Casio CZ-101 Synthesizer 1980s

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Casio CZ-101 Synthesizer

Year: 1980s

Origin: Japan

Power Requirements: Can be powered using any voltage power supply from 9-12v standard polarity or batteries. Neither are included

Operational Condition: Fully-Functional

Cosmetic Condition: Very Good to Excellent condition with some light marks/signs of wear. 8.5 out of 10 condition

Description borrowed from Vintage Synth Explorer:

It's small, it's cheap, and it's good! This is the pea-size version of the CZ-1000 with a mini-keyboard. The CZ-101 is a digital synth and although the programming is somewhat limited there are plenty of analog-like traits and sounds to interest most anybody. It has a good 8-stage envelope design and uses Phase Distortion (PD) synthesis which gives it some pretty great sounds. The sounds are very similar to the Yamaha DX synthesizers, and they're much more affordable. PD is Casio's own take on digital synthesis from the mid-eighties and is found in all of their CZ series. You basically modify digital waveforms (it has eight basic wave types, e.g. sine waves) to create various sounds. It can create wild new sounds, notably percussive sounds. But it's not too easy to program if you don't know much about waveform theory and design.