Rhodes Chroma Polaris

hello fellow synth gurus. i was wondering (since i do not have the cassette interface) if i
can load the programs from my computer into the polaris, like playing the .wav files from
quicktime through a 1/4" mono cable into the polaris. and if it is possible, what buttons
do i have to press? thanks for your help.

marco

> ... i was wondering (since i do not have the cassette
> interface) if i can load the programs from my computer
> into the polaris, like playing the .wav files from
> quicktime through a 1/4" mono cable into the polaris.
> and if it is possible, what buttons
> do i have to press? thanks for your help.

Marco - you can indeed do this.

The general procedure is covered in "Chapter 9/The Casette Interface" of the
Polaris User's Manual
(http://www.rhodeschroma.com/content/polaris/ownersmanual.pdf).

In summary:

First, have the computer set up to output the .wav file to the 1/4" cable.

Insert the 1/4" cable into the "SYNC IN" jack on the back of the Polaris.

On the Polaris, select "UPPER FUNCTION", "LOAD ALL".

Start the playback of the .WAV file.

- If nothing happens, you may need to adjust the signal level that the
Polaris expects to see from the audio input. This can be done with LOWER
FUNCTION, CASSETTE - select 3. LED 3 OFF means the INPUT circuit on the
polaris expect an audio source (like you'd get from the earphone jack
connection of a cassette recorder). LED 3 ON means the INPUT circuit on the
Polaris is closer to TTL logic levels. You may also have to adjust the
level which the soundcard is outputting the .WAV file.

- As the program loads, you should see the LEDs advancing, showing each
bank/program being loaded. (A1, A2, A3, A4... J10, J11, J12, etc.) If you
only see a couple of these, or if the load aborts, you'll want to try
adjusting the audio level until the polaris can load the full bank without
errors.

If all loads correctly, then the UPPER FUNCTION LED should extinguish, the
system will go to patch A1 and all the patches are loaded.

The factory sequences
(http://www.rhodeschroma.com/content/polarispatches/polseq_1.wav) can be
loaded in exactly the same way (the "LOAD ALL" function is intelligent
enough to recognize the type of data being loaded, and only load what is
appropriate).

thanks dave it worked! few problems though. i dont know if this is common occurance
with these patches (both of them), at G2 it stops and freezes my polaris and after D7 there
are no more programs. i think my polaris has problems with this because when I got it it
didnt come with banks E-K. some of the sequences dont seem to load. when i press lower
funciton F(select seq) only 1,2,3 and 10,11,12 light up. when i press one of them and hit
play, no sound comes out. patch B9 on Prog2 is awesome btw . thanks again!

Best regards,
Marco

> thanks dave it worked! few problems though. i dont know
> if this is common occurance with these patches (both of
> them), at G2 it stops and freezes my polaris and after D7 there
> are no more programs. i think my polaris has
> problems with this because when I got it it didnt come
> with banks E-K.

The cassette interface can be a little particular - so it is somewhat common
to run into loading difficulties - but those are normally due to the signal
level into the Polaris.

If the same behaviour is consistently seen (i.e., the problems always seem
to occur at the same locations, even with variations in the signal level),
then that would tend to indicate that there could be a problem with the
keyboard (perhaps one or more of the RAM chips has failed/is poorly seated)
:-<

> some of the sequences dont seem to load. when i press lower
> funciton F(select seq) only 1,2,3 and 10,11,12 light up.
> when i press one of them and hit
> play, no sound comes out. patch B9 on Prog2 is
> awesome btw . thanks again!

There are only 6 sequences in the factory set - so it is expected that not
all the LEDs will light up - but the 6 sequences expected are 7,8,9,10,11
and 12.

In terms of the sequences on not making a sound - that is possible if they
made use of the upper patches (since you note everyting above D7 is blank).

Glad to hear that your keyboard is at least able to make some sounds for you
now.