Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Hi,

Problem: 

A. keyboard going out of tune, both on internal sounds AND when I 
use the SD to act as a controller, it detunes the sound module as 
well.

B. I notice that when im in a page that has parameters (master, Midi 
etc...) the values for the underlined value change by them selves .

Referring to Service Bulletin 12 
I took it all apart and found:

1. Eprom KPC 2.32 520c  
2. Foamless keyboard with reference coil
3. 20 pin connector between the two boards
4. the 20 pins are joined by two small ribbon cables all soldered.


Heres what i did so far:
1. Opened keyboard top cover, removed the 10 screws from the bottom 
of the keyboard, removed the keyboard assy, also removed the 
floppy/pitch/mod wheel cover to get access.

2. Using a continuity tester, I tested each pin on the 20 pin 
wiring, side to side, I had continuity

3. disassembled pitch bend and mod wheel sliders and sprayed out the 
pots with contact cleaner.

4. Lithium battery- put a volt meter on it and it read 3.20 volts
5. detached display and button circuit board (the one under the 
display) and cleaned out the volume and data slider pots with 
contact cleaner


Problems I encountered:

1. When removing the display circuit board, I had to take off the 
volume and data slider covers, when I did, the volume slider bar 
came out of the assembly, cant seem to get it back in. Do I need to 
replace the whole slider or can i get the metal tab back in?

2. When checking the battery, I noticed that the metal tabs that the 
battery attaches to the board can be "rocked" (moved a bit from side 
to side.  Could the solder connection be intermittent and causing 
the problem? Can the tabs be soldered with out removing that main 
board? (this is the board that has all the inputs on it, and I would 
have to unscrew all the inputs to get it out)


Im going to reassemble it now and test. If any of you have 
suggestions PLEASE help !!! :))

Thanks to Richard at Route 66 studios for the service bulletin, 
advice, AND the courage to do this job myself !!!

Rich G
Freehold NJ

PS, I have a gig coming up on Saturday, and need to fix this or get 
another keyboard, if any of you are in NJ, please contact me if you 
can loan me a board, or if you have something inexpensive to sell 
that can do brass, strings, organ etc...:)

Hey Rich,

Ok I'm new to the SD-1 but not synthesis.  I wanted to bring up a few ideas
other than ripping the board apart.
Ok, recently I had a sequence created.  Half of it plays fine however the
second half tunes up.  It was controlling
my sampler so I thought I had accidently de-tuned the sample bank but that
wasn't it.  Not knowing the SD-1 very
well.  I "somehow" managed to assign a data cartridge sound to a sample
track.  How this was possible considering
I don't have a cartridge, I'll never know, but none the less it gave me an
oddly named sound on that track.  Apparently
it confused the keyboard and it wigged out.  I had to redo the sequence.
Simply deleting and/or reassigning the track
didn't work.

Next, and I know this is incredibly obvious, but did you somehow manage to
record pitch wheel data and didn't know it?
I had also done this - didn't even know I bumped my mod wheel and recorded
the data on a track I thought was clean.

Third, can you repair the sequences by pitching up or down each track to
even it out?  I mean it's a quick fix but if you're in
a hurry it might help.

From the little I know, if something like this happens so consistantly it's
usually user error.  Computers screw up but never
in a very consistant manner.  Usually the problem will get worse or
magically dissapear - go figure.

Also, is there any way you can get the sequence to one of us - I don't know
how you could do that - and have one of us
check it out on our SD-1?  That should identify the problem pretty quick. I
mean if it would do it on one of our boards
then it's not the machine, it's the sequence.

I feel your pain.  Let me know if I can help.

Michael

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

From: "homebythe_sea" <homebythe_sea@...>
To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 9:59 AM
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] SD1 TUNE AND PARAMETER PROBLEMS


>
>
> Hi,
>
> Problem:
>
> A. keyboard going out of tune, both on internal sounds AND when I
> use the SD to act as a controller, it detunes the sound module as
> well.
>
> B. I notice that when im in a page that has parameters (master, Midi
> etc...) the values for the underlined value change by them selves .
>
> Referring to Service Bulletin 12
> I took it all apart and found:
>
> 1. Eprom KPC 2.32 520c
> 2. Foamless keyboard with reference coil
> 3. 20 pin connector between the two boards
> 4. the 20 pins are joined by two small ribbon cables all soldered.
>
>
> Heres what i did so far:
> 1. Opened keyboard top cover, removed the 10 screws from the bottom
> of the keyboard, removed the keyboard assy, also removed the
> floppy/pitch/mod wheel cover to get access.
>
> 2. Using a continuity tester, I tested each pin on the 20 pin
> wiring, side to side, I had continuity
>
> 3. disassembled pitch bend and mod wheel sliders and sprayed out the
> pots with contact cleaner.
>
> 4. Lithium battery- put a volt meter on it and it read 3.20 volts
> 5. detached display and button circuit board (the one under the
> display) and cleaned out the volume and data slider pots with
> contact cleaner
>
>
> Problems I encountered:
>
> 1. When removing the display circuit board, I had to take off the
> volume and data slider covers, when I did, the volume slider bar
> came out of the assembly, cant seem to get it back in. Do I need to
> replace the whole slider or can i get the metal tab back in?
>
> 2. When checking the battery, I noticed that the metal tabs that the
> battery attaches to the board can be "rocked" (moved a bit from side
> to side.  Could the solder connection be intermittent and causing
> the problem? Can the tabs be soldered with out removing that main
> board? (this is the board that has all the inputs on it, and I would
> have to unscrew all the inputs to get it out)
>
>
> Im going to reassemble it now and test. If any of you have
> suggestions PLEASE help !!! :))
>
> Thanks to Richard at Route 66 studios for the service bulletin,
> advice, AND the courage to do this job myself !!!
>
> Rich G
> Freehold NJ
>
> PS, I have a gig coming up on Saturday, and need to fix this or get
> another keyboard, if any of you are in NJ, please contact me if you
> can loan me a board, or if you have something inexpensive to sell
> that can do brass, strings, organ etc...:)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Michael C Lesko" 
<MichaelL33@p...> wrote:
> Hey Rich,
> 
> Ok I'm new to the SD-1 but not synthesis.  I wanted to bring up a 
few ideas
> other than ripping the board apart.
> Ok, recently I had a sequence created.  Half of it plays fine 
however the
> second half tunes up.  It was controlling
> my sampler so I thought I had accidently de-tuned the sample bank 
but that
> wasn't it.  Not knowing the SD-1 very
> well.  I "somehow" managed to assign a data cartridge sound to a 
sample
> track.  How this was possible considering
> I don't have a cartridge, I'll never know, but none the less it 
gave me an
> oddly named sound on that track.  Apparently
> it confused the keyboard and it wigged out.  I had to redo the 
sequence.
> Simply deleting and/or reassigning the track
> didn't work.
> 
> Next, and I know this is incredibly obvious, but did you somehow 
manage to
> record pitch wheel data and didn't know it?
> I had also done this - didn't even know I bumped my mod wheel and 
recorded
> the data on a track I thought was clean.
> 
> Third, can you repair the sequences by pitching up or down each 
track to
> even it out?  I mean it's a quick fix but if you're in
> a hurry it might help.
> 
> From the little I know, if something like this happens so 
consistantly it's
> usually user error.  Computers screw up but never
> in a very consistant manner.  Usually the problem will get worse or
> magically dissapear - go figure.
> 
> Also, is there any way you can get the sequence to one of us - I 
don't know
> how you could do that - and have one of us
> check it out on our SD-1?  That should identify the problem pretty 
quick. I
> mean if it would do it on one of our boards
> then it's not the machine, it's the sequence.
> 
> I feel your pain.  Let me know if I can help.
> 
> Michael
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "homebythe_sea" <homebythe_sea@y...>
> To: <Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 9:59 AM
> Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] SD1 TUNE AND PARAMETER PROBLEMS
> 
> 
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Problem:
> >
> > A. keyboard going out of tune, both on internal sounds AND when I
> > use the SD to act as a controller, it detunes the sound module as
> > well.
> >
> > B. I notice that when im in a page that has parameters (master, 
Midi
> > etc...) the values for the underlined value change by them 
selves .
> >
> > Referring to Service Bulletin 12
> > I took it all apart and found:
> >
> > 1. Eprom KPC 2.32 520c
> > 2. Foamless keyboard with reference coil
> > 3. 20 pin connector between the two boards
> > 4. the 20 pins are joined by two small ribbon cables all 
soldered.
> >
> >
> > Heres what i did so far:
> > 1. Opened keyboard top cover, removed the 10 screws from the 
bottom
> > of the keyboard, removed the keyboard assy, also removed the
> > floppy/pitch/mod wheel cover to get access.
> >
> > 2. Using a continuity tester, I tested each pin on the 20 pin
> > wiring, side to side, I had continuity
> >
> > 3. disassembled pitch bend and mod wheel sliders and sprayed out 
the
> > pots with contact cleaner.
> >
> > 4. Lithium battery- put a volt meter on it and it read 3.20 volts
> > 5. detached display and button circuit board (the one under the
> > display) and cleaned out the volume and data slider pots with
> > contact cleaner
> >
> >
> > Problems I encountered:
> >
> > 1. When removing the display circuit board, I had to take off the
> > volume and data slider covers, when I did, the volume slider bar
> > came out of the assembly, cant seem to get it back in. Do I need 
to
> > replace the whole slider or can i get the metal tab back in?
> >
> > 2. When checking the battery, I noticed that the metal tabs that 
the
> > battery attaches to the board can be "rocked" (moved a bit from 
side
> > to side.  Could the solder connection be intermittent and causing
> > the problem? Can the tabs be soldered with out removing that main
> > board? (this is the board that has all the inputs on it, and I 
would
> > have to unscrew all the inputs to get it out)
> >
> >
> > Im going to reassemble it now and test. If any of you have
> > suggestions PLEASE help !!! :))
> >
> > Thanks to Richard at Route 66 studios for the service bulletin,
> > advice, AND the courage to do this job myself !!!
> >
> > Rich G
> > Freehold NJ
> >
> > PS, I have a gig coming up on Saturday, and need to fix this or 
get
> > another keyboard, if any of you are in NJ, please contact me if 
you

> > can loan me a board, or if you have something inexpensive to sell
> > that can do brass, strings, organ etc...:)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >