. Time

There is nothing about display contrast or angle in the VZ8m manual.

Name: sisi
Email:
asistani@yahoo.com
Wednesday 8th May 1:54 pm U.K. Time

hi

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Wednesday 8th May 2:32 pm U.K. Time

Hi

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Thursday 9th May 10:25 am U.K. Time

Plenty of people lurking, but nobody talking!

Name: Mr B
Email:
bjorn.roes@pandora.be
Friday 10th May 12:35 pm U.K. Time

Anyone seen a VZ-10m in best condition for sale?

Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 10th May 7:14 pm U.K. Time

I saw a VZ-10m recently in a second-hand music shop in Kingston, Surrey, UK, but judging from your email address (Belgium?) that's probably not helpful. Price was about £100 (€160)

Name: Elizabeth Waddell
Email:
ewaddell@ruraloz.com.au
Saturday 11th May 8:35 am U.K. Time

Hello, I know nothing about recording LP's to CD's on my computer. (Pentium 111,large hard disk, 192 of ram) I have a CD Burner - so what software do I need to do this? I can attach it to a USB port by using an adaptor. Let me know the steps from here.

Cheers

Elizabeth Waddell


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 16th May 12:52 am U.K. Time

Middle C on my VZ-1 keyboard is frequently not sensing velocity- it often hits 127 even when played lightly. Has anybody any hints or tips before I open it up?

Name: Steve Gutteridge (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Thursday 16th May 8:51 am U.K. Time

Play in a different key! :-)

Seriously, I think somebody has mentioned this sort of problem before, so look back in the archived messages.


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Thursday 16th May 1:12 pm U.K. Time

Hello Tomás,

the reason for the velocity problem is some dust between the lower side of some keys and the rubber board where a key down event is detected.

To solve this behavior you have to start a journey into your VZ-1, remove the screws from about five or six rubber boards and clean the whole area carefully with a vacuum cleaner.

As far as I remember, it is not an easy task to explore a VZ-1. Maybe it's a good idea to make some notes about screw positions, removed parts and disconnected plugs.

m!cha


Name: Legion
Email:
VZ@helpwantedproductions.com
Saturday 18th May 5:54 am U.K. Time

I own a Casio PG380 guitar and today after months of searching I found a few ROM and RAM cards. I scolled through them and they work great with the PG. Isthere any txt file that lists the presets on the RC-100 (or any of the VZ RAm/ROM cards for that matter)?

I bought all of them and have one extra RC-100 Preset ROM) and possibly one RA-500 (Rewriteable RAM) for trade or sale. If interested drop me a line

Thanks!


Name: Sunil Parwal
Email:
music_aha@yahoo.com
Sunday 19th May 4:20 pm U.K. Time

HELLO, I HAVE A VZ1. I WONNA DEVELOP GOOD ACCORDIAN, PIANO & STRINGS(CHORUS) VOICES BUT I AM FINDING IT DIFFICULT. SO PLEASE HELP ME...THANKS

Name: Sunil Parwal
Email:
music_aha@yahoo.com
Sunday 19th May 4:27 pm U.K. Time

hellow, i wonna buy rom cards for vz1.. thanks

Name: gazza
Email:
hardcorehippys@hotmail.com
Monday 20th May 3:58 pm U.K. Time

ive got a vz-1 I would like to know which buttons you push to connect the keyboard to a midi interface.

Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Tuesday 21st May 10:00 am U.K. Time

Hello Legion,

you find a list of all known VZ-Voices at:

http://m.wende.bei.t-online.de/CasioVz/AllVzBnk.htm.

If you are interested in a list of Operations too, you can send me a mail.

m!cha


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 23rd May 1:25 pm U.K. Time

Steve and m!cha, thanks. That's what I thought, but I just wanted to be sure!

Name: petri
Email:
petri.frestadius@saunalahti.fi
Monday 27th May 1:46 pm U.K. Time

Hello!

I am going to buy Hohner HS-2/E. The seller told me there is no any differencies between VZ-10M and HS-2/E. Is that true? Does same editing softwares and sound files vork with both synths? And...Am I wellcome to joy with this chat page at future?


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Tuesday 28th May 10:54 am U.K. Time

Hello petri,

my Synth is a Hohner HS-2. It is the Keyboard-Version and exactly the same as the VZ-1. Even the MIDI ManufactureID is "CASIO". Only color, some names in the internal ROM and product names in the documentation are different.

m!cha


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 28th May 5:52 pm U.K. Time

Yes, to my knowledge there are no material differences, and of course you can join the VZ discussion group with a Hohner :-)

Name: Petri
Email:
petri.frestadius@saunalahti.fi
Thursday 30th May 8:54 am U.K. Time

Thanks M!cha and Steve for ininformation. Today I am going to check Hohner. Mayby we will "see" here later.

Petri


Name: Duncan McKee
Email:
mckee674@yahoo.co.uk
Saturday 1st June 1:01 pm U.K. Time

I am trying to dump my voice bank from the VZ-1 to my PC via MIDI, but I keep getting SAVE ERROR - CHECK SYSTEM. When I try to load data it says LOAD ERROR - CHECK SSYSTEM. I bought the synth S/H abut two weeks ago and the software I am using is the VZ Patch Editor and Librarian. Midi is getting sent oay from my PC, I checked it with a Sequencer with another keyboard. Please help me by giving me some advice.

Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@dwmusic.f9.co.uk
Monday 3rd June 11:04 am U.K. Time

Hi Duncan

I think you need to go into the Save/Load pages and select "Total". I'm not to sure though.


Name: scott
Email:
gsn10@hotmail.com
Thursday 6th June 7:13 am U.K. Time

Is there a VZ-1 mailing list anywhere? I think one would be very useful...

Name: Mark Green
Email:
mark.green@orange.net
Thursday 13th June 1:12 pm U.K. Time

Hello Everyone

I posted about this a while ago now, but nobody has answered me :(

I've recently started to use Cubase as my primary recording environment, and that program allows you to define patch scripts for your synths, so you can select sounds from a drop-down menu, rather than having to fiddle about on your synth every time you load up a song.

I've created a patch script for my VZ, and it works fine selecting sounds in Internal Memory, but I can't seem to get any form of bank change messages to work so I can select ROM card sounds...

Does the VZ support any bank change mechnaism over MIDI? If so what do I have to send (I know there are several permutations supported by various synths using the 2 defined bank change parameter bytes, but the MIDI implemation chart seems to suggest I'm out of luck here with the VZ... Any ideas... Anyone?

Cheers

Mark G


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@t-online.de
Friday 14th June 10:05 am U.K. Time

Hello Mark,

first there is a parameter in MENU 3, maybe in the MIDI submenu where you can select if your VZ Synth sends and accepts patch changes in the range of 0 - 63 or 0 - 127. Patch 0 - 63 adresses your internal patches. Patch 64 - 127 adresses the RAM- or ROM-card. If you select the smaller range all patch changes will be redirected to the internal patches.

If you want to switch between two card banks you have to use a VZ sysex command. Take a look into the description of MIDI transfers and data format. If you miss this document ask again and I look for that command.

greetings, m!cha


Name: Aaron Jasinski
Email:
aaron@aaronjasinski.com
Sunday 16th June 10:36 pm U.K. Time

Hi. I just want to say I love my VZ10m, and having SoundDiver really makes the possibilities come alive. Its really incredible and such a usable synth.

I am looking for a RAM or even a ROM cartridge for it. If anyone has a source or one for sale.. Please contact me. Thank you.


Name: Joakim Lindén
Email:
sattde@hotmail.com
Thursday 11th July 1:38 pm U.K. Time

Hi everyone, I need help with a problem that maybe only a few people in the world can answer for me - if even that many... So, here I go: I have an old Casio CZ-5000 which I have been using as a midi keyboard for some time now, until a few months ago when a cat I was "babysitting" for managed to push down a waterfilled glass over it's keyboard and some parts of the programming area. Very quickly I pulled out the powercable and waited for a couple of hours. When I turned on the synth later I found that something strange had happened - everything worked great except that the E - F, A# - B keys in every octave had became locked together so that when I played an E at any octave the synth thought that I played E AND F, the same situation occured with A# and B. I thought that there was some water left inside the keyboard so I screwed it apart and detached the keyboard, screwed that apart as well and began to wipe away some of the water that was left inside the keyboard. A CZ-5000 keyboard is a very mechanical device - not very hightech, just some resistors really, so I don't think that the keyboard itself has taken damage - the problem must lie somewhere inside the technology of the syntheziser itself. So today I've decided to write this and post it at some boards to see if someone has the same problem or might know what I can do to get around it.

So - summary:

I got water into my keyboard, ever since, it has been behaving strange as it allows me to play all notes as usual except E - F and A# - B which it plays together: When I press E or F it plays E AND F together, and when I press A# or B it plays A# AND B together. This goes for all octaves on my keyboard - which is why I think it's kind of a strange thing.

Thankful for all help or comments! (just don't tell me to buy a new midikeyboard...)

Best Regards - Joakim Lindén


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 12th July 1:00 pm U.K. Time

I don't know anything about the CZ51000 at all, but I do know something about electronics in general.... (apologies to others, this will be a long answer)

This fault sounds logical. The keyboard is probably scanned as a matrix. There is probably one microchip which has responsibility for taking the input from the keyboard and working out which note has been pressed. Rather than having 60 separate wires going into the chip, one for each note (or however many notes there are), they have probably arranged this as a matrix of 5 by 12 crosspoints (5 octaves of 12 notes each), just 17 wires, and they scan each crosspoint in sequence (very very fast) to see if the key is pressed or not. This serial processing of the keyboard, rather than parallel processing of 60 inputs, is much more efficient as long as the scan rate is quick enough that the timing error is insignificant (it's probably a million scans a seconds). This technique is used a lot in electronics (for all types of keyboards and for illuminated dot-matrix signs, for example, which is why you sometimes see dot-matrix signs flickering when filmed on a camera where the shutter is not synchronised to the matrix scan rate, which it would not be).

So, if you look at the keyboard wiring you should find that each key, when pressed, connects together two wires, probably via a large (in value, not size) resistor, or more likely in fact via a silicon diode (a diode will have one black or silver band at one end only, a resistor will have at least 4 coloured bands on it, unless it's really small in size). One of those wires will be connected to every key in the same octave, and one of those wires will be connected to every key of the same note (eg every F# or whatever). The combination of octave and note uniquely identifies the key pressed. The reason for the diode is that if you press two keys at the same time you don't want to short together two different octaves or two different notes. A diode conducts electricity in one direction only, like a one way valve. Keyboards where you are only allowed to press one key at a time (like a TV remote control) don't need a diode, but music keyboards do.

Now, interestingly, E and A# (and F and B) are exactly 6 notes apart - half an octave. This could mean that the matrix is in fact arranged on a 6 by 10 basis instead - ten half octaves of 6 notes each (rather than 5 whole octaves of 12 notes each), and so the same single fault could be affectinmg both the E/F problem and the A#/B problem, rather than there being two separate faults. This seems likely. I therefore think that there are four possibilities:

(a) if the matrix is 6x10, one of the diodes on ONE of the E,F A# or B keys is faulty, and now conducts in both directions.

(b) if the matrix is 12x5 there are two faulty diodes as in (a)

(c) two of the wires which control the matrix lines to the E and the F (and/or the A# and B) are shorted together by something else, possibly just some dirty water that has washed onto the tracks

(d) the matrix scanning chip has a fault on one or two lines.

The cure: First, in case the problem is (c), I suggest cleaning all the copper tracks on the circuit board on the back of the keyboard. Use a mild solvent (like a proper electrical contact cleaner or tippex (snowpake) thinner - 1.1.1 trichloroethane, or tape head cleaning soloution). Use an old toothbrush and do it gently. What we are looking for is any dirty marks that might be bridging two adjacent copper tracks. If the keyboard is wired with discreet wires rather than copper tracks then check these are all in place and there are no loose strands of wire bridging across tracks.

Next, in case the problem is (a) or (b) you need some equipment. You cannot generally tell if a diode is faulty just by looking at it, although sometimes they might blacken or they can appear cracked (some are made of a brittle glass-like material). You need a diode checker, which is sometimes built into a standard electronic multi-meter which is a fairly cheap piece of electronic test equipment (10-15 pounds/dollars). The diode should conduct in one direction but not in the other if the probes are reversed. Alternatively, make a diode checker using a battery and a torch bulb, so the circuit goes: loosewire->battery->bulb->loosewire. place the two loose wires either side of the diode - the bulb will light one way around but not if you reverse the connections on the diode, if the diode is working. Replace faulty diodes with ones that look similar and you can't go far wrong, but make sure you put them in the right way around (look at the black/silver band). If the keyboard connects to the main circuit board via a connector then you should detach this connector first, just to avoid any possibility of damage elsewhere.

If this all fails to fix/find the fault then the possibility of (d) must be considered. You cannot mend a microchip, you need a replacement of exactly the same type. The chance of finding one yourself is virtually nil. A decent synthesizer repair shop might be able to get hold of one, but you'll have to be very lucky. Synth circuit boards are generall crammed full and may be double sided. Removing/replacing the chip is a professional job. Get a quote first because it probably won't be economic and your synth is effective dead, though you can still use it as a midi module and have fun composing tunes which do not use the four notes in question!

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 12th July 1:08 pm U.K. Time

I forgot to say that if making your own diode checker, the battery should be 3 or 4.5 volts, as diodes do not conduct in any direction at low voltages and a high voltage may damage them.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 15th July 12:02 pm U.K. Time

Joakim emailed me today to say that he has now fixed his Casio CZ5000.

Name: your humble VZ servant
Email:
hyperscanner@vzfreak.com
Wednesday 24th July 1:53 am U.K. Time

The complete text of the out-of-print, rare "Powerplay VZ" instructional book is now available for download in the form of two PDFs. That's 114 pages worth of VZ programming tips, amigos. The files are hosted here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.

Enjoy!


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Wednesday 24th July 3:50 pm U.K. Time

This is fantastic. I recommend all VZ owners to download this at once as this book is impossible to buy.

Name: Steve Wilkinson
Email:
Steve@dwa.uk.net
Sunday 4th August 12:57 pm U.K. Time

Just obtained a used VZ-8M Usual story - no manual. Please someone help! Haven't got a clue what to do with it.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 5th August 9:48 am U.K. Time

Well for a start, download the VZ PowerPlay book in PDF format, from the link 3 posts above. That site also has some other VZ-related files for download, though nobody has done a VZ8M (or a VZ1/10) manual yet.

Name: Gussy Rikh
Email:
gusrikh@yahoo.com
Tuesday 6th August 6:18 pm U.K. Time

Can anyone give me advice on my Casio PG-380 guitar. The hex pick up has stopped working --in the sense that -- only the 1st and sometimes 2nd strings work. I did turn the velocity switches at the back and this might have inadvertently spoilt things. Also --the action has become unbearable. Is there a truss rod at all?? The whammy needs adjusting as well. However --the regular pick ups work just fine and the tone is lovely. Thanks Gussy

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 20th August 10:11 pm U.K. Time

Steve,

Pehaps you could put a link to the Powerplay DL on the front page of the VZ site?


Name: Eric
Email:
curseofthebirthmark@hotmail.com
Monday 26th August 1:31 am U.K. Time

Hey steve,

Just thought I would run a few things by you about some difficulty I'm having with my Casio CZ 5000. I have been using sound D5 (metallic bass) with the octave at -1. It sounded like a very full alarm and was perfect for one of my band's songs. last time I used it, it was lacking in the "fullness" category. Same thing happened with another "D" sound: D6 with Noise. Used to have more sustain, now it cuts out a lot sooner. Some people I've talked to have suggested it might be a blown chip or a loose solder joint. Does this sound like a possibility? I have since taken it to a repair man who now tells me that "no sound" comes out at all! I'm wondering if you have any ideas for me. Also, I would like to buy a new CZ 5000. Do you know anyone with one to sell? Would you mind posting this? my email address is curseofthebirthmark@hotmail.com

Thanks Eric San Francisco


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 27th August 12:14 pm U.K. Time

Eric, I'm afraid I don't know much (anything!) about the CZ5000 electronics. My earlier advice on the CZ5000 keyboard problem was a generic one that would apply to pretty well any keyboard.

I see from the CZ5000 spec that each voice is made up of two oscillators. A lack of "fullness" in the sound might indicate the failure of one oscillator, but why that might happen I don't know. General advice would be, as for all electronics faults, is to look for the obvious things first, like chips loose in their sockets, wires hanging/fallen off, dry solder joints, poor plated-through connections on double-sided boards, any leaking electrolytic capacitors, any brown staining on the board caused by overheating components. If you have a test meter, then you can check that all the power supply rails are present. Anything beyond that and you need a circuit diagram or service manual.

However, your first step should probably be to try and narrow down more accurately exactly what the symptoms are. Is it all voices, and is it at all levels of polyphony (if you press three notes together are all three notes lacking in "fullness"). That might help identify where the problem lies. As for buying a new one, the usual auction sites are probably your best bet. If you lived in London, UK, I could recommend a couple of second hand shops worth a try.


Name: Gunther W.
Email:
Pisang@gmx.de
Friday 30th August 6:51 am U.K. Time

Hi,

a few days ago I downloaded the Powerplay VZ PDF File.As I was chasing for a long time for this mysterious book,I was kind of little disappointed of it.

Powerplay explains a lot about the VZ,but it lacks in the topic of the iPD synthesis itself.It does not explain the synthesis as I wished. The explanation is a little better as the one from the manual,but it also describes only the methods of this synthesis. The DX synthesis is so well explained and measured.There are many sources wich explain, how each Parameterstep will shape the sound in a DX synth.

In Powerplay VZ is nothing like that.Also is missing an exact description of PD/iPD. Where are the Soundexamples ? Programming Tips for the iPD ? Routing of the Modules and Lines ? Where is the little "Tutorial" for VZ beginners ?

As manual the Powerplay would have been superb,because it explains a lot about the big Toolbox around the synthesis.And for a manual,the explanation of the synthesis is also OK.Yamahas manual explained the FM-synthesis also in a very short way.

So my conclusion is,that the "Guide to VZs-iPD synthesis" must be still written.

Gunther


Name: Frank Kubin
Email:
fkubin@nyc.rr.com
Saturday 31st August 8:44 pm U.K. Time

Greetings All,

I've been thinking of letting go of my no longer used VZ-8M and found this group. I might put it up on ebay eventually but I figured I should try here first. I am in Manhattan so for any one local, you can come and check it out directly.

Includes: The VZ-8M in excellent condition. Rack mount brackets (off the unit but included, no screws though). Original Casio manual. Original PowerPlay VZ! manual. Original plastic menu card. Two RAM cards. One was bought with prepared sounds loaded on it and I have the sound list sheets for that (I have scans if you want). The other is either empty or might have a backup dump on it (of whatever the hell I might have created with Unisyn 10+ years ago!)

But wait! That's not all... I'll throw in a Casio DH-100 Digital Horn wind controller! (The one pictured in the VZ manual) Complete with original manual and extra mouth piece.

Price to part...$125 (US) OBO (Pick it up in NYC, else you can pay shipping.)

fkubin@nyc.rr.com


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 3rd September 10:14 am U.K. Time

That's really a very good deal, especially with the RAM cards and Horn too, and if I didn't already have a VZ1 and Yamaha WX5 wind controller I would buy it myself.

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Sunday 8th September 1:02 pm U.K. Time

Hello all,

Surf to my new site, and let me know what you think...

Link: http://www.madtheory.com/


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 9th September 11:42 am U.K. Time

Pretty Cool music, and a nice clean site. One siggestion: What is always nice on sites of this type is when people include some background commentary on the music, for example a list of what instruments are being used, and any special recording techniques or effects used etc.

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 12th September 10:17 am U.K. Time

Ah, that's a secret! Actually there's a good reason for that. I want people to dance to these tunes, not ponder what filter I usd on the drums or whatever.

What I will do though, is a studio diary, on a seperate page. Thanks for the compliments and the suggestion Steve.


Name: Luis
Email:
label00@ujaen.es
Sunday 15th September 8:57 pm U.K. Time

Hola Compro tarjeta de memoria RA-500 para guitarra midi CASIO PG-310, interesador en vender enviar un email

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 17th September 4:47 pm U.K. Time

Translation: "Hi. Looking to buy an RA-500 Card for PG310 Casio Midi Guitar. Please email me if you are interested in selling."

Name: ozzie (ressurecting Pg380)
Email:
mozmid@aol.com
Saturday 21st September 3:12 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve, you may have already answered this but...on my casio PG380 the fifth string (A string) synth pick-up does'nt trigger, I read somewhere that it's problematic caused by lack of use, it sounded like a transister/capacitor solder job. can you help?, or steer me in the right direction for repairs? on behalf of my Pg380 being ressurected back for band use ....I thank you. thanks :-)

Name: lewis Heathenlad
Email:
Lewisvlad@hotmail.com
Tuesday 24th September 1:33 am U.K. Time

Hi, I´m looking for an operating manual for casio vz-1 synth, can anyone tell me where to find it, or if anyone have it, could you, sent it to me... please....

Name: Seal
Email:
SealNYC@hotmail.com
Tuesday 24th September 4:07 am U.K. Time

Hello, I recently had my Casio PG 380 repaired, and it's working perfectly. Approximately 45+ electrolytic capacitors needed replacing. A tech named Nejat Bakin of Audio Technologies in Sea Girt, NJ did the job and it cost me $260, but it was worth it. It's great to have my PG back in perfect working order. His phone number is 732.223.0274, and is highly recommended. He's repaired a few things for me, and is always great.

I am looking for a RAM card for this thing. I recently aquired a VZ8M, but no RAM card. I'm hoping to find one or two so that I can start customizing some sounds. Please email me if you have RAM cards to sell for these things, or know where I can get them.

Thanks. SealNYC@hotmail.com


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 24th September 10:54 am U.K. Time

VZ1 manual: No manual on line, but the VZ Powerplay book is the next best thing. This copied from a previous posting:

The complete text of the out-of-print, rare "Powerplay VZ" instructional book is now available for download in the form of two PDFs. That's 114 pages worth of VZ programming tips. The files are hosted here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.

PG380 repair: Electrolytic capacitors can be very unreliable, particularly poor quality ones, and do age. You probably didn't need to change them all, but the effort of finding which one has gone wrong is often greater than the cost of replacing them all.


Name: Jerry
Email:
shalomaleichem@hotmail.com
Wednesday 25th September 1:33 pm U.K. Time

I have 5 Casio RA-6 that fit in the CZ-1,I have been asked if the RA-6 ram cartridges fit any other Casio CZ synths? If anyone knows and/or is interested, then please email me with the information. Thankyou and be well,Jerry

Name: merseymale
Email:
merseymale@merseymail.com
Wednesday 13th November 5:36 am U.K. Time

Hi,

I have a Casio PG guitar synth that, apparently, one can write new sounds/patches for using a VZ synth. I don't have a VZ synth (hey, I'm a guitarist!!) & I still can't seem to find one -even broken- at a fair price. Can I use some sort of software instead?

Thanks for your time everyone!!

MerseyMale.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Thursday 14th November 11:36 am U.K. Time

You can edit patches using my VZ Patch editor on the accompanying EZVZ web site (link at top of page), but I don't think the guitar has the ability to upload and download patches to/from the card. You therefore need a VZ1/10/8 in order to get the data off the card or back onto the card. I might be wrong (I don't have a guitar myself, nor the manual). There are several other Guitar users who read this page so maybe someone else knows a way around this.

Name: Gunter W.
Email:
Pisang@gmx.de
Wednesday 20th November 3:28 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

I also don´t have a Casio PG-380 guitar(I use the Roland Midi Guitar systems). But as far as I know-and remember,the PG380 can read only a Ram Card,wich was programmed on a VZ1/10m or 8m. The PG380 has only a Midi out Jack,so uploading sounds via SysEx or an Editorsoftware is not possible. I would recommend,to get a VZ8m for your guitar.The VZ8m is optimized for Midiguitarists (and also Midi Windplayers).Also it has some nice gimmicks,wich the VZ1/10m don´t have. Panning function for example.Also you can hold eight Normalsounds in a Combinationpatch, a gimmick wich is interesting for Windplayers. Also you need a RAM Card then,to deliver sounds to your PG380.To get such a RamCard is much harder as a VZ8m.

The VZ8m is the thing for you.Because it is easy to use for Midi Guitar,just switch to the Guitar Mode.The VZ1 or 10m can also be used for Midiguitarists,but then you have to adjust a lot of things in the Multitimbral section,wich takes a lot of time and needs also some experience.In the VZ8m it is just a Plug and Play. Sound programming is the same as in the big brothers.

I own a VZ1,a VZ10m and a VZ8m (and also a FZ1 with 4MB Ram),but for a Midiguitarist,who has not much experience with Keyboards I recommend the VZ8m,this one is perfect for this job.

Hope I could help a little bit.

Gunter


Name: bootzee
Email:
bootzee@blueyonder.co.uk
Monday 25th November 1:23 am U.K. Time

hi

my casio HD-100 digital horn finally gave up on me + i'm looking to replace it.

anyone have one they don't use (much), maybe wanna sell?

a good home will be given!

thanx

bootzee


Name: Scott Reed
Email:
sareed@attbi.com
Monday 2nd December 10:17 pm U.K. Time

I have a VZ-1 synthesizer that has an interesting problem. If it is plugged into a grounded outlet, when it is turned on the display shows to offset black rectangles and the unit will not function. No sound, no nothing. If I lift the ground using a 3-prong to two prong adapter, the unit functions normally. No, there are no sparks and I've never been "zapped" with the ground lifted, but I am at a loss as to what might be causing this or how to fix it. I love this instrument, but it is probably not worth what it would cost to repair it. It is usable with the ground lifted, but this is obviously not the ideal situation. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 3rd December 6:27 pm U.K. Time

Does it do that in ANY grounded socket? I suspect possibly not, in which case there is an earthing problem in that socket (too high a resistance to ground meaning that there may be volts on the earth pin).

Also, possible earth loop problem with an alternative route to earth. Try unplugging all external connections to the synth (midi, audio, pedals etc) and see if it still does it - the problem may actually be elsewhere. It's possible you might have an earth/negative short inside the VZ. That is potentially dangerous, but you might only get a shock if you touch some metal on the VZ at the same time as touching another earthed appliance with your other hand. Be careful. If you have a residual current circuit breaker available (as often used when running a lawn mower outdoors), then plugging into that might help indicate whether there is any current flowing through the earth wire (in which case the breaker will shut off the supply).


Name: Scott Reed
Email:
sareed@attbi.com
Tuesday 3rd December 6:56 pm U.K. Time

Steve,

I was messing around with it last night and have some additional data along the lines you describe. I was lifting it to see how the cover comes off to try looking inside to see if I could spot anything obvious. After I set it back down, I plugged it in without the 2 prong adapter. It was working! The audio cables were not connected at the time. As soon as I attempted to plug in an audio cable to either output, it quit working. I then tried plugging in the headphones. It worked fine. I then tried plugging the headphones into the line out jack, and it still worked fine. I then plugged an audio cable (connected to my Mackie mixer), into the headphone jack, and it quit working.

Yes, it does do this in ANY grounded outlet. It appears that the problem occurs when any output (line or headphone) is connected to another grounded device.

Let me know if this narrows it down any. I doubt there is a problem with the mixer as I don't have an issue with anything else connected to it. I have switched the channels around on occasion and that has not affected the behavior.

Thanks for your help! Scott


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Wednesday 4th December 11:45 am U.K. Time

Obvious things first, but I assume your mixer is not putting out 48 Volts DC on its inputs as if to drive a phantom-powered microphone?. If you have a "phantom power" switch on the mixer, turn it off. If you have access to a voltmeter, it might be informative to measure if there are any DC volts across the input to the mixer and also on the output of the VZ. I suspect that the problem is caused by a poor earth connection somewhere, which could be in the VZ or in the mixer (or maybe on one of the other devices conneceted to the mixer - unplug them to be sure). Check that the earth wire is secure in both sockets and both plugs. It is also likely that you have an "earth-loop" whereby there are two separate routes to earth from the output of the VZ - one via the VZ mains lead and one via the cable to the mixer and the mixer mains lead. If you place any electric/magnetic fields inside or near to this loop then the loop can act as if is the secondary winding on a transformer and have a large voltage induced into it, and especially if one of the earth connections has a high resistance to ground. Likely sources of such "interference" are televisions, monitors, mains adaptors and anything with a big transformer in its power supply (eg Power Amp). It might be worth switching off all nearby un-necessary appliances and making sure that all the wiring is neat and tidy. If you have to coil up mains cables or audio cables, always coil them in a figure-of-eight pattern - forming a coil makes the problem worse! Another possible solution might be to lift the earth connections on the audio leads from the VZ to the mixer, but this will probably introduce some hum. If you do open up the VZ, pay particular attention to all earth connections to/from the power supply and to/from the case and connectors, making sure they are well connected and corrosion free.

Name: dominick zacceo
Email:
dzacjava@aol.cm
Thursday 5th December 10:51 pm U.K. Time

i have a vz1. Are there aany other rom card other then the one it came with and how would i up daaet new sound

Name: Ashish
Email:
blueocean8@rediffmail.com
Saturday 14th December 6:20 am U.K. Time

Hello.. I am currently working on Yamaha pSR 1000. I cannot understand the Chord Fingering Mode. Precisely : What does it mean by changing the Root of the Chord and The Type of the Chord?

I am still exploring the topic. Thank you


Name: TEO
Email:
theorigas@hol.gr
Monday 16th December 3:39 pm U.K. Time

I am looking for the English User Manual of VZ-1. If someone have this manual please send to me via e-mail. theorigas@hol.gr

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 16th December 3:53 pm U.K. Time

VZ1 manual is here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.


Name: andrea
Email:
lancia.andrea@tiscali.it
Thursday 26th December 11:30 am U.K. Time

Io vorrei acquistare un VZ10m o un VZ1 ma non riesco a trovarlo. A chi mi posso rivolgere ?

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 30th December 9:46 am U.K. Time

Translation: I'm trying to buy a VZ1 or VZ10m but can't find one. Where can I try?

Name: mandala music
Email:
raltoja@msn.com
Monday 13th January 11:10 pm U.K. Time

I have two VZ-10M's and 4 VZ-8M's and a PG380 midi guitar. 10 years ago when I was buying ROM and RAM cards for my VZ's, my Mail Order dealer (Consumer Electronics in Wisconsin) sent me a listing of all the Casio ROM cards ever made for the VZ's (along with patch listings for most of them) since I was in the process of buying most of them.

RC100 - Standard (Came with each new VZ sold) RC110 - US Collection RC120 - Tokio Collection (Yes Casio spelled it "Tokio") RC130 - European Collection RC140 - Hi-Powered Collection RC150 - Wonder Collection (Very rare)

And an additional 3 ROM cards for the Casio PG380 guitar. (Just 128 voices per card - no operation memories since the internal synth in the PG380 cannot play them):

RC510G - Tokio Collection : PG Guitar RC520G - European Collection : PG Guitar RC530G - Larry Coryell's Collection : PG Guitar

I hope this helps.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 14th January 9:47 am U.K. Time

Yes, thanks for the info. I've not seen that documented anywhere else.

Name: MANDALA MUSIC
Email:
raltoja@msn.com
Thursday 16th January 10:50 pm U.K. Time

1-16-03

I tried to email 6 banks of VZ banks in VZ1 format to Steve last night. I had no success. My emails came back to me. (I was trying to send the banks as an attachment to my email. I was sending the 2 RC150 (Wonder Collection) banks and the 4 PG Rom Card banks that are not included in the present EZ patch database.)

PS - Anyone ever see the full "Livewire" VZ bank and not just the demo? 10 years back I tried to get the bank from the programmer in NJ but he had sold out all his ram cards and I did not have a computer yet so I did not order the sounds on disk.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Friday 17th January 12:18 pm U.K. Time

My email address redirects to my workplace, which bounces most attachments. An alterntive email address is available on request (which I have notified to the above person).

I look forward to receiving the above and sharing them with the community.


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Saturday 25th January 4:16 pm U.K. Time

That's great, I'm looking forward to hearing those. Thanks!

Steve, when will you get a chance to put them up on the site?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 27th January 10:52 am U.K. Time

I've tried three times in the last week but my ISP's FTP server isn't responding properly. I will keep trying and post an announcement here.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.%20com
Monday 27th January 11:56 pm U.K. Time

I am pleased to announce that I have managed to upload the new patch files. Goto http://www.steveandsally.freeserve.co.uk/casio/ and select the "Patches" button. I have added the new files to the allbanks.zip (124K bytes) archive as well if you don't want to download them individually. New filenames are: Rom510-a, Rom510-a, Rom520-a, Rom520-b, Wonder_1 and Wonder_2

Several people have asked me recently if I can make the patches available as a standard sysex dump as well as my proprietary .vz1 format (particularly for MAC users, not just because they don't like nmy software!). The answer is Yes, of course I will, but my VZ1 is currently out of action so I'm afraid it will be at least a month or two before I can do that, unless someone else is able to do it for me and email me the files for uploading. Any volunteers please email me first as you'll need my alternate email address to send them to.

Enjoy, and many thanks to Raul for finding these extra patch files for us.


Name: patrick
Email:
mpginc@comcast.net
Saturday 8th February 8:32 pm U.K. Time

I currently have a casio pg 380 midi guitar. I made a light adjustment to the hex and now there is no Midi output at all. My tech tells me the hex has shows output. He says the casio board is integrated and you can't work on the board because 1) it's integrated and 2)the erratic microprocessors that you can't work on or replace. Up until now the guitar was the best value in a MIDI guitar system I could find. I need to replace the internal sound generator and see what I can come up with for the least amount of money ( I want to avoid Roland’s short sighted proprietary 13 pin system.) I need a general midi guitar system that 1.works anmd can be repaired 2. tracks properly and 3.I can use to trigger my roland 220 and other keyboards.

I need your expertise...What are my best, affordable options?


Name: m!cha
Email:
michaw57@yahoo.com
Monday 10th February 10:29 am U.K. Time

Hi patrick,

if you just adjust the midi pickup and the result is a sudden defect in MIDI output, it doesn't sound to me like a board or microprocessor error. Maybe it's a contact problem or something like this.

As far as I know CASIO (Germany) still supports the older instruments. It may be the same in your country. Ask them...

m!cha


Name: Hasnain Molu
Email:
hmolu@hotmail.com
Monday 3rd March 7:02 pm U.K. Time

Hi, I have a Casio VZ1. The light on the display does not work. Managed to open the display unit. 40 volts on EL (electronic luminance) present. The display works fine. Please advise on how I can obtain the EL only, and would appreciate any suggestion on possible modification.

Many thanks.

Regards,

Hasnain.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Tuesday 4th March 10:13 am U.K. Time

This question has come up before, several years ago. A search in the Chat Page archive (link above) reveals a company in Germany at http://www.midi-rakete.de/ which sells the EL foil for the Casio VZ1/10M for 25 Euros (about 17 UK pounds, or about 25 US dollars) and will ship worldwide. I don't know if anyone here has ever actually ordered one of these or fixed their VZ in this way. If you do, please let us know how you get on.

You might need to find someone who can read German for you in order to understand that site properly.


Name: m!cha
Email:
michaw57@yahoo.com
Tuesday 4th March 4:12 pm U.K. Time

Hi Hasnain Molu,

take a look on these two links about CASIO FZ-1 DISPLAY EL-EXCHANGE. I think FZ and VZ are similar in this point.

http://www.arschkar.de/casio/FZ_display/fz_xchange_e.html

http://213.68.77.160/ger/ceinbau.htm

bye, m!cha


Name: jacco
Email:
info@jhsound.nl
Saturday 8th March 5:05 pm U.K. Time

hello, is there anywhere a full documentation for a casio vz-1? so i can look for the complete working of this machine.

Name: jacco
Email:
info@jhsound.nl
Saturday 8th March 5:08 pm U.K. Time

Hello, is there anywhone who has the full documentation of the Casio VZ - 1 to explore this machine.

Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@dwmusic.f9.co.uk
Monday 10th March 10:34 am U.K. Time

Hi

I have a Casio CZ-1 which I think is excellent, especially with the new sounds that I've created for it. I'm planning on buying an FZ-1/10m as a second sampler to compliment my Akai S3200XL. I am on the lookout for the original FZ sound library (FL series). I need following: - FL-1, FL-2, FL-3 & FL-5. Must be boxed and in pristine condition. Thanks.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20.com
Monday 10th March 12:22 pm U.K. Time

Jacco, the VZ1 service manual is on this EZVZ website, see: http://www.steveandsally.freeserve.co.uk/casio/documentation/service_manual/

The "VZ PowerPlay" book is downloadable as a pdf from a Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.

There is no standard VZ1 user manual online at the moment to my knowledge.


Name: Duncan White
Email:
dwmusic@dwmusic.f9.co.uk
Thursday 13th March 9:58 pm U.K. Time

Hi

I have a Casio CZ-1 which I think is excellent, especially with the new sounds that I've created for it. I'm planning on buying an FZ-1/10m as a second sampler to compliment my Akai S3200XL. I am on the lookout for the original FZ sound library (FL series). I need following: - FL-1, FL-2, FL-3 & FL-5. Must be boxed and in pristine condition. Can someone help please. Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Name: Joakim
Email:
joakim@dopamin.com
Saturday 15th March 7:43 pm U.K. Time

Does anybody know a site where i can find sound samples of the VZ-8m?? im planning on buying one and i want to hear some sounds from it first...:D

best regards Joakim

PS please reply to my mail....:D


Name: mini
Email:
minime123@onebox.com
Wednesday 19th March 12:46 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

Nice website! :) I have the following FOR SALE in the US:

CASIO VZ-1 - in box, mint condition, complete (with card, manual, power cord, packing, original box) CASIO VZ-1 - with 1 broken key CASIO VZ-8m CASIO VZ-10m

I also have lots of other synthesizers available (including rare and vintage stuff). If anyone is interested, please email me. Thanks for reading.


Name: mini
Email:
minime123@onebox.com
Wednesday 19th March 12:49 pm U.K. Time

Dear Joakim,

I do not really recommend the preset sounds in any of the VZs. You will do a lot better making your own new sounds. These machines have a ton of potential, but if you rely on the presets, you might be disappointed. Since the VZ8m is hard to get around, I think you would be better off with the 10m or 1 instead because they give you the ability to program from the front panel. I have tried using a computer based editor for my VZs, but feel the front panel is faster once familiar with this machine. If you need anything, please email me privately as I do not check this page often.

Mini


Name: Chris
Email:
proguk@hotmail.com
Thursday 27th March 11:02 pm U.K. Time

I've recently picked up a bargain Hohner HS-2/E (Casio VZ10m) and am unsure if the backlight is on its way out or not as it's a little dim. I know backlights can fail but do they just die suddenly or do they get dimmer over time? Can anyone advise please?

Thanks in advance.


Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20dot%20com
Friday 28th March 11:16 am U.K. Time

I think the normal thing with this type of backlight is for them to get dimmer with time, but whether they just keep getting dimmer or just finally die one day I don't know. See discussion a few messages above (or near end of archive) for details of how to replace the backlight.

Name: James
Email:
jamesjohn@yahoo.co.uk
Sunday 30th March 10:31 pm U.K. Time

Can you please tell me some information about the ocillators soon because I want the information till tomorrow morning

Thank You From James


Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20dot%20com
Monday 31st March 10:31 am U.K. Time

What do you want to know? Each tone has 8 oscillators configured in four pairs where each pair intermodulates via phase modulation, ring modulation or a straight mix, and the output of each pair either goes straight to the output or modulates the next pair in sequence.

Name: Koen Gieskes
Email:
kgieskes@stny.rr.com
Wednesday 7th May 11:52 pm U.K. Time

How can I get a sound card for my PG380 midi guitar? I would be very interested to buy the RC-140 rom card.

Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20dot%20com
Thursday 8th May 11:05 am U.K. Time

Not easy. They're not made anymore, nobody sells new ones, and 2nd hand ones almost never come up. The data is on this site (EZVZ link at top of page, then click "Patches"), but I'm not sure how you'd get that into a PG380.

Name: frgn
Email:
f2164@hotmail.com
Monday 12th May 11:14 pm U.K. Time

VZ1 owner for almost 11 years now! Unfortunately, I've not used it much, however, I'm looking to fire it up again for a possible EBM project. We'll just have to see. Also, I do own this enigmatic Midi System Exclusive booklet and, for that matter, this Power Play book everybody's lookin for. But those aren't for sale. Possibly I can reference something for someone with an specific (and well-worded) question. Something tells me I might just benefit more from interactions like that as well!

More immediately, I need a RAM card! Just 1 even! Also, is there a certain sequencing program I should be thinking about getting in specific?


Name: Noel
Email:
elon@btinternet.com
Wednesday 14th May 7:24 am U.K. Time

I want to buy a VZ1.

Name: Sweeney
Email:
phil@sweeney4.freeserve.co.uk
Wednesday 28th May 4:10 pm U.K. Time

Hello

I've just got an AKAI z8 and the ak.sys control software. It's good, but frustrating that you can't control all the parameters with the nice GUIs they have designed. For instance, you can only access the FX via 'display front panel' option. Does anyone know of any third party control software in dev, or do I want the moon on a stick?

Sweeney


Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve%20dot%20com
Monday 9th June 6:13 pm U.K. Time

On March 4th 2003 Hasnain Molu asked about replacing the backlight electro-luminescent foil on his Casio VZ1 (the original message is now on the message archive page). He has just emailed me to say that he contacted the company in Germany at http://www.midi-rakete.de/ as recommended and he reports:

"Managed to get the EL foil. Gave the address to a friend in Germany and the parts were down in about two weeks. Works like a dream."

Note that this was actually for a VZ1 whereas the website says VZ10 but we presume they are the same part as the displays are the same.


Name: Ken Luke
Email:
ken_luke@mentor.com.plz.don't.spam
Tuesday 10th June 9:15 pm U.K. Time

I'm looking for a VZ10m for sale in the U.S.

Name: LeLoupDC
Email:
ynotnsendit2meERASETHISCAPITALIZEDTEXT@yahoo.com
Tuesday 17th June 9:10 pm U.K. Time

Have had a VZ1 for several years now but never really used it. I was about to put it on eBay today before I found this site. Thanks for (unknowingly) convincing me to hold on to it.

Not as much of a dinosaur as I was beginning to think.

D.


Name: JEFF WILKIE
Email:
wilkie@hawaii.rr.com
Thursday 19th June 8:28 am U.K. Time

Hi I have a casio pg380 guitar, and the battery pack broke from the wires, anybody have a solution? Mahalo Jeff wilkie@hawaii.rr.com

Name: Javier
Email:
aregger1@hotmail.com
Sunday 22nd June 7:11 pm U.K. Time

I just got a VZ-10M, the problem is, in "normal" mode you can trigger 12 notes in a row and dies (plays 4 "silent" notes). If you carry on playing, It will play 12 notes again and so on...what's happening?? If you listen to the headphone out it plays alternate sounds (2 left, 2 right)and I can't get it to layer sounds, this only works in multimode. Can anyone tell me if my synth is f***** or it is some weird output assignment thing?? Help!

Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 23rd June 6:16 pm U.K. Time

Could be a strange setup of some sort, but it sounds a bit odd. My first recommendation would be to do a factory reset. That will set all the internal voices and all other settings back to the defaults (note that you will lose any custom programmed sounds). To do a reset, hold down the "Write/Copy/Initialize" key while switching the power on, then respond Yes the to the prompt.

Name: Javier
Email:
aregger1@hotmail.com
Monday 23rd June 9:34 pm U.K. Time

Good idea. I have a problem though... After doing the master reset the display has gone really dark, can't see anything! besides, the other problem persists... and now that I can't see anything the first problem seem very small compared to this!! Can't find any contrast controls for the display. I'm assuming this poor synth is dying...

Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 24th June 10:24 am U.K. Time

To adjust contrast, hold down the "display" key while moving the data slider up/down. If it's REALLY dark then your backlight electro-luminescent (EL) foil may have failed (the display should glow green). That part is repairable (see website in June 9th posting).

It does sound like it's dying though. The full service manual for the VZ1 is on this website (follow link at top to EZVZ web site and look under "Documentation"). Problem is, I'm not sure where you'd start.


Name: Showtarow Sakamoto
Email:
showsoundtec@mx5.ttcn.ne.jp
Tuesday 1st July 6:56 am U.K. Time

30th June 2003

Fast ,I can speak English very little,sorry.

But , I need your help for me . Do you know who has stockes of RAM CARD "RA-500"

I have PG-380 X2, PG-300 X5,VZ-10M, and VZ-1. They have been repaired by myself .They are good condition!!

I need some pices of RA-500 for my PG ! Japanese CASIO has no stocke.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 1st July 7:04 pm U.K. Time

Konnichi wa.

Welcome.

I have been running this web site for several years but I regret that nobody has ever found anywhere that sells the RAM card for Casio VZ/PG machines. Sometimes people do advertise them for sale on this web site, but this is very rare.

If you look in the EZVZ webpages (link above) you will find the Service Manual which has the circuit diagram for the RAM card, so it might be possible to build your own if you have enough skill, but the difficult part will be finding a connector that goes in the socket.

Good Luck.

Ja ne.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 9th July 6:12 pm U.K. Time

I just spotted a Hohner HS2E (VZ10m clone) on Ebay, if anyone is wanting one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2544485128&category=20080

Name: Cheery
Email:
cheerful@cookiemonster.com
Monday 14th July 4:40 pm U.K. Time

Just to say, I love it that this page exists! My VZ1 has lasted me for thirteen years and still my favourite synth. I seem to remember the legendary house musician Larry Heard recorded one of his albums (Beyond the Clouds was it?) using only VZ1 sounds for bass, leads, pads etc which shows what u can do when u get beyond the presets. Anyway, keep up the good work.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 17th July 2:02 pm U.K. Time

The Hohner HS2E went for £72 in the end. A bargain.

Name: crustypaul
Email:
crustypaul@hotmail.com
Friday 18th July 6:06 pm U.K. Time

The hohner went for £72 and its now happily sitting in my rack spewing out hoover sounds. One question though. Is it possible to stop the annoying click at the start of a note without slowing down the envelope attack? You can produce some evil sub bass with this thing but its totally useless cos every time i trigger the sine wave i get a big click on the front. Is this just my machine or do they all do this? Its a major pain in the arse.

Name: Christopher Dennis
Email:
cdd88@yahoo.com
Saturday 19th July 4:07 am U.K. Time

Steve:

Love the site and as an owner of two VZ-10Ms, the editor seems interesting. I cannot get it to send patches without causing my units to hang will "Executing" a load via Menu 3. Is there any chance that you (or anyone else out there) could offer a suggestion on this? Is there also any chance of getting the archive of patches in raw sysex format from you? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best Regards, CD Dennis


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Monday 21st July 11:27 am U.K. Time

Hi Paul,

They do that from time to time. Presumably you've gone through the tedious process of setting up the VZ to receive sysex? I have mine on a dedicated MIDI i/o and it works 9/10 times. Generic sysex loaders are mostly useless. I use Sound Diver most of the time. I always have hassle with SysEx (on the Mac).


Name: Le Loup
Email:
vz1fanJUNK@thecadetsJUNK.com
Monday 21st July 11:27 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone have a CUBASE SX instrument definition file for the VZ1? I would reeeeaaaaally appreciate it.

Thanks.

(SPAM Guard: Remove all "JUNK" from my address to e-mail me.)


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 28th July 11:15 am U.K. Time

Just spotted this VZ1/10/PG380 Coryell Soundcard on Ebay. Currently $25.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2547644223&category=38071


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 28th July 11:17 am U.K. Time

Also, this VZ10-m, currently $125, for those in the US....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2547520037&category=29552


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 11th August 6:10 pm U.K. Time

Another VZ10m on ebay (in US):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2551002261&category=38071


Name: pr0gr4m
Email:
kanderson@adelphia.net
Tuesday 12th August 2:17 am U.K. Time

OMG!!! I just got my VZ-10M today (got from ebay $150) and I'm freaking out. After about half an hour trying to figure out how to get a sound out of it, (both the midi in and midi out need to be set to the same channel), I can't stop grinning. This thing is amazing.

A friend of mine has a CZ-3000 that went kaput on him and we have been trying to replace it for a long time. Then I saw this up for grabs and decided to take a chance on it. I can't believe some of the sounds that are comming out of it. I miss the sounds we used to make on the CZ and this thing has them to the Nth degree.

The best part was when I set my controller's arppegiator (Yamaha CS6X) to trigger the sounds off of the VZ, it sounded amazing. I added a little delay in and I now have the coolest sounding new synth on the block.

Anyway, I saw another up for auction on ebay and I was thinking about snatching it up but before I do that I wanted to ask you guys how good the multi-timberal mode is on this. I've only been working on it for the last 2 hours and I haven't gotten into that part of the synth yet. Is it good or should I get a second one?


Name: pr0gr4m
Email:
kanderson@adelphia.net
Tuesday 12th August 2:25 am U.K. Time

I forgot...has anyone "rated" the patches that are available. I'm going to d/l them all but I was just wondering which were the most impressive or different.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 12th August 9:59 am U.K. Time

I can recommend the patch bank labelled "freds", which has some really good sounds in it.

The multi-timbral mode on the VZ machines is unfortunately not that great. You can have upto 8 parts but you have to decide in advance how many of the 16 polyphony channels are to be allocated to each part - it is not dynamically allocated.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 12th August 10:02 am U.K. Time

As you have discovered, the sounds from the VZ can be a little dry sometimes as there are no onboard effects and the preset sounds tend to have quite short release times. The addition of a little delay or reverb from an extrenal effects unit can work wonders.

Name: pr0gr4m
Email:
kanderson@adelphia.net
Wednesday 13th August 4:49 pm U.K. Time

Before I even plugged it in, I had it routed through my Quadraverb, just incase I needed to add a little something to it.

I did notice that it is rather noisy but I've got noisier (sp?) units so this isn't a problem. My next quest will be to find a RAM card for it.

Can I dump sounds from my computer to the card or only to internal memory?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 15th August 10:08 am U.K. Time

RAM cards are very very difficult to find. I suggest you set up a favourite search on Ebay so that it emails you if anyone trys to sell one. Not having a RAM card myself I'm not familiar with what is possible, but from what I remember I don't think you can download straight from PC to RAM card without going via the internal bank, but I could be wrong. My VZpatch software certainly doesn't support that directly, but it might be that you have to set the VZ end to put the incoming data to RAM instead of internal, rather than something in the sending end.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 15th August 10:10 am U.K. Time

By the way, if you don't have a manual, the book "Powerplay VZ" is the next best thing. From an archive posting:

The complete text of the out-of-print, rare "Powerplay VZ" instructional book is now available for download in the form of two PDFs. That's 114 pages worth of VZ programming tips, amigos. The files are hosted here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.


Name: Steve B
Email:
kernowzx2@yahoo.com
Friday 22nd August 11:15 pm U.K. Time

I just got the VZ-10M that I won on eBay the other day. Must say I like the build quality, almost Yamaha like... Worked out the menu system pretty quickly, but like another poster said I get execute errors when I try uploading patches to it. Should i install the patch editor on a Win 98SE machine instead of this one running XP? All in all I impressed so far, as soon as I can get the patch editor running I will start experimenting. Steve.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 26th August 2:08 pm U.K. Time

I can't remember precisely, but I seem to recall that the patch editor requires the patches to be uploaded on the same midi channel that they were download on, or something like that. Try experimenting with other midi channel numbers for transmit and receive.

Name: frgn
Email:
f2164@hotmail.com
Sunday 31st August 10:45 am U.K. Time

dumb question: can a ROM card be converted to be a RAM card?

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 1st September 11:04 am U.K. Time

Not a dumb question at all. I suspect that it's a bit more difficult than simply replacing the ROM chip with a RAM chip though, but possibly not that much - it might just need a couple of extra wires for the read/write logic. I seem to recall that the VZ Service Manual on this site has a circuit diagram for the RAM card (and possibly for a ROM card too), so anyone with any electronics knowledge should be able to look at that and say for sure what would be required.

I did think once that it might be possible to build your own RAM "card" from the circuits in the Service Manual but that in practice any home-built circuit would be much bigger than a real card. That's not a problem if you don't mind having your RAM "card" in a box hanging out the socket via a ribbon cable, but the hard bit is getting hold of the right connector to plug into the socket.

By dismantling a ROM card you would gain the connector and thus be able to build a RAM card. Ultimately a RAM card is much more valuable than a ROM card as ROMs can always be uploaded to VZ memory from a PC, whereas with a RAM card you store all the presets you actually need, from multiple sources. This could be a worthwhile project, I only wish I had more time (and a spare ROM card that I was willing to break) in order to try it out.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 1st September 11:33 am U.K. Time

After looking at the Service Manual, it seems there is no circuit diagram for the RAM/ROM card, only a block diagram. From that it looks as if there is nothing in the RAM/ROM card other than the chip itself. The wiring could be slightly different but probably only on one wire - that labelled RA15 (address bus bit 15) which might be cut on the RAM card and not on the ROM card (I would imagine it's a solder link, if anything, and they use the same physical circuit board for RAM and ROM cards, but I don't know for sure).

The Service manual doesn't seem to give the pin allocation of the card socket, nor a wiring diagram of the card, nor a pin-out of the RAM/ROM chip. Therefore you'd either have to work that out by following wires on the circuit board, or find the pin allocation of the ROM/RAM chip from a reference book/internet, which could be tricky depending on whether or not it's labelled with a device number and whether or not it is obsolete (50:50 is my guess)

Overall my feeling is that converting from a ROM card to a RAM card is probably very easy providing that you can find a RAM chip that is pin compatible with the existing ROM chip, and can trace the wiring OK. If you can't find a pin-comaptible RAM chip then you can probably knock up an external dongle using a ribbon cable and find a suitable replacement, but some electronics knowledge is essential.

Anyone got a faulty ROM/RAM card I can take apart?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 1st September 2:46 pm U.K. Time

VZ1 on Ebay UK): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2553129883&category=20080

.. but watch out for the postage charge (recommend collect it!)

Also, in Germany, RC100 ROM card (over-priced): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555027635&category=7797 and VZ10m (overpriced and without ROM card, from same seller): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2555027340&category=7797


Name: m!cha
Email:
mailto:***michaw57@%20yahoo%20Punkt%20com
Friday 5th September 2:55 pm U.K. Time

If sombody wants to make his own RAM-Card this Web-Page may help

D.I.Y. RAM Card Korg S3 (http://www.xs4all.nl/~fjkraan/digaud/s3/index.html)


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 9th September 10:47 am U.K. Time

Interesting. I forgot that a RAM chip would need a battery backup! Doh! Similar additional components would be required for any DIY VZ solution. It is still possible that the VZ may use the same physical circuit board for ROM and RAM cards though - just with space for those components not required for the ROM card. We would really need to see inside both a VZ ROM card and a VZ RAM card to be sure. Finding a connector to fit the VZ socket (which could then be attached to a home-made circuit board and still fit in the available space) is also a limiting factor.

Name: frgn
Email:
f2164@hotmail.com
Tuesday 16th September 10:14 am U.K. Time

X-raying a card wouldn't cause problems with the memory would it?

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 16th September 12:28 pm U.K. Time

I think the card has a metal case, doesn't it? Otherwise, it would work as long as the circuit board is single sided. Now, where did I put my X-ray machine.....

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 18th September 11:17 am U.K. Time

Just found another country that sells replacement backlights (Electroluminescent foil) for CAsio VZ machines, and they're UK based but ship anywhere: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/backlights-uk/

Name: Dan Griffin
Email:
Driffin@qwest.net
Friday 19th September 7:39 am U.K. Time

Hi There. I hope to one day own a Casio PG-380 and have been looking to buy one. In the meantime I noticed people complaining about not having access to PG-380 Service manuals. This place claims they not only have the Service Manual, but the Owner's manual as well. Hope this helps somebody get their PG working....So they can sell it to me!

http://www.schematicconnection.com/store/asp/product.asp?recorprod=1&product=183&cat=197&ph=cat&keywords=&recor=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=

Dan


Name: m!cha
Email:
sorryNoAddress@t-online.de
Friday 19th September 12:49 pm U.K. Time

A copy of

Casio MG500 Series MIDI Guitar Service Manual

is here:

http://homepages.donobi.net/mcd/mg500.htm

My favorite chapter is "Exploded View"!


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 19th September 2:58 pm U.K. Time

CAsio VZ10m for sale on Ebay (in UK): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?viewitem&item=2558614434

Currently £79, ends Sunday


Name: Jeffrey
Email:
mailto:AlienImpulse%20@%20hotmail.com
Sunday 28th September 7:06 pm U.K. Time

WANTED: Casio PG-380 MIDI guitar any condition.

Name: Rod
Email:
rodnruth@rwesson.freeserve.co.uk
Monday 29th September 10:52 pm U.K. Time

Hi

Anyone know how to change banks via MIDI? I have the main ROM CARD (1) bank programmed in to Cubase SL but I would like to be able to access the alternative bank ROM CARD (2).

Thanks

:-)Rod


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 30th September 11:30 am U.K. Time

It's in the MIDI sysex manual for the VZ, I seem to recall (came with the machine). My copy is currently packed in a crate in an inaccessible location. Maybe somebody else can look it up for you...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 1st October 10:14 am U.K. Time

Myself and another EZVZ'r have been discussing the possibilities of either making a VZ RAM card or modifying the internals of the VZ to add extra switchable banks of RAM. He has taken apart his ROM card and sent me a scan of the insides.

Unfortunately we can only see one side of the printed circuit board as it is glued to the shell underneath, but evidence suggests that there is very little on the underside, perhaps only one or two circuit tracks and their position can probably be deduced. Anyway, on the basis of what we see it looks like the circuit board for a ROM card is probably different to that for a RAM card. The ROM card case has space for a battery but there is no space on the circuit board for the associated circuitry that would be required, and there are no obvious places where links would be made/cut for the extra read/write functions that would be required. There are a number of pins on the connector that are unused in the ROM card. There is insufficient evidence in the card or in the Service Manual to establish exactly what the wiring of a RAM card would be. Further work would be required in particular to trace the ribbon cable wiring from the interface connector to where it joins the main VZ circuit board by taking the lid off a VZ. With sufficient work I believe that it would be possible to build a RAM card without ever having seen the insides of one, but there are risks involved and possible difficulties in obtaining a suitable connector to plug into the socket. One option here would be to cannibalise a ROM card just for its connector, and connect a ribbon cable to it going to an external box. If you were doing this then you would probably use something like a 256Kb static RAM chip rather than the normal 32Kb chip so that you could have 8 switchable banks of RAM (imagine - 8 full banks of tone/op data at the flick of a switch), or perhaps even more.

Another alternative is to modify the VZ internally which you could probably do by piggy-backing another RAM chip straight on the back of the existing one, with an external switch to switch banks via the "Chp Select" pin. This is relatively easy to do but requires very careful study of the circuit board and diagrams in the Service Manual to identify the correct chip and its wiring, and finding a suitable RAM chip with the same pinout. However, note that doubling the internal RAM in this way would halve the life of the internal backup battery and risks damaging the VZ.

Ideally, we need to see the insides of a genuine VZ RAM card, but taking one apart is a one-way process that damages the case irrepairably (you can glue it back together and it will still work, but it will never look the same again). If anyone has one I DO NOT recommend doing this, as the RAM cards are too rare and valuable. Without this, a lot more effort is required to deduce the correct wiring, but I now believe that this can be done. If anyone is significantly knowledgable about electronics (do you understand everything in the Service Manual?) and wants to have a go, then please get in touch and I will provide all the advice and assistance that I can (plus copies of the scans of the ROM card internals). What I don't have, unfortunately, is the time to persue this myself.


Name: m!cha
Email:
sorryNoAddress@t-online.de
Thursday 2nd October 9:55 am U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

I found this in the chat page achive:

=======8<--------------------------------(Cut)---

Name: the Whiz Email: thewhiz@hotmail.com Friday 21st January 4:23 pm U.K. Time

Just figured out how to open the RAM card for the VZ series synths. Along one edge, there is a hole large enough for the end of a straightened paper clip. Pushing the paper clip in will allow the battery holder to come out the top edge.

The problem is that just replacing the battery isn't enough. The card isn't being recognized for formatting. I assume it requires some button-pressing sequence for resetting prior to formatting, like the old DX7 cards.

Does anyone know what the sequence is for the Casio RAM card?

=======8<--------------------------------(Cut)---

M!cha


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 2nd October 12:15 pm U.K. Time

Thanks. I don't remember that one and my memory is normally quite good for what people have said over the years. By the way, the RAM card shouldn't need any formatting as far as I know, it's just a straight memory chip, it's not as if its Compact Flash with a FAT16 filing system or anything.

Further discussions offline from this chat page have decided that the best way forward is probably to modify the insides of a VZ by putting additional RAM chip(s) in parallel with the existing internal chip (a 613256 chip which appears to pin compatible with the 62256 or 61256 chips which are still available in DIP28 packages if you search hard enough - try http://rswww.com/) and switching them in/out via their Chip Select pin (pin 20) with an appropriate pull-up resistor too on pin 20 of each chip. One other suggestion is to use a 512K chip in a 32 pin package (on some external veroboard) to provide 16 banks of internal RAM via a rotary switch. It would probably be necessary to power-down the VZ when switching banks in this way.

I have copies of all the correspondence that has taken place on this issue if anyone else is interested in seriously pursuing this project. One day I'll put something on the EZVZ website summarising it. Significant electronics knowledge and soldering skills would be required, with some risks to the VZ.


Name: Dan Griffin
Email:
Driffin@qwest.net
Friday 3rd October 6:16 am U.K. Time

Well I finally bought a PG-380 from Michael Jackson's guitarist. Absolutely MINT with a hardshell case, ROM card, and Factory Wallwart...for 500 clams! This thing tracks like a dream, I can outrun it, but I really have to try. I just want to know one thing....WHO WAS THE IDIOT AT CASIO THAT DECIDED TO QUIT MAKING THESE THINGS!!? All I know for sure is he wasn't a guitarist!

Name: Kirk
Email:
makita-b@N.O.S.P.A.M.comcast.net
Sunday 5th October 6:44 am U.K. Time

Howdy all.

Has anyone successfully used VZPatch with Windows XP? How about with a USB MIDI interface (midiman midisport 2x2)? VZPatch doesn't see the midi port and won't properly start up...

-kb


Name: Kirk
Email:
makita-b@N.O.S.P.A.M.comcast.net
Sunday 5th October 7:13 am U.K. Time

OK. I got the program to load, but it still won't run properly. It appears to be an incompatibility between VB and XP?

Could I talk someone into posting the patch library in syx format (in addition to the VZ1 format) for those of us who cannot run the VZPatch program (I guess this would be mac users also).

-kb


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 6th October 9:47 am U.K. Time

I use a midisport USB 2x2 and VZpatch sees it ok, though I'm still on Windows 98. At work I use XP and it seems to load OK at first but bombs out as I have no MIDI interface here. I'm sure others have made it work in XP OK.

Loading/Saving in sysex format from VZpatch has always been on my to-do list but realistically I'm unlikely to have the time to do it anytime soon, but that doesn't stop someone else from loading the patches up to a VZ from VZpatch and then using a sequencer to capture them back in sysex format.


Name: Kirk
Email:
makita-b@N.O.S.P.A.M.comcast.net
Wednesday 8th October 4:34 am U.K. Time

Is the binary format of the VZ1 files documented anywhere? Is the source code for VZPatch available anywhere? If either of these are available, I could very likely solve the problem myself.

-kb


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 8th October 2:14 pm U.K. Time

The binary format of the VZpatch files is very straightforward from what I remember. It's just all the raw VZ sysex data (not the sysex headers/footers) stored in the order in which it comes from the VZ. Note however that the incoming sysex data is split into 4 bit nibbles by the VZ and that the VZpatch program then joins these back together into 8 bit bytes (to halve disc space and file size). Data is sent by the VZ as 4 bit nibbles because you cannot set the top bit of an 8 bit byte in a sysex download as that could produce a valid MIDI command (eg note on) instead. The System Exclusive manual that comes with the VZ lists all the parameters etc in the sysex dump. Note, however, that this manual has a MAJOR error where it describes whether the high nibble or the low nibble is sent first. I can't remember which way around it is, but the manual is the wrong way.

Therefore, to convert from .vz format to sysex format, just split each byte into two low-order nibbles and then add the relevant sysex headers and footers (from the manual) to the top/tail of the data. eg Hex F2 becomes Hex 0F and Hex 02 (or is it Hex 02 and Hex 0F !).

Sorry, but the source code of VZpatch is not available. It should be very easy to write a VZpatch format to sysex converter in Visual Basic or from an Excel macro or something (or from DOS Qbasic or whatever).


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 8th October 2:16 pm U.K. Time

An alternative solution is to plug your PC MIDI out to your PC MIDI in and then use VZpatch to send data at the same time as using your sequencer to capture the MIDI IN. (Presuming you can run VZpatch that is).

Name: Kirk
Email:
makita-b@N.O.S.P.A.M.comcast.net
Thursday 9th October 6:19 am U.K. Time

Can't run VZPatch, or I wouldn't bother with any of this. VB complains about an invalid parameter on a couple of different calls. I suspect it's an XP VB compatibility thing... Don't know. Regardless, it should be trivial to write a vzpatch to syx converter. Thanks for the tip on the busted documentation with regard to nyble order. That one could have messed me up for a while. (reverse engineered enough streams in my life already thankyou...)

I'll post the syx files and possibly the utility when done.

-kb


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 9th October 10:10 am U.K. Time

Sorry, I forgot, it's not that simple. I seem to recall that the sysex data arrives and is sent back in "blocks" (My manuals are in storage so I can't look it up now). I think each block has a header on it. Each block also definitely has a checksum on the end - it's all in the VZ Sysex manual. None of the headers/footers and checksums are stored in the vzpatch format - just the basic raw tone/op data as it comes from the VZ in the same order. Note that the method for calculating the checksum is not documented anywhere. I had to reverse engineer it myself. I seem to recall that I explained the precise method once on this chat page some years ago, so it's probably in the archive (link above) which might be a longish download...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 9th October 10:18 am U.K. Time

Here it is:

"There is a checksum on the end of every block of voice patch data (336 bytes) and on the end of every block of Op patch data (100 bytes).

To get the checksum, add up every (8 bit) byte in that block, take the last seven bits (ie MOD 128) then subtract the answer from 128. To get your final checksum value."

There is a small error here - after doing that, take the bottom 7 bits again (either MOD 128 or AND with 127) for the one case where the answer comes out at 128 (should be zero in that case).

Note that 64 voices times 336 plus 64 Ops times 100 = 27,904 bytes, which is EXACTLY the file size of the vzpatch files.


Name: Kirk
Email:
makita-b@N.O.S.P.A.M.comcast.net
Friday 10th October 7:50 am U.K. Time

Well, I've got to go out of town for a week or so, so this one's gonna get put on the back burner until next weekend... I don't think I've got a sysex manual, but I should be able to derive the header/footer format by inspecting a VZPatch file along with a sysex dump of the same thing... I think I've got some of the VZPatch banks already in syx, so a compare should be simple. -kb

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 10th October 10:49 am U.K. Time

The standard VZ internal tone set is on the website in vzpatch format.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 13th October 5:09 pm U.K. Time

There's a number of VZ1's and VZ10m's on ebay at the moment, but they're all in the US or Germany.

Name: Mubo
Email:
rikmarshall@hotmail.com
Thursday 16th October 10:31 pm U.K. Time

I too am having no luck getting VZPATCH to work using XP .... grrr....

has anyone come up with a solution to this?


Name: Adam Brownlee
Email:
ajbrownlee@tiscali.co.uk
Monday 3rd November 2:27 pm U.K. Time

I am no proffesional musician by a long stretch but can play the piano and wish to buy a portable keyboard and wonder if anyone can help. I am considering buying the Yamaha DGX 500 Portable Grand and wonder if anyone could give me their opinions on this. Also does anyone know if with the above keyboard, you can use microphone/karaoke to accompany playing?. Your responses would be greatly apreciated.

Name: pr0gr4m
Email:
kanderson@adelphia.net
Friday 7th November 5:12 pm U.K. Time

I was just wondering if anyone has compared this editor to the one offered by music quest/sound quest. I have an XP machine and this editor doesn't work on it. I also have a 98 machine that it does work on, but I'd rather not have to use two computers. If the music quest editor for this synth is on par with this editor, I think I'll try it out.


Name: pr0gr4m
Email:
kanderson@adelphia.net
Friday 7th November 5:18 pm U.K. Time

I was thinking about trying my hand a creating an editor or librarian for some of my other midi equipment. What I know about programming wouldn't even fill a thimble. To add to that, what I know about midi (outside of normal midi data type stuff) is probably even less.

I was just wondering how hard it was to put together this editor and whether or not doing something like this would be too big of a task for a beginner programmer.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 7th November 5:31 pm U.K. Time

The hard bit is reading data to/from the Midi interface. I wrote the VZ editor in Visual Basic (version 3) and used a third party add-on to control the midi interface. It's really just a case of reading data from the MIDI port and storing it in a data array, then using that data to set various controls on a dialog box (scroll bars, text/number values etc) and then saving/loading/uploading the data. It gets much more tricky if you start doing clever things with graphics, like the split points and Key-Follow curves etc that I implemented on the VZ editor.

It's not a simple job, but not that complicated either as long as the Midi in/out functions are well documented (the ones I used were not). The MIDI protocol itself is fairly straightforward, as long as your equipment describes its own System Exclusive data format precisely and accurately.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 7th November 5:40 pm U.K. Time

I quick search on the net reveals a number of MIDI utilities for Visual Basic. It's just a case of trying to find one which is both cheap (or free) and easy to use. This sort of program doesn't need a lot of processing power, so Visual Basic is probably the best programming language for beginners to use. The VZ patch program was originally written on a 66MHz 486 PC running Windows 3.1

Name: J. R. Lennon
Email:
inverseroom@hotmail.com
Saturday 15th November 6:55 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone on this board know anything about the HT-6000? I believe it has a similar engine to the VZ's. I'm in search of a manual... Thanks!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 18th November 2:34 pm U.K. Time

There is some info here: http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/casio_ht6000.cfm

Looks to me like the engine is nothing like that of the VZ series.


Name: Peter
Email:
ashrait@yahoo.co.uk
Wednesday 19th November 12:15 pm U.K. Time

Hi all,

I have installed Steem ST Emulation on my PC, loaded some of the apps I used to work with years ago on my Atari and found a librarian for the CASIO VZ8M synth. Files are in .VMC and .VZV format and the name of the software is VZDUMP (Version 2.0) of 21 May 1992. Well, I cannot load any of the banks I had saved at the time. I read somewhere that .VMC and .VZV files are Dr.T compatible, but I don't have Dr.T.

If anyone can help, I'll give my Casio sounds (1600 patches approximately) and other software I've got in exchange for assistance with this problem.

Peter from Italy


Name: atma
Email:
atmananda@zianet.com
Thursday 20th November 7:49 pm U.K. Time

hi,

i'd really like to see an updated version of the vz software editor--it really makes things so much easier but it'd be great if it were updated occasionally!


Name: matt
Email:
ishq@ishq.org
Sunday 23rd November 12:51 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

i ahve been offered a vz10m - tried just about every form of synthesis other than this - have soundiver and it looks cool but i wondered about online demos (mp3) or tracks that explore what it can do ? interested in any comments on what its capable of ?i do deep experimental ambience and electronica and love old digital synths so i guess i should buy this ? it seems cheap also ...!

best wishes,

matt


Name: manduca francesco
Email:
resistenzaaoltranza@yahoo.it
Monday 8th December 1:19 pm U.K. Time

Hi Casiomaniacs,I'm the happy owner of a CZ-1 model and now I squeezed enough ProphetMoogOber good sounds from my machine,I'd like to taste the VZ series capabilities.I'm wondering if there's someone who'selling for a good price a well kept and good working veezee or clone for my experiments.You can leave a message on my E-Mail address with your payment preferences(I'd prefer postal or courier cash-for-delivering,anyway,it's easier and safer for both,I think;-).Feel also free to send patches for CZ1 and if you have one I could send you in change my sounds.Thanks a lot you all.Bye.

Name: Reid
Email:
pueblo@liveline.com
Thursday 11th December 3:59 pm U.K. Time

Anyone looking for the ROM card RC-130 (European Collection)call George at Consumer Electronics direct line (262) 784-9001. He says he has about 30 left from the old days. Casio made 8 different ROM cards to support the VZ products and all he has left is the European Collention sitting around collecting dust. There not cheap (around a 100 bucks)but might be your only chance to get a ROM card to support your instrument. He is nice guy too...

Reid


Name: phono
Email:
soundattack2001@hotmail.com
Saturday 13th December 10:32 pm U.K. Time

hi! is this list still alive? i got problem with xp and vz10 too.. maybee you could join the casio list at yahoo groups ? nice place...hope to cu

Name: Daniel Downes
Email:
daniel_downes99@hotmail.com
Friday 2nd January 12:27 am U.K. Time

I have just purchased a FV-1, mainly for the after-touch functionality; I am not really interested in the sampler features!

I would like to know how to set the FV-1 so that it sends MIDI volume change events instead of modulation events from the after-touch.

I've tried changing the 'MIDI/Effects' options, but to no affect! -- The changes are only local and do not seem to make any difference via MIDI. Perhaps there is a way to change how MIDI software treats these messages?

Any help would be great.

Thanks.


Name: phono
Email:
soundattack2001@hotmail.com
Wednesday 14th January 4:53 pm U.K. Time

TRANSMITING SINGLE VOICE to VZ ?

when i try to do this with the ditor all single patches will stored at place "c-8" ... why is this ? can anyone help ... i just try to make my own patch collection ;)


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@
Thursday 15th January 12:31 am U.K. Time

Hi phono,

you can send a single voice only to one (of five) VZ-1/10 voice buffers. Normally it is send to C/R 0 (Compare/Recall buffer in Normal mode). The other four buffers are used in the combination mode. But none of the Librarians I have seen can address the combination buffers.

So if you have transfered a voice patch, you have to write it to the right place using the write button of your synth.

Maybe it is easier if you create your patch collection with an librarian on your computer.

Maybe(#2) there are extended MIDI exclusive messages on the VZ-8M!??

Greeting M!cha


Name: Tony
Email:
fusionsynth@yahoo.com
Thursday 15th January 2:21 pm U.K. Time

If anyone is selling a Casio PG-380, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Tony


Name: Mike
Email:
mrfreeze001@hotmail.com
Saturday 24th January 2:43 am U.K. Time

Yikes! I recently bought a VZ10M so that I could make some new sounds for my PG-380 guitar synth. I have never before worked with midi nor have I programed sounds. I have 3 blank ram cards and am ready to try, but the manual that comes with the unit is at best confusing. I am able to very basic things like access sounds, but I have no idea how to program the VZ10. Is there a web site or book that can help me out or explain how to use this unit more simply and clearly? HELP!!

Mike


Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20home%20dot%20com
Monday 26th January 2:51 pm U.K. Time

This message was posted a couple of years ago:

The complete text of the out-of-print, rare "Powerplay VZ" instructional book is now available for download in the form of two PDFs. That's 114 pages worth of VZ programming tips, amigos. The files are hosted here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

In order to download the book, you'll have to join the group, which is free and easy.


Name: IkaDim
Email:
office@ignisfatuus.co.yu
Wednesday 28th January 5:41 pm U.K. Time

Hi!I want ask somebody for help! I intend to buy one second hand CASIO VZ-1 synth. I have seen one piece already! Well, I don't know everything about this model, how it works or so, but I think there is one problem. The question is about "value slider knob". When I press "menu 3" button and move "value slide knob", content of LCD screen is changing! Sometimes, along moving slider, screen is turning off (nothing is visible) and, couple of milimeters farther, turn on with different content. It repeat 3-4 times along mooving slider knob. Is it normal or not!? When I press "menu 1" or "menu 2" knob everything is working normal - display is always on!

Also wanna please somebody who have electronic version of Casio VZ-1 user manual to send me at following E-mail sddress - office@ignisfatuus.co.yu

Thank you for answering!

Regards!

Ika Dim


Name: Mike
Email:
mrfreeze001@hotmail.com
Wednesday 28th January 9:25 pm U.K. Time

THANK YOU STEVE! Wow, what a great book! That was exactly what I was looking for. In just a few minutes, I found the answers to my problems. If I ever meet you I not buying you a beer, I'm buying you a case!

Mike


Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20home%20dot%20com
Thursday 29th January 10:05 am U.K. Time

It's not me you should buy the beer for, but the guy who scanned the whole manual and pdf'd it for us.

Name: Jay Welikson
Email:
welly54@aol.com
Wednesday 4th February 2:08 pm U.K. Time

anybody out there have a casio pg-380 manual that I can download? sure would appreciate the help- thanks.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve.com
Wednesday 4th February 11:35 pm U.K. Time

For what it's worth, I regret nobody has ever mentioned having one in the 5 years I've been running this page.

Name: Dominic
Email:
abcd@orange.net
Sunday 15th February 2:35 am U.K. Time

Hi, I use the VZ1 a lot, (at gigs) and the keys seem to be losing their touch sensitivity recently. Eg. When I hit a note hard the sound is soft and vice versa. Might they just need cleaning..... and if so, is it a major job? Thanks, Dominic.

Name: Mark Tinley
Email:
mark@tinley.net
Monday 16th February 6:36 pm U.K. Time

I have a VZ8M and an RA-500 RAM card for sale. No reasonable offer refused. Thanks Mark.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20home%20dot%20com
Tuesday 17th February 10:38 am U.K. Time

Regarding problems with velocity sensitivity, this was written by someone previously, which I found in the archive:

"...the reason for the velocity problem is some dust between the lower side of some keys and the rubber board where a key down event is detected.

To solve this behavior you have to start a journey into your VZ-1, remove the screws from about five or six rubber boards and clean the whole area carefully with a vacuum cleaner.

As far as I remember, it is not an easy task to explore a VZ-1. Maybe it's a good idea to make some notes about screw positions, removed parts and disconnected plugs."

Hope that helps.


Name: Dominic
Email:
abcd@orange.net
Thursday 19th February 8:16 pm U.K. Time

Thanks Steve, I will give it a go!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20EZVZ
Tuesday 24th February 9:33 pm U.K. Time

The EZVZ website (not this chat page, but the rest of the site) is being moved. If you have bookmarked the main site then please change your bookmarks to http://casio.sallyandsteve.com/ The link at the top of this chatpage has been changed. Thanks.

Name: pete
Email:
peteput@btinternet.com
Tuesday 9th March 11:27 pm U.K. Time

Hi. anyone know where I can get hold of a replacement YES -/+ button array for the FZ-1? thanks

Name: jose luis
Email:
shem_leer@yahoo.com
Thursday 11th March 6:35 pm U.K. Time

necesito un editor para mi CZ-5000... alguien que me ayude...! si fuera gratis... mejor!

gracias


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20home%20dot%20com
Friday 12th March 10:20 am U.K. Time

Rough translation: "I need an editor for my CZ-5000... can anybody help me... preferably a free one. Thanks."

Name: 8m2 stereo
Email:
8m2@almostsync.de
Tuesday 23rd March 3:39 pm U.K. Time

i found this wondeful site and downloaded all the text, made me read it completely (3 hours) in bed last night.. thanks for all the effort + also for those with obviously enormous technical insight for tackeling the problems. i almost gave away my VZ-1 keyboard to a friend looking for a masterkeyboard, now things look different. he can have my wavestation 1 keyb., i´ll start exploring casio again,.. my keyb. has been sitting there unused for a long time, nonetheless i would like to add some comments and then some questions to make it more easy for people with typical questions to find answers in this very long text file. - these machines are still around and cheap, very interesting soundwise and almost failproof due to quality of build. the hohner HS-2 is identical except for colour (i recall it is white..), also there was a hohner rack version like, i think, the VZ-10m. i also have a ram card called hohner HS-2, silver with green + white print (made in japan) that came with my VZ-1 on original purchase from shop + works perfectly.

german company hohner also cobranded the casio FZ-1 sampler i think, also as rackversion, don't know the name though.. now, the FZ-1 / FZ-10m (?) is an utterly interesting instrument too (long time ago for me, but still some of the stuff i remember) : it was anounced as the first 'real' 16bit sampler, some discussed it only doing 12bit, it had the at that time huge display like VZ series, a navigation through programming by an up-down-left-right crossshaped switch, digital filter not so very "fat" but, best of all : for each sample it gives you 8 loop points and you can set the number of repetitions between these freely, so you hold down a key and it wanders between point 1+3 for some time, then goes on to 2+5, then maybe only two repetitions for 2+4, finally the whole sample (1 - 8), all this forwards, backwards or back+forth... ! listen to early tracks by photek , done with this machine (the strange filter sound..) , i also have released a track done completely with FZ-1 , i´ll post a link on this later. FZ quality is ident. to VZ, metal case and all.. i'm also very happy that casio's midi guitar is still around..

on the VZ some facts no mentioned yet : i was told the actual keyboard in the VZ-1 was made by yamaha, may help for repair efforts. by the way : i do think (as an ex piano player) that this keyboard is among the best ones ever made, touch and play wise, and also it is almost "silent" upon action, in contrast to the crappy noises most others make. maybe there are also other synths from that time with the same keyb. inside.. - on the VZ keyboard version the volume slider sends to midi, can be used to fade in/out sounds, this sometimes causes trouble with sequencers not recognising the actual position on start, just move the slider a bit to "reset" midi volume.. the third modulation wheel i think is not connected to midi at all (true?) .. - on display light : i remember it to be some kind of gas filled luminance device, the gas somehow gets used up, lighting power fades and is lost in the end. mine still works well, you have to switch off the VZ / FZ when not in use to prolong the light's life.when gone, i'd recomend not to repair because you have to take the whole thing apart, just use some small external light like in a car's dashboard. display contrast setting does not affect the light, only the Lcd ..

- on internal battery replacement : i opened the keyb. VZ-1 and found the internal batt. (still working after 14 years) somewhere underneath on the far left side of a circuit board .. it is called BR 2/3 A / 3Volts (someone also posted BR2032-IHM (3V) with solder tails (fixed mounting pins; german: Loetfahne)), to replace the battery probably the board has to be taken out for better acess, it would be nice to have short comment on this by someone having done this recently, also an idea how to fix it in a way that makes it more easy for the next time, and how to reset int. sounds and " OS " (are they in permanent rom ?) after repair .. - on cards : maybe the battery (mine still working) can be changed without loosing memory by doing so while the card is in the slot of a powered VZ ? if not, how to reformat ? what's the card's batt. called ? does the rom card have /need a battery too ? my other card for korg wavestation was made by mitsubishi plastics industries ltd. , who made the casio cards ? - on software : is there by now a mac editor , and/or will sounddiver work for os9.2.2 + where can i find a (k)version .. i used to have a VZ editor for atari by a berlin company called geerdes , it was a small sequencer called first track + an editor combined to something called softworkstation and worked quite well .. maybe someone still has it and it can give some insight to softw. questions ... i have the engl. manual , would it still be of any interest to have it on the net ? i might pdf it (or whatever you might recomend) , but it's 115 pages.... nuff said, hope i'm not getting on your nerves ... one last hint to a wonderful musician working with all kinds of casios and the most advanced music programmer i know : burnt friedman , aka drome , aka nonplace urban field , aka flanger . greetings from cologne , and thanks again for helping out . elmar / 8m2 stereo


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve@%20home%20dot%20com
Tuesday 23rd March 5:36 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for that. To answer a couple of the questions:

I would not recommend trying to replace the battery while the VZ is powered. This is risky as you might damage the memory or processor chips. If you remove the battery the VZ should reset to the factory settings. If the memory becomes corrupted, which is likely, then you can force a factory reset by holding down the Initialize button while switching on. The only way to avoid losing your settings is to save them to a PC first, via a SYSEX dump, or use my VZpatch editor.

The ROM card does not have a battery. The RAM card does have a battery.


Name: Alexandre Souza (Brazil)
Email:
webmaster@pinball-taito.com.br
Wednesday 24th March 7:29 am U.K. Time

Greetings from Brazil! Does anyone has a link or could send me the instruction manual of the VZ-10M module? Also, I'm looking to buy the ROM/RAM cards, and the complete front panel (mine is in ugly condition) and/or the rack ears to put it on a rack. Thanks for your attention and congratulations for the site!

Name: 8m2 stereo
Email:
8m2@almostsync.de
Wednesday 24th March 2:08 pm U.K. Time

sorry, but misunderstood - i was thinking : maybe the ram card battery can be changed without loosing memory by doing so while the card is in the cardslot of a powered VZ ? ... this works for some other synths a far as i know ...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve.com
Wednesday 24th March 8:24 pm U.K. Time

I don't know for certain. Unfortunately the service manual (available on this site) does not include a circuit diagram of the RAM card, so I don't know how the battery is wired up. Somebody did once open up their ROM card and they sent me a scan of the circuit board, but we established that the VZ must use a different circuit board for the RAM card (although both use the same outer case as the ROM card has a space where a battery would go).

I think that there is a good chance that you could safely change the RAM card battery while the card is in the VZ and powered, but you are taking a small risk in doing so.


Name: Johan
Email:
UT_Mangler@hotmail.com
Wednesday 7th April 11:50 am U.K. Time

Hi!

Great job with the site and escpecially the SW and banks!

Speaking of which I reasently started to look again for patch-editors for my VZ-1 and found your site! Joy and happiness!

I'm using Windows XP where the program starts fine and operates. It seems even possible to save a bank to file (though with an error at the end of the transmission). When I try the reverse (send) I get the following error messages over and over again and the bank won't be downloaded. The 2 error msg. follows: #1 vbMidiOutUnprepareheader: An invalid parameter was passed to a system function. #2 vbMidiOutLongMsg: <blank> The program still tries to send both VC+VO and says at the en data send OK. VZ-1 is sill "executing" but nothing more happens.

IMHO is it possible for you to try to compile this program with a newer version of VB? Or could you please help me to get this working in some other way?

With kind regards, Johan


Name: Gus
Email:
gusfmm@yahoo.com
Monday 19th April 12:31 am U.K. Time

Hi all. I'm trying to transmit some Sysex libraries for the first time to a VZ-10M and I can't find the right way to do it. I've tried several Sysex programs (SysEx1.0, ChangeIt!, and even VZPATCH which gives me errors on WinME, therefore I haven't been able to effectively use it), without success. The VZ is configured to receive on channel 1, excluse parameter is enabled, and I manually set it to receive MIDI VOICE/OP. I'm using a MOTU MicroExpress to merge all my MIDI setup and I've been always able to control the VZ from a Roland JV-90 that I use as my master keyboard. I believe I'm able to transmit the memory content to the PC successfully, as it indicates so, but it is a different situation when I try to upload from the PC to the VZ. Anyone has any clue on how to sort it out? I've noticed every program uses a different MIDI config on regards to block size, etc. but I'm not quite sure what it means. Gus.

Name: Harry
Email:
harry@intrioduction.com
Saturday 24th April 10:12 pm U.K. Time

Hello,

I have my Ram Cards RA-500 for you FOR SALE !!

When you are interested give me an offer for a price each.

Thanx

Harry


Name: frgn
Email:
f2164@hotmail.com
Wednesday 5th May 12:27 pm U.K. Time

hey, if wanted copies of pages 101 and 102 from the vz1 manual on the internet, where would i find such? im trying to keep from tearing those pages from my own manual.

Name: Daniel
Email:
danielbarrera67@hotmail.com
Thursday 6th May 8:12 am U.K. Time

estoy buscando los planos de la fuente para un sintetizador Casio VZ-1 y/o la fuente

Name: Daniel
Email:
danielbarrera67@hotmail.com
Thursday 6th May 8:15 am U.K. Time

I am looking for the planes of the source for a sintetizador Casio VZ-1 and/or the source

Name: Gus
Email:
gusfmm@yahoo.com
Monday 17th May 2:20 pm U.K. Time

Gent;

On regards to my last message (scroll up a bit), just to let you know that something finally made the trick with my VZ-10M.

I'm using WinME and a MOTU Micro Express to enroute my MIDI setup. The only program that flawlessly worked is ChangeIt! by Jürgen Moßgraber, as well as its SysEx only slimed-down (and now no longer updated) version, which I don't even recall its name at the moment.

I'm now finally able to up/download banks to/from the VZ without problem.

Steve: As I mentioned previously, your editor doesn't work for me. I think it did previously on Win98 but I think it also was an older version. I wanted to try it but I must have deleted it when I downloaded the latest.

Do you still have a copy of it available? If so, perhaps you could email me that. I'd appreciate it a lot.

Cheers!

Gus.


Name: Andrew
Email:
andrew10019@yahoo.com
Wednesday 19th May 3:28 pm U.K. Time

Yeah, even the SysEx dump reload can corrupt the entire memory if the MIDI interface is not up to the task. It had happened with my D-70 [Roland] when I dumped it's memory to an old PC with some cheap Aria sound card/MIDI interface. It got so corrupted that the whole LCD display was misaligned. Anyway, I miss my VZ-1. I sold it a long time ago, only to find that I can recreate that sounds the VZ-1 was making with any other synthesizer. The DX7 card comes close with the potential, still, everything seems so primitive in sound architecture compared with the VZ-1. With only 8 basic weveforms [3 noise waves] you could create so many different timbres. I still consider the VZ-1 to be a technological marvel. Kudos to the programmers from Casio. Amazing sound architecture!

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Saturday 22nd May 10:13 am U.K. Time

Hello all,

I've uploaded the ROM 520 and Wonder banks in .SYX format on my site. Go to http://www.madtheory.com/. Click on the "Samples" button. The Casio banks are as one zip file at the bottom of the page.

I had trouble with Steve's programme in Win 98 on two different machines. It worked fine the first time, but I seem to be getting corruption in the VZ since. If some of you could try these files and let me know if you're successful, I'd be very grateful. Thanks, Tomás.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve.com
Thursday 3rd June 1:47 am U.K. Time

Alex Leber has very kindly converted all of the VZ patch files into Sysex format, and I have loaded these onto the EZVZ website under the "Patches" section.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve.com
Thursday 3rd June 1:48 am U.K. Time

...they are all in one big Zip file (about 190K in size).

Name: Steve
Email:
mailto:stevehome%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 10th June 9:50 am U.K. Time

There's a Casio VZ1 on Ebay (UK), currently at £90, but without a ROM card http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3729547537

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Friday 11th June 9:15 pm U.K. Time

That's great, thanks Alex and Steve!

Name: 8m2stereo
Email:
8m2@almostsync.de
Sunday 11th July 4:22 pm U.K. Time

please find a new independent netlabel at

http://pathmusick.hermetech.net/

some of my tracks included here feature the VZ-1, my only keyboard synth at that time (ca. 10 years ago). this forum saved me from selling it, and the future will find me exploring more of it's possibilities. the label welcomes demos ( alex@alexcortex.com ), please do forward the news...

be best, elmar, köln


Name: Greg Dolhy
Email:
gdolhy@att.net
Saturday 17th July 2004 4:14 am U.K. Time

Just got a used VZ-10M and would like to expand the memory with a RAM card. Did it only use proprietary VZ Ram-cards made by Casio? These seem hard to find now.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:casio%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20.com
Saturday 17th July 2004 2:01 pm U.K. Time

Congratulations on your purchase. Unfortunately, the VZ machines use only Casio's own memory cards and these are extremely rare. In all the years that this chat page has been running (must be about 10 years now), I have only ever seen one advertised for sale.

I had a discussion with someone on this forum about a year ago about the possibility of making your own card. This is very difficult because of (a) finding a connector/card that will fit int he slot and (b) finding the circuit diagram for the RAM card.

(a) could be solved by dismantling a ROM card and using the connector/case from that (not easy, they're glued, don't try this unless you are prepared to destroy the card). (b) is a problem. The service manuals do not give circuit diagrams of the RAM/ROM cards. Somebody did dismantle a ROM card once and scanned the inside of it for me, so we can find out the circuit diagram for that now, but we have deduced that the circuit diagram of the RAM card is significantly different - it does not use the same circuit board. Without seeing the inside of a RAM card we cannot deduce this for sure, and nobody in their right mind would risk damaging a working RAM card by taking it apart.

The best option to increase the RAM would be via an internal modification of the VZ main circuit board. I can see no reason why a larger RAM chip could not be placed inside the machine, in place of the original (but on a separate mini PCB), and then you could switch RAM banks by means of an external switch which controlled the extra pins on the address bus of the RAM chip. You could easily switch in 16 different banks of RAM in this way, all within the same large capacity RAM chip, using a 16 position BCD-coded rotary switch. You really need to know what you're doing electronically to attempt this, and it is not without risks, but if you DO know what you're doing, the Service manuals on this EZVZ website contain the details you would need if studied carefully. Alternatively, there is PC librarian software available on this site which I wrote, taht you can use to store/load/edit data banks, but a lot of people seems to have trouble using it with Microsoft XP.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:casio%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20.com
Saturday 17th July 2004 2:06 pm U.K. Time

Just realised you said VZ-10M instead of VZ1. The service manual is only for the VZ1, but you could probably figure out which RAM chip is the correct one if you really knew what you were doing, but I stress again this is only for experienced electronic engineers to attempt, at their own risk.

Name: Reno from Brazil
Email:
rvieiraf@uol.com.br
Saturday 31st July 2004 10:13 pm U.K. Time

Hello there, i bought a VZ-1 here in Brazil, Sao Paulo City, missing the LCD (without it) and the whole equipmente is in perfect order, but i really miss the LCD functions as you can imagine. I have a frieng going this sunday (08/01) to the USA and i'm asking him to try finding the LCD for me, even USED , but working of course. Can anybody pls help me where can he find this for me there in USA ? I'll be waiting for your reply anxiously ! You people can also use my son's email that is renoneto@uol.com.br ! This is for our Synth Player of our band that you can see at http://www.bandaplantseed.hpgvip.com.br/ (sorry, it's only in portuguese but at FOTOS (photos) you'll see the VZ-1 and the whole band ! thanks in advance !!! Reno

Name: Vinicius
Email:
vinicius@vr3.com.br
Tuesday 10th August 2004 6:42 pm U.K. Time

Hi everybody I just bought a PG 380 guitar and a VZ-8m, I am looking for ram cards and also the VZ8 manual.I have the PG manual if anyone needs a copy juts let me know and I can scan the manual.Thanks

Name: David
Email:
dag250965@aol.co,uk
Friday 13th August 2004 10:11 am U.K. Time

Hi, I have recently bought a Casio PG 310 guitar and i am looking for ram cards for it to expand its range of sounds but don't know where to start. Are they still made? Are they still available, how much?

Don't know much do i?!

David


Name: Steve at work
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Friday 13th August 2004 10:56 am U.K. Time

RAM cards are no longer made, but there were never very many of them about even when they were made. You often see VZ1's or VZ10M's for sale on Ebay, but they almost always come only with the standard RC-100 ROM card. It seems that nobody ever bought the other ROM cards or the RAM card, and so they are extremely rare now. If you read through this chat page archive you will find discussions around making your own, but the eventual conclusion was that it was very difficult to do. Doing an internal memory mod on a VZ1/10 is probably possible, with care and not without risk, but we don't know enough about the PG380 (ie no service manual yet seen).

Name: nobody
Email:
a.leber@imail.de
Sunday 15th August 2004 8:29 pm U.K. Time

RA-500 Ram Card on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3742474906&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 24th August 2004 2:54 pm U.K. Time

Hello all,

I downloaded the .syx zip file, but the two "wonder" banks don't work. They are smaller than most of the others. I tried setting the VZ to receive voice data only, but that doesn't work either. The other banks do work- IntoMillenium, etc.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?


Name: Steve at work
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 24th August 2004 4:46 pm U.K. Time

The original .vz1 files are all the same size but you're right, the .syx conversions are different for some files. I didn't convert them so I regret I can't say what might be wrong,

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 26th August 2004 12:55 pm U.K. Time

Hi steve,

I borrowed a PC to run your editor/ librarian, but I couldn't get the VZ to accept any dumps, I kept getting errors (on the vz). It was a windows98 machine with a midisport usb interface. I'm not as familiar with PC as I am Mac, so I could not successfully trouble shoot it.

Are the Wonder sounds actually worth having?


Name: Steve at work
Email:
steve.gutteridge@bbc.co.uk
Thursday 26th August 2004 1:28 pm U.K. Time

I use Windows 98 and a midisport USB as well, so it's not those which are the problem. The VZ is fussy about MIDI channel numbers I think. Try setting the VZ to receive on different numbers. You can also change the MIDI transit channel in the VZ program, but there is a suspicion that there is a bug in that bit. I think that the VZ expects to receive the sysex dump on the same channel that the original was sent on, but I'm not certain of that, so you need to experiment.

I have also heard stories that the VZ patch program doesn't work very well if the PC runs too fast. The software was written on a 486DX2 66MHz machine a long time ago, and it works on my Pentium2 350MHz machine, but maybe it has problems on faster ones. I have recently upgraded to a Celeron 2.8kHz with Windows XP but haven't had a chance to test the VZ program on it yet. If it doesn't work (as several XP users have reported) then we have a problem because I doubt that Visual Basic version 3 (which the program was written in) will work properly under XP.

I seem to remember that the Wonder sounds were quite good, but I don't really use my VZ1 (or any other synthesizers) very much these days.


Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 26th August 2004 10:09 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for the tips Steve.

I reckon my problems were with the PC itself, since I know my way around the VZ quite well at this stage! It was quite an "untidy" machine- might be a good idea to wipe the drive and reinstall 98.

I hope you get back to the music soon.


Name: phono
Email:
sid@spam.com
Monday 6th September 2004 5:40 pm U.K. Time

HI! I JUST FOUND A OLD SITE WHERE A GUY IS TALKING ABOUT a DR.T EDITOR FOR ATARI!!! I JUST WANDERING WHERE TO FIND IT. I ALREADY HAVE A EDITOR FOR ATARI BUT THIS IS NOT FROM DR.T! CAN ANYONE HELP? THANKS

here is the message i found: "I still run Notator (C-lab) software on Atari. (If it aint broke..etc.etc.) At the same time in a different partition I run the Dr. T editor for the VZ Synth (This is an incredible editor, controlling EVERY SINGLE operator seamlessly) This enables me to edit a sound on the computer, send it to the keyboard, write a RAM card, then stick it straight into the Guitar.

The VZ is one of THE most programmable synth's on the planet. I have many sounds as described by John. All created almost out of thin air.... There's a great 'randomise' command on the editor, does it all for you, if you want! ^_^ .... "


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:casio%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20.com
Monday 6th September 2004 6:38 pm U.K. Time

This page has some Atari VZ software and VZ patches

http://members.tripod.com/~warrian/download.htm


Name: phono
Email:
sid@spam.com
Monday 6th September 2004 7:04 pm U.K. Time

i went there 2 times now. But VZdownload links are dead! Was that DrT editor maybe a part of those XOR system,? Here are some Infos about drT editors, but no VZeditor mentioned.hmmm: http://tamw.atari-users.net/cage_art.htm

Name: phono
Email:
CZsynth@yahoogroups.com
Thursday 9th September 2004 3:01 pm U.K. Time

Hi VZ Users!

There is a PATCHBANK PROJECT for the VZseries going on at yahoogroups. It would be great if some more people would join this little project. For further Infos and contact please visit the "CZsynth" group at yahoo: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

:)


Name: John Ray
Email:
johnray1809@yahoo.com
Friday 24th September 2004 5:02 pm U.K. Time

Hello, Can Anyone tell me where to get parts for a Casio PG 380 guitar? Thanks

Name: m!cha
Email:
sorryNoAddress@t-online.de
Monday 27th September 2004 9:31 am U.K. Time

He John Ray,

What kind of parts are you looking for?

m!cha


Name: Ben Muller
Email:
xbnmx@sbcglobal.net
Friday 8th October 2004 3:37 am U.K. Time

I am looking to buy a mint condition VZ-1, if you have one for sale, please send me an e-mail at xbnmx@sbcglobal.net

Name: john poole
Email:
thepooles@hotmail.com
Sunday 31st October 2004 3:05 am U.K. Time

Does the VZ-10M use a lithium button battery for memory? I pulled the top housing off and shined a light inside but didn't see a memory battery like there is in all my Yamaha TX and DX equipment. A KAT midiKITI used what a tech person called a DALLAS CHIP for memory.

Name: john poole
Email:
thepooles@hotmail.com
Sunday 31st October 2004 3:50 pm U.K. Time

Found it! It was prominately located on the top circuit board - a big tubular yellow lithium battery. Should be easy to pry off the soldered leads from the battery so I can then just solder new wire leads and put in a floating button battery holder. Have done this on various DX and TX units so far with good results. Have not yet taken a reading of the voltage but assume it just can't be up to full charge. I had one 1988 Yamaha TX802 that started showing scrambled lettering in performance mode (not the single ROM presets) in 2003! 3V button battery read zero! DEAD. That's 15 years of service when Yamaha warned owners to not expect more than 5.

Name: P-Mod
Email:
jdalpe@gmail.com
Thursday 11th November 2004 7:48 am U.K. Time

I'm selling all of my cards! Come one, come all! Including my RA-500!!! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=47081&item=3761390545&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW#ebayphotohosting

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 11th November 2004 10:10 am U.K. Time

Any chance you'd consider shipping outside the US? Analysis of this chat page and the Yahoo forum show that there aren't very many active VZ users left in the World.

Name: Steve Hall
Email:
steve.hall@comserco.com
Thursday 11th November 2004 4:03 pm U.K. Time

I am looking for a schematic for a Peavey Classic Chorus 130 guitar amp. Can anyone help?

Name: P-Mod
Email:
jdalpe@gmail.com
Thursday 11th November 2004 4:31 pm U.K. Time

Sure i'll ship to the U.K., i'll Revise the auction and post the shipping fee.

Name: P-Mod
Email:
jdalpe@gmail.com
Thursday 11th November 2004 4:38 pm U.K. Time

Ok, USPS Global Priority Mail $21 to anywhere in europe. 4-6 day arrival time.

Name: reza
Email:
rezamarani@hotmail.com
Thursday 18th November 2004 6:56 pm U.K. Time

Hello! I vill to buy a vz-1 so i can make and copy new voices in my pg-380. I don't anything about this . please give me your help about it. Thank you!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 30th November 2004 10:46 am U.K. Time

JUNK POSTINGS

For the benefit of those who see fit to waste their time posting junk spam/advertising on this Chat Page, you might care to know that as administrator of this page it only takes me one single click of my mouse to delete your posts.


Name: V. M. Sukanovich
Email:
yaj@pennswoods.net
Wednesday 1st December 2004 5:26 pm U.K. Time

I have a Yamaha PSR 150 Keyboard. I neglected to use a surge protector and it got zapped. It seems such a shame to just throw it in the garbage. I would donate it to anyone who could repair it.

Name: ultravortex
Email:
ultravortex@free.fr
Sunday 9th January 2005 10:25 pm U.K. Time

Hello, I have just bought a VZ1, and I look for some patchs, for a software editor (sound quest is not formidable) and a user manual. Where I may get these things? thank you.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 10th January 2005 11:41 am U.K. Time

There are loads of patches on this website. Follow the link to the EZVZ Website at the top of this page. There is also a Patch Editor for the PC, though many people report that it doesn't work under Windows XP, or that it doesn't work on particularly fast machines (it was written on a 66MHz 486 PC).

There is a Service Manual on this site too, but not a user manual. However, the Service Manual does have some information useful to users.


Name: Fritzi
Email:
fritzidachl@yahoo.co.uk
Friday 21st January 2005 8:57 pm U.K. Time

Hi guys and gals - just bought a VZ-1 ('cos I've loved my CZ101 so much) - what a blast!!! I love it, and I've finally managed to get patchbanks to load to it from my Mac (thanks to this site for the patches).

Just one problem though - when I save a single voice from the VZ-1 to the Mac (running SysexLibrarian) I can't seem to reload it back onto the VZ-1. The Mac says it's done but the VZ-1 keeps saying "Executing" and never stops. Does anyone have some idiot-proof suggestions?

Many thanks for any help.

Cheers Fritzi


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sally%20and%20steve.com
Sunday 23rd January 2005 9:01 pm U.K. Time

I'm not certain, but I think I recall that when the VZ sends a single voice patch the data that is sent (and so saved on your Mac) includes the midi channel number that the data was sent on. In order to download that patch you must have the VZ set so that it's midi receive channel is the same.

Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Tuesday 25th January 2005 7:50 pm U.K. Time

hi all..just bought a vz 10 synth the other day..havnt had time to play proper with the programming yet ....it took 6 months to get to grips with the emu audity 2000 he he.. sounds i find are good , espeicially when ive read that the factory presets arnt a patch(sorry) on what the units will actually do..nice machine....

Name: rrrooyyccee
Email:
rrooyyccee@hotmail.com
Saturday 29th January 2005 4:59 pm U.K. Time

hi folks, i have a vz8m and am having some start up problems. I can't seem to change the bank. .. what sequence of button presses to get from bank to bank? I can switch patches o.k. The first screen has a blinking cursor that indicates a letter I can change, but I can't get the cursor to skip to the bank number.

Also, I can't seem to get Unisyn to transmit changes to the vz8. Any pointers? Is the vz8m compatible with unisyn?


Name: Clifton Bryant
Email:
cliffe123@yahoo.com
Monday 31st January 2005 6:31 am U.K. Time

Hi. I was wondering if your still exepting new sounds I created off of the VZ-1 to be posted in this web site. If so there are 64 sounds and 64 operation memory sounds. This is unlike any other sounds no one has ever heard before and pretty convincing. This is in sysex files so if you like let me know. Thanks.

Clifton


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 31st January 2005 11:32 am U.K. Time

Clifton: Yes, I'd be delighted to host them. I have sent you an email with the address to email them to.

Name: Margaret
Email:
margaret_montgomery@lineone.net
Monday 31st January 2005 6:22 pm U.K. Time

Any idea where to get a RAM card for the HZ-600 in the UK or Ireland (or anywhere)? Thanks, Margaret

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 1st February 2005 7:55 pm U.K. Time

>>> NEW PATCHES NOW AVAILABLE <<<

Thanks to Clifton Bryant, we have some new patches on the EZVZ Website. Here's what Clifton says about them:

"Thanks for downloading my original sys.ex files for your CASIO VZ. There are 64 normal sounds and 64 operation memory sounds. In the operational memory sounds, please play the following examples F-2, A-3, C-3, E-6, G-8, D-1 and use your mod wheels. You will notest the modulation changes for each. Other than that, feel free to use my sounds into your musical creations."

To download them (currently in sysex format only) click on the EZVZ Website link at the top of this page (or goto http://casio.sallyandsteve.com/ ) and click on "Patches".

Thanks Clifton.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 1st February 2005 7:59 pm U.K. Time

Forgot to say, the file is the one called "Cliffs Vol-1.zip"

Name: Radek
Email:
teknob@tpg,com.au
Wednesday 2nd February 2005 8:46 am U.K. Time

Hi there,

I've finally got my hands on a peavey pc1600 midi controller. This will make editing some of my synth really easy. (it does sysex strings as well as cc)

Any idea if the VZ8m accepts single sysex strings to edit individual parameters, and in what format? Any one have a copy of the sysex implementation?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 2nd February 2005 10:19 am U.K. Time

Neither the VZ1 nor the VZ8 accept single parameter changes via Sysex. They do accept single patch changes, but you have to send the whole tone/op and if you do that the synth will stop sounding, so you cannot change patches dynamically.

The sysex implementation is documented and it was supplied with the machines when new, but if you don't have it I'm afraid I don't know of anyone who has scanned it in yet, for either the VZ1 or the VZ8. If you do find it, be aware that I know of several errors in the VZ1 chart (some subtle ones and a major fundamental one), which have been discussed on this chat page in the distant past if you look in the archive, so it's possible the VZ8 chart may be wrong too.

If anyone HAS scanned in their sysex implementation manual I'd be happy to host it on this site.


Name: m!cha
Email:
m.wende@@t...
Saturday 5th February 2005 2:19 am U.K. Time

For the VZ-1 Sysex implementation look here.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/files/VZ%20-%20DOCs/

greetings, m!cha


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Saturday 5th February 2005 3:01 pm U.K. Time

I have just added a file to that Sysex directory which lists all of the errors in that Sysex manual.

Name: Abin Saydah
Email:
appsol@telkomsa.net
Sunday 6th February 2005 9:26 pm U.K. Time

Does anyone have any spares for the MG510. A friend I lent it to put the wrong voltage thru it and blew up on of the two boards (the lower one - dunno what it does) and it is a mission to repair it.

Dows anyone have a spare board at a good price ?


Name: El Macho
Email:
n19her@yahoo.co.uk
Wednesday 16th February 2005 1:45 am U.K. Time

For all those people who have been searching for a Casio RA-500 RAM Card (optional RAM storage card) for storing (up to 64) patches, sounds and (up to 64) operation memories and recall facilities - the search may be over for one lucky person.

There is a New/Unused RA-500 available in an auction starting 15 February 2005 and ending on 25 February 2005. You can find this page by clicking the following link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7301474203&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT (or copy & paste into your internet browser).

This RA-500 RAM card is compatible with the VZ series synths: VZ-1, VZ-8M and VZ-10M, and also the PG-380 Midi Guitar Synth, I believe.

Get in there quickly as it is a real bargain for a person who really wants this item and at a reasonable price, considering it is new and never used. It comes with all the extras (i.e. the wallet, disk labels, dust cover sheet and manual) in the original box. It is the genuine article, no rip offs or cheap imitations. Best of luck in you quest to land this rare piece.

Thanks for reading.


Name: Bobo Wieland
Email:
dev@elstudion.com
Tuesday 1st March 2005 1:13 pm U.K. Time

Hi all! Difficult to find this page since all synth relatede web sites has the wrong adress to it... :( Anyway, picked up a used VZ-10M yesterday, and was curious of how much it's really worth... Anyone? Have some other questions too that maybe someone could answer: How do I get the pathes downloadable from this site into my VZ? And did the R100 Rom Card ship with the original VZ-10M or did I just get mine as a bonus? Thanks for any awnsers!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 1st March 2005 1:45 pm U.K. Time

VZ10M's tend to go on Ebay for anything between about 50 and 120 UK pounds normally. I reckon that's pretty cheap really, for what you get. The RC100 card was normally supplied with the machine when purchased new.

To download the patches on this site to your synth you either need the VZ Patch Editor from this site, and the versions of the patches that have the .vz1 extension, or use the versions with the .syx extension and use almost any Midi sequencer. The Patch editor allows you to edit patches on a PC, which is much easier than using the synth's own screen, but most people report having difficulty getting it to work under Windows XP or on fast machines (it was originally written on an old 48dDX2 running at 66MHz)


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 4th March 2005 10:23 am U.K. Time

I've just noticed a VZ10M manual on Ebay. Given that I've never seen a scanned copy online anywhere, and the number of requests on this chat page for copies of a VZ manual, someone might be interested in this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7305470699&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:UK:1


Name: Keith Middlemass
Email:
kmiddlemas@aol.com
Saturday 5th March 2005 1:47 pm U.K. Time

Hi there, just got a VZ10m module with a ROM card (RC150 wonder collection). Does anyone have a PDF of the owner manual. I'm very impressed with the clarity of the sounds but the standard factory presets are a bit cheesy. I've got 2 CZ1 synths in the studio which sound fantastic when played with it all in operation memory mode, can sound awesome. Lastly the ROM card sounds aren't what I'm looking for so I may swap for a RAM card, if anyone is interested?

See ya...


Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Monday 7th March 2005 4:53 pm U.K. Time

just a line, any body interested, theres some manuals for the vz101 on ebay ... Casio CZ101 CZ-101 Manual, Synth Programming Books Item number: 7305933660 as of this message theres 5 days to go and it is in usa ..and a buy it now .......just an observation on my part -- ive no contact with the seller....and not it possition to buy myself....i know from reading messages from this site (useful info and well run thanks steve) some manuals are hard to get...

Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Monday 7th March 2005 5:17 pm U.K. Time

also noticed a manual for vz10m on ebay.....Casio VZ-10M Owner's Manual & MIDI Implementation Chart Item number: 7305470699 ... again , no contact with seller...hope this also usefull to any body.. good luck....jon

Name: Will J [UK]
Email:
clootiedog@lycos.co.uk
Tuesday 8th March 2005 3:58 am U.K. Time

Came across this web site last year after adding a VZ10m to my studio. Was very pleased that all the ROM cards were available in both SysEx & Steves native editor format, it also has some rather useful knowledge.

As I have a dual monitor set up I esp. like to have Manuals in both hardcopy format & electronic format, so yesterday I finally decided to scan the VZ10m manual in its entirety from cover to cover (apart from the foreign tongue section). This is something Id put off doing due to only having a very old/slow scanner, until last week when I got a new one.

Anyway, this VZ10m User Manual is finished & has turned out rather well I reckon, its in Adobe PDF (split in six, 7Mb parts).

Is there anychance you could host these files on your main web site Steve? This would be an ideal home for them & I believe it would help out many other manual-less VZ owners.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 9th March 2005 12:51 pm U.K. Time

I've sent you an email (assuming your email address above is the correct one). As long as I can fit them in my webspace then I'm happy to host these.

This is a great service you have done to the VZ community.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Thursday 10th March 2005 11:11 pm U.K. Time

I am delighted to announce that a full VZ-10M manual is now avialble on the EZVZ web site. The VZ-10M is identical in functionality to the VZ-1 (except for the obvious lack of keyboard and mod wheels), so this manual is also useful to VZ-1 owners.

Follow the link at the top of this page and click on "Documentation" to download it. Total file size of the two parts is about 9Mb (minimum 30 mins on dial-up, 3 mins at 512k broadband).

The files within the Zip archives are individual JPEG scans. I regret that this is a little inconvenient to print out, but to do it all as a PDF file produced a file of 42Mb and I don't have enough web space to store that.

Many thanks to Will for scanning this for us.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 15th March 2005 1:38 pm U.K. Time

Apologies to anyone who has tried to access the VZ Manual in the last week. Pipex, my ISP, has been having problems with its web servers. It seems OK now.

Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Monday 21st March 2005 11:44 am U.K. Time

hi ,could any body help answer a prob ;;having bought a hohner hs-2/e{czm10)a few months ago the view screen is very dull is it possible the screen could be going or the internal battery theres no probs with sounds just a bit arckward to see , if im programming ...i have turned the light up to full.. thanks jon

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 21st March 2005 3:17 pm U.K. Time

I assume you have tried adjusting the contrast by holding down the "Display" button and moving the data slider. If so, then it looks like your backlight may be getting old. The electro-luminescent (EL) foil has a limited life, and other people heve reported failed or failing backlights over the years. If you search the archive of this page for the word "el foil" then you should find a link to a company that sells replacements, but you'll probably have to replace it yourself.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 21st March 2005 3:20 pm U.K. Time

Here it is. At least one reader of this website has reported success in ordering from this company and fitting it themselves. You may have to specify a VZ1 or VZ10m foil, which should be the same size as the HS2/E re-badged machines. http://www.midi-rakete.de/

Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Wednesday 23rd March 2005 2:16 pm U.K. Time

thanks for info steve ,have checked site and will get in touch with company hope they can speak english..(lol) chears jon

Name: StevieP
Email:
bassballs.1@netzero.com
Friday 25th March 2005 7:00 pm U.K. Time

I just picked up a VZ-10M yesterday in a pawn shop, thinking I knew what it was, and I was right. Of course there is no manual. Can anyone give me a quicky instrutions on how to get the Memory Protect off? I might be able to figure some of the programming out (or not) or I will try to use an editor. If I had a very basic idea of how to get started, I may not need to find a manual. Thanks for this website! I found it within an hour of bringing my new toy home. Steve

Name: Michael Kaufman
Email:
mkaufman@cloud9.net
Saturday 26th March 2005 1:09 am U.K. Time

I have a Casio PG-380 with a US Collection VZ Rom card. Can anyone provide me with a list of the available sounds that the VZ card provide?

Thanks very much, Michael


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Monday 28th March 2005 9:57 pm U.K. Time

StevieP: There;s a VZ10M manual on this website. Click the EasyVeeZee link at the top of this page, then select "Documentation".

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 29th March 2005 12:52 am U.K. Time

Hello all,

I have had no success loading the "Wonder" banks into my VZ. All the other banks work fine on the PC I used. Has anyone else experienced this problem?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 29th March 2005 4:10 pm U.K. Time

If you're using the Sysex format ones, then they do appear to be a different length to the other files. I wonder if maybe they are Voice patches only, without Ops. I haven't actually tried the Sysex format ones myself.

Name: Akox
Email:
ensoniq@freemail.hu
Tuesday 29th March 2005 7:03 pm U.K. Time

Hello !

I've just picked up a vz-1 keyboard.I've download the vz patch editor and librarian from this site.The file transfer is operating well vica-versa but the part of the editor doesn't work.I cant edit the patches.Nothing changes.What would be the problem? Thanks in advance!


Name: Keith
Email:
kmiddlemas@aol.com
Tuesday 5th April 2005 8:40 pm U.K. Time

Hi there, I was the one who actually won the manual on EBAY (7305470699) and would be happy to help anyone with answer to questions relating to the manual. Oh by the was got it because I won a VZ10m as well on EBAY and I think its excellent. The presets are mediocre but it can really awesome once programmed. I've got a CZ-1 which undisputed king of PD which compliments the VZ very well. Anyhow, does anyone have or direct me to a software editor that works with XP PRO. Freeware would be nice. Thanks...

Name: Will J [UK]
Email:
clootiedog@lycos.co.uk
Wednesday 6th April 2005 6:16 pm U.K. Time

Re: Keith

Its a shame you didnt check here first regarding the manual you got off eBay as I scanned mine & gave it to Steve; an ideal home I thought. I got an original VZ10m Manual when I bought my VZ10m last year (& as a bonus, I also got the much sought after book - "Powerplay VZ - The Essential Guide to Practical Applications, VZ1, VZ10m, VZ8m.")

Anyway, as Steve has said (which people seem to have missed), the VZ10m manual is now on this web site in its original entirety for anyone who needs it.

...

Regarding editors, unfortunately I dont know of any decent freeware ones apart from Steves (if you can get it working on an XP machine that is). I use Midiquest 9XL myself, which has had a complete overhaul to earlier versions. The beauty about MQ9XL is that I can use it as a plugin directly from within Cubase SX. No other editors to my knowledge allow you to do this. Of course if you only have one or two pieces of gear than MQ9XL is rather expensive ($299), but if you have a fair bit of gear than its a very good investment imo. I personally couldnt live without it now; PC control of a totally hardware environment.


Name: Keith
Email:
kmiddlemas@aol.com
Wednesday 6th April 2005 9:24 pm U.K. Time

Just read my original email and apologies as it's a bit erratic due to the drinking before hand. Anyhow, I only discovered this website while looking for info on the VZ. Powerplay VZ, I've seen reference to it on other websites but it's bound to be difficult to source. I'll buy yours for a reasonable price if you like. I've also heard of this midiquest that you're refering to which sounds interesting. I have got a lot of older gear which may benefit from using a software editor. I'm a bit of an analogue synth junky (for many years) so here's a list of my gear including some golden oldies that may interest you. Casio CZ-1, VZ10m, Vltone / Roland Juno 106, Jupiter 6, Yamaha QY10, QY22, TX81z, DX27 / Moog Source, Akai MX73, S950, S2000 / Korg Delta, Lambda, Sigma, Poly 800mk1, Polysix, X5D / Kawai K1r and lots of VST (FM7, Absynth, Kontakt blah blah). I am still using Cubase VST 5.1 because I don't really have any problems with the 8 VST instruments max. Have you ever played the CZ-1? I must say it compliments the VZ very well, without doubt the best CZ in the range with a lot of similar features to the VZ. Buy one if you get the chance. What equipment do you have? Cheers...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 7th April 2005 11:05 am U.K. Time

You can find the Powerplay book on here, but you'll have to register:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CZsynth/

I will copy it to this site at some point, when I've made some space.


Name: Keith
Email:
kmiddlemas@aol.com
Thursday 7th April 2005 9:14 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve, thanks for that. I've downloaded both PDF parts (rather large eh!). Much appreciated!

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Friday 8th April 2005 7:28 pm U.K. Time

Hi Steve,

I've tried your editor and also the sysex format. I can get all the banks to work except for wonder 1 and 2! Wierd.


Name: Stevie
Email:
bassballs.1@netzero.com
Tuesday 12th April 2005 6:27 am U.K. Time

I've got the patch editor apparantly working OK, downloaded patches from the site, looks like everything is trying to load, it tells me the the data loaded OK, my VZ10-M keeps flashing "executing" and doesn't want to stop. A little help from anyone would be appreaciated. I've had an Alesis QS6.1 for well, too long, and never really got into editing the sounds on it,(I'm a bass player and "midiot") but once I picked up the Casio a few weeks ago, $120 in a pawnshop in Sacramento, CA, what was going on in the Alesis started making sense. A book I found called "Analog Days" by Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco explained a lot about what a lot of terms that I sort of knew actually do. It talks a lot about how Moog (who I met on a shuttle bus leaving a NAMM show a few years ago) and ARP, along with a few other manufacturers got started. Another great read is "Theremin-Ether Music and Espionage" by Albert Glinsky not helped me understand whats going on, but is a remarkable book about Theremins life in the U.S., but also the hell he went through when he returned to Russia. I found them both in the local library. Thanks for the website, without it I really wouldn't have been able to find out anything about my new toy.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 12th April 2005 11:15 am U.K. Time

If you're having trouble uploading data to the synth, try setting the midi receive channel on the synth to a different number. I can't remember exactly why, but I think the VZ expects the data to arrive on the same midi channel that it was originally sent on, which was probably channel 1.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 12th April 2005 3:06 pm U.K. Time

There's a Casio PG-380 on Ebay at the moment. First one I've seen for many years....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7313965471&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:UK:1

(this is a midi guitar that plays VZ patches)


Name: nick
Email:
nikkisixxx@libero.it
Thursday 14th April 2005 12:18 pm U.K. Time

hi there! i have a used CASIO VZ-10M and i am looking for a manual because i can't use this synth, is there anybody who can help me? thank you very much! peace and love :O)

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Thursday 14th April 2005 7:33 pm U.K. Time

There is a VZ10 manual on this website you can download. Select the EasyVeeZee Website link at the top of this page, then go to "Documentation"

Name: nick
Email:
nikkisixxx@libero.it
Thursday 14th April 2005 11:07 pm U.K. Time

oh thank you very much Steve! thank you very much! now i am sure i can use my Casio with my bass pedal like never before! thank you again. see you!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 15th April 2005 4:44 pm U.K. Time

I am trying to upload the Powerplay book to this site, but it keeps getting truncated, resulting in faulty PDF files, probably because I've run out of space. Apologies to anyone trying to download it - I suggest you use the Yahoo site, shown a few posts above.

Name: jim johnson
Email:
jimjam_3@netzero.com
Sunday 17th April 2005 12:47 am U.K. Time

HELLO; COULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM WITH MY CASIO PG-380 GUITAR, CAN'T GET THE MIDI SOUNDS,PICKUP WON'T COME ON. THANKS JIM

Name: moss
Email:
trick0101@yahoo.com
Thursday 28th April 2005 4:08 am U.K. Time

hello i'm looking to find one to buy...

which one is the best out of the vz line and can anyone tell me about the memory cards for these synths?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 28th April 2005 10:13 am U.K. Time

The VZ10m module is better than the VZ8m module. The VZ1 keyboard is identical to the VZ10m module but with a keyboard (obviously). Note that the keyboard is quite a good one - it has velocity sensitivity and (monophonic) aftertouch, and three modulation wheels (one pitch bend, one centre-sprung and one end-sprung). There is also the Hohner HS2/E which is identical to the VZ10m, re-badged, which is silver instead of black.

When purchased from new the machines normally came supplied with one ROM card, the RC100. As standard the machines have 64 single-tone voices and 64 "operation" memories. The card adds another 128 tones and 128 voices, in two banks of 64. As far as I know only 6 official Casio ROM cards were ever made (RC100, RC110 through to RC150). Other than the standard RC100, these cards are extremely rare. In the 10 years or so that this site has been going, I have only ever seen two cards for sale, both on Ebay quite recently. You will not find them in shops anywhere. However, most of them can be downloaded from this website, so you can transfer them to the VZ machines using suitable software. When you download to the VZ, it overwrites the standard internal 64 memories (which can be recovered by a reset). Alternatively, there is a RAM card, the RA500, which you can write to instead of the internal memory. These are extremely rare. I have only ever seen two on Ebay and one of those went for more than the price of a second hand machine. A RAM card could be useful if you use the VZ in a live performance situation, where 64 internal memories may be insufficient, but you will probably never see one in your lifetime.


Name: ste
Email:
steifanc@hotmail.com
Saturday 30th April 2005 4:51 pm U.K. Time

hey dose any one know any thing about the hohner hs1

Name: Andrew Deeks
Email:
climbingfish@aol.com
Sunday 5th June 2005 1:29 pm U.K. Time

Hi there

The VZ1 was my first ever synth I bought for £600 in 1988. And to be fair I hadnt got a sodding clue how to work it, but i did mess around on it, and changed the modules about and blindly experimented with it. It can sound simply stunning, warm and awesome. But Now, I have just bought a broke VZ1 (two keys broke), from Ebay for £41!!. So Im realy wanting to find out at last to programme this thing and know what im doing. Is there a Software editor for It now compatible with windows NT, or will soundiver do it?. Im really happy to get my first , if at time irritating love back.

I since the first one have owned another 2 VZ10M's. The thing that makes this special is that it sounds rich and full without effects. Casio had to try real hard on timbres and sounds to make up for the lack of effects, that other synths covered up their less than perfect oscillators. I know this thing has a lot of beauty and want to find it.

regards and wish i found this page 2 years ago when I had my VZ10M

Andrew http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/uda_music.htm


Name: Bob
Email:
jazztonight@yahoo.com
Wednesday 29th June 2005 4:21 am U.K. Time

Hi, I have a casio VZ-8M unit, with manual, for sale. (no extra cards). It works fine, and really wasn't used much at all.

Let me know if you're still interested, and how much you're offering.

Bob (in Oakland, CA) jazztonight@yahoo.com


Name: cyberocker
Email:
scranor@ixpres.com
Thursday 7th July 2005 12:41 am U.K. Time

I am looking to find a Casio PG380 Service Manual with complete schematics, preferably in .PDF format. If you know where I can find this, please email me your suggestion. I also own a Casio CZ-1 that I 'midi'ed to my computer that I am need of a few replacement keyboard parts, if you have some about.

I just discoverd this website and it looks really great and informative, so I will be checking back in from time to time.

Thanks,

S.C.


Name: GABRIEL BOHORQUEZ
Email:
GABBOH04@YAHOO.COM
Tuesday 12th July 2005 6:19 pm U.K. Time

i Have a VZ1 casio, unfortunatelly, I dont have the user manual, could somebody send me this manual, of course if you have it or give a internet address to download it. I search at the casio web site, but they dont have it.

Thanks for your help.

att. gabriel


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 12th July 2005 8:45 pm U.K. Time

The VZ10 manual is on this website. Follow the link to the main EasyVeeZee site at the top of this page and select "Documentation". The VZ10 module is identical to the VZ1, only without the keyboard.

Name: Darren
Email:
dagga36@yahoo.com
Saturday 16th July 2005 8:16 pm U.K. Time

Hi, just picked up one of these (the Hohner version),with Three rom cards for a bargain price! very nice,got a Korg M3r but I find that almost impossible to program,the VZ is simple!

Name: Darren
Email:
dagga36@yahoo.com
Sunday 17th July 2005 10:48 pm U.K. Time

I must have been VERY lucky!! My Hohner came with the Hs-2e rom card,the RC100 card AND a RA 500 RAM!!great synth

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 18th July 2005 11:11 am U.K. Time

That IS very lucky, especially the RAM card, which is extremely rare.

Name: Jim
Email:
WEI.Media@att.net
Saturday 23rd July 2005 12:30 am U.K. Time

I'm looking for a PDF user manual for all VZ synths, including the VZ-1/VZ-10M and the VZ-8M. Has anyone made this available yet?

Also, has anyone collected the many custom sound patches in a single location, or, perhaps, a few locations, anywhere on someone's site(s)?

Lastly, I am looking for several RAM and ROM cards as well. If you have a bunch to part with then contact me with prices; otherwise, if you only have a few, then hold off for the momment with the email.

Regards, Jim


Name: Jim
Email:
WEI.Media@att.net
Monday 25th July 2005 3:29 am U.K. Time

Where is page 98 in part 2 ot the VZ-1 user manual

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 25th July 2005 11:10 am U.K. Time

Good question. Looking at the surrounding pages it looks like that page probably does have some content on it, rather than being blank. As this was a scan of the VZ10 manual and I only have the VZ1 manual myself (somebody else scanned the manual, not me), I cannot be certain what is on page 98, but I will check it against my VZ1 manual to see if I can work out what it might have been. Alternatively, anyone out there with their own VZ10 manual, can you please look up page 98 and confirm whether it is blank or not. Better still, if anyone can scan page 98 for me and email it to me I'll add it to the download file.

Name: Stuart
Email:
s_mason@rocketmail.com
Monday 25th July 2005 2:44 pm U.K. Time

I have the VZ-10M and manual, and can confirm that page 98 of the manual is blank.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 26th July 2005 9:39 am U.K. Time

Thank you.

Name: Enrico
Email:
enrico120sm@aol.com
Sunday 7th August 2005 12:28 pm U.K. Time

Dear Steve, I am fascinated by the possibilities which seem to be on offer from the VZ1, but before finding one, I would like to confirm a few things that I have heard;firstly, can the polarity of oscillators be inverted; second, is it possible to modulate the pitch and/or frequency of individual oscillators by the lfo(s); and last, can the external phase distortion between lines be modulated by the lfos? I am sure you have answered these questions many times before, but I would be most grateful for your help, Thanks a lot and all the best.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 9th August 2005 10:58 am U.K. Time

Yes, the polarity of the oscillators can be inverted. If you are able to run my VZpatch program from the EZVZ website -link at top of page - (some people have trouble making this work in Windows XP) then you will see that there is an option of polarity +/- on every oscillator in the Detuning section.

You will also see that each oscillator has an option "Tremelo/Env Bias Sensitivity". This sets how much effect the tremelo has on that particular oscillator, but this is only the amplitude, not the pitch. I'm not quite sure how the vibrato (pitch) oscillator works without looking in the manual, which is available on this site (As is the excellent PowerPlay book) if you want to read up on it yourself.

If you want to modulate the phase distortion via the LFO then I think the technique is to use the tremelo to modulate the oscillator that is doing the distortion.

Hope that helps, but I suggest you read the manuals for all the info.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 9th August 2005 11:19 am U.K. Time

On further reading, I am fairly sure that the pitch lfo (vibrato) affects all oscillators equally. In effect it changes the pitch of the note you played and all oscillators are referenced to this unless you set the "fixed pitch" parameter to be "on" for that oscillator, in which case the pitch of that oscillator never changes. This is useful if that oscillator is one that modulates another rather than sounding in its own right, so that the modulation characteristics don't change according to the pitch of the note being played.

Name: Jim
Email:
WEI.Media@att.net
Friday 12th August 2005 5:28 am U.K. Time

S&S:

I'm not sure if you are aware that there are web crawlers that scan for email addresses in posted web pages. I have noted that since my prior email address was listed on your chat page, I am receiving unsolicited email, spam, and I just received a trojan horse (something called taxes.exe that was caught by my ISP virus scan checks).

So, please remove my email address from the posted messages.

Thank you, Jim

PS If you need to have something in the email field, use a bogus email address.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 12th August 2005 10:21 am U.K. Time

Jim,

Unfortunately this is not my chat server so I have no ability to edit posts. I can, however, delete posts entirely (as I do regularly for the occasional spam that gets posted on this site). If you would like me to delete all of your previous posts then I am happy to do that for you. If necessary I can copy any useful comments from those posts into a new post, though they would have to appear at the end out of sequence. Please can you list the dates and times of any posts you want deleting. Thanks.

In general yes, I advise posters not to use their true email address in the postings, or "break" it, as I have done on mine, so that a person can read it but a machine can not.


Name: Prasad
Email:
pdalvie@gmail.com
Friday 19th August 2005 7:41 am U.K. Time

Hi Steve.I have a strange problem with my keyboard which may be earthing related. I used to get shocks from my metal case and got my room rewired. Now strange things happen (like my computer boots up each time I start a particular tubelight switch in the room ?????) No more shocks though !

My main problem is that the MIDI OUT on my keyboard doesn't work. It shows a recieve light on my sampler but does not trigger it except for occasional random notes(spooky ones !) and controller messages. I tried 3 cables same thing. When hooked to the computer no MIDI data is recieved (on nuendo or midi-ox) though the recieve light on the USB midisport interface blinks randomly.

Strangely the MIDI always works at the techs workshop making me look like an idiot ! I feel it is an electrical problem in my room (ground short??) PLEASE HELP !


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 19th August 2005 11:39 am U.K. Time

Prasad,

I am not a qualified electrician, (though I do have some electronics qualifications), but I think you may be on the right track. The various symptoms you describe could well be related to poor mains electricity wiring or poor earthing, but this is not going to be easy track down.

In UK households (you do not say what country you are in) lighting circuits and mains wall sockets are wired entirely independently and share no common wiring, not even the earth, right the way back to the main fuse box. Your tubelight problem is worrying if your house is supposed to be wired like this, and probably indicates that the lighting ring and mains ring are in some way connected, possibly via a shared earth.

I would also check all the mains leads on your equipment to make sure they are in good condition and wired correctly (look inside the plugs if they are not moulded-on), and try disconnecting all the audio leads, leaving only mains and Midi wiring, and see if you still have the problem, as audio leads can sometimes lead to earth loops that can cause difficulties. The Midi interface specification requires an "opto-isolator" which electrically isolates separate pieces of equipment, so you don't normally get earthing problems with Midi cables unless the connectors have metal barrels (always use Midi cables with plastic plugs - not a lot of people know that).

If you are confident that you know what you are doing then you could switch off the electricity at the main fuse box and have a look at the wiring on the back of all the mains wall sockets to make sure it is all secure, as a loose wire in a socket is a common cause of mains voltage spikes that can upset sensitive equipment, but don't mess with this if you are at all unsure.


Name: Prasad
Email:
pdalvie@hotmail.com
Friday 19th August 2005 1:20 pm U.K. Time

Thanks. Will check out the wiring. btw. I'm from Bombay, India

Name: hunter
Email:
zhudson1@aol.com
Sunday 21st August 2005 1:33 am U.K. Time

Wanted to thank you for providing this site. I have been searching for someone to repair my PG380 for years and found a referral to Nejat Bakin here. The synth has been out of service for several years. He was able to restore my synth to full function. While not cheap, he fixed a lot of problems and it is great to have the unit back. Thanks for the help.

Now I have to get that dim display on my VZ10M fixed. Chasing leads on that based on info I found here too.

hunter


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 22nd August 2005 11:59 am U.K. Time

Over the years several people have told me that they have successfully repaired their dim display using the EL foil from this company: http://www.midi-rakete.de/

I've never done it myself so I'm not sure how easy it is, but nobody has ever mentioned any particular difficulties.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 22nd August 2005 12:03 pm U.K. Time

Hmmm - they now seem to sell two different foils for the VZ series. I've no idea what the difference is (different colours perhaps?). You might need the assistance of someone who can read German.

Name: ROCKLORNE
Email:
mailto:rocklorne%20@rock.com
Friday 26th August 2005 12:58 pm U.K. Time

have a 80 dr504 custom 50 head to part with

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 30th August 2005 10:45 am U.K. Time

There's an original VZ10-M manual on Ebay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7346043489

Also, several people are currently selling VZ10M units, which don't come up that often. One has a RAM card.


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 13th September 2005 2:52 pm U.K. Time

Just to add to Steve's post about the lfo, on the VZ there appears to be one lfo, but it works polyphonically, ie there is actually one per voice. So in fact you can only program one vibrato rate etc. but you can choose whether or not the lfo starts in sync when you aplly it to a voice. This is great for simulating the sound of a real string ensemble, where every player has ther onw vibrato/ tremolo.

Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Tuesday 13th September 2005 2:54 pm U.K. Time

Hi All,

I was playing a Casio PG380 guitar recently, and some of the bass patches were amazing. Are the PG380 presets available in the patch download section Steve?


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 14th September 2005 1:06 pm U.K. Time

I'm not certain, but I think the Rom510 and Rom520 banks are designed for the PG guitar.


Name: Tomás
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Thursday 15th September 2005 12:20 pm U.K. Time

Cool, thanks Steve. If it turns out that the guitar had user sounds in it, I'll go get them and post them here.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Thursday 15th September 2005 10:36 pm U.K. Time

An RA-500 RAM card just sold on Ebay for 41 UK pounds (about 60 dollars/euros).

Name: Allan
Email:
allan@receptors.co.uk
Monday 19th September 2005 10:15 am U.K. Time

Hi there, I am interested in buying a Casio Midi guitar MG500,510 or PG series. Where can I look and any idea of the price and how many were manufactured?

Cheers,

Allan


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 19th September 2005 5:29 pm U.K. Time

I think they're quite rare, so Ebay is probably your only chance of finding one. Set it as a favourite search and Ebay will email you if one comes up for sale.

I have only ever seen one PG guitar on EBay in the four years or so that I have been tracking this. I can't remember how much it sold for, but it wasn't cheap.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 21st September 2005 1:57 pm U.K. Time

As if by magic, a PG380 has appeared on Ebay. 900 quid starting price, with a reserve, and you have to collect from Penzance! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7352411932

Name: Dr.TriTri
Email:
jimtaikaREMOVE@THIShotmail.com
Sunday 9th October 2005 8:35 pm U.K. Time

Name: Steve

"There's not much I can do about having to set-up the VZ to accept the data though - there's no remote control of that available. This means you still have to (1)Enable Sys-ex (menu 3-04 ?), (2)Turn internal protection off (menu 3-01 ?) and (3)Initialize the load/save (menu 3-03?). No way around that I'm afraid. Once you've done that though, you only have to redo the last step to load/save again. I think I right in saying that once you've done steps one and two the VZ automatically transmits the tone/op data for the current patch everytime you change patches, and can also respond to single patch transmissions in this way. I shall have to investigate that further."

Ahh.. Thanks for you -i found out that there is SYSEX disabled as default. -I mistakely initialised machine first hoping that it would help. Well, it didn´t. And no after several hours tweaking, i got this editing with external software working.

Funny, at the beginning i wanted to use unisyn 1.5 for this, it didn´t work (now i know why) so i tried Soundquest MIDIQUEST XL9. Couldn´t get that work either.. After installing, reinstalling and swimming at parameter jungle in midiquest i tried this VZ editor from this page.. same thing. :D Nothing happened. Ah.. i finally found (VZ-8M is still new to me) that Enabling SYSEX messages is in menu page 05-02.

05 = MIDI DATA 05.01 = PROGRAM, 0-64/0-127/DIS 05.02 = EXCLUSIVE, ENA/DIS 05.03 = DEF CONTROL, OFF/12-31 05.04 = VOLUME, ENA/DIS 05.05 = OVERFLOW, NORMAL/1-8

So after enabling sysex i tried MOTU Unisyn again and got immediate results. Now it´s working like a dream.. first slider i moved made excellent sound! :D


Name: Steve Stamp
Email:
tascam231@hotmail.com
Sunday 9th October 2005 11:40 pm U.K. Time

Can anyone tell me where i can obtain a juno 106 circuit diagram? cheers.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Monday 10th October 2005 5:38 pm U.K. Time

Unfortunately the VZ Patch editor on this page is for the VZ1 and VZ10m only. It doesn't work with the VZ8, for which the Sysex data is different.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Monday 10th October 2005 5:43 pm U.K. Time

"Can anyone tell me where i can obtain a juno 106 circuit diagram? cheers. "

Obviously this is not a Juno website. However, Google is your friend. They all seem to be here: http://www.synthfool.com/schm.html (save them by right clicking over the links - IE doesn't seem to want to display them otherwise)


Name: Enrico
Email:
enrico120sm@aol.com
Sunday 23rd October 2005 4:53 pm U.K. Time

Hi to all in Vee Zee land, I am definitely on the lookout for a VZ1/HS2, must be pristine with functioning backlight and manual - if anyone has one for a reasonable sum and in travelling distance of Southend in Essex, please e-mail and I will come up - here's hoping! Thanks to all at this website - it is a great resource for an under-appreciated synth.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 24th October 2005 2:02 pm U.K. Time

It's worthwhile registering with Ebay if you haven't already, and then setting up a favourite search. Ebay will then email you as soon as someone puts one up for sale. There have been quite a few VZ8's and 10's recently, but VZ1's don't come up very often. There's a VZ10 manual for download on this site, which would be sufficient for a VZ1, if you get stuck on that point.

Name: Rob
Email:
robbycmo@aol.com
Saturday 29th October 2005 1:32 am U.K. Time

I have a question... i am having problems getting the casio vz-1 to work with the Roland U220 sound modulator. The modulator doesn't seem to be picking up the keyboard so i can't get good effects. i don't have the manual to the casio and i was wondering if anyone could be so kind as to give me a step by step run down on how to get the casio' midi to work. thanks. be well, r

Name: Gerwyn
Email:
gerwynhowley@msn.com
Saturday 29th October 2005 3:43 pm U.K. Time

Hi all. Does anyone know where I can get a computer board no. JCM 425 MA1M A. My 3 year old spilled Coke onto the keyboard and now there is no sound!!!! The piano is a Casio AP21 V, and has sentimental value, but is also very good to play. Someone help please. thanks.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 31st October 2005 2:56 pm U.K. Time

Rob: There's a VZ-10m manual on this site (click EZVZ Website at the top of this page, then "Documentation"). This is identical to the VZ-1, minus the actual keyboard. You need to turn midi on via the menus (there's also a physical switch on the back of the VZ1 which some people forget!) and make sure the Midi send channel is the same as the Midi receive channel on your sound module. There are 16 possible Midi channels. Sometimes they are numbered 0 to 15, and sometimes 1 to 16, depending on the manufacturer, so you might need to add or subtract 1 from the value if the VZ is different from the Roland.

The Midi "Out" of the VZ1 should be connected to the Midi "In" of the Roland.


Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Friday 4th November 2005 7:01 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

I have been using the Casio CZ series synths since I was a kid and I will shortly be a proud owner of the VZ8m. Could anyone tell me what the difference is between the VZ1/10m and VZ8m? as I heard the VZ8m has different sysex to the the VZ1/10m

Arthur


Name: philicorda
Email:
philicorda[dontspamme]@ntlworld.com
Monday 7th November 2005 11:23 pm U.K. Time

Hi. I bought a vz10m off ebay, and have been having lots of fun. It's an interesting synth, certainly different from the cz-101 I used to own. It's much more interesting for strange evolving sounds. I had a go at tapping the direct output of the dac before the multiplexer, which sounds very aliasy and noisy. :)

There is a small problem with it in that the display sometimes corrupts, with spurious characters appearing, or the whole lot shifting down a line. It does not effect the sound, and clears when you go to another page, but it is a little annoying. It seems to happen if I am playing notes while changing parameters.

Anyone know why this is happening?

Also, does anyone know what the M5400-MA3M board is for? I think it's for the output muting.

I've been reading the service manuals to get my head around the internal architecture. I'm not really an engineer, but enjoy looking at this kind of stuff.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 8th November 2005 2:02 pm U.K. Time

The output of the DAC does not produce a useful output as it has eight different sounds multiplexed on it, as exlained in the text at the bottom of this circuit:

http://www.sallyandsteve.dsl.pipex.com/casio/documentation/service_manual/21_analogue_circuit.gif

The VZ synths cannot cope with changing parameters while a note is sounding, but I've not noticed the effect you describe on my VZ1. Having said that, I've never really tried much given that I know it doesn't work.

I can't find any reference to the M5400-MA3M board in a quick look at the VZ1 Service Manual (on this website). It could be something that's on the VZ-10m only (though I can't think what. Does the VZ10 have ballanced XLR outputs - in which case it could just be the balancing circuit?). Alternatively, if you can point me to a page in the VZ1 manual that mentions it I'll give my opinion. I am an electronic engineer, or at least I was once.

By the way, the VZ1 service manual on this site is missing a couple of pages - I haven't been able to scan the big fold-out circuit diagrams yet.


Name: philicorda
Email:
philicorda[dontspamme]@ntlworld.com
Tuesday 8th November 2005 5:14 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for the reply. I know the signal is still multiplexed at that point, I was just interested to hear what it sounded like (not very nice). I also had the idea that if the dac was running at 8x normal sample rate, I could low pass the dac output to simulate the sample and holds, and avoid the vca and other noisy stuff and just get a mono output like the mix out. I don't think it's quite that easy now. Most of the noise seems to come from the digital synthesis anyway. :)

The M5400-MA3M board is a square board mounted over the main board at the top left in my vz10m with 5 chips full of simple logic (nor gates i think), a bit of analog stuff and a couple of shielded leads leading somewhere. It's also connected with a ribbon cable to the combined 16bit wide digital outputs of both synth chips before they hit the dac. I guess the synth chips take turns to send data to the dac, and this board just looks for any activity on that buss before muting the output vca.

I don't think it handles overall patch output volume control of the vca as the simple 8bit resistor ladder dac and other bits for that are on the main board. Seems a lot of chips to do output muting but this made a while ago! It's not mentioned in the service manual you have uploaded so far, but I think it might be the 'mute timing control circuit' on the diagram you linked to.

There is a picture of an open vz10m here http://www.geocities.com/diffused_light/stuff/vz10m.html look at the top left of the second picture up from the bottom.

As far as I can tell, the boards in the vz10m are the same as those in the vz1, down to having identical names and unused large holes in the pcbs for where metal case supports were in the vz1.

Another interesting thing I have found is that the sound of a simple one dco sine patch changes slightly every 8 notes, or every 4 if you play two notes at once. Part of the charm. :)

I have a feeling the display corruption may be due to a intermittent connection on the ribbon cable going to the lcd controller from the main board. So when I press the buttons, it's getting jogged a little. It's a different kind of cable with horrible connectors compared to the other ribbons. Not sure how to test this other than giving it a wiggle while the thing is switched on.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 9th November 2005 10:57 am U.K. Time

From where you say that it is connected it does look like it is the 'mute timing control circuit'.

Looking at your photos and comparing them to the VZ1 service manual I think the main circuit board may different, although I haven't actually seen inside a VZ1.


Name: enrico
Email:
enrico120sm@aol.com
Sunday 13th November 2005 8:35 pm U.K. Time

Hi, Just a quick line to say that I've successfully found a VZ1 which is a truly stunning synthesiser - I am amazed that because of fashion and a lack of patience regarding experimentation, this little gem is overlooked! I'm glad to have found this before buying a soft-synth (Pro53- yes, the Casio is that good!) My only gripe is the corruption of the display already mentioned by another correspondent, but otherwise,analog/digital/aditive/subtractive - who cares if it works? Cheers to all,and Seasons Greetings!

Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Saturday 19th November 2005 11:55 pm U.K. Time

Hi,

I bought a Casio VZ-1 with rom card and flight case for £48 and feel i got a deal of a lifetime. The synth is amazing for distorted sounds and atmospheric sounds. This is a very unique synthesizer and I love the graphic editing on the display.

Arthur Crichton


Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Sunday 20th November 2005 12:57 pm U.K. Time

When I switch on my Casio VZ1 I have to wait 4 seconds before I hear a slight click before I can hear sounds when I play a note. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my VZ1?

Please advise.

Arthur


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Sunday 20th November 2005 6:45 pm U.K. Time

Yes, you got an absolute bargain. They normally go for about 100 pounds, without a flight case. If the Rom card is an RC-100 then that normally comes with the machine - it is useful but of no resale value. If it is a different ROM card then it's worth about 20 or 30 pounds on its own as they are very rare.

The switch-on delay is normal. Like all microprocessor based hardware, it take a time to start up properly.


Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Thursday 1st December 2005 11:24 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for the reply but unfortunatly its the RC-100 rom card I have.

I have recently got a problem with the display. On certain parameter pages parts of letters have disappeared for example part of the letter M has disappeared and this happens with other letters aswell. Could this be a problem with the internal battery. LEV = 99 has turned into EV = 99.

Please advise

Arthur


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 2nd December 2005 10:18 am U.K. Time

I've not come across that fault before, and this chat page has been going for about 10 years now. My initial thoughts are that the LCD display glass could actually be faulty, with a chunk of dead pixels (but unlike a computer flat screen display, dead pixels in black and white LCD screens like on the VZ are rare, but when they do occur they tend to be whole lines or small rectangular areas). If it is a fault within the glass of the LCD panel then that is not repairable, but I actually think this unlikely. Alternatively, it could be a fault with the wiring to the LCD screen, either in the ribbon cable that connects to it, or in the connectors on the ends of that ribbon cable (or simply a poor or corroded connection). That is more likely. It might just be a case of reseating the cable connectors, if they are easily accessible/removeable and you are confident about doing that. Looking at the diagrams in the service manual (I've never actually seen inside my VZ1), I think a fault in that ribbon cable would probably have a more dramatic effect though, resulting in much worse degradation of the display. The most likely fault therefore is probably a poorly soldered or loose connection on the LCD circuit board itself. A poorly soldered joint can vary its resistance according to temperature and is likely to be intermittent. If you get any variation in the fault according to how long the machine has been switched on (ie temperature), or if you apply light pressure to the LCD screen, or if the fault is intermittent, then this is the most likely cause. Examining a circuit board for poorly soldered joints, and fixing them, requires some experience with electronics and I wouldn't suggest that anyone tried that if they didn't know what they were doing.

Note that the LCD circuit board has an Electroluminescent display (the green glow) which uses an 85 Volt power supply. 85 Volts is enough to hurt you.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 2nd December 2005 10:19 am U.K. Time

By the way, I am assuming that the missing letters are always in exactly the same place on the screen. If not, something more weird is happening.

Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Friday 2nd December 2005 12:06 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for the reply.

After switching the VZ1 off then switching it back on again the lettering on the display has gone back to normal again. This is very strange.

Arthur


Name: Arthur Crichton
Email:
ac010b4919@blueyonder.co.uk
Friday 2nd December 2005 12:08 pm U.K. Time

Answer to your last reply.

Yes the missing lettering happens at the same letters.

Arthur


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 2nd December 2005 3:20 pm U.K. Time

Hmmm. If it was me, I'd leave it alone then unless it becomes an annoying or permanent feature, as the risk of damaging something in trying to trace the problem is not insignificant.


Name: Hap Aziz
Email:
hap@raisingemma.com
Saturday 10th December 2005 1:43 am U.K. Time

Hello!

I have a PG-380 guitar in which the straight guitar output works great. But when I put in fresh batteries, the LEDs to not power up, and I get no synth sound. I haven't been yet been able to test it with a power supply (in case the problem is with the power connection from the battery pack somewhere).

Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be, or do you know of any shops that specialize in PG-380 repairs?

Thanks!

Hap Apopka, FL


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 12th December 2005 1:48 pm U.K. Time

Hi. The PG-380 is very rarely mentioned on these pages so there can't be very many of them around. You could try asking the Midi Guitar Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midiguitar/ in case it's a common problem that others have found. It does sound like it could be a simple power connection or fuse problem, so trying a power supply is the obvious next step. If that fails, anyone with at least some basic electronics knowledge should be able to trace the first part of the circuit to at least establish if power is reaching the bits it should. Any more than that and you'll need an expert, and possibly a service manual.

Name: k.novak
Email:
kevndn@wt.net
Wednesday 21st December 2005 9:13 pm U.K. Time

Just received my Casio VZ-8M yesterday and even without a proper manual I was able to figure out most of the functions and editing by scrolling through the menus and referencing the 10M manual downloaded from the Easy VeeZee site. Lots of options, but not nearly as difficult as most people make it sound. Definitely VERY impressed with it's capability for unique synth sounds, much more so than the Yamaha TX81Z I also recently purchased. After only a few hours with the unit I came to the conclusion that if I find another VZ-8M (or 10M), the Yamaha will just have to go. Greatly under-rated piece of gear here, but I'm hoping it stays that way...

Name: Paul Carpenter
Email:
beaupaulc@lycos.com
Thursday 5th January 2006 3:59 pm U.K. Time

Hi all: It's good to see Casiophiles! My guitarist looked inside his PG-380 when he had the capacitors replaced. He has a VZ-8M RAM card in the guitar, and wishes to download sound to it for stage use. How can this be accomplished? We have a CZ-101, if that helps. Thanks, PC in Florida

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Thursday 5th January 2006 5:13 pm U.K. Time

The only way you're going to get sounds on to a VZ-8 RAM card are either to program them yourself on the guitar (can you do that? I'm guessing the guitar probably has no significant user interface), or to transfer them from a VZ-8 machine, or to transfer them via MIDI from a PC that has suitable software and access to some data files. There are some PG data files on this EZVZ site but the software here does not support the VZ-8 or PG guitars, only the VZ1 and VZ10.

Name: Andy Martin
Email:
andymartinvm@hotmail.com
Thursday 5th January 2006 10:07 pm U.K. Time

I have a Casio CZ101 and I wonder if anyone would know how to alter/adjust the LCD contrast display. The characters in mine are almost invisible but I am sure they can be adjusted - I just don´t know how!

Thank you in advance and I would welcome any emails about it.

Andy.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Friday 6th January 2006 12:55 pm U.K. Time

On the VZ machines you hold down the "Display" key while moving the data slider. I don't know about CZ machines though.

Name: michael
Email:
mailto:m%20(dot)%20w%20e%20n%20d%20e%20(@)%20t%20-%20o%20n%20l%20i%20n%20e%20(dot)%20de
Saturday 7th January 2006 12:46 am U.K. Time

The Ram Card for your Casio Guitar Synth can only be loaded by one of the Casio VZ Synths. So you need a Casio VZ-1 (Hohner HS-2), VZ-10 (Hohner HS-2e) or VZ-8. The PG-380 only uses the voice data.

Check this ebay item http://cgi.ebay.com/Casio-VZ-8M-Synthesizer-Module_W0QQitemZ7379215605QQcategoryZ47081QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

michael


Name: Mattes
Email:
mattes-ac@web.de
Thursday 9th February 2006 9:15 pm U.K. Time

Hi VZ-users, I am desperately searching for a working RA-500 RAM-card. I would be happy about any useful hint and of course even more about a concrete offer! Maybe, anyone can tell me how to repair my own card instead, which has spontaneously ceased to work whithout any outer injuries or remarkable loss of battery power. Mattes

Name: michael
Email:
mailto:%20m%20(dot)%20w%20e%20n%20d%20e%20(@)%20t%20-%20o%20n%20l%20i%20n%20e%20(dot)%20de
Friday 10th February 2006 9:58 pm U.K. Time

Hi Mattes,

check this offer:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7388942231&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

michael


Name: Mattes
Email:
mattes-ac@web.de
Saturday 11th February 2006 5:40 pm U.K. Time

Hi alltogether, does anybody have a plan of the circuits for the VZ-1? I just discovered that my card-problem is unfortunately more likely to be a card-slot-problem! Greetings, Mattes

Name: Dave
Email:
dwljcreech87@centurytel.net
Saturday 11th February 2006 5:45 pm U.K. Time

I am looking for a Schematic for a PEAVEY Midi Librarian. If anyone happens to have a copy they could email to me I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Saturday 11th February 2006 11:09 pm U.K. Time

VZ circuits are in the service manual. Follow the link to the EZVZ page at the top of this page, then see under Documentation.

Name: lith
Email:
karlith@hotmail.com
Thursday 23rd March 2006 4:45 am U.K. Time

Ummmm I was wondering how to load a single sound or how to use the librarian to load up my own sounds into a vz1. I want to choose the sounds I like best from a bunch of sysex patch banks that I have. Can you do it?? Thanks dudes!

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 23rd March 2006 10:10 am U.K. Time

You can use the librarian to transmit a single voice patch to the synth, and then on the synth save it to the patch number that you want. Repeat for each patch you want to transfer then, when done, you can send the whole bank back to the Librarian and save it.

When I was developing the librarian on this site it was my intention to provide a facility to easily copy/paste patches between banks, but I never got around to it and probably never will.


Name: lith
Email:
karlith@hotmail.com
Monday 27th March 2006 2:52 am U.K. Time

Hey thanks for that Steve. I can see how it will work altho I am not using the native VZ1 format. I am using sysex. I figure that I save each sound as a VZ1 sound and then load then up individually like you said. Thanks so much for your "app" and the time you take to moderate this site. Rockon!

Name: jon
Email:
jatki73950@aol.com
Saturday 1st April 2006 3:58 pm U.K. Time

hi steve about 18 monthgs ago i bought a hs-2/e and the screen was dull you adviced me the backlight was may be going i recently (2 days ago)saw a backlight going on ebay for the fz-m10 new wasnt sure weather the same was compatible got it anyway ...it was slightly bigger , conections same 2 wires in out obviously,,sealed laminate was going to have to be cut down carefully ,just enough play to cut without damage carefull soldering the 2 wires to the board.. abit risky with some components near underneath,maybe better to go straight to cables and bipassing possible heat damage .sliding the backlight under the seating area ,where old backlight came from ,carefull bending the board so it slides under the ruber sides ( i think the ruber sides are actual contact conection to the board so be carefull )making sure exposed cables are taped and covered ,,then fitting back the wires and everything securing the lid plugging in swithch on and yes it worked not a difficult job but dont rush it steady hand http://www.midi-rakete.de/eng/ceinbau.htm will give a few pics and other details ....i hope this helps other members steve,, now i can see litterally how this thing programmes was arkward before no light ,,, thanks again steve for the advice in the first place, hope the little run through helps others jon

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Saturday 1st April 2006 4:42 pm U.K. Time

Thanks for that Jon. Electro-luminescent displays are quite simple, they're really just a piece of film with a special coating on and you connect a large voltage across the two faces and they glow. The website you mention also sells pieces pre-cut for the VZ machines. As the voltage required to make them glow is about 400 Volts you do need to be careful to make sure you've done the connections carefully, just to be safe.

Name: Martin Dauchez
Email:
cul-baisser@t-online.de
Friday 7th April 2006 4:55 pm U.K. Time

Asked Casio for Future Help in the topic of maintance... There answer was simple :"For such an old product,we have not any docuemtation or something else..."I guess,this is maybe the pure,real truth.

Anyway,I still had not any problem with my VZ1.It still works,the backlight of the display is also still working and I never had to change the buffer battery. Also the buttons still does a good job,eventhough I am a heavy smoker. I had a lot of trouble with other machines,where the buttons or display got sick,but this VZ seems to be made forever.

I like the architecture of the VZ.It is very flexible in routing the modules.And whenever I think,that was it now in variations,the VZ surprises me with a handful of new sounds.Great.....

In long sessions,I tested out a lot of Parameters,especially the EGs.This is important to create sounds with a fixed duration,where in this duration can happen a kind of own little song. In my eyes,the VZ is a good conversion of the early Electronic Music in a compact Form.I don´t really need its Multtimbral section.The OP-Memory area is more flexible for creating unique sounds. A big Minus of the VZ is the manual.It explains a lot of the operating functions, but not the detail of iPD. iPD od PD of the CZs is not like FM of Yamahas DX series. Both synthesis are from the same family.that´s true.The Waveshaping Family. I always try to explain it simple. FM modulates a Waveform in a horizontal dimesion. PD or iPD does it vertical.

The VZ is also a superb additive synth.Simply caused by its eight step EGs. And the lower series the VZ8m can be connected in 8 VZms as one Synth. You have then 64 voices of polyphony and a nearly infinite way of of shaping the audible range with for additive synthesis. The EGs lets you,with no Sustain setting to create a sound of maximum duration of 640 seconds or 10 minutes and 40 seconds.

Unfortunately Casio did not left any note about the values of each parameter step. That´s a pity.Ensoniq had for the EPS16+ a wonderful manual,also listing up the time values of EG steps or LFO Rates.Very helpful. The FZ1 -the sampler of Casios PROFESIONAL Line-had a a manual wich was more worse,as that for the VZ.

The funny thing,since I measured each parameter(in a raw way),I can handle much better with the VZ and could create on the point sounds. Now I am able to to design a sound concrete.If I want a sound with a duration of 12 seconds.Each Module will get an unique EG,if needed for PD,RM or Additive ways.The results are more better to control and to change.

For me the VZ is ultimate,compact synthesizer wit the approach to be an electronic Studio for everyone.

The VZ is not a Top 40 synth,not a Top of the Pops synth.The Casio is a pure and nearly academic synth.

I love this machine.That´´s why I have a VZ1 a VZ 10m and 3 VZ8ms(wich I will enlarge to 8) !!!

Marty


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Friday 7th April 2006 5:44 pm U.K. Time

Thanks Martin, that is a good summary. It does takea a lot of work to program good sounds on the VZ synths, but they are very flexible and it is worth the effort.

Name: Ulf Sword
Email:
sword@vidab.se
Friday 7th April 2006 8:08 pm U.K. Time

Hi, everybody

I´ve just bought a VZ-1 and got problem with the keyboard, I´ve got two keys what not responds correctly. I´ve tried to clean the key contacts with various contact-spays. But I don´t get i right. Can Any of you that can give me a hint ! Would be gratefull..


Name: Martin Dauchez
Email:
cul-baisser@t-online.de
Monday 17th April 2006 4:17 pm U.K. Time

Fortunately my VZs operates still well,nevertheless thanks a lot for the infromation, if an "accident" should happen.

Actually I am writing on a "Userguide for the VZ"-wich was forgotten to be written 14 years ago.

The original manual was not really bad.It told a lot about operating modes and User Interface of the VZ.Unfortunately they forgot to explain,what PD and iPD really means.A little shematism was all and not to forget that each Module can overdrive the next one.Like a guitar with 7 Stomp-Boxes in a row.... Not bad,when you like noise. Powerplay VZ of Steve de Furia is much better,but also there is missing what PD or iPD really can do.

In my book(?) I don´t want to repeat the manual or Steve de Furia.What they had to say,was OK. I just take a closer look to the core of the machine.The synthesis by itself.

Explain why PD is not similiar with FM,eventhough both methods belongs to the category of Waveshaping Synthesis. PD or iPD works vertical in modulation,FM does it horizontal.

Another point is the enormoues modulation matrix of the VZ.With a DX you have fixed algortithms,with a VZ you are nearly free to change from simple additive Synthesis to a large modulation matrix within a single sound !!! It is also possible to use the core a minimalistic arrpegiator,when you use the 8 steps EG clever.

Unfortunately the EGs are very hard to handle,so I will add a Database of possible time changes by different Levels (or otherwise) . The longest possible modulation is 640 seconds.This should be really enough for a single sound.(by EG-Tremolo and Vibrato runs in continuity)

There is much more....

Hope I will have finished this book soon,then you will find it on

http://www.diablo-aux-corps.com/ or http://www.diablo-aux-corps.jp/

Actually this Website is still not working,I am busy to launch it.

You will find there also excerpts in MP3 of the Casio VZ1, but also excerpts of stuff,wich I do,when I am only musican.;-)

Bon courage,

Martin


Name: Edgar
Email:
escampbell@tampabay.rr.com
Thursday 20th April 2006 11:12 pm U.K. Time

In my search for a VZ-8M schematic, I encountered THE EASY VZ CHAT PAGE,today for the first time. I've delt with the frustration of talking to Casio on my owne, and was hoping someone out there might be able to help. I have service manuals and schematics for PG-380's and MG-510's. One of my VZ-8M's works great and has some awesome sounds. My second one has awesome sounds but seem's to keep losing its settings. Schematics Anyone? Edgar

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Friday 21st April 2006 11:49 am U.K. Time

Hi Edgar.

The loss of settings may be related to a dying memory backup battery. The back up battery is probably a small lithium battery (it is not a rechargeable battery) like the one on the VZ1, and they do eventually run out of power and die. The batteries do seem to last a surprisingly long time, but it sounds like yours may have gone. Even without a service manual (and nobody on this message board has ever claimed to own one) the battery should be easy to identify on the circuit board and it should be labelled with its voltage and polarity. Finding a suitable replacement should not be hard, though you will obviously need some skill to take the VZ8 apart, unsolder the old battery, and solder in a new one (which may be a different size and so require some adaptation). If you mange to do it, please let us know how you get on.


Name: Edgar
Email:
escampbell@tampabay.rr.com
Tuesday 25th April 2006 6:32 am U.K. Time

Steve, Thanks for the battry insight. This sounds like a good possible culprit. If I remove the current battery, will the unit need to be re-formatted? The Casio guitars that I have, needed to have their capasitors replaced. Apparently, these caps had a limited life expectancy and the VZs' were made in the same era. Another possibility. In Tampa we have a very knowledgeable Casio tech at Pro Audio. He made a search through their archives for a VZ schematic. This was to no avail. If I find this afor-mentioned coveted document, I'll get back to you with the source. Thanks again, Edgar

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 25th April 2006 10:38 am U.K. Time

If you remove the battery you will lose all the settings, but that seems to be happening anyway, and it should come back up in the facory preset condition. The only VZ faults ever reported on this site that I remember are failed batteries (replace them), faulty keys (clean them) and dead screen backlights (replaceable with effort). I've never heard of general capacitor faults on the VZs, though I know the PG guitars are prone to this problem.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 25th April 2006 10:42 am U.K. Time

Also, note that there is a VZ10 Service manual on this site (follow EZVZ link at top of this page, then "Documentation". It's not the same as the VZ8, but I wouldn't be surpised if the battery/power circuitry is very similar.

Name: Tomás Mulcahy
Email:
tomulcahy@yahoo.com
Sunday 30th April 2006 7:16 pm U.K. Time

Hi Martin,

I am looking forward to the results of your VZ research! I am still using my VZ for sounds, and as my main controller. It is one of the nicest synth actions ever made. I am currently working on a set of samples of the VZ for a commercial sample CD of "forgotten" synths. This year I also purchased a Casio CZ-1, another great sounding synth. Easier to program, and a big improvement on the CZ-101.

Steve, thanks for keeping the site going! Perhaps someday the VZ will be emulated as a plugin...


Name: Rolf Meurer
Email:
rm@midisoft.de
Wednesday 3rd May 2006 10:45 am U.K. Time

searching very hard for a Casio PG-380 PG380 schematic diagram, service manual. Buyed on via internet, payed for it but never came :-( who may help me with a copy.

Thaks Rolf


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 3rd May 2006 4:14 pm U.K. Time

If you search the archived messages page (link at top of this page) for "pg-380" then you'll find someone who claims to have one...

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Wednesday 3rd May 2006 4:18 pm U.K. Time

I've found a PG-380 owners manual on the web, in PDF, but not a service manual yet...

http://www.widoworx.com/Guitar%20Synth/Manuals/PG-380/Casio%20PG380%20Owners%20Manual.pdf

I will copy this one on to my site at some point, so it doesn't get lost!


Name: Edgar
Email:
escampbell@tampabay.rr.com
Thursday 4th May 2006 9:31 pm U.K. Time

About Six months ago I ordered a PG-380 owners manual, service manual and schematic from schematicconnection.com. It took about three months, a lot of encouraging e-mails and no hostile whining to get them. When they finally arrived they were beautiful, big and clear, on good paper,and well organized. The schematic was about 3'X 3'. It also had all the circuit diagrams. From what I could tell, the guy is quite old and has some health issues. So be gentle. Good luck, Edgar

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Wednesday 10th May 2006 6:39 pm U.K. Time

Can anyone who has an RA-500 RAM card tell me if the battery is easily replaceable? Thanks.

Name: Marcin 'Rambo' Roguski
Email:
m_roguski@yahoo.com
Wednesday 10th May 2006 8:32 pm U.K. Time

Well, finally got my dream come true and I'm now a (pretty) happy owner of VZ-10M. I did a small page with a review, and would like to ask you if you would change anything, add or remove, correct.

http://rambo.id.uw.edu.pl/komputery.html?nr=17

Thanks in advance,

Rambo


Name: lith
Email:
karlith@hotmail.com
Monday 15th May 2006 5:37 am U.K. Time

Just a question... Is the Casio RA100 ram card usable with the VZ1? Ta guys

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Monday 15th May 2006 12:32 pm U.K. Time

Yes, it works in the VZ1, VZ10m and VZ8m. I'm not sure if it works in the PG380 guitar, but it would have to be programmed in a VZ machine first.

As it is a RAM card it has a battery inside the card to keep the contents alive. When the battery dies the card is useless. There was one for sale on Ebay recently but I didn't want to buy it unless I was sure the battery was user-replaceable. The RAM cards are quite rare.


Name: needram memory forcasio cz5000
Email:
justin111@gmail.com
Tuesday 23rd May 2006 9:22 pm U.K. Time

please send me in the right direction i cant find anything!!

help is appreciated

-justin


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 23rd May 2006 10:28 pm U.K. Time

There's nothing on Ebay at the moment, but you can set up a favourite search and they'll email you if someone tries to sell one.

Name: Keith Middlemass
Email:
kmiddlemas@aol.com
Monday 29th May 2006 7:43 am U.K. Time

Hi there, does anyone know where I can get a brighter backlight for my VZ10m. Mines is a bit dull and contrast doesn't make any real difference. Thanks.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 30th May 2006 10:06 am U.K. Time

Hi Keith.

This is a common problem with ageing VZ machines. Several people on this chat page have reported success in the past by ordering a replacement Electroluminescent (EL) foil from these people: http://www.midi-rakete.de/

If you are having to take your VZ apart in order to replace the EL foil then you should also consider changing the lithium memory-backup battery at the same time, as these are also starting to die on older machines. I don't know the spec of the battery though, or how easy it is to replace - it might be soldered in place.

Don't forget that you can also adjust the display contrast by holding down the DISPLAY key while moving the data slider, which might help a bit.


Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 30th May 2006 10:08 am U.K. Time

... if you do replace the battery, don't forget to save any editted patches first, as you'll lose them all, obviously.

Name: allan
Email:
allan@receptors.co.uk
Friday 2nd June 2006 11:20 am U.K. Time

Does anyone know of someone in the UK that can perform a capacitor transplant on a Casio PG380 guitar

Name: Narfman
Email:
Narfman96@yahoo.com
Thursday 8th June 2006 4:41 pm U.K. Time

Hi, I recently repaired a CZ-1 that was victimized by a rum & coke to the center of the keybed. It actually ate 12 of the jumpers on the main board. All better now... My question pertains to trying to use this synth with MidiQuest 9.1. Has anyone tried to use this profile to get patches from their CZ-1? I can get the first 32 patches using the CZ500 or CZ-101 profiles but the CZ-1 profile won't even talk to the synth. Also when I call up the editor there isn't any settings for the velocity or aftertouch. The op memory isn't addressed in the profile either. Wow! That's why I bought this synth. I have the Unisyn profile fix for both the CZ-1 and the CZx000 or CZ-101's if anyone needs them. Thank you, Narfman

Name: Brian
Email:
WarnerPA03@aol
Tuesday 4th July 2006 10:50 pm U.K. Time

Thank you for the web site,it has been very helpful. I have been an owner of a PG-380 for about the last sixteen years, Nice Guitar! I was looking for extra cards when i found your web site about Two years ago. Recently bought a VZ10M with extras and also a VZ8M that had the manual plus the Midi system exclusive book and a RA500 RAM Stuck in it! Batteries were bad in both the 8M and Card.To replace the one in the card was easy. There is a battery holder that slides out at the bottom,(there was mention of a little hole you might have to poke something in to get it to open in the archived messages, Mine just slides out.) Went to Radio Shack and bought another one. The one in the 8M Had been replaced befor With wires soldered directly to the battery. I had no luck tring to solder to the battery, So I used a battery holder out of an old Calculator and now the battery can be changed easily. Everything works and sounds great, I run everything thru a Digitech GNX4.Thanks for the downloads!! Brian in Pennsylvania.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 6th July 2006 10:25 am U.K. Time

Thanks Brian, that's very helpful. Yes, soldering to a battery is difficult as you need a really hot soldering iron due to the large metal area. Fitting a battery holder is an excellent idea.

Name: Chris mayall
Email:
info@chrismayall.com
Tuesday 18th July 2006 10:51 am U.K. Time

Does anyone know where I can find info on the Casio VZ-8M Rack-Synth? It would be great to have a manual.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 18th July 2006 11:24 am U.K. Time

The VZ10 manual can be downloaded from this site - click on the EZVZ link at the top of the page, then on "Documentation". The VZ8 is not the same, but is similar. Also, the "Powerplay" book is at the same location and covers the VZ8. It's not the manual, but will certainly help.

Name: nancy pendergrass
Email:
nancypendergrass@msn.com
Sunday 23rd July 2006 6:18 am U.K. Time

i have a vintage casio keyboard cz1000 do you know where i can get an adapter for it and maybe a users manual....it didnt come with either

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:Steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20com
Thursday 27th July 2006 9:54 am U.K. Time

If you're in the UK, you can get a power supply from casioextra.com

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20sallyandsteve%20dot%20%20com
Tuesday 29th August 2006 2:31 pm U.K. Time

This chat page has been moved to a new location. Well done for finding it again. Please change your bookmarks.

Name: CasioNova
Email:
tim@casionova.com
Friday 22nd September 2006 6:26 am U.K. Time

nice to see steve and sally are still alive on the net.

is my vz10m dead? the screen is scrambled and emitting a whine and the audio output is the same whine. please please someone reassure me that it will live again...


Name: CasioNova
Email:
mailto:tim%20???@c&&&casionova.***com
Friday 22nd September 2006 11:49 am U.K. Time

I fixed my previously mentioned dead vz! symptom - screen scrambled, no sound apart from a squeal. solution: disconnect power from backlight. works perfectly! must've been the dead backlight problem. tim

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20SallyAndSteve%20dot%20com
Monday 2nd October 2006 1:09 pm U.K. Time

That's interesting. I've heard of the backlight failing completely, but never of one going faulty in that way before.

Name: Doug "DrFresh"
Email:
doug_francis@bd.com
Friday 20th October 2006 3:06 pm U.K. Time

Dear folks; I purchased a VZ-1 a couple of months ago and I am searching for a memory card for it as it did not come with one. Anyone know of any sources or have one they would care to part with? Ebay has come up short with these since I took possesion of the VZ-1. When I took delivery of the VZ-1 it had dried out, cracked and damaged end caps, but the aluminum chasis is solid as a tank. I removed the endcaps and replaced them with some solid 1 inch thick Mahogany pieces customed fabricated to attach to the VZ-1 chassis. Looks great I'll share the pics once stained and re-attached. Please help if you can with a memory card. Thank you.

Name: Steve (EZVZ Webmaster)
Email:
mailto:steve%20@%20SallyAndSteve%20dot%20com
Tuesday 24th October 2006 10:25 am U.K. Time

Hi Doug,

There are two types of memory cards for VZ machines - ROM cards, with preset tones/operations on them, and RAM cards, on which you can store your own tones/operations (in addition to being able to store them in the machine internal memory as well).

RAM cards are extremely rare. I have only ever seen about 3 come up on Ebay in the last 5 years or so, and they normally go for about 50 UK pounds (90 US dollars).

There were only ever about 10 different ROM cards made by Casio, and a couple of independent ones as well. The RC100 ROM card was normally supplied with the machines from new. Sometimes they come up for sale on Ebay and they normally go for next to nothing as almost every VZ owner has it already, although most people sell these cards along with the synth, rather than separately. The other ROM cards are also quite rare (not as rare as the RAM card though), and so also fetch good prices on the rare occassions that they come up on Ebay (I've seen about 10 or 12 in the last 5 years or so).

A lot of the patches on these cards are available for download from this website (click the EZVZ link at the top of this page, then click on "patches") and you can then use a PC to transfer them to the VZ internal memory.