Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Hello there, 
  I have experienced problems with my VFX-SD as well which are similar
to what the others have faced.  I picked it up in a pawn shop a few
months ago for $249.00 (after talking the guy down from $499: either I
have the gift of gab or he just wanted to get rid of it).
  Mine crashes every now and then too, with stuck notes and sometimes
random notes come out of nowhere.  I simply turn it off and on again
and it comes right back up.
  I am not using it as my main board though; I pretty much just use it
for bass and drums in the track mode.  
  When I got mine, I was unaware that the disk drive had failed.  I
cannot format disks in it or anything and cannot load my old disks in.
 I know that it is a drive problem, but it does recognize when I pull
a disk out when it is trying to read one.  I will eventually send mine
to TheSoniq to do a complete overhaul on it.  I have cleaned it and it
does heat up, so that is probably what the hanging issue is.  As a
result of the disk drive being faulty, I cannot load the sequencer, so
I am really using it about 1/3 of its potential.  I also have the same
banks in both RAM and ROM, so I know the memory was wiped.  I have
lots of disks with sounds, but no way to get them in the VFX.

Does anyone have any sound for it in a format where I can play them
into the VFX with either a Roland XP50/60/80 format or Yamaha MDF-II
format?  I have a Roland XP60 and Yamaha MDF-II (MIDI Data filer).

I can bring them into the VFX via Sys-Ex mode at that point and can
enjoy extra sounds.  This limitiation I have has caused me to get back
into the programming mode on the VFX-SD though and that has been
reqarding.  I used to have one many years ago and know the board
inside and out.

It is also still amazing that most of the sounds on the VFX-SD still
hold up, even to today's standards.  Of course, the piano on the XP60
is superior, but for the oboe, clarinet, flute, sax, and just about
any other lead sound, I still run to the VFX (or my SQ2 32-Voice which
is very similar in voice architecture), for the solo sounds. I also
use the drums sounds, namely the Ballad-Kit.  I use it on two tracks
though through the XP60's sequencer.  I have a custom Ballad-Kit that
uses just kick and snare on Channel 10 so it can work with my other
drums kits that are in use on other GM synths.  I also use the Tom
sounds from the Ballad-Kit on Channel 11 and since the key mapping is
different than the GM map, I simply program the toms for the GM kits
on Channel 10 and then play them in again on Channel 11 just for the
VFX.  It works well and I have a very big sound. 

Aside from the poly-key and heating issues, Ensoniq was way ahead of
the game with this series.  It is too bad that some of the guys from
there could not design a new version of the VFX and take the world by
storm again.

Anyway, thank you and that is all for now.

Harry Ebbeson III
Ebbeson Management Group
www.geocities.com/ebbrecords

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