--- In akaiS1000S1100Samplers@yahoogroups.com, "formals777" wrote:
1)
>..most people are happy with the sound - apart from the
> effects and the filter.
..
2)
> The s1100 is a nice sampler to extend because there are so many empty
> slots available. You can reach all data adress and control lines from
> the bus.
3)..a much easier solution is
> to buy cheap effects on ebay. BTW: akai has an external filterbank..
Wow - many thanks - you seem to have an excellent knowledge about this
box, and I figure you've considered something alike too - at least at
one time ?
"My" S1100 finally arrived, and I spent a few days just bend over it &
peeping at the various ICs :) - so far I have downloaded almost all
datasheet for the chips, lacking only the Sony CXD-1211P (which is
there for processing of the digital audio stream anyway - I assume the
AES output that is onboard is it's main task), and the 3 huge custom ICs..
I'll place the datasheets on a webspace to make'em easier to access
for one in need.
1) :) now what's wrong with the effects :-D ? .. ok, but thanks for
the hints & pointing out the experience / general user tendencies -
would've taken several nagging questions of me before I'd know all
what could be improved.
It seems that the effects, from the Motorola 56001 DSP-board, are
stored externally .. I have no datasheet of the 56001 at hand, but I
don't recall an internal ROM as being an option - and there seems to
be nothing on the card (from looking at it - installed - through the
gaps).
I suspect the parameter ROMs, of maybe even the main OS ROMs are the
ones who hold the algorithms - so new effects could be quite easy to
create -- for as long as the DSP power is enough.
If it wouldn't be an effects processor for the sum, I guess I could
even abuse it for filter effects (since Clavia used a stack of them
for their Nord Lead/Lead 2 synthesizers) - but even with the sum - one
could try to enhance it for some filter/wah/auto/dynamic-filter
effects with resonance & distortion.
"unfortunatelly" I just have a Analog Devices AD2181 Devkit - so I
would have to make up the algorithms w/o testing (or use
software-simulation), and later just flash it into a ROM & see how it
would work out.
2) Yes, especially in my one :) - I am lacking the digital I/O card,
and I have only the - in my case - redundant SMPTE card, plus the SCSI
card in the expansion slots.
I already found a cheap source for the appropriate connectors
(2x32pins IIRC), which are luckily industry-standard.
3) Is that a slight sign for telling me that I am "trying to stuff a
mushroom" here :-) ? .. thought that this would still be possible -
and it doesn't seem too hard.. unless the audio-streams don't get
treated exclusively by the custom chips (all signs seem to indicate it
unfortunatelly) - and that the individual, digital audio-streams are
not present/accessible on the option-bus - what would be necessary in
order to mangle each voice individually (with a
filter/effects/compression).
The reason why I'm curious where you've got your knowledge from is
mainly because - I wanted to know whether there are some service
manuals existing - or maybe even programmers/hardware-developers
manuals/documentation available from Akai .. and if either is worth
the money - I simply assume that all the companies that are
manufacturing memory board, SCSI & digital options haven't really
reverse-engineered all of this..
If someone'd happen to have bought something like a service manual /
developers-guide in the past, and would be knowing a cheap source for
buying these - I'd love to hear something about it.
I do have an Akai-support facility around here in Germany too, but
it's a whole Alesis/Akai/Numark - jointventure - so I am a bit afraid
that there's not much I could get from them for a sampler dating back
to 1991..
I'll poke around on the 3 memory cards I have, of which oddly each
look different - the machine has 10 MB if I'm not mistaken, and
change my EL foil which's gone south, delivering a nice whining noise
from the inverter-coil :)
You can see my box here - it's the same machine as in the picture
posted before - just now it's mine =)
http://home.arcor.de/jfkrecords/akai/aka.jpg
---------->> What I've just found out about that box:
IC1 = NEC 70216GF - 10 = Nec V50 CPU, 10MHz, integrated DMA,refresh,etc
IC3 = Standard NEC D72068 GF floppy controller ( 765 alike/standard
PC-type)
IC7 = -- Sanyo LC7891 LCD driver, pretty much a standard too,which uses
IC14 as character RAM ("video RAM" - if you want so), 2kB SRAM,via 11
addr. lines
IC8 = Sony's "Digital Audio Transmitter" IC.. I believe this is for
dig./SPDIF/AES-EBU output.. could have something to do with the Akai
CDROM format too though ? but very unsure about the latter.
IC9 seems to be a Intel 8255 multip. controller-clone made by Fujitsu
(MB89255A) - responsible for de-/multiplexing I/O to/from the
keyboard/panel controls
IC10 and
IC11 are holding the OS, each a standard 1MBit(128kb) EPROM chip
IC12 and
IC13 = PARAMETER ROMs, whatever that means, each 64kb =512kbits in size
IC18 and
IC19 and
IC20 and
IC21 = 4 DRAM chips -- I assume a buffer, either for the CPU or
digital audio streams...
Connector P125 holds 5volts/gnd/gnd/12volts - so it's most likely the
connector for a HDD (one needs to make a special cable for the
standard HDD connector - or abuse a prong from a standard floppy
connector of a PC -PSU's cable.. - check the lines /voltages though -
could be crossed)
.......// Software:
Well.. I took a look at a S1000's ROMs (after merging them with a tiny
utility) - it seems very Intel compatible in my eyes -- even the
assembler Akai was using for that OS seems to indicate this, as they
didn't even take the time to remove the redundant macro-strings the
assembler/compiler has put into that binary image (one can clearly
read "AX BX CX".."MOV" "PUSH" "POP",etc) - which looks very 8086'ish,
even though NEC tried to make it look a bit different in their
datasheet :-) but even that was already showing it off..
So -> I'm happy, though the 4 DMA channels which are apparently in use
on IC1 (by looking at the traces on the pins) will probably give me a
headache - and the timers,etc.
Regards
-Jan