inside CASIO - FZ10M 3u 16bit sampler/additive/subtractive synth

[Artesia]

obtained from a hackney second hand shop for peanuts..

fz10m.

16 bit 2mb sampler/(48 harmonic) additive/subtractive synthsizer from 1987 !

increadibly powerful bit of hardware for the mid 80's, with what would be impressive speed for the time, a processor clocked at 32mhz, given that the c64 ran at 1mhz & a top of the line 386 ran at 12mhz (at the time) ;)

its still fun to play with & can make some interesting gritty noises; however the highy nested menu, user interface leaves quite abit to be desired, despite having ample buttons & a reasonable screen, the programming of the UI lets this generosity of specs down.

Chips:

(a perplexing mix of opamps, odds n sods store to clear ?)

(1x) motorola - mam6208c

a/d

(2x) burr brown - pcm54p

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm54.pdf

dac

(4x) asic - fm1 8728 z00

(5x) jrc - 082d

20v/us

5mhz

(4x) a6462d

http://kr.ic-on-line.cn/IOL/viewpdf/LA6462_485151.htm

sanyo - la6462

6mhz

4 v/us

(1x) motorola - 5201

(1x) mb653121

(1x) (gab) pd65042g052

(1x) (gaa) pd65081gf012

(1x) (gas-2) pd65012g282

(16x) tc51100p-10

1 megabit DRAM chips.

(1x) d70216gf-8

CPU / Microprocessor

Frequency (MHz)  ? 8

Package 80-pin plastic miniflat

Architecture / Microarchitecture:

Manufacturing process CMOS technology

Data width 16 bit

Floating Point Unit external uPD72191

Physical memory (MB) 1

Low power features Standby mode

On-chip peripherals:

    * Clock generator

    * bus interface unit

    * bus arbitration unit

    * programmable wait state generator

    * DRAM refresh control unit

    * 3 independent 16-bit timers/counters

    * asynchronous serial I/O unit

    * 8-input interrupt control

    * 4-channel DMA control unit

V core (V)  ? 5

(1x) d65012c046

(2x) d71055c

http://doc.chipfind.ru/pdf/nec/d71055c.pdf

Parallel Interface Unit

(1x) nec - d72067c (32mhz)

(custom asic ? ..weird given i just found a known cpu above ;)

outboard:

(7x) a6462d

http://kr.ic-on-line.cn/IOL/viewpdf/LA6462_485151.htm

(xx) sanyo - la6462

6mhz

4 v/us

(2x) jrc - 4558dd

3mhz

1 v/us

(yuck !)

(2x) motorola - 5201

(1x) nec - c1213c

[stryd_one]

What an old piece of crap. You should send it to me, I'll take care of it for you ;)

[Artesia]

yup, this reminds me why for somethings theres no contesting that certain software synths won the war long ago..

tho, if you like exporing quirky glitchy unintended results gained from primitive hardware..

(so new was the concept of 16bit adcs, they thought to take the time to label the long obselete mam chip specifically & encase it in ceramic !)

Then, boxes of old scrap like this are great fun ;)

[nebula]

I remember reading the "Keyboard Report" and thinking how cool this was:  the first commercially available 16-bit sampler.

I wonder what that "terminal port" on the back is.  (Is it a DB25?  Maybe it's RS-232 ... I wonder what would happen if you plugged a terminal emulator into that via a null modem cable... )

[Futureman]

I'm a bit of a whore for old samplers.. hmmmmmm...

I've never been with a FZ10, but I'm sure it's a SILF.

[philetaylor]

I wonder what that "terminal port" on the back is.  (Is it a DB25?  Maybe it's RS-232 ... I wonder what would happen if you plugged a terminal emulator into that via a null modem cable... )

IIRC That is an external SCSI port so probably not a good idea to connect a terminal to it :)

Phil

[Artesia]

the port is a parallel port from what i know of it... the fz20m featured the scsi port if i heard right of the matter :)

heres a couple of good resource pages:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2163/fz.html

http://hem3.passagen.se/highpuls/index.htm

[stryd_one]

yup, this reminds me why for somethings theres no contesting that certain software synths won the war long ago..

...

Then, boxes of old scrap like this are great fun ;)

I think you mistook my sarcasm for serious...

[Artesia]

im very dry in my sense of humour..

my sarcasm is often a response that could be taken semi serious as well..

its easier than splitting hairs on folks intentions when you cant see or hear people to gauge their inflections ;) :)

and in fair reflection i do see it as being one step short of junk 'as well' :)

[stryd_one]

Well sarcasm can be a good mechanism for humour but is best abandoned if it's clear that it's caused confusion, which this obviously has. I'll make it clear:

I think this is an awesome synth. I don't think it's superseded by softsynths.

Ahh :)

[Goblinz]

im very dry in my sense of humour..

/goblinz sprays Artesia's humour with a bit of WD40.

[ilmenator]

Just for the record, the user interface was considered slow and clumsy already when this thing was first released - it was underpowered (processor-wise) from the very beginning.

[JMS]

thanks for posting the pics!  i always enjoy peeking inside machines like this... it looks kind of similar to the s2000 (the only hardware sampler i've opened up) which had to be torn apart and the floppy drive replaced before it was even usable... geez!

[Artesia]

SQUEEEEEK !

lol.. :)

[philetaylor]

I still use an EMU ESI-4000 Sampler (circa 1998) quite a lot for theatre sound effect work. I have fitted an internal SCSI hdd and with 128MB of sample RAM it can handle quite a lot of effects. If I have more than 10 in any particular show I can patch them to keys on a midi keyboard.

I still don't trust these new-fangled personal computer things for live work :)

Phil

[stryd_one]

I still don't trust these new-fangled personal computer things for live work :)

Amen to that. Maybe kinda possibly if you don't use much stuff and you've rehearsed it to death and have a fully redundant cluster (that's $20000 at least)

.... or a crowd that doesn't mind silence for a few minutes during a reboot...

... or you are a ground-rush addict who enjoys the risk  :D

[madox]

How is the additive synthesis on this jobby?

I also think the technical inferiority of old hardware can provide grit and character not found in highest standard audio. Bit crunching is testament to this.

I use additive synthesis on a Kawai K5000R, which is not bad. Also not a bad way to experiment with sound. I wish it were a little more flexible controlling the phase of each frequency component though.

[/tilted/]

I love old casios.

Such a shame they turned their attetions completely away from actual synthesisers, to the (probably more lucrative) world of lame 'home organ' style romplers.

[Artesia]

the additive synthsis on this is pretty basic, just the ability to adjust the volume of 48 partials & most annoyingly you have to leave the edit menu to actually hear the result - an daft oversight, not a hardware limitation. can create some pretty nifty organ sounds this way, however it seems to be largely an afterthought to add 'value' to the box. for additive synthsis, the k5000 will definately be superior (and im keeping my eyes open for one ;).

also theres some excellent additive soft synths out there.. for those who cant find a GDS ;)

glitchyness.. yup always fun.

yeah it was a shame casio left the pro market.. they where showing potential & enthusiasm to explore new ideas to an extent which showed up other companys of the time.

[Futureman]

I love old casios.

Have you used a Casio RZ-1 ? I love that thing.. one of the few recent buys that i've found truly inspirational.. it's limitations are it's strengths if you know what i mean?

I picked it up while in Melbourne for a holiday from cash converters.. (For the Aussies)

Regards

Mike

[Artesia]

not encountered one yet; whilst i think it would be curious.. i like to be able to program sounds on instruments ..which is what makes them intersting to me. that looks distinctly fixed as far as the voicing goes. not too big on romplers me. though the roland jd990 was excellent & very programmable in reflection of that point :)