Disklavier

Two years ago I obtained a 1998 MkII that had hardly been used, but the floppy drive did not function. As I said before, Yamaha wanted $315 for their proprietary drive, and I would have to install it myself or pay another $300 for a DKV technician to do it.

The whole situation made me so angry that I took a floppy and SLAMMED it into the drive with full force. To my surprise, that fixed it. :-)

I now use a desktop computer next to the piano to record, store, save and play thousands of MIDI files. I have a $10 USB floppy to convert all Yamaha disks to MIDI files. Everything works perfectly. I recommend dedicating a cheap laptop for this function instead of an expensive DK-850 unit. I don't, however, use DKV Radio or TV, it would not work with my piano anyway.

Sam Kanter
www.keyboardcollective.com
(212) 684-3304









> On Dec 19, 2016, at 7:52 PM, dashby dashby@... [disklavier] <disklavier@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Mostly just a lurker here, I like to know about player pianos, I am a
> piano player as well. I also have a 35 year career in A/V recording,
> some community television and as a computer technician.
> 
> Floppy drives and disks have been around
> from about the mid 1970s into the late 2000s.
> 
> (See Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk)
> 
> Along with aging, they have always been problematic because as
> with audio tape and video tape, the floppy drive head(s) is/are in
> actual physical contact with the magnetic rotating disk.
> 
> Eventually as with all audio tape machines, i.e. reel to reel, 8 track,
> audio cassette and all video tape machines, i.e. reel to reel, Sony
> 3/4 inch U-Matic, Sony Beta or JVC VHS cassette, the heads get
> dirty and clogged with dust and audio or video tape gunk which
> in the old days you had to periodically clean off either by bringing
> the unit to a repair shop, or taking it apart and cleaning it yourself
> by hand with Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol and a Degausser.
> 
> (See Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing
> 
> Or you could try a self-contained audio reel to reel, 8 track, audio
> cassette or video reel to reel, Sony 3/4 U-Matic, Sony Beta or JVC
> VHS cleaner. Sometimes you cleaned the units and they would start
> working again, sometimes not. As a repair tech, I cleaned by hand,
> hundreds of these units. In addition, some floppy drives just plain
> mechanically wear out over time and use or got damaged by the
> floppy disk.
> 
> Examples of Floppy Drive self-contained Cleaners:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Floppy-Drive-Diskette/SubCategory/ID-131
> 
> Fast forward to 2016. The floppy drive and floppy disks were never
> meant to last this long and most are only going to fail faster and
> faster over time.
> 
> In the old days you just bought off the shelf from a computer store,
> a standard floppy drive because the Data Connector and Power
> Connector and Data Protocols were universal.
> 
> Example of a Standard Internal Floppy Drive: $8.49 plus shipping.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007543%20600010633
> 
> Examples of Standard External USB Floppy Drives:
> Range from $18.99 to $29.99 plus shipping.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007543%20600010635%20600010634
> 
> It may be that Yamaha, like many companies, in order to lock you
> into their system and pay their higher profits, has a proprietary
> floppy drive so you can't go to a computer shop and pay about
> $9 to $20 for a new floppy drive, instead of about $300 which I
> read someone here mentioned as the cost to buy a floppy drive
> via Yamaha Repair Service and you have to install it yourself.
> 
> If this is the case, their price is not in line with the OLD technology
> they are selling you and they are gouging customers because
> proprietary means they can.
> 
> I see over time, more and more people here are complaining about
> floppy drives. So it is probably very wise indeed for everyone who
> is still relying on the floppy drive built into their Yamaha Player
> Pianos to be making plans to migrate as rapidly as possible to
> other sustainable solutions as have been mentioned by other
> members here.
> 
> There is no winning with this floppy drive, floppy disk game.
> 
> Please plan ahead because increased Floppy Drive and
> Floppy Disk failures are coming to a theater near you. :-)
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> DNA
> 
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