Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

I've finally got Proteum connecting reliably and here's what I learned, or
at least my impressions.  I'm not an expert so please correct as
appropriate.  I'm writing this to offer a resource to a future me who comes
looking for this information.

 

1) The USB connection on the back of the CS works for ELoader every time but
I never got it to work for Prodatum or Proteum.  At the moment, I don't
personally have a need to back up my patterns yet so ELoader working is
moot.

 

2) The CS is managed via MIDI SYSEX which can have a lot of data in each
message.  This is compared to MIDI notes or CC which are very short
messages.  

 

3) USB 2.0 will send this data faster than the CS can respond.  Trouble
ensues.  USB ports on some computers can be forced to run at 1.0 speeds
rather than 2.0 or 3.0 so that the rate the data is sent does not overwhelm
the CS.  You set this in the BIOS of your computer if your BIOS supports it.
If it doesn't, you can try to put a 1.0 USB hub in line but then you're
adding other things that could be the problem in an already fragile chain.
You could buy an old USB 1.1 card and install that maybe.

 

4) Low-cost USB-MIDI interfaces often don't support SYSEX.  That is to say,
the data comes in fast and there isn't enough buffer in the low-cost adapter
to hold onto the overflow information while the CS is digesting it.  I
picked up and returned a HOSA adapter/cable which was around $50 that didn't
work.  Edirol\Roland has one that supposedly works better, EMU actually has
several and there are others.  I tested none of these.

 

6) In the end I used an Access Virus synth as a MIDI bridge, if it wasn't a
synth too, it would be about as much money as you could spend on a MIDI
bridge.  The combination of the USB 1.0 downspeed, setting the SYSEX ID on
the Virus to a different number than that of the CS and resetting my CS to
factory to undo all of my troubleshooting steps was what got it working in
the end.      

 

HTH,

Scott