Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Hello all,

I have an SD-1 and I'm a little new to the world of playing out live.  I'm
looking forward to doing
exactly that this year but I wanted to see if any of your seasoned road
veterans could pass on a
little advice on what a keyboard player needs in the way of an "emergency
road kit" besides alcohol
of course (just kidding)  I mean anything to keep with you in case of gig
emergency's - you know,
extra fuses, etc.

Sorry if this seems like a pedestrian question it's just that with older
boards I'm sure it's always a good
idea to prepare for possible problems.  I'm just not experienced enough to
know what some of those
problems may be.  Thanks.

Michael

----- Original Message -----

From: "Harry" <ebbrecords@...>
To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 9:24 PM
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Hello, I am new to the group....


>
>
> Hello group.  I am a new member of this group, but not new to the VFX-
> SD board.  I finally found one in a pawn shop in my area last
> Saturday and picked it right up.  This board has eluded me for well
> over 10 years and I am very pleased to finally have another one.
> The one I got seems to work fine except that the floppy drive is
> bad.  I tested this with my existing VFX disk library, as well as
> trying to format a new disk and nothing worked.
> I have searched online and found that the price of the drives is
> anywhere from $65-$125.  Are there any places where it is less
> expensive that I may get one at?  The sequencer is not loaded and the
> same 60 sounds are in both ROM and RAM.  The battery was good and the
> unit calibrates upon bootup without errors.  I am not sure if it had
> the keyboard mod or not, but know how to do it if it needs to be done.
> My main focus at this point is the floppy drive.  Can anyone help me
> out?
>
> I have been in love with the VFX ever since I had one in the early
> 90's and missed it since (until Saturday when I bought it, for only
> $250 at that...).
>
> I own many other synths as well:
>
> Alesis QS6 (owned since new)
> E-Mu PK-6 (owned since new)
> Ensoniq SQ2 32 voice (owned since new)
> Korg X5 (owned since new)
> Roland JV880 (owned since new)
> Roland XP-60 (owned since new)
> Yamaha DJX (owned since new)
> Yamaha TG-33 (bought used)
>
> I love them all, but I have a special place in my heart for Ensoniq.
> It is too bad they kept too many things about the VFX, SD-1, TS
> proprietary, because they were truly ahead of their time.
>
> Any info on the floppy thing or anything else is truly appreciated
> and welcome.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Harry Ebbeson III
> Ebbeson Management Group
> www.geocities.com/ebbrecords
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Michael, 
  Establishing an 'Emergency Road kit' is highly advisable, even if 
you have a brand new synth.  I would always bring extra cables; this 
includes the audio, MIDI and power cables.  I would bring an extra 
stand (hey, stranger things have happened....at least to me onstage), 
a toolkit (even a small one with screwdrivers and hex drivers), 
flashlight, and anything else of the sort.
  I would also get your keyboard professionally serviced by a trained 
technician to make sure that all the bugs are worked out of the 
synth.  I would also replace the older ROM chips with newer ones and 
update your OS to the most current version.  Additionally, any mods 
that have come out for the board (fan kits, etc..) are worth looking 
into, as these VFX and SD synths got pretty hot sometimes.
  I would also bring two copies of your floppy disks and even bring a 
CD-Rom backup of the floppies, and some extra disks.  On the Cd, I 
would include any programs that will allow you to transfer your show 
from a PC to an Ensoniq formatted floppy.
  I always bring backups of my sequences (my band is a three piece at 
present and I sequence just about everything), but my main sequencer 
now is a Roland XP60 and all of my sequences are DOS-based as a 
result.

That is all I can think of right off hand, and I bring the same stuff 
to every gig I do and it always pays off.  In fact, it just paid off 
a couple of weeks ago when I was doing a wedding.  I had an audio 
cable go bad and I was sure glad I had my spare....

Thank You, 

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

--- Harry <ebbrecords@...> wrote:

> 
> Michael, 
>   Establishing an 'Emergency Road kit' is highly
> advisable, even if 
> you have a brand new synth.  I would always bring
> extra cables; this 
> includes the audio, MIDI and power cables.

and also: a good surge bar and a spare sustain pedal,
a small passive mixer (the cheepo kind that fit in the
palm of your hand), a head-band flashlight for peeking
in the back of your racks, two spare mic cables, spare
mic. And an extra pen for all those CD autographs
:)....cheers, Keith


		
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couldnt let this fly by w/o my comments....

be extreemly cautious of any "surge" suppresion device
they use 1 to 3 2cent MOV's that take a few hits and are not only 
useless ,
but lead to far more damaging possibilitys

the only wire that is capable of incurring/sustaining an overvoltage is 
the HOT from before the service entrance to the building , the other 
wires are always grounded to earth-ground at service entrance
yet any MOV will degrade after a few of these overvoltages , leading to 
a false sense of protection

as for LIVE performances involving keyboards/computers etc that are 
either MIDI'd together or networked together , be even more suspicious 
of quality of AC service and add to the mix the idea that lighting 
dimmer packs and PA amps and bar blenders etc are all changing and 
manipulating the additive effects of that source

my vfx always would lockup or incur many mysteries while on a stage , 
our determined result was the midi-ing of equipment that is plugged 
into different circuits across the stage  , and how those circuits also 
fed other motorized and/or current drawing equipment

look into a box called zerosurge , it has been in my gigging bag for 
over 15 years and has eliminated all my
live stage mysteries

On Oct 4, 2004, at 11:41 PM, keith cummings wrote:
>
> --- Harry <ebbrecords@...> wrote:
>
>>
>> Michael,
>>   Establishing an 'Emergency Road kit' is highly
>> advisable, even if
>> you have a brand new synth.  I would always bring
>> extra cables; this
>> includes the audio, MIDI and power cables.
>
> and also: a good surge bar and a spare sustain pedal,
> a small passive mixer (the cheepo kind that fit in the
> palm of your hand), a head-band flashlight for peeking
> in the back of your racks, two spare mic cables, spare
> mic. And an extra pen for all those CD autographs
> :)....cheers, Keith
>

I have to agree with the additions. I suppose that it would be hard 
to list everything one would really need in an 'Emergency Kit', 
because there can bo so many things.
Surge suppression is very important.  In fact, I use Isobar on the 
stage for my equipment and have never had a problem.  They are 
computer grade suppressors that also have Noise filtering in them (up 
to 75dB).  This can also help clean up the signal.  Also having a 
voltage regulator (from Furman or something similar) is important in 
your rack.  This can help normalize and safely monitor fluctuating 
incoming power to help protect your gear.

In fact, maybe we should create a thread on the gear in people's 
studios as well, to see what we are all using.  We have done this in 
other groups and it is really fun to see what we are all using.

Another note; I read the posts from the group about the replacement 
floppy drives for the VFX and it seems that the least expensive units 
are still going for $66 from Route66.com.  Is this stil an accurate 
price for the drives?

Is there any other way to load the sequencer onto the VFX other than 
a disk drive?  
I am seriously considering getting a sound cartridge too, so I can 
have more sounds at my disposal, in the event that I cannot find a 
disk drive.

I also went to the www.thesoniq.com website and see that he does 
repairs and cleanings of the Ensoniq gear.  Any experience with the 
work?  How is the pricing?

Thank you, 

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