Related models

Related Models

HZ-600
First introduced as a synth in 1987.

CASIO HZ-600

HT-3000 / HT-3500
HT-3000 was released in 1987, soon after HZ-600 was introduced. A Drum machine, Auto-accompaniment and speakers added.
HT-3500 seems to be the minor changed model, but the details are not known.

CASIO HT-3000

HT-700
Mini-keyboard version of HT. Released at around the same time in 1987.

CASIO HT-700

Casiotones
Some Casiotones around 1987 share the SD synthesis engine. CASIO advertised MT-600 has adopted SD synthesis, and other older CT/CPS series may have had, too. When CASIO introduced 'CD synthesis' - actually, simple PCM playback - in Casiotones around 1988, SD Casiotones were terminated.

HT-6000
Released in late 1987. Velocity sensitivity added. This is the high-end version with a remarkably advanced synthesis engine (4DCO with Ring Modulator). It survived until 1991, when CASIO began to retreat from the synth market. I recently got one and made a seperate page.

CASIO HT-6000


Afterword

When I looked back at CASIO's advertisement and saw the reference to 'temporally and dynamically' changing harmonics combined with analog VCF, I fantasized that CASIO made a cheapest Microwave using CZ's PD synthesis. PD (Phase Distortion) cannot generate non-integer harmonics by itself without a ring modulator. So I expected that SD does not sound so metallic as Microwave, but may be able to generate some simple but warm drifting analog texture.

Of course, it turned out to be only a dream. But the actual SD synthesis also turned out to be interesting to me. If each harmonic wave were deeply editable, it could be a great synthesizer. Adequately framed, CASIO could have sold well this more-than-virtually-analog synth, even to today's market.



Back HT series

Deep Synthesis: Home

8. 22. 2002
Modified: 3. 10. 2003