{"id":260260,"date":"2026-01-23T18:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/260260\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:57:07","slug":"casio-teased-a-retro-gaming-inspired-sampler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/260260\/","title":{"rendered":"Casio teased a retro gaming-inspired sampler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Casio showed up to NAMM (CES for music gear nerds) this year with a<a href=\"https:\/\/synthanatomy.com\/2026\/01\/casio-previews-a-portable-standalone-sampler.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> prototype sampler<\/a> called the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gearnews.com\/casio-sampler-synth\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> SX-C1<\/a> that looks every bit the lovechild of a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/4\/21\/18508022\/game-boy-nintendo-games-accessories-anniversary-photo-essay\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Game Boy<\/a> and an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roland.com\/global\/products\/sp-404mk2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> SP-404<\/a>. The top has a directional pad and four buttons just like you\u2019d find on a game controller, flanking a 1.3-inch OLED screen. But at the bottom, there are 16 rubberized pads for triggering samples with crunchy pixelated number labels on them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CasioMusicGear\/photos\/we-have-something-brand-new-to-show-you-at-namm-come-by-booth-9102-in-hall-b-to-\/1350315760463654\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">device on display <\/a>on the show floor was not fully finalized, so the specs are subject to change. Casio says that the final version will have 16 voice polyphony and record samples at 16-bit \/ 48kHz. It will also have 10 banks of samples, for 160 sample slots in total, spread over 64GB of internal storage. It will also come preloaded with samples harvested from classic Casio gear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">There are also two effects slots, as evidenced by the two thumbwheels labeled FX1 and FX2. What effects and exactly how they\u2019ll be implemented is unknown right now, though a bitcrusher and a delay can clearly be heard in the demo clip below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Similarly, there\u2019s a grid-style step sequencer that\u2019s giving serious <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Roland_TR-707#\/media\/File:Roland_TR-707.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TR-707<\/a> vibes. But again, there are no specs for the sequencer at this time. One thing we do know is that there will be proper sample trimming with a visible waveform like you get on the Roland SP-404MKII, the kind that isn\u2019t available on more affordable and portable samplers like Teenage Engineering\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/3\/2\/17062242\/teenage-engineering-pocket-operators-speak-ko-tonic-metal-series\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> PO-33<\/a> or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/11\/22\/23965528\/teenage-engineering-ep133-ko-2-synthesizer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> PO-133<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">The SX-C1 will have a built-in mic and speaker and can be powered by AAAs for truly standalone operation. But it also has 1\/8-inch line-in and line-out jacks, a headphone jack, and two USB-C ports. Those USB ports can be used for power and audio, so you could plug straight into your computer to sample your favorite YouTube clip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">This marks Casio\u2019s return to the world of samplers after a very long absence. Its \u201880s models, including the<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/SOpAuoXcl00\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> FZ-1<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Yo7I9U5UcTs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> SK-1<\/a>, were iconic, but things have been quiet since then. When the Casio SX-C1 sampler might be available, how much it will cost, and if it will ever<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ColletInst\/status\/2014481820675670239\" rel=\"nofollow\"> even come to the US<\/a> are all unknown at this time, but we\u2019ve reached out to Casio for more details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Casio showed up to NAMM (CES for music gear nerds) this year with a prototype sampler called the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[93,203,61,60,278,43,216,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-260260","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gadgets","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-tech","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}