m5215tx wrote:

By the way... does the MU2000EX have an internal battery that I should check? The seller made no mention of installing a new one in it.

I just got my MU2000 and updated it to EX and I was wondering if it has a battery inside that I should remove (or update) too. I am just going to use this for gaming purposes, so for example I left my SC-55 without a battery and that's better to me.

UPDATE: So I read on the manual that says (with google translation):

This equipment is a backup battery (lithium battery) inside
Since it is stored, the power cord is removed from the outlet
Even though internal data is stored (in memory
The sampling data and the sequence data will disappear.
To do. When the backup battery is exhausted,
"Battery Low!" Is displayed in a. Backup bag
When the terry runs out, the internal data will disappear.
In the meantime, Yamaha MIDI data filer MDF 3
Save it to an external device such as the instrument store you purchased or the end of the book
Yamaha Electrical and Acoustic Products Service Center
____

Also in another part it says:
4. Error message list
Battery Low!
The built-in battery is exhausted.
Please contact your Yamaha dealer or a local Yamaha dealer service center.

and

When the power is turned off, the sample data and sequence data in the memory of the MU2000 main unit disappear
I will do so. Save important data on a memory card. (P 116, 155)
· MU 2000 saves system setup, multi mode, performance mode data
Built-in backup battery to do. Backup battery is low
When it comes down "Battery Low!" Is displayed, and when the life of the battery comes further internal data
Will disappear. In such a case, you can use the dump out operation (P127) for important data
Save it to Pewter or MIDI data filer MDF 3, then purchase the instrument store you purchased, or
Please tell Yamaha Electric Acoustic Product Service Center stated at the end of the book battery replacement.
___________

So yeah, it has a battery. My question is: Should I wait until the "Battery Low!" alert appears on my unit or should I replace it. I don't want to risk a leak. Do I need it at all if all I want to use it for is gaming purposes?

Thanks!

Also, I wanted to ask if in case I eventually get the PLG150-DR card, if I can activate those live drum samples in real time when I play, let's say, Final Fantasy VII or XI or any other titles with Roland GS. And if there is a way to leave it "that way" so the system remembers every time I use it and I don't have to go and change the drum kit to the PLG150-DR every time I turn the MU2000EX on.

The PLG boards cannot be used with games (except maybe the PLG-100XG). Their sounds are not GM compatible. They are meant for music creation.

But what about Final Fantasy series that used XG ?

XG is Yamaha's answer to general MIDI. If the sounds on the PLG boards are XG compatible AND they map exactly to the same locations of similar XG sounds in the MU2000's regular sound sets it should work, otherwise it will not.

Looks like that's valid for the PLG-150DR, at least for some of its drum kits:

The PLG150-DR also has drum kits that have the same note mapping as XG kits — making them fully compatible with any XG song data.

This means you won't be able to use all of the drum kits for the game - not that you can actually access "all" of the drum kits anyway, as the PLG-150 boards are designed in such a way that using them in a MU-128/1000/2000 or similar loads one set of sounds, while using them in a true AWM2 synth loads another set of sounds with much more extensive options.

I just received my plg-150-dr, installed it on the mu1000ex and route midi channel 10 to the =dr= board. It's so fun to see the plg1 led blink at drum alone. 😀

From there I challenge why yawetaG say it cannot be used on game. I'm enjoying a priceless music from kyrandia 2 : hand of fate general midi ews64l mpu401 to the mu1000ex. Altho it's in XG mode and I agree it do not work in GM mode, it's sound just great if you accept that XG and GM/GS are not totally compatible.

I came to this tread to ask people having a plg-150-dr what are them impression of the drum sound. I feel it's a bit too loud compared to the original drums. Also, what do you think of the superior drum quality compared to the rest of the stock instruments, do you feel it mismatch ?

ElBrunzy wrote:

I just received my plg-150-dr, installed it on the mu1000ex and route midi channel 10 to the =dr= board. It's so fun to see the plg1 led blink at drum alone. 😀

From there I challenge why yawetaG say it cannot be used on game. I'm enjoying a priceless music from kyrandia 2 : hand of fate general midi ews64l mpu401 to the mu1000ex. Altho it's in XG mode and I agree it do not work in GM mode, it's sound just great if you accept that XG and GM/GS are not totally compatible.

Last post: If the sounds on the PLG boards are XG compatible AND they map exactly to the same locations of similar XG sounds in the MU2000's regular sound sets it should work, otherwise it will not.

...which (see also my last post) was pretty much confirmed by the manual. 😐

So for those specific sets of drums it will work. But then, who reads manuals or informative posts these days? 😘

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.

I came to this tread to ask people having a plg-150-dr what are them impression of the drum sound. I feel it's a bit too loud compared to the original drums. Also, what do you think of the superior drum quality compared to the rest of the stock instruments, do you feel it mismatch ?

Can't comment on that, as I'm not interested in PLG boards that don't do any interesting form of synthesis. 🤣

ElBrunzy wrote:

I just received my plg-150-dr, installed it on the mu1000ex and route midi channel 10 to the =dr= board. It's so fun to see the plg1 led blink at drum alone. 😀

From there I challenge why yawetaG say it cannot be used on game. I'm enjoying a priceless music from kyrandia 2 : hand of fate general midi ews64l mpu401 to the mu1000ex. Altho it's in XG mode and I agree it do not work in GM mode, it's sound just great if you accept that XG and GM/GS are not totally compatible.

I came to this tread to ask people having a plg-150-dr what are them impression of the drum sound. I feel it's a bit too loud compared to the original drums. Also, what do you think of the superior drum quality compared to the rest of the stock instruments, do you feel it mismatch ?

Music is about as subjective as it gets. And we humans tend to get used to "how we hear it" and then it sounds strange on something new. I grew up playing Doom on a SB16, so for a long time that is what Doom was supposed to sound like to me, I had to retrain my ears to get used to using anything else. These days I play with so many modules that I have outgrown this problem so to speak. But certain games will always sound better then others. Like Chex Quest Stage 2 on a PLG-150DR sounds absolutely incredible imo. While for Doom 1, my personal favorite now is Akai SG01k. Just have fun with the PLG and see what you like!

Many thanks Yawetag and SuperDealite for your input. It is most appreciated and give me a lot to think. After some times I grew used to the drums and I believe they blended in, but I keep on thinking they are a bit louder than the core drum. Maybe because they are more complex sounds.

I noticed that when you go to the <PLUGIN SELECT> and assign plg150-dr to the PartAssisgn=10 and dual-press ENTER it display the sysex code =F0 43104C 700500 09 F7 so I might add that to my .syx collection. But the thing is, after I set the part 10 to plg150 it still play with the core drum, I have to hit the SELECT button for it to swap to plg1 drum board. Am I doing something wrong ? Are any sysex code to change the assigned drum ?

The PLG150-DR has 32 polyphony by itself. Compare that to say an SC-55 which has less polyphony and has to split it into 16 different parts. The MU2000 has 128, but again it has to split that up among everything. So yes, the DR drums are going to sound quite a bit punchier then the old standard kit. You can balance it out a bit better by using the DR editor though.

That code just makes the PLG's bank an available option for Channel 10. You then need to send a different code to select the PLG's MSB, and then a Program Change to select the kit you want.

Here's my old quick and dirty tutorial video:
https://youtu.be/3Nvj3Ul4wYA

SuperDeadite wrote:

Yamaha SOL. (Sequencer Object Linking) MIDI+Audio Workstation Software designed for professional use. Full support for the 2000 […]
Show full quote

Yamaha SOL. (Sequencer Object Linking)
MIDI+Audio Workstation Software designed for professional use.
Full support for the 2000's exclusive features like the hardware Sampler.
It was sold stand alone, but also included in some of the higher end MU bundles,
such as "Hello! Music! 2000 AUDIO"
There was also SOL2 which added a few extra features.

SOL/SOL2 was only sold in Japan, and the manuals are Japanese, but the software itself does have full English.
A few years ago, you could get SOL on Amazon japan for about $5, but these days its gotten rare. Yahoo auctions is the only place it really shows up anymore.

For those interested, the full version of SOL2 can be found for download on the Internet Archive (not linking to it, but there's a Danish site with a working link).

What is this Danish site where Yamaha SOL2 can be found ? Thanks

nonold92 wrote:

What is this Danish site where Yamaha SOL2 can be found ? Thanks

I dunno what site he's referring to but he also mentioned Internet Archive so, go check there if you want SOL.

Basically that's it.

Although I hope SOL2 is indeed in English, because I read on another forum that its "light" version XG Works ST was also in English, bought it, and found it was all in Japanese instead 🙁 (unless it's a case of removing some specific DLLs for Japanese language support, which actually works in some other Yamaha software, e.g. early versions of Vocaloid).

yawetaG wrote:

Basically that's it.

Although I hope SOL2 is indeed in English, because I read on another forum that its "light" version XG Works ST was also in English, bought it, and found it was all in Japanese instead 🙁 (unless it's a case of removing some specific DLLs for Japanese language support, which actually works in some other Yamaha software, e.g. early versions of Vocaloid).

It is, I installed it a while back and it's in English, aside from a few Japan-only addons like the PLG100-SG Editors. Stuff like XG Editor and the main interface are completely English though.

holaplaneta wrote:

So yeah, it has a battery. My question is: Should I wait until the "Battery Low!" alert appears on my unit or should I replace it. I don't want to risk a leak. Do I need it at all if all I want to use it for is gaming purposes?

Did you ever get this sorted? I am wondering the same thing.

Half tempted to crack my MU1000 open to see where the battery is and what Yamaha did with it...

EDIT: In my on-going effort to break less things of mine, I've decided that opening this thing up terrifies me and that I probably shouldn't do it. The good news is that it uses the same shell as the MU128, and you can find a service manual for that right here. If that's to be believed then battery replacement should be a breeze as it uses a holder.

SpeedySPCFan wrote:

Half tempted to crack my MU1000 open to see where the battery is and what Yamaha did with it...

EDIT: In my on-going effort to break less things of mine, I've decided that opening this thing up terrifies me and that I probably shouldn't do it. The good news is that it uses the same shell as the MU128, and you can find a service manual for that right here. If that's to be believed then battery replacement should be a breeze as it uses a holder.

I looked at my MU2000EX and it's card to know where to begin. There is an inner and outer shell, and some screws attach to both, or just the inner/outer. I can't even find pics online of one that has been pulled apart. I am sure replacing the battery will be much easier than getting to it in the first place 😜

If it's anything like the TG-300 and almost all other halfrack and full width modules, you unscrew the screws on the sides and back, and then slide the metal housing off (to the back of the unit).

doaks80 wrote:

I looked at my MU2000EX and it's card to know where to begin. There is an inner and outer shell, and some screws attach to both, or just the inner/outer. I can't even find pics online of one that has been pulled apart. I am sure replacing the battery will be much easier than getting to it in the first place 😜

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

hopefully