Alright Yamaha..., listen up! Casio has just upped the poly on some of their lower end models from 32 notes to 48 notes. If Casio is doing it.., there's no reason why Yamaha can't be doing it. Roland doesn't make an arranger with less than 64 notes. Even the GEM GK's have 64 notes..., but Yamaha keeps crankin them out there with 32 note poly.

Check out these Casio models. They're lower end, but the poly is 48 notes. One of them even has a 10 second sampler.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--CASCTK4000
http://www.zzounds.com/item--CASCTK3000

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 08-10-2008).]

Hey Sqeak!

I saw those announcements a few weeks back. The midi in/out is gone I believe from these new models? Looks like it. This is another new model coming out:
http://www.casio-intl.com/news/2008/cdp-200r.html

This is really good news for those with more than 32 fingers.

chas

From what I see it's not just the poly that's increased. Casio's sequencers were up to 10,000 notes and that has now increased to 12,000 notes. One thing that really has got my attention is that the specs say (without really going into detail) about creating styles. The info says "Rhythm Editor
10 user rhythms created by editing built-in rhythms". Perhaps they've added style recording to these models..?? The poly jump is a good move though.

It certainly could be useful in sustained passages

They've got quite a few new models coming out. Check out the link provided by Linda (How have you been by the way Linda?). There's several new CTK models and newer WK models coming out as well and the new digital (appears to possibly replace the 575R-I could be wrong about that one though)

You're joking right chas?? Not about the 32 finger part but about the polyphony increase part..?? It's gotta be a joke right? You realize that polyphony is eaten up when you layer voices and when you're in auto-accompaniment mode. Not to mention playing on top of MIDI files or Styles and of course using the Pad(s) feature as well. 48 note polyphony ain't nuttin' by the way. And 128 note polyphony is a questionable "streeeeeeetch" on a high end, multi-faceted, cutting edge, feature packed, arranger too. As Yamaha so sublimely put it: "Polyphony on a keyboard is likened to the Horsepower in your car." "The more polyphony (horsepower) the better." I like Yamaha's approach myself.

Best,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 08-11-2008).]

48 note poly may not be as great as 64 or 128, but it's sure as hell better than 32 note poly. At least Casio is taking a step forward. Plus Casio's selling boards for $150 with more than 32 note poly.

Golly gee, Mike. What a revelation. All these years I've been thinking we only needed 10....well 11, if you're a REAL man.

chas

Hey Squeak!

Been doing well. Just recently got a new Yamaha PSR S700 and have been enjoying it even though it is ONLY 96 poly! Guess I will have to watch playing too many styles and notes alltogether! According to these guys it just ain't enough horsepower. I could be playing on the EDGE! OH NO!

Casio keyboards being upped to 48 poly is good news and is MUCH better than the mid range Yamaha however, they did raise their new YPG635 to 64 poly.

I wonder if Casio still has the synth functions built into the new WK? Also, I liked the mute function on each channel that worked even when playing styles. Only Yamaha's high end keyboards allow track muting like that.

Nice to see you on here Squeak.

-Linda

Polyphony isn't the whole story, guys...

Firstly, on models with less than 64, there's the issue of how well does it deal with running out of voices? Some are more forgiving with this issue than others...

But the main thing is... Just how fast is the main voice board? It's all well and good to be able to run a dense sequence, and play four sound layers on top, but what happens to the timing and 'feel' of the sound when you do? Once again, some are better at this than others...

One thing I noticed as night and day when I first got my G70... Layer four or even five Tones together (even stereo ones), all with sharp attack characteristics, and pound out REALLY tight four or five note chords, as fast as you can Not even the TRACE of any 'flamming', which my older, Sound Canvas-based G1000 would have had a fit with! Even my K2500 can't do that (not much can, actually )

It's not how much you've got... it's whether you can actually USE it (ask any girl!)

Linda, I was wondering about the same thing regarding tone editing on the new WK's. Sadly none of the pics currently out there can be inlarged enough to see the panel layout clearly. I would be very surprised if they dropped that feature. What I'm really curious about is the Style Editor. Based on the specs you're supposed to be able to edit the internal styles, but it didn't really go into much detail on that either. Did you see these things even now have (although limited) basic samplers....?

Another thing (unless I saw it wrong)..., these Casio's now have software editors that will even allow you (via USB) to edit the internal synth parameters of the tones. Check out the sections where it goes into detail about the editor software. THAT'S HUGE to find something like that on a lower end keyboard.

But you know to me anyway regardless of the numbers Yamaha has a better sound. IMHO Casio is pretty good for what it is though.

Better get ready to duck.hehe

My opinion as well, Scott...better to have a great sounding 32 note poly, than a mediocre 48.

Ian

How Polyphony is handled by the unit and the speed of the CPU makes all the difference in the World. My Yamaha 9000 Pro had 256 voices (yes 256!) and it cut out more times than my Triton Pro that only had 62 voices of polyphony. My 9000 Pro was frustrating to say the least trying to do basic fleshing of songs only to hear every other note drop out on me when I tried to build up the tracks. I won't even get into the issue of how it destroyed the timing on the sequencer or made the audio quality drop. I've never experienced any problems like that on any other arranger I've owned except Yamaha's.

Don't buy into the hype that more polyphony means you can actually do more with it. That's not always the case. If "size matters" I had one of the biggest polyphonic arrangers known and I couldn't get dick done with it. Thanks for nothing Yamaha!