Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Is there a chance that somebody somewhere have made an internally 
fitted cartridge board? I mean, instead of changing cartridges all the 
time, have anybody made an internal card-board with say 4 switchable 
cartridges for direct access to 256 sounds at once (or the like), as 
was done on Yamhas DX7 by I-can't-remember-who? It looks like it would 
be possible somehow (looking at the schematics anyway). And talking 
schematics: Is it possible getting/bying a schematic specifically for 
the 21 Voice board, or is the cartridge connector the same as on the 
VFX schematic?

Hope this makes sence :)

- Claus.

Actually this is a good idea as the SD-1 could do with more RAM memory 
to store voice data. I fill the 120 internal RAM spaces all too 
quickly. I know it's a doddle to load up more sounds from disc or PC 
but there is nothing like pressing a button and up pop 60 more voices.

regards


--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Claus" <clauzii@...> wrote:
>
> Is there a chance that somebody somewhere have made an internally 
> fitted cartridge board? I mean, instead of changing cartridges all 
the 
> time, have anybody made an internal card-board with say 4 switchable 
> cartridges for direct access to 256 sounds at once (or the like), as 
> was done on Yamhas DX7 by I-can't-remember-who? It looks like it 
would

Claus
?????? Yes actually I started this about two years ago and still have it sitting on my work bench, only thing I couldn't decide was how to go about switching from bank to bank. 

Do I add a small switch that would end up having to pass through the top or back of the VFX/VXFSD/SD1? and how many people would want to deface their unit and cut a hole init?? I set this up on my bench unit and was able to select 6 additional banks plus the internals and still use the cart as well, it works I just have a few cosmetic details to work out...any thoughts?

Richard at Route 66

-----Original Message-----
From: Claus <clauzii@...>
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 3:25 am
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Internal extra soundmemory??






Is there a chance that somebody somewhere have made an internally 
fitted cartridge board? I mean, instead of changing cartridges all the 
time, have anybody made an internal card-board with say 4 switchable 
cartridges for direct access to 256 sounds at once (or the like), as 
was done on Yamhas DX7 by I-can't-remember-who? It looks like it would 
be possible somehow (looking at the schematics anyway). And talking 
schematics: Is it possible getting/bying a schematic specifically for 
the 21 Voice board, or is the cartridge connector the same as on the 
VFX schematic?

Hope this makes sence :)

- Claus.



 

________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

Richard
Just a thought from someone not tech savy.
Last year I stumbled on a site that used a flash memory card tied to 
the floppy connector. I can't acess my computer yet but I think I got 
to the site from this group. I think they are in the Ukraine. How 
about using that media for storage and accessing through the cartridge 
slot. You'd have so much memory you wouldnt need to use the cartridge 
and the switch would be part of the plug in unit. I know I'd buy some.
Mark

Found the site
http://www.2av.com.ua/arche.htm
Mark

... If I wasn t so leery of sending money to people I ve never heard of in the Ukraine I d buy one in a minute. I ve started storing all my work on the laptop

Well that's interesting but I am not sure this will work with the cart slot, at the time I am working on a new multi floppy drive that has the floppy discs slot and several SD type slots. In fact if I get it to work it will accept 12 different card media types and still allow use of the floppy drive as well.?

What I don't want to do is eliminate the floppy drive because you never know when you will want to use it to load an old disc or something.

Did you notice that that devise installed in the TS took up the SCSI bay slot?

Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: surfermarketing <surfermarketing@...>
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 4:10 pm
Subject: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: Internal extra soundmemory??






Richard
Just a thought from someone not tech savy.
Last year I stumbled on a site that used a flash memory card tied to 
the floppy connector. I can't acess my computer yet but I think I got 
to the site from this group. I think they are in the Ukraine. How 
about using that media for storage and accessing through the cartridge 
slot. You'd have so much memory you wouldnt need to use the cartridge 
and the switch would be part of the plug in unit. I know I'd buy some.
Mark



 

________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

Hi all,

http://www.2av. <http://www.2av.com.ua/arche.htm> com.ua/arche.htm



I posted the original link to this site some months ago and have since
bought one of these units.  Although the initial unit didn't work and
communication with the company was difficult, I eventually managed to
get a replacement which works reasonably well.

 

Here's what I've found:

 

1)       Fitting the unit was relatively easy as it is piggy-backs to
the FDD power supply and data lines.  Be careful to ensure that you cut
and isolate the white 5v cable of the FDD power supply line prior to
installation or you will blow the device.

2)       When putting a disk in and copying particular banks, initial
banks copy fine but subsequent banks throw an error.  The solution was
to use the diskcopy function and copy entire disk to the formatted
"virtual disk" SD card bank location.

3)       Occasionally on initially loading a bank of sequences the sound
locations are empty.  This has always corrected with a re-load.

4)       Speed: Although I haven't actually critically compared the
difference between loading from diskette -v- loading from SD card, there
doesn't seem to be a significant difference.  I would have thought as no
moving parts were required to perform the actual read from the SD media
it would have sped the process.  I believe that as the SD card is read
via the FDD interface that the timing of the interface is slowing the
data transfer. 

 

I would have thought that a slightly easier and possibly better solution
would have been to have the device talk directly to or replace the SD1's
internal memory. 

 

All of that said, this device lets you store numerous disks worth of
data to a single device located in the unit.  These "virtual disks" are
easily accessed by a set of Up and Down buttons and an LED which plug
into a flat cable which comes out of the back of the chassis - No
cutting or modification required.  If anything goes wrong the FDD is
still there for emergencies.

 

Hope this helps.    

 

Cheers,

 

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Joe McMahon
Sent: 26 August 2007 22:49
To: Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Ensoniq-VFX-SD] Re: Internal extra soundmemory??

 

 

On 8/26/07, surfermarketing <surfermarketing@
<mailto:surfermarketing@...> yahoo.com> wrote:

Richard
Just a thought from someone not tech savy.
Last year I stumbled on a site that used a flash memory card tied to
the floppy connector.

 

If I wasn't so leery of sending money to people I've never heard of in
the Ukraine I'd buy one in a minute. I've started storing all my work on
the laptop where it's easy to back up, but being tied to floppies to
reload the OS still makes me nervous. Someday either I'm going to lose
the drive or my OS disks (and I remember floppy drive failures scarring
up disks). 

 

Has anyone heard of anyone who has purchased one of these?

 

 --- Joe M.

John
I thought I saw it posted on this site,guess I didn't search back far 
enough. Thanks, great post. Question, does it appear that you could 
mount it externaly. I wouldn't mind drilling a small hole in the 
floppy tray. Either way I'm gonna wait for RT 66's modification to 
compair. And for those of you leary of buying anything Ukranian 
remember they are capable of making a nuclear reactor....
Well maybe I'll stick to their perogis.
Mark

Yes, check out posts 2563 & 2564. They also have some other cool stuff 
that I'm gonna get as soon as I decide which units I'm gonna keep. 
Cooling fans & battery holders. Believe it or not my original SD1 
battery level is still ok buy I did have to replace the disk drive.
Mark

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