Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

Been trying to get Unisyn working 100% with my XL-7 with varying 
success. Any help would be appreciated.

Setup
- Powerbook G4 w/OSX 10.3.5, 512MB RAM
- Unisyn 2.1.1
- MOTU MIDI Express XT
- EMU XL-7 running OS 2.0 with all 4 ROM slots loaded: XL-7, World 
Expedition, Vintage Keyboards, Protean Drums.
- I am using the Generic Proteus 2000 Profile as I have all the ROM 
slots loaded on the XL-7
- Verified that the Sysex ID matches

Unisyn...
- Finds the XL-7 and correctly identifies the four RAM chips in the 
Hardware Configuration record in Unisyn

Issue 1:
In the Devices window under the XL-7, only the User, ROM1 and ROM2 
banks of presets are listed. ROM3 and ROM4 are not listed.

BUT if I go to the Unisyn menu bar and choose Devices > XL-7, I see 
a huge list which lists all 4 ROMS and User. Additionally, it lists 
8 banks under each(!). Of course, trying to retrieve banks 4 - 7 
under any of these just generates a "bad MIDI header" message.
So, in the devices window, ROMs 3 and 4 are not listed, although 
correctly identified in the hardware config record. In the Devices 
menu, these ROMs are correctly listed with all their presets.

Issue 2:
If I retrieve ROM 4, Bank 0 or ROM 4, Bank 2 from the Devices menu 
and then try to save that preset listing in a new document, Unisyn 
crashes. I also tried selecting all, copying and then pasting into a 
new blank document. Unisyn crashes as soon as I try to copy. This is 
a reproducible error. Banks 1 and 3 save fine, as did all banks on 
ROM 3.

Issue 3:
Every time I select a preset and send to any location (e.g., Preset 
on C07A), the preset gets sent just fine, but that MIDI channel gets 
disabled. So if I send "Bandvoxxe" to Preset on C07A, Bandvoxxe does 
get sent just fine, but then MIDI Channel 7 In gets disabled, so I 
have to go to the MIDI menu on the XL-7 and re-enable the channel. 
Once I do that, I can play the preset just dandy. But if I send 
another preset, the exact same thing will happen again, regardless 
of the destination.

Issue 2 is actually the most pressing one because it means there's 
two banks I can't manipulate in Unisyn. Issues 1 and 3 are annoying, 
but can be dealt with.

If I am doing something wrong, please let me know.

Thanks a million
Lionel Cassin

On Oct 26, 2004, at 2:19 PM, lionelcassin wrote:

before i start let me preface by saying i only have the Beat Garden 
added to my XL-7, but i've had 4 ROMs before, so i've experienced some 
of these...

> Issue 1:
> In the Devices window under the XL-7, only the User, ROM1 and ROM2
> banks of presets are listed. ROM3 and ROM4 are not listed.
>
> BUT if I go to the Unisyn menu bar and choose Devices > XL-7, I see
> a huge list which lists all 4 ROMS and User. Additionally, it lists
> 8 banks under each(!). Of course, trying to retrieve banks 4 - 7
> under any of these just generates a "bad MIDI header" message.
> So, in the devices window, ROMs 3 and 4 are not listed, although
> correctly identified in the hardware config record. In the Devices
> menu, these ROMs are correctly listed with all their presets.

use the actual XL-7 profile. it has the same glitch but will work more 
smoothly overall. there are subtle differences between the Command 
Stations and the P2K modules.

Unisyn also only shows two ROMs on my system for direct editing, but 
since you can't actually edit the ROMs anyway (just the user presets), 
just copy the patch to a user preset location, "get selected" from that 
location, and edit away in Unisyn.

> Issue 2:
> If I retrieve ROM 4, Bank 0 or ROM 4, Bank 2 from the Devices menu
> and then try to save that preset listing in a new document, Unisyn
> crashes. I also tried selecting all, copying and then pasting into a
> new blank document. Unisyn crashes as soon as I try to copy. This is
> a reproducible error. Banks 1 and 3 save fine, as did all banks on
> ROM 3.

you're right, it doesn't work properly. so - don't do this. copy the 
bank from the ROM into a user bank. download the user bank into Unisyn 
and save. same result, and no crashing. you'll only need to do it once. 
:D

> Issue 3:
> Every time I select a preset and send to any location (e.g., Preset
> on C07A), the preset gets sent just fine, but that MIDI channel gets
> disabled. So if I send "Bandvoxxe" to Preset on C07A, Bandvoxxe does
> get sent just fine, but then MIDI Channel 7 In gets disabled, so I
> have to go to the MIDI menu on the XL-7 and re-enable the channel.
> Once I do that, I can play the preset just dandy. But if I send
> another preset, the exact same thing will happen again, regardless
> of the destination.

by C07A i'm guessing you mean Channel 7A. do you have rechannelize to 
track turned on? i've found most MIDI apps (DP4 and Unisyn included) 
and the XL-7 get weird with MIDI when rechannelize is on - i only turn 
it on when i've got the XL-7 as my "sequencing hub" controlling 
everything else. when working with the computer, rechannelize is off.

i'm curious what sequencing app you use - if it is DP4, stop worrying 
about directly editing the expansion boards (load sounds into user 
presets to edit them) and use the Expansion Board Setup program that 
came with DP to enable the expansion boards you have installed in the 
XML patchlists.
--
Bruddah Max
Lord of the Dance

Thank for the quick and detailed reply. To answer some of your 
questions...

1. At this moment, I do not use a computer-based sequencer. The only 
sequencer I plan to use is the XL-7's, primarily in a beatbox 
function.

2. The job in front of me is to winnow the 2,000 ROM patches in the 
XL-7 down to a manageable set of favorites which will go into the 
User banks. So I am focused on patch librarian functions right now, 
and not on editing. Although that may change.

So it seems we share the basic philosophy - since you cannot access 
all the ROM slots at once, get the patches you want into the User 
banks and work from there.

Also, I found out that the crashing in issue 2 was due to only two 
patches - one in ROM4/Bank0 and one in ROM4/Bank2. Each of these 
patches were unique in that they had both a parent and a child 
relationship. So I just carved around them and it worked out alright.

Thanks for the tips on the rechannelize and using the XL-7 profile. 
I will give them a test at the next available moment. 

Lionel
--- In xl7@yahoogroups.com, Bruddah Max <bruddahmax@c...> wrote:
> On Oct 26, 2004, at 2:19 PM, lionelcassin wrote:
> 
> before i start let me preface by saying i only have the Beat 
Garden 
> added to my XL-7, but i've had 4 ROMs before, so i've experienced 
some 
> of these...
> 
> > Issue 1:
> > In the Devices window under the XL-7, only the User, ROM1 and 
ROM2
> > banks of presets are listed. ROM3 and ROM4 are not listed.
> >
> > BUT if I go to the Unisyn menu bar and choose Devices > XL-7, I 
see
> > a huge list which lists all 4 ROMS and User. Additionally, it 
lists
> > 8 banks under each(!). Of course, trying to retrieve banks 4 - 7
> > under any of these just generates a "bad MIDI header" message.
> > So, in the devices window, ROMs 3 and 4 are not listed, although
> > correctly identified in the hardware config record. In the 
Devices
> > menu, these ROMs are correctly listed with all their presets.
> 
> use the actual XL-7 profile. it has the same glitch but will work 
more 
> smoothly overall. there are subtle differences between the Command 
> Stations and the P2K modules.
> 
> Unisyn also only shows two ROMs on my system for direct editing, 
but 
> since you can't actually edit the ROMs anyway (just the user 
presets), 
> just copy the patch to a user preset location, "get selected" from 
that 
> location, and edit away in Unisyn.
> 
> > Issue 2:
> > If I retrieve ROM 4, Bank 0 or ROM 4, Bank 2 from the Devices 
menu
> > and then try to save that preset listing in a new document, 
Unisyn
> > crashes. I also tried selecting all, copying and then pasting 
into a
> > new blank document. Unisyn crashes as soon as I try to copy. 
This is
> > a reproducible error. Banks 1 and 3 save fine, as did all banks 
on
> > ROM 3.
> 
> you're right, it doesn't work properly. so - don't do this. copy 
the 
> bank from the ROM into a user bank. download the user bank into 
Unisyn 
> and save. same result, and no crashing. you'll only need to do it 
once. 
> :D
> 
> > Issue 3:
> > Every time I select a preset and send to any location (e.g., 
Preset
> > on C07A), the preset gets sent just fine, but that MIDI channel 
gets
> > disabled. So if I send "Bandvoxxe" to Preset on C07A, Bandvoxxe 
does
> > get sent just fine, but then MIDI Channel 7 In gets disabled, so 
I
> > have to go to the MIDI menu on the XL-7 and re-enable the 
channel.
> > Once I do that, I can play the preset just dandy. But if I send
> > another preset, the exact same thing will happen again, 
regardless
> > of the destination.
> 
> by C07A i'm guessing you mean Channel 7A. do you have rechannelize 
to 
> track turned on? i've found most MIDI apps (DP4 and Unisyn 
included) 
> and the XL-7 get weird with MIDI when rechannelize is on - i only 
turn 
> it on when i've got the XL-7 as my "sequencing hub" controlling 
> everything else. when working with the computer, rechannelize is 
off.
> 
> i'm curious what sequencing app you use - if it is DP4, stop 
worrying 
> about directly editing the expansion boards (load sounds into user 
> presets to edit them) and use the Expansion Board Setup program 
that 
> came with DP to enable the expansion boards you have installed in 
the 

> XML patchlists.
> --
> Bruddah Max
> Lord of the Dance