Question: Alesis QS7.1 and MIDI SysEx transfers

[HomeRec]

While flipping through the great tome known to many as the User Manual for my newly-purchased QS7.1, I discovered a section on SysEx dumps of programs and banks via either a MIDI connection or the serial port on the back of the QS7.1.

Doing a little digging, I found out about and downloaded a free program from Alesis's site called Freeloader, which is apparently designed to provide a way to receive and send SysEx data from a computer's hard drive.

My question is, assuming you use Freeloader to dump a bank from your synthesizer to hard disk, can you later send it back to the synth? There are instructions in the User Manual for transmitting from, but not loading into, the synthesizer. If so, how is it done?

The main reason I am interested in doing this is that, once I start editing/creating Programs, I may eventually want to re-load the original user bank to get at some of the sounds that I may have deleted (I actually downloaded the factory user bank from Alesis' site). Also, this method of storage is far less expensive than using SRAM cards.

 

[TimOBrien]

Yes you can. Just "play" it in Freeloader and it goes back into the synth. It's a great way to bounce stuff to and from your synth to the PC.

Some sequencers will also allow you to dump the data to your synth to load custom patches for each song (I believe that most people do this at the beginning of the song because it can take a few seconds and you won't want to try to do it in the middle of a song.)

 

[dragonworks]

H.R. I cant answer your question and it seems you have allready received that. I have a QS8 and am wondering what midi software computer system you are using etc.?

 

[HomeRec]

I should have posted this earlier, but I figured I'd just let this thread fade into the distance, as I did not anticipate any response after the first week or so.

Tim

I actually ended up re-transferring the original user bank to my QS7.1 after accidentally overwriting a patch a week or two ago. There isn't any site I've been able to find that tells you that the QS7.1 will automatically receive the data, but I read between the lines, and it worked. Thanks for the help, though. I was surprised to see a response at all!

dragonworks

I'm using the Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96 card/box combo with a PII 333MHz generic PC. The software is a full version of Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 that came with the Aardvark.

 

[dragonworks]

I tried setting up my QS8 to go into my joystick port etc and finally gave up and went back to my old mac. Just plug in the serial connector and open up my 99.00 opcode software and she flies. I have to try going into the pc again though because anything I do that isnt midi that I want to computer edit I do on the pc. The mac is a pre powerbook?mac and my pc is 650mhz 386 ram etc, I probably would be rather be working on the PC? in midi.

 

[HomeRec]

I tried setting up my QS8 to go into my joystick port etc and finally gave up and went back to my old mac.

Joystick port MIDI? Ouch!

Just plug in the serial connector and open up my 99.00 opcode software and she flies. I have to try going into the pc again though because anything I do that isnt midi that I want to computer edit I do on the pc. The mac is a pre powerbook?mac and my pc is 650mhz 386 ram etc, I probably would be rather be working on the PC? in midi.

If your audio editing programs are on PC, then yes, you'll probably want to have a go at setting up the PC again, especially given the age and performance differences between the PC and the Mac. A few things you could try:

1. Make sure that (a) the joystick port is the game (joystick) port on your sound card, and (b) it supports MIDI transfers

2. Make sure the sound card you have in your PC has the most up-to-date drivers installed, and the MIDI program on your PC is set up to run MIDI through the game port.

3. Assuming the QS8 supports it, hook up your QS8 to the PC's serial port instead. I know the QS8.1 supports this, but I'm not sure about the QS8. Assuming it does, you will have to find a special cable. You will need a MINIDIN 8-pin male on one end (keyboard), and a DB 9-pin female cable on the other (PC serial). If you can't find the exact cable, you can probably find adapters to get you to where you need to be.

4. Assuming you can't get the joystick port to work, and you can't hook up the keyboard to the PC's serial port, you might consider upgrading your sound card to a model that supports MIDI. In my case, I have a generic card with a game port installed in my PC, but I hook up my QS7.1 to the Aardvark Direct Pro 24/96 since it has dedicated MIDI input and output jacks.

I haven't tried hooking up MIDI through a game port myself, so there may be other issues I don't know about. However, if you try all of the above, you should probably have a fairly good idea where you stand.

Good luck.