I've noticed that some instrument sounds have been cutting out when I play this keyboard. I notice it most when I layer the organs and play along with the accompaniment. Has anyone else experienced this with this keyboard?

Sounds as if you are running out of notes because of limited polyphony. The keyboard will only reproduce a certain amount of notes at one time, and you are exceeding the limit when you layer the organ voices and use the styles at the same time.
It is just a limitation of the keyboard, and not exclusive to yours. All of them have limits but generally the newer keyboards have more polyphony. Also, some brands, while stating lower polyphony limits, allocate the useage differently, so the only way to really know is to play them.
DonM

Thanks Don for your input!

Malachi

I agree with Don (he's too big to disagree with)!!
I owned a Yamaha PSR640 for a while which has a 32 note polyphony limit, the same as the Casio WK1800. This was THE main reason I upgraded to the PSR2000 which has double the polyphony. Playing some of the busier styles on these keyboards eats up much of the polyphony and you aren't left with much to play. I like to multitrack most of my songs and it was getting impossible on the 640.
You could try using styles without too many heavy strings or pad tracks, they seem to be the ones that use up the polyphony.

Will

That makes a lot of sense Will. I usually like to layer sounds and that is when I notice the sounds cutting out the most. Especially with busier rhythms. I'll remember to get 64 polyphony on the next keyboard.

To echo a bit on what Don said, always use stated polyphony as a guideline rather than an absolute spec. Of course more is always better but different boards and manufacturers allocate polyphony in different schemes.

On my Yamaha Motif, with 64 poly, it was very easy for me to run out of notes with multilayered voices, especially played over a sequence. On my PSR 2000, with 64 poly, it wasn't as easy, but with layered voices and a few of the styles with all of the backing on, it happened a few times. Most of it has to do with me using a lot of sustain at times. Sustain is a polyphony eater. On my Korg PA80, with only 62 poly, I have never heard it happen. I think it's because each raw sample ( up to 4 in a voice ), doesn't count as individual units of poly, where in the Motif it does. I now have the Motif ES6, with 128 notes of poly, and I notice a big difference with double the poly. No note dropoffs to this point.

AJ


[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 11-05-2003).]