Casio confirmed as much as NAMM (CES for music gear nerds) this yr with a prototype sampler referred to as the SX-C1 that appears each bit the lovechild of a Game Boy and an SP-404. The highest has a directional pad and 4 buttons similar to you’d discover on a sport controller, flanking a 1.3-inch OLED display. However on the backside, there are 16 rubberized pads for triggering samples with crunchy pixelated quantity labels on them.
The device on display on the present ground was not totally finalized, so the specs are topic to alter. Casio says that the ultimate model may have 16 voice polyphony and file samples at 16-bit / 48kHz. It’ll even have 10 banks of samples, for 160 pattern slots in whole, unfold over 64GB of inner storage. It’ll additionally come preloaded with samples harvested from basic Casio gear.
There are additionally two results slots, as evidenced by the 2 thumbwheels labeled FX1 and FX2. What results and precisely how they’ll be carried out is unknown proper now, although a bitcrusher and a delay can clearly be heard within the demo clip beneath.
Equally, there’s a grid-style step sequencer that’s giving critical TR-707 vibes. However once more, there aren’t any specs for the sequencer right now. One factor we do know is that there will likely be correct pattern trimming with a visual waveform such as you get on the Roland SP-404MKII, the sort that isn’t out there on extra inexpensive and transportable samplers like Teenage Engineering’s PO-33 or PO-133.
The SX-C1 may have a built-in mic and speaker and may be powered by AAAs for really standalone operation. But it surely additionally has 1/8-inch line-in and line-out jacks, a headphone jack, and two USB-C ports. These USB ports can be utilized for energy and audio, so you possibly can plug straight into your laptop to pattern your favourite YouTube clip.
This marks Casio’s return to the world of samplers after a really lengthy absence. Its ‘80s fashions, together with the FZ-1 and SK-1, had been iconic, however issues have been quiet since then. When the Casio SX-C1 sampler is perhaps out there, how a lot it is going to value, and if it is going to ever even come to the US are all unknown right now, however we’ve reached out to Casio for extra particulars.