Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Hello all, and I hope that you are all doing well.  I have (2) VFX-SD 
boards (and much other synth stuff), and must say that every time I 
play either one of them, I am so glad I got them (finally...it took 
well over 10 years to finally get one, and the other basically fell 
into my lap for a great price).  Only one has had the Keyboard Mod 
done to it, so the 'undone' one stays home in the studio and the 
other goes on the road with me (and 3 Roland rack units).  

My question is regarding the sequencer and the Mega Piano Waves:

1. Sequencer - I have V 2.00 on both boards for the sequencer.  I 
know that there was one higher before they released the SD-1 board.  
If I am not mistaken, it was 2.10 and featured the Multi-Track 
recording capabilities in the sequencer (something I appear to not 
have available to me now).  Is that correct?  I also own a Roland 
XP60 and put my show together using that sequencer.  Well, since I do 
not take that on the road, I want to transfer everything to the VFX, 
and it is a track-by-track affair at present.  
Does anyone have a copy of the sequencer 2.10 disk they can send the 
image over for so I can upgrade my sequencer?  If you could ship me a 
disk, I would happily pay for the mailing of it as well; it is not a 
problem.

2. Mega Piano Waves - when I was first introduced to Ensoniq back in 
1990, the VFX I had then had the Mega Piano waves, also something 
that is lacking in the two that I have now.  Was that a disk upgrade, 
or was there chip-replacement involved?  My favorite piano sound is 
still 'In-Concert', but remember many of the Mega Waves being great 
and there are about 40 sounds I cannot use as a result of not having 
them installed.  Can anyone help?

I am very happy with all of my gear, but still love the Ensoniq 
equipment the best.  They weer truly ahead of their time.

Thank you in advance for your assistance, 

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

MEGAPIANO WAVES were included on the Sequencer O.S. v2.00 disk,
"requires ROM O.S. Ver. 2.00 or higher, for use only with VFX-SD
version II."

We have this and OS v2.10, and will gladly copy them for you if you
send some blank disks. We'd love to zap you the files, but thusfar we
have been unsuccessful at getting the available floppy drivers to work
100% on our PCs without error.

Douglas


--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Harry" <ebbrecords@...> wrote:

>
> Hello all, and I hope that you are all doing well.  I have (2) VFX-SD 
> boards (and much other synth stuff), and must say that every time I 
> play either one of them, I am so glad I got them (finally...it took 
> well over 10 years to finally get one, and the other basically fell 
> into my lap for a great price).  Only one has had the Keyboard Mod 
> done to it, so the 'undone' one stays home in the studio and the 
> other goes on the road with me (and 3 Roland rack units).  
> 
> My question is regarding the sequencer and the Mega Piano Waves:
> 
> 1. Sequencer - I have V 2.00 on both boards for the sequencer.  I 
> know that there was one higher before they released the SD-1 board.  
> If I am not mistaken, it was 2.10 and featured the Multi-Track 
> recording capabilities in the sequencer (something I appear to not 
> have available to me now).  Is that correct?  I also own a Roland 
> XP60 and put my show together using that sequencer.  Well, since I do 
> not take that on the road, I want to transfer everything to the VFX, 
> and it is a track-by-track affair at present.  
> Does anyone have a copy of the sequencer 2.10 disk they can send the 
> image over for so I can upgrade my sequencer?  If you could ship me a 
> disk, I would happily pay for the mailing of it as well; it is not a 
> problem.
> 
> 2. Mega Piano Waves - when I was first introduced to Ensoniq back in 
> 1990, the VFX I had then had the Mega Piano waves, also something 
> that is lacking in the two that I have now.  Was that a disk upgrade, 
> or was there chip-replacement involved?  My favorite piano sound is 
> still 'In-Concert', but remember many of the Mega Waves being great 
> and there are about 40 sounds I cannot use as a result of not having 
> them installed.  Can anyone help?
> 
> I am very happy with all of my gear, but still love the Ensoniq 
> equipment the best.  They weer truly ahead of their time.
> 
> Thank you in advance for your assistance, 
> 
> Harry Ebbeson III
> Ebbeson Management Group
> www.geocities.com/ebbrecords
>

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "chili88" <lownoise@...> wrote:
>
> MEGAPIANO WAVES were included on the Sequencer O.S. v2.00 disk,
> "requires ROM O.S. Ver. 2.00 or higher, for use only with VFX-SD
> version II."

I have to correct this: there were two separate upgrades; one upgraded the version I logic (my 
VFXsd has this one) and another upgraded the whole logic board to a VFXsdII (which mine 
doesn't have). This means that patches for the VFXsdII will not work properly if I load them; 
they read memory off in na-na-land, which sounds interesting, but isn't a mega-piano. :)

So upgrading the OS to 2.10 will not get you the mega-piano, though it does help with 
stability.

 --- Joe M

Thank you for the reply.  I would like the opportunity to send the 
floppies over to get the OS copied for use in the two boards I have 
here.  Thank you for the additional information the Mega-Piano Waves 
as well.  Since it appears as though I have the original synths (one 
made in 3/90 and the other in 12/89, I do not have the right chips 
inside to make that happen.  Are they still around (I suppose this is 
a question for Richard over at Route66 Studios).
Regarding the other question I had in my original post:  does the 
sequencer upgrade to 2.10 add the ability for multi-track recording?

Just for info's sake:  Last night, while having the unit on for a 
very long time doing track-by-track recording while slaved to my 
XP60, the unit gave me an Error 144, and locked up.  Then after 
turning it off and on, it gave me the Error 137 and I had to load 
everything back into it again.  I felt the heatsink unit on the back 
and it was very warm and the whole underbelly of the unit was warm 
too.  I suspect that with being on the Apex stand, it just wamred up, 
because I have not had any problems with it today.  As a result, I 
sent Richard an e-mail at Route66 Studios to see if he had any 
cooling units in stock.

Speaking of colling units, has anyone done any additional mods for 
cooling on these units?  I was considering modifying the case itself, 
adding a fan into the side of the case to blow air into the keyboard 
(with a carbon filter of course to filter out things coming into it).

Well, that's all for now.

Harry Ebbeson III
Ebbeson Management Group

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "chili88" <lownoise@...> wrote:
>
> MEGAPIANO WAVES were included on the Sequencer O.S. v2.00 disk,
> "requires ROM O.S. Ver. 2.00 or higher, for use only with VFX-SD
> version II."
> 
> We have this and OS v2.10, and will gladly copy them for you if you
> send some blank disks. We'd love to zap you the files, but thusfar 
we
> have been unsuccessful at getting the available floppy drivers to 
work
> 100% on our PCs without error.
> 
> Douglas
> 
> 
> --- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Harry" <ebbrecords@> wrote:
> >
> > Hello all, and I hope that you are all doing well.  I have (2) 
VFX-SD 
> > boards (and much other synth stuff), and must say that every time 
I 
> > play either one of them, I am so glad I got them (finally...it 
took 
> > well over 10 years to finally get one, and the other basically 
fell 
> > into my lap for a great price).  Only one has had the Keyboard 
Mod 
> > done to it, so the 'undone' one stays home in the studio and the 
> > other goes on the road with me (and 3 Roland rack units).  
> > 
> > My question is regarding the sequencer and the Mega Piano Waves:
> > 
> > 1. Sequencer - I have V 2.00 on both boards for the sequencer.  I 
> > know that there was one higher before they released the SD-1 
board.  
> > If I am not mistaken, it was 2.10 and featured the Multi-Track 
> > recording capabilities in the sequencer (something I appear to 
not 
> > have available to me now).  Is that correct?  I also own a Roland 
> > XP60 and put my show together using that sequencer.  Well, since 
I do 
> > not take that on the road, I want to transfer everything to the 
VFX, 
> > and it is a track-by-track affair at present.  
> > Does anyone have a copy of the sequencer 2.10 disk they can send 
the 
> > image over for so I can upgrade my sequencer?  If you could ship 
me a 
> > disk, I would happily pay for the mailing of it as well; it is 
not a 
> > problem.
> > 
> > 2. Mega Piano Waves - when I was first introduced to Ensoniq back 
in 
> > 1990, the VFX I had then had the Mega Piano waves, also something 
> > that is lacking in the two that I have now.  Was that a disk 
upgrade, 
> > or was there chip-replacement involved?  My favorite piano sound 
is 
> > still 'In-Concert', but remember many of the Mega Waves being 
great 
> > and there are about 40 sounds I cannot use as a result of not 
having 

> > them installed.  Can anyone help?
> > 
> > I am very happy with all of my gear, but still love the Ensoniq 
> > equipment the best.  They weer truly ahead of their time.
> > 
> > Thank you in advance for your assistance, 
> > 
> > Harry Ebbeson III
> > Ebbeson Management Group
> > www.geocities.com/ebbrecords
> >
>

Hello Harry,

 

As far as I know, Multitrack recording was implemented in sequencer version
2.00, not in 2.10. I have the megapiano wave chip from factory, and I
dowloaded and updated the 2.10 version some years later, but I've have been
using v2.00 for a long time and I still have the original 12-page document
explaining the "VFX-SD Software Version 2.0 Update" implementations. In this
document, it explains in detail how to do multitrack recording, as well as
other functions as Step-entry recording, new sustain pedal settings, changes
in Master page, and others.

I don't know if using multi-track recording with sequencer version 2.00
needs also an updated chip, but I assume you don't need necessarily v2.10.

 

To check if you can do it, please go to "Seq Control" page, press the
"REC-SOURCE" button and set it to "MULTI". I copy some notes from the
manual:

 

"MULTI: this setting allows you to record data onto multiple VFX-SD tracks
simultaneously, but only from MIDI. This is most useful for recording tracks
sent from external sequencers or played from guitar controllers.

Note: the VFX-SD must be set to receive data from MIDI in Multi mode
(MODE=MULTI on the MIDI control page) in order for this feature to work
correctly."

 

If you find it useful, I can make a PDF file from the 12-page manual, but I
don't know how to share it with all the group. I can send you (Harry or
someone else) the PDF with a private mail, and you may upload it to the file
section if there is still empty space.

 

Please make me know if you are interested (and please give me one or two
days...) and I'll be glad to do it.

 

Hasta pronto.

 

Alfons

Thank you again for the informative reply.  I have found the Multi-
track recording capability in V 2.00 and it seems to be working just 
fine.  In fact, I have already used it tonight, putting my old 
sequences in the VFX format to use for my live shows.

It has been a fantastic experience being able to use the VFX synths 
again and all of their capabilities.  I looked for one for so many 
years and now am able to enjoy two of them: one for the studio and 
the other for live work.

I suppose that I should still probably upgrade the Sequencer to 2.10 
for the stability issue, and will certainly take up the other poster 
on for that one when time allows.

I bought a little fan today with a power supply at Radio Shack and 
got it working.  I have a small strip of velcro on the underside of 
the VFX in front of the heatsink and velcro on the fan itself and 
have it blowing onto the heatsink to keep it cool.  Having the unit 
for the last 4-5 hours now, the heatsink it cool to the touch.  I 
will certainly try it out tomorrow night as well, as my band has a 
gig and it will be warm out tomorrow.

Thank you all for your help and I look forward to reading the posts 
and inquiring more on the board.

Was there a major release upgrade between 2.0 and 2.1 on the 
sequencer?

The time that I sent with the board back in the early 90's was 
fantastic, and I am learning more and more about it now, even though 
I knew much about it then.  It is truly too bad that they do not make 
synths any longer.  They were better (IMHO) than anyone else out 
there.

Thank you again, 

Harry Ebbeson III
Ebbeson Management Group

If your VFX has not had the keyboard fix, the Apex will *kill it*. Get it off the Apex soonest! 
Supporting the VFX in the middle exacerbates the keyboard problem. See http://
www.ibiblio.org/emusic-l/back-issues/vol030/issue07.txt for an example. Nick Rothwell 
killed two this way.

 --- Joe M.

I had the same error sequence happen several months
ago on my SD-1. The keyboard had already had the
hardwire fix between coil boards. I used De-Oxit
cleaner on all the connector plug-socket units, and it
has been working flawlessly ever since. I doubt the
temperature has much to do with it, mine has run
almost too hot to touch the heat sink since it was
new. I have read that is normal behavior.

Rich

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

> Thank you for the reply.  I would like the
> opportunity to send the 
> floppies over to get the OS copied for use in the
> two boards I have 
> here.  Thank you for the additional information the
> Mega-Piano Waves 
> as well.  Since it appears as though I have the
> original synths (one 
> made in 3/90 and the other in 12/89, I do not have
> the right chips 
> inside to make that happen.  Are they still around
> (I suppose this is 
> a question for Richard over at Route66 Studios).
> Regarding the other question I had in my original
> post:  does the 
> sequencer upgrade to 2.10 add the ability for
> multi-track recording?
> 
> Just for info's sake:  Last night, while having the
> unit on for a 
> very long time doing track-by-track recording while
> slaved to my 
> XP60, the unit gave me an Error 144, and locked up. 
> Then after 
> turning it off and on, it gave me the Error 137 and
> I had to load 
> everything back into it again.  I felt the heatsink
> unit on the back 
> and it was very warm and the whole underbelly of the
> unit was warm 
> too.  I suspect that with being on the Apex stand,
> it just wamred up, 
> because I have not had any problems with it today. 
> As a result, I 
> sent Richard an e-mail at Route66 Studios to see if
> he had any 
> cooling units in stock.
> 
> Speaking of colling units, has anyone done any
> additional mods for 
> cooling on these units?  I was considering modifying
> the case itself, 
> adding a fan into the side of the case to blow air
> into the keyboard 
> (with a carbon filter of course to filter out things
> coming into it).
> 
> Well, that's all for now.
> 
> Harry Ebbeson III
> Ebbeson Management Group
> 
> --- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "chili88"
> <lownoise@...> wrote:
> >
> > MEGAPIANO WAVES were included on the Sequencer
> O.S. v2.00 disk,
> > "requires ROM O.S. Ver. 2.00 or higher, for use
> only with VFX-SD
> > version II."
> > 
> > We have this and OS v2.10, and will gladly copy
> them for you if you
> > send some blank disks. We'd love to zap you the
> files, but thusfar 
> we
> > have been unsuccessful at getting the available
> floppy drivers to 
> work
> > 100% on our PCs without error.
> > 
> > Douglas
> > 
> > 
> > --- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Harry"
> <ebbrecords@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello all, and I hope that you are all doing
> well.  I have (2) 
> VFX-SD 
> > > boards (and much other synth stuff), and must
> say that every time 
> I 
> > > play either one of them, I am so glad I got them
> (finally...it 
> took 
> > > well over 10 years to finally get one, and the
> other basically 
> fell 
> > > into my lap for a great price).  Only one has
> had the Keyboard 
> Mod 
> > > done to it, so the 'undone' one stays home in
> the studio and the 
> > > other goes on the road with me (and 3 Roland
> rack units).  
> > > 
> > > My question is regarding the sequencer and the
> Mega Piano Waves:
> > > 
> > > 1. Sequencer - I have V 2.00 on both boards for
> the sequencer.  I 
> > > know that there was one higher before they
> released the SD-1 
> board.  
> > > If I am not mistaken, it was 2.10 and featured
> the Multi-Track 
> > > recording capabilities in the sequencer
> (something I appear to 
> not 
> > > have available to me now).  Is that correct?  I
> also own a Roland 
> > > XP60 and put my show together using that
> sequencer.  Well, since 
> I do 
> > > not take that on the road, I want to transfer
> everything to the 
> VFX, 
> > > and it is a track-by-track affair at present.  
> > > Does anyone have a copy of the sequencer 2.10
> disk they can send 
> the 
> > > image over for so I can upgrade my sequencer? 
> If you could ship 
> me a 
> > > disk, I would happily pay for the mailing of it
> as well; it is 
> not a 
> > > problem.
> > > 
> > > 2. Mega Piano Waves - when I was first
> introduced to Ensoniq back 
> in 
> > > 1990, the VFX I had then had the Mega Piano
> waves, also something 
> > > that is lacking in the two that I have now.  Was
> that a disk 
> upgrade, 
> > > or was there chip-replacement involved?  My
> favorite piano sound 
> is 
> > > still 'In-Concert', but remember many of the
> Mega Waves being 
> great 
> > > and there are about 40 sounds I cannot use as a
> result of not 
> having 
> > > them installed.  Can anyone help?
> > > 
> > > I am very happy with all of my gear, but still
> love the Ensoniq 
> > > equipment the best.  They weer truly ahead of
> their time.
> > > 
> > > Thank you in advance for your assistance, 
> > > 
> > > Harry Ebbeson III
> > > Ebbeson Management Group
> > > www.geocities.com/ebbrecords
> > >
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
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horseshit. I've been using Ensoniq keyboards and Apex stands for years
with no issues.  Your homeboy don't know shit from shinola---pick up a
soldering pen and learn to DIY.

my boards:
SD-1
VFX-SD [w/SD-1 factory upgrade]
TS-12

max



--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "pemungkah" <mcmahon@...> wrote:
>
> If your VFX has not had the keyboard fix, the Apex will *kill it*.
Get it off the Apex soonest! 
> Supporting the VFX in the middle exacerbates the keyboard problem.
See http://
> www.ibiblio.org/emusic-l/back-issues/vol030/issue07.txt for an
example. Nick Rothwell 

> killed two this way.
> 
>  --- Joe M.
>

not that i made the original statement......
but i think the suggestion for vfx and apex is a general statement max
just becasue you personally werent affected doesnt mean
that its bull , its meant as a generic guideline in the idea that the apex type
has more potential than other stands to contribute to the issue 
of the 2 logic boards soldering issue
and your presuming all keyboardist should be trusted with a soldering iron , yikes
yeah , thats what i look for in a tech , "do you play keyboards" , "great fix this"

On Sunday, July 09, 2006, at 07:50AM, Max Zape <mzape@...> wrote:
horseshit. I've been using Ensoniq keyboards and Apex stands for years
with no issues. Your homeboy don't know shit from shinola---pick up a
soldering pen and learn to DIY.

my boards:
SD-1
VFX-SD [w/SD-1 factory upgrade]
TS-12

max=========

Do you Yahoo!?
Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

Two things:
1. No one cares what stand you were using when you had the polykey separation issue so let it go.
2. If Max Zape at mzape@... doesn't clean up his mouth he will be removed.
 
 Your Moderator

-----Original Message-----
From: tim <timsullivan@...>
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 13:50:55 -0400
Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: VFX-SD /apex


not that i made the original statement......
but i think the suggestion for vfx and apex is a general statement max
just becasue you personally werent affected doesnt mean
that its bull , its meant as a generic guideline in the idea that the apex type
has more potential than other stands to contribute to the issue 
of the 2 logic boards soldering issue
and your presuming all keyboardist should be trusted with a soldering iron , yikes
yeah , thats what i look for in a tech , "do you play keyboards" , "great fix this"

On Sunday, July 09, 2006, at 07:50AM, Max Zape <mzape@...> wrote:
horseshit. I've been using Ensoniq keyboards and Apex stands for years
with no issues. Your homeboy don't know shit from shinola---pick up a
soldering pen and learn to DIY.

my boards:
SD-1
VFX-SD [w/SD-1 factory upgrade]
TS-12

max=========

 
________________________________________________________________________
Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

Thank you, moderator,  for the clean-up routine in here.  I dd not 
know that the calibration issue could spark so much conversation like 
that (in intensity, I mean).
I only use the Apex stand in the studio and use the simple "X" type 
stand live and it seems to work fine.
I performed the gig last night and the unit performed flawlessly the 
entire night.  I used the custom fan unit that I built the day before 
and turned the keyboard off during the break times and it seemed to 
work just fine.  In fact, it was quite humid, and warm and the 
heatsink was cool to the touch, so I am very pleased.  
On my error codes that I got the other night, I went to Archive.org 
and looked up Ensoniq's old URL and the error codes suggested Bad 
Sequencer Data, so I will stick to that for now.  Both times that it 
failed was when I using the Multi-track recording feature and 
receiving data from my Roland XP60.
Regarding the DIY factor in the group, I think that it is great that 
there are some out there that do that sort of thing.  I can take a 
computer apart and put it back together (have formal training in 
that, as well), but when it comes to my boards, I would still rather 
pay someone who is very experienced to perform those types of tasks 
for me.  It is a fee that I am happy to pay for.

Well, again, have a good week...

Harry Ebbeson III
Ebbeson Management Group





--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, mishon66@... wrote:
>
> Two things:
> 1. No one cares what stand you were using when you had the polykey 
separation issue so let it go.
> 2. If Max Zape at mzape@... doesn't clean up his mouth he will be 
removed.
>  
>  Your Moderator
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tim <timsullivan@...>
> To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 13:50:55 -0400
> Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: VFX-SD /apex
> 
> 
> not that i made the original statement......
> but i think the suggestion for vfx and apex is a general statement 
max
> just becasue you personally werent affected doesnt mean
> that its bull , its meant as a generic guideline in the idea that 
the apex type
> has more potential than other stands to contribute to the issue 
> of the 2 logic boards soldering issue
> and your presuming all keyboardist should be trusted with a 
soldering iron , yikes
> yeah , thats what i look for in a tech , "do you play keyboards" , 
"great fix this"
> 
> On Sunday, July 09, 2006, at 07:50AM, Max Zape <mzape@...> wrote:
> horseshit. I've been using Ensoniq keyboards and Apex stands for 
years
> with no issues. Your homeboy don't know shit from shinola---pick up 
a
> soldering pen and learn to DIY.
> 
> my boards:
> SD-1
> VFX-SD [w/SD-1 factory upgrade]
> TS-12
> 
> max=========
> 
>  
> 
________________________________________________________________________
> Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, 
email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.
>