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Yamaha MU2000EX

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Reply 80 of 134, by doaks80

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SpeedySPCFan wrote:

That's why I linked the service manual, it has a detailed guide on how to disassemble the shell. Hopefully it works.
hopefully

Thanks I'll that a look. It's in English which is nice...unlike the users manual 😒

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Reply 81 of 134, by SpeedySPCFan

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doaks80 wrote:

Thanks I'll that a look. It's in English which is nice...unlike the users manual 😒

It's because it's for the MU128 which actually did come out in the US/EU. The 1000/2000 is a minor upgrade that uses the same outer casing and is pretty darn similar aside from the lack of USB, SPDIF, extra EFX, official GS mode with EX firmware, and some new instruments.

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 82 of 134, by Cbb

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is there a way to flash original MU2000 firmware to mu2000ex module?
just want to compare tf300b mode to ex's gm. some people say that gm music sounds better on non-ex firmware

Reply 83 of 134, by SpeedySPCFan

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Cbb wrote:

is there a way to flash original MU2000 firmware to mu2000ex module?
just want to compare tf300b mode to ex's gm. some people say that gm music sounds better on non-ex firmware

The firmware is available from Yamaha. https://jp.yamaha.com/support/updates/mu2r1_uw.html

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 84 of 134, by Cbb

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thanks for advise. it seems that is a final (r1) update to 2000ex version. I'm looking for the possibility of backward process I.e. to reflash extended mu2000ex/r1 version to original mu2000
is it possible at all?

Reply 85 of 134, by yawetaG

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yawetaG wrote:

That said, since the PLG-150 boards load one instrument set when used in a MU128/1000/2000 (and other Yamaha gear with similar features) and another one in real synthesizers (e.g. CS-6x), and those two sets are mutually exclusive, you cannot access all instruments of each PLG-150 board at once...ever (but see those darn manuals). Of course, the sets probably have similarly named instruments, but technically they are not the same.

So gotta backpedal on this one. There is a Yamaha instrument that can actually access both instrument sets of the PLG150-VL (and possibly other PLG150 boards): the 9000 Pro (not PSR-9000) arranger keyboard.
This is a 76-key monster home keyboard that supports XG, GM, SMF, DOC, disklavier etc. formats, has aftertouch, 6 OUTs, a stereo effect return loop, MIC IN, SCSI, multiple pedal Ins, double MIDI interface, optional internal hard disk (IDE or SCSI), up to 65 Mb RAM, sampler, multi-effects, auto-accompaniment, sequencer, video OUT + PC keyboard connectors, etc. It has room for 2 PLG boards, and integrates a custom version of the PLG-100VH and has its own exclusive virtual acoustic organ flutes. To achieve accessing all the voices it uses special exclusive software editors, which fortunately are still available on the web. It only weighs 20 kg or so... 😲

...although I think it predates the "up to 9000"-meme...amusingly.

Reply 86 of 134, by RetroGC

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SuperDeadite wrote:
What's great about these later modules is that they are really easy to use. This took all of 10 mins to put together. 1. Downloa […]
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What's great about these later modules is that they are really easy to use.
This took all of 10 mins to put together.
1. Downloaded the standard GM MIDI file off the internet.
2. Substitute in the drum board.
3. Added a few tempo delays on some of the instruments.
And the result:
https://youtu.be/tYUfVYpgP4I

I really have no idea what I'm doing, and probably have only used about 2% of its true power. 🤣

HI,
I've found SOL and i was trying to use it but with no results. Did you install it on windows 10? And if under windows 10 did you do something to have SOL working fine? There's no way for me to have my sound device detected.

Thank you.

Aldo

My Videogames Music Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroGamesClub

Reply 87 of 134, by SuperDeadite

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RetroGC wrote:
HI, I've found SOL and i was trying to use it but with no results. Did you install it on windows 10? And if under windows 10 did […]
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SuperDeadite wrote:
What's great about these later modules is that they are really easy to use. This took all of 10 mins to put together. 1. Downloa […]
Show full quote

What's great about these later modules is that they are really easy to use.
This took all of 10 mins to put together.
1. Downloaded the standard GM MIDI file off the internet.
2. Substitute in the drum board.
3. Added a few tempo delays on some of the instruments.
And the result:
https://youtu.be/tYUfVYpgP4I

I really have no idea what I'm doing, and probably have only used about 2% of its true power. 🤣

HI,
I've found SOL and i was trying to use it but with no results. Did you install it on windows 10? And if under windows 10 did you do something to have SOL working fine? There's no way for me to have my sound device detected.

Thank you.

Aldo

Never used Win 10. I'm on Win 7. Anyway before you install SOL you must have the Yamaha USB MIDI driver installed first. Then when installing SOL I had to run the setup.exe on the cd itself in WinXP compatibility mode. After that I've never had an issue. When running SOL you need to tell it which MIDI ports to use as well.

Modules: CM-64, CM-500, SC-55MkII, SC-88 Pro, SY22, TG100, MU2000EX, PLG100-SG, PLG150-DR, PLG150-AN, SG01k, NS5R, GZ-50M, SN-U110-07, SN-U110-10, Pocket Studio 5, DreamBlaster S2, X2, McFly, E-Wave, QWave, CrystalBlaster C2, Yucatan FX, BeepBlaster

Reply 88 of 134, by RetroGC

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Just bought The PLG Drumkit and the PLG XG. I'll try them as soon as possible. It would be possible to play midi using PLG for drumkit but with PC?
I've seen yout video on youtube but i've not a smartmedia card 🙁.
And... just bought PLG XG too... but with this i'm going to have benefit on MU 2000? Or it's the same as MU2000 is the top of the line for yamaha XG?
Thank you.
Aldo

My Videogames Music Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroGamesClub

Reply 89 of 134, by SuperDeadite

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RetroGC wrote:
Just bought The PLG Drumkit and the PLG XG. I'll try them as soon as possible. It would be possible to play midi using PLG for d […]
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Just bought The PLG Drumkit and the PLG XG. I'll try them as soon as possible. It would be possible to play midi using PLG for drumkit but with PC?
I've seen yout video on youtube but i've not a smartmedia card 🙁.
And... just bought PLG XG too... but with this i'm going to have benefit on MU 2000? Or it's the same as MU2000 is the top of the line for yamaha XG?
Thank you.
Aldo

I don't quite understand your question, but DR will work from any MIDI file, straight from PC is fine. The XG board is basically an MU80 on a PLG board. It was meant for adding XG support to keyboards. In an MU2000 all it really adds is more polyphony if you plan to make some very complicated music.

Modules: CM-64, CM-500, SC-55MkII, SC-88 Pro, SY22, TG100, MU2000EX, PLG100-SG, PLG150-DR, PLG150-AN, SG01k, NS5R, GZ-50M, SN-U110-07, SN-U110-10, Pocket Studio 5, DreamBlaster S2, X2, McFly, E-Wave, QWave, CrystalBlaster C2, Yucatan FX, BeepBlaster

Reply 90 of 134, by yawetaG

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RetroGC wrote:

And... just bought PLG XG too... but with this i'm going to have benefit on MU 2000? Or it's the same as MU2000 is the top of the line for yamaha XG?

As SuperDeadite mentions, it is not actually meant for the MU-series, but to add XG-compatibility to Yamaha's high-end synth keyboards and modules.

Reply 91 of 134, by RetroGC

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Understood: so it will be a non sense to plug the PLG XG for example on a motif ES, as the sound are the same of the MU 80, results for the few games which has an XG soundtrack will be better on an MU 2000, i think.
I'm start thinking i think I could have saved my money for that PLG.

While the PLG for drum set would be very interesting i think on the MU2000 as well on the Motif ES (maybe: everything it's just arrived and this evening i'm going to plug something)

My Videogames Music Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroGamesClub

Reply 92 of 134, by yawetaG

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RetroGC wrote:

Understood: so it will be a non sense to plug the PLG XG for example on a motif ES, as the sound are the same of the MU 80,

It should work fine on a Motif ES (which is one of the synths it was made for in the first place). 😀

Reply 93 of 134, by RetroGC

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This evening I've plugged the DR PLG on mu 2000. Imho, after few listenig, i've to say sound quality is really good; i'm a little bit disappointed, because i lose settings... so each time i polay a song, i've to go and edit part channel and set it to 10; and then switch to have dr sounds. No way, after i've done the selections, to keep that setting, MU start the midi playback with original GM kit. I think i'm goind to format a PC with windows XP and i'll try to install SOL, to see if i'll be aple tro manage in a different way. At this time, i'm not able to record.

My Videogames Music Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroGamesClub

Reply 94 of 134, by yawetaG

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RetroGC wrote:

This evening I've plugged the DR PLG on mu 2000. Imho, after few listenig, i've to say sound quality is really good; i'm a little bit disappointed, because i lose settings... so each time i polay a song, i've to go and edit part channel and set it to 10; and then switch to have dr sounds. No way, after i've done the selections, to keep that setting, MU start the midi playback with original GM kit. I think i'm goind to format a PC with windows XP and i'll try to install SOL, to see if i'll be aple tro manage in a different way. At this time, i'm not able to record.

Replace the internal battery of the MU2000 by a working one so the unit keeps its settings (IMHO, this is why the "remove the battery advice on this forum is bad...). Furthermore, for PLG board settings that don't depend on the host unit's memory, you'll need a SmartMedia card and to set up the MU to save the PLG board's settings onto that card.

Reply 95 of 134, by SpeedySPCFan

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RetroGC wrote:

i'm a little bit disappointed, because i lose settings...

That's normal for PLG cards. Keep in mind they were never intended for what you're using them for, they're supposed to be used in music production so settings retention wasn't ever a high priority...

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 96 of 134, by yawetaG

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SpeedySPCFan wrote:
RetroGC wrote:

i'm a little bit disappointed, because i lose settings...

That's normal for PLG cards. Keep in mind they were never intended for what you're using them for, they're supposed to be used in music production so settings retention wasn't ever a high priority...

If the module or synth has a SmartMedia card reader, it can usually be set up in such a way that the settings for the PLG board are saved on the SmartMedia card for easy recalling (IIRC, this can even be automated on some synths).

Reply 97 of 134, by yawetaG

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Just dropping this little link here, as it seems most appropriate (for lack of a dedicated XG thread):

https://web.archive.org/web/20031008073159/ht … lity/index.html

A lot of the downloads still work...

Reply 98 of 134, by zarkon

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I've just bought a MU2000EX (Or at least I hope it's an EX 🤣, guess I'll find out when it arrives).

Mine won't come with a power adaptor (not that I could use the Japanese adaptor in the UK anyway because of the voltage differences).
It looks like it's supposed to use a PA-6, so would something like this - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Yamaha-PA-6-PS … ly/192526461237 - power it ok?

Last edited by zarkon on 2019-03-02, 21:48. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 99 of 134, by RetroGC

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I'm trying to use (without success) Sysex message,first to turn a channel off (in this case, channel 10)
Then assigning to the channle 10 the DR Plg Board.

F0 43 10 4C 37 09 03 7F F7

I've started with this, to turn channel 10 off, but this yey absolutely does not work.
Any help?

Aldo

My Videogames Music Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroGamesClub