Casio FZ-1

Back in 1987, this beast became Japan's first 16-bit sampling synth, packing pro-level sampling and synthesis into a full 61-key keyboard that pros actually took seriously—Casio's bold entry into the high-end game.

At its core, it's an 8-voice polyphonic digital sampler with 16-bit linear sampling at selectable rates from 9kHz to 36kHz, giving you up to 14.5 seconds at full fidelity or nearly 2 minutes expanded to 2MB RAM via floppy. Beyond sampling, it blends additive synthesis with 48 editable harmonics you draw right on the large backlit LCD graph, plus preset waveforms like sawtooth, square, pulse, and random waves, all shaped by per-voice 24dB/oct resonant lowpass filters, 8-stage DCF/DCA envelopes, and a single LFO. Controls are intuitive with a 12-key numeric pad, big cursor buttons, data slider, and dedicated Play/Modify modes for assigning up to 64 voices across multitimbral banks with velocity splits, poly aftertouch, and zone overlaps—route to 8 individual TRS/XLR outs or stereo mix, with mic/line ins for easy capture. It's a hefty 1036 x 325 x 120mm at 17.5kg, with full MIDI I/O/T, RS232, footswitch, and expression pedal ports.

Owners still geek out over its characterful filters that bite like analog and the graphic editing that feels ahead of its time, though some note the 8-voice limit and disk loading can feel quaint today. A true vintage gem for sound designers chasing that 80s digital edge.