The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

I don't mind the plastic as much as I mind the wall wart. What were 
they thinking? Most pros won't gig with a wall wart instrument.

If during an extreme national crisis, people need to go off topic, 
then go off topic. Whatever helps. Most of the posts are about music 
and keyboards that work well with the AN1X so that's cool too.

Mixer-nothing wrong w/ a used mixer. Some of the old Studio Masters 
are really nice. They'll color the sound a little, but with a classy, 
British EQ sort of way. Built like a tank. Not very expensive. You 
can find them for around $500.00 American if you look around. Also 
the ART tube mic preamps sound nice and are realitively cheap. The 
AN1X sounds good going through one. If you need a cheap all around 
mic-go for a Shure SM 57.

Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.spaceanimals.com
http://www.mp3.com/spaceanimals

Jimmy,

>I don't mind the plastic as much as I mind the wall wart. What were
>they thinking? Most pros won't gig with a wall wart instrument.

What they were thinking was that they could save cost, development time, 
and a lot of certification hassles (UL, FCC, TUV, etc.) by separating the 
AC power from the audio and low-voltage stuff.  It allows Yamaha (and 
others) to farm out the power supply part on a per-country basis, and focus 
on the music part.  I'm not fond of the trend, but it is DEFINITELY a 
trend.  In the past ten years, I have owned (or still own) the Fatar Studio 
88; Alesis S4, Quadraverb+, Quadraverb GT, and Quadraverb 2; MIDIman 8x8 
USB; Ensoniq KMX-8; Digitech S100; and the AN1x.  All of these pieces are 
considered "pro" equipment, and all have external power supplies.  Most of 
them have wall-wart style boxes.

One thing that you can do is to replace the "wall wart" supply with a small 
switching supply like many laptop computers have.  The supply is still 
external, but it's usually lighter, better made, often works with 
international voltages (100-240V), and has a removable power cord.  It also 
doesn't clog up a power strip like wall warts do.  I use one that is about 
the size of a pack of king-size cigarettes, not much heavier than the same, 
and takes a power cord like the ones that boom boxes use.  (I also sell 
them in the music side of my business.  If anyone is interested, contact me 
off-line for more details.)


Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™
www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389  voice
978.964.0547 fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

From: "J Acker" <jacker@...>

> In a lot of equipment the power supply is the thing most likely to go, or
put another way, if the power supply goes, you gotta get it repaired. Wall
warts, you have know the rating in milliamps (maybe amps sometimes?) and the
voltage needed, and if the center pin is + or -, and you can get a new one.
That is a big pluss. Talking about gigging, why is it such a hassle with
gigging? I assume you take a power strip with and that has the same plug as
it would have had with internal supply. I don't see why that hurts any?

I would imagine that they take up a lot of space on a power strip. As a
general rule, as soon as you've plugged in a wall-wart power supply, the two
connectors next to it are rendered useless. (It could be different if you
have these huge UK power connectors, but for Euro-connectors it's definitely
the case.)

Another problem I foresee is that, when you pack up your stuff to go
gigging, you don't know which wall-wart power supply goes with what piece of
equipment. Plus when you lose the power supply and you don't have its
specifications at hand, the equipment is rendered useless.

Most gear just takes an IEC connector. Cables for that can be found
everywhere.

- Peter

At 10:32 PM 9/28/01 +0200, Peter Korsten wrote:
>
>I would imagine that they take up a lot of space on a power strip. As a
>general rule, as soon as you've plugged in a wall-wart power supply, the two
>connectors next to it are rendered useless. (It could be different if you
>have these huge UK power connectors, but for Euro-connectors it's definitely
>the case.)

In the 99-Cent Discount Stores in my town, in the electrical section they 
sell 3-plug connectors that go into one socket. You can plug it into one 
socket of a power strip, and have room on either side of this connector for 
two wall warts (plugged upside down) and one standard plug at the top, and 
it only takes up one socket space.


>Another problem I foresee is that, when you pack up your stuff to go
>gigging, you don't know which wall-wart power supply goes with what piece of
>equipment.

TIP: If you go gigging often, buy an extra wall wart for your gear, and 
keep it in your gigcase/totebag when you're not gigging. That way, you 
don't have to worry about plugging/unplugging your whole studio. Same goes 
for audio and MIDI cables.

Fortunately for Yamaha users, the wall wart for the AN1x is a standard 
piece of gear; it's more or less universal on a lot of Yamaha equipment -- 
PSR Home keyboards, QY-series sequencers and I believe the AN/DX200 boxes.


- 30 -
: . elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
: . elson@...  :  www.westworld.com/~elson
: . groove to the futurethnic beats of e:trinity at www.e-trinity.org and 
www.mp3.com/etrinity


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: "Elson Trinidad" <elson@...>

> In the 99-Cent Discount Stores in my town, in the electrical section they
> sell 3-plug connectors that go into one socket. You can plug it into one
> socket of a power strip, and have room on either side of this connector
for
> two wall warts (plugged upside down) and one standard plug at the top, and
> it only takes up one socket space.

I don't think these are legal in Europe - at least not in the Netherlands.

- Peter

Why do you think it's illegal?

--- Peter Korsten <peterk@...> wrote:
> From: "Elson Trinidad" <elson@...>
> 
> > In the 99-Cent Discount Stores in my town, in the
> electrical section they
> > sell 3-plug connectors that go into one socket.
> You can plug it into one
> > socket of a power strip, and have room on either
> side of this connector
> for
> > two wall warts (plugged upside down) and one
> standard plug at the top, and
> > it only takes up one socket space.
> 
> I don't think these are legal in Europe - at least
> not in the Netherlands.
> 
> - Peter
> 
> 
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At 03:35 PM 9/28/01 -0700, Ferrie Tuin wrote:
>Why do you think it's illegal?
>

Lots of things are legal in the Netherlands...heh...why would a silly piece 
of electrical gear not be?


- 30 -
: . elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
: . elson@...  :  www.westworld.com/~elson
: . groove to the futurethnic beats of e:trinity at www.e-trinity.org and 
www.mp3.com/etrinity


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: "Elson Trinidad" <elson@...>

> At 03:35 PM 9/28/01 -0700, Ferrie Tuin wrote:
> >Why do you think it's illegal?
>
> Lots of things are legal in the Netherlands...heh...why would a silly
piece
> of electrical gear not be?

Drugs aren't legal, they are condoned. There's a difference.

I'm not entirely sure why these many-in-one connectors, that plug directly
into a wall plug, are illegal, but it could be all kinds of reasons. Strain
on the connector could be one (but then again, wall-wart power supplies do
the same thing), maximum drained power per connector. I'm not the expert
here.

A question to Dutch people: when was the last time you saw such a device
being sold? Most of you probably can't remember. It could also be that they
are illegal in the whole of the EU.

- Peter

Never saw one in the shops at all. I think I heard it had to do with some safety regulation. The ones that I know of all looked very old (at least 20 years or so)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Peter Korsten 
  To: AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 10:34 AM
  Subject: Re: [AN1x-list] an1x construction.


  From: "Elson Trinidad" <elson@...>

  > At 03:35 PM 9/28/01 -0700, Ferrie Tuin wrote:
  > >Why do you think it's illegal?
  >
  > Lots of things are legal in the Netherlands...heh...why would a silly
  piece
  > of electrical gear not be?

  Drugs aren't legal, they are condoned. There's a difference.

  I'm not entirely sure why these many-in-one connectors, that plug directly
  into a wall plug, are illegal, but it could be all kinds of reasons. Strain
  on the connector could be one (but then again, wall-wart power supplies do
  the same thing), maximum drained power per connector. I'm not the expert
  here.

  A question to Dutch people: when was the last time you saw such a device
  being sold? Most of you probably can't remember. It could also be that they
  are illegal in the whole of the EU.

  - Peter


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

From: "J Acker" <jacker@...>

> When I moved to Norway I was puzzled by the fact tha tone couldn't buy the
range of electrician supplies (or plumbing for that matter) that you can in
the US. I have spent a lot of time in Amsterdam and Utrecht (lived there for
a few months..I love that town!) and I think it is the same there.

Ah, Amsterdam. The one place I truly loved living in. Utrecht is nice, but I
prefer Amsterdam by and large.

> For one thing I think they want to discourage overloading. You ever see
National Lampoons Christmas vacation? Lots of homes in the US have adapters
with LOTS of plugs hanging from them. They are a fire hazard and if people
use them they ought to check the rating in amps for the circuit they are
plugged into.
>
> That's why they do it here anyway.

There's also the issue that the voltage in Europe is 230 volts, instead of
the 110 volts in the US and Canada. A lot more can go wrong with a voltage
more than two times as high.

If you really need a lot of power, there are the 380 volts plugs. They're
big enough to hunt elephants with.

- Peter

--- In AN1x-list@y..., "Peter Korsten" <peterk@i...> wrote:
> It could also be that they
> are illegal in the whole of the EU.

AFAIK they are at least here in Germany, my mom has one of those, but 
that one is ooold. ;)
But what you can find are those small triple-connectors (the ones, 
your big AC-adaptor won´t fit in...<G>) to connect those small Euro-
plugs for let´s say a Braun Razor, Philips Hairdryer and your Colgate 
electric toothbrush....the "normal" big ones, germans call it Schuko -
 Schutzkontakt - plug..nope, they are illegal.

So when i think about it, i have a LOT of wall wart power 
supplys...for the NMM, the AN1x, Xbase, SE50, Audio Buddy, Mixman6, 
only the RS and the DMT8 have built in ps. The only way around this 
are those long switchable plug-in boards, with the connectors turned 
45°.
Even then, why couldn´t put Yamaha a small plug on their FAT ps for 
the AN1x? It always blocks at least half another ps-slot. Same goes 
to Jomox. BOSS did it better, the SE50 ps has a second cable coming 
out of it with a small plug.

Well, i am kinda blabla now, sorry guys.

--Tom

From: "Thomas" <tomfinegan@...>

> But what you can find are those small triple-connectors (the ones,
> your big AC-adaptor won\ufffdt fit in...<G>) to connect those small Euro-
> plugs for let\ufffds say a Braun Razor, Philips Hairdryer and your Colgate
> electric toothbrush....

Ah, those. I've got one with two small ones and one big one. Ideal for your
TV and video.

> Even then, why couldn\ufffdt put Yamaha a small plug on their FAT ps for
> the AN1x? It always blocks at least half another ps-slot. Same goes
> to Jomox. BOSS did it better, the SE50 ps has a second cable coming
> out of it with a small plug.

Well, that's simple: cost. An extra cable is extra cost. With the number of
units that Yamaha ships, it is a lot of money.

- Peter

--- In AN1x-list@y..., "Peter Korsten" <peterk@i...> wrote:
> Well, that's simple: cost. An extra cable is extra cost. With the 
number of
> units that Yamaha ships, it is a lot of money.

Well i wouldn´t had mind to pay 5 Euro more for my AN1x, if the wall 
wart would have had this...This is cost-savings at the wrong end. I 
rather could say goodbye to the german and french manual. Clavia even 
left out the german one for the NMM and added instead (besides the 
big Din A4 manual) the Nord Modular Wizoo Guide (to my surprise).
It seems that big companies like Korg, Yamaha, Roland put 
less "goodies" into the boxes. I wonder what the Qow´s and Microwaves 
and Viruses and Nova´s are coming with. Well i know one feature abou 
the Nova, when you press a button on it, it starts to beep...
A nice feature about the AN1x...you can press the knobs down to get 
the actual parameter the knob is assigned to, plus while pressed down 
you can change the value in +/- steps.

Anything else? I know i know i am kinda blabla again...

Sorry,
--Tom