Disklavier

Carol or anybody,

Is there a difference is using the MIDI ports versus the Serial port on 
a Mark II XG? I have been considering trying to use a PC or such to 
allow the CD with all of its functions. It would appear to me that the 
MIDI ports would just allow the MIDI information where the serial port 
would allow other information. Or would the serial port be to slow to 
access the audio/vocal information.
 
Mark in Idaho

BTW, There is an MX100A in white for sale locally. The seller is very 
eager to get it sold. The price is now down to $3650 at a consignment 
piano shop. You will find it on craigslist for Boise, Idaho or at 
http://www.pianosnthings.com/

Carol Beigel wrote:
>
> Wow!  That is some great information!!  Two other thoughts occurred to 
> me when I looked through those amazing documents.
>  
> 1)  If you can afford a Disklavier, you can afford to have it fixed.  
> Like buying a used car, you should always have in the back of your 
> head that you will need to do a major repair.  Once you factor in this 
> most probable reality, do you still save money?  I know how to change 
> the oil in my car, but I would actually lose a lot of money, skin, 
> risk the possibility of getting hurt, etc. than just paying $30 or so 
> at Jiffy Lube and have the situation taken of care of in minutes 
> instead of hours.  The cost of having a proper floppy drive replaced 
> by a Yamaha Disklavier tech is probably in the neighborhood of $350.
>  
> 2)  Since floppy drive technology is on its way out, and Disklaviers 
> last a long, long time, those of us with units older than the Mark 
> IV should all be looking at playlist software to be run from a 
> computer attached to our Disklaviers.  I myself have been 
> experimenting along these lines using both PC and MacBook laptops with 
> USB MIDI interfaces.  There are even gadgets out there now that use 
> Bluetooth and other wireless interfaces that will send your MIDI files 
> wirelessly to your Disklavier from a computer, but I have not done any 
> real time research on them.  I suspect someday in the future it will 
> be possible to control your DKV from your cell phone!!
>  
> I realize that not every DKV owner has access to genuine Yamaha parts 
> and a tech, and that this kind of information might be helpful under 
> those circumstances.  But for those of us who do, I highly recommend 
> the genuine Yamaha repair!
>  
> Carol Beigel
>