VOGONS


Reply 160 of 416, by yawetaG

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voodoo5_6k wrote:
blackmasked wrote:

What's your experience with power supplies for Roland SC and Yamaha MU modules? Have you experienced any failures? I recently purchased a genuine Yamaha PA-130 PSU for my MU80 as I no longer trust the 20 year old PSU that came with it, but it's a bit of a struggle to find a decent replacement PSU for a SC-55. Looks like Roland has not released a newer version of ACB-240 and I don't really trust all these third party compatible PSUs available on ebay.

Oh yes, they did release a replacement unit.

The Roland PSB-230 (or PSB-1U if bundled with a Roland device) can replace, among others, any Roland ACB or ACI PSU (the PSUs bundled with e.g. MT-32, CM-32L, SC-55 and many, many other devices). I use these for all my Roland devices (UM-550, CM-32L, SC-55) for several years now. Shouldn't be too hard to find one, it is a current product.

And if you want noise-free sound output, getting an original Roland-branded power supply apparently is the better choice, as cheap no-name Chinese units are known to cause interference issues on synths...

Reply 161 of 416, by Elia1995

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I hope I'll get a Roland SC-55 and/or an MT-32 one day... and the first thing I'll do will certainly be to check the battery, after seeing this thread 😀

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 162 of 416, by bjwil1991

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Elia1995 wrote:

I hope I'll get a Roland SC-55 and/or an MT-32 one day... and the first thing I'll do will certainly be to check the battery, after seeing this thread 😀

The MT-32 doesn't use a battery unless it's the 2nd version (headphone jack), or not at all, I believe. The SC-55 and higher use them to keep the soundbank data (if my memory serves me right).

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Reply 163 of 416, by static-

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Just opened my SC-55mkII (bought 7 years ago for $140) and battery was in perfect shape. I removed it anyway.

PS. holy crap Tyrian sounds amazing on an SC-55. Run the setup.exe to access the Jukebox.

Reply 164 of 416, by Elia1995

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What is that battery for anyway? I think SC-55 and MT-32 use electrical plugs, but not owning either YET, I can't really point my fingers at that, as they could also use batteries, as much as I know...

Currently assembled vintage computers I own: 11

Most important ones:
A "modded" Olivetti M4 434 S (currently broken).
An Epson El Plus 386DX running MS-DOS 6.22 (currently broken).
Celeron Coppermine 1.10GHz on an M754LMRTP motherboard

Reply 166 of 416, by keropi

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No mt-32 revisions use batteries or store settings after power-off , there are mods to add a battery though in order to keep settings and that's the reason SC-55 does have a battery: to keep settings/setup according to the artist's setup/wishes. Unless there is a very specific setup issue a common user like a gamer can remove the battery all together and the unit will startup with the default settings every time, something that is actually desirable for gaming reasons.

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 167 of 416, by fitzpatr

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Well, as expected the SC-88Pro also had a battery. I needed to remove the screws holding the main, upper board before I could access the battery to remove it.

I should add that the battery was showing very early signs of corrosion. No issue now, but as always, it is better to take the precaution.

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MT-32 Old, CM-32L, CM-500, SC-55mkII, SC-88Pro, SC-D70, FB-01, MU2000EX
K6-III+/450/GA-5AX/G400 Max/Voodoo2 SLI/CT1750/MPU-401AT/Audigy 2ZS
486 Build

Reply 168 of 416, by derSammler

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Just had another SB-55 with severe damage due to leaking caps on the interface board. This makes a rate of 100% so far (two checked, two damaged). In both cases, traces were completely gone. Fortunately, it's easy to fix. But still, check your SB-55 if you got one!

Reply 170 of 416, by SpeedySPCFan

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I know this thread is about the SC-55, but this is about another SC so I guess it fits here. How exactly are you supposed to take the battery out of an SC-88 Pro? I feel like I'm gonna snap the plastic off the battery holder every time I pull on the battery and try to pry it out upwards. If I can't get it out then it's not the biggest deal; I couldn't find any signs of corrosion on it (the top, battery holder, and area around the holder were completely clean, and nothing came off the bottom of the battery when I pressed it with a pair of tweezers), but I'd like to replace it just to be safe if I can.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 171 of 416, by fitzpatr

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SpeedySPCFan wrote:

I know this thread is about the SC-55, but this is about another SC so I guess it fits here. How exactly are you supposed to take the battery out of an SC-88 Pro? I feel like I'm gonna snap the plastic off the battery holder every time I pull on the battery and try to pry it out upwards. If I can't get it out then it's not the biggest deal; I couldn't find any signs of corrosion on it (the top, battery holder, and area around the holder were completely clean, and nothing came off the bottom of the battery when I pressed it with a pair of tweezers), but I'd like to replace it just to be safe if I can.

I used two thin blades: one to pry up the front, and the other to push from behind. Be gentle and it will be fine.

MT-32 Old, CM-32L, CM-500, SC-55mkII, SC-88Pro, SC-D70, FB-01, MU2000EX
K6-III+/450/GA-5AX/G400 Max/Voodoo2 SLI/CT1750/MPU-401AT/Audigy 2ZS
486 Build

Reply 172 of 416, by SpeedySPCFan

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I didn't do exactly that but I got it to work, thanks! I propped the battery up with my finger, and then wiggled it back-side to back-side with a super tiny screw driver. Eventually it slid right out, and I was able to replace it with a new battery. The old one was just barely starting to leak, so I'm glad I did that. Ironically though the new battery I put in (which is an Energizer I've had laying around for years) has LESS battery than the old one so I'll have to get a replacement for that tomorrow. It's not all bad though, because I needed to record some footage of me replacing the battery for a review 😀

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 173 of 416, by CrossBow777

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If this was already mentioned I apologize, but do these SC modules use a rechargeable type coin cell battery in them? I have an MT-200 and the battery is a tabbed soldered in type. Was thinking about yanking it out of there and putting a holder in place and a fresh battery, but if they are rechargeable then I would need to make sure I got a rechargeable cell.

Also, there is a date and time clock on the MT-200 that you can see via the "hidden" diag menu. But doesn't appear there is a way to set that as the alpha knob and buttons do nothing on that particular section?

Nothing in the hidden menu is mentioned in either of the two standard MT-200 manuals and I've not seen an actual service manual for one (Which, would probably answer all of my questions.).

g883j7-2.png
Midi Modules: MT-32 (OLD), MT-200, MT-300, MT-90S, MT-90U, SD-20

Reply 174 of 416, by bjwil1991

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The SC modules use the regular lithium batteries (non-rechargeable).

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Reply 175 of 416, by ab0tj

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I opened up mine today and the battery had definitely been leaking. Luckily none of it made it to the board, but it was not a pretty sight anyway. I just removed it.

Reply 176 of 416, by derSammler

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Removed the battery from my SC-88 Pro yesterday. It had signs of leakage, too. No damage, however, as the leakage only sticked on the coin cell itself. The SC-88 Pro works fine without the battery, just as the SC-55, but you lose some features like MIDI IN B or second audio out, which are both off by default and won't stay on with the battery removed.

Reply 177 of 416, by bjwil1991

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The battery was primarily used for musicians, right? Without the battery, that should be OK for PCs (games), if my memory serves me right.

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Reply 179 of 416, by SpeedySPCFan

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bjwil1991 wrote:

The battery was primarily used for musicians, right? Without the battery, that should be OK for PCs (games), if my memory serves me right.

I had my SC-88 Pro without a battery for a few days since I didn't have any replacements on hand. As a musician, it's really nice to have it in since it saves things like the MIDI OUT/MIDI THRU toggle, instrument patches, etc. But for games it saves absolutely nothing of importance and you can keep it removed.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U