philwoodmusic - 25 May 2015 10:06 PM

I miss my old Atari and it’s timing.

Tell me about it. I entrusted my Mega ST to a guy to outfit it with SCSI. That was, like… 15 years ago? Since he recorded a bunch of albums with it, but he is still “working on it”. Every 3 years I get another email, “I’m almost there!”. In the meantime I see the unit on his gear photos online.

philwoodmusic - 25 May 2015 10:06 PM

I’ll repeat my question for you once more! 

Why do you suppose not a single manufacturer is offering what you require

I don’t know, ask them. Maybe they didn’t think of it. Until recently no one thought of selling people a laptop screen for a price of a laptop either, yet look how it panned out. In 2013 alone they bought 200 million. :-)

A tablet isn’t 8 times more powerful than a similar aged laptop if you insist that they are part the same thing.

(touch screen and lack of a physical qwerty keyboard aside.)

Your requirement for a 128 part multi timbral workstation IS 8 times more powerful than it’s predecessor .

That’s the main reason why I wouldn’t ask them, that and the possibility of being ignored, which I’d deserve in all honesty.

philwoodmusic - 25 May 2015 11:21 PM

Your requirement for a 128 part multi timbral workstation IS 8 times more powerful than it’s predecessor.

I’m an equal opportunity upsetter. (Steve Jobs would be proud of me.) Why should only studio cats swear at me for writing parts nearly impossible to play, let’s give Yamaha an impossible task too. :-)

5pinDIN - 25 May 2015 10:32 PM

I’ve also kept some intact older computers because they run software I want and which won’t run on newer platforms…
Recent synths are more and more becoming computers running dedicated firmware. I suspect that they will have shorter lifespans than a TX816.

I just saw your post, wise words. One remark, stockpiled intact computers also tend to come up dead. A Mac G4 I stashed away in perfect order did this here. (Not just a battery problem.) I guess this makes it a G0.

The TX816’s longevity might have happened in spite of Yamaha’s planning. Have you seen the battery socket? :D As if someone expected the TX816 to be used only until that soldered-in battery lasts :-)

mrdelurk - 27 May 2015 09:42 AM

5pinDIN - 25 May 2015 10:32 PM

I’ve also kept some intact older computers because they run software I want and which won’t run on newer platforms…
Recent synths are more and more becoming computers running dedicated firmware. I suspect that they will have shorter lifespans than a TX816.

I just saw your post, wise words. One remark, stockpiled intact computers also tend to come up dead. A Mac G4 I stashed away in perfect order did this here. (Not just a battery problem.) I guess this makes it a G0.

It’s unfortunate that the G4 has become ”Garbage Out”. Most computers die due to failure of electrolytic capacitors, and I’m able to replace them. There was a particular problem several years ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

 

mrdelurk -

The TX816’s longevity might have happened in spite of Yamaha’s planning. Have you seen the battery socket? :D As if someone expected the TX816 to be used only until that soldered-in battery lasts :-)

http://www.nattvard.com/cmi/?p=518

I’ve replaced soldered-in CR2032 coin cells. Older dead computer mother boards make good donors for the sockets.  :-)

5pinDIN - 27 May 2015 10:06 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

I’m familiar with the bad caps story, but I reread some of the linked articles to see if anything changed. The biggest revelation this time is that capacitors, even when good, are rated only 4000 hours? So the manufacturer of that fancy-schmancy new motherboard predicts it to be dead after a year of 10 hr/day use? And one thought HDs are iffy with their 3 to 5 years predicted life.

They should build synths with a marimba housing. This way once the electronics fail one can play on with a pair of sticks.

With 8 times the number of MIDI channels, I assume that the polyphony would follow or it would be rather pointless.

mrdelurk - 27 May 2015 11:22 AM

5pinDIN - 27 May 2015 10:06 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

I’m familiar with the bad caps story, but I reread some of the linked articles to see if anything changed. The biggest revelation this time is that capacitors, even when good, are rated only 4000 hours? [...]

Things are not nearly as bad as it might seem. Average hourly life is typically based on the cap being pushed to maximum ratings. Elevated temperature in particular tends to shorten electrolytic cap life. Most electrolytics are rated for either 85 or 105 degrees C. Just keeping things cooler than those temperatures will substantially lengthen lifespan. Every 10 degree C reduction doubles the life:
http://www.rubycon.co.jp/en/products/alumi/pdf/Life.pdf

That means a “4,000 hour” 105C rated cap will have an expected life of 64,000 hours if run at 65C. That assumes, of course, that we’re not talking about caps with improper electrolyte formulation.

Good engineering practice provides for proper ventilation, and doesn’t mount electrolytic caps right next to other components that are significant producers of heat.

Apologies to those who thought Motifator was only about making music.  :-)

Hi friends,

1. I just got my iMac some weeks ago and now the Logix-ProX also.
After loading the Instruments and first listen to it I was very astound about that tone quality.
Then I recorded my first Song_Arrangement with Software-Instruments only -and the result soundet “flat”, “liveless"…
I did the same with my XF in addition with my old Korg Trinity-Expander and an Ferrofish B4000 organ-expander -and “WOW”, just another world of tonal quality!

2. who needs more than 16 INSTRUMENTS in one song? If you do not arrange music for bigband or great orchestra less always will be more as I mentioned over the years of recording music!

Best wishes

- SAMM -

SAMM - 29 May 2015 11:08 AM

less always will be more

Proof of concept

5pinDIN - 27 May 2015 10:06 AM

I’ve replaced soldered-in CR2032 coin cells. Older dead computer mother boards make good donors for the sockets.  :-)

Eureka. This is a valuable contribution to the thread.
Thanks.

stoneb3 - 29 May 2015 03:55 PM

5pinDIN - 27 May 2015 10:06 AM

I’ve replaced soldered-in CR2032 coin cells. Older dead computer mother boards make good donors for the sockets.  :-)

Eureka. This is a valuable contribution to the thread.
Thanks.

You’re welcome - glad to spread the information.

Fortunately for owners of recent Motif models, the need for a backup battery has been eliminated due to use of flash memory. Those requiring cells like the CR2032 are older models having SRAM (Static Random Access Memory).

psychobabble - 31 May 2015 12:58 AM

1024 note polyphony lol

Just for grins and giggles, I fired up an instance of Ableton Live, threw my go-to softsampler on a lonely track, loaded a piano patch and started arpeggiating harmonies with a rhythmically changing pedal like a mofo (as I’m known to do). The polyphony display went 18...32...56...80...132… once it reached 256, it just stopped counting. (I did this twice.) So a couple of hundred voices of polyphony here or there… :-)