CASIO CZ-101

Digital Phase Distortion Synthesizer

The Casio CZ-101 is an 8 voice phase distortion digital synthesizer. The CZ-101 has four octaves made up of 49 miniature keys. It has eight digitally controlled oscillators with eight digital waveforms to choose from, three of which have a resonant filter type sound. The entire CZ series uses what Casio called Phase Distortion. Phase Distortion attempts to simulate an analog resonant filter by modulating a waveform by another waveform creating a new waveform that has harmonics based on the two input waveforms. The CZ-101 has an eight stage DCA with key follow. It also has a ring modulator and noise generator. The LFO can modulate the oscillator pitch. Multiple patches can be stacked together reducing the polyphony proportionately. There is a full-size version of the CZ-101 called the CZ-1000. The CZ-101 was first released in 1985 by Casio Computer Company, Ltd. of Japan.

Original studio samples converted to 160kbps mp3’s for player.

Manuals | Guides | Files

CASIO CZ-101
Operation Manual

CASIO CZ-101
Service Manual Diagrams