Hey there,

Do you mean for gaming, for playing the keyboard, for using it as a synth, or something else? An XG reset SysEx sent to the module will allow MIDI files or games to use it in XG mode, I believe, but if you want to set it from the front panel it might not be doable. I have the N1R (90% the same), but I haven't used it in quite some time.

Reprobate wrote on 2025-06-28, 02:19:

Hello, […]
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Hello,

I have a Korg NX5R and a MIDI keyboard,

I am unsure how to get the sounds from the Yamaha module from the front panel using the keyboard,

The manual is not helpful for me unfortunately,

Anyone got any tips for this?

Thank you

EDIT -> Part Edit -> Common -> Push Part Right Button until you get to the "MIDI to Port" Screen. Setting a channel to "Port C" will send it to the Yamaha Waveblaster board. (So change all 16 channels to use as intended, but you can mix and match as you like).

Note that it is very much a stand alone module within a module (standard waveblaster connector), so the NX5R has basically zero control of it's functions. Good news is that most waveblaster boards will work. I use my NS5R as a Dreamblaster X2 host.

Thank you very much for this information guys.

I wonder why the NX5R even contains the Yamaha module when it can not control it's functions, that is a strange choice to include.

Thank you, I was thinking of getting a Dreamblaster for NS5R, I had thought this was a better option but seems not!

Thanks again.

SuperDeadite wrote on 2025-06-28, 07:13:

EDIT -> Part Edit -> Common -> Push Part Right Button until you get to the "MIDI to Port" Screen. Setting a channel to "Port C" will send it to the Yamaha Waveblaster board. (So change all 16 channels to use as intended, but you can mix and match as you like).

Note that it is very much a stand alone module within a module (standard waveblaster connector), so the NX5R has basically zero control of it's functions. Good news is that most waveblaster boards will work. I use my NS5R as a Dreamblaster X2 host.

While this is correct for the NS5R, the NX5R actually does give you some control over the Yamaha DB51XG daughterboard via the front panel. You do still need to set up the MIDI IN port to send all MIDI data to the Yamaha DB51XG. That's done in the same way as described by SuperDeadite. Then just keep pressing the "Part - Page" buttons until you get to parts C01 to C16. These are the parts provided by the Yamaha. There you can edit basic parameters like volume, pan, program, etc. For more extensive editing you'll have to use software though.

Note that the displayed values for these parameters are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. The NX5R Owner's Manual says that the values might not be correct if these parameters are edited via System Exclusive Messages instead of regular MIDI Channel Messages. Still, despite the somewhat basic integration, it makes a big difference compared to the NS5R 😀

Ah ok thank you very much for this information, going to give this a try, much appreciated!

Lennart wrote on 2025-06-30, 18:51:

SuperDeadite wrote on 2025-06-28, 07:13:

EDIT -> Part Edit -> Common -> Push Part Right Button until you get to the "MIDI to Port" Screen. Setting a channel to "Port C" will send it to the Yamaha Waveblaster board. (So change all 16 channels to use as intended, but you can mix and match as you like).

Note that it is very much a stand alone module within a module (standard waveblaster connector), so the NX5R has basically zero control of it's functions. Good news is that most waveblaster boards will work. I use my NS5R as a Dreamblaster X2 host.

While this is correct for the NS5R, the NX5R actually does give you some control over the Yamaha DB51XG daughterboard via the front panel. You do still need to set up the MIDI IN port to send all MIDI data to the Yamaha DB51XG. That's done in the same way as described by SuperDeadite. Then just keep pressing the "Part - Page" buttons until you get to parts C01 to C16. These are the parts provided by the Yamaha. There you can edit basic parameters like volume, pan, program, etc. For more extensive editing you'll have to use software though.

Note that the displayed values for these parameters are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. The NX5R Owner's Manual says that the values might not be correct if these parameters are edited via System Exclusive Messages instead of regular MIDI Channel Messages. Still, despite the somewhat basic integration, it makes a big difference compared to the NS5R 😀

Interesting. I assume these settings are the absolute basics though. I doubt the NX5R has a way to identify if the original XG board has been swapped out with something else or not, so the settings are probably meant to work with generic GM.

SuperDeadite wrote on 2025-07-01, 05:32:

Interesting. I assume these settings are the absolute basics though. I doubt the NX5R has a way to identify if the original XG board has been swapped out with something else or not, so the settings are probably meant to work with generic GM.

Fortunately you can also select XG banks via the front panel, so it's not just limited to GM. But you're right, I don't think the NX5R has a way of knowing whether the DB51XG has been swapped out. That's probably why it can't detect parameter changes via System Exclusive Messages. The microprocessor on the main board just does some basic parsing of incoming MIDI data and then optimistically updates the display, without any bi-directional communication occurring between the main board and the DB51XG. AFAIK the DB51XG only has a MIDI IN and doesn't have a MIDI OUT, so there would be no way to inform the NX5R about the actual parameter values it's using.