The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Hi Jon,

>I'm not certain I understand this comment. How else would 
>AN1xEdit Transmit/Receive if the AN1x didn't have a bulk dump 
>MIDI Command? Are you differentiating between a possible MIDI 
>CC or NRPN equivalent for a bulk dump vs. SysEx? See pages 
>13-15 of the AN1x Data List - I think you can hobble together a 
>SysEx bulk dump request from this info.

The AN1x has a bulk dump packet definition, but it doesn't have a bulk dump command.  Take a look at the SysEx:  The AN1x doesn't have the kind of all-out, "give me what you got" bulk dump command the way most MIDI gear has.  It has commands that dump a single patch or sequence, and certain subset dumps, but no Dump All Data command.

I'm sure that you can cobble together a series of AN1x MIDI commands that amount to a bulk dump; in fact, that's what AN1xEdit does when you Select All.  But, that's exactly the problem -- you can't just send them all at once; you have to wait for the reply before sending the next one.  Any time we have an orchestrated conversation where you have to say something, then be quiet until I give a certain reply, then talk again, etc., there's a possibility of things going awry.  Look at what happens in movies and TV:  You get blooper reels.  :^)  Unfortunately, MIDI blooper reels are rarely that funny.  And because the AN1x sends so much data -- 3.5x the amount of my Alesis QSR, and 15x the amount of my Korg BX3 -- there's an even greater chance of something getting lost or out of sync.  Like I said, I don't really know who is at fault -- Win2K, the USB driver, AN1xEdit, or a combination of the three -- but I know that it's not always smooth sailing.

On the other side of things, after I send an All Dump Request to my QSR or BX3, all I have to do is sit there and let it vent until I see no more data.  I don't even really have to know how big the data dump is, as long as I wait a long time.  That's what I wish the AN1x did; I'm sure that it would have made Gary's life easier when he was coding.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389  voice/fax
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