Synth-DIY Yahoo! Groups Archives

A New Member from Scotland

2014-01-17 by <douglas.macnaughtan@...>

Hello to all worldwide Disklavier owners and users. Happy New Year from Scotland!

I have a need to communicate with like-minded souls who love their Disklaviers. There are a number of issues on which I should value the advice and opnion of other members but do not wish to flodd the site with questions, while still a "New Boy"!

It seems that the vast percentage of posts are from members in the USA. I am keen to hear from members in the UK, particularly on the matter of technical support for Disklaviers. There does not appear to be a single such source in all of Scotland (unless you know better?) I do not wish to sound parochial and am very interested in advice on various technical matters from any member who has similar issues to myself, regardless of where in the World they are based.

I shall start the ball rolling with a specific question. I have a

Yamaha Disklavier MKII XG

Serial No: 5533834 (1997)

Model MPX 100 II XG

Control Box DKC 500R

I should like to know if this can be easily upgraded to a DKC850 and if my Disklavier is capable of accessing all the functions of this Control Box?

Please could a member explain to me how this Control Box "reads" normal audio CDs and "converts" them to play through my Disklavier? I am at a loss to understand how normal digital audio on a CD can be converted to MIDI to play on a Disklavier. Is the resultant performance (assuming solo piano CD) as accurate as the original? Does full piano key movement take place?

I have made enough of a nuisance of myself on my first post and await with great anticipation some advice and guidance from fellow members. I hope once I am established that I shall be able to return the favour.

Kind regards

Douglas Macnaughtan

Re: [disklavier] A New Member from Scotland

2014-01-19 by PianoBench@...

Good evening, everyone.

Answers to Doug's questions below:

On Jan 17, 2014, at 9:32 AM, <douglas.macnaughtan@...> <douglas.macnaughtan@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Yamaha Disklavier MKII XG
> Serial No: 5533834 (1997)
> Model MPX 100 II XG
> Control Box DKC 500R
> 
> I should like to know if this can be easily upgraded to a DKC850 and if my Disklavier is capable of accessing all the functions of this Control Box?

In the case of Mark IIXG and Mark III Disklaviers, the upgrade is incredibly simple. The kit comes with all the cables you need and detailed, easy-to-follow instructions. All functions of the box will be available to you.

> Please could a member explain to me how this Control Box "reads" normal audio CDs and "converts" them to play through my Disklavier?  I am at a loss to understand how normal digital audio on a CD can be converted to MIDI to play on a Disklavier.  Is the resultant performance (assuming solo piano CD) as accurate as the original?  Does full piano key movement take place?

The CD drive does not convert audio data to MIDI data to drive the piano. The CD drive is used for either of 2 purposes:

(1) Play specially encoded CDs (called PianoSoft Plus Audio) which have MIDI data encoded as audio data on the right channel and normal audio on the left channel. The Disklavier reads the encoded MIDI and responds by playing the piano. The regular audio data is sent to the speakers.

(2) There is a feature that lets you record a piano part while listening to a CD. When you play back the CD, the recorded piano part will play synchronously.

Yamaha sells special MIDI performances that similarly play along with paired CDs, in this case, commercially-available audio CDs. This is called Smart PianoSoft.

Regards,
PianoBench

Re: [disklavier] A New Member from Scotland

2014-01-19 by Adrian Thomas

Technical support for the UK & Ireland is available from Adrian Thomas Music Services (see www.adrianthomas.net for contact details).

Adrian Thomas

On Jan 19 2014, douglas.macnaughtan@... wrote:

>Hello to all worldwide Disklavier owners and users. Happy New Year from Scotland!
>
>I have a need to communicate with like-minded souls who love their Disklaviers. There are a number of issues on which I should value the advice and opnion of other members but do not wish to flodd the site with questions, while still a "New Boy"!
>
>It seems that the vast percentage of posts are from members in the USA. I am keen to hear from members in the UK, particularly on the matter of technical support for Disklaviers. There does not appear to be a single such source in all of Scotland (unless you know better?) I do not wish to sound parochial and am very interested in advice on various technical matters from any member who has similar issues to myself, regardless of where in the World they are based.
>
>I shall start the ball rolling with a specific question. I have a
>
>
> Yamaha Disklavier MKII XG
>
>
> Serial No: 5533834 (1997)
>
> Model MPX 100 II XG
>
> Control Box DKC 500R
>
>
> I should like to know if this can be easily upgraded to a DKC850 and if my Disklavier is capable of accessing all the functions of this Control Box?
>
>
> Please could a member explain to me how this Control Box "reads" normal audio CDs and "converts" them to play through my Disklavier? I am at a loss to understand how normal digital audio on a CD can be converted to MIDI to play on a Disklavier. Is the resultant performance (assuming solo piano CD) as accurate as the original? Does full piano key movement take place?
>
>
> I have made enough of a nuisance of myself on my first post and await with great anticipation some advice and guidance from fellow members. I hope once I am established that I shall be able to return the favour.
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
> Douglas Macnaughtan
>
>
>
>
>
>

Re: [disklavier] A New Member from Scotland

2014-01-19 by Adrian Thomas

Technical support for the UK & Ireland is available from Adrian Thomas Music Services (see www.adrianthomas.net for contact details).

Adrian Thomas

On Jan 19 2014, douglas.macnaughtan@... wrote:

>Hello to all worldwide Disklavier owners and users. Happy New Year from Scotland!
>
>I have a need to communicate with like-minded souls who love their Disklaviers. There are a number of issues on which I should value the advice and opnion of other members but do not wish to flodd the site with questions, while still a "New Boy"!
>
>It seems that the vast percentage of posts are from members in the USA. I am keen to hear from members in the UK, particularly on the matter of technical support for Disklaviers. There does not appear to be a single such source in all of Scotland (unless you know better?) I do not wish to sound parochial and am very interested in advice on various technical matters from any member who has similar issues to myself, regardless of where in the World they are based.
>
>I shall start the ball rolling with a specific question. I have a
>
>
> Yamaha Disklavier MKII XG
>
>
> Serial No: 5533834 (1997)
>
> Model MPX 100 II XG
>
> Control Box DKC 500R
>
>
> I should like to know if this can be easily upgraded to a DKC850 and if my Disklavier is capable of accessing all the functions of this Control Box?
>
>
> Please could a member explain to me how this Control Box "reads" normal audio CDs and "converts" them to play through my Disklavier? I am at a loss to understand how normal digital audio on a CD can be converted to MIDI to play on a Disklavier. Is the resultant performance (assuming solo piano CD) as accurate as the original? Does full piano key movement take place?
>
>
> I have made enough of a nuisance of myself on my first post and await with great anticipation some advice and guidance from fellow members. I hope once I am established that I shall be able to return the favour.
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
> Douglas Macnaughtan
>
>
>
>
>
>