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Casio CZ synthesizers
Intro
My first ever synthesizer was a second-hand CZ-1000 i bought as a teenager. I later had other synths (Yamaha FM, Kawai, Korg, Ensoniq), but throughout the years i have never fallen out of love for the very personal sound of CZ synths. Other than the CZ-1000, I have owned CZ-101's, a CZ-5000 and a CZ-1. As a geek muso, i would delve into the intrincacies of MIDI messages, including System Exclusive data (I would even hand edit Sys-Ex from my MC-500 sequencer), extending what you were supposed to do from the device.
It has been said that Phase Distortion was a Casio version of Yamaha's FM synthesis, but that is just a myth to me. I guess you could say that every oscillator in a CZ could consist of an FM carrier and modulator pair, but anyone that has extensively played with both types of synths knows that the sounds produced are totally different, CZ's grungier and more electronic, FM's crispier and more natural. And FM simply does not come up with those waveforms, which are unique to CZ. Casio VZ iPD syths do have something closer to FM, though, again, the sound is very different to Yamaha's FM units.
System Exclusive (Sys-Ex) specification for CZ synths
Find a link below for the Sys-Ex specifications for a Casio CZ-1. The specs for the rest would be the same less the parameters specific to CZ-1, such as data related to velocity and aftertouch. The document was probably (snail)mailed to me by Casio UK at the time (many thanks, back then you had to physically send a letter and spend some money for that!). The document includes hand corrections for some omissions and mistakes (though the document seems to have many more). Note that parameters can often allow a wider range of values than editable on the physical synths (and this, for instance, includes "secret" waveforms and modulations for the DCO and extra vibrato speeds in-between what is available from the control panel). Communication supposedly reqires hand-shaking, but in practice if you just send your part you are fine. Also note that a sent patch requires an additional data byte to be received into a synth; you just cannot record a patch and play it back. Also, CZ-1 has SysEx disabled everytime it powers up.