Disklavier

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Good evening, everyone.

Steno Jazz, are you using your piano with MIDI In set to Delay or Real Time? In general, you should use the former. In Real Time mode, any Disklavier can drop notes if the note-off messages come in before the mechanical action has completed the keystroke that was initiated by the note-on message.\ufffd

As far as random notes are concerned, are we talking about pieces that you have recorded with the instrument? The earlier Disklaviers played back very soft notes with an effective minimum velocity of about 35. This means that if you brushed a key and recorded a note that was inaudible or barely audible, it would become quite audible on playback.

Regards,

PianoBench

On Mar 10, 2014, at 8:04 PM, steno jazz <stenojazz@...> wrote:

Hello Adrian Thomas Music Service,

thanks for your replies. Is there such ROM upgrade for \ufffdmx100a too (fixing problems with midi)? I have some problems when i am connecting my mx100a to external midi devices...sometimes some notes are lost and sometimes there are keys of piano that randomly play a note. If there is such ROM upgrade, do you know the part number of it? Thanks!

About adapting disklavier mark3 module to mx100a it may be great but i guess it will require a lot of time to understand the signals (even with the service manuals).

Thanks!

2014-03-11 0:53 GMT+01:00\ufffd<mangez@...>:

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There was a ROM update which dealt with the piano sound dropping out when connected to an external device via MIDI. If you have the old version (V1.20d), you can get a replacement ROM from Yamaha:\ufffdPart No. XH260F00 (IC ROM V1.4f)

Adrian Thomas Music Services

On Mar 8 2014, George Frederick Litterst wrote:\ufffd

Good evening, everyone.

Ed, I am a consultant to Yamaha and head up the Disklavier Education Network (DEN) initiative. We have a resources page on the new DEN website that has PDF versions of all of the Disklavier user manuals:

http://yamahaden.com/resources-2/item/280-mx80-series-manual

Locate the MX80 series manual and that page and then proceed to page 31. That page shows the information that I mentioned.

I have never owned an MX80 nor used one extensively. So, my recollection of these kinds of subtleties is a bit dim. I do have a vague recollection that there was a ROM update for the unit that made a subtle change to the MIDI Output feature. Perhaps that explains the difference between the manual and your experience with your particular piano.

This particular manual is a scan of the original. Many of the more recent manuals are actually searchable in a PDF viewer.

Regards,
PianoBench\ufffd


On Mar 7, 2014, at 7:04 PM, Edward Duke wrote:

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> George,
> Re: the MX80.
> Thanks for your feedback.
> Perhaps we are not discussing the same situations. My MIDI-OUT works fine with and malfunctioning Floppy drive and no Floppy in the drive. I drive the MU-50 Tone Generator. This functioning MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT capability has essentially negated the need to repair the super expensive Floppy drive from Yamaha. I am however considering the latest Floppy emulator.
> What manual are you referencing? My owner's manual has examples of MIDI OUT and MIDI-IN on page 31 and none of the text you referenced. Neither my MX80 Systems Manual or MX80 Service Manual have 31 pages.
> Regards,
> Ed Duke
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> On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 5:50 PM, George Frederick Litterst\ufffdwrote:
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> Good afternoon, everyone.
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> Ed, its good to know that the MX80 does not need a functioning floppy disk drive with a floppy inserted in order to use the MIDI In function.\ufffd
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> Accessing the MIDI Out function is another matter, however. According to page 31 of the manual, you have to have a disk in the drive and need to be either in record mode or have a record/pause mode in order to transmit MIDI data.
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> Although I don't know for sure, I suspect that it is this recording function that turns on the key sensors.
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> This need for a working floppy drive is the reason--I think--why the DKC-850 is not officially recommended as an upgrade control unit for the MX80. The only way to connect it would be with MIDI cables. If the MX80 floppy drive were to go bad, you would not be able to record with the DKC-850 or transmit MIDI data to a computer. You would--according to your experience--be ab le to play back song files from either a computer or the DKC-850 if the floppy drive went bad.
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> Regards,
> PianoBench
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> On Mar 7, 2014, at 9:30 AM, Edward Duke wrote:
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>>\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>> Reference item 2 in the previous message.
>> I have an MX80 with non-functioning floppy disk drive and no floppy disk in the drive and the MIDI-IN function works fine. I use the computer to drive the piano.
>> ED
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>> On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 7:44 AM, George Frederick Litterst\ufffdwrote:
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>> Good morning, everyone.
>>\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>> Answers below:
>>\ufffd

>> On Mar 6, 2014, at 7:44 PM,\ufffdwrote:
>>\ufffd
>>>\ufffd
>>> Hello,
>>>\ufffd
>>> i own a great disklavier mx100a since many years and i just discovered this great forum.\ufffd
>>> Some questions...
>>> 1) Has anyone experienced any problem connecting both midi in and out with computer ? It seems that my disklavier works properly only if i connect just midi in or midi out...when both are connected to midi interface, some strange messages and not all notes are played correctly. When i disconnect one of the midi connector from the interface, the behaviour is ok. Is it normal? Is my mx100a "broken" or too old? Any firmware update i may request? I know it's not flash - upgradable...it needs eprom replacement or reprogramming, but it's not a problem for me.
>>\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>> Please tell us more detail about what is going on when you connect a MIDI interface. If you use only the MIDI In connection, can you successfully play MIDI data from an ext ernal source, such as a computer?
>>\ufffd
>> If you only use the MIDI Out connection, can you successfully transmit MIDI data to an external source?
>>\ufffd
>> What is your external source? Are you running a particular MIDI software program?
>>\ufffd
>> I am suspicious that you have created a MIDI loop in which MIDI data is transmitted from your piano to the MIDI interface at which point one of two things happens: (1) the MIDI interface immediately loops the data back to the piano or (2) a computer software program loops the MIDI data back to the piano.
>>\ufffd
>> There are a small number of MIDI interfaces that have a two-position toggle switch on the side. When the switch is in one position, MIDI data that is received from the MIDI In side of the interface is immediately directed to the MIDI Out side. In the other position, MIDI data that is received from the MIDI In side of the interface is transmitted to the computer .
>>\ufffd
>> Many MIDI software programs have a function called MIDI Echo or MIDI Thru. If that feature is on, any MIDI data that is received by the program is immediately sent to the designated MIDI output device.
>>\ufffd
>>> 2) Is it possible that the only way of using midi connectors is putting an empty floppy inside the floppy disk drive? No other way to work with midi connectors?
>>\ufffd
>> It's an odd situation that I don't understand, but the MX100A&B as well as the MX80 series Disklaviers require a working floppy drive with a useable floppy disk inserted in order to work with the MIDI ports.
>>\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>>> 3) Is it possible to use a module for disk lavier markIII (also rewiring it if the cabling is not the same) ? I may take one from a friend that upgraded his markIII to dkc-850... i know it may require some extra wiring and cabling but if anyone made it, i would appreciate if he could help me doing that...thanks.
>>\ufffd
>> Hypothetically, you can use a DKC-850 with your instrument. You would connect it to your piano with MIDI cables. Your old control unit would have to be turned on and a floppy disk inserted. Beyond that, you would interact with the DKC-850.
>>\ufffd
>> This replacement control unit gives you similar user features to an E3 Disklavier. However, it does nothing to change the functionality of the piano's current record and playback system, and when it is connected to a Disklavier with MIDI cables, certain E3 features, such as DisklavierRadio, are note available.
>>\ufffd
>> I hasten to point out that Yamaha has NOT advertised t he DKC-850 as being compatible with or recommended for the Wagon Grand, MX100A&B, or MX80 series. My personal opinion, however, is that if you are into the concept of "modding" your piano, then this is the control unit to get.\ufffd
>>\ufffd
>> I have not used a DKC-850 with this model of Disklavier. It would be very interesting for someone to replace your Disklavier's floppy drive with an emulator that makes the instrument appear as though it is always ready to transmit and receive MIDI data, and then control it with the DKC-850.
>>\ufffd
>> I should point out that the DKC-850 has only one set of pair of MIDI ports which would be used to connect to the piano in this case. That means that the MIDI ports would not be available to connect to an external device. However, the DKC-850 also has a USB MIDI feature that enables you to connect to a computer using a simple USB device cable (the same cable that you would use to connect to a USB printer).
>>\ufffd
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>>>\ufffd
>>> 4) Is there any way to "mod" an mx100a to improve midi capabilities and is there any "mod" for eprom firmware modifications that anyone did ? (for example avoiding putting a floppy inside or others)
>>\ufffd
>> I don't know of any mods of this sort, and I don't think that any are necessary.
>>\ufffd
>> Regards,
>> PianoBench
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>>\ufffd
>>>\ufffd
>>> Thanks!
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-- 

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