I think all of us new Mark III owners wondered about this, but the simple answer is:�NO,�you can't play MIDI files (or ESQ files) from a CD.� The Mark III will only look on floppy disks or its internal memory for such files.� The controller reads only audio signals from the CD drive, although it's possible to encode MIDI data onto the audio tracks so that the Mark III can play the piano while reproducing the audio sound track.
�
This seems illogical until you run the numbers.� MIDI files are very small by modern standards, and with an average file size of 20 kB (typical) you can pack 70 songs on a floppy disk. The song counter display is only 2 digits, so that's 99 songs max that the instrument can handle.� On a 700 MB CD you could store 14,000 files, with no directory structure and no way to access them except to step through the list one by one - tremendous overkill.� I think that's why Yamaha chose not to provide this capability.
Feb 15, 2010 06:31:28 PM, disklavier@yahoogroups.com wrote:
Feb 15, 2010 06:31:28 PM, disklavier@yahoogroups.com wrote:
�Hi
I do not know for sure but I DO know that Yamaha ONLY expects to find .fil files on a floppy. I know I cannot play .fil files from a USB stick of MMC card.
I converted all mine to midi and they worked fine, both from USB and MMC card.
--- In disklavier@yahoogroups.com, George Husson wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Forgive me, because I know this questions must have been asked before, but how do I copy .fil files onto a CD and play it back on my Mark III? I read that I need to put them in a folder on the CD but nothing happens when I try and play them on the piano. Is it that the CD will only play MIDI files and that I have to convert .fil files first?
>
> Thanks for the help.
>
> --George
>