Introduction: The Novation Supernova II can be a tempermental beast at the best of times.Units may not not boot properly, have system lock-ups, and show general random behaviour.Some of these issues can be caused by the internal power loom. The power loom has 6 wires that connect the Power Supply to the Motherboard PCB. At …
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Author:sector101
Novation Supernova II Wheel & Aftertouch Calibration
Introduction: The Novation Supernova II has a hidden menu where the Pitch Bend, Modulation Wheel, and Aftertouch response can be re-calibrated. If the wheels have been replaced due to damage or wear-and-tear they may have a different electrical range than the originals. This may cause them to not generate the full range of MIDI values, …
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Roland JV-2080 Battery Replacement
Introduction: The Roland JV-2080 uses a CR2032 Coin Cell battery to keep all the User Presets and Custom Settings stored in memory. Eventually the original battery installed at the factory will run down. When this happens the JV-2080 will display a “Low Battery” message. It may also display “User Memory Damaged“ Thankfully the battery installed …
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Behringer TD-3 Teardown
Introduction: The Behringer TD-3 is a low cost clone of the Roland TB-303. Additionally it has MIDI ports, a built-in distortion effect, extra control signal jacks, and USB connection. The PCB layout is mostly surface-mounted components so the unit is quite light. A modern ARM processor handles all the housekeeping and can accept firmware updates …
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Novation Supernova II Review from SOS December 2000
Introduction: “A New Star in the Synth World” This article contains magazine scans of the review of the Novation Supernova II published in the December 2000 edition of Sound On Sound magazine. At the end of this article is the advert for the Supernova II from the same magazine. Start – Page 1: Page 2: …
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Yamaha SY85 PKS Experiment & Keyboard Velocity Mod #2
Introduction: Earlier in the year I posted an article about a modification for the SY85 that allows the player to get higher velocity values from the keybed. For reference that article is here:https://blog.sector101.co.uk/2019/06/30/yamaha-sy85-keyboard-velocity-modification Recently I gave the floppy drive a service to keep it in check. Surprisingly the drive is still functioning perfectly on the …
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TG500 Sample Tutorial for SYEMB06 Expansion
Introduction: THIS TUTORIAL EXPLAINS HOW TO:1. Install the Non-Volatile SYEMB06 modules into the Yamaha TG5002. Send the Samples to the TG500 using MIDI Sample Dump3. Setup the Samples in a Waveform for use in a Voice. Thoughtful Clips has made a YouTube video based on this tutorial.You can view that video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiC1H3egu7o TG500 64 …
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SY85 Sample Tutorial for SYEMB06 Expansion
Introduction: THIS TUTORIAL EXPLAINS HOW TO: 1. Install the Non-Volatile SYEMB06 modules into the Yamaha SY85. 2. Load samples into the SY85 from the Floppy Disk, or using MIDI Sample Dump 3. Setup the Samples in a Waveform for use in a Voice. Before starting the Tutorial please have a blank formatted 720KB floppy disk …
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Yamaha SY85 Battery Replacement Guide
Introduction: The Yamaha SY85 has an internal 3 Volt Lithium battery that keeps all the synthesizer settings, patches, performances and sequence memory intact when the unit is powered off. It also supplies standby power to any SYEMB06 memory modules you may have installed. If the battery voltage is low you could lose all your internal …
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Amiga 500 2MB Handwired FastRAM Expansion
Introduction: Having owned an Amiga 500 for a few months I was getting quite familiar with the hardware side of it. I had recently refurbished a Zydec Superboard 1.5MB expansion board, recapped the motherboard, and added a further 512KB of ChipRAM to the unpopulated motherboard sockets. I had considered creating some type of FastRAM expansion …
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Amiga 500 Zydec Superboard 1.5MB Refurbishment
Introduction: A few years ago I was lucky to snag an Amiga A500 Rev 6a on Gumtree. As the floppy drive was not working the seller bundled in a load of original games, an external drive, and a couple of Zipstiks – all for the price of £30. I was confident I could get the …
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ESD Packaging Guide for PCBs
Introduction: When handling and packaging PCB assemblies there is an invisible threat called ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD). ESD occurs when a static charge has built up in a material or a person and that charge is released on to another object. Normally this is not a concern – if the charge is large enough you may …
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Yamaha SY Series Aftertouch Adjustment
Introduction: Several of the Yamaha SY series are fitted with keyboards with Aftertouch capability. Aftertouch allows additional sound control by using finger pressure on the keyboard after the key(s) have been struck and held down. This pressure is translated into a ‘controller’ value that can be used to adjust Pitch / Modulation / Expression etc. …
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Yamaha SY85 Keyboard Velocity Modification
Introduction: The Yamaha SY85 is fitted with a good quality semi-weighted keybed with aftertouch capability. This makes it ideal for use as a master keyboard in the studio. The only flaw is that the note velocity range is somewhat limited. The velocity range of the keyboard never reaches the full 127 velocity value no matter …
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Yamaha FL512M to FL1024M Upgrade
Recently I picked up a Yamaha FL512M Flash Expansion board from an eBay sale. I bought this card primarily to upgrade it to 1GB using the 4x JS28F00A Flash ICs leftover from the Mutec FMC-05 Upgrade Project. Unlike the Mutec board this product is a double-sided design:FL512M Version: 512MB capacity with one side populated.FL1024M Version: …
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Mutec FMC-05 upgrade to FMC-07
Last year I took the plunge and bought myself a Yamaha MOXF-6. As with the Motif XF series (and later Tyros models) this synth could be upgraded with a Flash Expansion Board to allow the storage of new waveforms. Having a look around for flash board prices I discovered that Mutec do a similar board …
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Faulty Yamaha MCD-64 RAM Card
Back when I was offering the original MCD Sweet16 modification there were several MCD card owners who were having problems with their pre-modded MCD cards. As I was going to be “in there” anyway I would repair whatever the damage was whilst doing the Sweet16 modification. The owner would describe the behaviour as “just not …
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Agilent 54621A Easter Egg
Whilst Googling for the latest firmware for the Agilent 54621A I came across this YouTube video showing an Asteroids type video game embedded in the OS. Although the video shows the HP Agilent 54622D this game appears to be in hidden in the Agilent 54621A as well. Accessing the game is simple – you go …
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Inside the Yamaha MOXF-6
Shortly after I took possession of the MOXF-6 I succumb to the urge to take a look inside. It was an easy job to disassemble the casing unlike the older SY series where the casings are littered with screws of different sizes. I found the build quality of the MOXF-6 just wasn’t up to the …
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