The (multi)pads on the Casio Mz-x500

A very good explanation video about the pads of the Mz-X500.. Is this a fresh and bright new addition to arrangers.... Or is it more like taking multi pads to the next level...

I have allways been a fan of using multipads in addition to styles to add more diversity, and this is one of the features that makes the MZ-X 500 more like a workstation with arranger features, then an arranger workstation ..

Here is the first official Demo of the Casio Mz-X series..

I guess Casio is targeting 20 year old musicians who play arranger keyboards.

In the USA, the arranger keyboard player is 45 to 90.

arranger KB playing is moving toward being a " Multi PARTS Operator" it seems,...don't know if that's a good thing or bad as we move forward.

Am I the only one who find these demo's very bad? I really want to like these new Casio's but the more demo's I hear the more I dislike it.

Fran your not alone, it is what it is for the money noting more nothing less..you pay for what you get .

Maby but listen to the Korg pa 600 and Yamaha per s770. These are the same in price but sound so much better imo.

Here is the last arranger keyboard Casio offered over 16 years ago.

MZ2000 ... please listen. Compared to today's MZX video's what do you think ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy094dH4JsY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvHvv-4tJ0c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9AW0Y1HvKQ

Casio offers new arranger keyboards all the time.... Several new one every few years.. However, these ones are quite a lot more expensive...




Personally i would love to see 16 multipads and a touchscreen on every high end arranger. Its not the soundquallity that makes this instrument revolutionary, its the functionallity and interface... This instrument will show everyone that arranger functionallity has a place in a high end workstation, and thats something us arranger players have known for decades..



About the sound quallity, i think for an €800 instrument piano, dp, organ, strings, synth, pads, choirs are quite good... however, i still havent heard any convincing typicall arranger playing on the instrument, with typicall arranger styles and sounds like saxes, brass, winds woods... Also the drums definately lack punch so far. Weakest point in their sound engine seems to be the dsp, only 2 insert effects for 48 stereo channels..

Arrangers are a non typical US instrument, and espescially in Asia, south america, balkan, middle east are very popular with young and old... The US is a very different story, but worldwide arranger keyboards sell much better then synths or digital piano's

I think Casio is smart not aiming these instruments at the typical middel aged and above American arranger player.. I dont think they sound bad overall for an. €800 instrument and as Donny says, you get what you pay for... You cant expect the same quallity from this instrument as from a€3000 arranger..



I dont think however many of the typicall arranger players will have much use for all that added functionallity... How many of you are making extensive use of midiphrases in your multipads? How many of you are creating their own sounds with their arrangers? How many are creating their own styles and arrangements? How many are creating their own samples?

Well, thats the kind of instrument the MZ-X is... And Ralph Maten proofed to me that in the right hands it can sound top knotch...

But it sell as an arranger so I compare the Casio with his competitors in the same price tag and imo it fails in sound and styles.

It does not target typical arranger players in any of the video's so far... That should tell you something...

And when it comes to piano, organ, synth and digital piano sounds... It might actually sound equall or better then its competition in the same price area...

Try listening the organs for eamle on a real sterao, and not on a phone, and you will hear how good the rotary effects and organ sounds actually are... Same goes for DP and Piano...

Many people just love these Casio sounds for what they are, they play the px5s on all their gigs...becuase they love the typicall key performances of the Casio instruments.. Tough if you prefer other brands sounds thats quite okay, we all have our own preferences...

Look at the video content itself. The MZ2000 video's show arranger features. The MZ-X does not.

Sound for sound, Korg and Yamaha sound better at the $800 to $1100 price point.

The Mz-x is a fullfledged arranger.... Styles with 8 tracks and 4 variations, 2 intros, 2 endings, 4 fills, 2 breaks...


To make a real conclusion about the sound quallity, i need to get my hands on an mz-x and pkay them next to its comtenders...

I have no preferences and I actually like Casio that's way I have a CTK 7200. But when I hear the demo's of the MZ x300 and MZ x500 it doesn't sound that much better then the ctk 7200.

Like I said before I really want to like the MZ X500 but from what I have heard sofar I am very disappointed.

I use the pads most of the time; wouldn’t own a keyboard that did not have them.

If the I6 pads were used for things we want like the 4 pads on my Pa900, then it would be very desirable.

Could this be an addition on future keyboards?

John C.

Same here John... I use the pads contnously to make my performances more dynamic/diverse

The way these 16 pads work, would add a lot to my toolbox.