Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Leave us not forget the ESQ-1. I've seen prices like 39.95 from
    a company called Heaven, and I believe Valhalla sells one for 49.95.
    Both these prices are ourtageous for the electronics involved. How
    hard can it be to make one of these things??
    
    Resorting to making my own ESQ-1 schematics,
    dp

RE: .0

    One third party mfg'r that I can recommend for Roland stuff is
    SYMPHONY.  They make a lookalike for the MC-64 that is 4 times the size
    of the 64, yet is only about 30% more expensive.  I had one for a year
    (then sold it, since I sold my 707).  Never had the first bit of
    trouble with it. 

    Not to keep plugging, but PROFound sells them.  Give Shane a call
    at 1-800-63-SOUND.

8-)

Hi Jim -

I was thinking of buying the programming charts @ $25.00 for 64 "original" D50
patches as shown in the want ads of Keyboard. This would be a way to learn how
to use the PG1000 and D50 front panel controls, wade thru menus, etc. and
could inspire us to develop our own patches as we discover how to navigate
the maze of menus and buttons. If you are interested, perhaps we could split
the cost of some charts and get together to try learning how to access and
modify all of those parameters. There is one D50 patch and DX7 patch in the
March Keyboard mag, did you see it?

dave

    I have 2 "voice crystal" 80 voice rams for my esq-m. I have had
    them for half a year now with no problems. The only wierd thing
    is that they require a lot of exertion to remove them from the 
    rack. 

RE: .4

    Did you get the "VC" patches with the RAMs?  If so, how did you like
    them?  I've heard from several sources that they are supposed to be
    pretty decent. 

brad

    re 5.
    	Nope, i got them blank for $35 each.
    	I heard some of the valhalla patches though at the store
    	wow! some of them were dx7 type hard fm bass and percussion
        the now have a 160 voice ROM for under $60 with all there
    	patches.

    Just bought some Voice Crystal RAMs half-filled with patches, for
    the D-50.  I chose to use about a dozen of the patches, alot of
    which were good - a few excellent, a few lousy (in my opinion).
     On thing about VC carts, though, is that they have a BATTERY in
    them, that you are told to replace once every 5 years.
    
    I'll report any reliability problems (if any surface) here ...
    
    -Jim

How about if Commusic D-50 owners get-together once a month to learn/share
D-50 patches and information?  I'm new to synthesis and could learn a thing
or two.  How about it?  Sounds like we have 5 or more D-50 owners here...
Any takers?

I'd pitch in to share patches from Keyboard/Roland.

I wasn't impressed by the Voice Crystals ad.  For over $100 they give you
a RAM with the potential for 64 voices and fill it with only 32!

I am interested in the Vahalla ROM/RAMs.  The prices are good, $70 for a
blank RAM add $15 for 64 patches, w/quantity discounts.  Do they use Roland
cards or cards from another manufacturer?  They also have a service where you
send in a RAM and for $35 they will copy it to a ROM(I don't remember if the
ROM is included in the price).

Dan
223-5257

    I just got the 320 voice Valhalla ESQ rom.  It's going for $99.95.

    I was looking for strings and brass.  The brass patches (in my humble
    opinion) range from irritating/useless to barely mediocre.  The string
    patches aren't much better, with the exception of ENSMBL3, which, when
    you lower the cutoff frequency by about 10-20, sounds excellent.  If
    you are in the market for these types of ESQ sounds, you might want to
    try another vendor first. 

    I'm still lacking a fat-analog-brass patch for my ESQ.  I've been
    working on one of my own but its still not that great.  Any input to
    aid me in my search for a good patch would be greatly appreciated. 

    Back to the ESQ rom - they have quite a range of types of patches -
    percussion, bass, electric piano, acoustic piano, choir, bells,
    moog/carlos/tomita sounds. 

    Most of the pianos and basses are pretty good.  The synth sounds are
    interesting, but a little bizarre for your average wedding. 

    My overall impression was that they concentrated too much on patches
    that sound real neat when you just press a key and listen, but which
    you could not play any real music with.  I think I've heard this
    complaint before about the factory and vendor patches of many synths. 

    grs 

    The only third-party ESQ patches I've heard uniform praise about
    is the Voice Crystal patches.
    
    I'm planning to order them, but I never seem to get around to it.
    
    They advertise regularly in the classifieds of Keyboard magazine.
    
    	db

    
    re: Voice Crystals for ESQ
    
      Yet another uniform praise for Voice Crystals. I have #2 (the
    red one) and it's got a lot of good patches in it. I don't know
    about #3, I haven't heard it yet, but #1 is good too.
    

    
    Is anyone familiar with a New York company called Patch/Works? In
    Keyboard Magazine, they're avertising a $44.95, 64-voice RAM cartridge
    for the CZ series.  
    
    I like the idea of getting the sounds in a cartridge as opposed to the
    data sheets, but before I phone in my order, I thought I'd see if
    anyone else in the conference has heard anything about this company. 
        
    They advertise RAM cartridges for the D-50, ESQ-1, D-110, M1,
    and Poly-800.  
   
    Thanks,
   
    Peter

    I have one for my CZ-101 & it works great. It's just hard to remember
    what's stored in the various locations. To simplify the matter I took
    some spare stick-on VCR Labels & I wrote down what was in locations
    1A/2A/1B/2B & put it over the area where the large word CASIO is
    printed on the CZ-101's case. These are great since they are also easy
    to remove at a later time when you find better or more useful patches.

    Even tho it's suggested that you remove the one for the CZ when you are
    not using it, I've left mine plugged in. As long as my CZ's batteries
    are able to keep the power up, it shouldn't effect the 64 patch battery
    backup. Mines been up & running for about 1 year. They offered it with
    a bunch of additional patches in it. I didn't get the additional ones
    (it came with 16 in it, that were, how would you say it, less than
    useful for my needs).

    I should key in some of my more popular patches for the CZ (I love them
    special effects). It's a pain to enter them, but, once stored I never
    seem to need to change them.

						    Jens

    
    This is a follow-up on my previous note asking about Patch/Works
    of New York.  I was asking if anyone has experience with this company
    or with their RAM cartridges.
    
    I did order and receive my 64-voice RAM cartridge for my CZ-1000
    and I'm really happy with it.  I had a problem with it when
    it first arrived--I couldn't access one of the four sound banks.
    I sent it back and I received a new one within a week.  Included
    in the package was a hand-written apology for the bad cartridge.
    
    I'm impressed with the sounds.  They've given some new life to my
    CZ for only $44.95.
    
    Peter