Emax

----- Original Message -----

From: Ted Summers

To: emax@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 4:47 PM

Subject: Re: Re: [emax] RE: What about an IPCAS USB to replace the floppy drives in our units?

That IPCAS also looks like it needs to be configured on a PC.....then you better know how you are configuring what the options mean / change for the drive...

when I had PCD-50b's for sale I preconfigured them and tested them in an Emax before selling them.

When doing OLED for the group, I prepped them as well.

It seems like this whole floppy USB drive thing gets rehashed 1 - 2 times a year, and it gets aggravating due to people asking the same questions that are already asked time and again. - no search of message archives to see if the questions are answered already.

I haven't seen a way to make a FAQ for the group, but may make a FAQ file(s) in the files section so the same questions don't have to get asked.

Suffice to say- if Jammie or I hear about a new product we will try and test / qualify it and let the group know where it becomes available / known working for Emax.... assuming the cost is reasonable to get a unit in the first place.

We've seen quite a few people spend $$$$$ and then complain complain complain because they bought something that didn't work... against our recommendations not to buy....

anyways- that's my 2 cents.

-Ted

On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 9:38 AM, Ted Summers <djtbs1@...> wrote:

I said already yesterday- V3 would PROBABLY work.
It has the ability to set DS0, per the documentation.

But at $328 + shipping, I don't understand why you would go that way if you have an internal SCSI flash media drive....

On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Windrum Scoggin <windrumscoggin@...> wrote:

Can any of you answer the questions this fellow here at IPCAS has about our machines?

(see below)

If so he might be able to refer us to a USB floppy emulator that just might work.

Hell, I'd love having a USB drive to boot my Emax off of...

then just take the jump drive out and format it in EMXP..so cool

Dear Mr. Scoggin,

Thank you very much for your inquiry and your interest in our product.

This type we have not in our reverence list. Without any information you can only buy and test.
To estimate which floppy emulator version you need answer my questions as much as you can, please!

-Can you tell me which machine do you use?
EMU Emulator sampler
-Can you reed a floppy disk with your windows or DOS PC? (not quite sure what he means by this question-greg_

-Do your machine use 720kb or 1.44mb floppys?

-And which type/model of floppy disk do you have?

-Have it jumper?

-Is the busy LED always shining?

If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to contact me via email.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Best regards
--------------------------------------------------------
Harald Kreidl, Production Manager
Data Respons GmbH
Gundstraße 15
91056 Erlangen, Germany

Tel: +49 9131 7677-100 Fax: +49 9131 7677-78
Dir: +49 9131 7677-138

hkl@... www.datarespons.de

On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 8:28 AM, jammie <jammie.emma@...> wrote:

if you want to do it like that then you need a meatal playe with a hole and a male 34pin connector which is panel mount

and then just have a hxc in a external 3.5" case with psu and the same again a male panel mount 34 pin connector

ill have a look into it to see how much a 3.5" metal housing will cost on a small volume production with a slot for the panel mount 34 pin connector and a 5.25" cdrom case with the same connector

the only problem you need to overcome is the no floppy attached problems with some synths and you will have to add a jumper on the 34 pin connector on the e4ultra its pin 33-34

dont know what it is on the emax but you will need to find out for every machine you have

but that would be about a £160-180 layout for a multi machine drive

thats doable but need to find out each signal for floppy attach signals otherwise you will get the no disk or even in the case of emax or e4 wont boot properly

----- Original Message -----

From: sweetsynthchuck@...

To: emax@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:33 PM

Subject: RE: Re: [emax] RE: What about an IPCAS USB to replace the floppy drives in our units?

I defiantly would be interested in the lower cost alternative if you can get it to work.

they already sell a cased HXC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181241049716

But no means to interface with it which is what is missing, they already have a way to metal work as they sell a 3 1/2 inch metal cased version to slot into a floppy drive slot

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171152107721

To keep things cheap forget about relays etc just plug and play when you need it,

All im suggesting is a floppy cable to say a metal housed connector, you can also have a power extension cable to power the device.

similar to what this user made by himself

http://eiiiforum.com/index.php?topic=1575.0

It makes perfect sense but im yet to see the hxc people offer this type of solution which quite frankly im disappointed as i would pay for 1 unit if i can achieve the above but i cannot justify buying several.

---In emax@yahoogroups.com, <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

yes that could be done but not a simple as you say first you would need the interface metal drives to fit a floppy hole a cable from that to the internal 34pin and an connector on the outside of the case a connector that can have a cable attached

then you would need a cable now its ok saying it should only cost £10 yes if mass produced and again you need a big customer base for it

making one off cables is not cheap i know as i make them for customers all the time

then you would need an external case that housed the floppy emulator and some type of rotary switch to switch between machines or relaY BASED

so it would be a very expensive switching device so that you could choose which cable the hxc send to

plus it would be a night mare with interface cables flying every where on the front of the synths

with a item per instrument it makes it easy just like having a floppy drive per instrument

there are cheaper alternatives but need to be tested

i will let every one know as i have new drives for testing with 999 banks on a usb thumb drive

and i can get them for £16+ postage each but have todo mods to them to make them work as 720k drives so there might be a solution if i manage to get them to work

i can get them to work in a sy85/99/t1/k5000/sd1 and will be doing tests on other machines but it all depends if i get it working if once i do i can get esynthesis to write to the floppy images on t he usb drive other wise it would be pointless as you wont be able to get files onto it with out loading them first or sampling into the emax

as unlike the hxc which can use emax images these devices just make fat12 images and then you save and read and write to them

----- Original Message -----

From: sweetsynthchuck@...

To: emax@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:01 AM

Subject: [emax] RE: What about an IPCAS USB to replace the floppy drives in our units?

I can agree to some extent but the price matters and being able to use with multiple machines is important i cant justify buying 3 separate units for my machines let alone 20.

for example why do they have a cased version of it but no add on attachment sold separately to allow you to interface with several machines that use floppy drives?

All it would take is a floppy cable extension where your original cable will plug into then some form of connecter in a 3 1/2 " case that can screw into where the floppy drive is already.

then a cable from the front of the machines face to a port on the floppy emulator, should not cost even 10 quid and it would allow users to use 1 floppy emulator with several machines.

but i think they stand to gain alot more selling multiple units instead of being consumer friendly, which frankly is a shame.

---In emax@yahoogroups.com, <windrumscoggin@...> wrote:

I agree with Jammie

If you want to keep it it's worth the maintenance costs

Just like a classic casts 'intangible value' far exceeds its actual blue book value the sound oft Emax is like nothing else in the world .

It's sound is unique and DM used it to define theirs. No we may not all get rich like they did off our EMU's but they were a shining example if this machines potential and the beauty and professionalism of its sound

It's like trying to put a price on keeping a 63 Jaguar or Porsce running...if you LOVE its intangible value enough no price can be put on it-to you its 'priceless' and to mey Emax is priceless so to keep it running 200 -250 bucks in upgrade costs on an originally 5000 machine is chump change

On Tuesday, October 29, 2013, jammie wrote:

its cheaper than replacing with a new floppy drive which are almost just as expensive

and tyes 20 of them is as expensive as a second hand car but matenance alone on a car is just as expensive as buying the damn thing

and insurance nealerly as dear as the car costs now days

and it all depends on how much you like your gear and how long yopur planning on using it

thats why if i have scsi on my machines i use cf hotswap card drives

and why i always fit a slimfloppy cf card combo drive system to emaxes as it brings them to the 21st century and gives many more years use

----- Original Message -----

From: sweetsynthchuck@...

To: emax@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 8:54 PM

Subject: RE: Re: [emax] What about an IPCAS USB to replace the floppy drives in our units?

i would not call 100 quid cheap, for a solution to only 1 unit,

you have 20+ samplers replacing all 20 with a hxc will cost you the same price as a second hand car.

---In emax@yahoogroups.com, <emax@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

it depends on which breaks down first the emax or the pcd

the slim floppy are ok cheap and floppy disks are still being made

but if you want a good working known floppy emulator then the hxc is the cheapest to get thats garanteed to work

----- Original Message -----

From: Windrumscoggin

To: emax@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 8:38 PM

Subject: Re: [emax] What about an IPCAS USB to replace the floppy drives in our units?

Silly Now that I have a PCD yes..but it's not guaranteed to work forever and there may come a day when we all need to replace it with something that does work for the long haul so better to experiment now and be prepared for the inevitable (PCD's NLA)

On Oct 29, 2013, at 13:29, "jammie" <jammie.emma@...> wrote: