Casio SA-46 review

My little Casio SA-46 arrived today along with its power adapter, which you need if you don't feel like running it off batteries.

The entire bottom is bright green just like the button on top and not just a wraparound stripe. I think it looks cool.

As far as how to set this thing up, there is no setup. Either put in batteries or plug in the adapter, turn it on, adjust volume, and that's that.

There was only one issue with this unit which solved itself very quickly. The volume slider was scratchy. I moved it back and forth a few times and all the scratchiness went away. Other than that, everything is a-okay. All keys are level and work, all buttons work.

The difference between the SA-46 and SA-47 model is that that instead of the green button saying "PIANO - ORGAN", it instead says "PIANO - HARMONIUM/ORGAN". According to the manual, preset 16 on the SA-46 is "REED ORGAN" while on the SA-47 it's "HARMONIUM". That's the only difference between the two models. Otherwise, they're identical.

And what is a harmonium? It's also a reed organ. In fact, it would not surprise me if preset 16 is exactly the same sound on the SA-47 as it is on the SA-46, with just the name of the preset being different and different lettering printed on the outer casing. The only reason I can think that the SA-47 even exists is for specific markets where a keyboard with a printed "HARMONIUM" on it is some kind of selling point.

I can tell you that the SA-47 is available nowhere, so if you ever come across one, buy it and just keep it in the box as that will be a guaranteed collector's item because it is not on Amazon or even eBay. At some point Casio will stop making the SA-46 and SA-47, which at that point means the 47 model in particular will be sought after by Casio keyboard collectors. If I knew where to buy a 47 now, I'd get it myself just because it's so difficult to locate.

The SA-46 model that I just received is a bit of a rare bird itself because all you see here in America ordinarily is the larger 44-key SA-76 version due to the fact the SA-46 is not technically a US market model, even though as you can see from the photos that everything on the keyboard is in English.

How would this fare out for its intended audience?

Since most people who read this will probably be parents looking to buy this keyboard for their kid, I'll answer that question now before getting into the other stuff.

The SA-46 is a well-constructed unit that will take just about any punishment a kid could throw at it. While not waterproof (it would probably not survive if submerged in water), it could most likely handle juice being spilled on it. Casio designed this thing to be easy-to-clean, so if a kid gets peanut butter or juice or whatever their grubby little fingers put on it, that can be easily cleaned off with paper towels and Windex.

A little keyboard is one of the easiest and cheapest instruments you can buy for a kid, especially if you don't know if the kid will stick with the instrument or not. At the time I write this in October 2013, nobody makes a better little keyboard for kids than Casio. Don't even bother looking for other choices because Casio is the only one making kid-friendly keyboards that are any good right now. If you were looking for someone to say, "Yes, this is the 'first keyboard' you should buy your kid", then I'll say it. Yes, this is the one. Whether the small 32-key SA-46 with green bottom or the 44-key SA-76 with orange bottom, Casio is the only game in town. Remember, no power adapter comes with it (but does run off batteries). If you want to plug it in the wall, you need the ADE95. And no, don't do that "I'll just buy an adapter at Radio Shack if I need it later" thing. Just get the Casio adapter because it is an absolute perfect fit and is designed so that a kid can't just yank it out and bust the thing.

So if you wanted the "Is it good for kids?" question answered, the answer is yes as that's whom it was designed for.

Okay, that being said, moving on...

How does it feel?

Solid. The plastic casing is lightly textured (as in not shiny, which is a good thing to avoid fingerprints) and feels good to the hand. The rubber buttons feel good too.

The keys feel good for their size. Not too springy, not too firm, not too light. They're just about where they're supposed to be.

How does it operate?

Without reading the manual, mostly easy to figure out.

With reading the manual, really easy to figure out.

I say this because there are a few things you need to read the manual for. For example, fine tuning the SA-46 is possible by pressing TONE and PATTERN at the same time. You also need to read the manual to know what all the preset instrument and pattern names are.

How does it sound?

It sounds really good. Yeah, it does have some those cheesy sounds in it as all little Casio keyboards do, but there are a few in particular that are really good.

I bought the SA-46 for two reasons. Strings and a square wave sound. Very retro, very cool. And they are just as good as I thought they'd be. The straight-from-the-80s presets 40 STRING ENSEMBLE and 68 SQUARE LEAD are worth buying this keyboard for alone.

There are several other sounds that surprised me concerning how good they are.

• 03 ELEC. PIANO 2 sounds like it comes straight out of a Yamaha DX7. That's a good thing.
• 06 CELESTA is really nice. Not cheesy at all.
• 07 GLOCKENSPIEL is absolutely amazing. Crisp, clear. Wonderful small bell sound.
• 09 MARIMBA, same thing. Great sound.
• 10 XYLOPHONE, also very good.
• 12 DRAWBAR ORGAN actually sounds like an actual organ. Nice.
• 13 PERC. ORGAN, same thing. Nice organ tone.
• 28 ACOUSTIC BASS is a good one as far as bass tone is concerned.
• 29 FINGERED BASS is also good.
• 33 SYNTH BASS 1 is another straight-from-the-80s sound.
• 39 HARP you could consider a "video game 90s tone". Cool.
• 40 STRING ENSEMBLE is that awesome 80s string sound as noted above. A reason to own this keyboard.
• 41 SLOW STRINGS is the same as 40 but padded, so it's good.
• 43 VOICE DOO sounds absolutely nothing like a doo should sound like, however it has its own quality to it that makes for a nice sound to have.
• 45 ORCHESTRA HIT is frickin' awesome. A 90s sound for sure and sounds like it came straight out of a Sega Genesis. Very cool.
• ALL HORN SOUNDS: Everything from 46 to 67 are tones you would hear in children's television programming. For people that compose for-real children's music, the SA-46 would be a godsend because it absolutely has "that kid's television sound", as in television made for kids 4 through 9. When you hear it, you'll know exactly what I mean. The SA-46 would be unbelievably good for - and I'm not kidding here - composing professional kid-television music with. Yes, the horns have totally got that sound to them.
• 68 SQUARE LEAD is the main reason I bought the SA-46. Yep, it's dry, square and near-perfect. Why near-perfect? Because you can't make it monophonic. But that's a minor complaint.
• 74 SPACE CHOIR is another 90s sound (or late 80s) and I dig that one.
• 78 SOUND TRACK is where we have yet another straight-from-the-80s sound. A bit softer than STRING EMSEMBLE and slightly padded.
• 84 THUMB PIANO is a very cool tone. Kind of a different marimba of sorts, but cool.
• 96 HELICOPTER is exactly what you think it is, a sample of a helicopter rotor. And it sounds pretty good.
• 97 TRAIN is the sound of a train going over tracks. Way better than I expected it to be and very realistic.
• 98 LASER GUN. Holy 1970s, Batman, it's a laser beam sound from 1970s movies! Yes, really! How cool is that?!

In the end what you're getting with the SA-46 is actually a really nice blend of 80s and 90s sounds. I can say with confidence that pro-level synth guys would find this little Casio a charming little guy, even though it has no MIDI.

Side note: If the SA-46 had MIDI and velocity-sensitive keys, I have absolutely no doubt that keyboard players would be buying it left and right like crazy. And yes, the chassis does have enough room in the back for a couple of MIDI ports. If Casio released a special MIDI version of this keyboard with velocity-sensitive keys and called it the SA-46MV, a lot of players would buy it. I'd even bet Casio would totally own the small keyboard market if they produced such a model. One can dream...

But even without MIDI or velocity-sensitive keys, I dare say that this thing is way more usable than I originally thought. Little Casio keyboards have really come a long way.

Polyphony considerations?

The SA-46 has 8 note polyphony, and I think all sounds use one note at a time per key played, but I don't know that for a fact because I just got it and haven't experimented with it enough just yet. But like I said, I think all sounds are one-note-per-key-pressed.

How do the internal speakers sound?

Quite good, actually. The project well and have a nice range to them. Not "bongy" or tinny-sounding. I don't know why there's two speakers because the keyboard is 100% monaural. Then again it's nice to have both left and right because it does make for a keyboard that projects sound better. And yes, you can crank up the volume on this thing to maximum and only hear very little break-up.

Side note: You can use the headphone output jack, split left/right, and just take one side to feed into a mixer and hear everything the keyboard is outputting. No need to use both.

Complaints I have

Before I rattle these off, bear two things in mind.

First, this is a 50-dollar keyboard.

Second, I've played a lot of low-end Casio keyboards over the years and I remember several of them having features the SA-46 does not have, but should.

Complaint #1: No all-keyboard drums.

The drums are purposely set to use 5 dedicated round rubber keys above the keyboard, and the sounds played are all too loud. Also, no access to open hi-hat or crash cymbal. That's crappy.

Casio keyboards of yesteryear used to have a preset that was nothing but individual (meaning separate-sample) drums that used all the keys, and that's what Casio should have done here instead of using the 5 dedicated buttons.

I assume the reason for the decision for the 5-key thing is so kids have a really easy time determining where the drums are when they just want to mash buttons and hear drum sounds.

Complaint #2: No transposing.

Fine tuning yes, transposing no. This should have been the exact opposite where the fine tuning was ditched and replaced with a transpose option instead.

Complaint #3: No power-on light (but compensated for)

The only way to know the unit is turned on is by looking at the LED display as it has no power light whatsoever, however, the unit does auto-power-off after around 5 or 6 minutes if no key is pressed.

Casio was smart to put in the auto-power-off feature because kids have a nasty habit of forgetting to turn things off when they leave them.

Auto-power-off can be disabled by pressing TONE and then powering on the unit.

Complaint #4: Number pad should have been designed differently.

The number pad is designed like a computer numeric keypad with 789 as the top row. Casio should have designed it the other way around with 123 on top. Why? Because that's how a phone keypad is designed.

Kids these days know phones before they know computers. And given that more kids are using phones and tablets exclusively and not even touching PCs, the number pads on the SA-46 should have started with 123 on top and not 789.

I myself expect the numbers to be phone-style and not computer keyboard style just because of their size which is similar to a phone.

Final Verdict: GOOD!

I may have my complaints about it, but they're really minor, especially considering the thing is only 50 bucks.

I'm happy to own one. I bought it for the sounds, but I also got a good dose of "this is the keyboard from my childhood" nostalgia too.

And amazingly, I'll be able to create actual real music on it. The SA-46 is just a cool synth to own, as is the SA-76 which is basically the same thing with more keys.

So yeah, a big thumbs-up from me. Well done, Casio.

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Classic rock speaker breakup tones with the ZOOM R8

I've been messing around with the modeling settings on my ZOOM R8, and one thing I've noticed is that it does a "speaker breakup" sound quite well. And part of the reason for that is because it has something the DigiTech GSP1101 does not have: A boost effect.

Boost is a really old guitar effect that originally comes from the late 1960s. In fact, you can pretty much get exactly what they used to use in the 60s with the LPB-1 pedal. Basically speaking, boost is literally signal boost that you can adjust. On a clean channel it increases volume, and on a drive channel it increases gain. However, it's important to note that boost is not distortion. A lot of people think it is. It's not. It's just a signal booster.

Being I had this new boost effect to play with, I tried it out. And yeah, I like it. What I find is that it gives me a lot more control over the gain on a drive channel just by using the volume knob on my guitar.

The way most overdrive effects work is that even at lowest listenable volume (from the guitar and not the from amp), the signal is always overdriven no matter what.

With boost on the other hand, you can be clean at lower guitar volume and overdriven when you turn up the guitar volume.

Where the ZOOM R8 does this very right is that in the way it does amp modeling, I can hear simulated speaker breakup just like a real-deal Celestion speaker does when you increase the guitar's volume (when the amp is turned up, of course).

In addition, when I roll down the guitar's tone knob, I get what I call "proper mud", as in a decreased treble sound that's "smooth" for lack of a better description. It just sounds really good.

The only downside to boost? You hear string drag noise a lot more, so you have to adjust playing style for that. But that's okay.

I'm digging that boost effect. Good stuff.

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Why I like simple little synthesizers

What I believe is the first ever SA model of Casio synthesizer is the SA-1. The SA series have always had 100 sounds in them. Over the years there have been many SA models released of varying colors, shapes and sizes.

For Casio synth history buffs out there, the SA (originally released 1989) came after the PT (originally released 1985). The first PT was the PT-1. Monophonic, four sounds, 10 rhythms and the ability to record up to 100 notes. The fact the PT-1 can record 100 notes is actually a fairly advanced feature for an '85 ultra-low-budget synth.

My journey with synths has pretty much gone down the same route as with guitars. I started basic, then went "pro" level, then realized most of the "pro" stuff is junk, then back to basic again.

There are a few things I know to be true about synths.

Any synth can sound good with external effects applied to it

It is possible to get what's known as the "Vangelis sound" (as in the synth sounds from Blade Runner) out of a cheap Casio if you apply the right effects to one. No, it won't sound exactly like Vangelis, but the point is that with the right effects you can get fairly close to it.

The fact of the matter is that most synths, much like guitars, sound pretty crappy with no effects applied. And if a synth has internal effects, they're usually awful.

Take the absolute crappiest you know of (or said more correctly, what you think is the most crappiest), and then plug it into a DD-7. Listen to how awesome it gets just by adding that one effect. Night and day difference.

If you wanted a synth that has awesome internal effects, that would be the newer Korg SV-1, as that thing has a fantastic delay in it and a real-deal tube for natural overdrive (yes, really). But it'll cost you well over a grand to get it. Going with a DD7 for delay and a "warm"-style overdrive like the Dyna Drive is a much cheaper alternative.

Easy is good

A modern version (even though discontinued in 2010) of the absolute king-of-the-heap in the world of pro-grade analog synthesizers is the Alesis Andromeda A6. It's a beast. A very expensive beast. It is true analog in every sense of the term and can be tweaked to an insane level. You could call the A6 a "Moog killer" and be 100% correct...

...but good luck figuring one out because it's annoying to program. The A6 is one of those beasts that has every possible option you could think of because it's got some serious teeth. But it also has a seriously wide learning curve to it.

Let's compare this with a totally different (and digital) synth from 1985, the Korg DW-6000. The 6000 is really easy to figure out, and the addition of a BOSS RV-5 reverb pedal effect really helps this synth to get amazing sounds out of it.

So, which is more fun to use? The cheap DW-6000 or the ridiculously expensive A6? The answer is the DW-6000, because it's easy to learn.

My only complaint about the DW-6000 is its size. Small for what it is (and light), but still a bit bulky.

If size were not a consideration for me, I would seriously consider picking up one of those 1980s digital DW Korgs, because not only are they dirt cheap but also easy to repair. Usually, the only thing wrong with them is a few solder connections on the inside that get knocked loose. Easy fix.

What most guitar players want is a keyboard with good strings, waves and bass

There's a lot of guitar players who would like to put synth in their songs but hardly know anything about keyboards other than just the beginner-level basics. And they have an idea of what synth sounds they want but don't know what they're called.

Fortunately, this is really easy to figure out because it's four things. Strings, waves, bass, pads. And the pads are optional.

• Strings: The synth sound similar to what you'd hear in Van Halen's song Jump.
• Waves: Old-school "8-bit video game" like sounds.
• Bass: A keyboard sound that sounds like a bass guitar.
• Pads: Best described as "slow strings" that when played gradually fades up in volume.

Pad when talking about synth tones literally means "a padded sound", as in a sound "softened" on either end.

The little SA-46 I'll receive later this week I know for a fact has the first three listed above, and might even had a pad sound or two in its strings tones as it does have 10 of them.

In other words, guitar players usually want anything but a piano sound out of a synth. They want a synth that sounds, well, synthy. And when you add in an effect or two to that synth, hell yeah it sounds awesome.

A "no pro" attitude works for synths the same way it works for guitars

It's really easy for a synth guy to get caught up in all that "pro" gear snobby nonsense just like guitar guys do, and there's no need to do that.

Fortunately, it's like I said, any synth can sound better with the right effects applied. If you play guitar (and you most likely do if you read by blog), just take your exiting guitar effects and run a cheap synth through them instead of the guitar. You'll get a good sound out of it.

I've seen Casio and Yamaha keyboards on Craigslist for as little as 25 bucks. These things are everywhere, so go get one. I personally went new with the SA-46 because I like small keyboards and it's tough to find those on Craigslist (nobody ever really thinks to sell them there).

Go cheap, apply effects, play happy.

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Going low-tech with synth (Casio SA-46)

I bought little cheap keyboard I bought that will arrive in about a week, the Casio SA-46. And if you're thinking of buying one after reading what I write about it here, it's absolutely required you also buy the proper AC adapter for it as it does not come with one (but it can run off batteries).

Why this particular little synth?

It's one of the very few priced well south of $100 that actually sounds good, is built right and is polyphonic (multiple notes can be played at the same time) instead of monophonic (only one note at a time).

Polyphony is only 8-note, and that's good enough for something this size.

The other thing that makes the SA-46 great is something that's very easy to miss. At top right you'll see it says "68-80 SYNTH SQUARE LEAD". What this means is that the SA-46 does in fact have old-style synth sounds in it, which most would characterize as "8-bit sound". It's not 8-bit (probably 16-bit or maybe even 32), but that's what people would describe it as because it's just a set of plain, honest-to-goodness square wave sounds.

In other words, the SA-46 has 12 old-style synth lead sounds. Really basic, no question, but that is exactly what a lot of synth players look for, myself included. These lead sounds can be made to sound huge very easily just by adding in an external reverb effect and maybe chorus to fatten it up slightly. No circuit bending required for this one because it is good enough out-of-the-box.

The other sound I bought it for is the strings, which again has that old-school flavor to it. I mean, what can I say, the SA-46 really has it where it counts and is truly a gem as far as a cheap synth goes.

Small is good

The SA-46 obviously does not have full-size keys, but rather little miniature keys made for kid-sized hands, as the unit is made for young players.

There is a bigger version of the SA-46, the SA-76 (easily spotted by the fact the bottom is orange instead of green); it's a larger synth that has what appear to be slightly larger keys, and a few more features. It's also the same price as the SA-46...

...and that's the part you may be confused by. Why would I purposely buy a synth with less keys and less features when I could get something bigger with more features in it for the same price?

Answer: Small form factor. I seriously like the SA-46's smaller size. In fact, you could call its size "just right" because while small, it's not too small. It's a piece of hardware that can easily be picked up with one hand (and even has a grip indentation in the back), yet still played easily when set down, and can be put away easily as well. Very convenient.

It is a "real synth", even if a very basic one

While true there's no MIDI and only a single headphone output jack, the SA-46 is perfect for home studio use because it's got those old-style synth sounds in it. And heck, you could even use it for bass parts too.

I listed to a few sound samples online of the SA-46 and yep, I was sold. Great little synth for backing tracks with proper old-style square waves and strings.

And like I said above, to find anything with an under-$100 price tag in a small form factor that's done right is difficult - except for the SA-46 which totally nails it.

If you're thinking, "Oh, come on... Yamaha must make something small that's comparable." Nope. There are no cheap new Yamaha keyboards that are small at the moment. The cheapest Yamaha synth right now is the YPT series, and the starting physical size is 61 full-size keys and no smaller.

I do wish Yamaha would start making small inexpensive synths again, because they really did make some great stuff back in the day. Alas, they do not.

Tough to find?

You can find the SA-76 easily in stores, but surprisingly you will not find the SA-46 anywhere as it seems to be an online-only thing.

I'll be happy to get mine, because I haven't touched the keys in a while and I've been really wanting to add some synth into some new stuff I'm writing.

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1984 - the 1953 television version!

I had thought that I had seen every single screen adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. I was wrong. There was one more. It happens to be the first screen adaptation, and the oldest all the way back from 1953 (yes, that makes it 60 years old at the time I write this). And, wouldn't you know it, it's an American version that originally aired on CBS as part of what was called the Westinghouse Studio One series, available as the Studio One Anthology (which started off as radio-only and then was brought to television later).

Okay... so there are four screen versions of this story. The 1953 CBS version which is the one I'm going to talk about, the 1956 BBC television version on YouTube, the 1956 film version, and the made-in-1984 film.

Of the four, the BBC version is the most true to the book, which I have read. And in '56 when it originally aired, there were more than a few viewers at the time who called the program "perverse". If you consider what the standard of entertainment was in the mid-1950s (which was generally very cheery), and how dark and dystopic Nineteen Eighty-Four is, well, you can understand how that would ruffle the feathers of a few people.

But anyway, the '53 CBS version is without a doubt the absolute weirdest screen adaptation of the story I've seen.

First of all, it was written as a play. So if you can imagine what Nineteen Eighty-Four would be like if it were performed on stage live, that is exactly what the '53 version is, artsy-farsty version of Big Brother and all. I'll talk about that more in a moment.

Second, some of the same people who did the CBS program went on later to do the 1956 film. You can basically consider the '53 version a prototype of the later film because of that. And yeah, that does mean the storyline is perverted into a love story between Winston and Julia instead how it's supposed to be told (it's supposed to be the journey of Winston's enlightenment and his defeat).

Third, it is really short. About 50 minutes. This is probably because it was meant to fit into a one-hour television time slot, per 1950's television broadcast standards.

If you watched this without knowing the story first, you would have no clue what's going on. None at all. It just moves way too fast. Huge chunks of the story are left out, and like in the '56 film, the '53 version renames certain characters. For example, Goldstein is renamed to Cassandra. Yes, really.

Big Brother himself is this artsy-fartsy oil-painted like... thing. When you see it you're going to say, "What the frig is that?" Absolutely no resemblance to the way he's described in the book whatsoever. Not even a little.

Telescreens are simply shown as large panes with the best you could do in '53 for what could be considered a special effect. Just some washy-like screening and lighting of some kind.

I'd have to say the best part of the show is Cassandra during the Two Minutes Hate, because what he said was actually written very well.

Most of what he said:

Today you are at war with Eurasia. Tomorrow, perhaps with Eastasia; it doesn't matter. The primary game of modern warfare is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living. For if leisure and security and enjoyed by all alike, great masses of human beings who normally are stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves! And once they have done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority have no function, and they would sweep it away.

That's just as true as it was said in '53 as it is today, if not more so; it is the highlight of the program just because of the good writing, and it's very true to the book.

The rest of the program however is just so unbelievably rushed. That combined with actors many times almost literally shouting as if they were performing a play for an audience just gets annoying.

I suppose I shouldn't knock the program too much because it was the first screen adaptation, and Nineteen Eighty-Four is a really tough story to tell visually.

Why did I watch it? Just to "complete the set", so to speak. I had seen the other three and thought that's all there were. So when I discovered this one, of course I had to watch it.

Ordinarily I do not like television from the 1950s, but with 1984 I make an exception because it's just interesting seeing different attempts at telling the same story because each has its own take on it.

Even though the story in the '53 version is told totally wrong in so many ways, I give it a thumbs-up anyway just because it's so weird and unique.

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