casio fz-1

I just got one of these off craigslist yesterday for 80 bucks. everything seems to work minus the back light to the screen. (no big deal, there are no dead pixels in the screen) It came with the manual and a bunch a floppies....figured i could sync it up with the 2kxl.

I did a search on here and google and couldnt dig up much.

any of you care to share some music youve made with a casio fz series? hows it stack up against older akai/emu/ensoniqs samplers? (for those who dont know the fz came out in '87, supposedly one of the first 16 bit samplers ever)

i hear mf doom used the rack mountable version on some material.

I had one, it was my first sampler from 1995 - 98. Used it in tandem with Cubase 2 on an Atari 1040 ST.
It's a great sampler, a bit more complex than the samplers from Akai etc. from that time.
Great synth engine, good sounding filter, 8 single outs standard, digital synth where you can manually draw the curves. It's a good deal at 80 buck.s I paid 1300 Deutsch Marks in 95

Sound is good if you know what you're doing. Grittier than newer 16 bit samplers.
I was new into all the production tech back then and wanted something more modern and replaced it with an E-Mu Esi 4000 Turbo in 98.
If I had one now, I would use it to it's full potential and make killer sound with it

never owned or used one, I know they cool little machines...but thought they were 12bit thou not 16

FZ-1's are 16-bit, 9kHz - 36kHz variable sample rate.

thanks for the replies.....

1300!?!? huh? It musta been inovative technology back then for that price.

as far as me using the fz to its full potential?...i think i can create the sound outta it im lookin for.

check me out here if ur intrested
www.youtube.com/statixx503

They are great samplers. The backlight can actually be fixed easily by simply replacing the EL foil (there is a thread around here somewhere with a link to cheap 'roll-yer-own' EL foil).

It's true they max out at 36kHZ so you are going to get a really interesting sound out of it.

The floppy drive might die on you, be aware of that. This might be a good candidate for an HxC update.

As far as 'syncing' with the mpc, I would simply build sound programs on the FZ then sequence it with the MPC...nothing to really 'sync' (that term is thrown around very loosely around here...)

Sampling + subtractive + additive synthesis....those things are crazy. DINOSAURS! Big, heavy, and ancient.

i should have been more clear with the "sync'n." Im going to hook the fz up to my 2kxl via midi and sequence it from the mpc.

I recently aqquired a old school yamaha m916 mixer.....which is also heavy as hell!

gotta stop getting gear that could second as boat anchors...

I had the fz-10m (rackmount joint) and the sound of those things is the sh!t . I used to put samples in my MPC and speed 'em up and drop 'em in there and slow 'em back down and they got very crunchy .

Workflow takes some getting used to though .

W. Steele wrote:I had the fz-10m (rackmount joint) and the sound of those things is the sh!t . I used to put samples in my MPC and speed 'em up and drop 'em in there and slow 'em back down and they got very crunchy .

Workflow takes some getting used to though .

this is exactly what i was hoping to achieve. the fz 1 has only 1mb of ram tho.....( fz 10 has 2mb)

how was the sampling at 18 khz? if i can get a useable sound outta it, id rather run with a bit lower sample rate to compensate for ram time.

I hear everyone say that the sound of this machine is awesome so i will for sure use it for my drum work if nothing else and just flip loops n chops in the 2kxl.

i also own and use NI maschine...looks like the fz is sure to bring some nostalgia to my set up.

for anyone who is intrested check the music if you have time.

www.statixxmusic.blogspot.com

^^Nice stuff man, I remember I saw your work a few months back on another forum; good to see you ventured over here too. Peace.

OweMoney wrote:^^Nice stuff man, I remember I saw your work a few months back on another forum; good to see you ventured over here too. Peace.

thanks for supporting the music, i really appreciate it.

im envious dude. i'd love to score one of thsoe for $80. heard they have an awesome grainy sound with the filters. interesting seq. some fm synthesis abilities!

aphex twin apparently used it on SAW II.

interesting grainy sound? yes
interesting seq. ? No. No sequencer at all
FM synthesis: no but https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _synthesis
And you can use any sample as base for synthesis (function Cut Wavesample. It loops automatic)
And you can handdraw a waveform.

Very powerful unit with a special sound. I love mine.

I will upload some sample (36,18,9 kHz) examples soon.

peace

like I said above.

http://www.divshare.com/download/14906378-a3e

hi = 36kHz
mid = 18kHz
low = 9 kHz

+12 = samples were pitched up 12 semitones in DAW sampled and pitched down inside the FZ1

peace

Thanks for the examples, peterpiper. Recently I felt like I should to get a FZ-10M rack unit from for old times sake
Love that Galt MacDermot sample in Loops B.