MOTM

Paul,

 

Is there any chance the new '650 firmware will play nice with the MidiBoard?
Or is this too small a nit to get my hopes up? I'm thinking that maybe along
with everything else, we get lucky and this combo starts to work. I'd really
like to pair up the MOTM with that board and see what I could do with poly
after-touch.

 

-Greg

 

  _____  

From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Schreiber
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 10:51 PM
To: MOTM List
Subject: [motm] MOTM-650 info

 






Since I'm starting to ship out MOTM-650s, it's improtant to understand the
issues with V1.3 FW and documentaion (or lack thereof):

 

a) I will send the info I have. There info is based on the Europa mod for
the Jupiter 4:

 

http://www.synthcom.com/Europa/europaFaq.html

 

and you will see references to "push this button...." but for the '650, it's
a distinct menu item

 

b) there are 3 know "issues" with the firmware (and some minor ones)

 

1) you can't "flood" MIDI data to the '650, meaning blasting running
status/16channels of 64 notes each/etc. Also, it *hates* the Kurzweil
MidiBoard (why, I could never figure it out). Try to 'pre-filter' MIDI data
if possible. It's not that difficult to do.

 

2) Even though there menu "says so", you *cannot* assign AUX outputs to CC
messages unless they are the 'named' ones (like Breath Controller or Pitch
Wheel). If you want to use the AUX outputs with your sequencing program,
just pick a named CC and it will work fine. Just because it's NAMED Mod
Wheel doesn't mean you have to use it as such. It's just a *name*, not a
*function* to the '650. You control where the patch cord goes :)

 

3) trying to drive the arpeggiators with external clock can be erratic. Some
people claim no problem, other say it locks up. MIDI clock and internal
clock work great. The dual arpeggiators are VERY WELL DONE in the code as
are the complicated poly voicing allocation algorithms. 

 

Don't forget (and this is not mentioned in the docs) there are 15 tuning
tables pre-loaded for micotuning fun, and you can dump tuning tables to it.

 

The SW is not perfect, but it's a poor 8051 8-bit controller with 768 bytes
of RAM running at 1MHz rate. It's doing the best it can :)

 

The basic MIDI-CV functions work perfectly and this ***IS** the most
accurate and stable MIDI-CV ever made (tru 16-bit accuracy, <5ppm drift).

 

I know someone had a really nice menu flowchart for the '650. If someone has
that, please put it up and send me a copy. It was on my crashed HD :(

 

Paul S.